Gateway Qualifiers
Gateway Qualifiers are open to any player, and can be organized by any WPN Gateway level organizer. (For more information about the WPN and organizer levels, please refer to the WPN page.)
There will be four seasons of Gateway Qualifiers in 2009, held during the following date ranges: February 9-March 1, May 4-May 31, August 1-August 28 and October 1-October 17. Tournament organizers may run one Qualifier during each round. Gateway Qualifiers will be run using Standard format, are Rules Enforcement Level: Regular, and are 16K. (For more information about formats, rules enforcement levels and K Value, please refer to the DCI Tournament Rules.) Please refer to the above links for event information for each qualifier round.
Winners of a Gateway Qualifier will earn a 1-round bye at the Regional Qualifiers (see below). Byes are not cumulative; if a player wins more than one Gateway Qualifier, he or she will receive only one 1-round bye. However, byes are not "used up"—a player with a bye from a Gateway Qualifier may play in more than on Regional Qualifier and would have a 1-round bye at each Regional Qualifier. Byes do not pass down under any circumstance; if the winner of a Gateway Qualifier already has a bye, the second-place finisher does not then receive a bye. Additional prizes such as product or promotional cards may be offered; check with your local organizer for details.
Regional Qualifiers
There are two types of Regional Qualifiers: Regular and Special. All Regional Qualifiers will take place between November 9 and December 20. Regional Qualifiers are run using Standard format, are Rules Enforcement Level: Competitive, and are 24K.
Regular Regional Qualifiers
Regular Regional Qualifiers for The Finals are open to any player who participated in a Gateway Qualifier, and can be organized by any WPN Core level organizer. Top finishers in Regular Regional Qualifiers earn invites to the Championship according to the following chart.
| Participants |
Invites |
| 8 |
1 |
| 9-16 |
2 |
| 17-32 |
4 |
| 33+ |
8 |
Special Regional Qualifiers
Special Regional Qualifiers for The Finals are open to any player, regardless of whether or not he or she participated in a Gateway Qualifier, and can be organized by any WPN Advanced level organizer. Top finishers in Regular Regional Qualifiers earn invites to the Championship according to the following chart.
| Participants |
Invites |
| 8 |
2 |
| 9-16 |
4 |
| 17-32 |
8 |
| 33+ |
16 |
The Finals Championship
The Championship for The Finals will be held in late December. The event is open to any player who meets one of the following criteria:
- Regional Qualifier top finishers
- Current The Finals Champion
- Current Japan National Team members
- Current World Champion (if Japanese)
- Current Pro Player of the Year (if Japanese)
- Current Rookie of the Year (if Japanese)
- Pro Club Level 2 or higher (based on the most recent Pro Standings calculated before the Championship)
After an equal number of Swiss rounds of Standard and Extended Constructed, the Top 8 players will advance to the single elimination round, which will be played using the Standard Constructed format (using the same decks as the Swiss rounds). The Championship is Rules Enforcement Level: Competitive and 32K.
Top finishers in the Championship will be rewarded prize money according to the following schedule.
| Final Standing |
Prize |
| 1 |
¥250,000 |
| 2 |
¥150,000 |
| 3-4 |
¥80,000 |
| 5-8 |
¥40,000 |
| 9-16 |
¥20,000 |
| 17-32 |
¥10,000 |
| Total: |
¥1,040,000 |