Skill Levels & Divisions
Each cosplay will be judged as if it were at minimum a journeyman skill or higher. Amateurs are welcome to participate but this year we are NOT dividing up the skill levels.
Here is a list of Skill Levels, sometimes referred to as divisions, for you to learn about if you don't know whether you are at journeyman skill or higher. If you have questions about which division you should be in, feel free to ask us. We would like to assist you.
Novice
The Novice division exists to encourage people who are new to costuming to compete.
Novices tend to have the following qualities:
The Journeyman division is an interim division for costumers who have consistently won awards in the Novice division, but who feel they are not yet ready to compete in the Master division.
Journeyman cosplayers tend to have the following qualities:
The Master division is open to any competitor who wishes to enter, and usually professionals MUST enter this category at cosplay competitions.
Masters tend to have the following qualities:
Each cosplay will be judged as if it were at minimum a journeyman skill or higher. Amateurs are welcome to participate but this year we are NOT dividing up the skill levels.
Here is a list of Skill Levels, sometimes referred to as divisions, for you to learn about if you don't know whether you are at journeyman skill or higher. If you have questions about which division you should be in, feel free to ask us. We would like to assist you.
Novice
The Novice division exists to encourage people who are new to costuming to compete.
Novices tend to have the following qualities:
- You are new to costuming, have never competed before, or are not a professional costumer.
- You have competed in the Novice division of other conventions, but you have not won any awards.
- You have competed in the Novice division but have won less than three major awards. A major award is anything that is not a judges’ award (IE: Best Novice, Best Craftsmanship, honorable mentions, etc.) at any convention.
The Journeyman division is an interim division for costumers who have consistently won awards in the Novice division, but who feel they are not yet ready to compete in the Master division.
Journeyman cosplayers tend to have the following qualities:
- You have been cosplaying for a number of years but do not yet feel like a master of your craft or are not a professional costumer.
- You have won more than three major awards in the Novice division or less than two in the Journeyman division.
The Master division is open to any competitor who wishes to enter, and usually professionals MUST enter this category at cosplay competitions.
Masters tend to have the following qualities:
- They may be professional costumers.
- They have been cosplaying for at least 4 years and have mastered crafting skills to not only look good and be functional on the outside of their costumes but also have mastered the same on the underside of their costumes (for example their costume will have finished closed seems on the underside of a cloth costume and is typically sewn with string rather than hot glued together.) Mastering a craft is subject to what materials the cosplayer regularly uses in a Master level costume though.
- They have won at least 3 major awards from the novice category, 2 major awards in the journeyman category, and at have at least competed in 1 Masters category of any cosplay competition (or was placed in the Masters division by the convention staff) or has a mix of all categories.
- Masters may have been a judge for at least 1 cosplay competition even if they have never competed themselves but have qualifications for being a judge. (ie. professional costumer.)