Sunday, January 2, 2011

2011 Rules for Continental Championships

The VEKN has published the 2011 Rules for VtES Continental Championships:
January 1, 2011

Each year, the V:EKN organizes invitational Continental Championship tournaments. Players receive invitations by doing well in any of a series of qualifying events held around the world.

The V:EKN is coordinating five invitational V:TES Continental Championship tournaments: in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

How to Qualify

To play in a championship tournament, players will first have to qualify.
  • Anyone who played in the finals of a Continental Championship in 2010 is automatically qualified in 2011.
  • The top 25% of players in constructed Continental Qualifying events qualify. The threshold for “Last Chance Qualifiers” on the weekends of the Championships is 33%.
  • For the Australian and Asian Championships: 50% of the players (round up) up to a maximum of 10 players, qualify.
    If multiple players tie for a qualifier spot, then all the tied players qualify.
  • To reward the organizers who put so much time and effort into organizing these events, the organizers for Regional continental qualifiers automatically qualify.
  • Finalists of constructed National Championship events qualify for the Continental Championships.
  • The winner of a sanctioned, rated, standard constructed tournament of 10 or more players will be qualified for all Continental Championships for the calendar year of the upcoming championship in that tournament's continent.
    • For example, if you win a 10+ player tournament in North America before the 2011 NAC at Origins, then you are qualified for all Continental Championships in 2011. If you win a 10+ player tournament in North America after the 2011 NAC at Origins, then you are qualified for all Continental Championships in 2012. (Note: this is exactly how qualification works for First Chance Qualifiers!)
    • Only the winner will be qualified. If a previously-qualified player wins a tournament, the qualification does not pass down to the 2nd-place player.
    • Event organizers may play in regular tournaments and qualify if they win the tournament. The multi-judge system may be used as per VEKN tournament rules.
    • In addition, the results of the tournament MUST BE SUBMITTED.
    • This new qualification system will start on January 1, 2011. Tournaments prior to this date will not count.
All qualifier tournaments are handled equally regardless of order. Players who qualify in one qualifier are not handled any differently in other qualifiers. They can continue to qualify in each qualifier in which they play.

Championship Format

There are two formats for the championship tournaments. Each Championship will be run in one of these formats.
  • Standard Championship Format
    The standard format is a normal 3-round tournament with a final round, following the standard V:EKN rules for constructed deck tournaments (but in which only qualified players are allowed to play, of course).
  • Tiered Championship Format
    The tiered format is basically two tournaments. The top forty players from the first tournament continue on to the second. Players may change cards or whole decks before the second tournament. Each tournament is three rounds. The final, if any, of the first tournament has no bearing on the second.
So, the most significant change is that the mini-qualifier tournaments have dropped, and instead any winner of a 10+ player tournament is now qualified.

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