| Event | 2025 Johannesburg Special Championships |
|---|---|
| Location |  Johannesburg, GP, South Africa |
| Date | 27 April 2025 |
| Attendance | 9 players (MA) |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2025 Season – VGC Regulation Set G |
| Format | 4 Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Unplug Yourself |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Top cut
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-2* | | Jiven Reddy | 2025 Worlds 350 CP |       |  | |
| 2 | 4-0 |  | Alessio Ferrara | 325 CP |       | | |
| 3 | 3-1 |  | Patrick Cheng | 300 CP |      | |
Swiss rounds
Check here to see the seeds for top cut from the Swiss standings!
* This tournament was played using mixed age divisions. A Senior player was also 3-1, thus the 3rd placed Masters player was qualified for the asymmetrical top 2 even though their record was 2-2.
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2-2 | | Wian Wessels | 300 CP |       | | |
| 5 | 2-2 | | Elize Beets | – |  | ||
| 6 | 2-2 | | Mihir Ramsunder | – |      | ||
| 7 | 2-2 | | Ben Didcott | – |     | ||
| 8 | 1-3 | | Nico Beets | – |  |
Streaming
This tournament is unfortunately not streamed.
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held in the following location:
A.I. Fest
87 True N Rd, Mulbarton
Johannesburg South, 2059, South Africa
Check-in can be done early on Sunday 27 April from 08:30 SAST.
Players must be in the venue by 27 April at 10:00 SAST (08:00 UTC) for the players meeting. The tournament starts with the Swiss rounds, and the top cut will be played thereafter on the same day.
Prizes
This event is part of the 2025 official TPCi circuit and thus it rewards Championship Points (CPs).
Check out the organizer’s website for information about participation goodies.
Additionally, the best-placed players will receive the following CPs depending on final attendance:
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | Invite to the 2025 World Championships 350 CP | 0 |
| Finalist | 325 CP | 4 |
| Semifinalists | 300 CP | 8 |
| 5th to 8th | 280 CP | 17 |
| 9th to 16th | 160 CP | 33 |
| 17th to 32nd | 125 CP | 65 |
| 33rd to 64th | 100 CP | 129 |
| 65th to 128th | 80 CP | 257 |
| 129th to 256th | 60 CP | 513 |
| 257th to 512th | 40 CP | 1025 |
| 513th to 1024th | 20 CP | 2049 |
| Players per age division | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement | <33 | 33-64 | 65-128 | 129-256 | 257-512 | 513-1024 | 1025-2048 | 2049+ |
| Champion | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Finalist | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Semifinalists | 36 | 72 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 5th to 8th | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 9th to 16th | 9 | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 108 |
| 17th to 32nd | 18 | 18 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | ||
| 33rd to 64th | 9 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | |||
| 65th to 128th | 18 | 18 | 36 | 36 | ||||
| 129th to 256th | 9 | 18 | 18 | |||||
| 257th to 512th | 9 | |||||||
Overview
The Johannesburg Special Championships is an official TPCi Regional-level event for Pokémon VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. It is the first Special Championship of the 2025 season in the Middle East & South Africa circuit.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set G, and it is played using open team lists. It is the first major event in the Middle East & South Africa region to0 feature Nintendo Switch games!
A little bit of history
South Africa has been part of the Middle East & South Africa region of the official TPCi circuit for many years. It has hosted multiple major events, including Special Events, Regionals and old-era National Championships. South Africa’s greatest VGC successes are the National Championship titles won by Gavin Jones in 2014, Johannes Botma in 2015 and Dale Schwikkard in 2018.
The most recent tournament held in South Africa was the 2019 Johannesburg Special Event, played in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon with the VGC19 Ultra Series ruleset in May 2019. The finals saw 2016 South Africa National semifinalist Marc Kramer win his first major event!
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through the Quicket platform, and you will first need to have a Play! Pokémon Player ID.
Sign-ups are R150 (+ R15.95 tax), and they are open since the announcement of the tournament. There are 100 spots for all age divisions.
Once a ticket has been purchased, you need to email info@unplugyourself.co.za to obtain a unique event code in order to complete registration.
