Kick off your 2019 Championship Series season and your run toward the 2019 Pokémon World Championships at the Nashville Open. The Pokémon TCG and video game competitions will take place at the Nashville Music City Center on August 25 and 26. The Championship Point payout will be the same as a Regional Championships event in the 2019 season, meaning the winners will be well on their way toward an invitation to the next World Championships. Competitors will also be battling for tickets for use at the side events prize wall.
Worlds competitors who have been eliminated from play after Day One are welcome to participate in the Nashville Open, space permitting. All players should note that the first day of the Nashville Open runs concurrently with Day Two of the Pokémon World Championships and the Pokkén Tournament World Championships. You will not be able to participate in multiple events on Saturday!
Registration
The entry fee for the Nashville Open is $30 for Masters Division players and $15 for Junior and Senior Division players if you already have a badge for the event. Players who do not have a badge will need to purchase a spectator badge in addition to the entry for the Nashville Open. All entrants will receive prize wall tickets just for playing. Entry fees are not refundable.
Registration will take place online only. Half of the seats for each division will be available beginning in mid-July 2018. If this number is reached, registration will close for that age division. The remaining seats will become available at 7 p.m. CDT on Friday, August 24, to make sure Worlds competitors who don't make the cut to Day Two have the opportunity to register for the Nashville Open.
Register now to compete in the Nashville Open!
Entry and Badges
All participants in the Nashville Open must already have a badge to enter the World Championships event space, either as a main event competitor or by purchasing a spectator badge. Spectator badges can be purchased during Nashville Open registration if they are still available. A spectator badge will allow access into the main event hall to watch the main event and to participate in side events.
Video Game Battle Teams
Video game players will need to have their Battle Team checked and locked before they can play. Battle Team locking for the Nashville Open will take place from 9–9:30 a.m. Saturday, August 25, inside Hall C and D of the Nashville Music City Center. Team sheets for VG players will be collected at this time.
Player Meeting
All players will need to be seated for the player meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, August 25, inside Hall C and D of the Nashville Music City Center. Deck lists for Pokémon TCG players will be collected during the Pokémon TCG player meeting. Players who are not present at the beginning of the player meeting may be dropped from the event. Play will begin for all age divisions immediately following the player meeting.
Download TCG deck list (specific to the Nashville Open)
Tournament Format
The Pokémon TCG competition will use the Standard format, and players will use cards that are legal for the 2018 Championship Series season (please note that the 2019 season rotation will not yet be in effect).
The Pokémon video game competition will use the 2018 Championship Series format.
Tournament Structure
Play on Saturday will use Swiss rounds according to the standard Play! Pokémon tournament format, minus one round. For example, if an age division has 150 players, there will be seven Swiss rounds instead of the usual eight.
The number of players who advance to Sunday will match the standard Play! Pokémon tournament structure, but will also include all players with the same number of match points as the lowest-ranked top-cut player. For example, if the age division would usually cut to Top 8, all players who have the same number of match points as the person in 8th place will also advance to Sunday. Please note that this structure is unique to the Nashville Open.
Sunday’s rounds will feature single-elimination best-of-three bracket play. Based on the number of players who advance to Sunday, some players may have a bye for the first round.
Championship Point Payouts
The number of Championship Points awarded at the Nashville Open is based on attendance per age division.
