TheĀ 2023 World Championships, which will be held on 11ā13 August 2023, are hosted in Japan for the first time!Ā In these articles, we will take a look at the best players that are qualified to compete in the biggest event of the year.
Here we have North America! Let’s meet the 8 players with a Day 2 invite, and take a look at the other 100 Day 1 invitees the “US & Canada” TPCi region brings.
Table of Contents
North America at Worlds
The World Championships will be played outside North America for the second consecutive time, and we will have to see whether that is influential to the players from this region!
North America has seen two World Champions and four crowns, as Ray Rizzo won the title three times in a row (2010, 2011 and 2012), setting up a legendary record that is unlikely to be broken; and Wolfe Glick raised the trophy in 2016.
There are other Americans that have reached finals without success, such as Wolfe yet again, four years prior to his win in Ray Rizzo’s third win (2012), Jeudy Azzarelli (2014), Jonathan Evans (2016) and Emilio Forbes (2018).
The latest World Championships featured James BaekĀ andĀ Paul ChuaĀ in semifinals and other four players in top cut. Will North America come back to the top after seven years empty-handed?
Requirements for a Worlds invite
As per the North American system, all players that have achieved at least 300 Championship Points in the 2023 season receive an invite to Day 1. Additionally, the top 8 players achieve a direct pass to Day 2 and a Travel Award.
Day 2 players
At 1342 CP, Joseph leads the most hunted CP leaderboard for the second year in a row and will compete in Worlds also for the second time, after making it into the top cut last year at his first appearance.
The results started to come for Joseph in Australia, as he finished in top 16 atĀ OCIC. He returned home for a top 16 inĀ Knoxville, made top cut and then finals to finish second inĀ Charlotte, and repeated that again with another second place inĀ Fort Wayne. They say third time’s the charm, and he found himself in his third finals match of the season when he competed inĀ PortlandĀ to finally win a Regional again. A top 32 inĀ HartfordĀ was added to his accomplishments later in the same month. Eventually, it was time for the big event of the continent, and Joseph made it to semifinals atĀ NAIC, but finals remain elusive to him as this is his third IC Top 4 finish of his carreer.
Joseph likes to play in grassroots tournaments, and he is extremely successful at them. He made top cut in the VR Welcome to Paldea;Ā won a bigĀ X9 League eventĀ and two big Beanie Brawl events (WW#2Ā andĀ WW#4); and alsoĀ won theĀ VR April ChallengeĀ one week before Portland. Recently, he has made it to a new top cut in theĀ Victory Road to Yokohama, in which he experimented withĀ a team with Incarnate Landorus and Regieleki. Joseph is also part of Team United States in theĀ World CupĀ since 2021; last year, they reached top 8. Additionally, the American is a content creator focusing in VGC, and you can find him inĀ his Twitch channel “JoeUX9”.
At 1281 CP, Chuppa has qualified for his sixth World Championship in a row, and his second Day 2 invite after 2017. He’s also participated in 2016, 2018 and 2019, only advancing to Day 2 in the latter.
Chuppa started the season very strong, making it to top cut and finishing in second in San Diego, and repeating the top cut for a top 8 finish inĀ Orlando, which holds the record of being the VGC live event with most participation in history. He culminated the early season with a top 8 finish atĀ OCIC.
Chuppa’s next results were a top 16 in Charlotte, a Day 2 finish atĀ EUIC, a top 32 inĀ HartfordĀ and a Day 2 finish inĀ Milwaukee. Chuppa found himself in top cut again as he finished top 8 inĀ Fresno, as a preface of a new top 8 finish atĀ NAIC, his second International top cut in the season.
3. 
Paul Chua
At 1280 CP, Paul is one of the most veteran players in the Worlds invitee list, with this being his tenth World Championships, and seventh in the Masters Division. He participated in 2012-14 as a Senior, and qualified for Masters Day 1 in 2016 and 2019; and Day 2 in 2015, 2017, 2018 and last year, 2022, where he finished in Top 4.
Paul’s season started with a top cut which got cut short, due to the old Regional structure, to a top 32 inĀ Orlando. Already with the new tournament structure, he got a new top 32 inĀ KnoxvilleĀ before making top cut again and reaching the semifinals in Charlotte.
He finished in top 16 ofĀ Fort WayneĀ before refining that team, which eventually carried him to his first International as he won this year’s EUIC.
After his major win, he got a 23rd place in theĀ Global Challenge IIIĀ and a top 16 inĀ Hartford, before finding himself in top cut for the fourth time this season: he reached the semifinals atĀ Milwaukee. A modest Day 2 finish at Top 64 in NAIC closed the season for Paul, who is looking forward to improving his stellar appearance in London 2022 into a win.
WatchĀ Paul’s final match at EUIC!
4. James Evans
At 1268 CP, James has qualified to his fifth Worlds, the third one in the Masters Division after qualifying for Day 1 in 2019 and Day 2 in last year’s event after winning NAIC. On his previous Seniors appearances, he won the entire event in Nashville, becoming the 2018 Senior World Champion.
James advanced to top cut and landed a top 8 in this season’s opener event in San Diego, and again finished in top 4 in Orlando. He followed this up with Day 2 participations in CharlotteĀ and inĀ Fort Wayne, and then scored his third top cut of the season and ended top 8 atĀ EUIC.
The season continued with more top cuts for him, finishing in top 8 in HartfordĀ and in second place inĀ Milwaukee. As the previous NAIC Champion, he fell short in the title defense after only finishing in the top 32 at this year’s NAIC, but that didn’t stop him from landing a comfortable Day 2 invite.
At 1235 CP, Gavin has qualified to Worlds for the eighth time in the Masters division. The former US National Champion earned a Day 1 invite in 2013-16, 2019 and 2022, the latter of which he did not attend, and a direct Day 2 invite in 2017. Both in 2015 and 2019, he made it through Day 1 and into Day 2 of the main event.
This season for Gavin started with a top 16 finish in San Diego. He then travelled to Australia and claimed the first Scarlet & Violet International after winning OCIC and becoming a new name in the Internationals Hall of Fame.
Gavin continued with his streak and ended top 8 in Vancouver, but unfortunately fell short of a good finish at EUIC. Afterwards, he played in PortlandĀ for a top 16 finish, and earned his fourth top cut of the season to end up in second place at Fresno. Gavin finished the season with a Day 2 finish atĀ NAIC, securing his Worlds Day 2 invite.
Watch Gavin’s win at OCIC!
6. Alberto Lara
At 1222 CP, Alberto has qualified to his sixth World Championships, as he already participated in Day 1 in 2015-17 and 2022, and directly into Day 2 in 2018. This will be his third Day 2 appearance, after qualifying through Day 1 in 2015, and 2018.
The American’s season started with a top 16 at Orlando, and he followed this up with a second place result at OCIC. The following events for him went as follows: top 16 in Knoxville, Day 2 finish inĀ Charlotte, top 16 inĀ Fort Wayne, and top 32 atĀ EUIC. In the latter part of the season, he made his third top cut of the season to reach top 8 inĀ Fresno, and finished a very solid season with yet another Day 2 finish at NAIC.
At 1202 CP, Zackary will be playing his second World Championships, his first Worlds as a Masters division player after participating in Seniors almost a decade ago in 2014.
Zackary started his season with an amazing 8-2 record in the Swiss rounds of the largest-ever live event, Orlando. However, due to the old structure of Regionals, it was not enough for a spot in the second day of play. After that, it was trip time to Australia, where Zackary earned a solid top 16 finish at OCIC.
He followed this up with top 8 finishes in Knoxville and Vancouver, but scored some modest top 32 finishes in PortlandĀ andĀ Milwaukee. However, the end of the season allowed him to secure a Day 2 spot as he finished in top 4 at Fresno, got his first major win at the Caguas Special Event, and barely missed top cut at NAIC, where he finished in top 16Ā again.
At 1110 CP and only 4 points above the ninth-place finisher, Raghav earned the last Day 2 spot for North America. This is the fourth World Championships for them, as they already participated in Day 1 in 2018-22. Last year, they survived Day 1 and made it into Day 2, meaning this will be their second Day 2 appearance.
Raghav is an expert in International Championships. Although they earned some points here and there, they never made it to Day 2 of Regionals during the season; the big performances came in the higher-tier tournaments. They made top cut and reached semifinals atĀ OCIC, made it to Day 2 atĀ EUIC, and improved it all by finishing second atĀ NAIC.
In the grassroots scene, Raghav has been part of Team India in the World CupĀ since 2021. In last year’s edition, they made it to a top 8 finish!
Day 1 players
North America has 100 representatives in Day 1 of Worlds, some of which are big names in the scene. These include:
- 2012 Senior World Champion Toler Webb
- 2013 Junior World Champion Brendan Zheng
- 2014 Worlds finalist Jeudy Azzarelli
- 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glick
- 2016 Senior World Champion and International Champion Carson Confer
- 2018 Worlds finalist Emilio Forbes
- 2-time International Champion Ashton Cox
- Former National Champion Jiseok Lee
- 2-time Regional Champion Justin Tang.
The following list comprises all other players with 300 or more CP in the US & Canada rating zone, and is based on the official Play! PokĆ©mon leaderboard, or who qualified through last year’s Worlds results.
- Ā James BaekĀ (2022 Worlds semifinalist)
- Ā Collin HeierĀ (1096 CP)
- Ā Nick NavarreĀ (1092 CP)
- Ā Wolfe GlickĀ (996 CP)
- Ā Sohaib MuftiĀ (980 CP)
- Ā Justin TangĀ (856 CP)
- Ā Luka TrejgutĀ (764 CP)
- Ā Luca PazĀ (748 CP)
- Ā Carson ConferĀ (732 CP)
- Ā Ashton CoxĀ (730 CP)
- Ā Justin CarrisĀ (668 CP)
- Ā Alexander D’AndreaĀ (652 CP)
- Ā Kyle LivinghouseĀ (650 CP)
- Ā Jeudy AzzarelliĀ (600 CP)
Ā Tang ShiliangĀ (530 CP)
Ā Neil PatelĀ (518 CP)- Ā Alex UnderhillĀ (502 CP)
- Ā Riley FacturaĀ (490 CP)
- Ā Len DeuelĀ (490 CP)
Ā Enrique GrimaldoĀ (482 CP)- Ā Emilio ForbesĀ (470 CP)
- Ā Alex ArandĀ (470 CP)
- Ā Ryan HaigĀ (464 CP)
- Ā Brandon TuchtenhagenĀ (464 CP)
Ā Stefan MottĀ (449 CP)- Ā Peng ChongjunĀ (440 CP)
- Ā Giovanni CischkeĀ (440 CP)
- Ā Ian McLaughlinĀ (436 CP)
- Ā Brady SmithĀ (432 CP)
- Ā Austin AcostaĀ (430 CP)
- Ā Leonard Craft IIIĀ (426 CP)
- Ā Si DaweiĀ (426 CP)
- Ā Dylan SalvaneraĀ (422 CP)
- Ā Grant LairdĀ (422 CP)
Ā Siddharth SinghalĀ (420 CP)
Ā Ezequiel CorderoĀ (406 CP)- Ā Jon HuĀ (406 CP)
- Ā Brian YoumĀ (400 CP)
- Ā Giovanni CostaĀ (400 CP)
- Ā Joshua LorcyĀ (400 CP)
- Ā Jeremy ParsonĀ (400 CP)
- Jered Hunn (400 CP)
- Ā Norah BowmanĀ (392 CP)
Ā Jonathan ZunigaĀ (390 CP)- Ā Wu YichunĀ (389 CP)
- Ā Matthew CecilĀ (386 CP)
- Ā Ding ZishuoĀ (385 CP)
Ā Aditya SubramanianĀ (385 CP)- Ā Toler WebbĀ (380 CP)
Ā Brian CollinsĀ (379 CP)- Ā Brendan ZhengĀ (378 CP)
- Ā Michael ZhangĀ (371 CP)
- Ā Anton GalkinĀ (370 CP)
- Ā Ben GrissmerĀ (370 CP)
- Ā Zee CostagliolaĀ (366 CP)
- Ā Thomas HaydenĀ (362 CP)
- Ā Andrew DingĀ (359 CP)
- Ā George TifvermanĀ (355 CP)
- Ā Yotam CohenĀ (354 CP)
- Ā Marco MartinezĀ (352 CP)
Ā Jiseok LeeĀ (350 CP)
Ā Yuki ZaninovichĀ (350 CP)- Ā Ian LeeĀ (350 CP)
- Ā Jourdan Bul-lalayaoĀ (345 CP)
- Ā Caelan BrownĀ (342 CP)
Ā Nathan OrtizĀ (342 CP)- Ā Justin BurnsĀ (340 CP)
- Ā Aaron ClemonsĀ (332 CP)
- Ā Kyle AyalaĀ (330 CP)
- Ā Olivia MoledzkiĀ (330 CP)
- Ā Kevin SwastekĀ (330 CP)
- Ā Aaron TraylorĀ (330 CP)
- Ā Cade BowlesĀ (330 CP)
Ā Jonathan QuiƱonesĀ (329 CP)- Ā Thomas DeRosaĀ (328 CP)
- Ā Jairo ContrerasĀ (328 CP)
- Ā Allan MartinezĀ (324 CP)
- Ā Bhushan ThumsiĀ (324 CP)
- Ā Abdullah MohayyuddinĀ (320 CP)
- Ā Scott IwafuchiĀ (320 CP)
- Ā Marcus DionĀ (320 CP)
- Ā Xiao HaotianĀ (320 CP)
- Ā Michael D’AngeloĀ (317 CP)
- Ā Patrick DoneganĀ (316 CP)
- Ā Chase TiedtkeĀ (316 CP)
- Ā Calvin NissonĀ (312 CP)
- Ā Ryan LosetoĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Aaron ZhengĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Stephen MeaĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Justin KnoxĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Gary QianĀ (310 CP)
- Ā River DavisĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Rajan BalĀ (310 CP)
- Ā Jimmy FriedleĀ (307 CP)
- Ā Austin ForcinitoĀ (307 CP)
- Ā Aaron BrokĀ (302 CP)
- Ā Lev WilleyĀ (301 CP)
- Ā Kimo NishimuraĀ (301 CP)
- Ā Rushil ThakkarĀ (300 CP)
- Ā Donald SmithĀ (300 CP)
Closing words
Congratulations to all North American players having qualified for the World Championships! As the region with most players, they are the favourites of many to take the title home, and will definitely look forward to earn a fifth World Championship for the region. We wish you all the best of luck!
If you’re not attending, you can follow their battles from home. Check all info about the PokĆ©mon World ChampionshipsĀ here!
