But even if you don’t have many judges, there are still some basic duties that need covering at every event. Apart from patrolling the floor, supervising the players, and answering questions, judges need to check decks, distribute match slips, post pairings and standings, and manage the players and facilities. At some events, judges must also manage feature match areas and do table judging. Rather than grabbing whoever is handy and telling them to perform a task, head judges should divide the staff into teams to make these duties easier, faster, and more consistent. Do it before the event: at the judge meeting before the tournament begins, or even the day before if you have an accurate judge roster. Make sure each judge knows which team he or she has been assigned to, his or her role on that team, and which judges will be his or her teammates. If you have a sizeable staff, a list will help keep track of who’s doing what.

Here’s a list of the teams you’ll need for a typical event, as well as the things they need to take care of.

Deck Check Team. Once the lists are collected, the intrepid deck check team is responsible for looking them over to make sure they’re legal. If you have enough judges, it’s a good idea to add some “temps” to get this done as quickly as possible. The judges on this team will assign penalties as appropriate for incorrect decklists after all the decklists have been checked. When the rounds are under way, the deck check team will perform random deck checks according to the preferences of the Tournament Organizer.

Pairings and Standings. This team is responsible for getting the pairings and standings lists from the scorekeeper, and posting them in the predetermined areas. They also need to take down the outdated pairings and standings lists to avoid confusion when the players look for their next match.

Match Slips. This team collects the printed slips from the scorekeeper, cuts them up, and distributes them to the tables as rapidly as possible. It’s important that the slips hit the tables as the round begins, in case of any no-shows. Some TOs like to have judges collect the slips rather than let the players hand them in. This is something that should be worked out ahead of time with the TO. The slip team should supervise that as well. The slip team is also responsible for checking with the scorekeeper at the round’s end to investigate the status of tables that haven’t handed in a slip yet.

Logistics. This team keeps the event floor in order. They break up players congregating in the aisles, make sure the tables and chairs are in order, and keep the area safe and professional looking. While all judges are expected to pitch in for the garbage collection and table-straightening jobs, the logistics team is ultimately responsible for the look and organization of the tournament area. Often judges on the logistics team will be called upon to help with a multitude of duties, so they should be prepared to help with any facet of the tournament.

Feature Match Team. Usually this is just one judge, who is only needed at events involving coverage. The feature match judge brings a copy of the pairings list to the reporter, then collects the featured players from their table and moves them to the feature match table. He or she then acts as a table judge for the match.

All teams are responsible for performing general judge duties, such as answering questions, keeping an eye on the players, walking the floor, watching out for lost items and tidying up the tournament area by collecting trash and straightening the tables and chairs. Teams performing a specific part of their duties, like collecting a deck or posting the pairings sheets, should focus on those jobs, and refer players to another judge when needed. Once those jobs are done, though, there’s no loafing around! Get out on the floor and get to work!

After your teams’ various duties are assembled, look at your judge roster and decide who should go where. This takes some finesse, because you don’t want to just randomly sort people into groups and let it go at that. A lot of different factors go into an efficient team, so it helps if you know the judges you’ll be working with. If they’re new to you, it’s going to be more difficult! Anyway, here are some tips to help you sort out your teams.

Consider the strengths and weaknesses of each judge. A detriment to one job can be an asset to another. For instance, I’m not a very tall person, so I don’t do very well when fighting my way through a crowd to post pairings sheets. However, I have yet to attend an event where I couldn’t easily fit between the tables to quickly hand out the match slips. (I get put on slip duty a lot.) Some judges are really quick and accurate with the decklists. Other judges have a good rapport with the players, making them particularly effective with controlling traffic in the aisles. Do your best to work with these strengths when choosing your teams.

If you’ve got a judge who’s broken a leg or has some other condition limiting his or her movement, then deck checks or table judging are a nice place to put him or her. You don’t want a naturally lazy judge to sneak into a job with a maximum of sit-down time, but sometimes you may want to give it to a hard-working judge who genuinely needs to get off his or her feet. Use your discretion.

Naturally, you want to put a judge on a team where he or she can contribute the most, but if you work with the same group of judges all the time, don’t be afraid to rotate them through other jobs they can do. It’s important to help develop floor judges with a well-balanced skill set. Don’t limit them to the jobs they’re familiar with; encourage them to master others. Building the team is one of your most important responsibilities.

Take how the judges interact with others into consideration. Judges are human and the Yu-Gi-Oh! world is a small one, and you may end up with some judges on your roster that just don’t get along. Please don’t put them on the same team! There’s a time and a place to work out these kinds of differences and it’s not the tournament floor. Put them far away from each other, and remind them that unprofessional behavior will get them sent home. If you’ve got some new judges, pair them up with veterans. Put slow starters with good managers. Avoid putting control freaks with control freaks, or lazy judges with other lazy judges. Mixes like that don’t turn out very well. If you have a good judge who just doesn’t interact well with the public, keep him or her out of the logistics team. Admittedly, this is a lot easier when you know the judges well. Use your best judgment when working with unfamiliar judges, or try to get to know them beforehand if possible.

Choose your team leaders. If you have more than one judge for each task, name one (the most trusted or experienced) as team leader. Explain the team responsibilities, then step back and let him or her work. This will save you a lot of administrative headaches, and  is also one of the best ways to groom floor judges for head judge responsibilities. Keep an eye on the teams as the event progresses to ensure that they’re doing their jobs correctly, but resist the urge to micromanage.

A good head judge needs to know all the judges who he or she works with, and give every worthy judge the chance to be a team leader. It’s easy to just rely on the judges you know really well, and sometimes that’s the most efficient way to build a team. But be sure and give other judges a chance as well. One or two highly specialized, meticulously-developed judges and a dozen or so who never get a chance to progress are not going to run an event as well as a evenly-balanced team of eight or nine. Floor judges who have acted as leaders in the past need to understand that they must sometimes step aside and let others have the chance to lead as well, and not become offended or refuse to work under another judge. Head judges, make sure this isn’t happening.

All right, you’ve built your teams, you’ve set them in motion, and your event is running pretty well. Now what? Watch how your judges are performing, both as a team and as individuals. Then use those observations when the time comes to sort them out again: you want to be able to evaluate their performances fairly. You may find a judge to be extremely talented in certain areas while other duties are less suitable to him or her. This will make choosing teams easier next time.

Floor judges: you can be a big help to the head judge if you do your best on the team to which you’ve been assigned. Yes, I love doing match slips, but I don’t sulk when I get put on logistics instead, and even though I do sometimes get stepped on when I’m doing pairings, I do my best. Floor judges need to remember that there are no “menial” jobs at an event. All of these duties are part and parcel of judging, and if you refuse to check decklists because you’re “too valuable” to be off of the floor where all the questions are, the demand for your judging services will drop like a stone. Head judges and TOs don’t need that kind of thing. They want judges who can do it all, and who are happy to go where they are assigned.

If you aren’t assigned to a team with a pre-round duty (such as getting and posting the pairings, cutting the slips, or choosing the deck check table), then the best place for you to be is out on the floor. Don’t wander up to the judge stand and stay there, because players will still have questions and will likely descend on the easiest judge to reach — like the ones getting the pairings from the scorekeeper. The quicker the pre-round teams can get their jobs done, the faster the tournament will go, so you’re doing yourself a big favor by enabling them to do their jobs.

Building well-balanced teams that take advantage of a judge’s natural abilities while expanding their strengths in other areas is an art that takes time to develop, but the difference strong teams can make at an event is worth the effort. If you’re currently working as a head judge, pay close attention to the other judges around you. Observe how other head judges choose their teams, and watch how floor judges work. Information you learn from observation will help you build future teams.

If you’re working as a floor judge, get to know your fellow judges. Eventually you will get the chance to head judge, and if you have well-known judges to help you out, your job will be a lot easier.

Next week, we’ll look at a set of strategies to help out head judges who must work with a smaller staff than they would like. You can run a successful event without fifteen judges—it just takes some planning and work. Come back next time to find out how!

And as a treat for the players, here’s a special footnote section just for you . . .

You may have realized that judges work on different teams at your events. The same ones put up your pairings, the same ones collect your decks, and so on. Bear that in mind when you need help from a judge, and try to seek out one who isn’t currently involved with a different task. The pairings have to go up and the slips need to get out. Judges on those teams aren’t hanging around doing nothing when they’re up by the scorekeeper as the round is about to begin. They’re prepping for their tasks. Remember, the sooner they get their jobs done, the sooner the round can begin, and the quicker the event will go. If you have a question, try to ask one of the judges out on the floor.

And I can’t say this enough: pick up your garbage, watch your belongings, and push in your chairs! We’ve got a lot of things to do, so if you want your event to run fast and smooth, you need to give us a hand by cleaning up after yourself. The less time we spend doing that, the more time we have to answer your questions and keep the tournament moving.