On March 31, the Pokémon Company cancelled all further tournaments in the 2020 season due to the coronavirus. The World Championship was set to take place in the Excel Arena in London this year, the first time the prestigious tournament would have been held outside of North America.
It was undoubtedly the right decision for player and fan safety, ultimately put into perspective by the fact the Excel Arena has since been converted into a temporary hospital for coronavirus patients. However, competitive Pokémon players were left bereft, with nothing to play for or aim towards this year.
Unlike other esports, all major Pokémon tournaments happen in conjunction with their Trading Card Game counterparts, and therefore currently have to be attended in person at large events. The regular Regional and National events are the easiest method of obtaining qualification for the World Championships, but they are also the highlights of players’ calendars.
Tournaments held by fans, however, can be organised however they like, with as many or as few ties to TCG events as the organisers wish. Having felt the sting of these cancellations, YouTuber Dan “aDrive” Clapp and former Pokémon World Champion Wolfe Glick wanted to bring the tournament scene to players in isolation. Their creation, the Champion’s Cup, wouldn’t be the first online Pokémon tournament, and it won’t be the last, but they wanted to make sure it was the biggest, the best, and as close to the real thing as possible.
“We had a pretty overwhelming response from a player perspective,” Clapp tells Eurogamer. “The biggest VGC event in person for a Regional previously was almost 550 or so people and we managed to run a tournament with 1500 people. And I think we could have easily gone higher than that if we had the staffing for it.”