The details for the first ever Play! Pokemon online tournament has been revealed!
Do you want to become the first ever Champion for the Pokemon Players Cup? Then there is a long road ahead of you this summer! This road will be filled with plenty of battles and will take up three weekends in July. Each weekend promises to thin down the competition until there is only sixteen left.
Still up for the challenge? Then read on to learn the details of how the Players Cup will be structured for TCG, VGC and Pokken Tournament. Though, it all starts off with the Pokémon Players Cup Kickoff Invitational.
Pokémon Players Cup Kickoff Invitational
The Pokémon Players Cup Kickoff Invitational is a special invitation tournament made up of current top players and former Champions from the TCG, VGC and Pokken Tournament. This tournament will be made up of eight players. These tournaments will kick off the Players Cup for trainers all over the world. Also, it can be used to inspire players all over the world to do their best.
These Kickoff Invitationals will be played on a certain weekend in June but then be streamed on a later date. There will be three Kickoff Invitationals with one being for TCG, VGC and Pokken Tournament.
The winner for each of the Kickoff Invitational will earn a spot in the Players Cup Finals in August for TCG, VGC and Pokken Tournament.
Below are the date of competition and streaming date for each Players Cup Kickoff Invitational.
TCG Kickoff Invitational
Tournament: May 30th to 31st
Streaming: June 6th to 7th
VGC Kickoff Invitational
Tournament: June 6th to 7th
Streaming: June 20th to 21st
Pokken Tournament Kickoff Invitational
Tournament: June 13th to 14th
Streaming: June 27th to 28th
Currently we do not know who will be partcipating in the Kickoff Invitational. Details for the streaming for each competition can be found by clicking here.
TCG Players Cup Details
During the month of June, TCG players will be taking part in the first phase of the Players Cup. These players will be climbing the leaderboard rankings in Pokemon TCG Online using Tournament Rep. Only the top players for each region will be able to move on to the next phase of the Players Cup. Though, Pokemon will eliminate those who not eligible to participate. This could means that players need to ensure that their PTCGO account is link to their Player ID on Pokemon.com.
Below are the number of players who will advance to Players Cup Regional Online Qualifiers in July from each region.
- North America rating zone (US and Canada): 256 players
- Europe rating zone (Europe): 256 players
- Latin America rating zone (Latin America and Caribbean): 256 players
- Oceania rating zone (Oceania): 128 players
TCG Players Cup Regional Online Qualifiers
These players will then take part in their area’s Regional Online Qualifiers. The Qualifiers will take part during the month of July in a series of three weekend tournaments. This is to ensure that players are playing during play times that are optimized by rating zone and will only take a few hours to compete.
Player will need to register their deck list prior to the qualifier and have a Discord and Battlefy account to participate. The matches for the Regional Qualifiers will be best of three in the Standard format.
Below are the dates for each Regional Qualifier.
July 11: Bracket play until 64 players remain in each region
July 18: Bracket play continues until 16 players remain in each region
July 25: Bracket play continues until the specified number of players remain in each region:
- North America: 4 players
- Europe: 4 players
- Latin America: 4 players
- Oceania: 3 players
TCG Players Cup Finals
Lastly, the Players Cup Finals for TCG will take place in August. This tournament will be made up of the fifteen players who qualify in July through the Regional Qualifiers plus the one player who won the Kickoff Invitational. In total, there will be sixteen players in the Player Cup Finals.
These players will take part in a double-elimination bracket. They will also be allow to submit a new decklist for the tournament. Dates and details for this tournament have not be disclosed at the moment. (Source)
VGC Players Cup Details
The International Challenge May will mark the first phase of the Players Cup for VGC. The top players from each rating zone will then be allow to advance and register for the Pokémon Players Cup Regional Online Qualifiers in July.
Below are the number of players from each region that will be allow to move on to the Regional Qualifiers in July.
- North America rating zone (US and Canada): 256 Players
- Europe rating zone (Europe): 256 Players
- Latin America rating zone (Latin America and Caribbean): 256 Players
- Oceania rating zone (Oceania): 128 Players
It looks as if the month of June will be used for players who are participating in the Players Cup to practice. Especially if the Pokemon from the DLC Expansion will be allow in the Players Cup in July.
VGC Players Cup Regional Online Qualifiers
These players will then take part in their area’s Regional Online Qualifiers. The Qualifiers will take part during the month of July in a series of three weekend tournaments. This is to ensure that players are playing during play times that are optimized by rating zone and will only take a few hours to compete.
Player will need to register their deck list prior to the qualifier and have a Discord and Battlefy account to participate. The matches for the Regional Qualifiers will be best of three using the current 2020 Pokémon Video Game Championships rules. Details on these rules will be release at a later time.
Below are the dates for each Regional Qualifier.
July 11: Bracket play until 64 players remain in each region
July 18: Bracket play continues until 16 players remain in each region
July 25: Bracket play continues until the specified number of players remain in each region:
- North America: 4 players
- Europe: 4 players
- Latin America: 4 players
- Oceania: 3 players
VGC Players Cup Finals
Lastly, the Players Cup Finals for TCG will take place in August. This tournament will be made up of the fifteen players who qualify in July through the Regional Qualifiers plus the one player who won the Kickoff Invitational. In total, there will be sixteen players in the Player Cup Finals.
These players will take part in a double-elimination bracket. They will also be allow to submit a new team list for the tournament. Dates and details for this tournament have not be disclosed at the moment. (Source)
Pokken Tournament Players Cup Details
Those who are participating in the Players Cup for Pokken Tournament will only need to take part in two tournament phases. These players will simply be allow to register for the Players Cup. Though, there will be a cap on registration.
Below is the cap for each region.
- North America rating zone (US and Canada): 128 Players
- Europe rating zone (Europe): 128 Players
- Oceania rating zone (Oceania): 64 Players
Pokken Tournament Players Cup Regional Online Qualifiers
These players will then take part in their area’s Regional Online Qualifiers. The Qualifiers will take part during the month of July in a series of three weekend tournaments. This is to ensure that players are playing during play times that are optimized by rating zone and will only take a few hours to compete.
Player will need to register their deck list prior to the qualifier and have a Discord and Battlefy account to participate. The matches for the Regional Qualifiers will be best of three using the Basic Battle 1v1 Format. This is different from the Team Battle Format that is used at tournaments.
Below are the dates for each Regional Qualifier.
July 11: Bracket play until 64 players remain in each region
July 18: Bracket play continues until 16 players remain in each region
July 25: Bracket play continues until the specified number of players remain in each region:
- North America: 4 players
- Europe: 2 players
- Oceania: 1 player
Pokken Tournament Players Cup Finals
Lastly, the Players Cup Finals for TCG will take place in August. This tournament will be made up of the seven players who qualify in July through the Regional Qualifiers plus the one player who won the Kickoff Invitational. In total, there will be eight players in the Player Cup Finals.
These players will take part in a double-elimination bracket. Dates and details for this tournament have not be disclosed at the moment. (Source)
Best of luck to those taking part in the Players Cup this summer! It will be a long series of battles but will surely be lots of fun!
