2020 Season Structure
The 2020 Play! Pokémon Season started officialy at the DC Open, held on August 2019 alongside the 2019 World Championships, and will come to an end at the 2020 World Championships in London, UK, next summer.
This will be the last season to use the 3DS system of consoles: Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be played until January 4, where all events will transition to Pokémon Sword/Shield on the Nintendo Switch.
VGC 2020 rules
The VGC 2020 sets the players for an all-new competitive experience in Pokémon Sword and Shield. All VGC events taking place from January 4, 2020 on will use the newest games and the VGC 2020 set of rules.
Additionally, the season’s rules vary with each Series of Raked Battles in the Battle Stadium. That means that real-life events, despite not being a part of the online competitions, will also follow such regulations:
- Series 2: Jan. 4 to Feb. 29, 2020
- Series 3: Mar. 1, 2020 onwards
Team rules
- The list of permitted Pokémon changes with each Series:
- Series 2: Pokémon with Galar Pokédex numbers #001-397 are allowed.
- Series 3: Pokémon with the Galar Pokédex numbers #001-397 as well as Pokémon with National Pokédex numbers #001-009, #79 and #722-730 are allowed.
- All Pokémon must have the black Galar symbol on their summary screen to signify that they originated (caught, hatched or obtained) in the Galar region.
- Pokémon may use of any move or Ability available to that Pokémon through normal gameplay. This includes:
- Hidden Abilities, if available.
- Moves and Abilities passed via the Pokémon Nursery by a Pokémon brought in using Pokémon HOME.
- Moves and Abilities made available through an official Pokémon event or promotion.
- No Pokémon nor Items may be repeated on a team (Species Clause, Item Clause).
- All Pokémon may use their Dynamax factor, and some Pokémon may also use their Gigantamax factor.
- You are allowed to Dynamax or Gigantamax one of your Pokémon per battle.
Additionally, the list of Pokémon species permitted to Gigantamax in Championship Series events will expand periodically, based on the availability of those Pokémon and taking into account a grace period for players to train their new Pokémon.
As for Series 3, the current one in play (March 1st onwards), these are all Pokémon allowed to Gigantamax in VGC:
| Pokémon allowed to Gigantamax | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |
| Butterfree | Corviknight | Drednaw | Centiskorch | Meowth |
 |  |  |  |  |
| Pikachu | Eevee | Snorlax | Sandaconda | Charizard |
 |  |  |  |  |
| Alcremie | Appletun | Coalossal | Flapple | Hatterene |
 |  |  |  |  |
| Kingler | Lapras | Orbeetle | Toxtricity | Grimmsnarl |
| Pokémon allowed to Gigantamax | |
|---|---|
| |
| Butterfree | Corviknight |
| |
| Drednaw | Centiskorch |
| |
| Meowth | Pikachu |
| |
| Eevee | Snorlax |
| |
| Sandaconda | Charizard |
| |
| Alcremie | Appletun |
| |
| Coalossal | Flapple |
| |
| Grimmsnarl | Hatterene |
| |
| Kingler | Lapras |
| |
| Orbeetle | Toxtricity |
| |
| Grimmsnarl | |
| Pokémon allowed to Gigantamax | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | | | |
| Butterfree | Corviknight | Drednaw | Centiskorch | Meowth |
| | | | |
| Pikachu | Eevee | Snorlax | Sandaconda | Charizard* |
*Charizard is only available with the Blaze ability for this Series.
| Pokémon allowed to Gigantamax | |
|---|---|
| |
| Butterfree | Corviknight |
| |
| Drednaw | Centiskorch |
| |
| Meowth | Pikachu |
| |
| Eevee | Snorlax |
| |
| Sandaconda | Charizard* |
*Charizard is only available with the Blaze ability for this Series.
Battle rules
- Double Battles played on Pokémon Sword and Shield.
- All Pokémon will be automatically on Level 50 regardless of their actual in-game level.
- All matches have a 15 minute timer. After that, the game automatically resolves to the player with more Pokémon, HP numbers… left. Tiebreakers can be found on the official rules document.
- Players will have up to 7 minutes of “Your Time” throughout the course of a match to select their moves.
- Each turn, 45 seconds will be given to select a move.
- Animations and connection time do not add up.
VGC 2019 Ultra Series
The VGC 2019 format is a throwback to the 2016 and 2010 rulesets, all of them known as GS Cup, formats where Legendary Pokémon such as Groudon, Xerneas or Lunala are allowed. All VGC events taking place until January 4, 2020 used the Ultra Series regulations as well.
- Double Battles played on Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.
- All Pokémon from the National Pokédex are allowed:
- All Pokémon must be caught, hatched or obtained during the regular playthrough of any of the 7th Generation games (Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon), thus having the black clover icon on their summary.
- All teams may include up to 2 Pokémon from the following: Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala and Necrozma.
- Mythical Pokémon (for example, those obtained during special distributions such as Volcanion) are banned.
- No Pokémon nor Items may be repeated on a team(Species Clause, Item Clause)
- All Pokémon will be automatically on Level 50 regardless of their actual in-game level.
- Players will have up to 7 minutes of “Your Time” throughout the course of a match to select their moves.
- Each turn, 45 seconds will be given to select a move.
- Animations and connection time do not add up.
- All Z Crystals are allowed.
- Players can use the Ultraneconium Z on the Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings forms of Necrozma.
- Mega evolutions are allowed.
- Red Orb and Blue Orb can be held by a Pokémon (essentially, Groudon and Kyogre).
- Rayquaza may learn Dragon Ascent, and thus mega evolve.
- All Z Crystals are allowed.
Age Divisions
Play! Pokémon separates players into three age divisions: Juniors (JR), Seniors (SR), and Masters (MA). The age division that a player participates in is set at the beginning of the season, based on that player’s year of birth, and does not change over the course of that season. This allows players to compete against the same pool of opponents over the course of the season.
For the 2020 season of events (from August 2019 to the 2020 World Championships), these are the age divisions:
- Juniors: born in 2009 or later
- Seniors: born in 2005-08
- Masters: born in 2004 or earlier
Events: where and when?
The 2020 season is made up of events taking place in all 5 continents. These events are divided into two main categories: major events and local events.
Major events are hosted directly by The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) or an outsourcer, and award greater prizes and Championship Points. On the other hand, local events are run by volunteer organizers and allow newer players and smaller communities to take part of the game. If you want to know more about this, check out this article.
| Date | Internationals | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15-17 Nov 19 | Latin America Internationals |  | São Paulo, Brazil |
| 21-23 Feb 20 | Oceania Internationals |  | Melbourne, Australia |
| – | Europe Internationals |  | Berlin, Germany |
| 26-28 Jun 20 | North America Internationals |  | Columbus, OH |
Championship Points & Prizes
Championship Points (CP) are awarded to players based on their placements at various Play! Pokémon tournaments. Major events also hand out prizes as either cash money or scholarships as well as trophies and Pokémon merchandising.
Local Events
- Best Finish Limit: 6
- Max CP obtainable (2020 Worlds Invite): 180 CP
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 CP | 0 |
| 2 | 16 CP | 0 |
| 3-4 | 12 CP | 0 |
| 5-8 | 8 CP | 24 |
| 9-16 | 6 CP | 48 |
| 17-32 | 4 CP | 100 |
- Best Finish Limit: 6
- Max CP obtainable (2020 Worlds Invite): 300 CP
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50 CP | 0 |
| 2 | 40 CP | 0 |
| 3-4 | 32 CP | 0 |
| 5-8 | 25 CP | 24 |
| 9-16 | 20 CP | 48 |
| 17-32 | 16 CP | 100 |
| 33-64 | 13 CP | 200 |
- No Best Finish Limit (all Championship Points obtained during Select Online Competitions will be taken into account)
| Placement | Championship Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 50 CP |
| 2 | 45 CP |
| 3-4 | 40 CP |
| 5-8 | 35 CP |
| 9-16 | 30 CP |
| 17-32 | 25 CP |
| 33-64 | 20 CP |
| 65-128 | 10 CP |
| 129-256 | 5 CP |
| 257-512 | 2 CP |
| 513-1024 | 1 CP |
Major events
- Best Finish Limit: 6
- Max CP obtainable (2020 Worlds Invite): 1200 CP
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 CP | 0 |
| 2 | 160 CP | 0 |
| 3-4 | 130 CP | 0 |
| 5-8 | 100 CP | 0 |
| 9-16 | 80 CP | 48 |
| 17-32 | 60 CP | 100 |
| 33-64 | 50 CP | 200 |
| 65-128 | 40 CP | 400 |
| 129-256 | 30 CP | 800 |
| Placement | 1-24 | 25-100 | 101-200 | 201+ | TCG* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | 72 |
| 2 | $250 | $500 | $1,000 | $2,000 | 72 |
| 3-4 | – | $250 | $500 | $1,000 | 36 |
| 5-8 | – | – | $250 | $500 | 18 |
| 9-16 | – | – | – | $250 | 9 |
*TCG Booster Packs are given regardless of attendance.
- Best Finish Limit: 4
- Max CP obtainable (2020 Worlds Invite): 2000 CP
- Check out information for the Travel Awards down below.
- No residence restrictions, meaning players from all around the world can join them regardless of their location (special regulations may be applied to players from rating zones such as Japan or South Korea)
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 500 CP | 0 |
| 2 | 400 CP | 0 |
| 3-4 | 320 CP | 0 |
| 5-8 | 250 CP | 0 |
| 9-16 | 200 CP | 48 |
| 17-32 | 160 CP | 100 |
| 33-64 | 130 CP | 200 |
| 65-128 | 100 CP | 400 |
| 129-256 | 80 CP | 800 |
| 257-512 | 60 CP | 1600 |
| Placement | 1-100 | 101-200 | 201+ | TCG* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $5,000 | 72 |
| 2 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,500 | 72 |
| 3-4 | $750 | $1,000 | $1,500 | 72 |
| 5-8 | $500 | $750 | $1,000 | 36 |
| 9-16 | – | $500 | $750 | 18 |
| 17-32 | – | – | $500 | – |
*TCG Booster Packs are given regardless of attendance.
Qualification Periods & Travel Awards
Travel awards will be handed out to the players in each age division and rating zone having gathered the most CP during an exact qualification periods. Players having maxed out their BFLs can still get CP towards these awards.
| Internationals | First Day | Final Day |
|---|---|---|
| Latin America | Apr. 29, 2019 | Jun. 30, 2019 |
| Oceania | Jul. 1, 2019 | Nov. 17, 2019 |
| Europe | Nov. 18, 2019 | Feb. 23, 2020 |
| North America | Feb. 24, 2020 | Apr. 19, 2020 |
Best Finish Limits
Each event type has its own Best Finish Limit (BFL), which indicates the number of best results taken into account towards your invite to Worlds 2020. A BFL of 6 for, let's say, MSS, means that only your 6 best MSS performances of the season will be counted.
However, these BFLs do not apply for the Internationals qualification periods. Even if your BFL of a certain event type is maxed out before the season ends, you may want to play to obtain CP towards travel awards.
Qualify for the 2020 World Championships
| Rating Zone | Juniors | Seniors | Masters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | 200 CP | 250 CP | 300 CP |
| US & Canada | 200 CP | 250 CP | 400 CP |
| Latin America | 200 CP | 250 CP | 400 CP |
| Oceania | 200 CP | 200 CP | 300 CP |
| South Africa | 100 CP | 150 CP | 200 CP |
| Rating Zone | CP Requirements |
|---|---|
| Europe | The Top 16 players in the CP leaderboard |
| US & Canada | The Top 8 players in the CP leaderboard |
| Latin America | The Top 8 players in the CP leaderboard |
| Oceania | The Top 8 players in the CP leaderboard |
| Japan | Depending on the 2020 Japan National Championships |
| South Korea | Depending on the 2020 South Korea National Championships |
| D.C. 2019 | The Top 4 finishers for each age division in D.C 2019 receive a travel award and a Day 1 Invite for London 2020 |
