The Path to Becoming a Flesh & Blood Judge
July 21, 2023
Luna Borges is a Level 1 Flesh and Blood Judge from Brazil and a member of the blog’s content team. The opinions expressed in this article are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of Legend Story Studios or the Judge Program. This article was translated from its original Portuguese and edited, to be shared with the wider Flesh & Blood community. The original article can be found here.
Flesh & Blood is a growing game. In parallel with the demand for new players, the need for new judges to referee competitive tournaments, as well as the desire of community members to become judges has also been growing. This article intends to elucidate what is needed to begin this journey. While you don’t need to follow every step here to take your L1 test, following them will set you up on the path for success!
1. Play the game
If you’re discovering Flesh & Blood through its judge program, it’s a totally valid entry point! Many judges from other TCGs are charmed by Flesh and Blood or curious to have a new skill under their belt. But try to get to know the game well, play different games in different formats, watch games, and try to understand how the rules work.
2. Know your documents well
Speaking of rules, being a good judge isn’t about knowing all the rules by heart, it’s about knowing where to look for them. These documents are:
- Comprehensive Rules of Flesh and Blood where all the game rules are;
- Procedure and Penalty Guide where are the penalties for committed infractions;
- Tournament Rules and Policy is a document that guides how tournament procedures should take place.
Together, these three documents form the official documentation that manages the rules of Flesh and Blood, it is important to know them and study them in depth to become a good judge. The Flesh and Blood documents are in the Rules and Policy Center whenever there is an update; you can also access them from our blog’s own Resources page.
3. Play Regularly
Look for local events that you can participate in as a player; this will contribute to your knowledge of the rules and allow you to become a better player and judge. It will also bring you the opportunity to interact with other players and get to know the game’s community. Participating in events is a valuable experience in terms of gaining practical knowledge of the game. A large part of being a judge involves community outreach and management, and there’s no better way to get involved in a Flesh & Blood community than to play in events and get to know the scene!
If you live in a very isolated region where the game hasn’t arrived yet, there are online alternatives (such as Discord servers that use webcams to play, or various online simulators) to be able to play Flesh and Blood. You will not be “in flesh and blood”, but you can build valuable game and rules knowledge that will aid you into becoming a judge.
4. Study for Exams
Currently, there are no specific study materials for the Flesh and Blood judge exams. Therefore, the previous tips are so important to prepare you for the test. On Judge Hub, you can find advancement guides about the order of exams and prerequisites needed for each one of the exams. All exams are “open book”, which means you can look at documents and additional information, and you have 24 hours to complete each one.
The official Judge Hub Discord has an “Ask-a-judge” tab where people send a wide range of questions to the channel. This chat room is a good study space where you can read the questions, try to answer them, and then check your answers.
Finally, look for the Release Notes and Back Alley Oracle rules bulletins for each set, as they clarify rules interactions in a much more digestible way than the Comprehensive Rules, which can be vital when it comes to understanding interactions for the exam.
5. Find a Mentor
Certified L1+ Judges can help a lot with your certification process. Through Judge Hub, it is possible to search for judges and send emails individually. Finding someone to guide you on this journey, answer questions, and discuss exam questions (that can only be addressed with a mentor) will undoubtedly help in your certification process. You may find a mentor at any point in this process.
Each region of the world has a specific Community Representative that you may contact to get involved with the judge scene. If you are unsure of who to contact to ask questions about certification and the judge program, these judges are the best ones to start with!
6. Take the L0 Exam
Log in to Judge Hub and on the Exams tab you can take your L0 exam, the first step in your certification process. This test can be repeated as many times as necessary. More information about how the exams are prepared, can be found here.
7. Take the L1 Test
Now that you are already an L0 judge, it’s time to take the L1 test, it is divided into 2 tests:
- Rules: Everything found in the Comprehensive Rules
- Policy: Everything found in the other two documents, the Procedure and Penalty Guide andTournament Rules and Policy.
It is necessary to take the two tests of 20 questions each and have an 85% approval in each one to be able to pass level 1. More information about the exam and the advancement of levels, you can find here.
8. Engage in the Community
The road to becoming a respected judge doesn’t end with passing the L1 test. Now that you’ve been certified – or even before you are certified – it’s worth engaging in both your local and the wider community to stay abreast of program news and act as an authoritative figure for your community. Search on Discord for other players from your region and use the Judge Hub Forum to apply for larger events and conferences. Conferences are another important place for meeting and socializing in the community, where judge speakers bring their experience and knowledge to other judges. Whether online or in person, they also act as a great way to network with other judges.
Important links:
- Discord FAB Judges
On Discord you can find other members of the community, you can ask questions 24/7, and use several shared resources. - Rules Center
A page that concentrates all important documents. - Judge Hub
Here you will find the forum and the offer of events to whistle. - Rules of Rathe rules app
Application with easy rules and access to edition notes of each letter.
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