VGC '12 Event Formats

[Firestorm]

I've seen some confusion about how VGC will run this year. Here's some main points to keep in mind. Please ask any questions you may have here as well. Remember that we don't know everything and some of this is conjecture based on how TCG has been run in years past. VGC is being modified to run more like TCG events.

Regionals

1. Regionals will be run in swiss format, not single elimination, this year. This is similar to Day 1 of Nationals or Worlds in previous years.
2. Regionals, being held in smaller venues and at the same time, will likely not be as extravagant as last year. There is a high chance that there will be no televisions set up to watch matches, mascots, or banners.

Nationals (Canada and United States)

1. Nationals will be completely open this year with no invites required. As a result, there is no need for a Last Chance Qualifier but those who placed first or second at a Regional will get two very valuable byes for the first two rounds
2. Only US residents may play in the US National competition and only Canadian residents may play in the Canadian National competition
3. Nationals will likely be held in swiss format with a certain top number of players moving to a single elimination tournament

European events are not expected to see any change this year. If anyone has any information on changes in Japan or South Korea, please do post!

 

[Zog]

No TVs and mascots... :(

Hopefully they'll still be in europe, they add so much feel to the place.

 

[Cybertron]

They will be... Nothing is changing in Europe this year.

 

[Havak]

Nationals will still be a massive event, with lots of screens and a presenter etc. European tournaments are Nationals, so yeah...

As VGC expands, the 'lesser' tournaments will become much less flashy. If you've been to TCG tournaments before you'll know what to expect. I can't speak for the US or Canada, but the TCG tournaments in the UK are usually very small (bar Nationals) with about 64~ people showing up and one person organising everything. In the tournaments I went to for TCG last year, they were organised by one guy with a laptop and it was never a big thing. However, there were no problems and it went pretty smooth.

Also, Firestorm is pretty cool :)

 

[bearsfan092]

Oh, so in a way, there's less riding on a single regional than in years' past (you're not automatically at risk of being one and done at Nats). In a way, I just want to play, and this format does that.

 

[Superpokemon67]

It stinks they aren't making the regs as fancy anymore. Oh well, it'll be fun nonetheless.

 

[DreamTalon]

Wonder if Canadian Nationals and US Nationals will be at the same time. Double-Citizenship will help out some players.

 

[TheGr8]

yeah after going last year to my first, it was so epic with all of the banners and mascots, i think there will be banners at least for TCG and stuff.

 

[Firestorm]

Last year Canadian Nationals was the weekend before US Nationals. I believe in 2010 it may have been the weekend after US Nationals. We'll have to see. I'm hoping for it being the weekend before US again.

yeah after going last year to my first, it was so epic with all of the banners and mascots, i think there will be banners at least for TCG and stuff.

There will not.

 

[No. 1 Machop Fan]

Only US residents may play in the US National competition and only Canadian residents may play in the Canadian National competition

This means that if Australia isn't invited, I can't travel overseas to participate unless Europe doesn't follow this rule. I call that unfair.

 

[Huy]

Europe does not follow those rules.

 

[Firestorm]

This means that if Australia isn't invited, I can't travel overseas to participate unless Europe doesn't follow this rule. I call that unfair.

Neither the US nor Canada are in Europe. They are in North America.

 

[Eraddd]

Free Australia

 

[TsukasaSIGN]

Excuse the ignorance, but I have no clue what the swiss format is

 

[dingram]

Excuse the ignorance, but I have no clue what the swiss format is

Swiss format is basically "best 2 out of 3" where the person who wins 2 battles wins the round.

 

[HagridTwin]

Swiss format is basically "best 2 out of 3" where the person who wins 2 battles wins the round.

The number of matches in a round is not dictated by Swiss format.

Swiss Pairings
Matches for tournaments are set up using the Swiss Pairing Method. In this method, all players in a tournament play in each round against an opponent with a similar win/loss record. Players are not paired against opponents they have previously played.