2026 Worlds Information

Registration is open for the Dallas Worlds - January 15-19, 2026. There will be no cash exchanged at the tournament. Registration will close on the Sunday prior. Entry is $300 for a team. The Council will consider a nominal $50 entry fee under special circumstances for Juniors or members who are unable to take part in the prize fund for work reasons. There are three ways to secure your place in Dallas:

PayPal - STPCTreasury@gmail.com

Zelle or Venmo : Samuel Strite / toby.strite@gmail.com

Discounted rooms at the host hotel remain available just click on this link: Book Your Room Here.

Best Wishes, The STPC Council

Order of Events

Division Selection

Sunday January 11th. Roller to be released at 9AM CT. Anyone not rolling by 3PM CT will be rolled for. Once we start Division Selection (expected to be around 3:30 but definitely before 4PM) someone has 1 hour until 9PM CT on January 11th to select their slot otherwise their selection will be "skipped" and they can jump back in when they are able (last year we forced a spot for which caused an issue). If we have not completed all selections their will be no "skipping of selections" until 10 AM CT on Monday January 12th. Hopefully we will have all selections completed prior to 9PM CT on January 12th

Drafts

There will be On-Line and In-Person Divisions which can be selected. On-Line will be held Tuesday January 13th at 730 PM CT. In-Person Divisions will be held starting at 10AM CT on Thursday January 15th.

There will be NO EARLY drafting allowed.

Schedules and begin of play

We will use the same schedule for each On-Line Division and the same schedule for each In-Person Division.

We will roll for the On-Line Division schedule after the In-Person drafts begin at 10AM CT on January 15th. If On-Line Participants wish to start their play early after that they can.

We will roll for the In-Person Division schedule after the last In-Person draft completes.

Schedules will be played in order during the Round Robin phase and we will know Home and Away for each series of the Round Robin (this is a change from last year but we believe will speed up play)

Suspended Game Rule and Division Captain (new role)

We will allow a 15-minute "grace period" where it does not involve a "food break".

We will have an announcement when there is roughly 1-hour from when we would suspend.

At the Suspension Time the Tournament Directors which check the Google Sheet to see if each division has completed the round. If not all series are completed one of the Tournament Directors will then contact the Division Captain if the series (or multiple) have not already been suspended.

If at the end of each day a team has more than 1 Suspended Game to be completed the Tournament Directors will appoint a substitute manager of their discretion to complete any of the suspended series beyond 1 series.

Division Captain Role -- we will be asking one person in each group to be the division captain. We would ask them to be the "point" person for running the draft and ensuring the google sheet is up to date. The division captain is to assist the Tournament Directors but is not responsible for "moving along' of suspending any series unless they are comfortable doing so

Thursday Schedule

10 AM CT -- In-Person Drafts begin

1:30 PM CT -- Annual Meeting

Series 1 Thursday -- Begins 2PM, End 5PM, Suspend 5:15 PM

Series 2 Thursday -- Begins 5PM, Ends 9PM, Suspend 9PM *** this series includes a Dinner Break

Series 3 Thursday -- Begins 9PM, Ends Midnight, Suspend 12:15 AM

Friday Schedule

Series 1 Friday -- Begins 8AM, Ends 11AM, Suspend 11:15 AM

Series 2 Friday -- Begins 11AM, Ends 2:30 PM, Suspend 2:30 PM ** this series includes a Lunch Break

Series 3 Friday -- Begins 2:30 PM, Ends 5:30 PM, Suspend 5:45 PM

Series 4 Friday -- Begins 5:30 PM, Ends 9PM, Suspend 9PM ** this series includes a Dinner Break

Series 5 Friday -- Begins 9PM, Ends Midnight, Suspend 12;15 AM

Saturday Schedule

If No Power Matchup

Series 1 Saturday -- Begins 9AM, End 12:30 PM, Suspend 12:30 PM ** this series includes a Lunch Break

Series 2 Saturday -- Begins 12:30 PM, Ends 3:30 PM, Suspend 3:45 PM

Series 3 Saturday -- Begins 3:30 PM, Ends 6:30 PM, Suspend 6:45 PM

If a Power Matchup

Series 1 Saturday -- Begins 10AM, Ends 2 PM, Suspend 2PM ** this series includes a Lunch Break

Series 2 Saturday -- Begins 2:30 PM, Ends 6PM, Suspend 6:15 PM

** Power Matchup if 4 divisions would be 1st place vs 2nd place, 3rd place vs 4th place, 5th vs 6th, 7th vs 8th, 9th vs 10th, 11 vs 12th (if applicable). The better seed gets to choose being Home Games 1 and 3 or Games 2 and 4

** Power Matchup if any other division size would be 1st place vs 6th place, 2nd place vs 5th place, 3rd place vs 4th place, 7th vs 8th, 9th vs 10th, 11th vs 12th

Division Sizes/Entrants

41 - 44 is 4 11's

45 - 48 is 4 12's

49, 50 is 5 10's ** we would also have a 4-game Power Matchup in this scenario because of timing

51 - 55 is 5 11's ** a 10-team playing division there would be a PM at the end

56 - 60 is 5 12's

61 - 66 is 6 11's ** a 10-team playing division there would be a PM at the end

67 - 72 is 6 12's

Power Matchups would occur with 41 thru 43, 49, 50, 51 thru 54, or 61 thru 65 entrants

Playoffs

Top 3 teams in each division make the playoffs

If 4 divisions each division winner receives a BYE

If 5 divisions top record of a division winner receives a BYE. If there is a tie a 1-game playoff scenario to determine who gets the bye.

If 6 divisions 1st and 2nd place teams receive a BYE. Top 2 3rd-place teams based on record receive a BYE. If there is a tie for the BYE a 1-game playoff scenario to determine who gets the BYE. The teams not receiving the BYE play a Best of 3 to determine who gets the last 2 playoff spots.

Tie-Breakers

We use the PureStrat tie-breakers with the 3 for 2 exception that we voted on last Worlds.

Seeds

Determined based on divisional placement then winning %. If there is a tie for a BYE it would be the 1-game tie-break scenario. If still tied then a dice roll. 

Seeds could be adjusted so that a 1st-place team can't face the 2nd-place team from it's division prior to the Finals.

Seeds could also be adjusted so that no teams from the same division can meet prior to the Semi's.

If seeds were "adjusted" based on the above it is possible that home field would be given to a "worse" seed if they only received the worst seed because of the above (same thing we did last year) .

Bracket however remains "set" for the duration.

Playoff Schedule

Round of 16 (including any play-ins) -- Saturday Night

Quarter Finals (Best of 5) 9AM Sunday

Semi-Finals (at conclusion of Quarters)

Finals (at conclusion of Semi's)

Consolation Tourney

TBD