August 22 brought the 13th annual Pokémon World Championships to a close. The 2016 championship series took place in San Francisco, California and featured prominent players of the Pokemon trading card game (TCG), Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and Pokkén Tournament.
The Pokémon World Championship series began back in 2003 and was created as a eSports tournament for competitive Pokémon. Players throughout the year earn points throughout the championship circuit to earn an invite. For players to be able to play at the world championship, they had to earn a minimum of 400 points. Also, to date the series has awarded over 3.1 million in scholarships to top finishers.
Competitive Pokémon is separated to junior, senior, and masters divisions based upon age. The event was host to all things Pokémon and featured over 2000 attendees including players from over 30 countries. This year saw the first appearance of Pokkén Tournament championships as well.
Below are this year’s champions and runners-up.
2016 POKÉMON TRADING CARD GAME WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Junior Division Finalists (born in 2005 or later)
- World Champion: Shunto Sadahiro (Japan)
- Second Place: Riku Ushirosako (Japan)
- Senior Division Finalists (born in 2001–2004)
- World Champion: Jesper Eriksen (Denmark)
- Second Place: Connor Pedersen (United States)
- Masters Division Finalists (born in 2000 or earlier)
- World Champion: Shintaro Ito (Japan)
- Second Place: Cody Walinski (United States)
2016 POKÉMON VIDEO GAME WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Junior Division Finalists (born in 2005 or later)
- World Champion: Cory Connor (United States)
- Second Place: Shu Harasaki (Japan)
- Senior Division Finalists (born in 2001–2004)
- World Champion: Carson Confer (United States)
- Second Place: Yuki Wata (Japan)
- Masters Division Finalists (born in 2000 or earlier)
- World Champion: Wolfe Glick (United States)
- Second Place: Jonathan Evans (United States)
2016 POKKÉN TOURNAMENT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Senior Division Finalists (born in 2001 or later)
- World Champion: Josh Simmonite (United Kingdom)
- Second Place: Dale Causey (United States)
- Masters Division Finalists (born in 2000 or earlier)
- World Champion: Masami Sato (Japan)
- Second Place: Takuma Araki (Japan)
Fans of Pokemon, eSports, and competitive games can look forward to the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim, California.
