Totaling only five sets, the Heartgold Soulsilver series is one of the Pokémon TCG's smallest blocks. Revered for its beautiful artwork, the HS block is also full of unique cards that enable a fun format to play. But never an official competitive format, it remains largely unexplored—so let's explore! Looking for a place to get started? Check out this article.

HS Block Format: Legal Sets & Cards

• Heartgold SoulSilver
• Unleashed
• Undaunted
• Triumphant
• Call of Legends
• HGSS Promotional Cards HGSS01–HGSS025
• Victory Medal Promotional Card

Prizes

• 1st Place: $45 USD
• 2nd Place: $25 USD
• 3rd/4th Place: $15 USD

Prizes are paid via Paypal.

Phase 1: Swiss

All Swiss rounds are Best-of-1. The amount of Swiss rounds is determined by the amount of players participating in the event:

• 16 or less players: 3 rounds
• 17–25 players: 4 rounds
• 26 or more players: 5 rounds

Phase 2: Double Elimination

After Swiss is completed, the Top 8 records will advance to the second phase of the tournament. Note that the amount of Swiss rounds will ensure that all players with one or less loss advance to this second phase. From here, players will play Best-of-1 Double Elimination, meaning they will continue playing until they have lost two matches.

Spectating

Spectating must be enabled for all tournament matches. Players are allowed to spectate any match, but are asked not to comment on a match in progress in a way that could affect a player's decisions.

Late Players

In order to keep the tournament running, we ask players to begin their rounds as quickly as possible after they are posted. A player who has been queued for 5 minutes without an opponent must mark themselves the winner after confirming their opponent is not also queued.

Match Time Limits

To avoid unnecessary delays to the tournament, players may not extend match time if an opponent's game time expires. If your time expires, you lose the match, regardless of game state.

Bugged Cards

Minor Bugs

The following cards contain bugs, but are still allowed in decks:

• No cards are currently known to contain bugs.

Major Bugs

The following cards contain significant bugs. These cards are not allowed in decks.

• No cards are currently banned due to known bugs.

New Bugs Arising During Tournament

If any significant bugs are discovered during tournament play, a tournament admin may allow or direct any affected players to replace those cards with either Basic Energy cards, or in some instances, a similar card. For example, if a particular Magikarp was bugged and could not evolve into Gyarados, that player could be allowed to use a different Magikarp for the remainder of the event.

Sudden Death

There is no Sudden Death feature. If Sudden Death should arise, it must be played played as a new game with 6 Prize cards. However, the first player to draw a prize will be declared winner.

Game Crashes

Unfortunately, errors, including game crashes, sometimes occur. If you encounter this, do not restart your match, as this can unnecessarily delay the tournament. Instead, reach out to a tournament admin, who will do their best to find a solution that is fair to all players.