Play! Pokémon: Difference between revisions

As of July 5, 2020, the three age divisions are defined as follows:

* '''Junior Division''': Born in 2009 or later

* '''Senior Division''': Born in 2005, 2006, 2007, or 2008

* '''Masters Division''': Born in 2004 or earlier

 

These divisions are officially adjusted when the new tournament season begins, around mid-July each year, sometime between the conclusion of National Championships worldwide and the start of the [[World Championships|Pokémon World Championships]]. However, the World Championships are considered part of the previous tournament season and use its age division years.

Prerelease Tournaments are events in which players get the opportunity to play with cards from an Expansion that will be released in stores prior to the event. They are typically held on the two weekends before the set release (although a third weekend is added to the schedule if the Prerelease clashes with a major Play! Pokémon event, such as the World Championships, traditionally held in August). The fee is a minimum of $25 and each player gets four Booster packs, a 22-cards pack, and a foil black-star promo. Players may build a 40-card deck using the cards opened out of the given packs (not including basic Energy cards, which are provided at the event). If the player vouches to participate in this event, they receive additional booster packs at the end of the event.

Premier Events are tournaments held throughout the year, offering opportunities to earn invitations to the World Championships held each August. Invitations to the World Championships could be earned, in season, by a player's {{TCG|Premier Ratings}} from 2003-2010. Each player's Premier Rating would go up and down as wins and losses were accumulated, calculated by a factor called a {{TCG|K-Value}}. In 2011, the system changed to allow only the top players in each regional zone to be invited based on [[Championship Point]]s accumulated throughout the 2011-2012 season.

[[File:Pokémon World Championships logo.png|thumb|right|e|World Championships logo]]

The season comes to a climax at the World Championships held in August. Only players who receive invitations via their National Championships, Premier Rating, or performance at the previous World Championships are permitted to play in this event. The event hosts top players from around the world competing for the title of Pokémon World Champion. [[Championship Point]]s earned at the World Championships will be used in the next year's totals.

[[File:Video Game Championships logo.png|thumb|right|Logo for the Pokémon Video Game Championship Series worldwide.]]The Pokémon video games have their own set of tournaments which usually parallel with the Trading Card Game. One of the first instances of a major video game tournament was the [[Pokémon 10th Anniversary Journey Across America]], where tournaments were held as part of the tour. The first Video Game National Championships was held at the [[Party of the Decade]] on August 8, 2006 at {{wp|Bryant Park}} in {{wp|New York City}}. In 2008, at the TCG World Championships, a special Video Game Showdown was held. Players were separated into Junior and Senior Divisions. This tournament would evolve into the [[2009 World Championships|first formal World Championships]] for the Pokémon video games in 2009.

Regional Championships are held throughout the year, usually alongside the TCG. These events offer up to 200 Championship Points. In some countries, Regional Championships are replaced by Special Championships, which give the same Championship Point yield but no prize money.

From 2016-2022, Play! Pokémon ran a series of events on [[Pokkén Tournament]] for the Nintendo [[Wii U]] and [[Pokkén Tournament DX]] for the [[Nintendo Switch]]. Unlike TCG and VGC, these events were always held in a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-elimination_tournament Double Elimination] tournament format. Qualifying events were usually held as part of a Regional Championship, National Championship, International Championship, or as a Last Chance Qualifier at the World Championships. Top finishers at these events qualified directly for the Pokkén Tournament event at the Pokémon World Championships. At these events, all characters including unlockable characters and DLC characters were permitted, and games were held using the Event Mode, which forced a LAN connection giving each player a full screen to play on. Only the Hori Pokkén Controller was permitted, and players were encouraged to bring their own controllers. Play! Pokémon ended support for Pokkén Tournament at the conclusion of the 2022 season.