Prerelease Event Tournaments
A prelease tournament allows players to buy and play with new cards from the latest set sometimes up to two weeks before they are actually released.
New card sets are normally released once every three months, so any league could organise four prerelease events a year if there is enough interested players.
The normal cost of attending a prelease event is around £20 to cover the costs of the cards. The tournament organisers have to buy the booster packs themselves, they are not provided by Pokémon UK.
The tournament starts by each player being given a special pre release kit. The kit contains a selection of cards that work together and can form the basis of a deck along with four booster packs and a special pre release promo card (Each player will receive a further two booster packs at the end of the tournament)
Each player then has to construct a 40 card deck using cards from the kit and the four booster packs. Basic energy cards are normally provided by the organiser but these should be returned after the tournament ends. You can use your own basic energy cards if you wish but if they are not in perfect condition you will need to sleeve your deck so that they don't stand out when shuffled with the newer cards. Special energy cards cannot be used unless they came from the kit and booster packs you opened at the start of the event.
Players are not allowed to trade cards with other players until the end of the tournament. Organisers don't normally ask players to complete deck lists but you are not allowed to change your deck once the tournament has started.
Normal tournament rules apply but because the decks only consist of 40 cards, players only lay out 4 prize cards instead of the normal 6.
Each round is normally a single match game of 30 minutes. The total number of rounds depends upon the number of players in each age group. There is not normally a top cut.
Prerelease tournaments are normally treated as fun events and are less competitive than other tournaments as there are no special prizes for the winner and match results do not affect a player's premier rating. However playing in a prerelease tournament does award you one Play Point.
New card sets are normally released once every three months, so any league could organise four prerelease events a year if there is enough interested players.
The normal cost of attending a prelease event is around £20 to cover the costs of the cards. The tournament organisers have to buy the booster packs themselves, they are not provided by Pokémon UK.
The tournament starts by each player being given a special pre release kit. The kit contains a selection of cards that work together and can form the basis of a deck along with four booster packs and a special pre release promo card (Each player will receive a further two booster packs at the end of the tournament)
Each player then has to construct a 40 card deck using cards from the kit and the four booster packs. Basic energy cards are normally provided by the organiser but these should be returned after the tournament ends. You can use your own basic energy cards if you wish but if they are not in perfect condition you will need to sleeve your deck so that they don't stand out when shuffled with the newer cards. Special energy cards cannot be used unless they came from the kit and booster packs you opened at the start of the event.
Players are not allowed to trade cards with other players until the end of the tournament. Organisers don't normally ask players to complete deck lists but you are not allowed to change your deck once the tournament has started.
Normal tournament rules apply but because the decks only consist of 40 cards, players only lay out 4 prize cards instead of the normal 6.
Each round is normally a single match game of 30 minutes. The total number of rounds depends upon the number of players in each age group. There is not normally a top cut.
Prerelease tournaments are normally treated as fun events and are less competitive than other tournaments as there are no special prizes for the winner and match results do not affect a player's premier rating. However playing in a prerelease tournament does award you one Play Point.