2002-07-06 – Columbus, Ohio, USA

2002 Pokémon Professor Championship

What is the Pokemon Professor Championship?
Open to Pokemon Professors only, this is your chance to show who is the best all around Pokemon player out of all of our Pokemon Professors. This multi-format Championship will end up with crowning The Pokemon Professor Champion for 2002.

When is it?
July 6, 2002 starting at 12 Noon.

Where is it?
It is being held during the Origins Gaming Convention being held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center Columbus, OH.

How much does it cost to participate?
There is a $20.00 entry fee for this event. Please be aware that the Origins convention itself has door fees. Details on Origins.

Who is eligible to compete in this Championship?
All registered members of the Pokemon Professor program may participate.

What can I win?
Participants in this championship have a chance to win product prizes, a Pokemon Professor Jacket as well as a trip to the Pokémon World Championships to be a special guest judge!

1st place =
Pokemon Professor Champion Rewards Package*
Pokemon Professor Jacket
24 Neo Boosters
Pikachu World Collection
Complete set of Neo Revelation Holos (1st edition)

2nd-4th place =
36 Neo boosters each
Pikachu World Collection
Complete set of Neo Revelation Holos (1st edition)

5th-8th place =
36 Neo boosters each
Pikachu World Collection

9th-16th place = 24 Neo boosters each

17th-32nd place = 8 Neo boosters each

33rd and lower = 4 Neo Boosters each

*Pokemon Professor Champion Rewards Package includes a free trip (airfare and accommodations) for the player to the Pokémon World Championships (held August 3-4, 2002 in Seattle, WA). A representative of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. will contact the winner regarding this prize package. This prize is non-negotiable, and if the winner of this Package has already previously won this package at a Pokemon Stadium it will default to the next place finisher of this event. If the winner chooses not to use the prize, it does NOT default to another.

What do I need to bring with me to the Professor Championship?
You will need to bring $20 for the entry fee, a 60-card deck that is legal in the new Modified Constructed format (see below), and a decklist.

• How to fill out a decklist
• Deckbuilding tips and strategy
• Pokemon Master Rules Updates

What type of tournament is this?
This will be the first multi-format tournament Wizards has ever held for Pokemon.

Pokemon Professors, just like Professor Oak in the Pokemon cartoon, are considered experts in all the different aspects of Pokemon. The only fair way to determine the 2002 Champion Professor would be to test him or her in various gameplay formats.

First, everyone will play 3 Swiss rounds of Modified Constructed . Not just ANY Modified constructed either, but the upcoming NEW Modified format rules:

Then all participants will play in a number of Swiss Booster Draft rounds (number of rounds dependent on the number of participants in the tournament). Each player will be given 2 Packs of Gym Heroes and 3 packs of Gym Challenge to Booster Draft with.

Finally, the scores will be combined of these 2 formats to come up with the top 8 players who will then compete in a Gym Heroes/Gym Challenge Rochester Draft to determine the overall Champion

What are the new Modified format rules?
Modified will change after this year’s Pokemon World Championships held in August. Since Pokemon Professors should be leading the way with new deck technology we wanted to give you an early chance to play in this format. The new Modified Constructed format rules will be:

Modified Deck Construction (legal after August 2002)
Modified decks may include cards from the following Pokémon card sets:

• Neo Genesis^TM expansion
• Neo Discovery^TM expansion
• Southern Islands Collection^TM expansion
• Neo Revelation^TM expansion
• Neo Destiny^TM expansion
• Pokemon Legendary Collection^TM expansion
• Cards with the promo expansion symbol

With the exception of basic energy cards (Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, and Fighting energy) and previously printed versions of legal cards, cards from the following sets are not allowed in Modified tournaments unless they are duplicates of existing legal cards:

• Base Set
• Jungle^TM expansion
• Fossil^TM expansion
• Base Set 2 expansion
• Team Rocket^TM expansion
• Gym Heroes^TM expansion
• Gym Challenge^TM expansion

The following cards are banned in Modified tournaments:

• The promo card known as Ancient Mew
• _______’s Pikachu (The promo card known as “Happy Birthday Pikachu”)
• Sneasel (Neo Genesis version)

Cards stamped with Prerelease and Wizards of the Coast(r) logos do not count as promo cards but rather as cards from their original sets. Check the expansion symbols (if any) to determine whether the card is legal in Modified.

Ok, what are the rules for Pokemon Booster Draft?
Here are the rules taken from the Universal DCI Floor Rules

1. Player Distribution
Players are assembled randomly into drafting circles (called pods) of roughly equal size at the discretion of the tournament organizer or head judge. All pods will preferably contain 7 or 8 players. A tournament official then distributes an equal amount of booster packs to each player in the pod.

Players within a pod may play only against other players within that pod

Players may not talk or communicate to others during a draft. As players draft the cards, they must place their cards in one orderly pile in front of them. Drafted cards may be reviewed only between the drafting of each pack.

2. Draft Card Selection
Before the tournament begins, the head judge must announce how much time each player has to select a card. If a player fails to select a card in the time given, the pod judge issues that player a random card from the pack the player is selecting from.

3. Deck Construction
Once drafting is complete, players have 30 minutes to build decks from the cards they selected. For Pokemon Booster Draft, players must build a 40 card deck. Basic Energy cards are provided.

Player’s are not limited to 4 copies of any non-basic energy card in Limited play. You can place as many copies of any card in your deck from what you drafted as you choose.

4. Booster Draft Procedure
At a signal from a tournament official, each player opens the booster pack specified by the official and counts the cards. If a player does not have the appropriate number of cards in his or her booster pack, he or she must immediately notify the judge, who will replace the pack. The player then removes any basic energy cards form the cards and sets it aside (these are not part of the cards that are drafted from). The player chooses one card from the booster pack, and then passes the remaining cards face down to the player on his or her left. The opened packs are passed around the drafting pod-with each player taking one card each before passing-until all cards are drafted. Once a player has removed a card from the pack, it is considered selected and may not be returned to the pack. Players may not show their card selections or the contents of their current packs to other participants in the draft. Players are not permitted to send signals of any kind to other participants in the draft regarding any information about their own picks or what they want others to pick.

After each player’s first pack is drafted, a tournament official will instruct players to open the next specified pack and draft in the same fashion, except that the direction of drafting is reversed. This process is repeated until all cards in all booster packs are drafted. For example, if five booster packs of Pokémon: Team Rocket^TM cards were being drafted, the first, third, and fifth packs would be drafted clockwise and the second and fourth packs would be drafted counterclockwise.

What about Pokemon Rochester Draft, assuming I make the Top 8, what will I do?

POKEMON ROCHESTER DRAFT-TOURNAMENT RULES

1. Explanation for use of Pokemon Rochester Draft Rules
These rules have been provided for the your convenience. This format can only be sanctioned by Wizards of the Coast for Pokemon Professor Premiere events. This format cannot be sanctioned by the public at this time.

2. Player Distribution
Players are assembled randomly into drafting circles (called pods) of roughly equal size at the discretion of the tournament organizer or head judge. All pods will preferably contain 7 or 8 players. A tournament official then distributes an equal amount of booster packs to each player in the pod.

Players within a pod may play only against other players within that pod.

Players may not talk or communicate to others during a draft. As players draft the cards, they must place their cards in one orderly pile in front of them. Drafted cards may be reviewed only between the drafting of each pack.

3. Booster Pack Distribution
For Pokemon Rochester Drafting due to the booster pack size and evolution issues of the game, 6 booster packs are recommended for each player.

The best current product breakdown for each player is:

3 boosters Gym Heroes & 3 boosters of Gym Challenge

If this product is not readily available then the following other product combinations will work:

3 boosters Team Rocket & 3 boosters Neo Genesis 3 boosters Neo Genesis & 3 boosters Neo Revelation 3 boosters Neo Genesis & 3 boosters Neo Destiny 3 boosters Neo Revelation & 3 boosters Neo Destiny 6 Boosters Base Set 2

2 booster packs are opened by the Active player for each phase of each round of the draft. The 2 packs of the oldest product are opened first. This does mean that some rounds will have the Active player opening 1 booster pack of 1 product and 1 booster pack of another. Open the older product pack first.

Example #1
Each player has been given 3 booster packs of Gym Heroes and 3 booster packs of Gym Challenge. During the first round each Active player will open and place out the cards from 2 Gym Heroes booster packs (after removing the basic energies). During the second round the Active player will place out the cards from a Gym Heroes pack and then a Gym Challenge pack. During the 3rd round each Active player will open up 2 Gym Challenge Packs.

Example #2
Each player has been given 3 booster packs of Team Rocket and 3 booster packs of Neo Genesis. During the first round each Active player will open and place out the cards from 2 Team Rocket booster packs (after removing the basic energies). During the second round the Active player will place out the cards from a Team Rocket pack and then a Neo Genesis pack. During the 3rd round each Active player will open up 2 Neo Genesis Packs.

4. Deck Construction
Once drafting is complete, players have 30 minutes to build decks from the cards they selected. For Pokemon Rochester Draft, player’s must build a 40 card deck. Basic Energy cards are provided.

5. Rochester Draft Rules
Once a player has indicated his or her drafting selection by touching a card, he or she may not select a different card.

Before the tournament begins, the head judge must announce how much time each player has to select a card. For Pokemon Rochester Draft this is generally 3-4 seconds. If a player fails to select a card in the time given, the pod judge issues that player the “oldest” card still remaining from the booster pack.

Example:
The active player lays out cards from 2 booster packs, removing basic energies and placing them aside. The cards can be considered to be in chronological order (1-20), where 1 is the first card placed on the table and 20 is the last card placed on the table. The active player places the first card in the upper left hand corner (facing that player) and places 7 cards across the top row, then 7 cards along the next row (starting from the left), then the last cards along the bottom row.

If a player fails to draft in a timely manner, the cards on the table are examined by the pod judge and the first card that was placed on the table is given to the player. If that card has already been selected, the second card that was placed on the table is given, and so on. This would be the card closest to the top left corner card.

During a Rochester Draft, players must always display the most recent card they drafted in the current pack face up. When all cards are drafted from the current pack, players may move their cards from that pack to any position.

6. Rochester Draft Table Preparation
Booster packs are divided into groups before the draft table is set. Each player is given an identical number of booster packs as well as an identical mix of packs from various sets (see Section 2, Booster Pack Distribution).

In preparation for each phase of the round of the draft, the active player lays out the entire contents of two booster packs face up on the table, with the cards facing him or her (see Section 7, Rochester Draft-Active Player Rotation). Players are given 30 seconds to review the cards before drafting begins.

7. Rochester Draft-Active Player Rotation
The player drafting first from the cards presented on the table is called the active player. The first active player is the participant in the first seat, designated by the judge. All players in each drafting pod serve as the active player once for each booster pack group (see Section 6, Rochester Draft Table Preparation), with the active player moving between players as follows:

• in a clockwise direction for the first booster pack group (beginning with the first active player);
• in a counterclockwise direction for the second booster pack group (starting with the last active player in the first group);
• and returning to a clockwise direction for the third booster pack group (beginning again with the first active player).

8. Rochester Draft Order
The draft order moves in a horseshoe pattern, beginning with the active player, continuing around the table to the last participant in the group who has not yet drafted a card. The last player in the group selects two cards, instead of one, before drafting continues in reverse order, moving back to the player who began the drafting (the first person who drafted from the pack). After all cards are drafted the table judge clears the drafting area and prepares for the next booster pack.

Example #1:
Eight players are seated around a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 in a clockwise order. The active player is Player 1. The first booster packs for Player 1 are opened, basic energy cards are removed, and then the cards are placed face up in front of Player 1. After the 30-second review period has expired, the draft order is as follows:

The next packs to be opened would be Player #2’s first2 boosters.

Example #2:
Seven players are seated around a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 in a clockwise order. The active player is Player 1. The first 2 booster packs for Player 1 are opened, basic energy cards are removed, and then the cards are placed face up in front of Player 1. After the 30-second review period has expired, the draft order is as follows:

The next packs to be opened would be Player #2’s first 2 boosters.

Example #3:
Eight players are seated around a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 in a clockwise order. They are now drafting the second round of the Rochester Draft. This means they now draft in a counter clock-wise order for this round. The active player is now Player 8. The two booster packs for Player 8 are opened (older set booster pack first), basic energy cards are removed, and then the cards are placed face up in front of Player 8. After the 30-second review period has expired, the draft order is as follows:

The next packs to be opened would be Player #7’s second 2 boosters.

9. Suggested Tournament Round Procedure
This will vary depending upon the number of tournament participants, size of the pods, and so on but it is recommended that after completion of the draft and deck building, that each pod is played as a separate 8 person event. This means that each 7 or 8 person pod plays 3 rounds of Swiss (using byes in a 7 person pod). Depending on the number of pods, the top 1 or 2 players from each pod move onto the top 8 finals.

Once the top 8 is determined from the pods, those top 8 players put their decks aside, get new product and then Rochester Draft together again following the same rules as above. These 8 players then play single elimination to determine the final results.

What is the K-value of the Pokemon Professor Championship?
The Pokemon Professor Championship has a K rating of 48.

Find out more about what K-values are and what they mean for you and your game!

I have heard that there is a change to the Pokémon rules being enforced at these events–what is it?
In working to keep the Pokémon TCG rules as close as possible to the Japanese rules of the game, there is a new term that will be introduced in a later set this year: Special Condition. Asleep, Confused, Paralyzed, Poisoned, and (later on) Burned are all defined as Special Conditions. All of these effects are removed from Active Pokémon if they evolve, devolve, leave play, or are put on a player’s Bench. A Special Condition shuts off ALL Pokémon Powers on a Pokémon that it affects. This means that the Poisoned Special Condition (and, later on, Burned) shuts off Pokémon Powers on the Pokémon affected by that Special Condition.

This is a clarification of the rules for the Pokémon TCG and will be used in all of the upcoming Challenge series events and tournaments. If a card has a Pokémon Power that lists Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed in its text, just add Poisoned and Burned to it, as well.