If you can work up to Level 2, you should be in massive demand for Store-run PTQs next year~
I'm basically a L1+ judge anyway, since I took the L1 test back when we were required to know the IPG and how to work in Competitive and Professional REL events. All I'd need is to look into mentoring judge candidates, but I certainly don't have the time for that nowadays due to getting more serious about my career as an indie game designer. The changes they made to what L1s can and are expected to do is one of the reasons I've been barely able to squeeze into competitive events, since as a L1 I have little to no priority in Competitive REL events, where L2s are prefered.
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Somewhat related but let's say my opponent attacks with 9 points worth of damage and he says: take 8. Since I'm not paying too much attention, I say fine.
Who gets punished in a situation like this?
Judging is not about punishing players, but rather about making sure the game works as it should and educate players on their mistakes. In this case, both players are required by the game rules to make sure damage is properly represented, since he should've noticed that he should have dealt eight damage, and you should have corrected him (don't even get me started on saying "fine" on purpose since it'd benefit you, since that's a different issue). Unless repeat ofenses have happened prior to this, I think both players would end up with a warning: you for Failure to Maintain Game State, and your opponent for Game Rule Violation.
If both of you write down eight damage and one of you notices the mistake in a reasonable time frame (most often within a turn), it could be corrected. However, if the mistake takes too long to be noticed the judge would probably decide to keep the game going. Either way, penalties would still be handed out.
If you somehow said "fine" and wrote down the nine damage you thought you'd take, but your opponent wrote eight, then the discrepancy would have to be fixed by doing some investigation on past life total changes and board states. Here's where keeping track of life totals on paper is infinitely better than using dice or phone apps, since they allow both you and us judges to check past changes to spot where the discrepancies could've originated.
EDIT: Ultron's right in that if the damage was improperly represented due to a missed trigger like the Denizen's, then you are in no obligation of pointing out that you should be taking nine damage, since it's your opponent's responsibility to account for his Denizen's extra point of power. My explanation only works if he had to deal nine damage but he said you'd be taking eight instead. I'll look into Player Communication Violation, though, but I think that won't work as long as the effect comes from players improperly measuring the damage you'd be taking.
