State of the Program for April 22nd 2016

In the News:

Pro Tour on Now: Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad is happening now. Check it out on Twitch.tv/Magic or on YouTube Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad is happening now. Check it out on Twitch.tv/Magic or on YouTube here

New President at Wizards: Greg Leeds, Wizards of the Coast President, has resigned. He will be missed. Wizards has Greg Leeds, Wizards of the Coast President, has resigned. He will be missed. Wizards has announced that Chris Cocks will be stepping into that position. Mr. Cocks was formerly at Microsoft, and before that was VP of Educational Games at LeapFrog. Mr. Leeds will stay at Hasbro long enough to facilitate the transition. Nothing in Hasbro’s statement as to why Leeds is leaving, but he has been in senior management positions for at least 30 years, so retirement is a likely reason. As for Mr. Cocks, the announcement states that he is “an avid player and fan” of both Magic and D&D.

Crashes Have Benefits: Not always, but Wizards needed to bring MTGO down early last Friday, to fix an issue with tournaments. As long as the program was down, they activated the prereleases. Those of us who logged in early got to play a few extra hours of Prerelease. I liked it – I saw the Tweet from Lee Sharpe and jumped on. I was player 26 in the first League. It was sweet. Wizards also brought MTGO down briefly Saturday am, but after that the events ran fairly well. The only problem I noted was that some draft prize payouts were delayed, but only briefly.

MOCS Promo Announced: On the plus side, it’s Gaea’s Cradle. On the downside – at least for me – I hate the art. Of course, I prefer the old card frame, so my judgement is probably questionable. Here it is – decide for yourself. Note that it is worth at least $50 – that may affect your judgement.

Competitive Standard League Up: If you want to play standard, you have a choice of the Friendly or Competitive leagues. The payout on the friendly leagues is stretched a lot further – meaning less payout for really good results, and more for bad records. Having gone 1-4 with my Sphinx’s Tutelage deck recently, I appreciate that prize structure. However, if you want to actually make a profit for winning, stick with competitive leagues. The payout for winning out is much higher.

Long Downtime Next Week: Lots of catch-up and fixes, so MTGO goes down about midnight Pacific time.

Pro Tour Gauntlet to Return: MTGO users will get a chance to play with decks from the Pro Tour again, starting April 27th. Decklists to be included in the gauntlet will be released later – after the Pro Tour. Which hasn’t happened yet.

Community Super League and Vintage Super League: The Super Leagues are returning – and will now happen on both Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays will be VSL, which will kick off with a 10 player qualifier tournament. Those ten players will be trying for the five open slots in VSL season 5. On Thursdays, a “Community” league made up of well-known streamers and Magic personalities will play a mix of formats, starting with Pro Tour gauntlet and ranging through Momir Vig (Multiball!) and Ironroot Chef. The announcement and videos are The Super Leagues are returning – and will now happen on both Tuesdays and Thursdays.Tuesdays will be VSL, which will kick off with a 10 player qualifier tournament. Those ten players will be trying for the five open slots in VSL season 5. On Thursdays, a “Community” league made up of well-known streamers and Magic personalities will play a mix of formats, starting with Pro Tour gauntlet and ranging through Momir Vig (Multiball!) and Ironroot Chef. The announcement and videos are here

Magic Judges Sue Wizards: In the paper world, a group of judges have brought a class action suit against Wizards of the Coast over working conditions and whether judges are employees. You can read the suit In the paper world, a group of judges have brought a class action suit against Wizards of the Coast over working conditions and whether judges are employees. You can read the suit here . Wizards has issued a statement , and Helen Bergeot has issued a separate statement , both saying the suit is without merit. That will eventually be decided in court, unless the case is settled. I will discuss this further, in the opinion section, below.

Windows XP and Vista Users Need to Upgrade: After May 4th, MTGO will use .NET 4.5.2, which is not supported by XP, while Vista users need at least Service Pack 2. Without it, MTGO will not run. I know upgrading is a pain, but XP has not been supported for years.

The Timeline:

This is a list of things we have been promised, or just want to see coming back. Another good source for dates and times is the MTGO calendar and the weekly blog, while the best source for known bugs is the Known Issues List . For quick reference, here are some major upcoming events. In addition, there are either one or two online PTQs each weekend, with qualifiers running the three days prior to the PTQ.

Item: date and notes

· Power Nine Challenge: Last Saturday of the month, at 11am Pacific. Next one April 30th.

· Legacy Challenge: Second Saturday of the month, at 11am Pacific. Next one April 9th.

· No Downtime on: April 20, May 11, June 8 and June 22

· League End Dates: all current league end July 27, 2016

· Eternal Masters: online release June 17, 2016. Details : online release June 17, 2016. Details here

· Eldritch Moon Prerelease: July 29-August 1. Details : July 29-August 1. Details here

· From the Vault Lore: releases online October 10, 2016.

Flashback Schedule:

Flashback drafts are 10Tix / 100 Play Points / 2 Tix plus product, not Phantom, single elim and pay out in play points: 200 for first, 100 for second, 50 for third and fourth.

· Flashback drafts on hiatus this month, so we can play SoI limited.

· Triple Time Spiral: May 4, 2016 to May 11, 2016

· 2 Time Spiral and 1 Planar Chaos: May 11, 2016 to May 18, 2016

· Time Spiral, Planar Chaos, and Future Sight: May 18, 2016 to May 25, 2016

· Triple Tenth Edition: May 25, 2016 to June 1, 2016

· Triple Lorwyn: likely June 1 to June 8

· 2 Lorwyn, Morningtide: likely June 8 to June 15

· Triple Shadowmoor: likely June 15 to June 22

· 2 Shadowmoor, Eventide: likely June 22 to June 29

Flashback This Week: Flashback is taking the rest of April off. The new set has priority.

Opinion Section: Judges as Employees / Volunteers / Independent Contractors

Okay, some caveats to begin with.

First, I am not an attorney. None of what I am saying should be interpreted as legal advice. On the other hand, I work with attorneys all the time, and know enough about law to know why the caveat is necessary. I also write statutes and administrative code (e.g. comp. rules for the real world) and so forth.

Second, I have been a judge at large events for a long time. My first time as a judge on the floor at the World Championships was in 2004, and I have worked at four or five Worlds, two dozen Pro Tours, almost three dozen GPs and literally thousands of other events. I am doing less judging now, partly because I do not have the time to devote to all the behind-the-scenes works that judging entails, and partly because of the physical demands. I’m an old, fat guy who skied a lot of moguls when I was younger. That beat the hell out of my knees and ankles. Now, if I work a couple 10 hour shifts walking on concrete, I am limping heavily and scarfing ibuprofen for a week or so afterwards. That said, I have more experience as a judge on the floor of premier events than all but maybe a couple dozen people in the world. I’ve been there, so I can talk about it.

So let’s talk about it.

The Lawsuit:

Four long-term judges are suing Wizards, claiming that judges meet the legal definition of employees, and that Wizards has failed to compensate the judges appropriately. This includes failing to pay minimum wage, overtime, allow breaks, etc., as required under California and US federal law. You can read the filing here , and Wizards public response here

not whether we should have labor laws or if they are reasonable. The Fair Labor Standards Act is law. It is what it is. The US Dept. of Labor publishes a website laying out labor law in (relatively) plain English. Here’s their I am not going to go into labor history, but I will mention that there are very good reasons that we don’t allow indentured servitude or child labor. If you don’t know why, read your Dickens, or your history. But whether you know about the Haymarket massacre or not, the issue here iswhether we should have labor laws or if they are reasonable. The Fair Labor Standards Act is law. It is what it is. The US Dept. of Labor publishes a website laying out labor law in (relatively) plain English. Here’s their article about volunteering and the Fair Labor Standard Act . The court decision will be about whether and how that law applies to the specific question of compensating Magic judges.

Lawsuits don’t litigate “what should be” or “what is fair.” Lawsuits are decided based on the wording of the existing law, and on precedents – prior decisions in similar cases. In this case, that means the FSLA and related statutes.

The lawsuit says that the job Magic judges do under the circumstances in which they work, and the requirements imposed on them to become and remain judges mean they meet the federal and state definition of employees. Wizards maintains that they do not. The court will decide, unless the parties settle.

I am not qualified to make any judgement on the merits (not a lawyer, remember?) However, I would note that Wizards faced a similar lawsuit in Europe a half dozen years ago. Wizards lost. As a result of that decision, Wizards significantly changed how it treated judges in Europe, and worldwide.

Prior to the EU decision, judges applied to work large events through the DCI. The process was quite competitive, and Andy Heckt, then the Judge Manager employed directly by Wizards, always had to turn away many applicants. The chosen applicants would receive some level of support. Basic support was usually a hotel room and meal stipend. More important judges also had their flights scheduled and paid for by Wizards. Judges also, back then, got some packs and judge foils, but Wizards was always careful to state that the swag was not compensation, but a thank you gift.

After the EU decision, the process changed. Pro Tours shrank, as Wizards initially eliminated all public events and outside entry. The judges hired for the Pro Tours were hired as individual contractors, and were paid by check. The payment was set by level, and the judges were responsible for their own hotel, travel and meal expenses. (Note: Ingrid signed on as an individual contractor a few PTs around this time – not sure of changes since.)

The EU decision also affected judge staffing at GPs and all lesser events. Wizards turned all judge staffing issued over to the tournament organizers. The TOs were responsible for soliciting, choosing, hiring and paying judges. In 2014, Wizards also stopped giving judge foils to judges working GPs and so forth.

Since the EU decision, there has been some pressure to treat judges better. I don’t know if this is coming from Wizards, from the TOs or elsewhere. I do know that shift lengths have been generally limited to 10 hours, lunch breaks are longer and better organized, and more emphasis is placed on giving additional breaks. This stuff doesn’t always happen, but it is far better than it used to be. (Back before the EU decision, judge shifts were typically close to 12 hours, or longer. My longest shift started when I arrived at 8am, and I was on the floor, in uniform, until 5:30am the next morning. Special circumstances were involved, and I got meal breaks, but I do remember a number of events where I arrived for the judge meeting at 8am and did not leave the floor before midnight.)

It appears to me that Wizards has tried to ensure that the judges they hire directly are hired as “independent contractors.” It also appears that they have tried to shift the legal responsibility for hiring judges at GPs and lower level events to the TOs. However, Wizards still sets the rules for judge uniforms, behavior, training, certification and so forth. (The lawsuit spells this out.) The end result is that this suit may have merit. In the end, the court will decide. Unless, of course, the parties settle. One traditional use of class action suits has been to break through intransigence and get the party being sued to change their practices. Maybe.

The Misconceptions:

I made the mistake of reading the comments section of some blogs and forums discussing the lawsuit. Let’s talk about some of those.

for–profit private sector employers (third paragraph.) Here’s First, judges are not “volunteers.” They are performing highly skilled work for profit-making entities. As the dept. of Labor website states, federal law prohibits volunteering forprivate sector employers (third paragraph.) Here’s an article that discusses the issue in some depth. Whether you think judges should or should not “volunteer” their services, I doubt that Wizards can legally argue that judges are “volunteers.” Other companies that have tried that tactic have lost, badly. (See article for examples.) The lawsuit calls on Wizards to create a separate, non-profit organization for judges, so that judges could legally volunteer their services.

It is also not the judge’s fault that they have been (allegedly) mistreated. I have worked a ton of events. I went into them knowing that I would be underpaid. However, at every large event that I have ever attended, I know that there were many judges nearly as qualified that were turned down. Only the best are selected – and part of being the best means that you are willing to work hard, and that you will be there when the event needs you. Some commenters have said that if the event doesn’t give you a meal break, you should just leave and get food. If any judge actually did that – left the event without warning, forcing the rest of the judges to cover for him – that judge would never be invited to work another event.

The final misconception is that this is not a big deal. It is. Tournaments cannot function as well, nor the game remain as clean as it is, without skilled judges. I have trained literally dozens of judges, many of whom are now working on premier events. It takes a lot of training. Even for level one, judges are far better trained than many real world employees. Failing to pay them appropriately for their skills, training and service is a problem. The lawsuit alleges that: Initial investigation shows a clear and common pattern and practice of labor law violations that have been utilized by the Defendant to reduce labor costs and increase profitability. (sec. 22) The lawsuit also states that the suit covered at least $5million in fines and back pay for 1,000 or more judges. Win, lose or settle, this lawsuit could drive significant changes in the judge program and tournament operations.

The Real Problems:

The judge program does a lot of things very well, but it is not perfect. It has grown extensively, and it is still experiencing growing pains. Here’s an example: