reeceaguilar7@gmail.com

Short Version

Very Tech over Truth - I keep a meticulous flow and hate having to insert things into the debate.

Evidence matters, but your explanation matters more. Great cards that are explained terribly won't get maximal weight.

Write my ballot for me in the rebuttals. The more work I have to do on the debaters' behalf, the less happy I will be.

I am very willing to vote against things I believe in.

Policy v Policy Debates ---

Topicality - I default to competing interpretations, but I can be persuaded that reasonability is the lens through which I should view competing interpretations especially in situations where definitions are arbitrary and clearly contrived to exclude the affirmative. Impact framing still matters in these debates. Seriously, don't expect me to fill in the gaps for you. You need to tell me what I should prioritize and why when I'm choosing how to interpret the words in the resolution. For example, why is a predictable limit better than a smaller but arbitrary limit? Why are contextual definitions with an intent to define and exclude good? Why does overlimiting outweigh underlimiting or vice versa? Ideally one team will explain these things for me so I can vote as non interventionist of a way as possible. Remember that T is about envisioning what debates about the topic look like under each team's respective interp.

Theory - Most theory is a reason to reject the argument and not the team. For it to be something I'll vote for the 1AR or 2AC has to spend time developing the argument. If a 5 second blip becomes massive in the following speech I will likely leen neg. Conditionality is something that gives me pause, but I realize that being negative can be hard especially when you don't spend a lot of time researching or going for ks.

Disads - I'll obviously read cards in these debates, but I want to hear evidence comparison from the debaters. Impact framing matters a lot in these debates. Does the Disad turn the case prior to the case solving or turning the DA? Is the other team's impact defense less qualified or applicable to your impact? Does the link control the direction of the uniqueness? Break this down for me, and don't put me in a position where I have to reconstruct everything to make a decision.

Case Debates and Circumvention - The art of robustly contesting the case has gone wayside especially with two topics that allowed and incentivized the neg to rely on one generic that solved everything (ESR and States). If I see a great case debate I will be thrilled. Things like circumvention are RESOLVED BY DURABLE FIAT, unless you read an argument that calls into question the legitimacy of fiat (i.e. a K). Otherwise, I am inclined to believe that Trump hates every aff so you need durable fiat to be aff.

CP Debates - Process counterplans are annoying, but negative teams that out tech and out debate the aff about its theoretical legitimacy will still win my ballot. In the end I generally believe that clever counterplans that establish another avenue to solving the aff, while establishing clear competition, are in great spots. Remember to give me some clear impact framing. Aff teams explain what your solvency deficit is and what that means depending on how high of a risk of the da the neg is winning. Neg, give me some clear judge direction do. I.E. CP resolves most of the aff but there is a low risk of the da what does this mean?

K vs K Debates and Clash of Civs---

Ks vs Ks - These are very fun debates to watch when done well. Oftentimes an excellent critique against a K aff has a link story based off of either the aff's theorization of violence or their strategy for resistance within the given debate space. Links are obviously important to establish competition, but those are only a small piece of the puzzle. If you have an alternative that mechanizes some form of material resistance to solve the affirmative, I need you to explain how it is distinct from the affirmative and how the links prove the perm would destroy the alt's ability to solve. Likewise, if your alternative is an analytic for theorizing or understanding oppression, I need to understand how it is distinct and precluded by the aff's theorization of oppression. Should you say that the alternative is simply to refuse the aff or some sort of a tactical maneuver that says I reject the aff on the basis of its complacency in X violence give me a framing device for which impacts I prioritize and why. Am I an ethical researcher? Am I prioritizing the best strategy to resist x? Am I an un ethical decision maker? What does it mean if I am any of those things given the imapcts and tactics presented to me in the round? I need to understand what I am voting for. Usually the role of debate and the ballot are pretty important in these debates. I do read a LOT OF THEORY and these debates excite me when teams do their research and deploy something I haven't seen yet.

Side Note: Presumption is a very under utilized argument in these debates, especially when the aff tries to defend as little as possible in order to avoid links. Neg teams, what is the relationship between the aff's method/tactic/theoretical approach and resolving an impact or resisting some sort of violence? Is there a reason I should believe that this relationship is minimal?

Plan vs K - I have been on both sides of these debates. I usually find that the affirmatives who are ready to justify why their 1ac s education is useful for some larger or material purpose is in a good spot. If you think that it is an unfair burden for you to have to justify why talking about your aff is good you should strike me. This honestly is a skill that most teams who were excellent at debating the k thrived at. Debate the k and have a good articulation of what impacts should be prioritized and why. Contest alt solvency or the negative s framework.

K vs Plan - Having a link to the plan is always sweet and preferred. My coaching background influenced me to make ks as specific to the aff as possible. That said, I realize that k debates now a days can be interesting even when the links are sweeping and super meta. These debates are still interesting, and I have gone for this genre of arguments. Remember to be clear about what your framework argument is and what metric for impacts I should use in why. You need to neutralize the aff s offense in some way or I will easily check out on risk of the aff outweighs the k. Sometimes k teams find innovative pics or alt solvency arguments.

Framework Debates for the neg- Framework debates get very stale after a while (mostly because I judge these debates a lot), but every now and then something interesting can happen. I feel like there is a way for either side to get my ballot in these rounds. Teams that go for fairness need to win some kind of argument about debate being a game or they need to neutralize the aff s offense through a tva or switch sides debate argument. Classic defenses of debate as a place for democratic deliberation are fine too, but you need to be ready to interact with the aff s impact turns to how society works. I expect you clash with the aff s offense.

Framework Debates for Planless Affs - Go the route of impact turning t if you want but i need to be able to understand what my ballot does and what voting aff does or disrupts. Sometimes these debates can be hard to win for the aff if the neg does a great job of contesting aff solvency. Other ways of engaging t could be providing a different model of debate or metric for competition that helps accomplish some end. Example, maybe the rez is a spring board for x project. Overall explain what impacts matter and why.

Morally Suspect Impact Turns - I've read a planless set col aff against the ICBMS DA and lost, so I know that it sucks to lose to these. That said, I m still tech over truth. I will feel bad if i ever have to vote on these, but if you lost you lost. In a nut shell, if you are that team that impact turns the k go right a head. I will expect the affirmative to defend the moral high ground, but if they fail to do so they will lose the debate. Morally suspect impact turns are repulsive in truth, but the aff needs to understand what components of them are problematic and explain why. I am never going to check out on X thing is immoral and anti _____ so vote for us. Surface level explanation is not something I am a fan of in clash of civs debates from either side. The best clash of civs debates where the k team beats the impact turn usually involves some kind of nuanced explanation about why the neg s metric for weighing impacts is premised on something problematic and therefore reproductive of something violent. I will expect some sort of role for evaluating impacts or some kind of metric. What does this look like? Maybe the negs impact turns are premised on some sort of consequentalist or humanist ethics and those metrics for prioritizing impacts are rooted in things that are bad. IDK explain these things to me in a way that makes sense. Overall these strategies shouldn't work against teams that are on top of their game.

Performance Arguments; If reading performative arguments is your thing, feel free to do that. Just note that I will still flow the debate and expect clear articulation of what my ballot should mean and what impacts should matter and why. I have dabbled in these arguments a decent amount of times, but there are still traits to these arguments I have yet to learn about. I will flow the debate, and the team that clashes with the other team s arguments the best is probably the one that is most likely to get my ballot.

Pet Peeves

1. Reading analytics like they are cards. If I don't get it on my flow, you don't get it in the debate. Enough said ...

2. Expecting me to fill in the gaps for a K that I happen to know. Heads up, I will NEVER EVER insert a reading of a theory or book into the debate for you. Judges who do this really annoy me. For example, saying the "native is abject" is nothing more then a buzzword until you unpack that. If I have no idea what I am voting for I probably will not vote for it.

2. Saying an argument is dropped or conceded when it clearly isn't. I have a good flow, so no matter how many times you say it is dropped I will know the truth.

3. Reading Andrea Smith (I have massive issues with this author, and I believe she is an unethical person.) That said, I won't dock points or vote you down automatically if you read the card without knowing about her history. However, I will let you know why you should not read Andrea Smith Cards after the debate.

Last Notes are tips that can help you get great speaker points in front of me

1. Keep the flow organized. If the k overview is 30 seconds and the rest is line by line I will be quite impressed. K debaters, don't worry if u can't do this because most people don't.

2. Clarity over speed

3. Tech over truth

4. Line by line is a good thing in my opinion, but I understand that great debates can happen without it. Regardless, I am going to be very meticulous about holding everyone to my flow. The 2AR can never become the 4AC- if those arguments were not in earlier speeches I strike them from my flow.

5. I like innovation more than anything when I watch debates. Be creative, don't just rehash the same framework blocks or pessimism cards everyone else uses. If you use the same ev find a creative way to deploy it.

6. Be nice if the other team is clearly new to debate or outmatched.

7. Debate T as if you really believe in what you are saying. This takes the boredom out of clash of civs debates for me. On another small note, you can't say debate is nothing more then a game and then also say its educational and influential at a political level. That doesn't make sense. Pick one or the other.

8. Have very clear impact framing and write my ballot for me. I hate it when I judge people, and they seem to think I'll magically fill in the gap.

9. Make eye contact with me at key moments.

10. Close doors in the final speech!

Here are some things I m firmly against

1. Physically assaulting or touching the debater

2. Grabbing the other team's computers or flows

3. Grabbing my computer or flow

Accessibility Note

if you have a relationship to disability let me know and I will make any and all necessary measures to ensure the space is accessible for you. I myself have type one diabetes, and I have had to inform judges of specific needs I had. If telling me in person makes you uncomfortable feel free to do it via email, proxy, or private message.

Boring Background Stuff - My bio is not that important, so it's at the bottom. I debated at UNLV for four years. My career highlights include breaking at the NDT twice once as a pure k debater who read planless settler colonialism affs and various critiques on the neg; the other while reading hard right affs and cps, das, ks, topicality, and presumption on the negative. The people who have influenced the way I think about debate the most are Roman Kezios, Tyler Snelling, Darrion, Matt Gomez, Nick Lepp, Nate Wong, Tom Gliniecki, Jake Thompson, and Chris Thiele. I most commonly judge k v k and clash of civs debates, but I can judge policy debates effectively as well. My senior year gave me plenty of exposure to these at a high level. So rest assured my flowing skills are sharp enough to keep up with the speed and precision of a pure policy style debate.