The annual Pokémon World Championships, featuring Pokémon professional competitors and easily one of the biggest Pokémon-themed events in the world, has just concluded today. Read on to learn more about the 2024 World Champions!
2024 Pokémon World Championships Results
The competition is separated into three different age groups, namely:
⚫︎ Juniors: Ages 12 and under
⚫︎ Seniors: 12 to 16 years old
⚫︎ Masters: 16 years old and up
Here are the standings and top 8 for each division in the table below:
| Rank | Juniors | Seniors | Masters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sakuya Ota | JP | Evan Pavelski | US | Fernando Cifuentes | CL |
| 2 | Logan Bailey | US | Haruku Umehara | JP | Seinosuke Shiokawa | JP |
| 3 | Gregory Vexenat | FR | Benjamin Herbert | CA | Jesse Parker | US |
| 4 | Cobey Huh | US | Gabriel Fernandez | BR | Raz Wolpe | IS |
| 5 | Koutarou Matsudaira | JP | Tristan Tse | CA | Isaiah Bradner | US |
| 6 | Levon Fatunz | DE | Omar Cortes | US | Wang Yuxiang | CN |
| 7 | Edison Chien | US | Alberto Zamuner | IT | Ian Robb | US |
| 8 | Kio Nagisa | JP | Justin Newdorf | US | Michael Davidson | US |
Pokemon TCG - Juniors Division
Sakuya Ota takes the Pokemon TCG Juniors Division crown over Logan Bailey in a close 2-1 set. Ota utilizes and perfectly executes his Ancient Box deck strategy for the victory as he closes out the third game with a one-hit KO to Bailey’s Iron Thorns EX by using the Vengeance Fletching attack.
Pokemon TCG - Seniors Division
Meanwhile, in the Seniors Division, Evan Pavelski dominates the competition, winning 2-0 against Haruku Umehara. With good rolls and execution, Pavelski was able to snowball into a clean finish in the final game. Pavelski was able to successfully pick off Umehara’s roster one-by-one using his Regidrago VSTAR decklist.
Pokemon TCG - Masters Division
Lastly, Fernando Cifuentes took the trophy in the Masters Division, winning 2-1 against Seinosuke Shiokawa. It’s also worthy to note that Cifuentes is the first ever Chilean champion and the second Masters Division champion from South America.
Using the Iron Thorns EX decklist, Cifuentes was able to cycle his deck for energy while fueling his other Iron Thorns on the bench as backups when he attacks with Volt Cyclone. In the final few turns of the game, Cifuentes was able to pull through with his strategy against Shiokawa’s Roaring Moon EX deck by pulling Colress’ Tenacity to find that one last energy to be able to continue beating down on Shiokawa’s last available Pokemon.
Pokemon Video Game Championship (VGC)
Similar to the Pokemon TCG, the VGC is also separated by age groups, and these are:
⚫︎ Juniors: Ages 12 and under
⚫︎ Seniors: 12 to 16 years old
⚫︎ Masters: 16 years old and up
Here are the standings and top 8 for each division in the table below:
| Rank | Juniors | Seniors | Masters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Han | US | Ray Yamanaka | JP | Luca Ceribelli | IT |
| 2 | Tatsuomi Shimanuki | JP | Luke Kroll | US | Yuta Ishigaki | JP |
| 3 | Minato Kodama | JP | Min Jun Oh | KR | Michael Kelsch | DE |
| 4 | Keisuke Furusho | JP | Michael Vono | CA | Seong Jae Jeong | KR |
| 5 | Hideo Uezu | JP | Charlie Kim | US | Diego Ferreira | AU |
| 6 | Fabian Musikant | DE | Robbie Schaaij | NL | James Goreling | AUS |
| 7 | Yudai Fukue | JP | Kosuke Miyahara | JP | Navjit Joshi | CA |
| 8 | Kapono Masuda | US | Adam Colson | US | Zeng Chenyue | CN |
Pokemon VGC - Juniors Division
Kevin Han defeats Tatsuomi Shimanuki 2-1 in a close set to become the champion of the Juniors Division. In the final game, Han was able to read Shimanuki’s moves by switching his Calyrex and taking out the opposing Zamazenta with a Thunderbolt. Afterwards, Han was able to eliminate Shimanuki’s Tera-Ice Iron Treads with a very strong Draco Meteor to seal the championship.
Pokemon VGC - Seniors Division
In the Seniors Division, Ray Yamanaka defeats Luke Kroll 2-1 in great back-and-forth set. Yamanaka was able to survive the brawl between competitors. In the very first turn of the final game, Yamanaka was able to eliminate Kroll’s Miraidon swiftly with a combination of Astro Barrage and Close Combat by his team.
Pokemon VGC - Masters Division
And lastly in the Masters Division, Luca Ceribelli wins 2-1 against Yuta Ishigaki in a nail-biting set of matches. In the final few turns, Ceribelli was able to redirect Ishigaki’s attempt to attack his Miraidon using Follow Me and respond with a one-hit KO Electric Drift to Ishigaki’s Iron Valiant to seal the win.
Pokémon UNITE
For Pokémon UNITE, Japan’s FENNEL takes the World Championship crown! With a whopping 844 points against XoraTigersGaming’s 133 during the last match, they end the matches strong with a sweeping 3-0. FENNEL’s pyi (Blaziken), yume (Blissey), TONGG (Mamoswine), Mashio (Mew), and Lucapo (Dodrio) played aggressively and pressured their opponents well, garnering 13 points within the first minute of the match. This momentum carried on all the way to the end, with FENNEL dominating all the way through.
| Rank | Team | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FENNEL | JP |
| 2 | XoraTigersGaming | KR |
| 3 | ONIC Rise | AP-W (ID) |
| 4 | FUSION | LA-S |
| 5-8 | Talon Esports | AP-E (PH) |
| CakeKaLok | AP-W (TH) | |
| ZETA DIVISION | JP | |
| Nouns Esports | EU |
Pokémon GO
This year’s Pokémon GO finals had Hong Kong’s Yekai0904 versus The Netherlands’ Inadequance on stage. Competition was fierce, with both players’ Pokémon giving their best fight. However, during the third match, the spotlight was all on Yekai0904’s Lickitung, who eliminated Inadequance’s signature Giratina with little resistance, using its Ghost-type Lick normal attack.
In the end, Yekai0904 took the 2024 World Champion title, winning with a 3-1 score.
| Rank | Player | Region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yekai0904 | HK |
| 2 | Inadequance | NL |
| 3 | MartoGalde | AR |
| 4 | Beelzeboy | IN |
| 5-6 | OutOfPoket | US |
| LurganRocket | IE | |
| 7-8 | PvpDavid07 | SE |
| rochababyface1 | MX |
