GLC League Championship Series!
Game stores all around the world host weekly Gym Leader Challenge events. At Full Grip Games, we have taken the concept of a Gym Leader Challenge league one step further by offering players a chance to compete for the title of Gym Leader Challenge League Champion! The following is an explanation of how Full Grip Games runs their Gym Leader Challenge league, so that the process can be replicated by any other interested game stores!
The player who wins the weekly league tournament with the most different GLC types within a year is crowned the champion.
When a player wins a Gym Leader Challenge event at Full Grip Games, they are rewarded with a personalized Trainer Card (see below) which is marked with the type they won with and posted on the GLC leader board located in the play area. Each time that player wins with a different type, it is marked on their Trainer Card with a badge (sticker). Players are not rewarded for winning with the same type twice in a season. The season contains 52 weeks (one year), so there are 52 opportunities for players to win badges in a season. The player who has won with the most different types at the end of the season will win the title of Gym Leader Challenge league champion. In the case of a tie, a best of three conquest finals will be arranged to determine the winner. As a reward for their efforts, the winner will receive a booster box of the most recent Pokémon TCG set and a custom Gym Leader Challenge trophy provided by the league organizer. At the end of the season, all players will be able to retrieve their Trainer Cards and take them home as a memento of what they accomplished throughout the year at league! After the season concludes, a new Gym Leader Challenge League Championship Series begins!
“League goers will challenge themselves and try strategies they may not have otherwise considered.”
The goal of hosting a Gym Leader Challenge League Championship series is to give local players a sense of community and something to strive for while competing throughout the year. By encouraging players to try different decks, league goers will challenge themselves and try strategies they may not have otherwise considered. For many players, earning a League Card is a huge accomplishment and something that is worth playing for.
GLC League Cards
Gym Leader Challenge League Cards can be printed at any print shop and look best printed on 5”x7” card stock. At Full Grip Games, players customize their Trainer Cards with a motto and a photograph taken with a Fujifilm Instax camera. After the photo develops, it is glued to the Trainer Card, left to dry over night and pinned to the bulletin board the next day. If players don’t want their photograph on their card, they can pick a bulk card to glue in its place or decorate it with stickers to give their card some personality. When players win with a type, a corresponding sticker is placed on their league card. I was able to source some Energy type stickers on Etsy, but any solution for marking League Cards will do so long as it is consistent and easy to read. Below is the image file used for the Full Grip Games league cards. Feel free to print and distribute these however you like at your local league!
