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 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.
- 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?
Participants receive a commemorative item just for entering, while supplies last!
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
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 Black & White series on may be used. Black Star Promo Cards numbered BW01 and higher will be allowed.
30 card format: Constructed.
Additional rules: “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.
Hypnotoxic Laser (Black & White—Plasma Storm, 123/135) will not be permitted in Professor Cup decks