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    Jetsplit
    The Pokémon Company International has revealed information for the 2019 Pokkén Tournament Championship Series, with a prize pool over $20,000!
     
    To the surprise of many of us, The Pokémon Company has elected to run the 2019 Championship Series using the game's Team Battle mode. This means that all competitors will be required to use three Pokémon in every match! It will be very interesting to see how this affects competitive Pokkén, because many players only specialize in one or two Battle Pokémon. Only time will tell!
     
     
    Below is everything we know about the 2019 Championship Series:
     
    Mode: Team Battle First player to knock out all three of their opponent’s Pokémon will win the game Bracket Style: Double Elimination Masters Division: Competitors born in 2003 or earlier Senior Division: Competitors born in 2004 or later Sixteen Masters Division and eight Senior Division players will qualify for the World Championships Two Masters and one Senior from Oceania Internationals Four Masters and two Seniors from the Europe International Championships Four Masters and two Seniors from North America International Championships 2018 Pokkén Tournament World Champion Jacob “ThankSwalot” Waller Five Masters and three Seniors from Japan and the Last Chance Qualifier Last Chance Qualifier Player Cap: 256 players No Nintendo Switch Pro controllers permitted, even with a USB cable  
    That's right, ThankSwalot has automatically received an invite to this year's World Championships! Congratulations, ThankSwalot!
     
    The 2019 Pokkén Tournament Championship Series schedule is as follows:
     
    Oceania International Championships Melbourne, Australia February 15-17, 2019 Europe International Championships Berlin, Germany April 26-28, 2019 North America International Championships TBD TBD Last Chance Qualifier Washington, D.C. TBD Pokémon World Championships Washington, D.C. TBD  
     
    The prizes for the 2019 Pokkén Tournament Championships Series are as follows:
     
    Regional and International Championship Events Masters Division 1st place: $1,250 and Worlds invitation 2nd place: $1,000 and Worlds invitation 3rd place: $750 and Worlds invitation* 4th place: $600 and Worlds invitation* 5th place tie: $450 each 7th place tie: $250 each *Note: Only two players from the Oceania International Championships receive invitations. Senior Division 3rd place: 36 Pokémon Trading Card Game booster packs 1st place: Nintendo Switch console, 72 Pokémon Trading Card Game booster packs, and Worlds invitation
    2nd place: Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, 36 Pokémon Trading Card Game booster packs, and Worlds invitation* *Note: Only one player from the Oceania International Championships receives an invitation.  
    Pokémon World Championships Masters Division 1st place: $6,000 2nd place: $4,000 3rd place: $3,000 4th place: $2,000 5th place tie: $1,500 each 7th place tie: $1,000 each Senior Division 1st place: $3,000 Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card 2nd place: $1,500 Pokémon Visa Prepaid Card 3rd place: $500 Pokémon Visa Prepaid Card  
     
    The rules for the 2019 Pokkén Tournament Championships Series can be found here. More information can be found on the official Pokémon website here.
    IcySoapy
    The first update for DX Season 2 of Pokkén Arena's North American rankings is now here, featuring the top 25 players for the start of the season!
     
    These rankings are for North America specifically and utilize Pokkén Arena's updated ranking system. Changes were made to the ranking system since Season 1 in order to provide more accurate rankings.
     
    You can learn more about the changes to the ranking system here.
     
    The below rankings take into account six tournaments:
    Summer Jam [C Rank] SoCal Regionals [C Rank] Eye of the Storm [B rank] Canada Cup 2018 [C Rank] Destiny [S Rank] Northeast Championship 2018 [B Rank]
    Without further ado, here is your 2.1 Top 25:
    Wingtide Euclase ThankSwalot Mewtater Ashgreninja1 InC Flegar BxA Twixxie InC RoksoTheSavage Adelvos TytoVortex LZR ALLISTER TA slippingbug Burnside Wise Jin Son_Dula KOA SoulGuitarist Toasty JGG JigglerJoggler TheJrJam PuppyHavoc GCCI∀z$NICBOOM WorkerBeez ThunderGriffin In The Groove
    You can view past rankings, as well as players' social media links, here.
    IcySoapy
    DX Season Two is now under way for the North American Power Rankings. With this new season comes multiple changes to our ranking system in order to focus more on player consistency. We want to reward players for doing well at multiple tournaments and staying at a high level of performance. These changes affect how much value is put on head-to-heads and tournament placings, as well as how tournaments are ranked and valued.
     
       Ratios
    The first big change that comes to the ranking system is the new ratios. Head-to-head is now 65% value (up from 45% last season) and placings remain at a 35% value. The hit list is also no longer part of the ratios. The original purpose of the hit list was to be a catch-up mechanic for players who didn’t travel as often as others. However, the hit list was available to all players no matter how much they traveled, so players who traveled often could find big wins in either upsets or by consistently doing well, getting excessive amounts of points thanks to the hit list. This created unsurpassable leads because excessive tournament activity compensated for potential gaps of skill. With this glaring issue, we removed the hit list in favor of emphasizing head-to-head and placings.
        
    This new ratio is biased towards head-to-head because two players who get the same placings in tournament can get there with wildly different opponents. To use Summer Jam as an example, two players named Geordi and ReyDelEmpire met in bracket, but we should take a look at their runs.
     
    Geordi's run was:
    JuCan (2-0) Euclase (DQ) TheAssassin (2-1) Son_Dula (0-2) ReyDelEmpire (0-2)  
    Euclase being disqualified is a huge deal as it allowed Geordi to get one step further without playing an actual match.
     
    Then, you compare that to ReyDelEmpire’s run:
    RedNovah (2-0) Kamon (0-2) Bacon (2-0) Nuzzlemaster (2-0) WhiteChocolate (2-0) SuperTiso (2-0) Geordi (2-0)  
    Rey’s bracket run was much more extensive and competitive, facing well-known opponents such as Kamon and White Chocolate. These instances are why head-to-head is weighed more; it is a better indicator of skill overall.
        
    Ranking Tournaments
    The old system for ranking tournaments used three categories for giving points. These categories were Top 50, Top 20, and International. For each Top 20 player that attended a tournament, that tournament got a point in both the Top 50 and Top 20 categories. For example, if a player was ranked 19, they would qualify for Top 50 and Top 20 points, whereas if another player were ranked 21, they would only qualify for Top 50 points, equivalent of being ranked 50. This put a reliance on tournaments having to pull Top 20 players or risk not ranking high. NEC18 received a B rank last season even though it had many players with a high level of skill. It had 14 top players with four in Top 50, seven in Top 25, and three in Top 10. This is similar to Winter Brawl which had the same amount of top players but ranked A, having five in Top 50, four in Top 25, and five in Top 10. The International category was also an issue because a player travelling from out of country was automatically equivalent to a Top 20 player in rankings, regardless of whether or not the international player had a Top 20 player’s skill. This created an artificial amount of skill and could inflate a tournament value without the skill being there. For example, at Canada Cup there was a player from South Korea who - to our knowledge - didn’t play the game regularly. Under the old system they would have been valued as a Top 20 player.
        
    In the new system for ranking tournaments, the Top 50 are now split into three categories: Top 50 to 26, Top 25 to 11, and Top 10. Also, there is no more qualifying for multiple tiers. For example if you rank at number 9 you only get points for being in the Top 10 category; you will no longer get the points from the lower tiers as well. This puts significantly less reliance on tournaments getting Top 20 players just to have a chance to be ranked.
     
    We also have added a category for regionally ranked players. Each region receives a player spot in this category until the number of spots and number of Top 50 players they have total three. Regions with no Top 50 players will have three players in this category while regions with three or more Top 50 players will have no players in this category. This tier is to help smaller regions qualify for the tournament rankings. Players in this regional category will count as two regular entrants. Since they do not give points like top players do, top player presence is still required to achieve C rank but it’s much less of a reliance.
        
    International players are now handled case by case by the DX Season 2 ranking team. Because international players are all at different skill levels, giving them a single flat value does not make sense.
     
    Before, as you went up each ranking tier, the requirements to make the next tier increased. This put even more reliance on Top 20 players entering a tournament, and it made it much harder to rank above B. In the new system, the gap to get to each tier is the same value, so from C to B to A to S will all be the same difference. This also reduces the reliance on Top 10 players for all but the highest tier.
        
    Tournament Placements
    Tournament placings have also received changes to be more evened out this season. Last season, the placing system was a pyramid system. 1st place at a S rank tournament was equal to two 1st places at A rank tournaments, four 1st places at B rank tournaments, and eight 1st places at C rank tournaments. Pokkén only had 21 tournaments this season, including the World Championships. There were five C rank tournaments, nine B rank tournaments, three A rank tournaments, and four S rank tournaments. With four S rank tournaments you’d need thirty two C rank tournaments to equal out. With the lack of C rank tournaments, it removed the value of going to C rank tournaments in favor of going to a S rank since they heavily out-weighed tournament categories. All of this is happening before head-to-head is taken into account as well. Someone attending a S rank tournament in general plays more sets than playing in a C rank tournament. This ended up taking away a lot of value from the smaller tournaments and incentivising people to not go to lower rank tournaments and instead focus on going to a S rank tournament and doing well in that single tournament. It created an issue where a single breakout run at a S rank would make you extremely hard to surpass in the rankings. Azazel won Final Boss last season and stayed in the Top 10 for nearly the entire season with only that one tournament.

    This season we are using a new, more triangular system. It’s much more narrow compared to last season as to help put more value on placing well and consistently at all tournaments. It takes roughly three to four C rank tournaments to match a S rank tournament this time around. This puts more emphasis on playing consistently at all level of tournament play rather than only at large tournaments. Since it is easier to catch up, it means inactive players will now fall out of the top half for not participating in tournaments. Now, if you want to rank high, you need to be both active and consistent.
     
    There is also a change in how points are awarded to players by cutting down on which placings are rewarded and moving more points to Top 4 placings. Starting with C rank, which now rewards points for placing 4th through 1st, B rank rewards points for 7th through 1st, A rank rewards points for 9th through 1st , and S rank rewards points for 25th through 1st. 

    When making these changes, we looked at where the skill level of players started to drop off. In C rank tournaments, the player skill drop off was around 5th place since it has the least amount of ranked/top player presence, averaging about 5 ranked players. Summer Jam this year had 5 ranked players, with two in the Top 50 to 26 range and three in the Top 25 to 11 range. It didn’t make sense to reward placing lower than fourth place as a result.
     
    We followed the same principle with C rank to B and A rank; B ranked tournaments award points to 7th and up while A rank will award points to 9th and higher. 
     
    S rank now awards points to 25th and higher. However, placing values for 25th and 17th are extremely low and only used for seeding purposes in the future. A small amount of points are still awarded because ranked players can fight each other extremely early on and sometimes even knock each other out in pools, showing that players were at least able to trade wins against high level players.
        
    The last thing to note is how points are given out this season. Top 4 holds the most points this season. The Top 4 placings are not shared, but 5th place is a shared placing between two players. As a result, those players would have to split points. For example, let's say 3rd place is worth 30 points and 5th place is worth 10 points. A player that got 3rd place would get all 30 points for that placing.  For two players who get 5th place, they would have to split points so each player would get 5 points.
        
    There is much more focus on that Top 4 placing now, so players who want to make it to the top of the rankings will have to place in that Top 4 consistently. There is also focus on staying active as players are able to catch up with each other now.
     
    We hope these changes will lead to rankings that reflect the players’ true skill and performance. Good luck to all the players this season!
    skysmaug384
    The results are now available for the second FSBC Cup featuring Machamp. This event took place from January 4, 2019 to January 6, 2019.
     
    Those who placed in the top 100 have received rewards for their accomplishments, so be sure to check the group in-game to receive your placement as well as your rewards.
     
    You can find the top 100 players from the second FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup below. A big thank you goes out to Tuxwuff for sending in the results for Europe! Keep in mind we do not have easy access to the Japan rankings, so they are absent from the results below. If you participate in the Japanese Group Matches and wish to have your region's rankings shared here, please let us know!
     
    (Rerun) FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup - NA Top 100
     
    (Rerun) FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup - EU Top 100
     
    Did you enjoy the rerun of the FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup? Let us know in the comments below!
    skysmaug384
    The results are now available for the third FSBC Cup featuring Pikachu. This event took place from December 21, 2018 to January 3, 2019.
     
    Those who placed in the top 100 have received rewards for their accomplishments, so be sure to check the group in-game to receive your placement as well as your rewards.
     
    You can find the top 100 players from the third FSBC Volt Shock Fist Cup below. A big thank you goes out to Tuxwuff for sending in the results for Europe! Keep in mind we do not have easy access to the Japan rankings, so they are absent from the results below. If you participate in the Japanese Group Matches and wish to have your region's rankings shared here, please let us know!  
     
    (Rerun) FSBC Volt Shock Fist Cup - NA Top 100
     
    (Rerun) FSBC Volt Shock Fist Cup - EU Top 100
     
    Did you enjoy the rerun of the FSBC Volt Shock Fist Cup? Let us know in the comments below!
    IcySoapy
    For the third consecutive year Pokkén Tournament DX returns for NorCal Regionals in San Jose, CA March 29th to the 31st 2019. In addition to Pokkén’s return, there is a starting $500 to the Pokkén pot bonus.

     


    It doesn’t stop there for NCR as there is a compendium set up where you can donate to your favorite player to help them flyout or donate directly to the pot bonus. This compendium uses a interesting system where you can donate to player of the donor’s choosing. However, if - for some reason - the initial player doesn’t reach their goal then the money gets moved to the next player on the donor’s list. In addition, you can choose to instead donate directly to the pot bonus where 50% of the donation will be matched, going to the donor's choice of player. This format helps to make sure that the most possible players have the ability to fly out and attend NCR. Players who wish to apply for the compendium can do so on the NorCal Pokkén website. There is a hard deadline of January 25th where both the compendium and donates will end so be sure to sign up and donate sooner rather than later.

    You can see the whole overview here.
    Then follow NorCal Pokkén’s Twitter for live up dates here.
    Sabrewoif
    Here are the tournament results for every Pokkén bracket from December 27, 2018 to January 2, 2019!
     
    Who started off the new year with a bang? 
     
    Did we miss a tournament? Let us know and it will be added to the list shortly.
     
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Holiday Heist 4: Ultimate Edition
    Raddison Hotel Of Farmington Hills | 31525 Twelve Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, USA
    Bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/holiday-heist-4-powered-by-monster-energy-ultimate-edition-2/events/Pokkén-singles/brackets/271978/592941/
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Midwest Mayhem Ultimate
    Midwest Conference Center | 401 W Lake St, Melrose Park, IL 60164, USA
    Bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/midwest-mayhem-ultimate/events/Pokkén/brackets/451035/804911
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Guard Break X
    Oakview Mall | 3001 S 144th St, Omaha, NE 68144, USA
    Bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/guard-break-x/events/Pokkén-tournament-dx/brackets/486615/848416/
    VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/356091512
     
    Sunday, December 30, 2018
    Grand Capital Smash #13
    TailGators | 1642 Merivale Rd, Nepean, ON K2G, Canada
    Bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/grand-capital-smash-13-1/events/Pokkén-dx/brackets/477153/836850
    VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/356448507
     
    Congratulations to all of this week's competitors!
     
    Jetsplit
    The next FSBC Cup will be a rerun of the official Group Match featuring Machamp! The rerun of the FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup will give players a second chance at the Dynamic Fury title.
     
    Like with all of the official FSBC Cups, there will be a special title given to all participants. Remember that to receive your special title, you must play at least one match to completion. The "League Master" titles will once again be awarded to the top 100 competitors. Also, if you already participated in the first FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup, you will receive PokéGold for participating in this official Group Match.
     
    You can find the full details for the second FSBC Dynamic Fury Cup below.


     
    Ranking Times
    NA: Start: 1/4/19 8AM PDT End: 1/6/19 10PM PDT EU: Start: 1/4/19 10AM BST End: 1/7/19 12AM BST JP: Start: 1/4/19 10AM JST End: 1/7/19 12AM JST  
    Note: Battles will only be ranked during the Ranking Times each day.
     
    Format
    VS Mode: Basic Battle
    Skill Level: Off
    Rematch: No
    Battle Stage: Fixed Battle Arena
     
    Participation Prize
    Participants will receive the special "Dynamic Fury" title.

    Note: To earn the Participation Prize, players must play one match to completion during the ranking times listed above.
     
    Ranking Prizes
    Places 1 - 10: 
    Places 11 - 30: 
    Places 31 - 60: 
    Places 61 - 100: 
    Sabrewoif
    2019 is approaching fast and with it comes new tournaments and another year to grow as players. For those of you that feel stuck or simply wish to take their play to the next level - perhaps BadIntent's new website is for you. 
     
    The site, pokkenbasics.com, is packed with tutorials and guides aimed to teach and elevate one's game knowledge past that of even BadIntent himself.
     

     
    It comes currently with 3 courses: 
    Pokkén Basics, Shadow Mewtwo 101 and Pokkén Basics Plus (which has a $5 fee, unlike the previous two).
     
    The courses feature contributions from other well known high-level competitors like Euclase, slippingbug and Wingtide. 
     
    So if you think you can benefit from this fountain of knowledge, give it a shot and support one of the most active content creators of the scene!
    Sabrewoif
    Here's your weekly What To Watch post for December 27, 2018 to January 2, 2019!
     
    What To Watch is a weekly series that is published every Thursday, giving readers information on the upcoming tournaments for the week. From local tournaments to free online brackets to majors, we'll let you know what to watch (or perhaps even compete in!) from today up to the coming Wednesday.
     
    Did we miss a tournament? Let us know and it will be added to the list shortly.
     
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Holiday Heist 4: Ultimate Edition
    Raddison Hotel Of Farmington Hills | 31525 Twelve Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, USA
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Midwest Mayhem Ultimate
    Midwest Conference Center | 401 W Lake St, Melrose Park, IL 60164, USA
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Guard Break X
    Oakview Mall | 3001 S 144th St, Omaha, NE 68144, USA
     
    Saturday, December 29, 2018
    Fair Fights! 42
    McHenry Bowl | 3600 McHenry Ave, Modesto, CA 95356, USA
     
    Sunday, December 30, 2018
    Grand Capital Smash #13
    TailGators | 1642 Merivale Rd, Nepean, ON K2G, Canada
     
    Here's to a great week for Pokkén!
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