Nintendo UK Announces Battle Tournament 2014 + VGC National Details
Nintendo UK have announced another tournament series for UK players, this time taking place throughout March and April. Beginning on 1st March and running until 5th April, there will be a number of qualifier tournaments at various GAME stores around the country, with some events taking place in shopping centres with no specific location mentioned at the moment. There are currently no known prizes for regional tournament winners, other than an invitation to the London grand final on 26th April, although travel stipends will be available to winners to make their way there.
If you manage to win a regional tournament, you’ll get to play in the finals in London where you have a chance to win some great prizes, perhaps the most important of which is a First Round BYE at this years United Kingdom Pokémon Video Game Championships National Tournament in May for the winner and runner-up. Other prizes are a week-long trip to Tokyo, Japan for two and lots of other goodies.
United Kingdom National
Along with this announcement, Gordian Knot Games have announced that the United Kingdom National Event will take place on 24th-25th May, in Manchester, England. The venue is Event City, situated across the road from the Trafford Centre. You can discuss it on our forum thread.
UK & Ireland Pokémon Nationals
24th & 25th May, 2014
Event City
Phoenix Way,
Barton Dock Road,
Urmston,
Manchester M41 7TB
Nintendo UK Event Information
There are four divisions for this tournament, with differing prizes for each:
Ultimate Pokémon Expert – The winner of the prestigious “Ultimate Pokémon Expert” title – a category open to those aged thirteen years or older – will earn themselves a week-long trip for two to Japan, the birthplace of Pokémon. They’ll be able to immerse themselves in the Pokémon world by visiting the Pokémon Center and also explore all of the sights of Tokyo. Recommended for seasoned Pokémon players the “Ultimate Pokémon Expert” title will test your Pokémon skills to the limit. The first and second place winners in the Ultimate Pokémon Expert category will receive fast track entry to the second round of the official Play! Pokémon UK VGC event this Spring.
Junior Expert – Younger Pokémon Trainers (12 or under) itching to compete can enter the “Junior Expert” category. In this competition, a weekend trip for the whole family to Alton Towers theme park with hotel stay is up for grabs, for whoever comes out victorious. The first and second place winners in the Junior Expert age category will receive fast track entry to the second round of the UK Pokémon Video Game Championships event this Spring.
Ultimate Team – The “Ultimate Team” competition is exclusively for two family members (one aged 16 or older, and one 12 or under) who want to team up and take on other families in a four-player Double Battle. Successful teams will have the chance to win a £250 Nintendo UK Online Store voucher and a group trip for four to one of the world’s best gaming shows: EGX London 2014. This event takes place in Earls Court London, from 25th – 28th September and offers visitors the chance to play the biggest games before they are released.
Pokémon Apprentice – New enthusiasts can enter the “Pokémon Apprentice” title; where complete newcomers to Pokémon X and Pokémon Y can battle it out to receive a mega bundle of Nintendo 3DS games up to the value of £300.
Crucially, you can only enter one qualifier tournament and one division. So, you’ll have to choose whether you want the chance at single player glory and the shot at a holiday and Nationals Round One BYE, or whether you’d like to play as part of a team with a sibling to win some vouchers and a visit to a great gaming show. Lastly, there is the opportunity for newer players who aren’t confident of winning one of the tougher tournaments to enter the Apprentice event.
Entering a Tournament
Sadly, the entry process of the qualifiers is not great. Think back to the early VGC Days in Europe, in 2009, or if you’ve been around as long as some of us (me), the Battle Master event in 2004 — where you can only gain entry to the tournament via a random selection process. You can enter at this link. You’ll need to enter some of your personal information and choose which division you are entering, along with choosing two qualifier tournaments you can attend. You will receive an e-mail no later than two days prior to the event stating whether you have gained entry or not and only one of your two choices can be the event you go to, which will again, be randomly selected by Nintendo UK based on popularity of each event. I assume a lot of players will miss out, so best to enter the two you can definitely make as soon as possible and get training.
Tournament Rules and Format
All tournaments (bar the team-tournament) will use the official Pokémon Video Game Championships 2014 season rules, opting for the Flat Battle and infrared process used at the previous Nintendo UK events. Tournaments will be single-elimination format, with each qualifier having a maximum of 16 participants, thus four rounds of battles to determine the winner. The team tournament will use a more specialised set of rules with players using pre-set Pokémon and borrowed consoles from Nintendo.
List of Qualifiers
- Bullring, Birmingham – 1st March
- GAME Churchill Square, Brighton – 1st March
- GAME Murraygate, Dundee – 2nd March
- Intu Eldon Square, Newcastle – 8th March
- GAME Hamleys, London – 8th March
- GAME St. David’s Centre, Cardiff – 8th March
- WestQuay, Southampton – 15th March
- GAME Meadowhall, Sheffield – 15th March
- GAME Castle Street, Banbury – 15th March
- Bluewater, Kent – 22nd March
- GAME Back Of The Inns, Norwich – 22nd March
- GAME Victoria Centre, Nottingham – 22nd March
- Intu Trafford Centre, Manchester – 29th March
- GAME Westfield Stratford City, London – 29th March
- Intu Braehead, Glasgow – 5th April
- GAME Cribbs Causeway, Bristol – 5th April
About the Author
Havak has competed in the VGC series since 2009 when it was first introduced to Europe, qualifying for the World Championships in 2011. Since 2009, he has also been a big influence in the United Kingdom's competitive scene by helping run local tournaments.
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Which Ben was that Havak?
Also, congratulations to Marti, hopefully I’ll actually see you in the finals this time around! #teamONM
Yeah. Won Bristol!
Posted some pics on my twitter @martibennett if you want to see the bracket.
Not sure of Ben’s last name sorry.
Fingers crossed my boss will let me have the time off to attend London.
I got to the semi-finals at Bristol (losing to Ben) but I still had a really great day and, as is always the case, thought of loads of ideas on what I could’ve done or how to tweak my team to stop that kind of loss happening again and now I’m really excited and just want to teambuild and play another tournament. Problem is Manchester is a significant trek for me, as well as it being final year of uni… I don’t know, I’m of two minds but this event has definitely gotten me more hyped for Pokémon VGC than anything else.
U will get an email on the 14/04/14 telling u the location
Didn’t get an invitation to glasgow but I heard about it from someone who went. Apparently the tournament was singles and the people organising did not know the rules. This person also attempted to usena Mewtwo and blaziken on his team with the blaziken being banned however the Mewtwo allowed. I’m not sure how this tournament even happened; it was a farce and I hope if this series happens again it will be better run.
that’s weird because the team at Manchester knew there stuff (except in the last round when a sceptile got into the match but I got it flagged up and removed)
I’ve only heard of two tournaments being like that Woopahking so you can’t really say it’s representative of every tournament, generally they’ve been well hosted by people who love Pokemon. It’s still a shame that it had to happen again though, especially after one slip up already happening in Birmingham
I think it sucks for those who are playing legit to go out in one of those tournaments, but those will have a nasty shock trying to use them in london.
Do we have any info on the winner? and if they were prepared for doubles
I know this topic is over a month old by this point but I have only just realised that these dates had passed, I was waiting for an email to say which one I was going to, but have not received a single piece of information to say whether or not I was given a spot at either of my choices. This means that I was most likely not given a spot, but an e-mail to say that I hadn’t would have been great since I missed out on some potential work due to not wanting to clash events.
Though then again looking at the comments about how badly run some where maybe it is better that I never heard anything back.
Edit: Huh, wait, only just realised it was more than 3 pages long.. my bad
How do you know this?
If u thoroughly check the website u will find the information
Yeah in Terms and Conditions for finals it says they will email/call you by the 7th April, and you have til the 14th to confirm your attendance. But beings as people were saying they usually bulk email the winners (I couldn’t attend the Winter ones etc so didn’t know), one can assume they’ll be sorting everything out soon.
This has me a little worried, as they haven’t attempted to contact me yet, but we’ll see what happens.
I haven’t had any emails either and I’ve been checking my inbox multiple times a day
Yeah neither have I. It’ll come though. I might send them an email at around the 10th just to ask.
I havent recieved any emails either. I guess I am not worried if we are all in the same position.
^^^^
Have sent an email it is asking for an email to conform my attendance I’m hoping for a reply by next week posted this to say I’ve already emailed nintendo uk
I’ve sent a message to the same address the place confirmation email came from. I’m hoping they get back soon as I really need to book a hotel and transport soon.
Also I’ve heard we get some travel expenses money? The FAQ has disappeared now so I cant read up on things
Trains are expensive and it makes me sad. As are hotels.
I am the same, hopefully if everyone on here hasnt had a email, and we take up a decent % of the competition, we shouldnt have to worry.
I hope we do get a bit of travel expenses, but i am not sure.
I think the people entering the winter event got some, but i suspect its after the event.
They should get back to us all about the travel expenses soon. This is a quote from the T&C
‘3.6. Finalists will be awarded a financial contribution towards their travel costs, allocated as follows: London & Stratford – £6; Bluewater & Brighton – £10; Banbury – £20; Birmingham – £25; Southampton – £30; Norwich – £40; Nottingham & Bristol – £45; Cardiff & Sheffield – £55; Manchester – £60; Newcastle – £90; Dundee & Glasgow – £110. Finalists will be required to cover all other accommodation and travel costs, plus any additional costs for anybody accompanying them on their journey. Food and beverages will be provided on the day by the Promoter.’
Also for anyone who needs access to the T & C if you have any other questions, here’s the link:
External
It doesn’t mention anything about how the Finals will end up working.
I hope it’s not Single Elimination again, my heart can’t take too many super close draws.
I thought it was single elimination again? Unless I just assumed this. Will have to wait and see.
If the finals are swiss it would be like a mock-up VGC Nationals which would be amazing practise for the actual event. I can see them managing four swiss rounds in the time the event managers had last time as well although I doubt they will go down that route unfortunately
I am almost certain it will be Single Elimination Bo1.
Any1 recieved anything yet ive gotten a replyy from my email but no confirmation email though
Still no email for me
What did you ask and what did they say?
Thanks for getting in touch. Apologies for the delay in hearing from us – we are hoping to send out this confirmation email very soon which will go to all our finalists.
Location and times will be included, however in the meantime I can tell you this will be taking place in a central London location (near a Zone 1 Underground station) and will be from 11.30am – 7pm. You will also be able to bring one person (a parent/guardian) as a guest. Hopefully in the meantime this will be sufficient to allow you to arrange travel plans.
That is what was contained in the email
External
It’s ok, gaming press will let us know before they do. Pretty much everything we need to know in link above.