The League Cup consists of tournaments introduced after the overhaul of The Play! Pokémon season structure in 2016-2017. It replaced City Championships and should be considered as the next step in the Play! Pokémon Championship Series after League Challenge.
League Cups give players the opportunity to earn up to 50 Championship Points and have a Best Finish Limit (BFL) of 2 per season. Only for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons, their BFL were shared with League Challenge. They give 2 Play! Points, a special variant card available to all participants and a limited League Cup playmat available to first-place finishers in each of three age divisions.
Held twice per season at select Pokémon League locations, these tournaments may use the Standard or Expanded format, at the Tournament Organizer's discretion. League Challenge events consist of Swiss round with top cut to single-elimination rounds.
Typical prize structure
Place
Prize
1st
50 Championship Points
Exclusive League Cup playmat
2nd
40 Championship Points
3rd
32 Championship Points
4th
32 Championship Points
5th-8th
24 Championship Points (if 24 players or more)
9th-16th
20 Championship Points (if 48 players or more)
17th-32nd
16 Championship Points (if 100 players or more)
33rd-64th
13 Championship Points (if 200 players or more)
Rewards
Evolutions Season League Cup Promo. Alternative version of Ninja Boy
Cards given as reward are typically based on regular version of the same cards released in the expansion paired with each Pokémon League seasons. Each card has League Cup stamps and a different Holofoil pattern according to which expansion it belongs to.
