LAFAYETTE PARISH — LaffySmash's General Manager, Rose Varnell, recently passed an official Pokémon Professor Exam and became qualified to host official Pokémon Trading Card Game Tournaments in Lafayette, and while the tournaments currently take place around Acadiana, LaffySmash is introducing Digital Pokémon Tournaments in addition to the card game tournaments.
The announcement was made on Laffysmash's Facebook:
Rose Varnell, LaffySmash's General Manager, is now a certified Organizer.
According to Pokémon's website:
"Professors with the Organizer certification can use the official Pokémon website to schedule and advertise tournaments, and they gain access to our Tournament Operations Manager (TOM) software. Organizers are responsible for all the details of tournaments they host, such as securing the location, selecting the structure and format, reporting the results, recruiting a judge team, and much more. Organizers who meet certain prerequisites can become eligible to run certain local Premier Events, such as League Cups and Premier Challenges."
The tournaments are currently being held at local businesses, including Sanctuary Games and Comics, where Rose and KATC Reporter Jobie Lagrange sat down to discuss how the tournaments work.
Players are also divided into three tiers of brackets based on age, so children are not playing with adults and remain within their bracket.
These include:
JUNIOR - PLAYERS BORN IN 2013 OR LATER
SENIOR - PLAYERS BORN BETWEEN 2009 - 2012
MASTERS - PLAYERS BORN IN 2008 OR LATER
All certified Organizers must pass a background test with the Pokémon Company to be eligible to host tournaments.
Rose has completed and passed both the qualifying exam and background checks and will officially hold the first tournament on August 14th at Sanctuary Games and Comics.
So, what happens when a player wins a tournament?
The trading card game using a deck of 60 cards versus the digital games Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet played on Nintendo Switch result in different prizes.
TCG PRIZES -
- Winners earn a special Pokémon Card Prize Pack that cannot be bought or attained any other way except for winning Pokémon tournaments and includes an official Play Pokémon Stamp on it.
- Winners are also awarded Champion Points, which, if enough are collected, allow a player to advance to the Regional Competition, typically held in New Orleans.
SWITCH PRIZES -
Players can earn cash prizes when Pokémon International gives tournament support, along with Championship Points also being rewarded.
In fact, Lafayette is no stranger to previous competitors starting locally and later qualifying for the Global Pokemon Tournament, called Pokémon World's Competition.
When asking how important the World's Competition is, Rose tells KATC it's synonymous to the Superbowl.
Christian Moreno from Elton, LA, qualified for the World's in 2018 after starting at a local Lafayette tournament and winning all the way to the International Competition in Latin America for the Senior Division.
Christian continues to play in the Master's Division today.
Currently, tournaments are being hosted at Sanctuary Games and Comics in Lafayette, and admission to the tournament is free.
LaffySmash brings lots of gaming to the community, including things such as Super Smash Bros, which is frequently streamed and can be found here
To register to play in the Pokémon Tournaments, you can CLICK HERE and begin playing in Lafayette!
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to LaffySmash for more information.
