2017 Regional Championships

by Kenneth Tufts, Director of Organized Play

2nd February 2017

Today marks the beginning of the road to the 2017 World Championships, as we announce the opening of applications for 2017 Regional events. Applications are being accepted for Regional events for First Edition, Second Edition, and Tribbles held from Friday the 31st of March 2017 to Monday 3rd July 2017, inclusive.

There are no changes to rules for Regional events this year, over previous years. Any player from any region can play in any and all Regionals, and any judge can run a Regional event. Subject to player agreement prior to the event's start, judges are permitted to play in their own Regional events. Regionals are Level 2 events within our tournament system, and offer higher ratings points than local events. Deck lists are mandatory for these events, but deck checks are left to the discretion of event organizers.

Why do we require deck lists? They are an invaluable resource for our design teams and our organized play department, helping us determine the current state of the meta and shape design of future expansions and the selection of promos. If doing your part to help improve the game isn't enough incentive, remember that adding your deck lists to events make you eligible to earn achievements and win extra raffle tickets. We highly recommend that players use trekcc.org's online deckbuilder software to attach their decks to completed events.

Regional Championship Events
Regional Championship events can be run using any sanctioned tournament format or type, as outlined in Section 4 of the current Organized Play Guide, (Please note for First Edition only OTF, Open, and Warp speed will be sanctioned for regionals this year, look for an article with more details to come soon from OP and 1e Brand). Each event must choose a game, a format, a card pool, and a rule set, as follows:

Game: First Edition, Second Edition, or Tribbles

Format: Constructed, Draft, or Sealed

Card Pool: Academy (2E), Block (1E), Complete, Limited, Traditional, or Virtual

First Edition Rules: Official (OTF), Open, or Warp Speed

Second Edition Rules: Slipstream or Standard

Tribbles Rules: Standard or ... With Troubles

All other details regarding these events should follow the guidelines outlined in the Organized Play Guide.

Each Regional event organizer will be provided with a physical prize kit that includes eight (8) copies of one of the 2017 Regional promos and eight (8) 2017 Regional Championship buttons. In addition to these physical prizes, Regional events offer either Day 1 - Round 1 byes (for 1E and 2E) or 100,000 head starts (for Tribbles) into all 2017 Continental Championship events! Top players (based on attendance) earn one of these precious byes or head starts, as follows:

# of Players	Bye or Head Start Awarded
4-10	1st Place
11-20	Top 2
21-30	Top 3

As in previous years, these will "hand down" if a player wins a bye or head start that had previously earned a bye or head start, respectively. For example, if Steve wins a Regional with six (6) players, but had previously earned a bye, Pat (the 2nd place player) will earn the bye instead. This "hand down" will continue until it reaches the highest placed player without a bye.

 

How to Apply
The exact details, and the application itself, are in the Regional OP forum and applications are now open. Applications will remain open until 11:59 PM (in your region) on Monday the 13th of March 2017. Please note that late applications may be considered at the discretion of the Department of Organized Play, so applicants are encouraged to apply early. All applications are subject to a fully refundable fee of US$20 for each application, (please note the CC has been able to lower the price by $5 this year). However if the cost of the kit still represents a finical burden to your play group please contact the Director of Organized play by PM as soon as possible as a limited number of sponsorships are available to help ensure every group has the opportunity to host a regional. Once applications are accepted, regional prize kits containing eight (8) foils and eight (8) buttons will be made available for US$10 (US$5 for Tribbles).

The distinction between the application fee and the processing cost of the Regional kits is made on behalf of our overseas players, in order to reduce their tax burden and liability. The total cost of First Edition and Second Edition events are US$30; the total cost of a Tribbles event is US$25.

The Full Regional schedule will be announced on the 20th of March 2016, depending on applications. If possible, an earlier short list will be announced for early April events. Please note: IF you plan to run an event close to the start of the season, PLEASE apply early so it can be approved and we can make sure your kit is shipped in time for your event.

This year Organized Play is also happy to announce that we will be sanctioning online regional options as well, an applicant for an online regional should be a TD that will be willing to send out the prizes to players once they receive the kit, there may be some other options for direct shipping in the future but at this time the organizer will be responsible for a secondary mailing of the regional foils/buttons to participants.

OK and now I bet your waiting for one more thing, you want to know what the Regional foils will be, well here you go:

Any questions about the Regional event application process, rules, or information contained in this article, can be posted in our Regional Championship forum.

Discuss this article in this thread.

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