The Trek to the World Championship 2008

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

30th January 2008

The Trek to the World Championship begins in your local player group. Each player group is encouraged to play in events as often as possible, and to travel to other player groups to find new and interesting ideas.

The first step on the path will be the 2008 Regional season. A Regional is a Level 2 events that must be run between 3 Mar 08 and 1 June 08. Applications (coming soon) must be received by midnight, server time (EST) on Friday, February 15th. Applications will be processed by the Continental OP Coordinators and then we will announce the schedule - collectively - on or before Friday, February 28th.

Regionals are intended to be six (6) rounds. They should be more rounds only in the case of an excess of sixty-four (64) players, or less only if there are less than eight (8) players in attendance. While we're not sure what prizes we'll be offering, we are sure that the 1st place winner will receive a Round 1 Day 1 bye into the appropriate Continental Championship.

In addition, every Regional winner will earn a 2008 Regional Champion badge that can be displayed in their player profile:

Nationals are no longer part of the road to the world championship, and can be run at any time during the year. More details about these special and unique events will be forthcoming. However, the 1st place winner of a National Championship will earn a bye to the next Continental Championship. (So, if a National is held before the 2008 Continentals, the bye would be for that event. If it is held after, it would be for the 2009 event.) In addition, there are three National Championship badges that can be earned:

Continentals are two-day events held in June or July. Day 1 is open to anyone and will be between six (6) and eight (8) rounds depending on the venue and the wishes of the tournament director (TD). Day 2 will be match play and will either be the Top 8 or the Top 16 depending on the attendance of Day 1. (If there are 24 or more players, it will be Top 16. If there is less than 24, it will be Top 8.)

The 1st place winner will receive Day 1 Round 1 and Day 1 Round 2 byes for the World Championship, and the 2nd place winner will receive a Day 1 Round 1 bye for the World Championship. Like the previous events, we'll have badges for the players to earn, too:

The World Championship will be held at GenCon in Indianapolis, IN, USA in August, and will be the same format as Continentals. 1st place will receive a Design-a-Card prize, a Day 1 Round 1 bye and a Day 1 Round 2 bye into the 2009 World Championship, and a Day 1 Round 1 bye into his or her 2009 Continental Championship. The runner up will receive a Day 1 Round 1 bye into both the 2009 World Championship and the appropriate 2009 Continental Championship.

And what would the top level event be without unique badges for it's players to earn:

What do you think of the Trek to GenCon in August 08? Have questions or comments? Discuss them here in the official Trek to the World Championship thread on our message boards!

See you all in Indianapolis!