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New System has Competitive Pokémon TCG Players Worried

Will it be even harder to qualify for Worlds next year?

Olivia Richman

The Pokémon TCG competitive community is already panicking about the 2024-2025 season structure despite Worlds still being months away.

As the World Championship in Hawaii looms ahead as the ultimate conclusion to the current season, a lot of TCG grinders have started hearing concerning rumors regarding the tournament and invite structure for the next season. Some TCG players are so concerned that they have even contemplated quitting if the rumors end up ringing true.

In order to secure a Worlds invite, players need a certain amount of Championship Points (CP) to qualify. These points are earned by getting high placements at local tournaments as well traveling to larger events like Regionals. Pokémon trainers were already a bit frustrated with how hard it was to earn the points needed to qualify for a Worlds invite, with a lot of players unable to afford traveling to larger events worth more CP. But it looks like next season may be an even bigger problem if the speculations become reality.

Pokémon TCG Players Concerned With 2025 Invite Structure

There are a few rumors swirling around regarding the next season. If true, this new structure would make it a lot harder to get into Worlds.

The Regional best finish limit (or BFL) will be reduced from six to four. International championship BFL will be brought down to two. The BFL means that players can only receive points from a limited amount of events. For example, if a trainer traveled to five Regionals, only their four highest placements will be counted towards their CP total. This makes it a bit trickier, since it reduces the amount of larger events that will go towards your total CP.

At the same time, it's being rumored that there will be less Regionals as well. Players are claiming it will be reduced to eight, which means less opportunities to compete and place.

These limited regionals have been leaked based on public and insider information combined. It looks like they will be in the following cities, no date or order confirmed yet:

  • Baltimore
  • Louisville
  • Portland
  • San Antonio
  • Orlando
  • Madison
  • Toronto
  • Vancouver

It's not looking too great for the West Coast. But one interesting insight as information continues to come out is that private tournament organizers may be replaced by the Pokémon Company instead. Others have noted that it looks like the event information shows Thursday to Sunday instead, which means there might be more spaces and rounds to make up for the growing TCG scene the past few years.

Perhaps the most concerning change for 2024-2025, however, is that there won't be a point threshold to qualify for Worlds. In the past, trainers needed to reach a certain amount of points to get automatically invited, like 600+. With no point threshold, this means that only the top points will qualify, including the top 128-256 players in North America with the most CP.

This will make the TCG even more competitive. Players will be grinding to get as many points as possible to be at the top. The only issue is there will allegedly be less opportunities to get these points and less events will be allowed to go towards your total CP. Many TCG players fear that this will make it even more of a grind to get into Worlds and may make it even harder.

Top Pokémon players have spoken up, however, warning the community to not worry over rumors. It's possible that the speculations are not even coming true. Others have said that even if the new format is true, competitive players still have a good chance. It shouldn't impact anyone with the skills to get into Worlds this year or previously, said Isaiah Bradner.

Said Bradner: "You can improve without infinite time if you use time well. Worlds invites are impressive— impressive things rarely come easy. You’ve shown you have the skill, so if you want to qualify, believe in yourself, and do what you need to do to take that skill to the next level."

Rumors claim that we may get official updates on some of next season's format and points structure come late this month or early July. For now, the TCG community will have to wait and see what changes may occur next season.

Published
Olivia Richman
OLIVIA RICHMAN

Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats.  Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions! 

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