Three Trails District Tournament
2023 — KS/US
Debate (PFD/LD/BQ) Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideLay judge, only judged a few rounds before. Parent of two kids who did debate and forensics. I am a full time cardiologist. Idk if that helps you. Tech > Truth but you don't have to spend much time responding to bad arguments. I will vote down on being unkind, homophobic, racist, etc. Call out dropped arguments because I won't realize it most of the time. If you think someone has called out dropped arguments wrong, please talk to me after the round. Please don't spread. Clarity will get you the speaks you want. I will try to be as unbiased as possible and will not factor in my personal opinion. 1 person should not be carrying or dominating in cross x. Let everyone speak equally. By no means am I an experienced judge, so please treat me like a beginner. Have Fun and Good Luck!
*USE ONLY SPEECHDROP and give me the code
Spring Hill Tournament: This is my first time judging online so please be patient. Additionally, this is my first tournament on this topic so please don't assume I'm in the topic literature like you are. Please explain acronyms, etc.
Background: I did four years of policy in HS in Missouri. I then did mostly parli in college for SIU
then Washburn.
General: I hate it when people don't start with a strategy. I'm ok with people initially deploying two or
three potential strategies but the collapse has to happen and happen early. Likewise I enjoy the aff
building offensive answers into the aff and using them. Argument interaction has to happen. Clash is
good. I probably shouldn't have to say that, but I do. I am open to any argument, but as with anyone
else I do have particular biases.
Specifics:
Counterplans- pretty much the only thing that should be said here is that I prefer unconditional
counterplans, but if nobody checks the status, feel free to kick it. If you do go for condi good, you
better be damn good on theory. However, this does not mean I want to hear you say condi bad as some sort of pre-empt
Kritiks/performance- I am down. Biggest problem I have with these debates is when someone just tries
to buzz through the debate. This means I probably won't give much weight to “x leads to dehum”
unless you explain the process in which a person is stripped of human status, and why that is likely to
outweigh something. Dehum justifies all violence isn't good enough. Also, I believe if someone reads a
procedural that says you should not have access to your K you should not be able to justify the K using
the K. If you want to k the procedural on different grounds, that’s fine but I am very very very
susceptible to “your answers to our procedural are illogical and beg the question”.
T- I default competing interps, but I'm open for anything. Please impact your standards debate.
Disads- please explain interaction between the disad and case. Be strategic. Read the disad to get
somewhere more than just an impact.
Case debates that actually clash on a warrant level (not just the tags)are the key to my heart.
Don't be rude. Your speaks will be dramatically affected.
I know this philosophy doesn't really give a super amount of insight. If you have questions, please ask.
I would rather let you know I'm not a fan of an argument instead of listening to too much of it. Once
again, do anything you want to in the debate round. Its just a game.
Put me on the e-mail chain - aegoodson@bluevalleyk12.org and annie.goodson@gmail.com
**I'll be honest, I wrote my dissertation this summer and have done basically zero reading in this topic literature. Assume I'm unfamiliar with the specific scholarship you are reading.
Top Level:
I'm the head coach at Blue Valley West. I tend to value tech over truth in most instances, but I 100% believe it's your job to extend and explain warrants of args, and tell me what to do with those args within the context of the debate round. I expect plans to advocate for some sort of action, even if they don't present a formal policy action. I won't evaluate anything that happens outside of the debate round. This is an awesome activity that makes us better thinkers and people, and when we get caught up in the competition of it all and start being hateful to each other during the round (which I've 100% been guilty of myself) it bums me out and makes me not want to vote for you. Be mindful of who you are and how you affect the debate space for others--racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. will result in you losing the round and I won't feel bad about it.
Delivery:
Clarity is extremely important to me. Pause for a minute and read that last sentence again. Speed is only impressive if you are clear, and being incomprehensible is the same as clipping in my book. I'm generally fine with [clear] speed but need you to slow down on authors/tags. You need to speak slower in front of me than you do in front of a college kid. Slow down a few clicks in rebuttals, and slow down on analytics. The more technical your argument, the slower I need you to go. I won't evaluate anything that's not on the flow. Please signpost clearly and extend warrants, not just authors/dates. Good rebuttals need to explain to me how to fill out the ballot. I'm looking for strong overviews and arguments that tell a meaningful story. We often forget that debate, regardless of how fast we are speaking, is still a performative activity at its core. You need to tell a story in a compelling way--don't let speed get in the way of that. Going 9 off in the 1NC is almost always a bad call. I'd rather you just make a few good arguments then try to out-spread the other team with a lot of meh arguments. I think going a million-off in the 1NC is a bad trend in this activity and is often a bad-faith effort to not engage in a more substantive debate.
T:
I default to competing-interps-good, but I've voted on reasonability in the past. Give me a case list and topical versions of the aff. If I'm being honest I definitely prefer DA/CP or K debates to T debates, but do what you enjoy the most and I will take it seriously and evaluate it to the best of my ability.
Performance-based:
These are weird for me because I don't have as nuanced an understanding of these as some other judges in our community, but also I vote for them a lot? I'm not the best judge on these args because they're not my expertise--help me by explaining what your performance does, why it should happen in a debate round, and why it can't happen elsewhere, or is less effective/safe elsewhere. I have the most fun when I'm watching kids do what they do best in debates, so do you. Know that if the other team can give me examples of how you can access your performance/topic *just as meaningfully* through topical action within the round, I find that pretty compelling.
CPs:
These need to be specific and include solvency advocates, and they need to be competitive. I'll defer to just not evaluating a CP if I feel like it's not appropriately competitive with the aff plan, unless the aff completely drops it. I think delay and consult CPs are cheating generally, but the aff still needs to answer them.
K:
Assume I'm unfamiliar with the specific texts you're reading. You'll likely need to spend some more time explaining it to me than you would have to in front of another judge. One thing I like about this activity is that it gives kids a platform to discuss identity, and the K serves an important function there. Non-identity based theoretical arguments are typically harder for me to follow. K affs need to be prepared to articulate why the aff cannot/should not be topical--again, TVAs are really persuasive for me.
DAs:
Love these, even the generic ones. DAs need to tell a story--don't give me a weak link chain and make sure you're telling a cohesive story with the argument. I'll buy whatever impacts you want to throw out there.
Framework:
Make sure you're explaining specifically what the framework does to the debate round. If I vote on your framework, what does that gain us? What does your framework do for the debaters? What does it make you better at/understand more? Compare yours to your opponents' and explain why you win.
General Cranky Stuff:
1. A ton of you aren't flowing, or you're just flowing off the speech doc, which makes me really irritated and guts half the education of this activity. You should be listening. Your cross-x questions shouldn't be "Did you read XYZ?" It's equally frustrating when kids stand up to give a speech and just start mindlessly reading from blocks. Debate is more than just taking turns reading. I want to hear analysis and critical thinking throughout the round, and I want you to explain to me what you're reading (overviews, plz). I'll follow along in speech docs, and I'll read stuff again when you tell me take a closer look at it, but I'm not a computer with the magic debate algorithm--you need to explain to me what you're reading and tell me why it matters.
2. 1NCs, just label your off-case args in the doc. It wastes time and causes confusion down the line when you don't.
3. The point of speed is to get in more args/analysis in the time allotted. If you're stammering a ton and having to constantly re-start your sentences, then trying to go fast gains you nothing.....just......slow down.
4. You HAVE to slow down during rebuttals for me--other judges can follow analytics read at blistering speed. I am not one of those judges.
5. In my old age I have become extremely cranky about disclosure. Unless you're breaking new, you should disclose the aff and past 2NRs before the round. Anything else wastes everyone's time.
**Clipping is cheating and if I catch you it's an auto-loss
**Trigger warnings are good and should happen whenever needed BEFORE the round starts. Don't run "death good" in front of me.
I try to use this scale for speaks:http://www.policydebate.net/points-scale.html
Anything else, just ask!
Experience: In high school, I did mainly Public Forum supplemented with Lincoln Douglas. I was also the captain of Radio for a year along with consistently competing in it. I have judged sparsely since high school.
Speed: I am comfortable with a moderate pace and do need to mention that too rapid of a pace might detract from your delivery and my ability to understand.
Number of arguments: Any number of arguments work, but I do prefer a sweet compromise with a couple of well-constructed and employed arguments.
Types of arguments: I will vote on topicality. I will listen to it but will typically not vote on theory and Kritiks. Counterplans are acceptable.
General Note: I will not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, other discrimination, or intolerance. None of these generate ideas or solutions that are constructive to building a better future.
Paradigm
Email: Krousekevin1@gmail.com
Background:
Coaching:
Olathe North Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - Policy Debate
Simpson College Assistant Debate Coach (2024-present) - LD focus
Olathe East Assistant Debate and Forensics Coach (2017-2024) - Policy and LD focus
Debate experience:
4 years competing in Policy and LD in High School
3 years competing in College Parli debate (NPTE/NPDA circuit)
If you only read one thing on this paradigm, it should be my thoughts below on extending arguments:
Extend your arguments. Extend your arguments. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS! (THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT FOR ME THAN WHAT TYPE OF ARGUMENT YOU READ) Some of the debates I've watched this year have me so frustrated cuz you'll just be absolutely crushing in parts of the debate but just not extend other parts needed to make it relevant. For example, I've seen so many teams going for framework this year where the last rebuttals are 5 minutes of standards and voters and just no extension of an interp that resolves them. Or 2ARs that do so much impact calc and impact-turns-the-DA stuff that they never explain how their aff resolves these impacts so I'm left intervening and extending key warrants for you that OR intervening and voting on a presumption argument that the other team doesn't necessarily make. So err on the side of over extending arguments and take advantage of my high threshold and call out other teams bad argument extension to make me feel less interventionist pulling the trigger on it. What does this mean? Arguments extended should have a claim and a warrant that supports that claim. If your argument extension is just name dropping a lot of authors sited in previous speeches, you're gonna have a bad time during my RFD. The key parts of the "story" of the argument need to be explicitly extended in each speech. For example, if you're going for T in the 2NR then the interp, violation, the standard you're going for, and why it's a voter should be present in every neg speech. Whatever advantage the 2AR is going for should include each part of of the 'story' of aff advantage (uniqueness, solvency, internal link, impact) and I should be able to follow that back on my flow from the 1AR and 2AC. If the 2AR is only impact outweighs and doesn't say anything about how the aff solves it, I'm partial to voting neg on a presumption ballot
Ways to get good speaks in front of me:
-Extend your arguments adequately (see above paragraph) and callout other teams for insufficient extensions
-Framing the round correctly (identifying the most relevant nexus point of the debate, explain why you're winning it, explain why it wins you the round)
-Doc is sent by the time prep ends
-One partner doesn't dominate every CX
-Send pre-written analytics in your doc
-At least pretend to be having fun lol
-Clash! Your blocks are fine but debates are SOOO much more enjoyable to watch when you get off your blocks and contextualize links/args to the round
-Flow. If you respond to args that were in a doc but weren't actually read, it will hurt your speaks
-Utilize powerful CX moments later in the debate
-If you have a performative component to your kritital argument, explain it's function and utilize it as offense. So many times I see some really cool poetry or something in 1ACs but never get told why poetry is cool/offense and it feels like the aff forgets about it after the 2AC. If it's just in the 1AC to look cool, you were probably better off reading ev or making arguments. If it's there for more than that, USE IT!
Speed:
I can keep up for the most part. Some teams in the national circuit are too fast for me but doesn't happen often. If you think you're one of those teams, go like an 8/10. Slow down for interps and nuanced theory blocks (ESPEICALLY IF THEY ARENT IN THE DOC). 10 off rounds are not fun to watch but you do you.
Argument preferences:
In high school, I preferred traditional policy debate. In college I read mostly Ks. I studied philosophy but don't assume I know everything about your author or their argument. Something that annoys me in these debates is when teams so caught up in buzzwords that they forget to extend warrants. EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual argument. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.
I'd rather you debate arguments you enjoy and are comfortable with as opposed to adapting to my preferences. A good debate on my least favorite argument is far more preferable than a bad debate on my favorite argument. I'm open to however you'd like to debate, but you must tell me how to evaluate the round and justify it. Justify your methodology and isolate your offense.
I don't judge kick CPs or Alts, the 2NR should either kick it or go for it. I'm probably not understanding something, but I don't know what "judge kick is the logical extension of condo" means. Condo means you can either go for the advocacy in the 2nr or not. Condo does not mean that the judge will make argumentative selection on your behalf, like judge kicking entails.
K affs- I don't think an affirmative needs to defend the resolution if they can justify their advocacy/methodology appropriately and generate offense against the resolution. I wish negs going for framework did more work explaining how the TVA articulated is sufficient instead of just reading their blocks with random TVAs v K aff, these debates are often shallow and too generic. I think being in the direction of the resolution makes the debate considerably easier for the aff as opposed to a full rejection of the topic, but I've voted for both a decent amount. I wish more negs would engage with the substance of the aff or innovated beyond the basic cap/fw/presumption 1nc but I've vote for this plenty too. I have recently been convinced that fairness can be impacted out well, but most time this isn't done so it usually functions as an internal link to education.
Document sharing:
I have no preference on email chain or speechdrop, but it does irritate me when debaters wait until the round is supposed to be started before trying to figure this stuff out.
Ev Quality:
I'm of the opinion that one good card can be more effective if utilized and analyzed well than 10 bad/mediocre cards that are just read. At the same time, I think a mediocre card utilized strategically can be more useful than a good card under-analyzed. I don't go back and thoroughly re-read every piece of evidence after the round unless it is a card that has become a key point of contestation.
Any other questions, feel free to ask before the round.
LD Paradigm:
I've coached progressive and traditional LD teams and am happy to judge either. You do you. I don't think these debates need a value/criterion, but the debates I watch that do have them usually don't utilize them well. I'm of the opinion that High School LD time structure is busted. The 1AR is simply not enough time. The NFA-LD circuit in college fixed this with an extra 2 minutes in the 1AR but I haven't judged a ton on this circuit so how that implicates when arguments get deployed or interacts with nuanced theory arguments isn't something I've spent much time thinking about. To make up for this bad time structure in High School LD, smart affs should have prempts in their 1AC to try and avoid reading new cards in the 1AR. Smart negs will diversify neg offense to be able to collapse and exploit 1AR mistakes. Pretty much everything applies from my policy paradigm but Imma say it in bold again because most people ignore it anyways: EXTEND YOUR ARGUMENTS. Not just author names, but extend the actual claim and warrant. Often teams get so caught up in line by line or responding to the other team that they don't extend their aff or interp or something else necessary for you to win. This will make me sad and you disappointed in the RFD.
Hello - Is this thing on?
What did the Zen Buddhist say to the hot dog cart vendor?
Make me one with everything.
The Zen Buddhist gives the hot dog cart vendor $5 for a $3 hot dog. He asks the vendor, "Where's my change?"
The vendor says, "True change comes from within. Now go be the change you want to see in the world."
What do you call the wife of a hippy?
Mississippi
Do you know the last thing my grandfather said before he kicked the bucket?
"Grandson, watch how far I can kick this bucket."
For the person who stole my thesaurus, I have no words to express my anger.
I have been and English teacher for 30 years - I have judged debate (as an assistant Coach) for 6 years. Therefore, I like reason and intelligent argument debaters who have researched enough to know what they are talking about.
SPREADING IS STUPID.
I prefer actual conversational debate. Please use speechdrop.
I am basically a TABULA RASA judge. Counterplans, kritiks, disadvantages, topicality - it is all possibly a winning move if it is done well.
I respect debaters who know their evidence well and can concisely clarify during cross-x.
A big plus for actually understanding how government works so that you can formulate a reasonable plan/counterplan - know what the IRS is actually responible for - know the powers ennumerated to the federal government and therefore what is relegated to the states
I generally do not enjoy nuclear annihilation arguments - unless they link clearly. Sometimes it does, but most of the time it does not.
Tech informs truth.
Hi everyone, I'm Owen. I did speech and debate for four years. My main debate events were Policy and LD. In Policy I was usually a 2A/1N. I went to Nats in LD three times. Please don't shake my hand. Dab me up instead. That's how I'll know you read my paradigm lol. Numbering your arguments is good. I also really like super-organized speech docs.
Policy Paradigm
DAs- Generics are fine. Depth over Breadth but that doesn't mean you need to go all in on just one DA. Circ DAs are valid and Fiat probably doesn't let you spike out of them but that's kind of situational I think.
CPs- Most CPs are good with me. Consult and Delay CPs are probably the exceptions but other than that I'm cool with most things. For Condo I'll vote for whoever wins the theory debate. Dispositional CPs aren't abusive to me as long as there aren't too many conditions to kick it attached. But again it mostly comes down to the theory debate on dispositionality to me. If you do run multiple CPs I'll lean towards "Condo/Dispo Bad" in the round.
Ks- Most Alts are bad I think. Most impacts are probably true but I think most Alts do a really bad job of addressing them. Like, really really bad. I'm kind of picky with Ks. If you wanna know if I'll vote on something feel free to ask. I've read minimal theory in some areas and a decent amount in some. If I read a K in debate it was probably Cap or Neoliberalism but personally, I don't always buy those. I don't like K Affs.
Stock Issues- I don't care about Inherency or Harms much unless you prove that the Aff was already passed or something huge like that. Getting Solvency as the Neg puts you way ahead on the ballot for me. But I need the Neg to prove without a shadow of a doubt that they win their arguments. If there's any in-between area on the debate then I'll vote for whoever I think has more ground, and I'll try to keep how much that impacts my ballot proportional to how much one team won or lost the debate by and also by its importance as an argument.
Framing- I don't think I have a whole lot of preferences or anything when it comes to framing, so I'll just roll with whoever is winning the framing debate.
Topicality- If you win T it's probably an autowin. I think that I'm pretty liberal when it comes to what I consider topical though. No preference on reasonability or competing interpretations. (I'm usually more persuaded by competing interps I think though.) You should probably be running counter standards and voters as the Aff if you go for competing interps (not required I think, but important), and either side dropping voters, counter voters, standards, or counter standards is a really big deal in my book. Also, I think that counter-voters/standards and regular voters/standards need to actually clash with one another. Don't just read them, but have them interact with each other.
Disclosure- If everyone wants to disclose, then I'm 1000% okay with that. (It makes my life way easier.) But if one team isn't comfortable disclosing then I'm not going to force them to. If you disclose please make sure Neg gets case and Aff gets past 2NRs. If you're going to run disclosure theory I want a really really concrete reason. Disclosure theory/abuse can totally be valid but I don't think many teams use it as anything other than a way to the ballot instead of trying to fix actual abuse.
Speed- Speed is fine as long as everyone can get the doc. I'm willing to vote for speed bad theory though. If you're spreading analytics please have them on the doc you send to me and the other team. I think not sending analytics you spread is insanely abusive.
Other Things-
I came from a small school that was really disadvantaged in more competitive circuits, so I'm always willing to vote on Classism voters if they apply.
I don't think novices should spread or run Ks.
I'll bump you .1 speaker points if you reference a piece of media that Jason Segel has appeared in like; How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets, etc.
LD Paradigm
I debated Trad and Progressive.
For Trad- The Value and Criterion are one-half of the round. The other half is Case. I think in order to win the debate by a large margin you need to win more than 50% of both sides of the debate. If one debater wins case and the other wins the V/C debate that makes things a lot more complicated. My vote then will probably be situational.
Any Value and Criterion work for me as long as they add up and work together. I don't have a preference for case structure but I like LD cases that are organized.
For Progressive- Pretty much default to what you see on my Policy Paradigm! V/C isn't necessary in my eyes for Progressive, but I could vote either way on "V/C required" theory. I also won't hold it against you whatsoever if you have a V/C for a more progressive style case.
T in response to untopical Contentions is strategic and underutilized. Framing Evidence to back up a V/C if you're still using that in Progressive is also something you should 100% be doing.
PF Paradigm
I never did PF. Make the round your own and convince me. For specific questions and answers feel free to check my other paradigms if it helps!
Email: lilyren2004@gmail.com
They/she
BVN 23 -> KU 27
Brief summary of my thoughts -
Not very familiar with the topic debate-wise, I have general information because of my political work and research, but don't assume I'll know what you're talking about with topic-related jargon.
Tech over truth any day. Judges usually always vote on technicalities because debates boil down to that rather than questions of truth. I'm more policy-oriented but I'm open to anything. I'm most familiar with cap K, imperialism, set col as both aff and neg args. I'm more experienced with answering the K than going for it, but don't let that deter you from reading a k. I will only ask for more explanation of methodology and links. I like theory, I like cps, I like das, I like T. Intentional malice = auto loss. I won't vote on death good.
Speaks - depends on tournament level and judge pool
27.5-27.9 - lost the debate and didn't do well
28-28.5 - you either won or lost but did okay
28.6 - 28.9 - you won and did well
29-29.5 - you did won, did great, will probably make it to elims
29.6-30 - you won and will probably win the tournament.
Top Level - I refuse to go back and read a card in the last rebuttals not only if they're new, but cards that you say to go back and look at with no warrant. Just say the warrant and apply it with "that's X author". I'm so sick of watching debates where both teams just say "they dropped this so extend it" - what is "it/that"? I will cap your speaks at 27.9 if you do this.
FW - I'm very policy oriented on framework but lean heavily on tech over truth. I'm confident enough to be an unbiased judge and see when a team is clearly ahead. Policy wise, you're better off going for fairness in front of me. Going for the K, you're better off going for education in front of me.
Kritik - I like plan specific links, but I'll still vote for links of omission or generic topic related links. If the K is covering literature I haven't listed in the brief summary, I will probably need more explanation (aside from Ks that have to do with a debater's personal experience). I high-key struggle with the old dead french philosopher Ks. I just need explanation and not sound bites. I don't care for the alt unless it's in the 2NR. Framework-y or material, no preference.
Counterplans -I like them, I hate them. Do what you want. I was and am a 2a, so I'm more sympathetic to aff theory args and perms. But once again, tech over truth.
Disads - like them, but if you read a 1 card DA, your speaks are capped at average and will never go higher.
Topicality - Love it, it's fun to watch those debates. I don't mind to a certain extent the quality of the definition but if it get's too silly I won't evaluate it. I don't have much preference on T except for when debating reasonability. I think that aff teams need to explain why their aff is reasonable enough, saying just one more aff ontop of their case list isn't an argument because I think that all the neg arguments of limits/precision answer that. I also think that teams need to clash more on standards and impacts.
Theory - if you go for it, do impact calc and contextualize it to the debate. I will not be convinced by pre-written blocks unless somehow the other team fumbles that badly.
Misc. - I really care about clash heavy debates, if it feels like both teams are just passing by each other without clash, I will be visibly annoyed and not giving anyone good speaks regardless of win loss. 2nr cards and 2ar cards are RARELY justified, I prefer not to deal with them.
He/him/his. wsoper03@gmail.com
I am the debate coach at Manhattan High School. I did NDT/CEDA debate for four years at the University of Kansas. I worked at both the Michigan and Kansas debate camps this summer and I've judged a lot of debates on the topic.
I am a better judge for topic-specific, evidence-based arguments. ASPEC, counterplans that compete off of certainty and immediacy, and impact turns which argue large portions of the population should die are examples of common arguments which are not persuasive to me.
Clarity. Clarity is very important to me. I flow on my computer in an excel spreadsheet BUT I do not have the speech document pulled up when the debate is happening. If I don't understand you, I will not vote for your argument.
Evidence matters a lot. Debaters should strive to connect the claims and warrants they make to pieces of qualified evidence. If one team is reading qualified evidence on an issue and the other team is not, I'll almost certainly conclude the team reading evidence is correct. I care about author qualifications/funding/bias more than most judges and I'm willing to disregard evidence if a team raises valid criticisms of it. The best final rebuttals mention the author names of key pieces of evidence and spend time comparing the evidence both teams have on crucial issues.
Presumption/Vagueness. I am willing to (and have) voted negative on vagueness and that the affirmative has not met its stock issues burdens.
Plan text in a vacuum. I think there are two ways the negative can demonstrate a topicality violation. 1. Explaining why the affirmative's plan text does not meet the specific requirement set by the interpretation or 2. referencing a CX where the affirmative clearly committed to a mandate of their plan.
The plan text is the focus of the debate. If you think the affirmative's solvency advocate or advantages describe something other than their plan text, that is a solvency argument, not a topicality argument.
Biggest issues in my decisions on the IP topic.
1. If you are going for a kritik, you need to contest the case OR overwhelmingly win an explicit framework argument that tells me the consequences of the plan shouldn't matter.
Contesting the case doesn't necessarily mean reading impact defense or traditional solvency arguments, but you should explain why winning your link arguments disprove or turn aff advantages. For example, if you read a China threat K with links about the plan's China war advantage, your 2NR should also include some defense to the aff's other advantage(s), provided the aff extended any of those.
Neg framework interpretations which tell me to totally ignore the consequences of the plan are an uphill battle in front of me. You are almost always better off telling me why the aff's advantages are incorrect and arguing that your impacts of the kritik outweigh, rather than telling me to ignore the aff.
2. The topic seems very big and every aff seems very confusing. This has been my biggest coaching challenge this year. I will reward specific strategies and case debating with higher speaker points. Update: I am serious about this. I will give high 29s if a majority of the negative speech time is spent discussing specific problems with the affirmative case.
3. I am not a great judge for planless affirmatives. If you plan on reading a planless affirmative, I should be lower on your pref sheet. It's not that I hate them, I just really struggle to understand the aff's answers topicality, presumption, or even "why should we negate your affirmative"-style arguments. In every debate I judge, I will attempt to make a decision based on the arguments in the debate and provide educational feedback, regardless of the type of affirmative you read.
4. I am extremely anti-prompting/"parroting" your partner. Past the first time, I will not flow any argument that a person not giving the speech prompts the speaker to make. I think that's the most fair way I can discourage the practice.
Things which will make your speaker points higher: exceptional clarity, numbering your arguments, good cross-x moments which make it into a speech, specific and well-researched strategies, developing and improving arguments over the course of a season, slowing down and making a connection with me to emphasize an important argument, not being a jerk to a team with much less skill/experience than you.
You're welcome to ask me questions after the debate or email me if you have questions or concerns about my decision.