Kick off your 2018 Championship Series season and your run toward the 2018 World Championships at the Anaheim Open. The Pokémon TCG and video game competition will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on August 19 and 20. The Championship Point payout will be the same as a Regional Championships event in the 2018 season, meaning the winners will be well on their way toward an invitation to the next World Championships. Competitors will also be battling for tickets for use at the side events prize wall.
Worlds competitors who have been eliminated from play after Day One are welcome to participate in the Anaheim Open. All players should note that the Day One of the Anaheim Open runs concurrently with Day Two of the Pokémon World Championships and the Pokkén Tournament World Championships. You will not be able to participate in multiple events on Saturday!
Registration
The entry fee for the Anaheim open is $30 for Masters Division players and $15 for Junior and Senior Division players. All entrants will receive prize wall tickets just for playing. Entry fees are not refundable.
Registration will take place online only. Half of the seats for each division will be available beginning in mid-July 2017. If this number is reached, registration will close for that age division. The remaining seats will become available at 7 p.m. PDT on Friday, August 18, to make sure Worlds competitors who don't make the cut to Day Two have the opportunity to register for the Anaheim Open.
Register now to compete in the Anaheim Open!
Entry and Badges
All participants in the Anaheim Open must already have a badge to enter the World Championships event space, either as a main event competitor or by purchasing a spectator badge. Spectator badges can be purchased during Anaheim Open registration if they are still available. A spectator badge will allow access into the main event hall to watch the main event and to participate in other side events.
Video Game Battle Teams
Video game players will need to have their Battle Team checked and locked before they can play. Battle Team locking for the Anaheim Open will take place from 9–9:30 a.m. Saturday, August 19, inside Hall D of the Anaheim Convention Center. Team sheets for VG players will be collected at this time.
Players' Meeting
All players will need to be seated for the players' meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, August 19, inside Hall D of the Anaheim Convention Center. Deck lists for Pokémon TCG players will be collected during the Pokémon TCG players' meeting. Players who are not present at the beginning of the players' meeting may be dropped from the event. Play will begin for all age divisions immediately following the players' meeting.
Tournament Format
The Pokémon TCG competition will use the Standard format, and players will use cards that are legal for the 2017 Championship Series season (the 2018 season rotation will not be in effect).
The Pokémon video game competition will use the 2017 Championships Series format.
Tournament Structure
Day One on Saturday will be played using Swiss rounds according to the standard Play! Pokémon tournament format, minus one round. For example, if an age division has 150 players, there will be seven Swiss rounds instead of the usual eight.
The number of players who advance to Day Two will match the standard Play! Pokémon tournament structure, but will also include all players with the same number of match points as the lowest-ranked top-cut player. For example, if the age division would usually cut to Top 8, all players who have the same number of match points as the person in 8th place will also advance to Day Two. Please note that this structure is unique to the Anaheim Open; the Pokémon TCG and Video Game World Championships events will not follow this format.
Day Two on Sunday will feature single-elimination best-of-three bracket play. Based on the number of players who advance to Day Two, some players may have a bye for the first round.
