You may be wondering why so many amiibo tournaments require file submissions. After all, you can just use them in Battle Arenas, right? Well, that wasn’t always the case, as that kind of functionality wasn’t added until early 2019. Before then, we had to find our own ways to host tournaments, and file submissions worked so well that we still use this method of competition to this very day. If you want to participate in a tourney that requires file submissions, you can either use the TagMo app (which is Android-exclusive) or the NFC Tools app (which can be used on any kind of phone). Before we begin, you’ll need to download the NFC Tools app via the Play Store or App Store. You’ll also need to bookmark the Amiibots home page. Once you’ve got all that set up, you’re good to continue!

Special thanks to jozz for contributing the information presented in this guide!

Android Devices

First, make sure your phone is NFC-compatible. If it isn’t, then you won’t be able to retrieve your amiibo figure’s training file using this method. Fortunately, amiibo Powersaves are a a safe alternative, and we’ve got a full guide for using those right here. Assuming your phone is NFC-compatible, though, here’s a full step-by-step guide:

1. Open the NFC Tools app.
2. Select the “Other” tab.
3. Choose “Read memory”.
4. Tap your amiibo to your phone’s NFC touchpoint.
5. Open the kebab icon (the three dots) at the top right of the screen, and choose “Export as text”.
6. Select an application to export your text file to. If you have a Google Drive account, you can save the text file to your Drive. Alternatively, you can download it directly to your phone.
7. Once you’ve obtained your text file, visit the Amiibots home page. Under the “Convert NFC Tools Export to Bin File” section, select Choose File, upload your .txt file, and hit “Submit”.
8. Your download should begin. You now have your amiibo’s backup file and can send it to tournament hosts. Congratulations!

As a reminder, Android devices are capable of using the TagMo app as well — which can’t be found on the Play Store, but is much faster and more convenient. For a full write-up on how to use TagMo and its functions, please refer to our in-depth guide.

iPhone Devices

The process for iPhone devices is just a little bit different. You’ll still need the NFC Tools app, and you’ll still need access to the Amiibots home page. Once again, make sure your device is actually NFC-compatible! Your device will need to be an iPhone 7 (or newer), as the previous generations have more limited NFC capabilities. Assuming yours is a newer model, here’s the step-by-step guide:

1. Open NFC Tools and select “Other”.
2. Choose “Read / Edit memory”.
3. Tap your amiibo to your phone’s NFC touchpoint.
4. After the figurine is scanned, select “Share” at the top-right corner.
5. Within the sharing options, select “Save to files”.
6. Once you’ve obtained your text file, visit the Amiibots home page. Under the “Convert NFC Tools Export to Bin File” section, select Choose File, upload your .txt file, and hit “Submit”.
7. Your download should begin. You now have your amiibo’s .bin file, and can send it to tournament hosts. Congratulations!

File Editing

There’s one potential complication here; depending on the tournament you’re looking to enter, Spirits may or may not be permitted. What if you’ve trained a Spirits amiibo and want to enter it to a vanilla (non-Spirits) tournament without resetting? No problem. Once you’ve obtained your amiibo’s .bin file, head over to SubmissionApp’s Spirits editor and upload your backup. From there, you’ll be able to remove its stats, Spirit effects, and Spirit type. Furthermore, if your amiibo doesn’t have Spirits, you can also use this app to add some on! Be sure to check out our training guides for information on each fighter’s most optimal Spirit setup.

And that’s everything you need to know! The process of using the NFC Tools app to back up amiibo files is rather… involved, so to speak, so if you have any questions you’re welcome to join our Discord community and ask! For one final reminder, we’ve also got guides on TagMo and amiibo Powersaves — if you’d rather read those to see if they’re any easier, feel free to! Thanks so much for reading; we hope this guide was helpful to you!

If you would like to read more amiibo training guides, please follow this link.