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Introduction
The Pokémon DCI
Floor Rules work in conjunction with the DCI Universal
Tournament Rules, DCI Penalty Guidelines, and Pokémon
trading card game rules. Players, spectators, and tournament
officials must follow these documents while involved with
DCI-sanctioned Pokémon tournaments. Individuals who
violate sections of these documents will be subject to the
appropriate provisions DCI Penalty Guidelines.
Note: Please see appendix B of the DCI Universal Tournament
Rules for definitions of terms in this document.
200. General Pokémon Tournament
Rules
201.
Format
and Rating Catagories
202. Authorized
Cards
203. Card
Interpretation
204. New
Releases
210. Pokemon Tournement
Mechanics
211.
Match
Structure
212. Match
Time Limits
213. Who
Plays First
214. Pre-Game
215. Mulligan
Rule
216. End-of-Match
Procedure
217. Determining
a Match Winner
220. Rules for
Cunstructed Tournaments
221.
Deck
Size Limits
222. Sideboard
Use
230. Rules for Limited
Tournements
231.
Deck
Size Limits
233. Materials
Provided
237. Rules
for Draft Tournaments
210. Pokemon Tournament
Mechanics
201.
Format and Rating Categories (back
to top)
The DCI sanctions the following formats:
Constructed Formats:
•
Standard
Limited
Formats:
• Booster
Draft
The DCI produces the
following ratings categories.
•
Constructed (includes Standard format)
• Limited (includes Booster Draft format)
202. Authorized Cards
(back
to top)
All Pokémon cards, including promotional cards
released by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., are legal for
tournament play.
Non&endash;local-language cards may be used in players'
decks only if the same cards are available in a
local-language version produced by Wizards of the Coast. If
no cards are produced in a local language, then the
tournament organizer must announce what language will be
considered the local language for the event.
Players choosing to play with non&endash;local-language
cards must have a local-language version available outside
of the deck for the opponent or judge to reference. However,
players may use basic energy cards in any language without
providing a local-language equivalent.
In accordance with section 35 of the Universal Tournament
Rules, players choosing to use Pokémon cards with
different backs must play with identical, opaque-backed card
sleeves on all cards in the deck.
Example: A player has two Japanese and two English Squirtles
in his deck. Because the deck contains two different card
backs, he must place opaque-backed sleeves on all cards in
his deck. In addition, since he is playing with a
non&endash;local-language Squirtle, he must have a
local-language version available outside of his deck for the
judge or his opponents to readily reference.
Example: Players in Germany may play with Pokémon
cards that have been released in German without taking any
special action. If they choose to play with a non-German
version of a card, they must have a copy of the card printed
in German available outside of the deck for their opponents
or the judge to readily reference.
Example: Players in Quebec, Canada, may play with both
French and English cards without taking any special action,
as both languages are local. If they choose to play with a
German card, they must have either an English or a French
version of that card available outside of the deck for their
opponents or the judge to readily reference.
203. Card Interpretation
(back
to top)
Card interpretations are based on the English version
produced by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
If, at a premier event such as an invitational tournament,
the head judge can read and translate Japanese-language
cards, the organizer may choose to base card rulings and
interpretations on the Japanese version of the cards.
Organizers choosing to interpret cards in this manner must
announce this before the date of the event.
204. New Releases (back
to top)
All Pokémon card sets and promotional cards produced
by Wizards of the Coast are allowed in both DCI-sanctioned
Constructed and Limited tournaments the day of the official
product release.
210. Pokemon Tournament
Mechanics
211.
Match Structure (back
to top)
One game is the default number of games in a Pokémon
match, so if a tournament organizer chooses to run matches
consisting of more than one game, he or she must announce
this before the tournament begins. Match results are
reported to the DCI for the purpose of inclusion in the
worldwide ratings and rankings.
212. Match Time Limits
(back
to top)
The following time limit is recommended for each round
of a tournament:
•
Constructed and Limited tournaments&emdash;twenty-five
minutes
In addition, the following
time limit is recommended for Limited
tournaments:
• For Draft,
allow thirty minutes for deck registration and
construction
213. Who Plays First
(back
to top)
The winner of a coin toss (or other random method) chooses
who plays first.
For tournaments that include more than one game per match,
after each game in a match, the loser of that game (even if
the game loss was due to a penalty) decides whether to play
first in the next game. If the game was a draw (so there was
no victor or loser), the player who decided who played first
for that game chooses for the next game.
214. Pre-Game Procedure
(back
to top)
Before play begins, players determine who plays first (see
section 213). This may be done at any time during steps 1 or
2 of the pre-game procedure.
The steps listed below are similar to what appears in the
Pokémon rulebook.
1. Players must
shuffle their decks and present them to their opponents
for additional shuffling and/or cutting, as specified in
section 6.18 of the Universal Tournament Rules.
2. Each player draws an initial hand of seven cards.
3. Each player, starting with the first player, completes
all of his or her mulligans (see section 215).
4. Each player selects a Basic Pokémon card from
his or her hand and places it face down on the table.
This is the trainer's Active Pokémon for the start
of the game.
5. Each player may, if he or she wishes, choose up to
five Basic Pokémon cards from his or her hand and
put them face down on his or her Bench.
6. Each player places the top six cards from his or her
deck face down in front of him or her. These cards will
serve as Prizes. Trainers cannot look at a Prize card
until they select it as a Prize or a game effect allows
them to.
7. Immediately before play begins, each trainer flips
over each of the Active and Benched Pokémon that
have been put on the table.
215.
Mulligan Rule (back
to top)
If a player's initial hand does not contain a Basic
Pokémon card, that player should show his or her
opening draw to the opponent, shuffle that hand back into
his or her deck, present the deck for additional
shuffling/cutting, and draw seven new cards. The opponent
may now draw up to two extra cards. If the player still has
no Basic Pokémon card in his or her next draw, he or
she may repeat this process, and the opponent may draw up to
two extra cards each time.
216. End-of-Match Procedure
(back
to top)
A player in mid-turn when the end of the round is announced
is allowed to complete his or her turn before the match
result is determined. (A player in mid-turn is someone who
has drawn a card for his or her current turn.) The player
with the least amount of Prize cards remaining on the table
is then considered the winner. If both players have an equal
number of Prize cards, continue the game until one player
has fewer Prize cards than the other.
If a judge assigned a time extension (because of a long
ruling, deck check or other reason) then the end of match
procedure does not occur until the end of the time
extension.
217. Determining a Match Winner
(back
to top)
For Swiss-style tournaments using more than one game per
match, the winner of a match is the player with the most
game wins in the match. If both players have equal game
wins, then the match ends in a draw.
220. RULES FOR CONSTRUCTED
TOURNAMENTS
221.
Deck-Size Limits (back
to top)
Constructed decks must contain exactly sixty cards.
With the exception of basic energy, a player's deck may not
contain more than four of any individual card, counted by
English card title equivalent. (This rule is identical to
what appears in the Pokémon rulebook.)
222.
Sideboard Use (back
to top)
No sideboards are allowed in Pokémon
tournaments.
230. RULES FOR LIMITED
TOURNAMENTS
231.
Deck-Size Limits (back
to top)
Limited decks must contain exactly sixty cards.
Players are not restricted to four of any one card in
Limited tournament play.
233. Materials Provided
(back
to top)
Tournament organizers and/or the head judge may choose to
provide basic energy for players to use during the
tournament. If the organizer provides basic energy, he or
she must make available the same amount of basic energy
cards to each player. Organizers must announce before and
during event registration whether they will provide players
with access to basic energy. Organizers may require players
to return their basic energy cards when they leave the
tournament.
237. Rules for Draft Tournaments
(back
to top)
Before the first round, players may add as many basic energy
cards to their decks as desired; no maximum is
imposed.
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