Are you looking to be a Pokemon Master? Looking to prove your worth and play at the highest level for the Pokemon Trading Card Game? Well there will be a lot more competition to get there for 2025.

The Old Way

Back before the changes in 2025, to join the Pokemon World Championship it required you to earn a certain amount of Championship Points. These points were usually around 600 for the Masters category. These points would be based on placements in the tournament. For instance, if you won a league challenge, you would have 15 points, while if you won a league cup, you would earn 50. As shown below, you can look at the placements to point allocation.

When hitting 600 points, you were able to take a break from competing and automatically earned your invite at the end of the season. The best way to earn a large amount of points was to get a higher placing in regional tournaments or international tournaments. Winning a regionals would give 350 points while the international tournaments would give 500 points.

Although this wasn't enough to immediately qualify for worlds, it would give you a significant boost to your points to reach your final goal, playing in the Pokemon World Championship.

How it Works Now

If you're looking to compete with some of the best Pokemon players you'll need to attempt to frequent a lot more events. Unlike previous years where an unlimited number of players could be a part of the Pokemon World Championship, now only the top 125 players will get in. This means that you'll have to grind Championship Points to get yourself to the top of the list. If you want a basic plan on how to grind points, you'll need to go to challenges and cups frequently to start getting yourself high on the leaderboard. While winning league challenges gives you 15 points, winning league cups gives you 50 points which will be crucial to you climbing to be in the top 125 players.

Let's say you don't have the time to put in the grind to play in a bunch of league cups or league challenges, but still believe you're one of the best, you can always go to an International Championship, Regional Championship or Special Championship. If you were to place first place in any of these events, your prize would be an invitation to the World Championship, and if you place first through fourth in any of the international championships, you would also qualify for an invite.

Your First Steps

Now that you know the end game for being able to compete in the World Championship, let's talk about the first steps. First, look at what the meta is for Pokemon. While a lot of players can perform well without playing a meta deck, the meta will define what decks you will play up against, so choosing a deck and understanding the competitive atmosphere is a must. The second is to identify where you can play in person around you. Not sure where to play? Check the Event Locator(https://events.pokemon.com/en-us/) for more options on where your local Pokemon tournaments are being held. Your third step will be to get your points through local events such as league cups and challenges. You might have to travel for events, but unfortunately that's mandatory for those looking to qualify for the Worlds Championship. Then from there try your hand at higher events such as Regionals, Special Events and even the International. At this stage you'll be on your way to rack up those points to being a Pokemon Master.

My final advice to you as you continue your Pokemon journey is not to get intimidated. The road to being a pro can be scary, but it is definitely do-able with the time and effort you put in. Also try to make friends along the way. A majority of my time I enjoyed getting points has been making friends, talking about the events and socializing.