For the 4th and final year that Wizards had the Pokemon license, they implemented what they called the “BattleZone”. This system was meant to provide stores and tournament organizers with flexibility. BattleZones could be run either as leagues (like in previous years), or as one-of tournaments.
BattleZone started in November 2002. Stores were provided with BattleZone prize kits, which featured new promotional cards, as well as old “Classic” promos from previous years’ Pokemon Leagues. Each month a new “season” of BattleZone started, featuring different prize cards and new play formats.
BattleZone Leagues / Tournaments
BattleZones could be run either as more casual Leagues, or single event tournaments each month. Both were supported as DCI-sanctioned events by Wizards, and they gave guidance on how to run each, as well as how to distribute the BattleZone kit prizes.
BattleZone Kits
BattleZone Leaders (usually store owners) were able to purchase up to 4 of these kits directly from Wizards each season.
These came mailed in sealed envelopes
They contained the following:
- 16 Classic promos (in two sealed packs of 8)
- 8 Best of Game Winner promos
- 1 Jumbo Winner promo
- BattleZone poster displaying the season’s promo Pokemon
- Tournament Sanctioning Application form for organizers to fill out and send to Wizards
- BattleZone instructional packet
Running BattleZone as a Tournament
BattleZone Tournaments ran once a month, and BattleZone Leaders had to fill out sanctioning paperwork for the tournaments they planned to run in advance.
Once sanctioned by Wizards of the Coast, players would register with their DCI numbers.
Tournaments were run using the Swiss player-pairing system. This meant that each player would be able to play all 3 rounds of a tournament, win or lose.
At the end of the tournament, promos from each prize kit were distributed as follows:
- 3 Winner-stamped Best of Game promos to 1st place
- 2 Winner-stamped Best of Game promos to 2nd place
- 1 Winner-stamped Best of Game promo to 3rd & 4th place
- 1 Winner-stamped Best of Game promo to the Head Judge for the event
- 1 Classic promo to the top 16 participants (or to all participants if supply allowed)
Running BattleZone as a League
Leagues were run as 2 hour sessions at least once a week. BattleZone Leaders had the option of running multiple sessions per week as well.
League format was up to the discretion of the BattleZone Leader, and they were allowed to change between the Unlimited or Modified formats as they saw fit.
No pairings or DCI numbers were needed, and each league player would simply find another player and play a single match. Players could not play the same person twice in a row. The winner received 20 points, while the loser received 10 points.
Players were given a score sheet that tracked their points throughout the league. Younger players who didn’t know how to play the game were taught how to play, and also received 100 points for learning the game.
For leagues, it was recommended that store owners purchase all 4 BattleZone kits for prize support. During BattleZone Leagues, promos from the prize kit(s) were distributed as follows:
- Once a player had earned 100 points, they earned a copy of the classic promo card for that season.
- At the end of a season, the top 8-32 players with the most points each received a Best of Game promo from that season.
- At the end of a season, the top 1-4 players each received a copy of the Jumbo Winner Promo.
The number of promos distributed depending on the number of prize kits the BattleZone Leader had purchased, with full prize distribution at 4 kits.
If the store owner was running their BattleZone as a league, they would have to report the event to Wizards at the end of each month via mail or fax machine.
Since leagues ran as unreported, unsanctioned events, this reporting was necessary for Wizards to keep track of their local game store network
This also was aimed at preventing abuse by store owners ordering many promos without proper attendance, and simply just pocketing the extra promo cards. This system was used similarly in Wizards of the Coast’s main TCG, Magic: the Gathering.
Prizes by Season
Each season had its own specific promo prizes. The Classic promo would either be a promo from a previous year’s Pokemon League, or be a previous BattleZone season’s Best in Game promo. Wizards planned for the repeat BattleZone promos to be at least 3 months after their introduction season, which meant that winners would have the only available copies for 3 months.
The Jumbo winner-stamped promos were entirely non-holo, including the golden winner stamp which was simply printed onto the card. The regular-sized winner stamp versions had gold foil stamps.
Due to Wizards of the Coast losing the Pokemon License, the June and July 2003 seasons of BattleZone were never conducted. Tournament prize kits were still sent out to BattleZone leaders since they had to be approved for sanctioning in advance, but the regular league kits were not. This means that no “regular” versions of those promos exist, since they were only distributed in the league kits. Only the winner-stamped and the Jumbo winner cards were ever released for June (Rocket’s Mewtwo) and July (Rocket’s Hitmonchan).
November + December 2002 Season
Recommended format: Modified Constructed
Classic Promo
Winner version
January 2003 Season
Recommended format: Unlimited Constructed
The January kit included a Pikachu World Collection folder set. This might’ve been meant to be given away to a lucky winner in the BattleZone league.
Classic Promo
Winner version
February 2003 Season
Recommended format: Modified Constructed
Note: The Best in Game Hitmonchan was misprinted with 60 HP instead of 70 HP.
Classic Promo
Winner version
March 2003 Season
Recommended format: Unlimited Constructed
Classic Promo
Winner version
April 2003 Season
Recommended format: Modified Constructed
Classic Promo
Winner version
May 2003 Season
Recommended format: Unlimited Constructed
Classic Promo
Winner version
June 2003 Season
Note: Due to Wizards losing the Pokemon license, this season’s events never occurred.
Classic Promo
Winner version
July 2003 Season
Note: Due to Wizards losing the Pokemon license, this season’s events never occurred.
No poster was printed for this cancelled season
Classic Promo
Other BattleZone Activities
The BattleZone Kits also included a small “Frontline Report” newsletter for store organizers. This report described the current season’s Classic promo and “Winner” promo cards, as well as other events.
The packet also included an activity each week for attendees or younger children to do. Store owners were to make copies of this activity and distribute them to attendees.
Super BattleZone
On May 24 & 25, 2003 Wizards hosted “Super” BattleZone tournaments throughout the United States. There were 50 locations throughout the country, with many being held at official Wizards of the Coast stores, game stores, and even the New York City Pokemon Center.
Super BattleZone tournaments had a $5 entry fee, and were played with the Modified format, which at the time, included the following sets (all older sets’ cards were not allowed):
- Neo Genesis expansion
- Neo Discovery expansion
- Neo Revelation expansion
- Southern Islands Collection expansion
- Neo Destiny expansion
- Legendary Collection expansion
- Expedition expansion
- Any new post-Expedition expansion
- Cards numbered 21 and higher with the Black Star promo expansion symbol
- Cards with the Best in Game promo expansion symbol
The tournaments were played with several rounds of Swiss to determine a top 8 cut. From then, the top 8 players would then compete in single elimination matches to determine final standings. Players were divided into 3 age groups: 10 and younger, 11-14, and 15+.
Prizes
Each participating player received a set of 3 Wizards Black Star promos.
The top 16 finishers at each tournament received 1 Jumbo Winner Electabuzz.
In addition, the top 8 players at each tournament received the following:
- 1st place: 36 Skyridge booster packs (1 booster box)
- 2nd place: 24 Skyridge booster packs
- 3rd – 4th place: 12 Skyridge booster packs
- 5th – 8th place: 6 Skyridge booster packs
Lastly, the 1st place player in each age group received a glass engraved trophy.
Sources
- https://web.archive.org/web/20021015004256/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/leagueMain
- https://web.archive.org/web/20021203013703/http://www.wizards.com:80/default.asp?x=pokemon/leagueMain
- https://web.archive.org/web/20021202160123/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/bzleague
- https://web.archive.org/web/20021202160432/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/bztournament
- https://web.archive.org/web/20021202141012/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/battlezoneformat
- https://web.archive.org/web/20030417101426/http://wizards.com:80/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/battlezoneformat
- https://web.archive.org/web/20030421175852/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/superbzFAQ
- https://web.archive.org/web/20030605161647/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pokemon/league/superbzschedule
