Pokémon World Championships facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pokémon World Championships

Game	Pokémon
Founded	2004 (2004)
Owner(s)	The Pokémon Company
CEO	Tsunekazu Ishihara
Commissioner	Play! Pokémon
Divisions	Junior (Born 2008 or later) Senior (Born 2004-2007) Masters (Born 2003 or earlier)
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington, United States
Venue(s)	Rotating locations
Official website	Play! Pokémon Events

The Pokémon World Championships is an invite-only esports event organized by The Pokemon Company. It is held annually in August and features games from the Pokémon series such as the Pokémon video games, Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokkén Tournament and Pokémon Go. Players earn invitations to the World Championships based on their performance in qualifiers and other tournaments held throughout the season and compete for scholarship money, prizes and the title of World Champion. With the exception of Asia, invitations to the World Championships are administered by the Play! Pokémon program.

Qualification

The qualifying process for the Pokémon World Championships varies each year and is dependent on a player's age division and the country in which they are located in. Players may also qualify to play on different days of the World Championships based on their performance in their respective qualifying programs; the best performing players will immediately advance to the second day of the World Championships playoffs (i.e. "Day 2") instead of playing through the first day (i.e. "Day 1").

Play! Pokémon program

Players located in a country with a Play! Pokémon program (i.e. in North America, Europe, Latin America and Oceania) compete in a regular schedule of tournaments for Championship Points and receive invitations when they meet a predetermined threshold of points at the end of the season.

In 2015, the Play! Pokemon program expanded to include countries from the continents of Latin America and Asia (except Japan and South Korea). However, on June 10, 2020, it was announced that Asia would no longer be part of the Play! Pokémon program and will have its own qualifying system towards the Pokémon World Championships.

Japan & South Korea

Tournaments in Japan and South Korea are organized independently from Play! Pokémon and as such, players from these countries have a different system of qualification.

In Japan, players compete for an invite to the Japan National Championships by playing in major qualifier or online tournaments held throughout the season. The best performing players of the Japan National Championships will then be selected to represent Japan in the Pokémon World Championships.

In South Korea, the style of qualification for the World Championships changes frequently. For example in 2015, players would compete in the Korean National Championships and earn a World Championships invitation based on their standing in the tournament. However in 2019, players would compete in tournaments organized by the Korean League and earn an invite based on the number of points they had accumulated by the end of the season.

Other

There are other less common methods of qualifying for the World Championships which include finishing at least top 4 or better in the prior year's World Championships or by participating in a single-elimination tournament known as the Last Chance Qualifier at the location of the World Championships itself.

List of World Champions

Trading Card Game (TCG)

Year	Juniors	Seniors	Masters	Ref.
2004	Hayato Sato	Takuya Yoneda	Tsuguyoshi Yamato
2005	Curran Hill	Stuart Benson	Jeremy Maron
2006	Hiroki Yano	Miska Saari	Jason Klaczynski
2007	Jun Hasebe	Jeremy Scharff-Kim	Tom Roos
2008	Tristan Robinson	Dylan Lefavour	Jason Klaczynski
2009	Tsubasa Nakamura	Takuto Itagaki	Stephen Silvestro
2010	Yuka Furusawa	Jacob Lesage	Yuta Komatsuda
2011	Gustavo Wada	Christopher Kan	David Cohen
2012	Shuto Itagaki	Chase Moloney	Igor Costa
2013	Ondrej Kujal	Kaiwen Cabbabe	Jason Klaczynski
2014	Haruto Kobayashi	Trent Orndorff	Andrew Estrada
2015	Rowan Stavenow	Patrick Martinez	Jacob Van Wagner
2016	Shunto Sadahiro	Jesper Eriksen	Shintaro Ito
2017	Tobias Strømdahl	Zachary Bokhari	Diego Cassiraga
2018	Naohito Inoue	Magnus Pederson	Robin Schulz
2019	Haruki Miyamoto	Kaya Lichtleitner	Henry Brand

Video Game Championships (VGC)

Year	Juniors	Seniors	Masters
2009	Jeremiah Fan	Kazuyuki Tsuji	N/A
2010	Shota Yamamoto	Ray Rizzo	N/A
2011	Brian Hough	Kamran Jahadi	Ray Rizzo
2012	Abram Burrows	Toler Webb	Ray Rizzo
2013	Brendan Zheng	Hayden McTavish	Arash Ommati
2014	Kota Yamamoto	Nikolai Zielinski	Sejun Park
2015	Kotone Yasue	Mark McQuillan	Shoma Honami
2016	Cory Connor	Carson Confer	Wolfe Glick
2017	Nicholas Kan	Hong Juyoung	Ryota Otsubo
2018	Wonn Lee	James Evans	Paul Ruiz
2019	Pi Wu	Ko Tsukide	Naoto Mizobuchi

Pokkén Tournament

Year	Seniors	Masters
2016	Woomy!gun	Potetin
2017	N/A	Tonosuma
2018	Kato	ThankSwalot
2019	Ashgreninja1	Subatan

2014 World Championships

2014 Pokémon World Championships

2014
Attendees of the 2014 World Championships
Tournament information
Location	Washington, D.C.
Dates	August 13–15
Administrator(s)	Play! Pokémon
Tournament format(s)	Swiss rounds, knock-out finals
Venue(s)	Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Participants	155
Purse	US$5,000 in scholarships
Final positions
Champions	Se Jun Park (Masters) Nikolai Zielinski (Seniors) Kota Yamamoto (Juniors)
Runner-up	Jeudy Azzarelli (Masters) Mark Mcquillan (Seniors) London Swan (Juniors)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	481 matches in 3 divisions
Attendance	3,000
← 2013 2015 →

The 2014 Pokémon World Championships was the sixth annual edition of the championships. The event took place in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Washington D.C. alongside the 2014 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championship who were in their eleventh edition.

The tournament was streamed via Twitch for the first time in the tournament history and reached a viewership of more than 800,000.

The defending Video Game champions were Arash Ommati from Italy (Masters Division), Hayden McTavish from the United States (Senior Division), and Brendan Zheng from the United States (Junior Division). The opening ceremony of the event was attended by Junichi Masuda, the video game designer for the Pokémon franchise and a member of the board of directors of Game Freak.

2014 qualification

The qualification process for the 2014 Pokémon World Championships was primarily based on Championship Points accumulated by players from official Play! Pokémon tournaments such as Premier Challenges, Regional Championships and National Championships. In addition, the top 4 players of the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in each division, and the top 4 players of a tournament known as the 'Last Chance Qualifier' will also receive an invitation to play in the World Championships.

The invitations for the Masters Division of the tournament were distributed in the following manner:

• Top 4 players from the 2013 Pokémon World Championships,
• Top 32 players from Europe with the most Championship Points,
• Top 16 players from North America with the most Championship Points,
• Top 4 players from Australia with the most Championship Points,
• Top 2 players from South Africa with the most Championship Points,
• Top 8 players from the Japan National Championships,
• Top 2 players from the South Korea National Championships, and
• Top 4 players from the Last Chance Qualifier, a tournament held the day before the World Championships in the same venue.

Most of the invitations didn't include a fully paid trip to the tournament, and as a result several players could not attend the tournament.

2014 tournament structure

Players per country

• Masters Division

Country	Zone	# of Players
United States	North America	22
Germany	Europe	10
United Kingdom	Europe	7
Japan	Japan	7
Australia	Australia	4
Italy	Europe	3
Spain	Europe	2
South Korea	South Korea	2
South Africa	South Africa	1
Canada	North America	1
Ireland	Europe	1

Results

Six rounds of Swiss was played by 60 players in the tournament, and each round was played with a set of best-of-three matches. The top 8 players after the Swiss rounds advances to the best-of-three Single Elimination matches.

The defending World Champion Arash Ommati and former three-time World Champion Ray Rizzo did not advance to the single elimination rounds.

• Masters Division

	1	Ryosuke Kosuge	1
	8	Markus Liu	2
						8	Markus Liu	0
						5	Jeudy Azzarelli	2
	5	Jeudy Azzarelli	2
	4	Lee Provost	0
											5	Jeudy Azzarelli	0
											6	Sejun Park	2
	3	Miguel Marti de la Torre	0
	6	Sejun Park	2
						6	Sejun Park	2
						2	Collin Heier	0
	7	Dayne O'Meara	0
	2	Collin Heier	2

Final standings

Place	Masters Division	Senior Division	Junior Division
1st	Se Jun Park	Nikolai Zielinski	Kota Yamamoto
2nd	Jeudy Azzarelli	Mark Mcquillan	London Swan
3rd	Collin Heier	Eric Rios	Haruka Narita
4th	Markus Liu	Ian McLaughlin	Riku Miyoshi

2015 World Championships

2015 Pokémon World Championships

2015
Tournament information
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Dates	August 21–23
Administrator(s)	Play! Pokémon
Tournament format(s)	Swiss rounds, knock-out finals
Venue	Hynes Convention Center
Purse	$500,000 in scholarships
Final positions
Champions	Shoma Honami (Masters) Mark McQuillan (Seniors) Kotone Yasue (Juniors)
Runner-up	Hideyuki Taida (Masters) Koki Honda (Seniors) Ryan Jaehyun Park (Juniors)
← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 Pokémon World Championships was the seventh annual edition of the championships. The event was held alongside the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

The tournament was transmitted with live streaming from the official Pokémon Twitch channel. The defending Video Game champions for the year were Se Jun Park from South Korea (Masters Division), Nikolai Zielinsky from the United States (Senior Division) and Kota Yamamoto from Japan (Junior Division).

2015 qualification

Players could only gain an invitation to play in the Video Game World Championships by either being the 2014 Pokémon World Champions, or by obtaining enough Championship Points in their respective geographic zone designated by Play! Pokémon. However, the only exception to this rule are for players from Japan and South Korea, as their tournaments are not overseen by Play! Pokémon and their invites are governed through a different system of qualification.

Since 2014, players were able to earn Championship Points from various tournaments within their geographical region. The tournaments vary in scale, ranging from local Premier Challenges to state-level Regional Championships and finally the large-scale National Championships. The number of points awarded varies with scale, and players who earn these points are ranked and divided into zones such as North America, Europe and South Africa. This year, two new zones (Latin America and Asia-Pacific) were introduced.

The 2015 Pokémon Video Game World Championship was intended to be played under 2 Swiss tournaments and 1 single-elimination tournament which would then determine the 2015 World Champions. As such, there are two types of invites:

• a regular 'Day One' invite, and
• a 'Day Two' invite, which allows players to receive a bye for the Swiss tournament on the first day.

As an example, the invitations for the Masters Division were distributed as follows:-:

• 'Day One' invitation (by Championship Points):
  • Top 40 players from North America
  • Top 60 players from Europe
  • Top 18 players from Latin America
  • Top 18 players from Asia-Pacific
  • Top 2 players from South Africa
• 'Day Two' invitation (i.e. 'Day One' bye)
  • 2014 World Champion
  • Top 8 players from North America by Championship Points.
  • Top 16 players from Europe by Championship Points.
  • Top 2 players from Latin America by Championship Points.
  • Top 2 players from Asia-Pacific by Championship Points.
  • Top 2 players from South Africa by Championship Points.
  • Top 4 players of the South Korea Video Game National Championships.
  • Top 8 players of the Japan Video Game National Championships.

2015 tournament structure

The Video Game Championships consisted of 2 Swiss tournaments and 1 single elimination tournament played across three days.

On Friday (Day 1), all players who earned an invitation without a Day 1 bye were entered into a Swiss tournament, where players with two or fewer losses would advance onto the next round. The second Swiss tournament was then played on Saturday (Day 2), where players who advanced from Day 1 were joined by players who received an invitation with a Day 1 bye.

At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, the top eight players played in single elimination rounds until the last two remain. The finals took place on Sunday (Day 3).

Final standings (Video Game Championships)

Place	Junior Division	Senior Division	Masters Division
1st	Kotone Yasue	Mark Mcquillan	Shoma Honami
2nd	Ryan Jaehyun Park	Koki Honda	Hideyuki Taida
3rd	Shu Harsaki	Max Marjanovic	Yosuke Isagi
4th	Shuhei Tsukano	Kylie Chua	Naohito Mizobuchi

2016 World Championships

2016 Pokémon World Championships

2016
Tournament information
Location	San Francisco, California
Dates	August 19–21
Administrator(s)	Play! Pokémon
Tournament format(s)	Swiss rounds, knock-out finals
Venue	San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Purse	$500,000
Final positions
Champions	Wolfe Glick (VGC Masters) Carson Confer (VGC Seniors) Cory Connor (VGC Juniors) Shintaro Ito (TCG Masters) Jesper Eriksen (TCG Seniors) Shunto Sadahiro (TCG Juniors)
Runner-up	Jonathan Evans (VGC Masters) Yuki Wata (VGC Seniors) Shu Harasaki (VGC Juniors) Cody Walinski (TCG Masters) Connor Pederson (TCG Seniors) Riku Ushirosako (TCG Juniors)
← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 Pokémon World Championships was the eighth annual edition of the championships. The event was held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California from August 19 to August 21. For the first time in the tournament history, the Pokkén Tournament invitational was featured alongside the Video Game Championships (VGC) and Trading Card Game (TCG) tournaments. Side events and an official store with event merchandise occurred alongside the event.

The defending Video Game champions were Shoma Honami from Japan (Masters Division), Mark McQuillan from the United Kingdom (Senior Division) and Kotone Yasue from Japan (Junior Division). The defending Trading Card Game champions were Jacob Van Wagner from the United States (Masters Division), Patrick Martinez from the United States (Senior Division), and Rowan Stavenow from Canada.

Age divisions and qualifications

Both the Pokémon VGC and TCG were divided into three age divisions: the Junior Division (born 2005 or later), the Senior Division (born between 2001 and 2004), and the Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier). For the Pokkén Tournament invitational, players were grouped into either the Senior Division (born 2001 or later) or Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier).

The process of obtaining an invitation is primarily based on Championship Points. Players could earn Championship Points by performing in select online and live tournaments held throughout the 2016 season (between September 2015 and July 2016). Players from Japan and South Korea were excluded from this rule as these countries had their own method of qualification not based on Championship Points.

Play! Pokémon divided players into five different rating zones: US and Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa. Different zones had different Championship Points requirements due to the distribution of events around the world.

There are two possible invitations players could obtain:

• a regular 'Day One' invite, and
• a 'Day Two' invite, which allowed players to acquire a 'Day One' bye and automatically enter the second Swiss tournament.

'Day Two' invites were usually accompanied by travel awards and stipends paid by Play! Pokémon.

Trading Card Game Championship qualifications

The following table shows the Championship Points requirement for an invitation to the 2016 World Championships:

Players in Japan and South Korea were awarded invitations based on each country's organized play system.

Video Game Championship qualifications

For the Masters Division, the following table lists the Championship Points requirement for an invitation to the 2016 World Championships:

2016 tournament structure

The Video Game Championships consisted of two Swiss tournaments and one single elimination tournament played across three days.

On Friday (Day 1), all players who earned an invitation without a Day 1 bye were entered into a Swiss tournament, where players with two or fewer losses would advance onto the next round. The second Swiss tournament was then played on Saturday (Day 2), where players who advanced from Day 1 were joined by players who received an invitation with a Day 1 bye.

At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, players with two or fewer losses advanced to play in single elimination rounds until the last two remain. The finals took place on Sunday (Day 3).

Final standings (Video Game Championships)

Place	Junior Division	Senior Division	Masters Division
1st	Cory Connor	Carson Confer	Wolfe Glick
2nd	Shu Harasaki	Yuki Wata	Jonathan Evans
3rd	Rikuto Noda	Mostafa Afr	Markus Stadter
4th	Enzo Reci	Kazuki Ogushi	Eduardo Cunha

Final standings (Trading Card Game)

Place	Junior Division	Senior Division	Masters Division
1st	Shunto Sadahiro	Jesper Eriksen	Shintaro Ito
2nd	Riku Ushirosako	Connor Pedersen	Cody Walinski
3rd	Roan Godfrey-Robbins	Rafli Attar	Samuel Hough
4th	Yuta Ozawa	Raphael Souto	Ross Cawthon