1999 Star Trek CCG
World Championship Details:

Qualification Tournaments:
Each region within our ratings system will host Qualification tournaments between the dates of April first and August twenty-second. These tournaments will be in two formats: constructed deck and Official Tournament Sealed Deck (OTSD). Decipher's volunteers (Squadron Members and Ambassadors) will be allowed to run four Qualification tournaments; two in the Constructed format and two in the OTSD format.
Veteran tournament directors (veteran defined below) may run two Qualification tournaments, one constructed deck and one OTSD.
Each director will decide which of these formats they will run. After completion of this first Qualification tournament, they may choose to run the other format. A director will only be approved to run their second, third and fourth Qualification tournaments when Decipher has received the results of the preceding Qualification tournament. What all this means is that the number of Qualification tournaments in each region is limited only by the number of willing directors within that region!

*A veteran tournament director, as stated above, is a tournament director that has successfully rated three sanctioned tournaments, of any format, within Decipher's rating system. This will ensure that all Qualifiers are run with the experience that they deserve.

Qualification Tournaments will be run in the following manner:

Constructed Deck format- Four to six rounds run with the Decipher Swiss format, followed by a final confrontation between the top two players. The final confrontation will consist of one game. This final confrontation should not be recorded with the scores from the rest of the tournament. This game determines the final rankings for the tournament only. The entry fees for these tournaments may vary, as there will be a large number of different judges and establishments running these events. Any judge that charges an entry fee must post the cost of their event in any advertising for that event. This cost is not delegated by Decipher, but by the proprietors of the establishments where the tournaments will be held.

Official Tournament Sealed Deck (OTSD) format- A minimum of four games run with the Decipher sealed deck format, followed by a final confrontation between the top two players after regulation play. This final confrontation should not be recorded with the scores from the rest of the tournament. This game determines the final rankings for the tournament only. They entry fee for these tournaments may vary, as the cost for the OTSD's will differ from area to area. This cost is not delegated by Decipher, but by the proprietors of the establishments where the tournaments will be held.

Winners of these Qualification Tournaments will advance to each region's Regional Championship tournament in the following manner, given that the results have been received by Decipher no later than two weeks after the Qualification Tournament.

If a Qualification Tournament has between 8 and 23 players, it will be labeled as a sanctioned event as well as advancing the top two players to the Regional Championship.

If a Qualification Tournament has at least 24 players, it will advance the top 4 players to the Regional Championship.

Qualification tournament winners are to be defined in the following manner:

The top finishers in a Qualification tournament are determined by their placement (first and second places in a tournament of 8-23 players, or first through fourth places in a tournament of 24+ players) at the conclusion of the tournament rounds.

The winner of the tournament is decided by pitting the top two finishers at the conclusion of the tournament rounds and having them play in a final confrontation (in either the Constructed Deck format or the OTSD format).

Regional Championships:
Between the dates of September first and October fifteenth, Decipher will be sponsoring each region's Regional Championship. These tournaments will consist only of players that have already won one of that region's Qualification Tournaments (either Constructed Deck or OTSD). This list of qualified players will be maintained by Decipher as each of the Qualification tournament's results are rated. Each Judge that runs a Regional Championship will have this list of qualified players at the start of their tournament in order to verify each player's eligibility as they enter. Judges for these events will be limited to Decipher's volunteers, or where possible, Decipher's staff.

The Regional Championship tournaments will be run in the Constructed Deck format, having six rounds of Swiss style play, followed by a final confrontation between the top two players. The final confrontation will consist of one game. The winners of each of the Regional Championship tournaments will be awarded with a seat in the 1999 Star Trek CCG World Championship.

The strict stuff:

Once a player within a given region advances to that region's Regional Championship, they may not compete in any other Qualification Tournament within that region. If a player is rated to have won more than one Qualification Tournament within their region, that player will be denied their seat at that region's Regional Championship. That player will also forfeit their ability to compete in any tournaments that are a part of Decipher's 1999 World Championship qualification system.

Once a player competes in a Qualification Tournament within their region (as listed in Decipher's player registry) they are no longer eligible to play in either a Qualification Tournament or a Regional Championship in ANY OTHER region. If a player is rated to have competed outside of their home region, unless playing in an Invitational or an Open, they will forfeit their ability to compete further in any tournaments that are a part of Decipher's 1999 World Championship qualification system.

Invitational Tournaments:
In addition to the Regional Championships, Decipher will be sponsoring two Invitational tournaments. These tournaments will be identical in format to the Regional Championship tournaments, except that to participate in one, a player needs to have a rating of 1600 by a date that will be set to be 3 days before the date of the Invitational. The winners of each of the Invitational tournaments will be awarded with a seat at the 1999 Star Trek CCG World Championship. These tournaments will most likely be held on the East and West coasts of the United States. These tournaments may very well be held during the time of the Qualification tournaments, so that many players will have an opportunity to compete in both of these different types of qualifiers.

Open Qualifiers:
Due to an overwhelmingly positive response regarding the impact of last year's Open Qualifiers, Decipher is adding 6 more to this year's World Championship qualifying system! We will not at this time announce where or when those Opens will be held, but stay tuned! The format for these tournaments will be Constructed Deck Swiss style, with 6 rounds of play and a final confrontation between the top two players after play is finished.

So...This brings the total number of seats at the World Championships to 29. With the addition of last year's champion, there are a total number of 30 seats for the 1999 Star Trek CCG World Championship.

1999 Star Trek CCG Decipher Customizable Card Game World Championship Weekend:
On or about the weekend of November 12, 13 and 14, after completion of all Regional Championships, Open Qualifiers and Invitational Qualifiers, Decipher will host its fourth annual Championship Weekend. This year proves to be something special, as both of Decipher's Customizable Card Game Championship Tournaments will take place on the same weekend, at the same event! For the Star Trek CCG, there will be 30 competitors present to battle for the title of 1999 Star Trek CCG World Champion. As of yet, the format for that weekend's tournament is undefined, but it will be an exciting 3 days of events. Based on feedback from last year's Championship Weekend, Decipher will host a large number of other events throughout the weekend just for those who wish to come and spend the weekend playing Star Trek CCG. Decipher will also be inviting retailers to sell all merchandise that is Star Trek! This event will be held in a location that supports a large number of restaurants and a movie theatre as well as a shopping mall. There will also be a number of reasonably priced hotels within a short distance to the tournament location so that all that attend can stay conveniently for the weekend.

Important information regarding a changing of the Star Trek CCG regional map:

The Star Trek CCG regional map will be adjusted to accommodate 21 regions. They will change in the following way:

In Canada and the US, regions will be changed to the following:

Bolarus IX- Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia

Ferenginar- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territory

Qo'noS - Ontario, Michigan

Betazed - Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut

Andor- Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

Tau Alpha C- North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Risa - California, Nevada, Hawaii

Vulcan - Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico

Bajor- Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas

Ronara - Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana

Veridian III - Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky

Cardassia Prime - Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama

Romulus - New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey

Sector 001- West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina

Cestus III - South Carolina, Georgia, Florida

In Europe, the regions will be changed to the following:

Rakasa V- Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg

Gema IV- United Kingdom, Ireland

Borg- Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece

Prema II- Italy

Talax- Spain, France, Portugal

In Australia/New Zealand, the regions will remain as:

Kurill Prime- Australia, New Zealand

You can expect to see the change on the actual map by about March 15th. Also, these regions will be enforced upon the Start of Qualification Tournament play on April 1st.

In lieu of the new regional boundaries that have been created for both of our Customizable Card Games, there comes to light a need to designate certain new regions as "Developmental regions". These regions are areas that have had less time to build an appropriate ratio of players/tournament directors. We wish to implement some exceptions for those specific areas that will allow them to participate in our current system in the fairest way possible. Please stay tuned for more information about "Developmental Regions" in upcoming Newsflash articles.

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Marcus Certa
The Emissary (emissary@decipher.com)
date: 21 January, 1999

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