This past weekend, we helped break the record for the largest retro Yu-Gi-Oh event ever at LDS Houston. 481 players showed up to take the Edison format to the limit. Edison is named after the last Shonen Jump Championship ever held in 2010. The format is a memory of a tournament. This weekend, the memory outdrew the present, beating Konami’s own Time Wizard record from 2024. All of it powered by TopDeck, of course.

This week, we talk about the parts of the tournaments competitors aren’t always thinking about. Sam from Turn’em Sideways breaks down what goes on behind the scenes for a broadcast. Grenton tells us what goes into those judge calls we like to spam at tournaments.

Let’s get into it.

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Fifteen cameras, a replay brain, and 150 pieces of content nobody asked for but everybody watched. Sam has produced every North American Riftbound broadcast, and he's here to tell you what you were really watching.

By Sam Morris

You wake up at 6AM. Your call time is in 45 minutes. It’s a 20 minute walk to the venue. You do the mental math in your head and realize you have time to relax for at least 5 more minutes. You breathe a sigh of relief. You’re awake at least. You take a shower and get yourself ready for the day and head downstairs, get your cheap coffee and begin your trek to the venue. Along the way you begin running through the day’s tasks. You mutter under your breath “Shit, I forgot to make that graphic last night. Wait, did I plug in that cable?” The list grows and your pace quickens as you realize that show time is in less than 3 hours. Finally you arrive at the venue, take in the view of the hundreds of tables and the magnitude of the Regional Qualifier. You spot a spoiler for the new set but realize you don't even have time to read it and rush to your station. You have to finish what your exhausted self from just 6 hours earlier had forgotten to do and you have to do it quickly.

Welcome to a Riftbound Broadcast. Your days are long and your work difficult, but at the end of the day when you sit down and scroll through Twitch chat, Reddit and Youtube you realize that it was all worth it. Every story, every beat that you handcrafted along the way was worth it. Someone noticed and someone enjoyed it. Yeah, there’s haters out there, but you’re not doing this for them. You’re doing it for the people who love Riftbound. 

Hi, I’m Sam. I’ve helped produce every North American Riftbound broadcast starting in Houston all the way to Hartford. I also co-founded Turn’em Sideways. 

Riftbound has become my lifeblood over the past year and with every Grand Final my heart races just a little faster. It’s not just me though that produces these events. It’s a team effort. Our staff ranges from Replay Operators, to Tech Directors, to Floor Judges, and Player Managers. The team interacts with every second of content that goes out to Youtube and our north star has been, and always will be, putting on the best show possible. 

How do we do that though? For you, the fan, the show starts on Friday (Saturday if you’re sitting at home watching the stream). For us, it starts weeks before. We sit in hours of meetings, and days of work methodically planning out every moment. Which graphic will we show? Which player do we want to highlight? How has their previous performance been compared to this event? Who do we predict will win Annie this time? (Spoiler, it’s ALWAYS Prismat.) 

These are all questions that we ask ourselves that drive decisions like camera placement, where the trophy sits, and what resources we need. This is defined as the scope of the event and allows us to have a feeling for what we want to cover and how we want to cover it. We lay out the show minute by minute in what is called a Run of Show. This breaks down what the show will sound like, what it shows on screen, any reads for the casters, names of players, and just about everything you could possibly need at a quick glance to understand what is coming up next.

Starting in Atlanta, we introduced a new concept: Studio B. This studio is a dedicated set designed to record and playback additional content. This includes new segments, and interesting pieces to showcase that Riftbound is more than just a competitive event, it’s a celebration of the community. What started as a way to reduce our downtime between games, evolved into a dedicated studio with a full time managing it. We record over 150 pieces of content that add up to over 8 hours of video and air over 60% of these pieces on the main broadcast. These content pieces range from Interviews with Influencers, Deck Techs with players, best-of winner features, play by play “weatherman” segments from talent and so much more. 

For those who are broadcast and tech savvy out there, you’ll appreciate this next part. 

We run the entire show on a dedicated replay system with 15-20 cameras across both sets. This allows us to cache the games, playback specific segments, and jump into other games to start them from the very beginning! If you’re wondering why the stream doesn’t align to what’s happening in real life sometimes, this is your answer. There is often a large amount of downtime between rounds and instead of filling it with a be right back screen, we carefully curate and track how long each game lasts and queue them up to hit as close as possible to the start of the next feature match. We do this to cover as many games as possible for those watching at home and make sure that y’all are never bored. 

We’re constantly looking for ways to bring more content to y’all and are always open to feedback. This article just skims the surface of what goes into a large scale production. If you liked this article, please let us know! I’d love to go deeper into key parts of the broadcast. We haven’t even talked about all the stats, data, and judge calls that go into making every feature match possible.

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Breach the Bay 2's Riftbound Team Trios hits the San Mateo County Event Center August 22–23. Three players, one team: all six domains across your trio, no duplicate battlefields, and table talk is legal the whole way down. First team to two wins takes the round.

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A Level 3 judge on red shirts, appeals, and why the best tournament is the one where you never noticed him working.

By Grenton

Hey everyone, my name is Grenton. I'm a Level 3 judge for Riftbound, and you've probably seen me at the Vegas and Atlanta North American Regional Qualifiers as part of the Head Judge team, as well as head judging grassroots events across the US and Canada.

I wanted to write this article about what goes into head judging large events. My hope is that this gives aspiring judges a better sense of what these roles ask of you, while also helping players understand everything that goes into running a smooth tournament. 

Role and philosophy are where every head judge can differentiate themselves, but it's also important to understand what the job actually is. When you're the listed head judge for an event, you're responsible for making sure it runs smoothly from both a logistics and player experience standpoint.

The goal is simple: run a great tournament. Whether someone wins the event or goes X-3, drops, and plays side events, they should leave feeling like they had a positive experience. That means understanding both the Core Rules and Tournament Rules and, more importantly, applying them consistently. Consistency is one of the most important qualities a judge can have. Players should know they'll receive the same ruling regardless of who's involved or what table they're playing at.

Head judging also blends rule enforcement with customer service and education. The role isn't just about catching cheaters. It's about creating an environment players trust. A good head judge doesn't just know the rulebook. They know how to apply it in a way that inspires confidence while helping judges improve and serving as a public representative of the game and its competitive culture.

A lot of a head judge's work happens before the tournament even begins.

The first step is understanding exactly what event you're running and which policies apply. For example, a grassroots $25,000 Riftbound event has a defined tournament structure, prize support, and staffing requirements that influence how you organize the day.

It's equally important to stay current with rules and tournament updates. Riftbound is still evolving, and Riot may publish FAQs or policy updates during the season that judges need to know before players arrive.

Preparation also includes building the documents that keep an event running consistently. For larger events, that usually means staff schedules, appeals procedures, penalty guidelines, checklists, and internal ruling documents so judges handle similar situations the same way.

Many players have probably seen unofficial FAQs released before events like Las Vegas. Those usually start as internal judge documents and are sometimes shared publicly so players understand how certain interactions will be handled.

Another major responsibility is coordinating with the tournament organizer. Who's handling registration? How are deck checks being run? Are side events covered by the same judge staff? Is there feature match coverage? How is prize distribution handled?

Answering those questions beforehand lets the judge team focus on running the event instead of solving preventable problems. Of course, something unexpected always happens during a tournament. Good preparation doesn't eliminate surprises. It simply gives you a solid foundation to adapt from.

A head judge should be someone players and judges trust when it comes to both the Core Rules and Tournament Rules.

You serve as the final authority on technical interactions and tournament procedures. Appeals ultimately come to you, and your responsibility is to ensure the correct ruling is made so that games are decided by the players, not by incorrect judge calls.

It's also important to understand what judges can and can't answer. In Riftbound there are questions judges aren't allowed to answer directly, but that doesn't mean simply walking away. Often you can help players clarify what they're trying to ask so they receive an appropriate response.

Most importantly, policies have to be applied consistently. Penalties and fixes should be fair, proportional, and handled the same way across every table. That's what creates trust in an event.

If players leave saying, "I like when this person is the head judge because everything is consistent, transparent, and clearly explained," you've done your job well.

This is the part most people actually see during an event. Your responsibility is assigning judges, balancing floor coverage, and keeping everyone focused throughout the day.

Large tournaments often have multiple teams: floor judges, feature matches, deck checks, end-of-round staff, and more. A clear staff schedule tells everyone where they belong, who they report to, and how issues should be escalated.

Efficient judge call coverage is one of the biggest priorities. If you notice several judges gathered in one place, you break them up. Players shouldn't have to wait several minutes after calling "Judge" because coverage isn't balanced.

One of the most valuable things a head judge can do is debrief after calls. If you have a free moment and see a judge leaving a table, ask what happened, how they ruled, and whether they have any questions. Those short conversations become excellent opportunities for on-the-spot coaching.

Communication is often the biggest factor separating a smooth event from a frustrating one. Players and judges need to know you're approachable, impartial, and consistent.

It doesn't matter if your best friend is playing on table two. Every ruling has to be based on the rules, not personal relationships. You should always be respectful, diplomatic, and neutral. Judges aren't there to hand out penalties. They're there to protect fair play and the competitive integrity of the event. Those goals aren't mutually exclusive. You can enforce the rules while treating every player with respect.

Communication skills also become critical during difficult situations. Heated arguments, frustrated players, or aggressive interactions will eventually reach the head judge, and your ability to de-escalate those moments matters just as much as your rules knowledge.

Before the tournament begins, make sure the judge staff is aligned on policies, penalties, communication standards, and escalation paths. Personally, I like having floor judges report to their team lead first. If the team lead can't resolve the issue, it gets escalated to a red shirt.

Red shirts are typically the head judge, assistant head judge, and appeals judges. Riftbound allows designated appeals judges who function much like head judges, while the official head judge still has final authority if needed.

As head judge, you're responsible for ensuring penalties are applied consistently and properly documented. Serious investigations, marked cards, cheating concerns, or repeated infractions, should almost always be handled by a red shirt. Team leads and trusted judges may assist, but the head judge should oversee the process.

Likewise, major penalties such as Match Losses or Disqualifications should involve the head judge. If a floor judge believes an investigation is necessary, escalating early is always the right decision.

The goal isn't to catch people or intimidate players. Our job is to determine what actually happened while protecting the competitive integrity of the tournament.

I'm not going to turn this into an investigations guide. I already posted an Investigations 101 in the judge Discord, but the short version is this: An investigation is a conversation, not an interrogation. We're trying to gather accurate information, understand the situation, and reach the correct conclusion, not pressure someone into saying what we expect to hear.

That's pretty much it. I know I covered a lot, but I hope this gives players a better understanding of everything that goes into being a head judge.

The role requires wearing many hats. It's a high-pressure environment that isn't for everyone, but it's something I genuinely enjoy because I love the game and I enjoy creating great tournament experiences.

That's always been my standard.

When someone attends an event I'm head judging, I want to do my best so that they leave happier than when they arrived. Maybe they went X-3 and missed Day Two. Maybe they won the entire tournament. Either way, I want them to walk away saying the event was well run, the judges were friendly and professional, and they had a good experience.

If this article helped, or if you have any feedback or questions, feel free to reach out on my socials.

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