You can now participate in the first worldwide PvP tournament in Pokémon GO. The community-organized Boulder Cup is open for everyone. We will show you how to participate.
After the trainer battles were released, thousands of players have already battled each other. But only on a regional level. How about a worldwide tournament where you face your community and even have a chance at a grand final battle?
The Boulder Cup promises just that. It is a huge, community-organized PvP tournament that lets every player participate. We’ll share how this tournament works and how you can join.
How the Boulder Cup works
What is the Boulder Cup: This PvP tournament is hosted by TheSilphRoad. On the tournament website, you can register yourself and your community for whom you will compete.
The Boulder Cup is a tournament that runs for about a month, until January 31st. This tournament is just the beginning of a series that will take place monthly from now on. Each tournament will feature different rules and present new challenges. All tournaments will take place in the so-called “Silph League.”.
How to register for the tournament: There is a dedicated website for the tournament. There you can register your community or sign up for one of the existing communities.
Each trainer specifies the Pokémon they want to battle with during their registration. They can select from a pool of six Pokémon.
How the Boulder Cup works: Every community that wants to host a tournament registers it on the list on the website. The tournament then takes place at a set location and time. There, players meet in real life, and the tournament can begin. A battle against hyper-friends from a distance violates the rules.
The website will automatically assign you an opponent to compete against. You can then see their six Pokémon they selected and choose from your six Pokémon. After the match, you will then enter the result into the list, and TheSilphRoad will automatically create a leaderboard from that.
The winners of the matches will continue to compete against each other until only one winner remains. This person has won the tournament and qualifies for further tournaments taking place nearby.
What you can win: There isn’t a significant prize for the tournaments. However, the regional champions are invited to major events like the Go Fest or a Safari Zone. There, they will compete for the World Championships and fight for fame and glory.
These are the rules of the Boulder Cup: As mentioned earlier, each tournament has specific rules. The rules for the Boulder Cup are as follows:
- Steel, Ground, Fighting, and Rock-type Pokémon are allowed
- Fighting takes place in the Great League, so only with Pokémon up to 1500 CP
- Whoever wins more matches in three rounds qualifies for the next round
For those looking for more detailed tournament rules, you can find them in the League rulebook.
The YouTuber “TrainerTips” has already participated in one of the tournaments and provides insights into this system:
Not an official tournament: To clarify: This is not an official tournament by Niantic but was initiated by TheSilphRoad. It relies on the trust of players, and fun is at the forefront.
Are you still struggling with trainer battles? We give you 10 tips on how to improve in PvP:
The images are partly from the official website of TheSilphRoad
