Registration takes place from 10:00-10:30 AM (11:00-11:30 for Singapore) on the day of whichever qualifier you are attending. The events have no entry fee, and follow a double elimination format until the top 8 fighters can be decided from the players' performance. In a double elimination tournament, if you lose twice then you are out of the running. You will fight each opponent just once, and each match will last for 20 minutes. (If a fight proceeds past 20 minutes, then it enters into Bushiroad's typical sudden death rules--the player with less damage automatically wins, but if both players are tied then the fight continues until a player takes damage.) Once the top 8 is established, the tournament will then proceed into single elimination--as you can probably guess from the name, that means even one loss will put you out of the event.
Cards must be sleeved and the sleeves must have opaque backings that completely obscure the back of the card, which means transparent sleeves like those made by Ultra Pro are a no-go. (The best you can do here is official sleeves made by Bushiroad.) In certain events like the Chicago and Los Angeles qualifiers, certain sets will only be available in Singapore at the time of the event--cards from these sets may not be used under any circumstances. The same rules apply for sets released on the day of the qualifier.
In North America, the top two winners will receive an invitation to their 2012 national championship, with air fare paid by Bushiroad (except for Los Angeles.) If anyone has previously received an invitation, that invitation will be passed down to the next highest winner. The Philippines, Australia & Malaysia as well as Hong Kong & Taiwan will have only one winner. Singapore will have four winners.
There will be a free fight side event running from 2:00-4:00 PM, where people can freely enter and leave the play area and be matched against random opponents. Participating in two or more matches earns you one Dragonic Vanisher promo card, participating in four or more earns you a Sphere Magus.
Additionally, to give players an idea of what their deck registration forms may look like, this form was used on CF-Vanguard Oceania, which already had its first national tournament in 2011;
