| Event | 2024 Pokémon Dragon King Battle Qualifier (ポケモン竜王戦2024 挑戦者決定戦) |
|---|---|
| Location | Online |
| Date | TBD |
| Capacity | Unlimited |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2024 Season – Single battles, custom format |
| Format | In-game ladder competition |
| Organizer | The Pokémon Company (TPC) |
Table of Contents
Cancellation of the tournament
On 28 November, during the sign-up and team registration period, the tournament was cancelled by TPC as the following bug was discovered: when locking Koraidon or Miraidon to the team, a different Pokémon was shown in the battle box. It has been confirmed to be only a display error.
TPC has confirmed that a reschedule of the tournament is being considered. Please await further announcements.
Custom format
This competition features single battles, bringing a team of 3 Pokémon and selecting 3 in each battle. Team preview is only 30 seconds.
Every team must include one of Koraidon or Miraidon. The Pokémon that can be used in Regulation Set E are allowed for the other two slots.
| 2024 Dragon King Battle Qualifier – One of these must be used | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | ||||
| Koraidon | Miraidon | ||||
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through your own Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game. To register, enter the Poké Portal → Battle Stadium → Online competitions → Search for a competition (in the Official Competitions column).
Note that the tournament is exclusive to players residing in Japan, so it is only available if your region is set to Japan. There are no age divisions for this tournament and everyone is ranked in shared standings.
You need to register and lock a team at the time of registration.
Sign-ups are open from 20 November at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC) until 1 December at 8:59 JST (30 November at 23:59 UTC), when the tournament starts.
Platform and schedule
The tournament is held online, in your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game, at the Online competitions section of the Poké Portal’s Battle Stadium.
Previous to the cancellation of the tournament, it was planned to start on 1 December 2023 at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC). You would be able to play up to 15 battles by 2 December at 8:59 JST, up to 30 battles by 3 December at 8:59 JST and up to 45 battles by 4 December at 8:59 JST. You would be able to enter any battle until 4 December 2023 at 8:59 JST (3 December at 23:59 UTC).
You need to complete at least 3 matches to be eligible for prizes.
Prizes
This event is an official Online Competition, but is not a part of any 2024 official circuit. This means that it does not reward anything related to earning a Worlds invite.
As a participation prize, any player that finishes at least 3 matches will receive 10,000 League Points.
Additionally, the top 8 players qualify to the 2024 Dragon King Battle, to be held live in Tokyo on 25 February 2024.
| Placement | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st to 8th | Dragon King Battle invite |
Overview
The 2024 Pokémon Dragon King Battle Qualifier is an official Online Competition featuring single battles, and is region-locked to Japan. It is the ninth Online Competition in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games for players in Japan, the fourth with a custom format and the second played in single battles.
Online Competitions are usually a part of the casual gameplay, but they have been featured in the official circuit for some years now. Region-locked Online Competitions are something new to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, and they have been chosen to act as qualifiers to the National Championships in South East Asia or even as National Championships themselves.
Previous editions of the Dragon King Battle, a VG & TCG tournament co-sponsored by newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and the Japan Shogi Association, have featured different formats and qualifying systems, including in-game ladder qualifiers, dedicated live qualifiers and official Japan National or even Worlds results. In this edition, a Pokémon UNITE competition is added for the first time.
A little bit of history
Japan has been a part of the official TPC circuit since its inception. It has hosted multiple major events, including old-era Regionals, National Championships and the 2023 World Championships, and is particularly successful in the online competitions. As the most successful country in VGC, Japan’s greatest trophies have been brought home by 5 World Champions (Kazuyuki Tsuji in 2009, Shoma Honami in 2015, Ryota Otsubo in 2017, Naoto Mizobuchi in 2019 and Shohei Kimura in 2023), as well as the 2008 VGS Champion (Izuru Yoshimura) and other 9 in the Senior and Junior divisions throughout the years.
The most recent tournament held in Japan was the 2023 World Championships, played in Yokohama with the VGC Regulation Set D in August 2023. The finals saw Japanese Shohei Kimura defeat German Michael Kelsch to be crowned as the 2023 World Champion.
American James Evans, the 2018 Senior Division World Champion, defeated Brazilian Gabriel Agati in the NAIC finals.
