Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

U.S. Nationals Registration?

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Politoed666

New Member
Hello! I'm new here, but not to the fandom, as I contribute very regularly on Bulbapedia, the Pokémon wiki, with an account of the same name. In any case, I was planning on going to the U.S. nationals, but online registration seems to be over. Is there any way I can guarantee myself a spot in the event? Will I be able to get in at all? As I live in northern Illinois, I don't want to go all the way out there if I'm not going to be able to play... Thanks for any help you can offer! :thumb:
 
On-site registration starts at 7:00am on the Wednesday, so go from there and decide how much you want to push it.

For the record, I looked at the number of remaining open spots on Wednesday and it was 92/98/279 I think. So as long as you make sure you register on the Wednesday, you should PROBABLY be alright.

But yeah, as The Gorn said, just go and get there early.
 
No, since the system is down since pre-reg is over. But that also means it won't be changing between now and the first day of Origins.
 
I think you'll be fine, BUT...

1. Registering for an Origins badge is going to be a madhouse. Not sure when Origins registration opens, but you need to get an Origins badge first (someone correct me if I'm mistaken). Those lines can be HUGE.

2. Then you have to get in line to register for Nationals.

If there's ANY way you can get an Origins badge the day before (get a friend to pick it up for you or something), you'll save yourself a big headache.
 
The Gorn said:
(someone correct me if I'm mistaken)
Click to expand...

You are not. :) The big pain is that, at least in previous years, the line to get your badge and the line to get your event tickets is not the same line. So you have to wait through a line that has been known to take 2-3 hours to get your badge (although to be fair, by the time Saturday rolls around I'm sure it's nowhere near that long), and then go wait through another probably similar sized (but again, by the time Saturday rolls around, not as long) to get the ticket for Nationals.

If you really can't be there until the Saturday, you're pretty much screwed. At the very least be there on Friday night to get your badge and event ticket, if there's any left.
 
Alright. So, is Nationals registration only Saturday morning from 9:00 to 9:30? Or do the people that come on Wednesday have a better shot at getting in? If I were to arrive in Colombus Friday evening and get my Origins badge then, and then get up early on Saturday and be in line to register at 9:00, would I get in? :pokeball:
 
You need to differentiate between registering for Nationals and registering your deck for Nationals.

The first thing you need to do is get an event ticket. This cannot be done until you have your Origins badge, and it can be done on-site at the Origins Events Registration Booth at any time between 7:00am and 10:00pm Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and (theoretically) 7:00am-9:00am on Saturday. However, once the event is "sold" out (remember, the ticket itself is free), nobody else can get a ticket. This part of the process is first come first serve, so the sooner you do it the better. No ticket = no play. Now, in theory, if somebody with a ticket doesn't show up, they may open it to people without tickets. However, the official Nationals page says you must have a ticket, so it would be extremely foolhardy to bank on a ticketed player not showing up. If you want to play, get a ticket.

Once you have the event ticket, you have to register your deck. This can be done between 9:00am and whenever the PUI staff decide to cut it off on Saturday morning. If you're not in line by 9:30am on Saturday with your decklist and your event ticket, you get a first round loss.
 
OK, to play in Nationals you will need 3 things - Origins badge, Nationals event ticket, and decklist registered. The posts above have been addressing the first two of these. You need a badge just to attend the convention either all of it or just Pokemon it doesn't matter. This costs money which varies depending on how many days that you are attending and your age. This badge simply gives you admission to walk around the convention but not to participate in the events and activities. To participate in any event including Nationals you need an official event ticket. Some events cost money but Nationals does not. This ticket simply lets Origins know who is signed up for what, etc. As everyone above has said, if you can possibly get these before Saturday then do it. As you can imagine many, many people will only be attending Origins (Pokemon plus everything else that is offered) on the weekend. So the lines on Saturday morning will be very long and you will need to go through 2 of them if you don't do it earlier in the week. Now the last step is that you need to register for Nationals. This is just like registering for any Pokemon tournament except that there will be more people. This is where you will need your POP ID and decklist and have your deck checked, etc. This is slated for 9-9:30 on Saturday. Last year, if I'm not mistaken, they considered anyone in line for the registration (step 3) at 9:30 to be on time so these players were allowed to complete deck checks, etc. and not receive a first round loss. So to summarize:

Needs for Nationals:

1. Origins badge - simply gives you admission to the convention but not the ability to participate in events
2. Event ticket for Pokemon Nationals correct age group - this gives you the ability to participate in the event
3. POP Nationals Registration - Saturday morning official Pokemon tournament registration - POP ID, decklist, etc.
 
Ok well I already purchased my Origins badge online. Does anyone know if i is possible for someone else to pick it up?
 
If I remember correctly, I had to provide an ID to pick up my Origins stuff ie. my license to get stuff for myself and my son, and my husband had to show his ID to get his. So my guess is that you have to be there in person to get your badges.

Also, Heather's post above is very accurate.....but need to remember, just because you get your Nationals event ticket, you are not entered into the event, until you get into the line at the Pokemon registration area on Saturday morning, with all the things she said, (remember you dice/damage counters/special condition markers/deck etc.) and fill out a registration slip with name, DOB, POP ID# and age division and present it to the registration desk for them to enter you into the event, and then you can proceed to deck check if you choose.

Side note: Last year, they allowed people to start lining up at 8, I think.
 
^^^ Right. Officially, you need to pick up your own badge with ID. I have been able to get other's badges before but under very odd circumstances and I know that the policy is you with ID or with a parent with ID if you are a minor.
 
I think another question has been asked: will the Pokemon Nationals "sell out"? For a few years now at Nats and the grinder at Worlds they've called a cap of players (this is due to space limitations) but they've always extended that cap and everyone who wants to play has been able to. I know they say space is limited but POP really tries to let everyone in if possible. I'm hoping so!
 
Yeah, that was Juniors/Seniors/Masters.

My completely uneducated and baseless guess is that Masters will sell out, Juniors will be close, and Seniors will not even be close to selling out (relatively speaking).
 
if we get there on friday at like noon will we get into nats?
Or is it a slim chance? I really need to know
 
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