Details for the 2016-2017 Play! Pokemon season has been revealed. This season has a lot of new changes including prize support, tournaments and Championship Points requirements.
The 2016-2017 Pokemon TCG and VGC season started back in mid-July with players trying to get points for the 2017 World Championships. Players may not have known the Championship Points required to get that Worlds invite but they knew that they needed the points. Now the details for what they need for that World invite has finally been revealed.
International Championships
One of the new changes for the 2016-2017 Play! Pokemon season is an array of new tournaments for players to take part in. The first of which will be the Pokémon European International Championships taking place at ExCeL London in London on December 9–11, 2016. This three day tournament will allow video game players the chance to play with Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon in a tournament setting while TCG players will be allow to use cards from the Evolutions TCG expansion. The European International will be open to players from all over the world.
A North American International Championships will also take place in 2017. The location and date has not been announced at this moment. Though players from all over the world are welcome to compete in this.
The International Championships are most likely what have replaced Nationals that were used in seasons prior to the 2016-2017 season.
Regionals, Special Events and Prize Awards
Regionals this season will be spread out throughout the season. They seem to be happening monthly but make sure to check out Pokemon’s Event Page for more dates.
Regionals will start in October starting with Arizona Regional at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, October 1. The first European Regional will be on November 5–6 at The Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool in Liverpool, England.
Below is the payout for TCG winners depending on their placing. Those who are 17 and younger will be rewarded a scholarship. Players who are 18 and older will have the choice between a scholarship or cash payout. The prize payout will all depend on attendance.
| — | 17–32 players | 33–64 | 65–128 | 129–226 | 227–499 | 500+ |
| 1st | $500 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 2nd | $250 | $500 | $750 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| 3rd–4th | $250 | $250 | $250 | $250 | $250 | |
| 5th–8th | $250 | $250 | ||||
| 9th–16th | $250 | $250 | ||||
| 17th–32nd | $250 |
This season will also host Special Events. These Special Events will be held as side events at major Championship Series tournaments or as standalone events scheduled at gaming conventions. These Special Events will give out huge amount of Championship Points similar to States. No Special Events have been announced at the moment.
League Cups and League Challenges
League Cups have replaced City Championships. They give out the same amount of points as Cities do but will be held in hobby shops and more often. Each shop will host a League Cup once a season by each hobby shop.
Below is the duration of each season.
- July 11, 2016, through October 2016
- November 2016 through January 2017
- February 2017 through April 2017
- May 2017 through the end of the tournament season
League Cups and League Challenges will use the same amount of best finish limit of two per season. That means that a player can compete in as many LCups (League Cups) and LCs (League Challenges) as they want during a season but only their top two best results will be used to count towards their overall Championship Points.
Regional Championships and Special Events will have a best finish limit of 8.
The 2016 World Championships and the International Championships will have a best finish limit of 4.
Premier Challenges and Midseason Showdown
Video Game players can see the return of Premier Challenge and Midseason Showdown events.
Premier Challenges are the VGC equivalent of League Challenges. These happen more often and allow video game players the chance to test out their skills.
Meanwhile, Midseason Showdown allow VGC players the chance to play at bigger events outside of Regionals to earn high amount of points.
Championship Points
The required Championship Points for the TCG and VGC has also been announced. The points needed to earn a Worlds Invite has increased compare to last season. This will most likely affect the numbers for Worlds 2017. This could have been done to prevent an incident where Worlds was made into an invite-only event like it was in 2016. Though with the amount of events and high Championship Points payout could make getting those 500 points for Masters much easier.
Below is the amount of points that TCG players needed to be awarded a Worlds 2017 invitation based on division and location.
| Rating Zone | Masters Division | Senior Division | Junior Division |
| US and Canada | 500 CP | 500 CP | 400 CP |
| Europe | 500 CP | 500 CP | 400 CP |
| Latin America | 350 CP | 250 CP | 200 CP |
| Asia Pacific | 350 CP | 250 CP | 200 CP |
| South Africa | 350 CP | 250 CP | 200 CP |
Below is the amount of points that VGC players needed to be awarded a Worlds 2017 invitation based on division and location.
| Rating Zone | Masters Division | Senior Division | Junior Division |
| US and Canada | 500 CP | 450 CP | 350 CP |
| Europe | 500 CP | 400 CP | 200 CP |
| Latin America | 400 CP | 300 CP | 200 CP |
| Asia Pacific | 400 CP | 300 CP | 200 CP |
| South Africa | 300 CP | 300 CP | 300 CP |
The amount of points a player has been awarded will also determine if a player will earn a travel award and a Day Two Invite for worlds. More details can be found here.
It is a long road to Worlds 2017 but it all starts now! Best of luck to everybody taking part in the TCG and VGC for the 2016-2017 Play! Pokemon season!
