How to Qualify for Play! Pokemon Team Challenge Season 4
If you’re tired of just grinding on the Pokemon TCG Online versus ladder, then you might want to check out Play! Pokemon Team Challenge Season 4. An official, sanctioned event, this year the Team Challenge is once again online, meaning you can enter a worldwide event without leaving the comfort of your living room and PJs. Competing this year will bring with it a bevy of prizes, and of course the all important bragging rights.
But how hard is it to qualify?
Well, I’ve already qualified for the Team Challenge for my local store, so let me shed some light on the competitive landscape for you. But first, some details.
Registering for Play! Pokemon Team Challenge Season 4
Even though the Team Challenge is all online this year, there are some geographical restraints. Upon registering, competitors will have to select the geographical area they are located in. They will then only be able to compete in qualifiers located in that area.
For people in the United States, this means you cannot compete outside of your state. Furthermore, you are restricted to playing in just three leagues, meaning you can only attempt to qualify at three different stores. And yes, the system blocks you from doing more than three. I tested it.
How Do You Qualify for Team Challenge Season 4?
Qualifying is pretty straightforward, but anything but easy to do. To qualify for a spot on the team, you have to win first place at a tournament. That’s right. You can spend an entire several hours in a tournament only to lose at the very last round and still not qualify. However, you will still get prizes for competing.
Qualifier Tournament Breakdown
Again, in order to qualify for the Team Challenge you will have to first win a qualifier. Each league is hosting four qualifiers, as there are four spots on the eventual team. The way these qualifier tournaments work is that there are several rounds of Swiss rounds style play, meaning each player plays a different player each round.
Following the Swiss rounds, the top four are put into an elimination bracket based on points earned per win. The winner of that elimination bracket is the qualifier. He or she will not only get codes for 10 packs for PTCG Online, they will also win a super cool, limited edition Team Challenge Qualifier play mat and a spot on that store’s team.
How Tough is the Competition?
I’ve played now at both local, in store, in person tournaments and the qualifier, and I can say the qualifier has a much higher level of competition. Likewise, winning a Team Challenge qualifier is much more challenging than winning those little in-game tournaments hosted by PTCG Online.
You’re going up against players from across your state (in the case of the US) or from around your country for others, so even if any given event only has a small selection of players, theres a good chance some of the best players from your area will be there. Beating them will mean playing at your best, while also getting a fair bit of luck and being properly prepared.
What Pokemon TCG Decks Should You Look Out For?
Really, there are all kinds of different decks being played in the qualifiers from what I’ve seen. But, as Fusion Strike is dominating right now, expect to see a lot of Mew VMAX as well as a lot of dark decks that counter mew. Additionally, there are a few rogue single prize decks that really go against the meta. However, I’ve not seen one of these rogue decks actually win.
In particular, the decks I’ve seen the most of so far are the following:
Mew VMAX/Fusion Strike
Duraludon VMAX
Umbreon VMAX/Single Strike Urshifu
Rapid Strike Urshifu
Eternatus featuring Galarian Wheezing.
Tips and Tricks for Winning a Qualifier
Ultimately, winning a qualifier will come down to three things – practice, deck matchups, and mental toughness. It might sound funny to say it takes mental toughness to win a Pokemon tournament, but as someone with a Black Belt in one martial art and proficiency in several others, as well as someone who has won several combat sport championships, winning a Pokemon tournament takes similar levels of mental toughness as combat sports.
Probably the worst thing you can do is to quit before the tournament has run its course. Of course, rage quitting is a very common phenomenon, but if you rage quit before the Swiss rounds are over, for example, you might not realize that you actually did have a chance to make it into the top four because everyone else didn’t do so great, either.
You will also want to make sure that the deck you are playing with is one that you are actually practiced at playing with. You will want to know how to respond to certain situations as they come up, and how to tackle each unique matchup. Knowing how the decks on the list above as well as the mechanics of the other top 10 decks will help here. Simply getting your hands on the best deck in the format and then hoping to blow away the competition is unlikely to happen.
Lastly, Pokemon is a card game so there is a certain amount of luck involved. You can do your best to choose a deck that will counter the meta only to have everyone show up with a deck that actually counters yours, or you could just draw bad hands. The trick is to stay calm and collected no matter what happens.
