FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) regarding tournaments:

1. What are the requirements to be a director?
   • Minimum age of 18.
   • Familiarity with game (or a judge who can assist the director.)
   • Administrative responsibility to provide for a tournament's sanctioning.
     
     
2. What are the requirements for a tournament to be sanctioned?
   • Director must be a registered sanctioned tournament director with Decipher Inc.
   • Tournament must be announced on our website tournament page at least one week prior to the event.
   • There must be at least 8 players at start of the tournament.
   • The Swiss format tournament must consist of at least 3 games for Star Trek or 2 complete rounds (at least 4 games, 2 dark and 2 light) for Star Wars. Sealed deck formats for both games require at least 3 games, and Star Wars CCG requires a final confrontation between the highest light side player and the highest dark side player.
   • The results must be postmarked and sent in to our office or submitted with our official software within a week of the actual event.
   • There may be no more than one per week of any one format of sanctioned event for each director, shop or group of directors.
     
     
3. How long does it take to become a tournament director?
   About 5 minutes. A Squadron Member or Ambassador may assist you with the process, or you may sign yourself up. After receiving a temporary ID#, you must run a Sealed Deck tournament before becoming permanent.
   
   
4. How can I get the official Tournament Guide and score cards? There are two ways. All approved directors are sent a kit containing those items a little after sending the first set of sanctioned results. Those who cannot wait for the kit, are encouraged to download a copy of it from off our website, it is located in the respective resources page found from either the game or the tournament page.
   
   
5. How can I get a tournament registered?
   Once you have received your ID number, you can immediately register your events on our website. Just look under the sanctioned tournaments section. Without an ID#, you may still post non-sanctioned events.
   
   
6. How do I run a Decipher tournament?
   All information on the process for PADD Display/Command Cards, pairing of players, etcÉ is included in the directorÕs kit. The kit also includes an address for mailing in the results to Decipher for rating. The software can also run the event, pairing, and scoring for you if you have a computer available.
   
   
7. Why does it take so long for tournament results to get posted on the player ratings page?
   After arriving at our office (which may take some time for international mail, or for Third class delivery), the results are entered into our system in the order in which they were received. As the tournaments grow more popular, and the number of players increases, the time it takes to get to your tournament and enter it also increases. The software will remarkebly shorten the length of time it takes to be updated, but accuracy of data is always important. After entering the data, each tournament is then processed for player ranking. Any typos or changes of address, or even a use of an initial or nickname, may cause the tournament to be rejected for examination and re-entry.
   
   
8. Why is my tournament from over a month ago not processed yet?
   
   • Many tournament results are not returned to us in the mandatory time. If the results are postmarked more than a week after the event, the tournament may be disqualified, and the results not included for ratings.
   • Other tournaments do not meet some of the sanctioning requirements, like # of players or rounds (see above). These are also disqualified.
   • Still others have the PADD Display/Command Cards illegible, or not filled out completely, and thus take a longer time to process, or cause the tournament to be unenterable. An example is one that has no director's name on it, nor date on the command cards. Just the name of a store on the envelope! We look at it and wonder who it came from. Some are never figured outÉ
     
     
9. What if I don't meet the sanctioning requirements at my tournament?
   You should in this case hold onto any prize support from Decipher for the next event. You may reward the loyal players who showed up with a pack for their troubles, but don't split it all up. If there are only a few players, you may want to cancel the tournament and reschedule it for another time. You should inform Decipher that it was canceled or rescheduled. Directors are able to update the tournament info directly on our website.
   
   
10. What kind of prize support does Decipher offer for sanctioned tournaments?
    
    • In North America, we do not send prize support for individual events. After we have received a set of good, sanctionable results from you, we will send a package for a future event. Each prize package includes a display box of Unlimited boosters for distribution among the contestants, to be decided upon by the judge/director. We recommend a portion for the champion, and a portion for runner-up places, as well as possibly for other consolation prizes (like, a prize for the last-place player who stayed in the tournament till the end.)
    • In Europe and Australia/New Zealand, the prize support is only sent when an event is posted at least four weeks in advance.
    • There is currently only the one standard package of prize support. Size of the event does not cause the prize support to vary.
      
      
11. How can I receive prize support for my sanctioned event?
    Decipher currently supports the Star Wars CCG and the Star Trek CCG. For these games in North America, it will occur automatically when you send us the results of a sanctioned event run by you. Within a week of receiving them, we will send you a package to be used for one of your future events. In Europe and Australia/New Zealand, it will occur automatically when you post your event at least four weeks in advance of the tournament.
    
    
12. Does Decipher support non-sanctioned events?
    Decipher does not offer prize support for non-sanctioned events. However, we do provide a forum for posting and advertising such events on our website. We encourage areas new to tournament play to experiment with formats. The OTSD enhanced boxes are excellent for this.
    
    
13. How do I contact Decipher if I need assistance with tournament-related issues?
    
    • Sean Smallman, Decipher's tournament coordinator is happy to be of help. He can most easily be contacted via
      email at: tournaments@decipher.com
      and can also be reached usually by phone at (757)664-1152.
      His address is
      Tournaments
      Decipher Inc.
      P.O. Box 56
      Norfolk VA 23501-0056.
    • All European tournament-related questions (including issued of prize support, director's kits, etc...) shoule be sent to Geert Van Slambrouck at redfourtyfour@hotmail.com or for convention issues to Dominiek Vermandere at dominiek.vermandere@skynet.be.
    • For questions related to game play for one of our games, see question #18 below.
      
      
14. How do I update my DIRECTOR information?
    Go to the "Post Details" section of the tournament pages on our website.
    
    
15. How do I update my TOURNAMENT information?
    Go to the "Post Details" section of the tournament pages on our website.
    
    
16. WhereÕs the prize support T-shirt?
    Occasionally we run out of them. When this occurs, directors may only receive the display box of Unlimited boosters. It is support, and was never intended to be the sole source of prizes. We are confident that you, as a creative tournament coordinator, will be able to find ways to supplement your prize support that you receive from us if this occurs. It may take a little work, but you can do it! Of course, you can also stick with just the a box of Unlimited boosters.
    
    
17. How do I handle a situation if someone is caught cheating?
    It is up to the discretion of the tournament director. In most cases a warning will suffice, but if this is a consistent occurrence, then more severe actions may be warranted. Please keep in mind that we want you to promote a fun playing environment and to consider the impact on the Star Trek/Star Wars playing community as a whole, including the offending player.
    
    
18. Who can I contact if I have a rules question?
    During the tournament you must use your best judgment and any official rules documents (All which may be obtained from the Decipher website). Afterwards, you can contact Justin Pakes at JediKnight@decipher.com for Star Wars CCG and Young Jedi questions, or Kathy McCracken at MajorRakal@decipher.com for Star Trek CCG rules questions. Also another source of good information is the listserve. You can subscribe to the listserves by sending an e-mail to majordomo@decipher.com with the following in the body Ôsubscribe stccg-discussionÕ or Ôsubscribe swccg-discussionÕ.
    
    
19. Where's the pins?
    The Rebel and Imperial pins, found on page 3 of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game Tournament Guide, are no longer a part of the Tournament Director's Kit. We recommend that you use an alternative method, such as flipping a coin, to determine sides during the initial pairing of each round.