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About Riccardo Tessitori
Riccardo Tessitori
Riccardo
Tessitori is a level 5 judge from Italy (and former Pro Player ^__^); he judged more than a hundred professional events, headjudged more than 25 Grand Prix events in Europe, the United States and Asia and has been headjudging Pro Tours and World Championships since 2009:
Pro
Tour Kyoto 2009
Pro Tour Austin 2009
Worlds Chiba 2010
Pro Tour Philadelphia 2011
Pro Tour Barcelona 2012
World Magic Cup Indianapolis 2012
Pro Tour Dublin 2013
Pro Tour Valencia 2014
Summer Tales (Part 2)
Hello everybody!
Summer is definitely over, and also Southern Italy is now under the rain.
This article is the second of a series of two about my summer travels; a couple of weeks ago, I told you some stories about the Asian adventures, and today I will happily tell you about the European adventures.
But first, let’s take a look at one of your most recent questions.
Happy reading.
Versions:
Battle For Zendikar (Foil)
Your Questions
Q: I am trying to confirm if "cast" means successfully cast, or when you play the spell. If Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger or Desolation Twin gets countered, do you still get to exile the two target permanents or the token?
A: I believe that this question comes from an old wording of a few cards, which contained the expression “successfully cast”, which is now obsolete and was a middle way between “Whenever you cast” that triggers immediately after the spell is cast (independently from the fact it resolves or gets countered)., and “Whenever a X enters the battlefield” that triggers every time a card X is put on the table (even if it enters the battlefield thanks to an effect, and not because it’s a spell that resolves).
Today, when you read the verb “cast”, know that it means just “play” and it doesn’t matter if the spell get countered; you will exile two permanents with Ulamog and you will get the token from Desolation Twin… unless your opponent plays one of the extremely few cards that counter abilities (like Trickbind or Stifle)
Grand Prix London 2015
London is the capital of the United Kingdom, its first settlements were the city of Londinium, founded by the Romans, and it grew to be one of the most populated metropolitan areas and one of the most important financial centers of the world.
It hosted the latest Olympic Games in 2012, and it’s the only city to have hosted three.
London is a city of art, culture, museums, movie sites… and actually one of my favorite cities to visit.
The city is so full of charming items, that it’s not easy to pick a photo to represent it… let’s go with this one!
Past Grand Prix in London
According to Wikipedia, London has welcomed seven Grand Prix:
1997, Standard, 398 participants
2001, Block constructed, 551 participants
2002, Block constructed, 683 participants
2003, Block constructed, 523 participants
2011, Sealed, 709 participants
2013, Sealed, 1970 participants
2015, Standard, 2152 participants
and I’ve been happily judging at all of them, since I started travelling abroad in 2003.
With the anomaly of 2011, we can once again see the trend in the increase of dimensions of our international events… and I cannot imagine it will stop growing!
A Special Sculpture of a Deity!
In the ancient religion of Lower Egypt, Bastet was the goddess of warfare, while her equivalent in Upper Egypt was Sekhmet.
After the unification of Egypt, this deity changed into the goddess of protection, her representation was modified from a woman with the head of a lioness (which was the original representation of Sekhmet), symbol of a hunter, into a woman with the head of a cat (cats were domesticated in the first millennium before Christ), getting the role of protector of the pharaoh and the deity Ra.
In the British Museum, you can find the Gayer-Anderson cat (the name comes from Major Gayer-Anderson, who donated the masterpiece to the museum), which is believed to be a representation of Bastet.
An Ancient Sensei's Divining Top
As you often hear me saying, travelling is a great opportunity to meet wonderful people and discover surprising places and objects.
Today, again in the British Museum, I found something that some Magic fans may find familiar…
I am sure that few of you know that this object, which is actually a prayer wheel from Tibet, was the inspiration for one of the most popular cards of Magic!
And Another Sculpture
Again at the British museum, walking and enjoying the different objects and sculptures from many ancient civilizations, I found this one:
Do you recognize her?
If you play Modern or Legacy, you may have already met her.
Versions:
Dark Ascension (Foil)
OK, here you have the description:
“Elementary, my dear Watson”
There are museums about ancient forms of art, and there are museums about modern forms of art.
No, I’m not referring to the “Museum of Modern Art” with all those funky and weird geometric forms… which are unfortunately only able to make me think “Look, a triangle!” and nothing else. ^__^
I am referring to more popular forms of art, like music, movies, dance…
Today, I have a special kind of museum for you:
Who doesn’t know Sherlock Holmes?
Who doesn’t know the most famous detective of the world?
Popular art is the art of the people; if we all read a book, or watched a movie or were somehow influenced in our childhood by a character… he’s a piece of art! Thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for creating the character of Sherlock Holmes in 1887.
It appears that Sherlock Holmes investigated the ancient Sensei's Divining Top, and concluded that the Magic card was not inspired by the picture above… I was actually joking, but I’m sure that some of you believed it. ^__^
My Flight is Late, HELP!
Sometimes our travels are smooth and enjoyable… and sometimes they become a nightmare; this time might have been problematic, but my fellow judges made it a happy ending.
It all started when I had to book my flight; I had the choice between Alitalia (the Italian national company) and British Airways (the UK national company); as most of Italians do, I also have a low trust in our capabilities and precision, and I said to myself “British Airways will surely be better” (I had actually very good experiences with British Airways).
Once I arrived at the airport and looked at the screens to find my gate, I noticed that… all the Alitalia flights to London were on time… and ALL the British Airways flights to London were late!
That’s the result for not having trust in my country, my fault ^__^
So, I was expecting to arrive at London Heathrow after midnight, while the tournament site was on the other side of the city! Note to myself: London City airport is next to the tournament venue, try to remember it for the next GP London…
What to do? How will I get to my bed?
Easy solution, I am going to post it on Facebook, and some kind soul might be able to give me some advice.
Guess what, one of the local judges (Thomas Ralph) took SEVEN MINUTES to give me precise information about which buses (two) I had to take, where I had to get out, and the timetable too.
Judge Program, an international help system, much better that any phone customer service of any company!
Great Judges of the World: Jared Sylva
The organizer of Grand Prix London 2015 was StarCityGames, a well-known American tournament organizer. One of the most important people in its structure is Jared Sylva, who is a level four judge and, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant, serious and determined people.
If I had to choose only one of the level four who would become a level five, I believe that my choice would be Jared.
Goodbye London
… and another awesome adventure has come to an end.
Another enjoyable Grand Prix London is in the books; it has been another great travel, with many stories to tell (this article just has a few) and many friends; Magic events are not just tournaments, they are life experiences!
Grand Prix Madrid 2015
Madrid is the capital of Spain; with its 7 million inhabitants, it’s the third largest metropolitan area in the European Union after Paris and London.
Past Grand Prix in Madrid
According to Wikipedia, Madrid has welcomed eight Grand Prix:
1998, Extended, 311 participants
2000, Extended, 332 participants
2004, Sealed, 1351 participants
2008, Sealed, 1465 participants
2010, Legacy, 2228 participants
2012, Sealed, 1314 participants
2014, Modern, 1900 participants
2015, Sealed, 1420 participants
Interesting, in the last 12 years, the number of participants at Limited GPs hasn’t changed much, while the Constructed GPs have been quite popular and significant; I remember the Legacy GP in 2010 had a number of participants significantly higher than the number of tables and chairs (I will tell you more about this GP in my next article, “One hundred and counting!”) and was also the biggest GP of all times at that moment; the Modern GP in 2014 had a round number because of the hard limit that was imposed by the venue security staff.
I’ve been to all GPs in Madrid since the 2010 one, and what I appreciate the most about the Spanish GPs and people is their ability to enjoy life, of welcoming people and of being so friendly and smiling.
Just to give you a hint about how we like starting our GPs in Spain, here you have a glimpse of the restaurant where we had lunch on Friday, at a few hundred meters from the tournament venue, inside the Casa de Campo park… A good beginning, right?
Great Judges of the World: David de la Iglesia
David has been a very active L3 judge for several years, travelling to many dozens of Grand Prix in America, Europe and even Asia.
He has been for years very involved in many judge projects; two of the most visible are the MagicJudges Facebook page and the Official Resources website, which are two of the main channels of communication of the entire judge program.
David is one of the judges who gave the biggest contribution to the web presence of the Magic judge program.
Now, he’s one of the most exotic judges, as he moved to Qatar.
Goodbye Madrid
… and another awesome adventure has come to an end.
Grand Prix Madrid 2015 marked the end of my summer travels; I will now enjoy the beginning of the Battle for Zendikar season, continuing the translation into Italian of all its tales and waiting for the next international adventures
I hope you enjoyed this article, and I’m looking forward to reading your comments.
Don’t forget to submit all your rules questions for the next installment of Ask the Judge. Simply send me a personal message with all the rules questions you may have.
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See you in a couple weeks, with a journey through thirteen years of Grand Prix history, as GP Prague 2015 has been my GP number ONE HUNDRED.
Good luck for your PPTQs!
Riccardo
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