NSCTA State Debate
2024 — Lincoln, NE/US
Policy Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideCollege Policy: Emporia (2012) + KCKCC (2013-'15) | Sems Of CEDA, Doubles At NDT, Won NPDA (2015), Attended Weber Round Robin (2014) and Kentucky RR (2012).
High School Policy: 2009-'12 @ Millard South | 3 TOC Bids, Sems at Berkley, Won NE State CX (2012).
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I was primarily a Kritik debater in high school and a Performance/Method debater in college.
No matter the form or content that you are presenting, there are disads, permutations, impact turns, links, no-links, internal links, framework, topicality, sequencing, evidence comparison, and all that jazz to be had.
I am most comfortable in a Clash Of Civilizations (Traditional Vs. K) or K Vs. K debate, but I am open to adjudicating outside of my comfort zone, weighing all kinds of arguments, barring horrendous ones.
I find myself voting on framing, impacts, and internal links as a default. Clash - or contrast - matters.
I love unique spins on resolutions and flipping the script on debate conventions (be unique) while also *using* debate conventions (offense vs. defense, evidence, claim + warrant, comparisons, ethos/pathos/logos).
I have judged over a decade of LD (and even PF) at this point but it is still not my forte. Your jargon, or even how you view the debate in front of us, may be lost on me at times. Assume the worst and hedge, and we can get back on track.
For all debate styles: A good speech is a good speech, a great speech is an art form, and the epic totality of all your speeches should feel fresh, immersive, and have levels to it.
By the end of the debate, it's helpful for me if you emphasize clarity and substance above over-extending yourself on the flow, though you should 100% cover what you need on each flow.
Examples rock. Paint a picture. I'm a visual learner who benefits from repetition.
Show me the debater you are, and I will do due diligence to adapt. Play to your strengths.
Truth over tech (the line-by-line), but tech still matters greatly unless and until a cluster of arguments is formed and won that sets and sways the rhythm, tone, and flow of the debate.
Extend your arguments and evidence, not just your taglines, authors, and dates. Address when your opponent does the bare minimum.
I find that some teams don't capitalize enough on concessions or "moments" in debates, or they do so in a way that is merely surface-level. Use it to frame them out of the debate. Go all in (your mileage may vary).
Interact with the crux of their arguments - the best version of what they are saying - directly on the line-by-line and put offense and defense on the flow. Tilt the scales every chance you get. Control the line-by-line.
I try to flow cross-ex, but no guarantees. This is typically my favorite part of the debate.
Speed is fine. Whether it's good for your precise, situationally-dependent speech, or even just the point you are on, is an entirely other thing.
Clarity over speed, always. Especially for the last 3 speeches.
Seriously, slow down on taglines and analytics. Time constraints? I would rather you be strategic with your time than speed/throw everything at the wall, with the risk that little, if any, of it sticks.
I reward debaters via speaks when they a) start their rebuttal speeches with (valuable) overviews, b) take risks (bonus points when they pay off), c) keep the flows in order or at least mitigate the chaos of a million tiny arguments, and d) have great cross-ex's and bring that same energy and clarity for speeches.
I will disclose speaks if asked.
Don't let the debate get close.
I find that strategic usage of time in rebuttals can make or break a ballot, so I might suggest taking a breath to emphasize key factors in your debate.
Don't out-spread yourself trying to out-spread the opponent. A few well-developed, top-level arguments are better than a few blippy, under-developed shadow-extensions. Take that extra second to strategize the big picture before you dive in.
Of course, you could convince me to defer against my default paradigm.
Role Of The Ballot (ROTB) debates are more than just a blip; I invite both teams to interact with framework arguments in a meaningful way because they become lenses for evaluating everyone's impacts organically.
Consider informing me what my ballot does, and how I should evaluate the debate in front of us. Help me feel it with the weight and rhythm of your arguments. Be proactive on this front.
I want to be able to use what you said in your last speech to genuinely help make my decision. Spend time on the arguments that you are legitimately going for.
Going too fast is just as bad as going too slow.
Yes, you can ask questions during prep.
Run your own prep time.
Email chain is preferred for sharing cards, and I do read the cards. I may ask for you to send all cards you go for in last rebuttal at end of debate.
Email: mattc743@gmail.com
Most of all, just try to have fun.
Hi :)
General Info:
-I use she/her pronouns
-I want to be on the email chain ( email is delanie.n0214@gmail.com)
-I debated for Millard North High School 2018-2021, I ran both policy and kritical arguments, I have a slightly more than a basic understanding of Bataille, Puar, Preciado, Derrida, most cap arguments, and set col
-I study political science at UNL and currently coach policy at Millard North
- I don't care if you sit, stand, walk, or look at the wall when you speak
- Please be kind.
- if I am judging your LD round- I am fine with any kind of debate- LARP or otherwise- I'll listen to whatever you read in front of me
- if I am judging your PF round- I think PF is generally way underdeveloped in argumentation, that being said, please PLEASE have substantive clash in your rounds, especially in relation to evidence
TLDR:
-Read what you like, debate well and respectfully
My preferences:
- I have an extremely high burden for evidence, if you do not have a warranted piece of evidence attached to your argument at the end of the round and your opponent does- I will default to the evidence every single time. this means you need to extend your evidence well- explain your evidence and contextualize it- you can read as many cards as you'd like but if the text of the card doesn't say what you're saying it does I will have trouble buying your argument.
-Tech > truth almost always
-Do not assume I will read your evidence unless you tell me to and why (if you have a fantastic piece of evidence that answers every single argument your opponent is making, tell me how. Don't just tell me to extend it.)
-PLEASE extend author names when you extend a card (not only author name, but please put it in there) but if I don't know what card you're referencing (especially if you have multiple cards that basically say the same thing), I can't evaluate it, and tend to buy responses when it is answered by your opponent.
-POLICY AFF: If you do not garner solvency or do anything due to your case ( performance, etc.), it will be hard for me to vote for you. Defend your solvency or prove you do something.
-I love Kritical arguments, but I need an extremely clear path to solvency to buy your argument.
- Tagteam cross ex is fine
- I frequently give advice for future arguments in my RFD. If you do not want that, let me know, I will not be offended.
- I will and have (more frequently than I would like) vote(d) neg on presumption,at the end of the round, if I have no reason to believe that the affirmative does anything other than the squo ( or worse), I will vote on presumption.
- don't steal prep; emailing/flashing is not prep
-condo is not my fav, but I won't outright reject it.
-I love a good theory argument; you need to flesh out the impact.
-T is a fun and good time, but I need the impact of a nontopical case.
- Speed is fine, read as fast as you want, i'll clear you
-DisAds: I need specific links, but I'm willing to vote on a link of omission if I'm given a reason to.
-Debate is a game, but I don't think cheaters should always lose. Always following the rules of debate takes away the fun. Tell me why cheaters should lose.
-Trigger warnings and generally not okay behavior: if you have a case that involves sensitive material in any form, you should add a trigger warning. If you choose to add a trigger warning, you need another option for a case if the material triggers someone. If you fail to provide another option, you will concede the round. I will not allow you to make this space unsafe for anyone. That being said, if you misgender someone and/or are racist/ sexist/ homophobic /transphobic /general bigotry, I will stop the round, vote you down, and tank your speaks. Quite frankly, I'm tired of extremely rude behavior being allowed in debate, and for debaters to have to fight to be treated with kindness and empathy, I will not submit to the current narrative.
Speaker points:
I generally think speaker points are a terrible way of determining success; my rules are:
30 - I think you should win this tournament
29-29.9- little to no criticism
28-28.9- few strategic issues
27-27.9- more than a few issues or multiple critical errors
26 or lower- you owe someone an apology
I default to 28 for the loser and 28.5 for the winner unless I feel compelled to think about it harder.
Bottom line:
-Do whatever you're comfortable with and do it well. If you don't make an effort to get better, you're wasting everyone's time
Hi my name is Arjun(they/them)
-Millard North '23; UNL '27
-I'm a Biochem major and don't think about debate a lot, chances are my topic knowledge is negative. Be clear, and clarify the acronyms please and thank you.
-LD/Policy
-3 Years of Debate: 3 LD, 1 Policy {3rd year was mixed} I'm very flex when it comes to speeches --- I have given all possible speeches from the 1A to the 2NR.
-I have competed in all events tho
-A few achievments of mine, not that it matters: broke at a handful of natcirc tournaments and got to a couple bid rounds but never really got a bid cuz no sweating senior year! I was also the Policy State Champion among others.
-I now debate NFA-LD (One person policy) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and dabble into some NDT tournaments sometimes.
=====Pref Shortcut=========
1: Policy, T, Theory [See: RVIs]
2: K [There is a rank of Ks I'm familiar with in the K section]
3: Phil [This is solely because of how people explain phil in debate - I will not use outside knowledge for you.]
4: Trix (I do not dislike tricks. I will vote on them, however these debates are often just blipstorms that end up being really messy. I just don't think they're strategic or good arguments)
====Houston Update: HS CX=====
I am very unfamiliar with acronyms/jargon y'all r using, do some explanation of the complex economic phenomenon if you are reading some complex economic analysis with heavy procedure and/or a process cp abt how the govt should pass the AFF. I have topic knowledge, but treat me as a novice with regards to the meta and the jargon. (For some base line, you do NOT need to explain what the gini coefficient is).
Start the speech with 70% speed, and gradually increase it. I am not that fast at typing and if I miss something thats on you. Pls be clear:)
Good with 9 off go crazy make the round interesting, make me happy or entertained and I will reward you with speaks.
==========================
Actual paradigm:
-Important things are bolded.
-Tech > Truth
-Scroll down to know debate opinions
Random thoughts, DOs and DON'Ts:
-Will judge your speech docs. Aesthetic documents and good organizing will be rewarded. Bad docs won't be punished but will defo make me cringe/annoyed at worst.
-Again, it's kinda sad that I have to say this, but DON'T make args that make the debate space unsafe. I will literally drop you so fast if I think you are being racist/sexist/queerphobic and all those bad things and end all your hopes of winning a speaker award with that too.
- UPDATE: DO NOT IMPACT TURN COLONIALISM. I will intervene and demand an explanation. Please use your common sense regarding what parts of Ks to turn. (Y'all think this is a joke I'm being serious I have seen this happening)
That's it. Expect feedback and ask questions after the round(even if you won, this is bolded for a reason). The judge is a resource you can use on improving yourself. I will accept post rounding; honestly I get it lol anger is justified if you tried your best. Just keep it civil or else i will just walk out of the room.
=====Novices======
A few words of advice before the round:
-Idc if you want to send the doc or no but if you are, here's my email, feel free to ask me questions on this email: arjdebate@gmail.com
-Side Note: if we're doing email chain: PLEASE use word. I hate google docs for debate, the docs are always so janky. If you're sending it over and are still using docs for some reason, Make sure that your opponent can highlight, download, access the doc, whatnot. I do not wanna see you un-adding people to the doc after the round is over.
-Debate's a game and I appreciate you spending your weekend on this activity. The overall goal for this activity is to have fun and learn. The educational value of debate is precious- try and preserve it. I appreciate jokes during speech and all but save the meme stuff for when you're in varsity
-A pet peeve of mine is talking over someone when its not your cx. If its your cx sure cut your opp off your opp should know when you want them to stop talking. You can be firm, but please see to it that your opponent isn't crying. I really do not want to deal with that. If it is not your CX, don't start it or talk over your opponent. I also will probably not be actively paying attention to cross bc i don't care; I will be listening in the background; but if something important is going on just say my name or call me out and I'll start paying attention.
-I recognize that there is no tab judge and all judges have their biases but i will try my best to keep those aside. Mainly I'm more persuaded by descriptive fws and extinction impacts that's all you should know
-Please do not try to go for lay appeal if you are losing the round, I will cringe so hard. I am generally not that persuaded by lay appeals. How you speak will not determine this round for me, but it might get you better speaks.
-Apart from that, you do you, I do not care if you sit/stand, shout, do whatever you want to do with how you speak etc. I want it to be known that the round is a chill area where y'all are having fun, not stressing over folds in your dress or other kinds of nonsense. You are here to debate, and I am here to judge; end of story. I will not vote on things concerning issues outside of that room or concerning how your opponent dresses/talks etc.
================================
-----GENERAL-------
How I will evaluate the debate:
-I am a flow judge: I will vote on what is in my flow. If it isn't; it wasn't clear enough for me (Yes, judges can make mistakes, but I trust myself enough to not make risky decisions). I am more than happy to drop you if I cannot explain the argument I am voting for. [This does not mean I will intervene or am truth > tech, rather that I need a warrant/justification for why I am voting for you. No matter how ridiculous the warrant is, it NEEDS to be there.] Typically, my ballot ends up being for the side that is the easiest path or wins the key argument [The highest layer of the debate] in the round - Be it impact calc, solvency, etc, there needs to be a critical issue in the round that I can pull the trigger on because I do not want to do work --- Water takes the path of least resistance, and so do I.
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========Defaults===========
-Util
-No RVI
-Competing Interps
-P&P NEG
=========================
Event Specific:
=======LD=======
Start with the highest layer, evaluate the rest later. I will vote for the path of least intervention, I hate intervening and will be instantly displeased if I have to intervene to decide the winner. If it comes to that point, I will be voting on whoever gets presumption.
1] Framework:
-I start my decision with the framing mechanism: I will view the round through your framework if you win it. This doesn't mean you win the debate, just that I will prefer impacts you make. If there is no framework, I will default to consequentialism/util
[Note for TRAD]:
-if you're doing the whole value criterion thing: Please please please please kick the value debate. I do not want to hear a debate on morality vs justice- in debate they're the same thing to me. Also fine w/ single standard stuff if you don't wanna do a v/c. Just lmk how to evaluate the round idc how you do it.
2] Impact Calc:
-After framework, I look to impact calc. Tell me who has the biggest impact, weigh it against your opponents, and PLEASE engage in the line by line.
-I love impact calc debates, please do not try to spoil that for me.
3]Judge instruction:
-Write the ballot for me. Tell me why I should vote for you.
-If I don't see proper warranting, weighing, etc I vote neg on presumption. Simple. I will not be doing the work for you. Tell me why your case/args matters or I will consider it trash.
===================================
=========Policy============
I know these events are different but I will be evaluating them more or less the same. See debate opinions for specifics. There isn't rlly a framing mechanism for policy except for vs K debates but that's more or less alr addressed.
Give me interesting strats, pls don't go for 9-off ASPEC that isn't impressive at all. I love cheaty cps, be as shameless as you can be. If you are going for 2 Ks pls be aware of how the lit between the 2 interacts, lol pls dont run qp and queer op at the same time. Anything goes, j be nice.
=========================
=========PF&Congress===========
- I have competed in these events but I still don't how these events work. God forbid I judge either of these events, I wish you all the best if I am judging you.
- PFers pls for the love of god almighty read proper cut cards and let me know when you're reading a card vs doing your own commentary.
=============================
Helpers but not Round winners: (from Evan Burns!)
First just please signpost and tell me what argument you are responding to in your rebuttals it makes the round much less messy. If I don't know where to put an argument on the flow it is difficult to evaluate. Signposting only serves to help your arguments make it onto my flow. To incentivize this I will reward you with good speaks for ample signposting and punish you ever so slightly for bad signposting.
In order to win a round with me as a judge make sure to have clearly extended impacts weighed under whatever framework is winning. "Extend x because it was conceded" is not a warrant I can pull the trigger on; I would prefer to see some effort to address that issue --- it takes 1 second to explain the warrant. I will mark CPs as "dropped" if not extended --- that doesn't mean you lose the argument, j that I will not consider it unless there is a turn on it. If there is a turn on it pls j say concede the turn its condo we're kicking no offence. It takes 2 seconds. Preferably, to pull an argument through the round the whole argument must continue to be explained and implicated alongside other arguments in the round. The easiest way to do this is to explain why your impacts weigh the highest under both frameworks. I will evaluate the round by looking at which framework wins and then using that framework to see which debater has the most important impacts. This can be easily shown to me by saying at the end of the round, "Judge you vote Aff/Neg because x outweighs under y framework because of abc."
=====Debate Opinions========
-I recognize that there is no tab judge and all judges have their biases but i will try my best to keep those aside.
-Presumption
Alr. Lets address this: Both Presumption & Permissibility go NEG unless otherwise told. I am easily convinced for either side, the argument j needs to be there. But my default will always go NEG unless there is another argument. Yes, even if the neg reads an alternate advocacy.
-Theory & trix:
- I will vote on it. However, if you want to go down this path and cannot execute it properly, your chances at the ballot, and a speaker award will go down drastically. But, proper execution will be rewarded with a W and high speaks. Do not pretend as if you do not know your own lit when asked about it in cross: you should be prepared to debate/explain what you said in the 1NC/AC. If you can't, then don't read it --- It's that simple. Please try to be genuine to opponents who are unfamiliar with your lit, it's the least you can do.
- I default no RVIs for LD and Policy. It will be tough for me to buy an RVI in LD but it's possible based on the egregiousness of the shell. In Policy I will never vote on an RVI, sorry lol.
- If someone reads trix against you, make an RVI against every single one of them!
- Not of a fan of traditional tricks, be creative and you might j impress me. No, I don't like determinism. If it is conceded, you still have to win presumption/permissibility.
Ks:
Sure.
Make sure to have a ROTB, alt etc
ROTB should preferably not be impact justified. But, if you impact turn cap and lose the ROTB, I still have no choice but to vote neg [yes, i know that the ROTB then justifies a bad thing, but unless that argument is made, I cannot make that argument for you. This arg should not be hard for you to win if you are winning the impact turn].
You need to win the alt or the K is fundamentally NUQ. [Unless ofc the k is some sort of a reps K]
Not a fan of PIKs [Unless creative]
Specific links > Generic links
Link turns the case is an excellent argument that is very underused.
You need to win a risk of Impact D to prove a link to the security K.
Out-framing your opponents is a key part of this strategy. Don't be afraid to say outrageous things on the framework page lol. At the same time, be prepared to debate those outrageous statements.
AFF should probably get to weigh the case against the K. [Unless you are winning FW which is not hard for me to flip either side of the aisle]
For larpers trying to impact turn Ks with heg good all that, pls pls establish how it turns the K. Don't just read heg good and expect me to vote for you on it. [Again, needs to be properly executed. I will not hack for you if you run with "extinction outweighs haha!" with 0 warrants and fail to engage with anything]
For reference, I have delved a lot into K theory. Chances are whatever K you are reading, I am familiar with it or have seen it being read. I am comfortable with most Ks on this ranking:
Note: Don't just read this and bust out the baudrillard NC, I will not hack for you if you read nonsense. I still need to understand what you are saying and I will not fill in the gaps for you.
1: PoMo, Stock Ks and Queer Theory [Muñoz, Edelemen, Edelmen spinoffs, Baedan, Bataille, Baudy, Psycho and psycho spinoffs [race, existentialism etc], Cap and its spinoffs [Anarchism, Marx, Bifo etc], SetCol, Fem IR, security, etc
2: Queer Theory[Puar specifically] Afropess(Not bc I don't like it, I j don't know enough and by far am not an expert on this part of literature)
3: Reps Ks. Unless something egregious has happened that warrants intervention, I will not be happy listening to reps Ks, word PIKs etc. If you get up in the 1AR and read a new reps k and you end up linking to it, you will get an L20.
4: Weird Ks,
These Ks make me cringe but I will still vote on it: Deleuze[If you can explain deleuze properly yes, its a 1. I have a HIGH threshold for explaining deleuze. PLS don't make use of jargon that you and I both don't know] [If you read tankie stuff it will leave a distaste in my mouth.], Schopenhauer as a K doesn't make much sense to me, Berlant, Lenin(Seriously wtf), Orientalism(pls j read a security K), IR Ks (Grove, Lib Mil, etc), Asian Ks, Asian pess(seriously?) and the Death K(policy i know i just killed all your ground).
If debated evenly i think condo justifies a perfcon
-K Affs and Tfwk
I slightly lean neg on fwk unless you impact turn fwk which I will then weigh on an equal level. [I love impact turns]
If you are going to run a k aff in front of me, please impact turn tfwk instead of insisting that your aff is topical. I find impact turns to t much much more persuasive rather than obscure definition debates about the k interpretation of the topic or whatever.
CI must exist. You should defend an alternate model distinct from being T.
I will weigh the CI and the shell on the same level unless told otherwise
No RVIs on T. Counter standards aren't Voting issues. The inevitable silencing/exclusion DA should have proper warranting.
Good tfwk debates must answer the question "why" on multiple levels [Why in debate, why this round, why this ballot, what will Arjun's ballot change etc], "what debate should be/ should be instead" and contest the spillover claim if made.
I'm slightly more comfortable with the fairness side of the debate since that is what I always went for; but I'm cool with the education/testing 2nr too. I like the testing DA on an education 2nr.
Prevent the 2AR from pulling an is/ought fallacy
-Random thoughts on authors and other phil stuff:
I'm comfortable enough with a lot of authors to competently evaluate a round. While I haven't read these positions, I do a lot of outside debate reading of these authors and will be sad if you butcher these:(
To name a few authors like Kant, camus, sartre, macintyre, civic republicanism, Hobbes some random other phil authors. -I LOVE DESCRIPTIVE FWS! But, I will not automatically hack for you if you run these positions. You will be held to a standard.
I don't have much familiarity with Nietzsche, policy kids: don't j read my paradigm and pull out some quirky ass K.
-LARP/Policy Stuff
-Huge fan. Most of my debate career involved this kind of debate.
CP/DA:
Starting with CP section:
-Yes! love them.
-Loooove GOOD conditions CPs. [If it has an actual solvency advocate]
-Cheaty Process CPs are very nice. I mostly lean neg on theory
-Not a fan of Delay.
-Perms vs 16 plank adv CPs or artificially competing CPs are not intrinsic. But, this argument has to be made in round, and warranted properly.
-Must have a NB.
Thoughts on competition:
-CP solvency. As long as it solves enough [establish sufficiency framing in round] of the aff and has a NB. Not a huge fan of textual competition, chances are if the CP competes f'nally I'm more likely to lean NEG. Real world explanation is a good litmus test --- don't j say stuff like oh climate change is an issue? CP: USFG should solve climate change. "Aff solves better" is not a real argument---Find a different deficit.
-Neutral on limited intrinsicness. It kinda depends on the cp ig? Be prepared to defend a brightline
-Aff needs to be able to defend an oppurtunity cost.
-If the NB isn't intrinsic/germane to the aff, I give the aff more leeway for the perm ("limited intrinsicess"). The more germane the NB is, the more I lean neg.
Condo:
I don't like the "1 vs 2 off" condo debate. That brightline is sooooo arbitrary. Don't be a coward, defend condo good/bad as a whole.
Slight neg bias, but its a sliding scale: the more conditional advocacies, the more I will give aff leeway with condo. In LD 3+ condo is probably the brightline for me where I will start giving the aff some sort of credence. Policy i kinda dont care
DA:
-Love 'em.
-Sucker for turns/ows case. [Again, needs to be properly executed. I will not hack for you if you run with "extinction outweighs haha!" with 0 warrants and fail to engage with anything]
-Impact calc wins debates --- make sure yours does.
-Establish the link. UQ probably controls the link. Zero risk is probably a thing [unless told otherwise].
T/Topicality:
-Love to see it.
-Nebel/Subsets sucks.
-Legit T shells and clashy debates on T make me very happy.
-No RVIs on T.
-If the 2NR is going for T, the entire 2nr should probably be on T.
-The winner of the T debate wins the round: aff doesn't have to extend case if it is dropped.
-Idc if you read T as a timesuck. I used to do it all the time lol
==============
good luck.
I have 2 years of experience in LD and 2 years of experience in Policy. I went to Millard South High School.
I ran mostly traditional arguments in high school so if you run high theory debates I fully support it I just need you to really explain your link to the resolution and/or the affirmative and explain your alternative really well.
I don't always remember to time so please remember to time yourselves.
Email: emmagsorrell@gmail.com
Add me to the email chains just because I like to read the unhighlighted portions of cards.
If I hear the same case ran multiple times with pre-fiat education claims I find it pretty unpersuasive.
I also love analytical arguments. I love analytics, it makes me think that y'all are doing the debating in your own head and thinking for yourselves and not just reading cards.
Policy
Affirmative
If you are running a K affirmative, you should still be spending almost all of your 2AC on case. Listening to a critical affirmative is one thing but being able to explain your alternative, link to the resolution and why your pre-fiat impacts have solvency is extremely important to me. Because of this, I find myself skewed against K affirmatives because I have a pretty high solvency threshold. Know your case an explain to me why I vote on it, or else I will vote Negative on presumption.
I like affirmative cases. I'm pretty even Steven on condo arguments, I think if the negative is making contradictory arguments I would buy condo bad a lot more, but at the end of the day it's all up to interpretations.
I find myself liking generic links bad arguments. I find it persuasive to me if the affirmative says "the negative cannot prove how the affirmative specifically triggers X."
I like permutation arguments to be materialized. If the affirmative can specifically show a world with direct interaction between their plantext and the alternative I will almost always vote for the permutation.
Negative
If you are running a K, explain your alternative. I see way too many teams barely talk about their alternative because they argue the links too hard. I will not buy an empty K shell. Tell me what your K does and how your alternative functions/solves.
I love PICs. Literally if you run a case-specific PIC I will probably vote for you.
I read the entirety cards, if the affirmative has bad evidence and negative lets them get away with it, I will be mad and point it out in my notes.
I will probably not vote negative if you have no on-case evidence. You have proved that the affirmative is fulfilling their burden so why should I ignore their entire case with full solvency for a K with a grassroots movements DA. I probably will not buy it unless you are an off-case god.
If you rely on a K or a CP for all of your solvency I am super against flowing this affirmative, that being said I will if it feels necessary. Don't screw up the perm work, that should be the argument you prep out the most on a K/CP. (Hence why I love PICs)