Pokémon Players Cup
The Pokémon Players Cup events were a series of online-exclusive tournaments held by the Play! Pokémon organized play division of The Pokémon Company International, their presence being correlated with the cancellation of in-person events during the COVID-19 pandemic. It hosted tournaments for Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Pokémon Trading Card Game (through Pokémon TCG Online), and Pokken Tournament DX.
Players were required to register online before the qualification date (except for invitational tournaments) and have accounts on the third-party apps Discord and Battlefy. Aside from qualifiers, the events were mainly set in two stages: a double-elimination bracket, broken down by the rating zones, and the top finisher's bracket. Its tournaments were solely held in the Masters Division due to third-party apps not supporting accounts for younger age divisions[1].
The Players Cup were prerecorded and broadcasted through the official Pokémon YouTube and Twitch channels, featuring casters from other Play! Pokémon events.
Up to Players Cup III, prizes included a Travel Award for a future International Championships of the player's choosing to the Pokkén Champion and Top 4 players in the TCG and VGC; in Players Cup IV, top players were instead given money based on their standings. Special deck boxes and card sleeves for Pokémon TCG Online based on the events were also awarded to TCG players who made to the Region Qualifiers and, starting in Players Cup III, to players from any competition in the Region Qualifiers as long they have logged into TCGO at least once prior to the event. These cosmetic items were tradeable and later migrated into Pokémon TCG Live.
Events
| Event | Dates | Games | Phases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pokémon Players Cup | May-August 2020 | TCG, VGC, Pokkén |
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| Pokémon Players Cup II | September-December 2020 | TCG, VGC |
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| Pokémon Players Cup III | January-April 2021 | TCG, VGC, Pokkén |
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| Pokémon Players Cup IV | April-July 2021 | TCG, VGC, Pokkén |
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Rating zones
- North America: Canada and United States of America (including Puerto Rico)
- Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom
- Latin America (TCG and VGC only): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay
- Oceania: Australia and New Zealand
As Oceania's rating zone only comprised two countries, fewer slots were available for the regional qualifiers and Finals overall.
Video Game Championship
The core series tournaments used their VCG rules at the time and featured an open qualifier stage, where players competed to maximize their placement during 3 days for the regional qualifier, where then they would participate of double-elimination bracket battles according to their rating zone. The Global Finals were a new double-elimination bracket with 16 players based on region qualifiers and, during the first event, the winner of the invitational tournament. Players could submit a new team list during the Finals.
Champions
| Event | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player's Cup | (North America) Santino Tarquinio | (North America) Jiseok Lee | (Europe) Nico Davide Cognetta |
| Player's Cup II |  Wolfe Glick
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 Davide Carrer
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 Jean Paul Lopez Buiza
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| Player's Cup III | — | Leonardo Bonanomi
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 Yoav Reuven
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| Player's Cup IV | Renzo Navarro
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Leonardo Bonanomi
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 Fevzi Özkan
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Trading Card Game Championships
The TCG Championships tournaments used their Standard format rules at the time and featured an open qualifier stage, where players competed to maximize their Standard Format Tournament Rep (earned by the final standing of TCGO tournaments) of a specific month for the regional qualifier, where then they would participate of double-elimination bracket battles according to their rating zone. The Global Finals were a new double-elimination bracket with 16 players based on region qualifiers and, during the first event, the winner of the invitational tournament. Players could submit a new decklist during the Finals.
Starting with Players Cup II, players would be given 50 Tournament Keys (a new currency for Players Cup) prior to the start of the event and, during the qualifier period, Standard format tournaments would only require these Tournament Keys to join their queue.
The First Players Cup was the only event to use different formats during its run, with the 2019-20 Standard format on most of its phases and then the 2020-21 Standard format at the Finals.
Champions
| Event | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player's Cup | (Oceania) Natalie Millar | (Oceania) Matthew Burris | (Latin America) Victor Freitas |
| Player's Cup II |  Zach Lesage
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Brent Tonisson
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Hugo Laperriere
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| Player's Cup III | Azul C. Garcia Griego
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David Daritan
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Jeremy Lim
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| Player's Cup IV | Alex Schemanske
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 Bruno Sermann
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João Pedro Medeiros Zambrano
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Pokkén Tournament
Pokkén tournaments used best-of-three matches in the Basic Battle 1v1 Format, featuring a regional qualifier stage with double-elimination bracket battles according to their rating zone during three weekends. The Global Finals were a new double-elimination bracket with 8 players based on region qualifiers and, during the first event, the winner of the invitational tournament.
Champions
| Event | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player's Cup | (North America) Shadowcat | (North America) Jukem | (North America) Deity Light |
| Player's Cup III | (North America) Jukem | (North America) Shadowcat | (North America) Allsiter |
| Player's Cup IV | Wise
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TEC
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Shadowcat
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See also
References
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This article is part of both Project TCG and Project Games, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game Championship Tournaments. | 
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