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The WCQ logo
The South American Championship, officially referred to as WCQ South America since 2010, is an annual two-day tournament determining the South American Champion. It was introduced in 2005 and was the first ever Continental Championship.
Originally, the tournament covered the entirety of Latin America except for Mexico. At the time, the tournament was also referred to as the Latin American Championship or simply Continental Championship.
This changed in 2010, when the Central American Championship was created. From then on, Central American countries such as Costa Rica and Panama were 'moved' from the South American to the Central American Championship.
The tournament happens every year in the summer, after all South American National Championships have taken place. Only players who live within South America and have earned an invite at an official Konami event (like a Regional) are allowed to participate in the South American Championship.
Historically, only the winner of this tournament (and no other South American player) would get to participate in 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).
In 2017, the player with the highest amount of "Worlds Points" from Latin America qualified for the World Championship. In 2018, this number was increased to two. Notably, Central and South America were combined for this ranking, despite having separate WCQ tournaments.
In 2019, a new mini tournament called the World Qualifying Points Playoffs was introduced. The 16 players across South America who had earned the highest amount of points would compete for the remaining invite, a system used to this day. Notably, unlike in Europe or North America, the South American playoffs have a set amount of slots per country/subregion. Presumably, this was done in an effort to give player from smaller countries with fewer and smaller tournaments a fighting chance. As of the 2023-2024 season, the amount of invites are the following:
| Country / Region | Invites to the WQPP |
|---|---|
| Argentina | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 |
| Chile | 2 |
| Colombia | 2 |
| Ecuador | 2 |
| Peru | 2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 2 |
| Bolivia / Venezuela / Paraguay / Uruguay | 2 |
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 South American Championship didn't get an invite to the World Championship.
Tournaments[]
2024[]
Date: 28 - 30 June 2024
Location: 
Lima, Peru
Attendance: 524
Ref:
Champion: Juan Carlos La Torre ("Ice Barrier Melffy Spright")
Runner-Up: 
Francisco Osorio ("Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
Semi-Finalist: 
Sanjay Manoo ("Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
Semi-Finalist: Jesus Nava ("Sinful Spoils Snake-Eye")
2023[]
Date: 23 - 25 June 2023
Location: 
Quito, Ecuador
Attendance: 439
Ref: [1]
Champion: 
Santiago Marin ("Kashtira")
Runner-Up: Andree Chavez ("Floowandereeze")
Semi-Finalist: Pablo Dominguez ("Kashtira")
Semi-Finalist: Marco Lopez ("Kashtira")
2022[]
Date: 25 - 26 June 2022
Location: Santiago, Chile
Attendance: 360
Ref: [2]
Champion: Hernan Bravo ("Branded Eldlich")
Runner-Up: Diego Venegas ("Adventurer P.U.N.K.")
Semi-Finalist: 
Matias Lopez Acevedo ("Tenyi Swordsoul")
Semi-Finalist: Gabriele Villanueva ("Floowandereeze")
2019[]
Date: 14 - 16 June 2019
Location: Santiago, Chile
Attendance: 402
Ref: [3]
Champion: Nicolas Vera ("Salamangreat")
Runner-Up: Nicolas Godoy ("Orcust")
Semi-Finalist: Arnold Nadaban (?)
Semi-Finalist: 
Leonardo Martins ("Salamangreat")
2018[]
Date: 30 June - 1 July 2018
Location: Lima, Peru
Attendance: ~300
Ref: [4]
Champion: Jefferson Salas ("Pendulum Magician")
Runner-Up: Diego Venegas ("Sky Striker Trickstar")
Third Place: 
Gonzalo Orihuela ("Sky Striker Trickstar")
Fourth Place: Alejandro Loayza ("Sky Striker Trickstar")
2017[]
Date: 1 - 2 July 2017
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Attendance: 278
Ref: [5]
Champion: Rafael Jose ("Zoodiac")
Runner-Up: 
Kanaan Asfour ("Zoodiac")
Semi-Finalist: Renato de Aguiar ("Zoodiac")
Semi-Finalist: Santino Delgado ("True Draco Zoodiac")
2016[]
Date: 18 - 19 June 2016
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Attendance: 291
Ref: [6]
Champion: Joaquin Rinaldi ("Dracoslayer Performapal")
Runner-Up: Carlos Lopez Rangel ("Fire King Kozmo")
Semi-Finalist: Jhonatan Galarza ("Performapal")
Semi-Finalist: Johnny Quintana ("Majespecter Pendulum Magician")
2015[]
Date: 4 - 5 July 2015
Location: Lima, Peru
Attendance: 276
Ref: [7]
Champion: Gerardo Delgado ("Nekroz")
Runner-Up: Andres Torres ("Burning Abyss")
Semi-Finalist: Hubert Calachua ("Burning Abyss")
Semi-Finalist: Cristian Thomas ("Nekroz")
2014[]
Date: 28 - 29 June 2014
Location: Santiago, Chile
Attendance: 252
Ref: [8]
Champion: Rogger Vera ("Machina Gadget")
Runner-Up: Alex Diaz ("Bujin")
Third Place: Luis Cossio ("Anti-Meta")
Fourth Place: Arnold Nadaban ("Hand Artifact Traptrix")
2013[]
Date: 29 - 30 June 2013
Location: Guayaquil, Ecuador
Attendance: ?
Ref: [9]
Champion: Carlos Perez ("Dragon Ruler")
Runner-Up: Omar Ramirez ("Spellbook")
Third Place: Jonathan Ruiz ("Dragon Ruler")
Fourth Place: Carlos Carrasco ("Dragon Ruler")
2012[]
Date: 23 - 24 June 2012
Location: Bogota, Colombia
Attendance: ?
Ref: [10]
Champion: Jonathan Oviedo ("Wind-Up")
Runner-Up: Jhon Duran ("Chaos Dragon")
Third Place: Carlos Perez ("Chaos Dragon")
Fourth Place: Martin Yerovi ("Wind-Up")
2011[]
Date: 2 - 3 July 2011
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Attendance: ?
Ref: [11]
Champion: Juan Ubilla ("Machina Gadget")
Runner-Up/Semi-Finalist: Fabian Benavides ("Tengu Plant")
Runner-Up/Semi-Finalist: Patric Negreiros ("Gladiator Beast")
Semi-Finalist: Franco Jimenez ("Tengu Plant")
2010[]
Date: ?
Location: Lima, Peru
Attendance: ?
Ref: [12]
Champion: Juan Pablo Vera ("Frog FTK")
Runner-Up: Walter Farfan ("X-Saber")
Semi-Finalist: Santos Tenorio ("Lightsworn")
Semi-Finalist: Wilson Tafur ("Infernity")
2009[]
Date: ?
Location: Chile
Attendance: ?
Ref: [13]
Champion: Esteban Almeida ("Cat Synchro")
Runner-Up: Guido Cunarro ("DARK Synchro")
Semi-Finalist: 
Orlando Ramirez ("Blackwing")
Semi-Finalist: Sebastian Mora ("Cat Synchro")
2008[]
Date: ?
Location: Chile
Attendance: ?
Ref: [14]
Champion: Santiago Vera ("Gladiator Beast")
Runner-Up: Felipe Luque
Semi-Finalist: 
Guillermo Fernandez
Semi-Finalist: Eric Jugo
2007[]
Date: ?
Location: Chile
Attendance: ?
Ref: [15]
Champion: Andres Toro ("Monarch")
Runner-Up: Eric Jugo ("Destiny Beatdown")
Semi-Finalist: Ezequiel Sosa ("Monarch")
Semi-Finalist: Paulo Goncalves ("Perfect Circle")
2006[]
Date: ?
Location: Chile
Attendance: ?
Ref: ?
Champion: Javier Pinilla ("Monarch")
Runner-Up: Franco Jimenez ("Monarch")
Semi-Finalist: Federico Andragnes
Semi-Finalist: Gustavo Montecinos ("WIND")
2005[]
Date: ?
Location: ?
Attendance: ?
Ref: [16]
Champion: Gonzalo Ercole
Runner-Up: Eric Jugo
Semi-Finalist: Stephan Holtermann
Semi-Finalist: Raul Toro
References[]
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2023-south-america-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2022-south-america-yu-gi-oh-championship/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2017-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2018-south-america-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2017-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2016-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2015-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2013-south-american-wcq-championships/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/2013/06/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2012-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/2011-south-american-wcq/
- ↑ https://yugiohblog.konami.com/event/championships/wcq-2010-peru/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090906073732/http://www.misterdeck.com/forum/journal-yu-gi-oh/55806-continental-championship-2009-5-8-a.html
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/1067880916602262/photos/a.1067912026599151/1070362623020758/
- ↑ https://yugiohecuador.mforos.com/1230641/6590349-resultado-del-continental-2007-decklist/?pag=2
- ↑ https://m.facebook.com/1067880916602262/photos/reuni%C3%B3n-de-los-campeones-continentales-2005200720082009-de-izq-a-der-gonzalo-erc/1068108796579474/
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