The WCQ logo
The North American Championship, officially referred to as WCQ North America, is an annual two-day tournament determining the North American Champion. It was introduced in 2011 and happens every year in the summer.
Only players who live within North America (i.e. Canada and the US) and have earned an invite at an official Konami event (like a Regional) are allowed to participate in the North American Championship.
Unlike in other TCG regions, the North American Championship fully replaced the US and Canadian Nationals that existed up until 2010. In the other regions, Nationals still exist beside the Continental Championship. Because of this, the WCQ North America is frequently referred to as "Nationals" by players, even though it technically is a Continental Championship.
For the first ever North American Championship in 2011, the Top 4 players (and no other North American players) received a World Championship invitation. The following year, this number was increased to six, making North America the region with the most slots at the World Championship.
In 2017, Konami made a significant change to the system by introducing World Qualifying Points (usually dubbed "Worlds Points"). These points can be earned throughout the competitive season by topping official Konami events (mostly OTS Championships, Regionals and YCSs). From now on, only the Top 4 players from the main tournament would qualify for the World Championship, while the remaining two invites were handed out via the "Worlds Points".
In 2017 and 2018, these invites were simply awarded to the North American players with the highest amount of points. In 2019, a new mini tournament called the World Qualifying Points Playoffs was introduced. The 16 players across North America who had earned the highest amount of points would compete for the remaining two invites. This system is used to this day.
In 2023, the tournament was unique as the playoffs in that year included the Top 16 players from the 2019-2020 and the 2022-2023 seasons (i.e. 32 total players), because there had been no World Championships in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was also the reason why 2022 was the only year where the top players from the North American Championship didn't get an invite to the World Championship.
Currently, only one player, namely Hansel Aguero, has managed to win the North American Championship more than once, being the 2011 and 2022 Champion.
Tournaments[]
2024[]
Date: 19 - 21 July 2024
Location: 
Austin, Texas, USA
Attendance: 2635
Ref: [1]
Champion: Aditya Dharap ("Fiendsmith Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
Runner-Up: Mike Thomas ("Fiendsmith Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
Third Place: Marshall Demorest ("Fiendsmith Yubel")
Fourth Place: Landon Oliver ("Fiendsmith Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
2023[]
Date: 7 - 9 July 2023
Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Attendance: 3003
Ref: [2]
Champion: Jeremy Mitchell ("Kashtira")
Runner-Up: Lars Bergquist ("Kashtira")
Third Place: Enzo Fiallos ("Kashtira")
Fourth Place: Gerardo Veralo ("Kashtira")
2022[]
Date: 16 - 17 July 2022
Location: Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 1840
Ref: [3]
Champion: Hansel Aguero ("Tenyi Swordsoul")
Runner-Up: 
Ryan Yu ("Sky Striker")
Semi-Finalist: Pascal Manigat ("Floowandereeze")
Semi-Finalist: Elijah Green ("Marincess")
2019[]
Date: 21 - 23 June 2019
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 2101
Ref: [4]
Champion : Koty Angeloff ("Danger! Crusadia Thunder Dragon Link")
Runner-Up : Raymond Dai ("Sky Striker")
Semi-Finalist : Wei Li ("Danger! Crusadia Thunder Dragon Link")
Semi-Finalist : Manav Dawar ("Sky Striker")
2018[]
Date: 30 June - 1 July 2018
Location: Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Attendance: 1793
Ref: [5]
Champion : Gabriel Vargas ("Gouki")
Runner-Up : Walter Jule ("Pendulum Magician")
Semi-Finalist : Isaiah Joseph ("Sky Striker Trickstar")
Semi-Finalist : Brian Rayos ("Sky Striker Mekk-Knight Trickstar")
2017[]
Date: 8 - 9 July 2017
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 2379
Ref: [6]
Champion : Chester Henson ("True Draco Zoodiac")
Runner-Up : Roland Fang ("Zoodiac")
Semi-Finalist : Kenny Nguyen ("Zoodiac")
Semi-Finalist : Richard Yam ("Zoodiac")
2016[]
Date: 9 - 10 July 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 2239
Ref: [7]
Champion : Erik Christensen ("Domain Monarch")
Runner-Up : Thomas Rowe ("Phantom Knights Burning Abyss")
Semi-Finalist : Admassu Williams ("Domain Monarch")
Semi-Finalist : Travis Smith ("Phantom Knights Burning Abyss")
2015[]
Date: 27 - 28 June 2015
Location: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Attendance: 2060
Ref: [8]
Champion : Noah Greene ("Burning Abyss")
Runner-Up : Chase Cunningham ("Burning Abyss")
Semi-Finalist : Miguel Soto ("Ritual Beast")
Semi-Finalist : Jacob Phinney ("Nekroz")
2014[]
Date: 12 - 13 July 2014
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Attendance: 1716
Ref: [9]
Champion : Korey McDuffie ("Hand Artifact Traptrix")
Runner-Up : Deon Akridge ("Hand Artifact Traptrix")
Semi-Finalist : Tej Trivedi ("Hand Artifact Traptrix")
Semi-Finalist : Jimmy Nguyen ("Artifact Traptrix")
2013[]
Date: 13 - 14 July 2013
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Attendance: 2012
Ref: [10]
Champion : Patrick Hoban (Dragon Ruler)
Runner-Up : David Keener ("Spellbook")
Semi-Finalist : Stephen Silverman
Semi-Finalist : Norberto Leon
2012[]
Date: 30 June - 1 July 2012
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Attendance: 1608
Ref: [11]
Champion : Tyler Tabman ("Wind-Up")
Runner-Up : Robert Lewis ("Wind-Up")
Semi-Finalist : Jarel Winston ("Chaos Dragon")
Semi-Finalist : Kevin Rubio ("Dino Rabbit")
2011[]
Date: 16 - 17 July 2011
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Attendance: 1839
Ref: [12]
Champion : Hansel Aguero ("T.G. Stun")
Runner-Up : Samuel Pedigo ("Tengu Plant")
Semi-Finalist : Jeff Walker
Semi-Finalist : Thomas Mak
References[]
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2024-north-america-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2023_north_ameriaca_world_championship_qualifier/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/na-ygoc-2022/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2019-north-america-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2018-north-america-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2017-north-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2016-north-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2015-north-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2014-north-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2013-north-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/2012/07/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2011-north-american-wcq/
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||