Calling: Tokyo / World Premiere: Part the Mistveil Tournament Report
Translated and edited from Japanese to English by Benjamin Listen
Hi everyone, I’m Yudai Shimizu, a Flesh and Blood judge based in Nagoya, Japan. I started playing Flesh and Blood early last year and after passing the judge exam, I gained experience as a floor judge at Battle Hardened: Tokyo and as a head judge at RtN and PQ events.
Now, I’m active as a Level 2 judge. This event was particularly special because it was Japan’s first time hosting both a World Premiere and a Calling, so I jumped at the chance. Before becoming a FaB judge, I had no prior experience judging card games, especially internationally, so while I was excited, I was also pretty nervous.
The Experience:
I signed up as a floor judge for Calling: Tokyo 2024. On the first day, I mainly worked as a floor judge for the World Premiere and served as the head judge for the Oasis Respite Sealed event. I also judged various other events. The second day was mostly spent as a floor judge for the Calling. On the third day, I prepped promotional cards and packs for the limited event.
Day 1 – Challenges and Improvements:
On the first day, I found myself head-judging a large side event with about 500 participants for the first time. There were a few things that could have gone better.
First, figuring out which tables to use was tricky. We had multiple side events running simultaneously, so I had to coordinate with the scorekeeper about table assignments. In previous events I head judged (PQ/RtN), the tables were pre-assigned and there was only one event, so I wasn’t used to adjusting on the fly or knowing when to check in with the scorekeeper.
Second, distributing the packs for the sealed event was a challenge. As the head judge, I had to coordinate with the product distribution team to decide when to bring the packs to the main hall, and then gather the judges to distribute them. My lack of experience showed here, and I ended up relying heavily on Piotr, the support judge, and Ryan, the side event team lead.
For future events, I plan to get familiar with everyone’s roles beforehand, confirm product and promo readiness in advance, and proactively gather available judges for distribution once preparations are complete. Observing the head judges at the WP and Calling was incredibly educational.
Another area for improvement is handling irregular situations in English. It was tough for me to explain some rulings in English, so I had to pass it on to other floor judges. I realized I need to work on my English communication skills (taking cues from the head judges I observed) and also explore non-language-based solutions.
Day 2 – Challenges and Improvements:
On the second day, while judging the Calling, I struggled the most with explaining rulings in English. This led to calling the head judge twice. The first time was when I tried to issue a GRV-Warning to a player who forgot to check the top of the deck with Nuu’s ability, but the English-speaking player didn’t seem satisfied, so I called the head judge.
The second time was when a player declared the activation of a dagger and then wanted to rewind the action a few seconds later, claiming no additional information was gained. I allowed the rewind, but the English-speaking opponent was again unsatisfied, so I again called the head judge.
In both cases, the final ruling matched my initial judgment, but I realized I need to improve my English explanation skills to help players understand and accept rulings in competitive events.
I also made an embarrassing mistake. When deciding who goes first, a player proposed using odd or even with two dice. The opposing player claimed using two dice wasn’t fair due to different probabilities. Initially, I thought they were right and was about to ask for a reroll, but the player who rolled insisted it was fair. After reconsidering, I realized the probabilities were equal and stuck with the original roll. This incident reminded me to stay calm and think things through before making a ruling.
Day 3 – Challenges and Improvements:
On the third day, I spent the morning prepping products and promotional cards, and the afternoon judging side events and acting as head judge for a CC event. During a sealed side event, I made a significant mistake. A player had two foreign language cards mixed in their deck (two English Transcend cards in a Japanese pool of 30). I issued a game loss because the deck had fewer cards than required. However, this decision went against two principles:
1. Casual events should generally not impose penalties.
2. As a floor judge, I need to confirm with the head judge when issuing penalties of IP2 or higher.
In future events, when handling judge calls involving penalties, I will first confirm the event’s REL and who the head judge is before making a ruling.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, working alongside so many experienced judges at this event was incredibly rewarding. The language barrier and the unique challenges of managing a large-scale event were tough, but I received a lot of help from other judges. I learned a ton and gained significant confidence for participating in similar large-scale events in the future.
Photos by the Judge Photos Team and QJ Wong
English 
Japanese