Format

This year's World Cup will continue the format instituted five years ago, but this time adding some older gens: ADV OU, DPP OU and BW OU. This format best combines the individual and team aspect of the World Cup.

There will be 16 teams with 8 players per team and a maximum of 4 subs.

Qualifying Round

In this round, players will be placed into groups of 4, where they will battle all three of their opponents. Divisions will be assigned randomly and each team will play each other team at least once and no more than twice.

6 points will be awarded for first place, 4 for second place, and 2 for third place in a division. If there is a tie for any position, the total number of points between those two positions will be split equally among the tied parties. For example, if two people are tied for first place, they will split 10 (6 for first + 4 for second) points between them for a total of 5 points each.

Teams will be ranked based on records, rather than points. This means the 8 teams with the best records will qualify for the quarter finals of the World Cup of Pokemon IX. If two or more teams within the top 7 have identical records, points will be used to sort out the tiebreaks. However, if there is a tie in records for the last spot, points will be ignored and both teams will nominate one person for a sudden death battle for qualification. This battle will be standard XY OU

Knock-out Stages

Based on the results of the qualifying round, teams will be seeded and placed into a bracket, in which they will go head to head.

Teams will battle in 8v8 format where each of the members from one will play against the other. At the end of all 8 battles, the team with more wins will qualify for the next round. In the case of a tie, both teams will nominate a representative to participate in a sudden death tie-breaker battle which will be played with the standard XY OU rules.

The tournament will progress in this format till only one team is left standing, the champion of World Cup of Pokemon IX!