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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Just got my email
Yeah just got mine too
Not got mine
starting to get worried
Phew I have it now
Yeah im not sure how its going to go down, Hope its not forced
Just posting to confirm that I received mine as well.
I’ve got my email too, see you guys there
I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve within my team that I’ve yet to see used in the metagame, hopefully I can pull them off.
Does anyone know if the event is going to be streamed on Nugget Bridge. I’ve got a Pokemon group who would love to watch some of these matches live!
It doesnt say how we confirm our attendance,
I have replied back saying i am going, but have not heard anything since.
Am i to assume its all good?
That’s exactly what I did, so we should be fine.
Is specators allowed though and if they are what’s the venue
I don’t believe that they are – I was told in my confirmation email that only one guest was allowed to attend to cheer each winner on so I’m not sure if it’s open to the public
I would be very surprised if Spectators arent allowed. I dont think a tournament without an audience would be the same. In the email they also mention other entertainment and cosplay competition – so it sounds very much like the UK Winter Event. I am sure they will announce spectator admission soon.
I’m not sure if spectators will be allowed. You could pretty much only get into the winter event if you were competing or a +1. This event sounds like, across the 4 categories, it will have a higher attendance. The winter event also had simular side events, and people took part in them alongside competing/when had been knocked out.
Personally if spectators are allowed, I’m hoping they, and other people participating, wont be able to stand right next to you as you fight. Had way too much ‘shoulder stalking’ going on at my qualifying event and the winter event I didn’t really like being watched.
At the Winter Event spectators were allowed (I attended, and I wasnt a competitor or a +1 guest of anyone). Looking at http://nuggetbridge.com/news/nintendo-uk-presents-pokemon-winter-event-2013/ it says “If you would like to come to the event as a spectator or to enter the cosplay competition, please send an e-mail to the address below and request a ticket.” However I see your point about this tournament having more participants, so maybe there wont be room for spectators this time. Maybe they will announce spectator tickets (if spectators are allowed) after Wednesday once they have confirmation of participants and how many are bringing guests?
I might email and ask about spectators when I answer those two questions about favourite Pokemon and Pokemon moment.
Ahh yeah I forgot you could apply, my bad.
The winner of the Nottingham Tournament Alex couldn’t make it so I will be taking his place
See you all there!
Hearing that the format will be Bo1 Round Robin… But this can’t work in the traditional sense of a RR as you are supposed to play every other player once (meaning you’d play 37 games, so no).
I am going to assume that there will be eight groups of four or five players (probably six groups of five, and two groups of four). The person with the best Win/Loss Record will advance, with tie-breaker games for any players on the same score. Thus, we end up with an 8-player single elimination tournament after the first rounds.
I think we can rule out the organisers meaning to say Swiss, as Nintendo UK will not use any third party programs to record scores, thus any tie-breakers such as opponent’s win % are off the table. Win/Loss is the only thing they can go off, so everything needs to be clear-cut.
Obviously, I am only guessing here so don’t take this as confirmed. However, I do expect that there will be at no time Bo3 implemented, especially with a Round Robin / Group style first round.
Not gotten my confirmation email yet. I get the feeling that I have been left out.
Anyone got any ideas what I should do?
You definitely should have gotten an email by now, you should try and contact pokemontournament@thisisbd.com and ask what is happening regarding your place in the finals. The deadline for confirmation was yesterday
Ultimate Expert Division confirmed for Group Stage Round Robin (Bo1) for those who missed it / were wondering. There will be eight groups, splitting the 38 (or less) players into groups as evenly as possible (4-5 players). Only the player with the best outright record will go through, though tie-breaker methods are currently unknown.
Where’s the 8 groups of 4-5 been confirmed? Only seen the email about Groups/Round Robin into Single Elimination in QF onwards.
Have read an e-mail that states you’ll be in groups with three or four other players (so groups of four or five). Quarter Finals has to be eight players or it is no longer a quarter finals, so it all fits.
Thanks
Saw a different email that didn’t state the group sizes.
If you respond to your email should I expect a response back from them? Just wondering because I confirmed that I would be attending but I didn’t get any further response, just making sure.
I got one with two extra questions, but after responding to it, I did receive a confirmation that they received everything.
Are specators allowed to attend though
Probably not due to the higher number of people that are going to be at the event compaired to the winter one. I know of a juniors competitor that was only alowed one +1.
That’s lame i really wanted to watch plus meet johnny vegas
Is there any other way of contacting them other than email? I send a message 4 days ago and no response. I just don’t want to book train tickets and such and then be told that I can’t participate when I get there.
Don’t mean to keep bugging everyone about this but i’m grateful for any help.
It will be my first time attending a big Pokemon event is there anything I need to remember? Apart from my 3DS and pkmnX