How Do I Participate In The Catan National Championship Tournament Program?
Tournament programs are slightly different in each country. Review your country’s event structure here (scroll down to “Current English Language Participating Countries”).
In many countries there are Qualifying tournaments that will award a seat at a National tournament. At the National Championship, all Qualifier winners will face off against each other to become the year’s Catan National Champion. Every two years, the National Champions are sent to the Catan World Championship tournament to represent their country.
Note: You must be 18+ years of age and a Citizen or Legal Resident of your respective countries to compete in any Catan National Championship event, even at the store/convention level. If you have already won a Qualifier for a season, you may not play in any other Qualifiers in that season.
How Does A Catan National Championship Qualifier Work?
- Sign up. Check the Facebook event for specific instructions for the event you’re interested in, or contact the host through their event listing on catanstudio.com or the Best Coast Pairings app. If you have questions about who to contact, you may email [email protected] for assistance.
- Play in the preliminary rounds. An official CATAN qualifier tournament will start with 3 rounds that are played round-robin style, where all participants will play in three games against different opponents. We explain scoring for these rounds in the official tournament rules, found here. Preliminary structure can vary from event to event. Some hosts hold several groups of preliminaries over multiple dates. Please read your event description carefully!
- Top-ranked players advance to single-elimination rounds. Either the top 16 or top 4 players, depending on event size, will advance to a semifinal or final round. Events with less than 28 players may choose to skip a semifinal and move directly from preliminaries into their final game.
- Winner of the final game advances to the National Championship. Make sure your Qualifier host has your contact details (email preferred). The CATAN Studio team will be in touch with details about participating in the Nationals.
- Please review all our Official Tournament Rules, the Catan Studio Code of Conduct, and our Photography & Video Policy.
Tournament Scoring Explained
You score points in the preliminary rounds based on your performance in each game you play. Scores come from the total of three games.
Players are ranked by:
- Number of wins
- Total victory points scored
- Cumulative percentage of points scored at each game table
For more information on scoring, including examples, please see the Official Tournament Rules.
What Happens When I Win The Qualifier?
Your Qualifier host will send us your name/email when they report the results to us, or the Tournament app will record this information. We will reach out with all the information you need to know and what to expect at the Catan National Championship of your country. You should book your transit and hotel as soon as you can when you receive the confirmation.
If you win your country’s Catan National Championship, you will be sent to the Catan World Championship by your country’s Host.
Additionally, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland winners will participate in the European Championships, and Canadian and United States winners will participate in the Americas Championship. National Champions will compete at the next Catan World Championship.
