| Event | 2026 San Juan Special Championships |
|---|---|
| Location |  San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Date | 7–8 March 2026 |
| Attendance | 99 MA + 6 SR + 5 JR |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2026 Season – VGC Regulation Set F |
| Format | 7+2 Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | DMK Esports |
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 | 7-2 |  | Ben Grissmer (chef) | 2026 Worlds 350 CP |       |  | |
| 2 | 7-2 |  | Francisco Alca (Falcon) | 325 CP |       | | |
| 3 | 8-1 | | Rohan Muthukumar (Rohan) | 300 CP |    | | |
| 4 | 7-2 |  | Juan Moisés Pérez (Rickinch) | 300 CP | | | |
| 5 | 8-1 |  | Yuki Zaninovich (Yuki) | 280 CP |      | | |
| 6 | 7-2 | | Sean Binek (Sean) | 280 CP |     | | |
| 7 | 7-2 |  | Esteban Molina (MolinaVGC) | 280 CP |   | | |
| 8 | 7-2 | | Chandler Brtek (CJ) | 280 CP |  | | |
| 9 | 7-2 | | Benji Carney (Carneyasadaa) | 200 CP |    | |
Phase 2 Swiss rounds
Check here to see the seeds for top cut from the Phase 2 Swiss standings!
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 6-3 | | Aidan Soto (AidanZ) | 200 CP |  | | |
| 11 | 6-3 |  | Wu Yichun (威廉) | 200 CP |   | | |
| 12 | 6-3 | | David Rodríguez (davidness) | 200 CP | | | |
| 13 | 6-3 | | Ashton Cox (Ash) | 200 CP | | | |
| 14 | 6-3 | | Alexavier Alvarez (Areku) | 200 CP | | | |
| 15 | 6-3 | | Jacob Mortenson (Skraw) | 200 CP |  | | |
| 16 | 6-3 | | Jose Rivera (Zack) | 200 CP |  | | |
| 17 | 6-3 | | Vijay Sood (V) | 160 CP |     | | |
| 18 | 6-3 | | Zachary Mnich (XZacLee) | 160 CP | | | |
| 19 | 6-3 | | Kevin Betancourt (Kevinsito) | 160 CP |     | | |
| 20 | 5-4 | | Zach Holowiak (Zach) | 160 CP | | | |
| 21 | 5-4 | | Pedro Perez (PJ) | 160 CP | | | |
| 22 | 5-4 | | Austin Le (Lepotatochip) | 160 CP |   | | |
| 23 | 5-4 |  | Matt Bruno (Bruneaux) | 160 CP |  | |
Phase 1 Swiss rounds
All players with 2 or fewer losses advance to Phase 2!
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 4-3 | | Brett Clark (Brett) | 160 CP | | | |
| 25 | 4-3 | | Jaiden Hart (Squash) | 160 CP |  | | |
| 26 | 4-3 | | Ryan Weber (Ryan) | 160 CP |    | | |
| 27 | 4-3 | | Richard Mogollon (ChefRich!) | 160 CP | | | |
| 28 | 4-3 | | Noah Gardner (MemesNDreams) | 160 CP | | | |
| 29 | 4-3 | | Kenneth Tirado (Kenepa) | 160 CP |  | | |
| 30 | 4-3 | | Hiram Camacho (Yamiru) | 160 CP | | | |
| 31 | 4-3 | | Luis Medina (Edras) | 160 CP | | | |
| 32 | 4-3 | | Shane Oldham (El Shane) | 160 CP |       | |
Teams and results - Seniors & Juniors
Senior Top 2
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3-0 | | Joaquin R. | 2026 Worlds 350 CP | | | |
| 2 | 2-1 | | Diego R. | 325 CP | | |
Junior Top 2
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3-0 | | Diego C. | 2026 Worlds 350 CP | | | |
| 2 | 1-2 | | Kennedy N. | 325 CP | | |
Streaming
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Sofia Zayas   |
vs | Raquel Perez |
| R2 | Austin Le |
vs | Luis Daniel Rosa |
| R3 | Alexavier Alvarez |
vs | Wu Yichun |
| R4 | Hiram Camacho |
vs | Jacob Mortenson |
| R5 | Francisco Alca |
vs | Ashton Cox |
| R6 | Esteban Molina |
vs | Miguel Gonzalez    |
| R7 | Kevin Miller |
vs | David Rodríguez |
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| R8 | Kevin Betancourt |
vs | Yuki Zaninovich |
| R9 | Jose Rivera |
vs | Rohan Muthukumar |
| Top 16 | Chandler Brtek |
vs | Benji Carney |
| Top 8 | Juan Moisés Pérez |
vs | Yuki Zaninovich |
| Top 4 | Rohan Muthukumar |
vs | Ben Grissmer |
| Top 4 | Francisco Alca |
vs | Juan Moisés Pérez |
| Finals | Francisco Alca |
vs | Ben Grissmer |
Day 1
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held in the following location:
Plaza Las Américas
525 Avenida F.D. Roosevelt
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918
Badges can be picked up in advance on Friday 6 March from 3 pm to 7 pm AST, or early on Saturday from 7:15 am AST.
Players must be in the venue by 7 March at 11 am AST (15:00 UTC) for the players meeting. The tournament starts with the Swiss rounds at 12 pm AST (16:00 UTC).
Players still on the run in Day 2 must be in the venue by 8 March at 11 am AST (14:00 UTC) for the team checks. The next Swiss rounds and the Top Cut will be played thereafter.
Prizes
This event is part of the 2026 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 and could receive a number of Pokémon TCG booster packs depending on final attendance. In this Special Championships, the organizer can add some other prizes of their own.
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | Invite to the 2026 World Championships 350 CP |
0 |
| Finalist | 325 CP | 4 |
| Semifinalists | 300 CP | 8 |
| 5th to 8th | 280 CP | 17 |
| 9th to 16th | 200 CP | 33 |
| 17th to 32nd | 160 CP | 65 |
| 33rd to 64th | 120 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 |
Overview
The San Juan Special Championships is an official TPCi Regional-level event for Pokémon VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. It is the first and only Special Championships, and the sixth Regional-level event of the 2026 season in the North American circuit.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set F, and it is played using open team lists.
A little bit of history
Puerto Rico has been part of the North America region of the official TPCi circuit for many years, as per its status as a territory of the United States. It has hosted multiple Special Championships throughout the years. Puerto Rico’s greatest VGC success is the second place achieved by Quentin Colón at the 2019 North America International Championships in the Seniors Division.
The most recent tournament held in Puerto Rico was the 2025 San Juan SC, played with the VGC Regulation Set G in February 2025. The finals saw American player Hunter Braum defeat fellow American Eric Bush to win his first major title!
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through the Play LATAM platform, and you will first need to set up your Play LATAM profile and have a Play! Pokémon Player ID.
Sign-ups are $55 for Masters players and $45 for Senior and Junior players, and they open on 26 December at 12 pm AST (16:00 UTC). There are 132 spots for Masters players, 8 for Senior players and 8 for Junior players.
If the player cap is not reached, sign-ups close 5 days before the event starts, on 2 March.
For registered players, team lists must be submitted 5 hours before the event starts, by 7 March at 5 am AST (09:00 UTC).
Spectator passes are free and can be acquired here.
