2008 World Championships (TCG)

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The 2008 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships were held at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista hotel in Orlando, Florida in the United States from August 15 to 17, 2008. They were the fifth World Championships event hosted by Play! Pokémon. In addition, this year featured the Pokémon Video Game Showdown 2008, which would evolve into the annual Video Game World Championships starting in 2009.

The event used the EX Holon Phantoms onwards Modified Format. The second day of the tournament featured seven rounds of Swiss Pairings for all three divisions. The top 32 players in each division were then seeded into single-elimination tournaments on Sunday to determine each division’s World Champion.

Single-elimination brackets

Junior Division

Jun Hasebe, of Japan, was the defending Junior Division World Champion. Jun finished in sixth place, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual runner up (and future World Champion) Takuto Itagaki.

Tristan Robinson, of the United States, claimed victory with a 10-2 record, defeating Takuto in the final.

Round of 16					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Championship Match
1	Joey Gaffney
17	Tristan Robinson				17	Tristan Robinson
9	Jacob Tamm				9	Jacob Tamm
8	Emily Chan									17	Tristan Robinson
5	Sean Goh									29	Simone Zucchelli
21	Joshua Simon				5	Sean Goh
13	Olliver Barr				29	Simone Zucchelli
29	Simone Zucchelli														17	Tristan Robinson
3	Takuto Itagaki														3	Takuto Itagaki
14	Andrew Lin Sun Choong				3	Takuto Itagaki
11	Ty Wheeler				6	Jun Hasebe
6	Jun Hasebe									3	Takuto Itagaki
26	Heikki Kettunen									31	Noah Lawson
10	Kazuho Mizuta				10	Kazuho Mizuta
18	Olivier Marcant				31	Noah Lawson
31	Noah Lawson

Senior Division

Jeremy Scharff-Kim, of the United States, was the defending Senior Division World Champion, but chose to withdraw from the tournament after completing five rounds.

Dylan Lefavour, of the United States, posted a 9-3 record to win the tournament, along the way defeating 2005 Junior Division champion Curran Hill in the semifinals.

Round of 16					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Championship Match
1	Aziz Al-Yami
17	Malik Hisyam Bin Zaihan				1	Aziz Al-Yami
24	Keegan Cox				8	Paul Atanassov
8	Paul Atanassov									8	Paul Atanassov
5	Jonathan Bristow									29	Nicholas Kolibas
12	Garrett Farrington				12	Garrett Farrington
13	Justin Bokhari				29	Nicholas Kolibas
29	Nicholas Kolibas														8	Paul Atanassov
30	Dylan Lefavour														30	Dylan Lefavour
19	Takashi Yoneda				30	Dylan Lefavour
22	Tord Reklev				6	Andy Meier
6	Andy Meier									30	Dylan Lefavour
7	Dylan Bryan									2	Curran Hill
23	Tim Hornung				7	Dylan Bryan
18	Christian Miller				2	Curran Hill
2	Curran Hill

Masters Division

Tom Roos, of Finland, was the defending Masters Division World Champion, and finished 35th in Swiss Rounds.

Jason Klaczynski made history by winning his second World Championship with a record of 10-2. Jason is the only person to have achieved such a feat in the TCG (Ray Rizzo would win three Video Game (Senior/)Masters titles from 2010-2012). His path to victory included the defeats of the top two players from the 2008 U.S. National Championships.

Round of 16					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Championship Match
32	Esa Juntunen
16	Agustin Pugliese				32	Esa Juntunen
24	Kyle Sabelhaus				25	Jimmy O'Brien
25	Jimmy O'Brien									25	Jimmy O'Brien
5	Sami Sekkoum									20	Khanh Le
12	Frank Diaz				12	Frank Diaz
20	Khanh Le				20	Khanh Le
29	Morten Gundesen														20	Khanh Le
30	John Silvestro														19	Jason Klaczynski
19	Jason Klaczynski				19	Jason Klaczynski
22	Tom Dolezal				6	Yacine Sekkoum
6	Yacine Sekkoum									19	Jason Klaczynski
7	Takae Suzuki									15	Gino Lombardi
23	David Atanassov				7	Takae Suzuki
15	Gino Lombardi				15	Gino Lombardi
2	Matthew Koo

Invitation structure

	Junior	Senior	Masters
2007 World Champions	4	4	4
National Championships	Juniors	Seniors	Masters
Argentina	2	2	2
Australia	2	2	2
Austria	2	2	2
Belgium/Luxembourg	2	2	2
Canada	4	4	4
Chile	2	2	2
Czech Republic	2	2	2
Denmark	3	3	3
Finland	3	3	3
France	4	4	4
Germany	4	4	4
Italy	4	4	4
Japan	5	5	5
Malaysia	2	2	2
Malta	2	2	2
Mexico	4	4	4
Netherlands	4	4	4
New Zealand	2	2	2
Norway	4	4	4
Philippines	2	2	2
Portugal	2	2	2
Singapore	2	2	2
Slovenia	2	2	2
Spain	2	2	2
South Africa	2	2	2
Sweden	2	2	2
Switzerland	2	2	2
United Kingdom	4	4	4
United States	8	8	8
Premier Ratings	Juniors	Seniors	Masters
Ratings APAC Zone	4	4	4
Ratings LA Zone	2	2	2
Ratings NA Zone	25	25	25
Ratings EU Zone	20	20	20
Last Chance Qualifier	Juniors	Seniors	Masters
Guaranteed Invites	25	22	12

Previously, there were four guaranteed invites per division in the Last Chance Qualifiers: however, due to unprecedented numbers of players, Pokémon Organized Play announced an additional 47 invites into the World Championships. Similarly, it was announced at the United Kingdom Nationals that fourth place in each division would, in addition to the top three finishing players, receive an invitation to the championships.

There were, in total, 435 invites announced (also known as Travel Awards) for the 2008 World Championships; 145 in each division. Of these, Pokémon Organized Play sponsored and paid for 41 Travel Awards, including the top four finishers in last year's World Championships. After the announcement of various additional invitations, there were at least 485 invitations available for the World Championships.

Event Pokémon

Pokémon Info				Trainer Memo	Battle Moves		Ribbons
LUCARIO	♂	Dex No.	0448	Adamant nature.	Fighting	Force Palm
Lv. 30		Type			Ground	Bone Rush
		Fighting	Steel	Pokémon Event	Fire	Sunny Day
		OT	WORLD08	Apparently had a	Fire	Blaze Kick
		ID No.	08178	fateful encounter at	This Pokémon was available in the United States on August 17, 2008.
Item		Ability		Lv. 30.
Leftovers		Inner Focus
The date this Pokémon was received is determined by the date on the DS when it was obtained from the Poké Mart.
This Pokémon is English in origin.
Can be obtained with: D P Pt HG SS
Obtained from: PBR Ranch Ra SoA GS Distribution

External links

• Official website

Pokémon World Championships Pokémon Trading Card Game only 2004-2008; TCG and Video Games 2009-on 2004: Blaziken Tech • Magma Spirit • Rocky Beach • Team Rushdown 2005: Bright Aura • Dark Tyranitar • King of the West • Queendom 2006: B-L-S • Eeveelutions • Mewtrick • Suns & Moons 2007: Flyvees • Legendary Ascent • Rambolt • Swift Empoleon 2008: Bliss Control • Empotech • Intimidation • Psychic Lock 2009: Stallgon • Crowned Tiger • Queengar • Luxdrill 2010: LuxChomp of the Spirit • Happy Luck • Power Cottonweed • Boltevoir 2011: Megazone • Reshiphlosion • The Truth • Twinboar 2012: Pesadelo Prism • Terraki-Mewtwo • Eeltwo • CMT 2013: Anguille Sous Roche • American Gothic • Darkrai • Ultimate Team Plasma 2014: Plasma Power • Trevgor • Emerald King • Crazy Punch 2015: The Flying Hammer • Punches 'n' Bites • HonorStoise • Primal Groudon 2016: Black Dragon • Bebe Deck • Magical Symphony • Ninja Blitz 2017: Infinite Force • Golisodor • Ice Path FTW • Samurai Sniper 2018: Victory Map • Dragones y Sombras • Garbanette • Buzzroc 2019: Pikarom Judge • Fire Box • Mind Blown • Perfection 2022: ADP • The Shape of Mew • Cheryl Again • Ice Rider Palkia 2023: Mew's Revenge • Psychic Elegance • Colorless Lugia • Lost Box Kyogre 2024: Champions Jason Klaczynski • Jun Hasebe • Ray Rizzo

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.