Judges keep telling closing teams they need an 'extension' and I've realised I've been nodding along for a term without really knowing what counts. Is it just... a new argument? Does a really good rebuttal count?
New material that changes the debate — a new argument, a new mechanism, or genuinely new analysis on an old argument. Repackaging your opening team's case in nicer wrapping is the thing judges are listening for and punishing.
Rebuttal alone usually isn't enough, but weighing can be — if you're the first team to properly explain why your side's arguments beat theirs, that's contribution. The question a judge asks is: what does the debate lose if this speech never happened?