This tournament format has been put in place by Bushiroad Japan at the National and World level. This format is subject to change - Bushiroad has previously released updates to their format in late September, so please check back for updates.

Note that this does not affect Regionals. This only effects the Nationals and Worlds. We'll go over it in detail below.

1. The tournament is a Swiss Double Elimination tournament with a Top 8. an Invitation is required. Should the tournament be under the minimum headcount for a National event, present Last Chance attendees will be invited based on Strength of Schedule to make the minimum.
   • Matches are 40 minutes long. This is the standard Bushiroad WS 30 minute limit, with a special +10 minute dispensation for the North American Circuit to allow time for translation.
   • Matches that go to time are a Double Loss, unless a Slow Play call was upheld by a Judge, in which case only the Slow Play-called player loses.
2. Players that receive two losses are eliminated.
3. Players are matched randomly in a Swiss Format.
   • Players with the same number of wins are paired off randomly against each other.
   • Pairing Rule A: No players play each other more than once if possible.
   • Pairing Rule B: Once Pairing Rule A is fulfilled, no players receiving multiple 'pair-downs' if possible.
   • Players with two losses at the beginning of a round are eliminated before pairing.
   • In the case of an odd number of uneliminated players, One 'Bye' (Win) is given to a non-eliminated player with the least number of wins.
   • No multiple 'Byes' per player if possible.
4. Step 3 is repeated until there are 8 or less "players with less than two losses (X-0 / Y-1)".
5. At this point, players are allowed to drop out of the tournament if they so choose.
6. All players that are not yet dropped and have one or less loss are admitted into the Top 8.
7. The remaining spots in the Top Cut, if any, are then distributed via Strength of Schedule amongst those who fit both of the following conditions:
   1. ended this last Double Elimination round with two losses, and
   2. have not dropped or received any losses due to Slow Play/Time.
Strength is determined in descending order by wins plus byes, then average number of opponent's wins (with a minimum of wins per opponent equal to exactly 1/3 of the number of non-bye rounds), then average number of defeated opponent's wins, then versus match record, then random draw.

8. The Top 8 is a Single Elimination tournament bracket.
   • Seeding is determined randomly.
   • Matches that go to time are a Loss for the current Turn Player, unless a Slow Play call was upheld by a Judge, in which case the Slow Play-called player loses. Note that matches at this point will be carefully monitored, and players attempting to abuse this rule may be given Slow Play penalties by a Judge.
9. There are a number of common-sense rules that we have to detail here.
   • You must have a properly sleeved deck without markings. Marked cards will cause a deck check fail.
   • Your must fill out a deck list properly - correct name, correct quantity, correct FULL ID NUMBER. Everything before the space: AB/W31-T01 TD is AB/W31-T01. DC3/W18-020R RRR is DC3/W18-020R. If you have the TD and BP versions of a card, you have to label them properly. Deck check fail causes a game loss for the current game in Swiss, and for the Top 8 check it eliminates you from the standings.
   • You know and understand how to properly play, including timing and passing of optional abilities.
   • You must not have hygiene issues that cause other players a negative experience. Ejection from the venus is removal from the tournament.

• A player calls their opponent on Slow Play. This should happen if the player feels the opponent is taking too long to perform actions, or if during the "match time remaining" announcements that their match has not progressed far enough. The reason it is not allowed after the fact is that Judges cannot then watch the Match in progress to see how the situation should be handled. It is vitally important that players be mindful of the time, and is the main reason time remaining is announced in 10- and then 5- minute increments throughout every round.
• The Judge watches the match to see the speed of play.
• If the Judge feels one player is playing too slowly, that Judge will uphold the call. The opposing player is now under the Timeout loss condition of "Slow Play"*.
• If the Judge feels they cannot uphold this decision, they will have the match continue, adding time to the match so that any possible Slow Play up to that point does not have any effect.