Pokémon tournament The Champions Cup: Schedule and how to watch

As the coronavirus outbreak cancels esport events worldwide, more pro players are organising online tournaments to bring respective communities together.

Pokémon Sword and Shield is no exception. YouTuber Dan “aDrive” Clap and Pokémon professional player Wolfe “Wolfey” Glick have teamed up for The Champions Cup - a new VGC tournament which looks to become a new competitive series.

So looking to get involved or just want to catch some competitive Pokémon after the World Championships were cancelled? Here’s what you need to know about the Champions Cup.

When is The Champions Cup?

The Champions Cup is an online Pokémon Sword and Shield tournament which takes place across Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th April, organised by Dan “aDrive” Clap and Wolfe “Wolfey” Glick.

This first tournament is described as a “pilot” to test the waters, with plans to turn the event into an eight week circuit in the future.

What is the format?

The tournament follows the traditional Swiss format and will follow the VGC series 3 rules which you can check out here. Matches will be in a best-of-three set.

At the end of nine rounds on Saturday, the remaining top 32 players will move onto Sunday - where they’ll play an additional round to determine the top 16.

The top 16 players will play in a single elimination Top Cut bracket on Sunday.

Can I sign up for The Champions Cup?

You can! If you want to sign up for The Champions Cup follow the below steps.

• Sign up on the Battlefy event page
• Join the Discord server here
• Submit your team sheet through this form

You have to complete all the above before 10am EST (2pm GMT) on Saturday if you want to compete.

There’s also an entry fee of £12 to fund the prize pool.

What is the prize pool?

If the 1,504 player cap is reached, the total prize pool will be $15,000 with the first place winner set to recieve $5,000.

You can check out the top eight cash prizes below. These may be subject to change before the tournament begins.

1. $5,000
2. $2,000
3. $1,000
4. $1,000
5. $350
6. $350
7. $350
8. $350

What is the schedule?

Saturday 4th April

• Opening announcements - 10am EST/ 2pm GMT
• Tournament rounds 1-9 - 10.30am to 8pm EST/2.30pm to 12am GMT

Sunday 5th April

• Top 32 players have one more round - 10am EST/2pm GMT
• Top 16 cut begins - 11am EST/3pm GMT

How can I watch The Champions Cup?

Some matches across Saturday are being streamed on a variety of Twitch channels. You can check out a list here. 

You’ll be able to catch the top 16 fighting it out for glory on Sunday across aDrive and Wolfey’s Twitch accounts - who will both be casting the event.

Check back here on Sunday 5th April at the below stream.