Competitors will be able to use Rental Teams during the upcoming Pokémon Players Cup IV Region Qualifiers, which begins on June 19. This marks the first time players can use Rental Teams in an official Pokémon VGC competition.
Rental Teams were introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield, allowing players to compete online with teams made by other players. This enables more casual players to compete in the VGC format without going through the hassle of finding and training their own Pokémon.
Now, players who advanced through the initial qualification phase in April can use Rental Teams during the Pokémon Players Cup IV Region Qualifiers. However, players may not use Rental Teams at the Global Finals later this summer.
Rental teams can be used for Player Cup IV! pic.twitter.com/OqEfwAWbuJ
— DL 🇺🇦 (@dan_vgc) June 7, 2021
More about Rental Teams at the Pokémon Players Cup IV
As per usual, players using Rental Teams during the Pokémon Players Cup IV Region Qualifiers cannot change their team once they have locked it in. Likewise, they are responsible for filling out the team list with their Rental Pokémon in accordance with the open team sheet format.
Players who opt to use Rental Teams are responsible for ensuring their team is legal for tournament play. Thus, they must make sure their team does not include a Restricted Legendary or any other Pokémon that is not eligible for competition in the VGC Series 9 format.
The addition of Rental Teams is not the first change this Players Cup has introduced. The Region Qualifiers will also feature the Swiss format which saw constant use at in-person VGC tournaments. Previously, the Players Cups strictly used double-elimination brackets after the initial qualification phase.
The top 16 players from each Region Qualifier will advance to their respective Region Final on July 3. Seeding for the Region Finals’ double-elimination brackets will depend on the results of the previous Swiss phase. The top four from each Regional Final will then advance to the Global Finals on July 17.
