The Pokémon World Championships have been replaced by a new Players Cup system that will begin properly on May 30 with regional qualifiers for the Pokémon TCG.
The event is being split into three different parts for each of the games being featured, TCG, VGC, and Pokkén Tournament DX. Each will begin with a Kickoff Invitational tournament where the top player will be given a direct invite to the Players Cup Finals for their respective games.
After the Invitationals, there will be regional tournaments for each game that will fill out the remaining bracket for all of the titles.
For both TCG and VGC, there will be four representatives from North America, Europe, and Latin America, and three from Oceania. As for Pokkén Tournament DX, there will be four from NA, two from EU, and one from Oceania.
More information about those regionals will be revealed soon, but we do know that Pokkén will only be running a one-on-one format rather than the usual Team Battle style that the game has been known for using over the last two years. This change will be used for the Invitational on June 13, too.
Each event will be streamed, but it will be on a delay as each of the tournaments run throughout all of the regions.Here are all of the dates set by The Pokémon Company regarding the Players Cup for each event.
Invitationals
- TCG: May 30 to 31 (streamed June 6 to 7)
- VGC: June 6 to 7 (streamed June 20 to 21)
- Pokkén: June 13 to 14 (streamed June 27 to 28)
Regionals
- July 11th: Top 64
- July 18th: Top 16
- July 25th: Qualifiers for Players Cup
We also know what each event will be giving out as prizes for the Top Four players TCG and VGC, along with the Pokkén Champion.
- TCG: Top Four players will receive a Travel Award to a future International Championship of their choosing
- Eligible TCG players who participate in the Regional Online Qualifiers receive a special in-game deck box and sleeves
- VGC: Top Four players will receive a Travel Award to a future International Championship of their choosing
- Pokkén: Champion will receive a Travel Award to a future International Championship of their choosing
There is no set date for when the Players Cup itself will be hosted, but it is a pretty safe bet to look toward the original World Championship dates, Aug. 14 to 16, as a potential landing spot.
As for actually entering those invitationals, TCG competitors will qualify through their ranking on the June Online Leaderboard in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, while VGC players will compete in Pokémon Sword and Shield International Challenge May Online Competition. Pokkén competitors will have a direct registry in the near future to round out the roster.
You can find out more information on the official Play! Pokémon website.
