Pokémon Card Game Battle Carnival 2012 was a series of major official Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) events held in Japan in 2012. The events were organized in two seasons – Spring 2012 and Autumn 2012 – with multiple regional venues and attracted thousands of players and fans across age groups. Each season’s events featured official TCG tournaments (with age-based divisions), exclusive promotional card giveaways, side attractions, and merchandise sales.
Age Divisions
Both spring and autumn events were divided into two age divisions, often referred to as leagues. Younger players competed in a Junior league, while older players (including adults) competed in an open league. Each event day crowned a champion in each league.
This differed from standard major tournaments which had 3 age divisions (junior, seniors, open / masters).
Battle Carnival 2012 Spring
Battle Carnival 2012 Spring took place across four Japanese cities over five days in May–June 2012. The venues and dates were:
- Sendai – Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, May 3, 2012 (Thu, National Holiday)
- Yokohama – Pacifico Yokohama (Exhibition Hall C), May 12–13, 2012
- Nagoya – Port Messe Nagoya (Hall 3), May 20, 2012
- Osaka – Intex Osaka (Hall 5A), June 3, 2012
Each venue opened from 9:00 to 17:00, with last entry around 16:30.
World Challenge Tournament
The headline attraction at the Spring Carnival was the World Challenge Tournament, a TCG competition open to various age divisions. Players competed using their own 60-card decks under the current Black & White-era rules, and the tournament was structured in multiple stages.
All participants would receive 2 promo cards with the event logo for participating.
Challenge Stage
This was a preliminary stage where players battled in a win-streak format. Any player achieving 3 consecutive wins would “clear” this stage and advance to the Premier Stage. There were no time limits on Challenge Stage matches, and players could not alter their decks during a win streak.
All participants were given a Battle sheet to track their progress throughout the tournament, which they would use during this stage and the next.
Premier Stage
The qualifiers from the Challenge Stage advanced to face one another. Players continued win-streak battles until a cutoff time (around 13:00), after which the top 16 players (by number of consecutive wins) in each age division qualified for the final bracket.
Tie-breakers for equal win counts were decided by fewest losses, and if still tied, by a tiebreaker game of Rock–Paper–Scissors.
All players who reached the Premier stage were awarded with a pair of promo cards with the event’s stamp.
Climax Stage
This was a single-elimination playoff among the top players, with 30-minute matches (best-of-one). Deck changes were not allowed during elimination rounds, though players could swap cards in the brief interval between Premier Stage and Climax Stage. The Climax Stage produced the final winners for each division, with the top 3 being awarded Victory Cup promo cards based on their placement.
These were presented in acrylic trophy shield displays, and the 1st place winner of each age group would also receive an invite to the 2012 Pokemon World Championships. In total, 9 Japanese players earned an invite to Worlds in this way.
Each Victory Cup was stamped with the event name, meaning that the ones awarded in Spring are slightly different than the Autumn ones.
Side events
In addition to the main tournament, the Spring Carnival offered many side events and interactive attractions for attendees of all experience levels.
Get Drifblim and Altaria cards!
Players could obtain two unique promotional cards — Drifblim and Altaria — by bringing a pre-constructed 30-card theme deck (the Hydreigon Deck 30 or Garchomp Deck 30 from the BW series) to the venue. Upon entry, staff would award an Altaria and a Drifblim card with special original illustrations to those attendees.
Each person could receive up to two sets per day while supplies lasted. Additionally, all visitors received a commemorative Pokémon coin as a door gift.
Pokemon Card Game Experience Battle
A learning-oriented battle area was set up for young or first-time players to practice the TCG in a fun format. Kids could play in a Junior league (elementary school age or below), or team up with a parent in a special Parent-Child league where an adult and child played together as a pair using one deck. Participants in the Experience Battle were provided loaner decks (60-card decks for standard play and 30-card half-decks for simpler play) if needed.
As prizes, everyone received a jumbo-size Rayquaza promo card as a participation award, and could earn a set of basic Energy cards by trying both 30-card and 60-card battles.
Knockout Battle & Gym Leader Challenge
For more casual free-play, the Knockout Challenge let attendees test their skills in pick-up matches. Players could line up and attempt to win three games in a row against others during a session. Winning three consecutive matches earned a “Knockout Winner” prize. If players were playing in the Open “O” age division, earning this prize also awarded the player with a holofoil Palace Belt promo card in addition to the standard promo pack, while younger players would only get the promo packs.
Meanwhile, the Gym Leader Challenge allowed fans to battle against characters dressed as Unova Region Gym Leaders. Victors in these special battles were awarded extra prizes. Both the Knockout and Gym Leader challenges gave out promo card booster packs as incentives – for example, a single 5-card Promotional Card Pack BW for participating, additional packs for win streaks, and 3 packs for defeating a Gym Leader.
Beginner’s Class & Deck Building Class
The Spring event included a “How to Play” class using the BW Beginner’s Set: National Dex Edition product, where staff taught the rules to newcomers in a hands-on tutorial. Kids who joined this Hajimete Kyoushitsu (First-time Classroom) received an original Pokémon sticker as a memento for learning to play.
Commemorative Photo Service Corner
A person or group could have their photograph taken in front of a board with the Spring 2012 Battle Carnival logo and then have the image printed on a special jumbo card. Each print cost ¥500.
Store and Merchandise
A retail area called the Pokémon Goods Sales Corner was set up at each venue. In addition to general Pokémon TCG products and merchandise, this shop featured event-exclusive items unavailable elsewhere.
Battle Carnival 2012 Autumn
The Autumn 2012 Battle Carnival was held in three cities in November 2012. The schedule was slightly more compact than in spring, spanning four event days in total:
- Sapporo – Access Sapporo (Large Exhibition Hall), November 4, 2012 (Sun)
- Osaka – Intex Osaka (Hall 1), November 17, 2012 (Sat)
- Tokyo – Tokyo Big Sight (West Hall 3), November 23–24, 2012 (Fri [holiday] & Sat)
Each venue ran from 9:00 to 17:00, with Tokyo hosting a two-day finale event. The Autumn series was again described as a “super-sized” official event, drawing players nationwide to compete in year-end tournaments.
Victory Cup Tournament
The Autumn Carnival’s main competitions were centered around the “Victory Cup 2012” championship series.
Unlike the Spring event (which fed into the world championship cycle), the Autumn tournaments were part of Japan’s domestic championship circuit. The structure was similar to the spring World Challenge format, with a Challenge Stage, Premier Stage, and Climax Stage held at each venue.
All participants would receive a promo card with the event logo for participating, as well as a special Plasma coin.
While it was not announced prior to the event, participants also received an additional Tympole promo card for participating.
Challenge Stage
This was a preliminary stage where players battled in a win-streak format. Any player achieving 3 consecutive wins would “clear” this stage and advance to the Premier Stage. There were no time limits on Challenge Stage matches, and players could not alter their decks during a win streak.
All participants were given a Battle sheet to track their progress throughout the tournament, which they would use during this stage and the next.
Premier Stage
The qualifiers from the Challenge Stage advanced to face one another. Players continued win-streak battles until a cutoff time (around 13:00), after which the top 16 players (by number of consecutive wins) in each age division qualified for the final bracket.
Tie-breakers for equal win counts were decided by fewest losses, and if still tied, by a tiebreaker game of Rock–Paper–Scissors.
All players who reached the Premier stage were awarded with a promo cards with the event’s stamp.
Climax Stage
This was a single-elimination playoff among the top players, with 30-minute matches (best-of-one). Deck changes were not allowed during elimination rounds, though players could swap cards in the brief interval between Premier Stage and Climax Stage. The Climax Stage produced the final winners for each division, with the top 3 being awarded Victory Cup promo cards based on their placement.
These were presented in acrylic trophy shield displays, and the 1st place winner of each age group would also receive an invite to the 2012 Pokemon World Championships. In total, 9 Japanese players earned an invite to Worlds in this way.
Each Victory Cup was stamped with the event name, meaning that the ones awarded in Spring are slightly different than the Autumn ones.
Japan National Championship Last Chance Qualifier
The Tokyo stop of the Autumn Carnival doubled as the culmination of the year’s competitive circuit. On Tokyo’s second day (Nov 24), a special Last Chance Qualifier and the Victory Cup 2012 Japan National Championship were held.
The Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) was an unusual two-phase tournament open on Nov 24 morning for one final opportunity to earn a nationals seat.
In LCQ Phase 1, players engaged in rapid-fire battles where every 2 wins earned an entry into a random drawing; four lucky winners from the draw advanced to Phase 2.
In Phase 2, those four players built new decks on the spot using a limited card pool provided (cards from the Master Deck Build Box EX and Plasma Gale booster packs) and then faced off in a short single-elimination bracket.
The top player in each league from the LCQ earned a spot in the National Championship later that day.
Victory Cup 2012 National Championship
The Victory Cup 2012 National Championship itself was an invite-only tournament (including regional champions and LCQ winners) to crown the overall Japanese TCG champion for 2012. This final was held in Junior and Open divisions as well, and was the climax of the Autumn Carnival at Tokyo Big Sight.
Junior League
- Winner: Landorus EX, Mewtwo EX, Tornadus EX, Buffalo
- Runner-up: Eelektrik, Rayquaza EX, Rayquaza, Zekrom
- 3rd place: Darkrai EX, Hydreigon, Sableye, Mewtwo EX
- 3rd place: Blastoise, Keldeo EX, Black Kyurem EX, Victini (BTV Fire)
Open League
- Winner: Eelektrik, Rayquaza EX, Rayquaza, Emolga
- Runner-up: Blastoise, Keldeo EX, Black Kyurem EX, Fire
- 3rd place: Sableye, Mew EX, Victini (BW2), Arrowhead (BW7), Watchog (P), Emolga
- 3rd place: Eelektrik, Rayquaza EX, Victini EX
The first place winner of each league was given an opportunity to meet Pokemon illustrator Ken Sugimori, and have a card autographed by him.
Additionally, it seems like the 1st place winners had specially-printed Victory Cup cards made for them. Masashi Ariyoshi was the champion for the Open League and the following 2 Victory Cups have been pictured with his name stamped on them.
Side events
The Autumn Carnival continued the tradition of offering diverse side activities, some with new twists reflecting the Black 2 & White 2 era theme (Team Plasma and older card formats).
Hall of Fame Battle
One featured side event was the “Hall of Fame Battle” (Dendou Battle), which allowed players to use older cards under the DP-era Hall of Fame format rules. In this format, certain powerful cards from the Diamond & Pearl series were legal but assigned point values; decks had to stay under a point limit – encouraging creative mixes of old and new cards.
This side tournament challenged players to see if they could win 3 battles in a row using their Hall of Fame decks. A special prize, the “Hall of Fame Belt” promo card (also called Palace Belt), was awarded to any player who achieved a three-win streak in this legacy format challenge. The Hall of Fame Belt card was the same promo that had been given to winners of an open-league side tournament in Spring, now repurposed for the Autumn event.
Team Plasma “Join Up” Battle
Tapping into the storyline of Pokémon Black/White 2, the Autumn Carnival let attendees encounter Team Plasma in a fun way. In the “Team Plasma Induction Battle” (Plasma-dan Nyūdan Battle), costumed Team Plasma members roamed the event challenging guests to battles. If the attendee defeated the Team Plasma member in a card game, they were given a Plasma Energy card as a “recruitment” prize. This energy card was identical to the one available in the regular set.
Waku Waku Team Battle
Another side event introduced in Autumn was the “WAKUWAKU Team Battle”, a two-on-two team competition. In this mode, pairs of players teamed up and battled other pairs using 30-card half decks from a new preconstructed deck product, the “Waku Waku Battle Gift Set”.
Special rules were in effect to make team play exciting and distinct from normal duels. This family-friendly format encouraged siblings, parent-child pairs, or friends to cooperate in battle. All participants in the team battle received a BW Promotional Card Pack as a prize for joining.
Beginner and Deck Building Class
Like in Spring, Autumn had a Beginner’s class for teaching new players (using the same BW Beginner’s Set kit) and a Deck Construction class for those ready to build decks. The beginner class in Autumn rewarded learners with a “Battle Record Book” (a small notebook for tracking matches) as a participation gift, while the deck-building class again gave out the deck completion sheet to participants.
Store
The Autumn Carnival’s goods corner offered new event-exclusive items, most notably an official Card Game Deck Shield (sleeve set) with “Carnival 2012 Autumn” design for sale.
Legacy
The Autumn 2012 Battle Carnival were a worthy successor to the 2011 Battle Carnivals and provided a fitting finale to the year’s Pokémon TCG events.
It combined the competitive seriousness of the Victory Cup national championships with the festive atmosphere of a fan convention. Attendees could watch top-level matches (including the Japan No.1 finals), participate in fun side battles, and collect unique cards and memorabilia.
The inclusion of nostalgic formats (DP-era Hall of Fame) and on-theme scenarios (Team Plasma battles) gave the Autumn Carnival a distinct flavor. Both the Spring and Autumn 2012 Carnivals were well-received, and their success helped set the template for future Pokémon Card Game carnivals and large-scale tournaments in Japan. Battle Carnivals would continue in 2013, the final year of the events.
Sources
- https://pokeboon.com/jp/promo_event/battle-carnival-2012-spring/
- http://blog.livedoor.jp/alice_umbreon/archives/1967070.html
- http://blog.livedoor.jp/alice_umbreon/archives/1967367.html
- http://blog.livedoor.jp/alice_umbreon/archives/1994823.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20121219124412/http://pcgn.pokemon-card.com/blog/2012/12/000281.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20121219045425/http://pcgn.pokemon-card.com/blog/2012/11/000283.html
- https://x.com/Pokemon_cojp/status/271879060278349824
- http://rainbowgym.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-37.html
- https://pokeboon.com/jp/promo_event/battle-carnival-2012-autumn/
