Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Professor Cup 2013 info

EeveeLover

Member Services Administrator
Prof Cup details:
When is the Pokémon Professor Cup?

The North American Professor Cup will be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. On-site registration begins Thursday at 4:00 P.M. and closes at 5:00 P.M., outside of Exhibit Hall I. This post may be updated with details on how to preregister shortly.

The event will be held over several days.

Friday July 5th : The first few rounds of the Professor Cup will be held in the Juniors area at 6:00 P.M. We will play as many rounds as can be squeezed in before 9:00 P.M.

Saturday July 6th : The second batch of rounds for the Professor Cup will be held in the Juniors area at 6:00 P.M. or when the Juniors have finished their matches for the day. (Whichever is later) We will play as many rounds as can be squeezed in before 9:00 P.M.

Sunday July 7th: The final rounds of the Professor Cup will be held in the its own area (TBD) starting at 9:00 A.M. The final rounds will be played out before 4:00 P.M.

The address of the Indiana Convention Center is:
100 South Capitol Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46225-1071

The European Professor Cup will be held at the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC in Birmingham UK. Registration begins Friday, May 31st 2013, at 9:00 A.M. and ends at 9:30 A.M. in the Oasis Suite. The event will start as soon as registration is finished and will conclude that evening.

Players not in line for registration by 9:30 A.M. will be registered for the event with a first-round loss.

The address of the Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC is:
Crowne Plaza Birmingham NEC
Pendigo Way,National Exhibition Centre
Birmingham, B40 1PS
United Kingdom

What does it cost?

Entry to play in both the North American and European Professor Cups is free.

Who is eligible to play in the Professor Cup?

• To participate in the North American event, you must be a Professor who has earned at least 75 Professor credits between September 1st, 2012, and June 15th, 2013.

• To participate in the European event, you must be a Professor who has earned at least 40 Professor credits between September 1st, 2012, and April 15th, 2013.

• We will post a list of all Professors who have qualified for the event on our forums one business day after the window to earn credits closes (April 15th for the EU event, June 15th for the U.S. event).
Any Professor not on that list has one week to contact us via our Customer Service site with any eligibility concerns.

Any tickets regarding eligibility concerns must have the subject line: Professor Cup eligibility

We cannot guarantee that any ticket submitted with a different subject line will be reviewed in time for the event.
After that week is over, we will create the TOM file to be used at the event and no names will be added to that file on the day of the eventunder any circumstances.

• Credits earned and redeemed during this time still count toward the entry requirement.
• Professors may compete in more than one Professor Cup.
• Players who are found in violation of the rules of eligibility are subject to suspension from Pokémon Organized Play and loss of prizes.
Review the Rules of Eligibility in our Tournament Rules document as they will apply.


What are the prizes?

1st Place
• A Pokémon Professor Cup First-Place Trophy
• Kindle paperwhite
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo

2nd Place
• A Pokémon Professor Cup Second-Place Trophy
• Kindle paperwhite
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo

3rd Place
• A Pokémon Professor Cup Third-Place Trophy
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo

4th Place
• A Pokémon Professor Cup Fourth-Place Trophy
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo

5th through 8th Place (In the UK)
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo

5th through 16th Place (In the US)
• OGIO Metro Backpack with embroidered Professor logo



Is there anything else I need to know?
• See the Pokémon Tournament Rules for more information about what to bring to an event.
• Make sure you arrive on time. If you are late for registration, you will be entered with a first-round loss. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
• To participate in the event, you must be a player in good standing and abide by the Pokémon Tournament Rules and all other applicable event rules.
• See the Legal Notices for certain eligibility requirements and other information, including information concerning limitations on The Pokémon Company International's liability.


What is the tournament structure?
The Professor Cup will be run using Swiss Pairings. The number of Swiss rounds is dependent upon total attendance, with higher attendance increasing the number of rounds.
Swiss rounds will feature single game matches with a 20 minutes plus 3 turn time limit.

After the final round of Swiss, there will be a Single Elimination finals with a maximum top cut of 16 players. Single-elimination rounds will be a best-of-three game format and will have a 45-minute time limit per match.
At the beginning of each round, the judges will leave 3 Pokémon TCG booster packs at each table. The winner of the match receives 2 boosters, and the loser receives the remaining 1 booster.



Rules for Deck Construction
Only cards from the BW set on may be used. Black Star Promo Cards numbered BW01 and higher will be allowed.
30 card format: Constructed.

Additional Rule: "Kiddie Pool"

Pokémon used must be able to evolve to a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon.
For example:
• Tepig can evolve to Pignite and so would be allowed.
• Pignite can evolve to Emboar and so would be allowed.
• Emboar is unable to evolve and so would not be allowed in a deck.
• Bouffalant is unable to evolve and would not be allowed in a deck.
 
Last edited:
Let me see if I understand - all Pokemon cards that are unable to evolve (Emolga, Bouffalant, Mewtwo EX, Emboar, Serperior, Krookodile, etc.) are NOT allowed. What about Ditto or restored Pokemon?
 
Let me see if I understand - all Pokemon cards that are unable to evolve (Emolga, Bouffalant, Mewtwo EX, Emboar, Serperior, Krookodile, etc.) are NOT allowed. What about Ditto or restored Pokemon?

Ditto does not evolve, it is not allowed.
Restored Pokemon that evolve are allowed.
 
Remember, in a 30 card deck, you can only have 2 of each name!

Per Dan, in the TPCi forum thread, 4 of each name will be allowed, with exception of cards that are limited by the rules of the card, and basic energies...

dbrandt said:
Decks may contain more than 2 copies of a single card, as defined by the card’s English title, with the exception of cards which are limited to one per deck by card text and the standard exception for basic Energy cards. Matches are played for 3 Prize cards.

Although, it looks like that may be challenged...
 
I would hold off on that for a few days. I think Dan forgot the word "not" in there. As pointed out in the TPCI forum, Dan's post is nearly a direct quote from the TCG Rules and Tournaments document.
11.1 Constructed.

Decks may not contain more than 4 copies of a single card, as defined by the card’s English title, with the standard exception for basic Energy cards. Some cards may have additional construction restrictions on them, which are treated as exceptions to the 4-copy rule.
 
Updated the first post with Top Cut info...

Also, per Dan...

dbrandt said:
Decks may not contain more than 2 copies of a single card, as defined by the card’s English title, with the exception of cards which are limited to one per deck by card text and the standard exception for basic Energy cards. Matches are played for 3 Prize cards.
 
Per Dan, in the TPCi forum thread, 4 of each name will be allowed, with exception of cards that are limited by the rules of the card, and basic energies...
He never said "4".
He originally said "more than 2" which struck me as a very odd thing to say (16 is "more than 2", also) and of course...
Although, it looks like that may be challenged...
It turned out to be a typo.
2 of each cards are allowed.
 
Considering that most attacks of not-fully-evolved Pokemon are subpar to say the least, I can only imagine this format being dominated by Virbank + Laserbeam. It looks interesting nonetheless. 30 card decks are fun as well.
 
It didn't last year. It's done like that so that the judges of the Main Event can have some participation. The only conflict is that if you're in top cut in both.
 
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