Format

This year's World Cup will follow a new format, combining the positives of the previous World Cups. The tournament will once again focus on team performances on the whole rather than individual effort, more akin to World Cup II, while keeping the overwhelmingly successful round robin style first round of World Cup III.

This year, there will be 14 teams with 8 players per team and 2 subs. However, there's a twist.

Qualifying Round

Not all 14 teams will qualify to actually play in the World Cup. Based on the results of the qualifying round, the top 8 teams will advance to the World Cup.

In this round, much like last year's tournament, players will be placed into groups of 4, where they will battle all three of their opponents.

6 points will be awarded for first place, 4 for second, and 2 for third. If there is a tie for any place, they will split up the points between them. As an example, if two people are tied for first place, they will split 10 (6 + 4) points between them for a total of 5 points each. This method is much more simple and neater than the PokéDifference formula used last year.

At the end of the round, total team points will be calculated, and the top 8 teams will qualify for the finals of the World Cup of Pokemon IV. In case of a tie, both teams will nominate one person for a sudden death battle for qualification.

Knock-out Stages

Based on the results of the qualifying rounds, 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 case of a tie, both teams will nominate a representative to participate in a sudden death battle.

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