Pokémon VGC 2025 shakes up the Local scene!
After reading much of the discourse on X and Discord today regarding the release of some exciting 2025 local VGC news, I wanted to do a small write-up to honor such an occasion. Enjoy some thoughts from a current VGC Tournament Organizer and Judge.
As of June 17th, 2024, the next season for the VGC Championship Series is now officially starting on July 1st, for the Worlds 2025 season. This is one of the first times in modern VGC history that VGC players are not taking the entire summer off from events, but rather, have access to the first quarter of events just like Pokemon TCG and Pokemon GO players.
This raises a of couple thoughts that we don’t have all the answers to yet:
Where will the CP bar be set for the season now that it spans July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025? Assuming the season now officially ends at the end of June, after next season’s NAIC in New Orleans, how much CP will Masters players need to qualify for Worlds? Without any other context about the big change in how VGC local events are being run, we’ll get to that topic next, one could see a similar CP bar like the Trading Card Game. This season, TCG players needed 600 CP to qualify for the World Championships. The TCG season has been accustomed to this first quarter, July 1st start date for a few seasons, so this isn’t anything new for the Trading Card Game. The VGC, however, had its season start last Fall in October 2023 after the TCG and Pokemon GO had a few months head start. With VGC finally being put on an even starting line with the TCG and GO, we’ll have to see where the CP bar is set for next season if the length of time to earn CP is what truly sets the bar.
The Video Game Championship Series has finally been combined with official Play Pokémon Leagues. The previous system had VGC Tournament Organizers and Judges hosting events wherever they could find a spot to host their events. Now, these events have to be officially tied to a store. The stores with official leagues sell Pokémon products as retailers and hold a weekly Pokemon League for their local community. In return, TPCi will sometimes send small prize support for different events held at that store on top of their regular weekly league event. From TCG Pre-Release events to League Challenges and League Cups, we will now have VGC Challenges and VGC Cups. The main concern for many VGC Organizers is the lack of knowledge that smaller card shops in their area may not have on the VGC. A store owner being told that a group of gamers will be coming into their store to play on their consoles, needing some power outlets, and a designated area to play in for a good part of the day could be a bit of an issue as well as if there is a bigger, more profitable TCG event like Pokémon TCG, Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, and more that could yield a higher profit for the store owner. While stores may dream of being a community center for their local players, most stores cannot provide that experience without making sure their bottom line is met.
With these events being tied to official stores, it begs the question as a TO, Judge, or as a player curious about your own local scene, how can events continue in my area if my regular Tournament Organizers from last season don’t own a store to play in?
My best advice for finding a new league location for up-and-coming TOs, as well as players who have a local store with TCG events but no current VGC events, is to do your research and be persistent and prepared with the facts and numbers.
Ask your TO or find one in the local area to contact and ask about their past attendance numbers. Be knowledgeable about the VGC event process and what it entails. For the most part, it’s very similar to running a card game tournament, but rather than a decklist, players submit a private team list to the TO in charge, and then keep a public team list to give to their opponent for each round.
Remember, now that VGC events are sanctioned through Leagues, take a quick look on the Pokemon Event Locator, if a local store is hosting a weekly Pokemon League, TCG League Challenges, and TCG League Cups, chances are they are also able to host VGC events as well.
The biggest hurdle when talking to any store owner about running VGC is how much knowledge they have on it previously. For some, it is so unfamiliar that it sounds way too intimidating, and possibly, not enough of a good sell to make sure they reach their baseline for that day. Some suggestions I would give would be to ask around the community for local VGC Judges and TOs. Perhaps even offering to connect your store owner with another owner running VGC events via email or via a call. With proper scheduling, you can help guide them and educate them on how little it can take to actually run the VGC at a store.
At VGC’s most basic needs, VGC needs WiFi, a printer, a clean play space, good lighting, acceptable bathrooms, and a playspace open to anyone who wants to participate.
I recommend mentioning entry fees to any local store as a means to meet their bottom line. If you have a devoted player base, looking to qualify for Worlds, many of them aren’t necessarily looking for the big prizes at the end of the day, they want access to Championship Points. While some sort of prize with a sizeable entry fee is usually standard amongst different shops, some states don’t allow the giving out of cash prizes, so businesses may hand out store credit or other forms of payment for winning. Overall, your main goal is to assure the store owner or league leader of a given store/Pokemon League that VGC events will not be a greater stressor, and instead, will only enrich their local store and community. I’ve found that when introducing players to a new store, depending on the stock and products being sold, many have spent time between rounds shopping and exploring the business.
Now that you’ve read some of my thoughts, what are your thoughts, concerns, or feelings about the official change to VGC locals being tied to a store rather than a VGC Tournament Organizer? Feel free to share them down below in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer any questions or thoughts you may have from an Organizer’s perspective!
Shout out to BillaVGC for creating an informative X thread on this topic today too!
