Championship Points: Planning a Pokémon TCG Season

Championship Points, or CP, are how the Play! Pokémon Championship Series keeps score across a season. They decide who earns an invitation to the World Championships, and they reward strong finishes at every level, from a League Challenge at your store to an International Championship.

The numbers below are for the 2027 season, which runs from late summer 2026 to the World Championships in August 2027. Play! Pokémon can change them during a season, so check the official Championship Series site before you plan around them.

How points are earned

You earn CP by finishing near the top of a sanctioned event in your age division. Bigger events award more. For the 2027 season, a win is worth:

Lower places earn less, on a sliding scale. At a League Cup, for example, second place is worth 40 and a top 8 finish 25.

Kickers: how many players it takes

Lower places only earn CP when enough players attend. That threshold is called a kicker, and it is counted within your age division. For a League Cup in 2027, a top 8 finish earns CP only when the division has at least 17 players. In a small division, only the top few places can earn points at all.

This is one reason the same finish can be worth different amounts at different stores.

Best Finish Limits: only your best results count

You do not keep every point you earn. Each kind of event has a Best Finish Limit: the number of your best results that count toward your total.

• League Challenges: your best 4.
• League Cups: your best 4, counted separately.
• Regional, Special, and International Championships: your best 5, shared across all three.

So four League Challenge wins, worth 60 CP, is the most League Challenges can ever give you in a season. Once four results count, a new finish only adds points if it beats the lowest of them. Plan for the events where your next good finish can still move your total.

Earning a World Championships invite

Invitations to the World Championships are given in two ways.

From the CP leaderboard. Each rating zone invites a set number of the top CP earners in each age division. For 2027 in the USA and Canada, that is the top 100 Juniors, the top 100 Seniors, and the top 140 Masters. There is no fixed point total that guarantees a spot; it depends on how everyone else does.

Directly. Winning a Regional or Special Championship earns an invitation, as does a top 4 finish at an International Championship or at the previous World Championships.

The 2027 World Championships are scheduled for Singapore in August.

Planning a season that fits your life

The local player. Play League Challenges and League Cups near home, and maybe one Regional. Your goal is not Worlds; it is better games and steady improvement. Track your CP for fun.

The regional traveler. Add two or three Regional Championships within driving distance. Regionals carry most of the points at this level, and a single strong run changes your total.

The Worlds chaser. Plan the whole season around Regionals and at least one International, and fill your League Cup and League Challenge limits with strong finishes. This is a big commitment of time, travel, and money. Go in with clear eyes.

Whatever the plan, write it down: the events, the dates, and a budget. Leave room for weeks off.

For Junior and Senior players

Age divisions run on the season’s birth years, and a player stays in the same division all season. Juniors and Seniors compete for their own invitations, so a young player’s path is separate from the adults’. Parents, the season plan is a family decision: check travel, costs, and whether your player still enjoys it after a few events.

Points are a scoreboard, not the reason

CP make the season feel like a story. But the best part of a League Cup is still the games and the people you meet at them. Most players who go far started by showing up week after week because they loved the table. Keep that first.