News

Published on July 2nd, 2015 | by Firestorm

10

2015 United States National Championships Coverage

One of only two tournaments directly managed by The Pokémon Company International, the US National Championships is always a large event. Follow along with us both here on Nugget Bridge as well as the official Pokémon website for coverage throughout the weekend as players find out whether or not the work they’ve put in this season will pay off with an invitation to the World Championships or whether it will all be for naught. If they don’t place high enough in the standings for the Championship Points they need, their season will end here.

Livestream

Like last year, the 2015 Pokémon US National Championships will be streamed live on Twitch. This year the stream will expand to start from Friday morning rather than Saturday afternoon making for three fully packed days of Pokémon to watch from home! Along with the scheduling expansion we’ll have an expanded roster of casters as Jonathan Indovino (ShadyPenguinn) joins veteran casters Scott Glaza (Scott), Evan Latt (plaid), Duy Ha (Duy), and Justin Flynn (TheJustinFlynn) for the video game portion of the tournament. On the trading card game side we’ll see the return of Kyle Sucevich (Pooka), Joshua Wittenkeller (TheJWittz), Josue Rojano (Crimz), and Dylan Mayo (Exobyte).

All times below are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

Friday, July 3

Saturday, July 4

Sunday, July 5

Main Tournament Schedule

Please remember to register for the tournament ahead of time. If you do not register online and check-in at the allotted time, you will not be allowed to enter the event. The tournament will take place over three days for those in the Masters division and two days for those in the younger age divisions. The entire tournament will use best-of-three matches to reduce the effects of luck and reward more adaptable players!

Thursday, July 2

• Check-in for VG Masters Division players will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Battle Boxes will be locked when players check in. Players must be preregistered to participate.
  • Players checking in during this time will receive a National Championships Battle Mat.

Friday, July 3

• Last chance check in for preregistered Masters players 7:30 a.m.
• Masters Division players will compete in Swiss rounds beginning at 8 a.m.
  • Friday Swiss rounds will be best of 3—players should take careful consideration of battery usage and charging.
  • All players with a record of 2 or fewer losses, with zero ties, will advance to Saturday.
• Side events will occur throughout the day. The full schedule will be released at a later date.

Saturday, July 4

• Junior and Senior Divisions
  • Check-in will occur from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.—battle boxes will be locked at check in.
  • Player meeting will commence at 9:30 a.m., with Swiss rounds occurring immediately afterward.
  • Saturday Swiss rounds will be best of 3—players should take careful consideration of battery usage and charging.
  • Players with 2 or fewer losses, with zero ties, will advance to Sunday.
    • If fewer than 16 players qualify for the next round, then the Top 16 players will advance instead.
• Masters Division
  • Day 2 of Masters Division Swiss rounds will begin at 8 a.m.
    • Players must report and be seated by 7:50 a.m.
    • Day 2 Swiss rounds competition will be best of 3 matches.
    • Players who advance from Friday will have their record reset.
  • A Top 8 cut will be taken at the end of Swiss rounds. The single-elimination Top 8 will be played late Saturday afternoon.
• Side events will occur throughout the day. The full schedule will be released at a later date.

Sunday, July 5

• Single-elimination rounds (Junior and Senior Divisions) will be played.
  • ALL players must be checked in and ready to play by 10 a.m. or they will forfeit their first game. Players not in their seats by 10:10 a.m. will forfeit their second game, and thereby, the match.
• Junior, Senior, and Masters Division Finals (top 2) will occur sequentially beginning immediately after the TCG Masters Division Finals.

Prizes

There has been a significant prize increase over previous years with several thousands of dollars in scholarships at stake and double the trips to Worlds in each age division (based on Championship Points)! All attendees will also receive a Pachirisu modelled after the one that 2015 World Champion Sejun Park (pokemontcg) used to take his title!

• 1st: $5,000, National Champion Trophy, Nintendo Wii U 32 GB Deluxe Set, Travel Award to the 2015 Pokémon World Championships, 72 booster packs
• 2nd: $3,000, National Finalist Trophy, New Nintendo 3DS XL, 72 booster packs
• 3rd and 4th: $1,500, National Semi-Finalist Trophy, New Nintendo 3DS XL, 72 booster packs
• 5th through 8th: 36 booster packs
• 9th through 16th: 18 booster packs
• 17th through 32nd: 8 booster packs
• 33rd through 64th: 4 booster packs

More important to many of the players, however, will be the Championship Points at stake:

Side Event Schedule

Couldn’t quite make it to the next stage of the competition? TPCi is making sure you stay entertained with a variety of side events with some amazing prizing to keep you busy!

Friday, July 3

Saturday, July 4

Sunday, July 5

About the Author

Firestorm is one of the co-founders of Nugget Bridge and the Community Manager for eSports Tournament Platform Battlefy. He has been playing Pokémon since 1999, competitively since 2007, and attending tournaments since 2010. He lives in Vancouver, Canada with a degree in Interactive Art & Technology + Communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @rushanshekar.

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