Pronouns: He/Him/His

Email: tjbdebate@gmail.com

I'd really appreciate a card doc at the end of the round.

About me

Debated in policy for four years at Damien High School in La Verne, CA. I placed pretty well at some national tournaments and received some speaker awards along the way. I have worked as a judge and staff member at the Cal National Debate Institute. I was a consultant/judge for College Prep, and this is my first year as an assistant coach for College Prep.

I mostly think about debate like her. If you like the way she thinks then I probably think the same way.

Top Level

**** I will try my hardest to flow without looking at my computer so I suggest debating as if I have no reference to what is being read. Clarity is much more important than unchecked speed ****

Debate is a competition, but education seems to be the most intrinsic benefit to the round taking place. I believe that debates centered around the resolution are the best, but that can mean many different things. Debate is also a communicative activity so the first thing that should be prioritized by all the substance is the ability to clearly convey an argument instead of relying on the structure and tricky nature of policy debate.

The most important thing for me as a judge is seeing line-by-line debating instead of relying upon pre-written blocks. Drops happen and that is debate, but what I most hate to see are students reading off their laptops instead of making compelling indicts of their opponents' arguments off the top of their heads. Debate requires some reaction to unexpected things but I think that it enhances critical thinking and research skills.

When it comes to content, I sincerely do not have any big leans toward any type of argument. Just come to the round with a well-researched strategy and I will be happy to hear it. My only non-starters are arguments that promote interpersonal violence, prejudice toward any group of people, or danger toward anyone in the round. If those arguments are made, the offending team will lose, receive a 0 for speaker points, and I will speak with their coach. The safety of students is the number one priority in an academic space such as debate.

Thoughts on Specific Arguments Below:

Disadvantages: Impact calculus and Turns case/Turns the DA at the top, please. These debates are won and lost with who is doing the most comparison. Don't just extend arguments and expect me to just clean it up for you. I like politics DAs, but I want more comparisons of whose evidence is better and more predictive instead of just dumping cards without any framing arguments. Go for the straight turn. I love bold decisions that are backed up by good cards.

Counter plans: I am all about good counterplan strategies that have great solvency evidence and finesse. I have grown tired of all the nonsense process, agent, and consult counter plans, and while I will vote for them, I prefer to hear one that is well-researched and actually has a solvency advocate for the aff. Regarding theory, most violations are reasons to justify a permutation or to lower thresholds for solvency deficits, not voters. Consult CPs are however the most sketchy for me, and I can be convinced to vote against them given good debating.

Topicality: Love these debates, but sometimes people get bogged down by the minutiae of the flow that they forget to extend an impact. Treating T like a disad is the best way to describe how I like teams to go for it. Please give a case list and/or examples of ground loss. Comparison of interpretations is important. I think that the intent to exclude is more important than the intent to define, but this is only marginal.

Kritiks: Over time I have become more understanding of critical arguments and I enjoy these debates a lot. The alternative is the hardest thing to wrap my head around, but I have voted for undercovered alternatives many times. I think that the more specific link should always be extended over something generic. Extending links is not enough in high-level rounds, you have to impact out the link in the context of the aff and why each piece of link offense outweighs the risk of the aff internal link. I prefer that the negative answer the aff in these rounds, but I do not think it is impossible to win without case defense. The only thing that matters is winning the right framework offense.

Planless Affs: Performance 1ACs are great but there has to be an offensive reason for the performance. I won't vote on a dropped performance if there is no reason why it mattered in the first place. I prefer that these affs are in the direction of the topic, but if there is a reason why only being responsive to the resolution matters, then I am fine with it not being so. Framework is a good strategy, but I don't like voting on fairness, because I don't believe that it is a terminal impact. I believe that having a fair division of labor is important, but not because debate is a game. Debate has intrinsic educational value and both teams should be debating over how they access a better model of the activity. For the negative, I like it when teams just answer the aff method and clash over the effectiveness of the 1AC.

Conditionality: I think that up to 3 advocacies are fine for me. Anything more and I am more sympathetic to the aff. Don't get it twisted, if the neg screws up debating condo, I will vote aff.

Feel free to ask me anything before the round. Most importantly compete, respect each other, and have fun.

Ian Cook, student at The Meadows School in Las Vegas, NV. I debate Varsity Policy.

Contact: cookerlv@gmail.com

If you do a handstand before the round I will vote for you. It doesn't have to be good.

CASE/GENERAL

I mostly debate policy over K arguments, so if you're reading a K aff make sure to deliberate. I judge novice teams. If one team makes a big mistake that I catch, I won't vote on it unless their opponent points it out. I'll make sure to let you know after the debate. Please add me to email chains. If you don't, make sure to not speak too fast.

K

Again, I prefer policy arguments, but I won't vote policy over the K. As long as the team presenting the K is clear enough for both their opponents and me it should be fine. It can be tricky for novices to respond to the K, so I'll give a bit of wiggle room for minor mistakes.

T

I like topicality. However for me to vote neg on T the neg needs to win all parts of it, considering winning T means winning the entire debate.

DA/CP

Should be fine as long as you make your links clear, and use impact calculus to make it clear why I should vote for you.

CX/SPEAKS

The longer you take to respond to a question, the lower your speaker points get. Also, avoiding questions will lose you speaker points. Keep in mind, though, that I don't evaluate speaks based on Cross-x as much as I evaluate speaks. I won't take prep for flashing or sending email, but if you take too long or your computer magically breaks I'll deduct speaks. Make sure that if you aren't taking prep time your partner isn't prepping for their speech.

I have 5 years of debate experience. I did two years of policy and two years of public forum, and I now do British parliamentary at the University of Laverne. If you make me laugh or smile, I'll be more willing to give you better speaks, but don't fish for votes, make it natural.

I'm good with speed

If you're debating policy try to have some original thoughts, I think the activity becomes boring when all you do is read other people's stuff.

If you have any questions, my email is: colin.coppock@laverne.edu

email (yes, include both): lpgarcia19@damien-hs.edu; damiendebate47@gmail.com

LD: policy pls (below should still be applicable)

If you have any questions feel free to ask me before the round starts.

TL;DR Go for what you're most prepared for and can execute the best because that's what really makes debate fun and productive. I'm not very familiar with the topic.

My Beliefs:

Debate is good

Tech > Truth

Clarity above all else

Clipping is bad

My leanings:

Util good

I, as the judge, am a policymaker

Fiat is a good thing

A couple Great cards + explanation always beats 10 pieces of mediocre ev

There's not an excuse to avoid line by line

Topicality

I don't think fairness isn't an intrinsic impact, same as education. It can be an internal link to other things but simply ending your impact calculus with "They KILLED FAIRNESS" won't do it for me. Just treat your extensions and impact work like you would any DA. (I WON'T EVALUATE T AS A DA. TOPICALITY IS A YES OR NO QUESTION. RISK ANALYSIS FOR T IS ABSURD). I also lean heavily towards competing interpretations; the quality of your ev does matter.

Kritiks

If your entire strategy solely centers around the K, I'm not a great judge for you. I can certainly understand your generic Cap and Security K but any high theory requires a whole lot of explanation for me. Just because I might understand what you're saying doesn't mean you can weasel your way around with generic links if it's even somewhat contested. If you're aff I'd down to see an impact turn (obvious exceptions, of course, are: racism good, sexism good, homophobia good, etc.) I really do not want to hear Death Good, please do not do that in front of me.

K-Affs (Includes Framework)

I have written my disdain for K-Affs before. I am not going to just dismiss it; even as I maintain a reluctance to vote on them, I am not one you should just breeze through your blocks and force me to do work for you. I will be the first to admit that I need a lot of explanation as noted above in "Kritiks". Given all this said, framework is an uphill battle for the aff. I am not very sympathetic to generic "fairness bad/your education bad" impact turns; I think policy education is generally a good thing.

Theory

The only theory I feel even remotely comfortable voting aff (TO REJECT THE ARGUMENT) on are utopian fiat bad, object fiat bad, riders DA bad, delay cps bad, and floating piks bad. Condo is generally a good thing and I personally think you're better off not reading that 30 second shell if the neg is running just a single conditional advocacy but I understand time skew. Also, in principle, I judge-kick. I think that as I default to Condo being a good thing, and the status quo always being a logical option, it would be illogical for me to choose a plan of action when doing nothing would be better.

Also, I doubt I'll ever vote for Word Piks. This certainly doesn't excuse excessively disrespectful behavior.

Disads

I like politics a lot and I like engagement and clash at the link level even more so. Turns case analysis (vice versa for the aff) is always a good thing and should be a must have. Straight turns are fun.

Impacts

I love impact turns and my personal favorites are: Heg Good, Warming Good, Cap Good, Dedev, and CWG. It will take a lot for me to evaluate 0 risk of an impact. It can happen but your cards need to be far better.

Email chain: eugiampe@gmail.com

I have profound appreciation for the dedication that goes into preparing for debate tournaments, and I judge debates accordingly. I will avoid intervening in decisions with my personal opinions and default strictly to the technical debating and evidence presented in the round. Given that, I won’t adjudicate issues that occurred outside of the debate at hand. I don’t evaluate ad-Homs as technical arguments or under an offense-defense paradigm. I strongly believe you should email your opponents if you find an ethical issue with their evidence or strategy pre-round. Treating ethics challenges like case negs is worse for the integrity of the activity than the ethics issues in question.

Debated for Palos Verdes Peninsula High School all four years.

I usually ran very policy arguments, so I tend to lean towards topical Affirmatives.

I never ran K affs or just Ks in general, I dont really like. Always sympathetic to good stock util extinction impacts and cap good.

Disads and Counterplans are no different, I've been out of the high school policy loop for a little bit now so I am not familiar with the topic. Make sure you explain links, the plan text, impacts, all that good stuff clearly.

Impact calc is pretty important to me.

Make sure you extend arguments throughout the debate - I will evaluate how arguments are handled until the end of the round, so don't expect me to manually do all that work for you.

Theory is fine by me, but needs to sound convincing enough.

Theory should have all components in the shell, I tend to not like frivolous theory, unless its absolutely absurd maybe you'll catch me laugh at you. Make sure you make it clear what violating the interp means: for example dropping the debater or a specific argument. I'd vote on it.

I won't really vote on condo unless, of course, its dropped in its entirety.

Topicality is very important as well, with reasonable definitions. I like topicality when it's run well, I'd vote on it.

Also love good framework debates against critical affirmatives.

Anything not responded to is fair game for me to evaluate (as long as its extended).

Keep track of each other's time, I wont care if they use 15 minutes of prep time if you don't call them out on it.

Oh also prep time ends after the cards are sent out.

Email: tobby46@gmail.com

That means add me to the email chain please. Thank you

I am an experienced Public Forum and Policy debater. I competed for 2 years at CSUF before graduating. I've been coaching the Public Forum and Novice Policy team for CSUF from 2015-2019. I'm also the head coach for Assurance Learning Academy - Harbor City.

AFFs: I like traditional and nontraditional affirmatives. I think it keeps everyone on their toes.

Framework: Have an interpretation that allows you to be competitive for both the AFF and NEG. Tell me how you want me to vote.

Counter Plans: I love a good counter plan. But coming up with a good CP comes with great responsibility. Coming up with a CP puts the burden of proof on you to prove why your plan is better. AFF, tell me why I should reject the CP.

Impacts: Make sure all your claims have impacts. This tells me why your argument is important. If there is no impact, then why does your argument matter? Tell me why your impact is more significant than your opponents impact.

If you want my ballot make sure your arguments are consistent across the flow. Tell me why I should vote for you clearly in the 2NR/2AR.

Flow and respond to what the other team says.

I don't have the speech doc open so do things that make it easier for me to flow. Position yourself so I can hear you. Don't speak into your laptop or stand on the opposite side of the room. Don't read typed-out things like they are the text of a card. Slow down and change the intonation of your voice when you're speaking.

If I don't understand something, I will not vote on it even if it is conceded.

Corss-x starts right after the constructive speech ends.

Starting and stopping prep each time you need to use more prep time will cost at least 15 sec.

Very simply, if you have trigger warnings because the topics are more taboo then I am not the judge for you. If you can't explain it to your school administration or parents without them raising concerns then don't run it in front of me. Time and place are important.

Things I will not vote on (AUTO 25 Speaks):

Arguments that suggest students should engage in risky behavior.

Death is good.

Fear of death is bad

Aff's that don't defend the resolution.

Aff's that link to debate in general instead of the resolution.

Judge pref disclosure

Disclosure

Asking me to vote on something that happened before the debate round started.

Asking me to vote on something that happened after the debate round is over.

Vote for a team because they are part of a marginalized group.

Bataille

Baudrillard

Settler Colonialism

Deleuze

Psychoanalysis

ontological argument

epistemological arguments.

In fact, it would be better if you just didn't run a K.

PIC's

Condo CP's

Topical CP's

Consult CP's

conditions CP's

A Critique of Full Text Disclosure

Spreading bad

A Critique of Disclosure

Vote only for women

This list will be ongoing. I will update it to let you know.

So what is left you might ask:

Case debate

Topicality

Da's

CP's that are not listed above.

Other things you might want to know:

1. Da's can have a zero-risk.

2. Aff adv's can have zero risk

3. Solvency can have zero risk

4. Substantial will be important in these types of debates.

5. The neg will get a healthy dose of presumption.

I really would like to listen to a debate about the resolution.

Updates:

PF is different from Policy. PF shouldn't try and be policy. If you try to be policy in a PF then you won't be as successful. You don't need to spread. Few cards are better. Explaining good. Tagline extensions only are bad.

I have been judging lots of PF rounds. And here are some things you should know.

1. I am more truth over tech. I would consider it
2. You might have evid on the world is flat. It doesn't mean it is true. The other team might not have evid on the world is round. I am still going to vote on the world is round, if they say it is round without evid.
3. The more internal links you have to your impact. The less likely it is.
4. Probability is more important than possibility.
5. Having 20 cards with two-sentence each won't get you very far.
6. Cutting evidence out of context is becoming a problem. Don't do that. Seriously, don't do that.
7. The big questions on the topic matter.
8. Common sense arguments are better than stupid arguments with cards.
9. Saying the other team dropped an argument when they didn't will cost you speaker points! I am tired of hearing this and I would suggest you flow.
10. I listen to cross-x. Cross-x is binding.
11. Spreading in PF is not needed. Your time is better spent going for fewer arguments better than lots of arguments poorly. The whole point is to collapse and explain.
12. When the timer goes off, I stop flowing.

Your evidence better match your claim. It is becoming a race to the bottom with evidence. If the evidence does not match your claim then I will not evaluate that argument. simple!

Maybe I am getting old. I like what I like. If you don't want to adapt to this judge then strike me. If you have me and don't feel the need to adapt then you take the risk on what happens at the end of the round, not me.

If you have questions before the round ask me.

UPDATE: 10/27/23---- Be on time! In fact, be early.

Email:: dylanj.debate@gmail.com :: add me to the chain

Update 2020-2021: I haven't judged this year, or even looked at any topic literature. I'm not going to know your acronyms. Just be clear :)

Overview/TLDR: I was a 2N, but have also been a 2A. I've been in policy debate at Damien High School for 4 years (Oceans, Surveillance, China, Education). Currently attend Emory University, but do not debate. I went for T the majority of my neg rounds (including T-USFG). If I didn't, then I went for the PTX DA (Agenda PTX) or a K (Extinction K, Fiat K, Edelman). I’ve gone for big stick Heg Affs, and Settler Colonialism Affs. I will vote on literally anything (yes, even though I'm from Damien).

Theory: I put this first because this is an under utilized part of debate. Give me solid warrants. Actually clash. If you don't engage them well, don't expect me to vote for you. You should probably disclose on the wiki. (X)-SPEC is a real thing. However, O-Spec is not a thing and may be the only "Theory Argument" I fundamentally disagree with. I reward creative, new theory arguments (yes, you can do that) as well as carded theory debates (yes, those exists too). If you plan to go for Theory, I want comparative analysis on the interps and clear impacts to your standards. If Theory (Particularly Condo) is your aff strategy going into the 1AR, you're gonna need at least 3-5 minutes, unless it's dropped, in which case, 30 seconds - 1 min. Although I was a 2N who read multiple conditional advocacies, I think there is probably more pedagogical value behind 1 conditional advocacy. If you don't tell me your dispositionality standards, then you probably shouldn't have said you were dispositional. I'll just flow you conditional in that case. Otherwise, Dispositionality =/= Conditionality. Perf Con is probably bad. If theory arguments aren't well-articulated and/or are overly blippy, I'll simply dismiss them. Of course, you can always convince me you're right, even if I disagree with you - the flow almost always dominates. These are just some vague opinions to help guide your strategies. I'll vote on anything... Except O-Spec. That's still not a thing.

Topicality: It's the only "rule" of the game. Affs are rarely ever topical. That being said, I still have a high threshold for T debates. You need to execute well for me to vote on it. 40 seconds in the 1NR is not enough. Nothing is core of the topic, so stop saying your aff is - this isn't an argument. Legal precision, if you actually understand why your definition is legally precise, is one of my favorite arguments. Also, debaters underutilize "jurisdictional voting issues." If you don't know what that means, go learn it to do T better. Reasonability is a standard for a Counter Interp, not a "we reasonably meet." Topicality is a procedural, so don't pretend like you can make it a time skew. "Lol, they dropped T - vote neg" doesn't mean anything and I won't vote for you. It'd be a disgrace to T debates. I tend to evaluate T before other Theory, but can be convinced otherwise. Go for Framework like it's T... because it is. I've gone for 13 minutes of T in the block against an aff with a plan. I love a good Topicality debate.

Case: Why have these debates died? Seriously, a 2NC that can spend 8 minutes on case might deserve a 30. I reward good case debate. Make teams cry because you've researched their aff better than they have. Case debate =/= impact turns.

Kritiks: Look. No high schooler actually knows how to run a K. Y'all are lazy and reading your coaches blocks. I know, because I was a lazy K debater too. Still, don't expect me to know all your "buzz words". I'm open to your kritik, but I want a substantive alternative - not just reject the aff. No alt => no K => linear disad => see impact turns OR just lose the K. Also, the link debate should be clear. Don't have your blocks be written by your coaches and have the cards not support it, even if you are right in the grand scheme of the literature base. Also, Baudrillard sucks and the fiat K is the K of the damned.

Impact Turns: These always tend to be messy, or become the messy strategy of kicking the alt and going for the K links as case turns (which isn't that great, because the aff always has a small chance of solving something). Keep it clean and clear. 1-defense on top 2-links and internal links 3-terminal impacts. That should be the order of the impact turns every time. If you don't win defense, it becomes a DA that I can weigh case against. (Believe me, this is not a good place for you to be).

Disadvantages: I love complex DAs. Be clear on the impacts. Love the addition of impact scenarios in the block. Make it impossible for the aff to deal with, but still have a clear story. For the PTX DA in particular, this is both the worst and best DA in existence - if you can't explain the story of these DAs coherently, don't go for them. I personally don't think election based PTX DAs are good - I err on the side of the aff, since the uniqueness is shotty at best; polls have far too many problems and have too many uncontrolled variables. But I'll still evaluate the DA.

Counterplans: They must have a net benefit. They must have a solvency advocate. I love Advantage CPs, but only if they have a solvency advocate. Cheating CPs are cool with me.

K-Affs: K-Affs aren't my favorite, but I'll evaluate the flow - honestly, you do you. I think a lot of K-Affs think not reading a plan is a vital component. It's probably not. If it's a method v method debate, I tend to find that these round are always lacking clash and hard to evaluate. Try and make it easy and actually engage with the philosophical underpinnings of the aff/neg kritik. I tend to lean negative on the question of T-USFG, but it doesn't mean you have a guaranteed neg ballot. Or you can just read the Heg Good K against the K-Aff - thats probably an easy neg ballot, but still not guaranteed.

Side Notes:

You do You! Just because I'm from Damien, doesn't mean I won't evaluate a K, K-Aff, or K v K Debate. Just because I'm from Damien, doesn't mean I ONLY vote for T/Framework, heg or (x)-war good. I want you to do what arguments you believe are best/true. The only thing I ask is: make an argument.

Help! I'm Aff!: straight turn DA's, exploit double-turns, have tricky Affs, and write my ballot in the 2AR.

Help! I'm Neg!: if the 1NC just throws bad options around to see what gets under-covered, you will most likely lose. if the 1NC is 1-off DA or PIC, and you're ready to throw down on an impact turn, more speaks.

Debate is a game, but it is also a place to learn. Don’t be racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, or Colin Coppock, etc. We are all friends, and you should always prioritize teaching your fellow debaters the best techniques for being successful debaters.

Blocks: DON'T JUST BLOW THROUGH YOUR THEORY/TOPICALITY BLOCKS! Slow down. Articulate the impacts. Make comparisons. Don't drop arguments. For you (lazy) K debaters, make sure you're tailoring your blocks and not just reading the generic stuff your coach gave you or the crap you find on CX.com. Specificity is your greatest weapon in debate.

Efficiency > Speed. There's a difference. Otherwise, just make sure you're articulating your words and not clipping. (Obviously). I won't yell clear. I just won't flow. Pay attention to your audience! Debate is a communicative activity. So if people can't understand you, why are you even speaking?

Tech>Truth or Truth>Tech: These are so useless. 1 aff card with a beautiful warrant can answer 30 negs cards with crappy warrants. And a dropped argument will [almost] always be flowed as a true argument. Judges who think there is a difference between Tech and Truth are doing it wrong. YOU need to tell us what matters... Also, "Spin is spin"

Depth over Breadth in terms of strategy. I'd rather see a 1-3 off debate that goes really in depth. I get you sneaky 2Ns have strategies. I did too. Predictable blocks are always bad places to be for the neg. But if you are fundamentally winning arguments, even if you don't spread the 2AC out flow wise, that's the sign of a great debater. Spread the aff out on one flow.

“My Aff is my Baby” logic is bad. Be courageous and kick the Aff to go for theory or an impact turn to a DA.

"Cheating" Counterplans? Hell Yah.

PICs are legit... PIKs are probably not legit.

A Few Quotes:

"I may not be a good judge, but I'm better than Sage Young" - Donny Peters

"Framework is like riding a bike" - Lincoln Garrett

"people should impact turn.... everything" - Ian Beier

"that was LITERALLY A LIE" - Elliot McMillan

"My gold standard for debates would have to be Abraham Lincoln vs. Frederick Douglass." - Alex Jeong

"maybe if i nod a lot during t then he'll go for t" - Martina Povolo

"I know this looks bad, but..." - Malone Urfalian

I'm two years out of high school debate and do not have in-depth knowledge of the topic. I debated for Notre Dame for 4 years and went to the NDCA and TOC.

I do not have a bias between traditional policy arguments and newer critical ones

Tech determines truth but truer arguments are easier to win so the importance of technical skill doesn't mean all arguments are equally strategic

Feel free to ask any me any questions before the round

---

Bottom line I know debate but not the topic and you should just do what you do best instead of worrying about adapting

Junior at Notre Dame - debated for 3 years (since surveillance)

read a plan

more in depth -

case: i think smart analytics are more convincing than generic impact defense.

t/fw - I enjoy T debates and am very framework leaning v k affs.

cp - I err neg on cp theory and think sufficiency framing is a good method to evaluate cp debates. i especially like aff specific cp's and pics.

da - turns case goes a long way.

k - i've ran the generic ks (security/neolib etc) and feel comfortable voting on those. If you run more intense criticisms, then please explain the thesis level and link debate very clearly. By default the role of the judge is to be a policymaker, but if you want me to be otherwise please tell me why to prefer your role.

extra points for making jokes about mason peeples in your speech.

A note: I've been out of policy for two years so please take the time to clearly articulate your arguments, as I have little prior topic knowledge.

It is somewhat difficult for me to flow due to hand/wrist problems, so if you speed through your arguments with no inflection or change in speed, I might not catch them. That doesn't mean that you can't spread - just please take a second to pause between analytics or cards. 

tl;dr - Run what you want, don't be rude.

Add me to the chain: frogvillages@gmail.com. I go by Georgie.

General

 I've run planless affs, hard right policy strats, and a range of off on the neg, so most arguments that aren't "racism good" are fine; I prioritize offense.

I give out good speaks and judge based on how well you debated, but am also not willing to reward anyone for toxicity. Be kind to each other. 

If you need a particular accommodation for a disability, sickness, etc., let me know and I will try my best to ensure the debate is more accessible.

Case

Tie case args to the bigger picture - the more specific your arguments are to the aff/how your plan interacts with the neg off-case, the better. Case arguments shouldn't exist independent of your off-case - how you apply them is important. Case turns are under-utilized, as is extending case all the way to the 2nr.

Counterplans

Most CPs are legit unless the aff does a good job of debating why they aren’t. The more specific your ev is to the aff and the higher the quality of your cards, the better the debate will go for you. While I don't require a solvency advocate, having one can only help you, especially if the CP is questionably legitimate.

Disadvantages

I like these debates, but “extinction outweighs” means nothing if you don’t explain why. I appreciate solid impact comparison and framing.

Neg - If the aff is mostly winning the DA debate, having a few "DA turns case" arguments can be very convincing. Links about the plan are great, read them.

Aff - I believe 0% risk of the DA can exist. Internal link chain takeouts are a great and underrated way to decrease the chances I vote on a risk of the DA- as are good analytical reasons why the DA doesn't make sense- and they usually don't. If you have a framing page, don't forget it exists.

Critiques

Engage with each other, please.

If you’re neg, link work is actually important- do it. Interact with the aff as much as you possibly can and please don't rely too heavily on buzz words. Don't assume I understand all of your terms - explain and don't be evasive in CX. In the instance that I don’t understand what your k is (which happens a lot in high theory debates), I’ll probably default aff if they win a risk of their impacts.

If you’re aff, don't get lost - remember that you  have a plan that you can get offense from. Your stuff is probably really cool - defend it. I find myself voting neg in debates where the aff's offense is not directly contextualized to the thesis level of the critique - concession of their theory, for me, lets the neg problematize most parts of the flow for the aff. Don't move  too defensively.

Make framework a thing. I generally believe that the aff gets to weigh their stuff, but that's up to y'all.

Critical Affs

I try to operate strictly on what is said in the round, so how you frame the debate is key. Debates that just complain about how critical affs are "obviously cheating, judge" are not especially persuasive. Framework is a question of competing models of debate - you need disadvantages to your opponent's model and advantages to yours to win.

After being on both sides of the framework debate, I'm  open to different interpretations of what debate/the ballot/my role as the judge is. I'll vote for you if you run framework, and I'll vote for you if you don't - just do it well.

On the neg:  Procedural fairness can be a terminal impact if you have a good reason why. I tend to like TVAs as internal link defense to the aff - especially if you have cards. Yes, the aff's DAs and case arguments mean something - don't drop them. Try to clash with the aff as much as possible, which includes how T interacts with their offense. 0 defense to the aff's theory/offense = harder debate for you.

If you prefer a k aff v k debate, the same thing I said about critiques above applies, but try to establish competition early in the debate or the perm will be very convincing.

Presumption arguments are vastly under-used and persuasive 98% of the time.

On the aff: Feel free to run whatever. If I don’t understand what your aff is, I’d be more willing to vote neg on presumption if they go for it. Have external offense on framework other than "the discussion is important" and a methodology that you can defend. Give me a reason why you need to exist outside of the topic or the resolution. I definitely need a reason why the ballot resolves your offense/what my role as the judge is. The perm is usually a good option in K v K debates. Try to clash with the neg as much as possible, which includes how T/the K interacts with your offense. A few good disads to T/the K are better than 30 oddly named and often unexplained ones.

Topicality

I  find that T debates are unfortunately a lot of block reading - engagement with the other team's arguments has to  be a thing. Make an impact about what you want me to care about - “limits” or “ground” isn’t that big of a deal if you don’t tell me why. Impact comparison is important.

As a warning: Don't expect me to fill in the gaps for you in these debates because I have 0 pre-dispositions on T. Even if an aff "obviously explodes limits, judge," a lack of actual analysis and some decent aff defense probably means that you will still lose. 

Misc about content and theory:

-Slow down. Please don't spread through your theory/analytical blocks as quickly as humanly possible. Theory debates can get techy and can be difficult to resolve when I have no idea what you said in ____ speech.

-More than 3 condo and I'll get annoyed - not enough to vote you down automatically if the aff makes a theory argument, but more sympathetic

-A well-developed 1-5 off strategy is much more effective than your 10 off 1nc shell - your primary strategy should not be predicated on you making sure the 2ac gets like 3 arguments on each flow. I won't reject you for it, but I will be very sympathetic to new 1ar spins/pivots.

-Do I enjoy theory debates? No. All judges have some biases, and this is one of mine: You'll win it if you win it, but I tend to evaluate substance first unless the other team has made some heinous mistake like forgetting to answer condo.