The World Championship Qualifier logo (2023)
The Master Duel World Championship Qualifiers (usually abreviated as WCQ) is an annual Master Duel tournament determining the majority of invites to the subsequent Master Duel World Championship. It was first held in 2023, as this was also the first year a World Championship for Master Duel had taken place. During this first year, the WCQ determined all participants to the World Championship. This was changed the following season, as Konami now also guaranteed an invite to the previous World Championship winners, as well as adding Worlds invites to the Duelist Cup reward system. The three Duelist Cup winners of the season would now also earn a direct qualification, additionally, a Season Points system was implemented (see below).
Tournament Structure[]
The WCQ follows the exact same tournament format as the Duelist Cup (explanation see there), the major difference being the existance of a regional ranking. In the Duelist Cups, only the #1 player worldwide receives a World Championship invite. In the WCQ, the top players from each region (officially referred to as areas) earn their invite to the World Championship. In 2023, the amount of invites per area were the following: 2 for North America, Europe/Middle East/Oceania/Africa and Japan as well as 1 for Latin America and Asia. In 2024, both Japan and Europe/Middle East/Oceania/Africa lost one invite.
These "team leaders" then go on to choose two other players as their teammates. The only requirements these teammates have to meet is being from the same region as the "team leader" and having reached DLv. Max in the first stage of the qualification event.
It's important to note that even though each region has its own ranking, the areas have no effect on matchmaking.
Unlike the Duel Links World Championship Qualifiers, which are only open for players who have achieved a certain ranking in one of the KC Cups, the Master Duel Qualifiers are open to everyone.
Season Points[]
Since the 2023-2024 season, players can also earn Season Points (SP) at the three Duelist Cups and the one WCQ. Three players from the same region have to combine their accumulated points, the two highest-ranking team formed for this receive World Championship invites.[1]
Players can form teams at any point during the competitive season. However, there is an incentive to choose teammates early as each existing team receives an additional 100 points during each Duelist Cup and WCQ.
Season Points can be earned by finishing within the Top 100 at the tournaments mentioned above. While higher ranking players obviously receive more points than lower ranking ones, the system is considerably more equal than the KC Cup Points in Duel Links, which are almost exclusively given out to Top 20 players. Currently, the amount of Season Points awarded per DC/WCQ is as follows:
| Rank | Season Points |
|---|---|
| 2nd | 2000 |
| 3 - 11th | 1500 - 1240 (Steps of 30 or 40) |
| 12 - 20th | 1000 - 840 (Steps of 20) |
| 21 - 30th | 800 |
| 31 - 40th | 700 |
| 41 - 50th | 600 |
| 51 - 60th | 500 |
| 61 - 70th | 400 |
| 71 - 80th | 300 |
| 81 - 90th | 200 |
| 91 - 100th | 100 |
Tournaments[]
2024[]
WCQ 2024[]
1st stage: 11 - 24 June 2024
2nd stage: 21 - 24 June 2024
Ref: [2]
| Area | Name | Rank (Area) | Rank (Global) | Mostly used deck(s) | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (Area A) |
 Tasuku Kobanawa"たすく" (Already qualified) |
1 | 1 | "Sinful Spoils Rescue-ACE" | 70,184 |
| World Championship invite passed down to: Shoei Miura "stellar"
|
2 | 2 | "Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye Fire King" | 68,572 | |
| Asia (Area B) | "梦小恒" * | 1 | 10 | "Tearlaments" | 66,161 |
| North America (Area C) |  Josh Kippenberg"joshkip" |
1 | 20 | "Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye" | 59,584 |
| Denis Nadas "Fetty"
|
2 | 43 | ? | 52,520 | |
| Latin America (Area D) |  Matheus Braz "mateusbra"
|
1 | 26 | "Purrely" "Sinful Spoils Rescue-ACE" |
56,230 |
| Europe/Middle East/Oceania/Africa (Area E) |  Eric Töpel "Eric"
|
1 | 5 | ? | 66,691 |
* Note: There is some evidence to suggest that the player who made first place in the Asia region ("梦小恒") and the player who ultimately attended the World Championship in Seattle (Xiaochi Ma "夏兜SeanMa") were not actually the same person.[3] This would imply that the World Championship invitation was passed on to another player for unknown reasons. Konami never publicly commented on the matter. Since there is some level of uncertainty, this page only lists the basic level information that is confirmed: A player by the nickname "梦小恒" made first place in the Asia region.
Season Points Top Teams 2024[]
| SP Team Rank | Name | Rank DC 2023 OCT |
Rank DC 2023 DEC |
Rank DC 2024 MAR |
Rank WCQ 2024 |
SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tomoyuki Ishiko "ぼーぎん"
|
6 | 10 | 26 | 33 | 11,840 |
| Keiji Ohzawa "K G"
|
10 | 25 | 27 | 372 | ||
| Tetsuo Ono "酔象角"
|
5 | 12 | 14 | 9 | ||
| 2 |  Minsung Kim "Cer.Sana"
|
973 | 23 | 9 | 62 | 8,330 |
 Chieh Huang "RJay@Youtube"
|
159 | 2 | 10 | 14 | ||
| Sungil Cheon "tiras"
|
372 | 36 | 51 | 67 |
2023[]
1st stage: 15 - 29 May 2023
2nd stage: 26 - 29 May 2023
Ref: [4]
| Area | Name | Rank (Area) | Rank (Global) | Mostly used deck(s) | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (Area A) |
Tasuku Kobanawa "たすく" |
1 | 1 | "Branded Ishizu Tearlaments" "Melffy Spright" |
72,827 |
| Tomoyuki Ishiko "ぼーぎん" |
2 | 2 | "Ishizu Tearlaments" | 67,616 | |
| Asia (Area B) | Byungjin Ko "Gimlet" |
1 | 3 | "Ishizu Tearlaments" "Melffy Spright" "Exosister" |
60,557 |
| North America (Area C) | Andong Cheng "Teiantou" |
1 | 17 | ? | 53,016 |
| Raymond Dai "Raye" |
2 | 26 | "Exosister" | 50,420 | |
| Latin America (Area D) | Pedro Gontow "JUD£UYGO" |
1 | 14 | "Ishizu Tearlaments" "Floowandereeze" "Runick Naturia" |
57,657 |
| Europe/Middle East/Oceania/Africa (Area E) |  Kostas Kostop"Isk" |
1 | 12 | "Ishizu Tearlaments" "Melffy Spright" |
58,729 |
| Joshua Schmidt "Josh" |
2 | 13 | "Ishizu Tearlaments" "Melffy Spright" |
57,872 |
References[]
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