ND JVNovice Scrimmage
2018 — CA/US
NCX Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideFreshman at lmu
did debate for Damien hs
email for chain -> josephblmu@gmail.com
you can read whatever you want just be clear
make me laugh and ur speaks will be nice
Chaminade '21 (2a/2n)
Baylor '25 (2a/1n)
TLDR --- I am an assistant coach at Damien HS. I have 0 content based predispositions. There are however non-negotiable rules: speeches have fixed times, sides are predetermined by tab, I flow only what the designated speaker says after the constructives etc. if you choose not to follow these rules seriously then im not for you. You would be way better off having me in the back of a clash of civs or KvK debate as opposed to a strictly policy round. Obviously I have argumentative preferences both in how they are constructed and deployed in round but good debating can easily reverse these.
- If you say or do something morally/ethically apprehensible I will not hesitate to provide you with your lowest prelims speaks.
- Tech > truth, BUT my inclination to vote on certain positions will increase/decrease depending on the level of extrapolation present i.e. arguments must be fully fleshed out in order to be given any semblance of weight in my decision.
- The first 30 seconds of your rebuttal speeches should crystalize the debate and ideally mirror my potential RFD.
- Judge instruction is not asking me to read a piece of evidence after the round - explain how that piece of evidence interacts with my flow and why it should influence my decision calculus.
- My decision calculus first and foremost usually comes down to what arguments are tailored to the casting of my ballot.
- Presumption goes to the team that deviates from the squo the least.
- I like cx sass and assertiveness but just make sure you dont confuse those things with disrespect and aggressiveness
- I default to judge kick absent being instructed no judge kick
- Link specificity is very important to me.
- Do not insert evidence unless it cannot be read verbally.
- Speaker points rate individual performance, strategic/bold pivots, general rhetorical appeal etc. because of this I generally give out a lot of low point wins.
- My camera is usually on, if its off seek confirmation prior to starting your speech.
Arguments --- I am accustomed to and have taken exclusively left leaning critical positions throughout the second half of my career, despite this I have no biases and will strictly defer to my flow for any argumentative inconsistencies. I will not fill in holes for you and you should act as if I don't know what the literature says while showcasing a superior explanation of your arguments.
- Policy Debates —- You shouldn’t pref me high if your strategy is solely reliant on policy args, not because I dont enjoy them but because im not that experienced. I enjoy these debates when there are a vertical proliferation of a few substantive and well-developed arguments as opposed to shallow horizontal ones. I really dislike 1acs that defend both soft left and big stick level impacts. You should implicitly send a card doc after the conclusion of your final rebuttals.
- Theory --- Condo is generally good but I've voted otherwise in the past. Dropping utopian alts bad isnt an auto dub same goes for most theory arguments. Rejecting the arg generally remedies any harms created, you're going to have to do some work to make me vote otherwise.
- Framework --- I have no biases here. Procedural fairness is both an internal link and an impact just depends on how you deploy it. However clash is only the former. Things you should do: Go for only one impact in the 2nr, do impact calculus/comparison, articulate solvency deficits to their model of debate, explain how your model solves and interacts with said deficits vis-a-vis tva/ssd, link/internal link analysis (most of their offense probably just assumes debate or the state), answering the specific 2ac's application of offense to framework without your prewritten blocks, predict/preempt 2ar shifts and compensate by doing judge instruction, ballot framing, and model comparison, answering the affirmative in the 2nr. I think that debate is a game but I also think it has the power to influence different material outcomes. I view Tvas as impact filters that don't need to solve the affirmative but should include aff literature. SSD becomes very convincing to me if the affirmative answers to T devolve into state/state education bad. I am a sucker for smart presumption arguments and have somewhat of a high threshold for aff solvency explanation. Although I never really go for framework, as a 2a who is quite fond of Baudrillard, Im constantly responding to it as well as coaching my debaters to go for it. These debates have the potential to be my some of my favorite rounds or some of my least favorite. If the level of framework debating described above seems synonymous with your style of debating you should probs prefer me highly.
- The K --- Try not to go for a k that you are unfamiliar with; not to say I wont vote for you if you win, but rounds where you constantly evade questions during cx and provide me with shoddy explanations that dont do your literature base justice will be reflected upon in your speaker points. I strongly prefer substantive critical debating and am not a fan of spamming contradictory critical positions derived from different schools of thought. But above all else make sure that you are telling me a story that I can retell to the affirmative in the rfd. I dont like implicit clash, you should be doing the line by line on the k proper. Link contextualization and drawing aff/topic specific historical examples separate good and great k debaters. I think framework is the most important part of the K but it can become ultimately irrelevant if the rest of the critique is winning that either the plan exacerbates the harms you've impacted out or the critique is winning an impact turn to the aff. I will default to judge kicking the alt if it was conditional but you need a reason why I should if the other team makes a judge kick argument. My favorite Ks are Lacan, Security, Baudrillard, Semiocap variants, Settlerism,
- K Affs --- I have experience defending and debating these types of affs and I think that the closer you are to answering the resolutional question, the better. I think that uniqueness is extremely underutilized in these debates and usually helps me weigh a lot of these ballot and impact comparison questions in your favor. When answering topicality YOU WILL LOSE if you dont have a competing interpretation of debate that you can solve your impact turns through. You should have some sort of advocacy text/statement in the 1ac. If I am left without understanding what the role of the negative is under your model thats probably a disad to it. When debating framework leverage your case as much as possible - I see a lot of teams struggling to decide on whether to defend a middle ground or the impact turn, just make sure you pick one so that the story of the affirmative remains constant, inconsistency in the different affirmative speeches both argumentatively and strategically warrant my neg ballot a lot of the time. Explaining how the affirmative solves the offense you are going for is vital. I also won’t vote on an impact turn your model can't resolve so you need to explain how you solve the offense you consolidated down to. The best 2a's pick and choose a few things to go for in the final speech and talk about how these arguments interact with both what the 2nr is going for and most importantly how that influences the casting of my ballot. I default to giving the affirmative the permutation but I can be convinced otherwise.
If you have any questions about anything that was/wasn’t mentioned above you can email me.
Speaker Points
29.6/+ - you are phenomenal and in to the top group of speakers i’ve judged during the season
29.3-29.5 - excellent display of skill, top group of speakers at the tournament, and makes it to late elims
28.9-29.2 - impressive display of skill, clears on speaks
28.6-28.8 - above average probably doesn’t clear on speaks
28.3-28.5 - average
28-28.2 - below average
27.9-27.5 - you made many mistakes
- 27.5 - something not good happened
Higher Speaks
- Eye contact during cx and moments of speeches
- Bleach and Jojos references
- Los Angeles Clippers praise
- Labeling and responding to arguments in the same order as the previous speech
- If we are in person and you bring me a redbull +.2 speaks
I am a junior at Damien High School.
Here are some good quotes for your enjoyment:
"Your punishment is indian food"- Chris Paredes & Donny Peters
"My prediction for you, Noah, is 1-4"- Chris Paredes
"Where is my red bull"- Brendan Tremblay
"Ayyyyyyy, wassuuuup hooommmmmmieeeee!!!!!"- Nolan de Jesus
"Get out of my chair"- Brendan Tremblay
"Jermaine get out"- Tristan Bato
"That's a dollar"- donny Peters
"My dad crashed our self-driving Tesla"- Nolan De Jesus
*presses the no button*- Chris Paredes
"That 2ar in doubles was pretty fire, am I right guys?"- Brendan Tremblay
"Give me all of your candy"- Timothey Lewis
"is ending arm sales to Lybia topical?"- Tristan Bato's girlfriend (Kelly)
"Can you sign my permission slip?"- Leon asking his parents, because he is not an adult yet
"Noah is their advantage called frontline?"- Joseph barragan
"My uncle's name is Shaquille O'neil"- Omar Darwish
"The Ukraine"- Noah Bartholio & Joseph Barragan
"I am functionally a senior"- Tristan Bato, when he was only a junior
"This politics file is the same as last year's, but you took out all of the cards regarding immigration"- Chris Paredes
"The Counterplans solves, that's Tremblay 19"-Brendan Tremblay
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.
Background Info
I debated for 4 years for Downtown Magnets High School (LAMDL) and I am currently a sophomore JV debater at the University of Southern California.
Misc. Debate Information
Please include me in the email chain using: victor.briseno21@gmail.com
Write my ballot for me
I do not take prep time for flashing or emailing, but please make it quick. Please inform me if you're having technical difficulties.
Overviews are not necessary, but if you want to point out an important concession or something of the sort by all means go ahead, but please make sure that you point this out again real quick on the line by line. Overviews do make my job easier as they high light the arguments that you want me to focus on. Just assume judge are lazy when it comes to making decisions, WRITE MY BALLOT FOR ME DURING YOUR LAST REBUTTAL. Tell me exactly why I vote for your side, concessions and impacts that win you the debate etc.
Framing is very important, especially if the framing is reasonable. Telling me how I should evaluate the round in terms of your impacts and other framing issues is key!
I will try my best to give constructive criticism at the end of the debate, I will disclose my decision, but I will not disclose speaker points.
I'm okay with tag-team during cross x but please make sure that cross x is even among partners because it will definitely impact speaker points if one partner does all the talking when it is not their turn.
I think that I'm a fairly middle of the road type of judge. Will vote on policy and critical impacts.
Debate
Case
Case is very important so make sure that case is always extended and not dropped by the end of the debate. Teams sometimes focus so much on off cases that they forget to use their case offensively. Furthermore, the negative needs address the arguments made on case to some extent. I prefer policy affirmatives that have both terminal and structural impacts because it provides for a strategic diversity of arguments.
DAs
DAs need to do one or two of these. Exponentially more impactful in the debate if you have a CP that resolves the DA AND is mutually exclusive with the affirmative:
1) Have a strong link and have an impact that outweighs the affirmative
2) Serve as a net benefit for a CP
CPs
CPs are cool but please make sure that it has a net benefit so that it can actually be competitive with the affirmative's plan. I'm okay with any type of CP, but I may be more lenient towards the affirmative if the CP is just a consult CP or an agent CP that has no specific, clear application to the affirmative's plan.
Ks
The link and impact debate are the most important for me when it comes to the K debate. Specific links are preferred, especially impactful if you can make a link in the context of what is actually happening in a specific debate. However, the alternative should still be present throughout the debate and explained. If you're going for K solves case arguments, it's better for the alternative to advocate a specific action.
Framework/T
I grouped these two arguments because my comments for these are generally the same. These debates should always be specific to the round. They should have a substantial impact that outweighs what is going on in the round and the aff. Furthermore, these arguments should always be telling me how I should view the round and debate as a whole. An important thing to note is that I will see fairness as its own impact, but I think education is probably a better impact if you're reading other off cases. As someone who doesn't automatically reject K Affs, I hold the negative to a higher standard when it comes to proving these arguments against a policy aff. I rather not judge a procedural debate against a policy aff, but will vote when there are a lot of concessions.
Speaker Points
Just don't be mean or overly-sassy you will most likely not get something lower than a 27.5. However, being assertive while not being a jerk will probably get you good speaks. Cross examination is taken into consideration for speaker points, both based on how you answer questions and the questions you ask. Nicely done impact turns, warrant more speaker points.
email - nolanrenedejesus@berkeley.edu
Damien '21
UC Berkeley Haas '25
TOC '20 '21
he/him/his
I haven't been active in debate for a min, so I'm not too familiar with the topic
Affs: read a plan
Negs: fine with anything, but be cognizant of my limited understanding of the topic and various literature bases
people whose views on debate are most like mine:
Chris Paredes, Donny Peters, Tim Lewis, Brendan Tremblay, Noah Bartholio, Joe Barragan
Background Info
I did 3 years of policy debate in high school and I am currently a Junior debater at USC.
Debate
-I enjoy policy affs since that is usually what I do personally.
-K affs are okay but you have to work towards convincing me that your aff can accomplish something.
-Same goes for K's in general just prove that your alternative is effective at accomplishing something. Don't just say reject the aff explain why exactly this should happen.
-Theory is okay but if you want to win on this you will have to spend quite some time on it.
-T is a voter and I will vote for if I have to.
-I encourage you all to use analytics because it shows how you have really put time towards the topic and that you are knowledgeable
Other Stuff
I understand that one can get heated during a round but I will not hesitate to dock speaker points if you are rude, disrespectful to anyone in the room at the time of the round.
Make sure that you are clear because if I can't understand you I will not flow it. I am also okay if you Tag Team during cross-x.
I would also like to be included in the email chain.
my email: jenny1013635@gmail.com
nathan.paguio@gmail.com - yes put me on the chain
Graduated after 4 years of policy debate at Notre Dame High School in 2019
For most of my career I have been a 2N, but I have also been a 2A a good amount. By far my favorite argument is the Security K (that being said, if you butcher it I will be sad). Most of my 2NR's consist of CP's DA's and Solvency arguments.
In the end I do not want my paradigm to change how you debate, you do what you do best and you will do great in front of me. GLHF
Kritical arguments -
K Affs
You are probably looking to see if you can read your K aff in front of me so yes, yes you can.
K's in General
Just know I am not particularly well versed in High theory, but I will still vote for it.
For K's that are just DA's with alts attached to them, look above, I am a Sec K debater, you should be fine.
Etc.
I hold a different standard to varsity debaters than to novices, and will give speaker points accordingly - I am fine with speed and my Speaks tend to vary like this -
Probably shouldn't break - 27.0-28.6
Probably should break - 28.7-29.3
Probably one of the best teams - 29.4-30.0
+0.5 speaks for anyone that can make me laugh in the round
Easy ways to do this is by... making fun of Ye Jun Kwon, calling Security "Ryan Powell DA", LoL references, ending the 2AR/2NR with "GG"
Also while dropped arguments are assumed true, you have to actually extend warrants and impacts to that claim - "they dropped it they lose" will not give you a ballot if u dont explain anything.
Please feel free to ask me anything before the round!
Email: a.sinsioco1@gmail.com
-Peninsula' 21 - USC' 25
Have fun. Be nice.
I have little specific topic knowledge, so don't take for granted that I understand any topic-specific jargon/am keeping up with the debate meta.
tech>truth
Very hard pressed to vote on presumption type arguments. Absent any offense, even the smallest chance that the aff does something positive for the world is enough reason to vote affirmative
Other than that, any opinion I have about arguments can be overcome by better debating.
Thoughts
The first 30 seconds of the final rebuttal should write my RFD.
K Affs:
Probably read a plan tbh, but I will enjoy K affs with a strong explanation of what the aff actually does clear articulation of how debate operates under their framework.
I often find defensive arguments weaker and think the counter interpretation solves little of the actual neg offense. impact turn framework standards and the neg's model of debate.
Fairness > Education/Skills > whatever else. Focus on using your framework arguments to engage the substance of the aff and the da's to framework. It's very easy to vote aff in these debates when the negative spreads through framework blocks and fails to directly address the often more developed affirmative case and da's to framework
I really enjoy and prefer judging substantive offense against the K itself. Don't be afraid to go for the heg da or cap good or whatever.
K:
If your K is able to disprove thesis of the aff and the assumptions it relies upon, I will love your K.
I will default to weighing the aff versus the K.
I have an aversion to strategies that solely rely upon winning framework and arbitrarily disregarding huge swaths of the debate. I will assign less weight to these arguments unless they are dropped. K debate is case debate. The kritik should engage with the affirmative and disprove its thesis.
Your links should reference a specific line/assumption which the affirmative's scenario relies upon, explain why that line/assumption is flawed, impact out why I should care/the material implications of that flawed assumption, and how the alternative resolves the link. The more specific the better.
Ideally, you should be leveraging your answers on case to bolster your argument otherwise I'm willing to grant the aff the truth of their scenario which makes it difficult to win that their assumptions are flawed.
CP: I dislike cp's that compete off immediacy and certainty and find them a bit harder to adjudicate personally.
DA's: Enjoy most flavors of disads, but generally dislike ones whose links are predicated on silly interpretations of fiat.
T: Clearly explain what debate looks like under each interpretation and the implications of your impacts, as well as how your interpretation solves your impacts. I generally feel predictability and precision often guides the way I adjudicate these debates on a top level. What I should prioritize is certainly debatable
Case: I find well-researched, dissections of the affirmative case to be the coolest things to judge and will reward the effort.
Theory: Condo is good, and I don't see value in interps that numerically limit the number of conditional advocacies. Either all condo or no condo
Most theory arguments are reject the argument unless you specifically explain otherwise
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.
Email: kevinsun127@gmail.com
Debate is a research game. Demonstrate topic knowledge, and you'll earn high speaker points. Isolate one or two questions to hinge the debate on, and you'll have an easier path to victory.
You don't have to read a plan. Just impact turn framework. Don't need an elaborate explanation of your vision of debate.
Fairness is an impact.
Evidence quality matters a little more than in-round strategy. That being said, dropped arguments are true (though it'll be hard to convince me that a 1NC DA shell with 50 words highlighted is a "complete" argument).
Conditionality is good. Unlikely to vote on cheap-shot theory arguments unless dropped.
Topicality usually comes down to evidence quality. If you're decidedly right about the meaning of a word, then you'll probably win. If there's some ambiguity in this, then case-lists help your case better than a generic under/over-limiting block.
Critiques should dispute the reasons to vote affirmative. In other words, not a fan of negative strategies that consist entirely of frivolous pre-requisite questions and framework interpretations. The K should make sense in a world where the plan happens.
Counterplans that compete off of certainty/immediacy are not ideal.
Feel free to post-round.
Send out the 1AC before the speech.
On Evidence Ethics
I have judged a handful of high stakes debates this year that were decided on evidence ethics. I’ve found that these decisions are inevitably unsatisfying as they will rely on my own subjective assessment of the argument in question.
I can safely say that I am completely unqualified to judge these debates. I am not on Twitter or Facebook, and I do not interact with debate people regularly outside of tournaments. I do not know what the community consensus is on certain authors, and I will feel uncomfortable rendering a personal judgement an author’s character after hearing 10 minutes of spreading on the subject.
In hopes of giving debaters some foresight, I would like to clarify my perspective on this genre of theory argument. High stakes evidence ethics challenges (e.g. “reject the team because they included the wrong author qualifications”, “reject the team because [author] is problematic”) will require a high burden of proof and an egregious violation. I have a strong predisposition against positioning these ethics challenges as reasons to fully disregard the rest of your opponents arguments, and I would prefer to just reject the argument in question rather than to hinge my decision on it.
In these circumstances, I would suggest clearly explaining which of your opponents arguments I should throw out if I resolve this challenge in your favor.
Would rejecting this author evaporate your opponent’s framework argument? Should the negative even be allowed to substitute this author with another that makes a similar argument? You’re likely to get further with me by detailing the implications of this ethics challenge in terms of the rest of the debate rather than relying on me to assume that I should automatically make it a gateway issue.
I would suggest finding other ways outside of a competitive debate argument to navigate this ethical challenge rather than placing it in my hands as a judge.
i don't know much about the topic
do whatever you'd like as long as your arguments have warrants
im expressive during debates so pay attention