Since 4/10/1999,
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 General STS Info

Anyway, I got my STS Invitation through FedEx yesterday afternoon. This was because I was one of the top four players in my round at the Pokémon TCG Tour (not much to gloat about, there were only about 25 something people in my round). Inside the FedEx packet was a really spiffy invitation (which I have scans of), a letter to my parents about what I've received in that FedEx package, a really cool "Wizards of the Coast® Consent and Release Agreement" and Registration sheet which I have to fill out, an envelop to sent the Registration in with (where I need to supply my own stamp), and a really nice information booklet (which I'll be more than glad to share with you).

Let's see... first, here's the scan of the nice little invitation card I got in my FedEx package.


Invitation Outside
Invitation Inside

Now here's some basic info that I will share with you about the STS.


Location:
The Showdown will be held on the Queen Mary, a really nice ship! Yep, I'll be playing on a ship. Based on the description, it sounds pretty nice.

Who Can Enter:
You don't have to be a top winner at the Tour to participate in the STS (although it helps)! If you're in the area when it takes place, you can enter under any 1 of 3 other conditions!

• Earn three or more badges in the Pokémon League. If you have at least the Bolder, Cascade, and Thunder Badge from the Pokémon TCG League, you can enter! (Of course, you need to prove it to them to enter, so have your badges on you!)
• Be one of the Top 10 DCI Pokémon players. Uh... for many of you, I doubt this is a possibility.
• Be an international player. If you live in England or anywhere else, you can spend a lot of money to fly over to LA, get a room in a hotel, and take all the time to arrange for all this, to get in for... now get this... free!

Times:
The entire STS takes place on July 22nd. Sign-ins are between 8 AM to 11 AM, and the games begin shortly after at 12 Noon. The tour is expected to end at around 5 PM (give or take), which the awards show following.

Tournament Info:
Decks for the showdown can only have Base Set, BS2, and Jungle cards. Yep, none of that Fossil, Team Rocket, and Promo card stuff. We've got European players playing here! This isn't so much of a problem for me, besides 1 Gambler and 8 TR Healing Energy, my Wiggly deck is purely pre-Fossil. But for a lot of you who never lived in the pre-Fossil days, this will be tough, especially those who forget that there was a pre-Fossil Haymaker. :)

A plus side to the tourney is that it's going to be mostly a Swiss-draw tourney, meaning that you aren't kicked out for just losing one round. Hoo-ray! It's based on points (3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss), and the top 8 players after about five or six rounds will head off to the Final Finals (which will be single elimination). I doubt that I'll make it up there, knowing my "luck". There are tons of prizes though, but if you lose just one game, you can really kiss that 1st Place prize good-bye.

To add more fairness to the game, the tourney will be separated into three age groups, Ages 10 and under, Ages 11 to 14, and Ages 15 and older.

There will be about five or six rounds (depending on the number of players at the tour) before the final single-elimination rounds. Each of those rounds will be 20 minutes long... So for all you Insane Stall players, I say "HAH!".

As for prizes, there is a lot of them.

1st Place: 32 Booster Packs, an Event Jacket & cap, and a special edition binder. There will also be a nice golden medal given out. Wheee!

2nd Place: The same, but only 28 packs and a silver medal.

3rd/4th Place: The same, but only 20 packs and a bronze medal.

5th-8th Place: An event cap, the binder, and a plaque. And 16 packs of cards.

9th-16th Place: A certificate and 12 packs of cards.

17th-32nd Place: A certificate and 8 packs of cards.

33rd+ Place: A certificate and 4 packs of cards.

Well, you get 4 packs of cards for going all the way through, that's not bad.

That generally sums up the Tourney part of the STS.

But Wait... There's More!
The tournament is only 1/10th of the fun! Here's other info about what goes on at the STS...

• Pokémon Central: Free Pokémon Gifts!
• Pokémon Center Stage: The place for deckbuilding tips, game play strategies, and "Brock's Challenge", a Pokémon trivia contest.
• Create your own Pokémon card art!: Guess. It's the "official" WotC version of Pokémon Aaah!, so to speak. You can make your own cards, and get tips from their "Create a Card" experts!
• Dark Raichu Photo Op: Take a picture with a really big version of the Dark Raichu card! You can get a Polaroid photo or a digital photo on disk!
• Misty's Fun Zone: It's not what you think.... but it's a kiddie play zone for you little 5 year old and younger fans.
• Pokémon Game Boy Tournaments: Don't care for the TCG (what?!)...? Well, you can play in their GB tourneys. There'll also be Pokémon Stadium stations too.
• Wizards of the Coast Store: Have some money that just scream "Spend me on Pokémon stuff!"? Then here's the spot.
• Pokémon League: Can't get enough of the Pokémon TCG? Then check out their League stations to play and win and stuff. Maybe you can get that Thunderbadge you need to enter.
• Pokémon TCG King of the Hill Tourneys: More TCG tourney madness! This tourney is instead "King of the Hill". Don't ask me what it means.

So really, if you get KO'd in the main event, you can check out some of the other stuff there! You're guaranteed NOT to get bored, or your money back!

Fan: But we didn't pay anything!

Well... somebody better give me some money! :D

Wow... that's a lot of typing. .... Uh... I guess all of this stuff sums up the STS. Remember, I'm going, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me!


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