Year: 3 - Season: 2 Gym Leader News Letter Here is the Gym Leader News Letter for Season 2 of Year 3. The league news letter comes in two parts, the reminder section, and the Year 3 PokeNews letter. Here is the news letter as it appears to the gym leaders (all if any errors made in the letter are corrected in brackets "[ ]")
League News Reminders The Next Step: Tournament Play
You've got the trainers. They've got the cards, and they want to compete. Now it's time to take the next step and join the world of Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) League Tournaments. Thousands of Pokémon TCG League Tournaments are held every week around the world, and now you tournaments will be a part of your regular Pokémon TCG League seasons. Each season will end with an exciting tournament with all new prize cards given to all participants. Described below is everything you need to run a thirty-two-player Constructed event. Just use the following easy steps for a successful tournament.
Before the Event Step 1: Spread the Word
- Tell your trainers about the upcoming Season ending tournament each of the four weeks of the Pokémon League leading up to it.
- Make sure each League participant knows what type of deck to bring and what time to show up for this tournament (held during your week 5 League season).
Step 2: Register Trainers
- Sign up league members for the tournament based upon their seeding calculated during the Season.
- At the end of week four of each season you will count up the total number of wins for each player (off of their Stamp card and additional wins listed in the Membership Book). The player with the most wins is seed #1, and their name should be put in that space on the single-elimination chart included in the kit. The player with the second most wins is the #2 seed and goes onto the #2 chart and so-on. If there are any players tied with the same amount of wins from the season, you will need to randomize their seedings. For example, if two players are tied for the first seed with 50 wins each, you will need to flip a coin to determine who is the number one seed. You should put a "(T)" next to the player's name on the chart to show that they where tied with another player for the final seeding. Player's will know what their win total is and this acknowledges to them that they were tied for a seeding. If they ask how the tie was broken, explain that it was done randomly.
Step 3: Deck Construction
- Player's can use cards from any English Pokémon set released plus any promo cards except for Happy Birthday Pikachu and Ancient Mew for their deck. They must follow the standard deck construction rules (each deck must have 60 cards exactly, no more than 4 copies of any non-basic energy card, etc.)
Sample Thirty-two-Person, Single-Elimination ChartIn this example there are 31 players. So the #32 seed is listed as a bye. Seed #1 gets an automatic win the first round. Notice that seeds #3 and #4 are listed as tied (T), as well as #7,8, and 9, and also #22 and 23. A random method was used to determine their final seed.
Seeding Chart Example
Day of the EventStep 1: Pair Up the Trainers
- You should have already filled out the enclosed single-elimination chart [with] every league member who will be participating based upon their seeding (see Step 2 above).
- Tell the trainers who their first opponent will be.
- Have each pair of trainers sit across from one another at the table.
- Give each participant one copy of the season's foil energy card before they start to play. They may not put this card into their tournament deck.
- Once the trainers are paired and seated, they are ready to play.
Step 2: Play
- Each pair of trainers plays one game.
- The winner advances to the next round, and the other player is eliminated from the tournament.
- Continue running rounds until an overall winner is determined.
How to Award Prizes
- Your kit contains fifty promo energy cards. Each participant should have already been given one copy of this card before the tournament began. Assuming you have 32 players in this event, the remaining eighteen cards should be given out as follows:
- 1st place earns 5 more copies of the card.
- 2nd place earns 3 more copies of the card.
- 3rd and 4th place (the two players who lost Round 4) earn 2 more copies of the card.
- 5th through 8th (the four players who lost Round 3) earn 1 more copy of the card.
- If you end up with less than 32 players, increase the number of cards given to the top 8 finishers accordingly.
If You Have Fewer Than Thirty-two Players for Your Tournament
- You might have fewer than thirty-two trainers who want to play in a tournament, or maybe one or more of the trainers who signed up don't show up. In these cases, you need to issue a bye. A bye is a way of pairing up opponents in the first round when there is an uneven number of trainers for your tournament. It results in a privilege for one or more trainers because they will not be paired up with an opponent in the first round; they get an automatic "win" for that game.
How to Issue a Bye
When you pair up the trainers for the first round, you will need to issue byes to some trainers. Do this only if you have fewer than thirty-two trainers in your tournament.
- Count the total number of trainers you have for your tournament.
- Determine the number of "spaces," or slots, you have left. (If thirty trainers show up, you'll have two slots to fill to complete the thirty-two person, single elimination chart).
- Write "bye" in the lowers see # slots of the single-elimination chart for each open slot you have (if you only have 30 players, write in BYE in seeds #31 and #32).
- Trainers who are paired up with a bye get automatic wins for that game in Round 1.
Sanctioning This Tournament if You'd Like to
Running DCI-sanctioned tournaments is a great service you can offer your players, keeping them involved in organized play at your location for a long time to come.The DCI creates standardized rules for play and tournament reporting procedures so your players know what to expect when they attend your tournaments, DCI sanctioning also allows them to build ratings and rankings-giving them local prestige and the possibility of taking their play to the highest levels.
If you are interested in sanctioning this tournament, please go to our website at [address removed]. All the information and forms you will need to sanction this event are there. You do NOT have to sanction this tournament if you don't want to. We offer sanctioning this event as an extra service you can provide your players if you have the time and interest in doing so.
Page 4 Parings Chart
Manufactured and sold by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., for the Pokémon Company. The Wizards of the Coast logo and the play-level logs are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. ™ & © 2001 The Pokémon Company.
Year 3 LEAGUE POKENEWS Gotta read it all!
Feb 2002 - Season 2
Welcome to the Year 3 Pokemon League!
As you already know we have made some changes to the new Pokémon League to make it easier than ever for you to run and even more exciting! Make sure to always read the Pokenews to keep updated on the world of Pokémon the TCG.Metal Raichu[pikachu] Coins
Last season we included 32 of the cool Raichu[pikachu] metal coins in your Pokémon Kits. These are to be given out to each of your League members as a thank you for participating in the Pokémon League. They are not part of the Season ending tournament, just give them out to your League members (while supplies last).Pokemon Professor Program
The Pokémon Professor Program is a new program made specifically for the older Pokémon players (ages 15 and up). This program will focus an encouraging and rewarding participation in mentorship, judging, writing, and other activities that really help keep the Pokémon OP community going. Professors will have access to unique tournaments and play testing as well as exclusive access to Pokémon information. Information on this only program can be found on our web site at: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/events/professorMain2002 Pokemon Challenge Series
With all of these exciting new changes for 20002 we are also introducing the Pokémon Challenge Series. Taking the place of the Super Trainer Showdowns, this series will consist of different level events held throughout the country. Details on this can be found on our web site at: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/eventsMainOur Pokemon TCG Forum
Do you have questions about the Pokemon trading card game? Join the PokeGym, and interact with our Customer Service representatives and our experienced moderators! Chat online with Master Trainers Mike and Pat from the Pokemon TCG team! The Master Trainers will be available every Thursday from 3 to 5p.m. (Pacific time) in the TCG Forum of our website to answer questions about the English-language Pokemon trading card game.
Manufactured and sold by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., for the Pokemon Company. The Wizards of the Coast logo and the play-level logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
™ & © 2001 The Pokemon Company.
The Legal Stuff: All material ©2000 - 2002 by purity, Ech, and their respective owners. Pokemon is a registered trademark of The Pokemon Company/TPC