Worlds 2015: The Boston Open announced
It has been revealed today on Pokemon.com that, in addition to the main World Championship 2015 event, there will be an open event titled the Boston Open occurring on Saturday, August 22, 2015. Available to both TCG and VGC players, the event will use VGC 2015 standard ruleset. The Masters players are capped at 512 across four 128-person flights and will play out a Top 32 single elimination cut on Sunday morning before finals. After removing the Last Chance Qualifier, which allowed players one last shot at qualifying for the World Championships, this looks to replace the large event for players who have not qualified for the World Championships.
The event will count for Regionals-level Championship Points and count towards the Regionals Best Finish Limit. It will cost four side event tickets, equivalent to $20, to enter.
Boston Open
Rules:
- 512 Master division and 256 Junior and Senior division cap
- Swiss rounds
- Cost: 4 tickets for Masters, 1 ticket for Junior and Senior
- Standard VGC 2015 Rules
Prizing:
- Regional level Championship points based on attendance.
- 1st: $200 Gift Card for the Pokémon Center and 3 Booster Boxes
- 2nd: $100 Gift Card for the Pokémon Center and 2 Booster Boxes
- 3-4th Playmat and 3 Booster Boxes
- 5-8th Playmat and 2 Booster Boxes
- 9-16th Senior and Junior divisions: Worlds Playmat and Booster Box
- 9-32nd Masters division: Worlds Playmat and Booster Box
Read more at the Boston Open page and the full side event schedule for the weekend.
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49 Responses to Worlds 2015: The Boston Open announced
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My plan was to watch the world’s stream with my buddies at home thanks to the absence of LCQ but it looks like I have justification for going to worlds. I think this is a really cool idea that’ll definitely make a lot of players want to come out to worlds. I understand some people have their gripes with the event having CP payout for next season but at the same time, if you make it to day two of worlds you’re probably decent enough to earn an invite in the 2016 season. You’re going to be playing for something way greater at that point; you have a legitimate shot at the world’s title. I’m really glad this is happening and you’re probably going to see me there!
Does anyone know if it’s bo1 or bo3?
I have very mixed feelings about this. Overall it is probably good for all the people who are going to worlds, and will probably attract even more who weren’t planning on going. What I don’t like is the conflict it would create in my own head were I to make it to day two of worlds. Of course I would play in day two, but it would still be a thought in the back of my mind.”what if I’m missing out on CP right now?”
I do hope the Boston Open is Bo1, so we can at least watch the games people came for in the first place. No matter how I’ll do during it (be it Bo3 or Bo1) I do hope to catch some good games on the big screen as well.
For all the people complaining about the lack of advance notice – this is about the usual time for Regionals to be posted officially. Just think – this is what it is like for a newbie who didn’t know they needed to look elsewhere for the unofficial announcements.
I am glad that if my daughter doesn’t make it to the second day, at least she can do the Boston Open.
Regarding availability of the battle box lock devices for the Boston Open. Could we lock players when they get their second win? This reduces the size of the queue to be locked and avoids overlap with Worlds Day 2 players being locked.
[At the end of round 2 approx 200 players would need to have their BB locked, If we lock at third win that figure halves. There would be a need to continue to lock BBs at the end of each round but this would be a decreasing quantity as the event progresses.]
I know this maybe could be a dumb question but can anyone just go and watch? Like pay to get in and just watch the matches or can only the people participating in Worlds go and watch? Yes, i know they broadcast it because i watched US Nats I would just like to actually go, watch, and get a feel for what Pokemon is all about.
Is 9 months not enough notice?
http://nuggetbridge.com/forums/topic/10629-2015-pokémon-world-championships-location-qualification-info/?p=149030
Quote from AZ:
On the discussion table is a potential Championship Point side-event at Worlds that will be part of the 2015-2016 season – think similar to the Last Chance for Championship Point event at US Nationals for the TCG
IDK maybe when something gets added to the discussion table and you have a problem with it maybe you should actually discuss it?
Yeah you can go and watch for free.
This is a interesting opportunity to allow players a chance to get a quick head start on the next championship season! On that note, I’m curious if there will be any changes for the next VGC 16 season or if things will remain relatively the same. I’d be interested in seeing them mix some things up. If only I could go to this! I’ll be sure to be watching all the streams though.
Lol – I think everyone forgot about that one mention, especially since there was so much other information in that post!
If they had any forethought in planning I would have liked to make the trip to Boston for this. But less than a month notice is just not good enough. I’m all for more competitions thought! Always a chance to improve yourself battling other people. Good luck to everyone that goes!
Exactly — I totally would have gone down to spectate Worlds and then compete in this if it was announced, say, two or three months ago. But now my schedule has more important things planned for this date and I can’t go 😐
I honestly do not like that kind of tournament, its not the fact that people have one more tournament to earn CP, in which I cant compete but that I feel like its not fair to the players who earned their invitation to worlds through a hard year and dont get the attention at worlds as they deserve. I think worlds is a cool thing even if you are not competing as I learned last year because watching the whole thing is great too and I also liked to play on stage or screens back in 2013 when people are watching and maybe hyping it up. I guess this cool factor wont be that cool this year when instead of watching your games the people are playing in their own regional tournament with big prizes (compare: the 32nd of the regional gets more than the 17th of worlds!) and might do not really care about what happens in worlds unless some small checks like who won or something. I like the idea of a big tournament where people from all over the world can compete even if they did not get their invitation to worlds but the bills we have to pay for this one arent it worth in my opinion.
Hope I can go,sounds great!
Would have been nice if they announced this earlier already committed to Eternal Weekend for Magic.
Intriguing, but probably too late of an announcement for my family. I like the idea of trying to expand reasons for non-Worlds players to attend Worlds, but I continue to be concerned about the way events are rolled out before season rule sets are even introduced (and this one was rolled out unexpectedly, despite the one hint that others have pointed out).
For those already planning to attend Worlds, perhaps to cheer family or support friends, this is surely a neat perk. For the rest of us, it’s disappointing to see others get a chance at a leg up on next season before the play period for the current season is even done. Particularly seems a good way for “older Juniors” and “older Seniors” to get some CP before graduating to the higher age group they’ll be in for 2015-16 (presuming this tournament’s age limits are still based on the 2014-15 season, which hasn’t ended); not sure about fairness there.
While it’s hard to argue against the revelation of another fun event, if you’re hoping to compete in 2015-16, and you hadn’t planned or can’t go to the Boston Open, then it’s understandable to be concerned about this event’s impact. I think we should be provided with information about season rules (CP bar, # of World invitees per region, best finish limits) before events are introduced, though I know many are fine going with the flow.
The 2016 season began earlier this month shortly after the final National Championship (United States) ended just as it does every year. The World Championships will use the previous season’s age divisions. The Boston Open, like every other event that’s currently happening, will use the 2016 age divisions because that’s what current tournaments count towards (Play! Points and Championship Points). League Challenges for the TCG are already happening and there are a few Premier Challenges at the end of the month along with the Boston Open next month.
If you’re in North America, this is not a leg up. If you’re in other parts of the world and we either get a CP bar or more regionals, this isn’t a leg up. We still have a BFL. Some of us played in 2 – 3 Regionals this year. Others played in as many as 8. Some of us played in 1 National this year. Others played in as many as 3.
There’s no difference in having not planned to go to this event vs a Regional that you can’t make.
I also don’t think that “People won’t watch me” works out when you break it down. IMO the long-term goal of Pokemon is likely to work towards something like BlizzCon for the World Championships where it’s one part of a larger fan event. That’s what works best for Pokemon. I think the spectacle part of it needs to be kept and I think the main large screen does a great job. I think we should be attracting more people to come by who don’t care about playing to watch that through the day, but maybe not make them watch the entire day by having other things to do (Worlds does an okay job at this, more work can be done).
Vancouver gave me an interesting look at how Worlds works as I had the VGC community I’m used to, my competitive TCG friends, the more casual local TCG community, as well as my friends who are casual Pokemon fans around. A lot of the VGC community goes hard on the LCQ and can watch matches. My competitive TCG friends also went hard on LCQ then maybe did some side events. My casual TCG friends were all about the side events and league (as are I would say casual video game players). My casual Pokemon friends were there for merchandise, the autographs, and some stuck around to watch half a match on the TV or the big matches on the screen.
Personally, I don’t usually watch matches on the TVs though I do try to catch the big commentated match on the big screen if I have the time to spare. That’s only for one match though and that person has 10,000+ people watching on stream. I don’t think they’re affected very heavily here. I don’t think the atmosphere will be any worse.
Bumping to see if there is any official word on if its Bo3 for sure