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Published on 10/14/2024

So you think you can take a Judge Test?

By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes

Cranial Translation
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I've helped many a player or store keep become a judge. Guiding them through things they should know, having them help me run events, giving them needed feedback, and eventually giving them the old written judge test. Although tests have changed a lot over the years, I still have five areas of the Comprehensive Rules I like to make sure those looking to become judges know.

1) Layers (I did an article over this HERE.)
2) Triggers Vs Replacement effects (I did an article over this HERE.)
3) The steps to casting a spell (I did an article over this HERE.)
4) Alternative Costs Vs Additional Costs (I did an article over this HERE.)
5) Copying, Casting Copies, and Copies becoming permanents.

If you have any Magic questions burning at the back of your brain, you can send them to us. We may even use them in a future article. If you have a short question, you can send it to us via our Twitter account at @CranialTweet, and you can send us longer questions at moko@cranialinsertion.com .

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Before I continue this series to the fifth rules area, I realize I have skipped over an important skill not everyone will have, especially people who have been out of school for a long time: Test-taking skills.

Today's article is going to go over several tips for taking tests of any kind and some tips that are more specific to Magic Judge Tests.


Tip #1

Most questions found on Magic Judge tests will have five possible answers. Likely with a few answers being completely wrong, a few mostly correct, and one answer that is completely correct. It's not enough if the answer is yes, to pick any yes, but the yes with the correct reasoning behind it.

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Q: During Nicole's last turn, she tried to cast Bear Cub. Alice responded by casting Mana Drain, but before letting Mana Drain resolve, Alice cast Commandeer for free by exiling two blue cards from her hand targeting the Mana Drain and changing its target to the Commandeer. Now that its Alice's turn, does she make mana from the Mana Drain, and if so, how much mana?

A: The answer is...

A: Yes, two mana.
B: Yes, seven mana.
C: No, because Commandeer was cast for free.
D: Yes, but she makes zero mana because Commandeer was cast for free.
E: No, because Mana Drain didn't resolve.

The answer is

E.

Commandeer will resolve before Mana Drain. When Mana Drain tries to resolve, its target is no longer on the stack and it "fizzles." Alice will make no mana from it.

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Tip #2

Some questions will say "choose all that apply" or "select all that apply". These questions could have as few as one correct answer or as many as all the given answers. If you correctly note some, but not all the correct answers, you don't get partial credit for getting some of it right. You must get all that apply to get any credit for this question. Take care to see if the question you are on is one of these, if so you may need to mark more than one answer.

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Q: Nancy's only creature is Progenitus. Which of the following cards could Austin use to get Progenitus off the battlefield? (Choose all that apply.)

A: The answer is...

A: Cruel Edict
B: Earthquake with X=10
C: Toxic Deluge with paying 10 life.
D: Wrath of God
E: Unsummon

The answer is

A, C, & D.

Protection grants four benefits. They can be remembered with the acronym D.E.B.T.

A creature with protection from X, X being some characteristic or quality, prevents Damage by X, can't be echanted by or have things attached to them that are X, can't be blocked by X, or be targeted by X.

Progenitus has protection from everything. So all damage to it is prevented, it can't have anything attached to it, can't be blocked by anything, and can't be targeted by anything.

Cruel Edict, Toxic Deluge, and Wrath of God can affect Progenitus because none of them do any of the four things that protections helps against.

Earthquake deals damage, so the damage gets prevented. Unsummon targets, so it can't target Progenitus.

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Tip #3

If you hit a particularly tough question, it's a good idea to somehow note the question (highlight or circle it), and move onto other questions, and if there is time after all other questions are done to come back to the "tough" question. This is especially true during a timed quiz. If you use half the allotted time on one question, and then don't answer three or four questions because you ran out of time, you may have been better off skipping the one giving you trouble and finishing the rest of the test.

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Tip #4

In Magic Judge tests, the active player's name will always start with an 'A', like Amanda, Anthony, or Amy. The non-active player's name will always start with an 'N', like Nancy, Norman, or Nigel.

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Q: Amber and Nathan each control a Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Amber is currently at 2 life and draws a card at the beginning of her draw step. Which best describes what happens next?

A: The answer is...

A: Amber loses 2 life, then the game.
B: Amber gains 2 life, then loses 2 life, the game continues.
C: Amber gets to choose between answer A or B.
D: Amber simultaneously gains and loses 2 life, the game continues.
E: Nathan gets to choose between answer A or B.

The answer is

A.

When more than one player simultaneously try to put a triggered ability on the stack, the active player places all of their triggers on the stack first (in the order of their choosing), then the next player in turn order places all of their triggers on top of those triggers (in the order of their choosing). Then the next player in turn order does the same, and so on for all remaining players. These then resolve one at a time with the topmost trigger first and the bottommost trigger last.

In this case it's Amber's turn, her gain 2 life trigger is put on the stack first, then Nathan places his trigger to make Amber lose 2 life above that. Nathan's resolves first, causing Amber to go to 0 life and lose the game before her life gain trigger can resolve.

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Tip #5

Although it's an open book test, you may want to bring blank paper and create notes during a test. Writing down the 7 Layers (with the 4 sub-layers for layer 7) from memory after the test starts will be quite helpful when the inevitable Layers question comes up.

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Q: Nate controls a Bear Cub with two +1/+1 counters on it, and it's enchanted with Unholy Strength. Amber casts Clone choosing to copy Nate's Bear Cub. How big will Amber's Clone be once on the battlefield?

A: The answer is...

A: 6/4
B: 0/0
C: 4/4
D: 2/2
E: 4/3

The answer is

D.

+1/+1 counters happen in layer 7c, same as the bonus from Unholy Strength. Copying happens in layer 1, so Clone can't copy the Aura effects or the +1/+1 counters.

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Tip #6

When a card is mentioned during a question (or in an answer) there will be a simplified version of the card provided. This simplified version will have the current Oracle text. Don't assume you know what the card does. Even if you are familiar with the card, read the provided Oracle text. It can make a huge difference.

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Q: Natasha blocks Alejandro's attacking Bear Cub with her Glory Seeker and a 1/1 Goblin Token. Which player chooses the damage assignment order of the Bear Cub and during which step of the combat phase is that choice made?

A: The answer is...

A: The order is chosen by Alejandro during the combat damage step
B: The order is chosen by Alejandro during the declare blockers step
C: The order is chosen by Natasha during the combat damage step
D: The order is chosen by Natasha during the declare blockers step
E: A creature can't be blocked by more than one creature.

The answer is

B.

As the declare blockers step begins, the defending player chooses which creatures they control are blocking which attacking creatures. They can assign more than one creature to block a single attacking creature. Once all blocks are declared ,if more than one creature is blocking the same attacking creature, the attacking player must announce a damage assignment order immediately for each attacking creature they control that is being blocked by more than one creature.

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Tip #7

When dealing with a tough question, eliminate or strike out obviously incorrect answers. Through the process of elimination you may be able to determine the correct answer.

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Q: Amber controls an Eye of Ugin. She wants to cast It That Heralds the End from her hand. How much mana will it cost her?

A: The answer is...

A:
B:
C:
D: None, because it's free.
E: Amber can choose between answer A, B, C, or D.

The answer is

A.

Eye of Ugin is a forced reduction and is not optional. Eye of Ugin can only reduce the generic cost of an Eldrazi spell. The is specifically colorless and not generic.

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Tip #8

Once you have answered all questions, if time permits, reread through as many questions and answers as you can. This may allow you to catch anything you missed the first time through.

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Q: Norin controls Saffi Eriksdotter and Hans Eriksson. Amber then casts Wrath of God. Norin responds by activating Saffi targeting Hans. Amber then responds by trying to kill Saffi with Nameless Inversion. Which best describes what happens next?

A: The answer is...

A: Hans dies to the Wrath, then returns to the battlefield.
B: Hans dies to the Wrath.
C: Saffi dies to Inversion, then Hans dies to Wrath.
D: Amber can't respond to Saffi with Inversion.
E: A and D.

The answer is

E.

Part of the cost of activating Saffi is sacrificing Saffi. Costs are paid as the ability is activated and don't use the stack, so Amber can't respond to Saffi's activation with a kill spell.

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Tip #9

Some questions may seem like gotcha questions or questions that are meant to fool you. This is true to an extent as this is how players ask questions. Players may give you unnecessary information that may lead you down the wrong path (not intentionally, but because they don't always know what you need). Questions on the test will give you at bare minimum all relevant information to answer the question correctly, but in real life players don't always give all relevant information.

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Q: Nina controls Ghostly Prison. Alfred attacks Nina with Squee, Dubious Monarch paying the mana for Prison. Does Alfred have to pay for the Goblin token made by Squee? If so, what happens to the token if he can't?

A: The answer is...

A: Alfred doesn't have to pay for the token.
B: Alfred does have to pay for the token. If he can't, it's never created.
C: Alfred does have to pay for the token. If he can't, it's created, but won't be attacking anyone.
D: Alfred does have to pay for the token. If he can't, the whole attack step gets rewound and he can't even attack with Squee.
E: Because Alfred couldn't pay for the token, he can't legally attack with Squee in the first place.

The answer is

A.

Creatures that are put onto the battlefield attacking circumvent Ghostly Prison's tax. You only need to pay the tax if the creature was declared as an attacker as part of the declare attackers step.

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Tip #10

If it comes down to the wire on time, and you are unsure of the correct answer, take an educated guess. It's better to guess using instinct than to leave a question with no answer. Obviously, when actually judging, don't guess. If you are unsure, seek a second opinion from another judge or a fast online source like the Ask the Judge Facebook group or the IRC chatroom #Magicjudges-rules. If you have to guess on an answer, note it in some way. Even if you get it right, it's worth going over it with your tester to shine light on an area of weakness you may have.

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Q: The only permanents currently on the battlefield are basic lands. Angela casts Genesis Wave with an of 5. She reveals the five cards listed below. Assuming she places the most she can, which can she place on the battlefield? (Choose all that apply.)

A: The answer is...

A: Clone
B: Unholy Strength
C: Bear Cub
D: Confiscate
E: Curator's Ward

The answer is

A, C, & E.

Clone can be put onto the battlefield this way, but it won't see the Bear Cub as it's entering simultaneously, so it will be a 0/0 and will be placed in the graveyard the next time state based actions are checked.

Unholy Strength has nothing it can legally be attached to — it can't see the Bear Cub or Clone as they are entering simultaneously with it — so it can't enter due to rule 303.4g.

Bear Cub can enter without any problems.

Confiscate as an Aura could enter enchanting a land, but since its mana value is 6 and the X for Genesis Wave was only 5, it can't be chosen.

Curator's Ward as an Aura can enter enchanting a land. It can't see the other permanents as they are entering simultaneously.

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Tip #11

If you fall short of passing, don't be discouraged. There are a lot of Magic rules, and learning them can be time-consuming. Use a failed test as a road map to the areas you need improvement on. Get multiple Layers questions wrong? Good, we know what you need to study now. Were you baffled by the steps of casting a spell? Well, I have an article for that.

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Well, I'm all out of advice for today. Good luck and good testing.

- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD

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