After a weekend of intense competition in which the best trainers from 27 countries faced off in San Diego, CA, the 2011 Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game World Champions have been crowned!

The TCG players matched strength and skills in seven preliminary matches, which weeded out all but the best 16 in each age division. A single-elimination tournament ultimately decided which of the 16 trainers went home with top honors. Similarly, Video Game Championship competitors faced either five or six opponents in double battles, depending on the division, and the top eight trainers then advanced to the final bracket.

On the TCG side, the Junior division (born 2000 or later) saw Brazil's Gustavo Wada claw through the first seven matches, earn the single-elimination round's top seed, and push all the way through to vanquish Kohei Takenaka of Japan in the title match. The only blemish in 11 matches for Wada, who heavily relied on Pokémon Reversal and Yanmega to counter his opponents' Typhlosions, was a third-round loss to the United States' Alex Krekeler. Krekeler was subsequently seeded second of the final 16, but he fell to Takenaka in their semifinal battle.

In the Senior division (born 1996-1999), Australia's Christopher Kan overcame Italy's Marco Facchin to earn the top spot. Both trainers bounced back after weak starts through the preliminary seven matches: they each lost two matches and only received spots in the final tournament thanks to tiebreakers. Kan knocked aside opponents with a fast twist on the Typhlosion-Reshiram combination, foregoing Ninetales in favor of Supporter cards to emphasize a quick setup.

The quarterfinals saw eighth-seeded Facchin upset top seed Ryan MacGregor, a U.S. trainer who was undefeated to that point, but it was ultimately Kan who took down defending champion Jacob Lesage of Canada, #2 seed Grafton Roll from the U.S., and then Facchin in three consecutive matches to claim victory.

Finally, the Master division (born 1995 or earlier) belonged to David Cohen of the U.S., who bounced back from a 5-2 start and a #10 seed in the round of 16 to win the championship. Great Britain's Sami Sekkoum looked to have command of the tournament after a 7-0 start, but immediately fell to #16 seed Ross Cawthon in the biggest upset of the single-elimination tournament. The United States' Cawthon continued his run all the way to the final before losing to Cohen.

Parity was the order of the day in the Master division, as the top three seeded players all lost in the round of 16. Cohen, who earned second place in 2009, avoided risky coin flips and even Pokémon Reversal, instead using a more standard Reshiram deck to earn the win.

On the Video Game side, the U.S. swept all three divisions and demonstrated dominance over Pokémon Black and White. Brian Hough earned top honors among Junior trainers, topping fellow American Ian McLaughlin in the final match. Hough's only loss came against American Brendan Zheng in round five; that win earned Zheng the top seed, but McLaughlin stopped him in the semifinals. Zheng's shiny Terrakion headed his team, but he emphasized the ease with which any two of his six Pokémon could be used in tandem.

In the Senior division, South Korea's Sejun Park fell to U.S. trainer Kamran Jahadi, whose Thunder Wave-Rock Slide combination was key to his victory. Jahadi took the long road through the tournament, earning a spot through Friday's Last Chance Qualifier and recovering from a third-round loss to fellow American Enosh Shachar to make the single-elimination tournament. Jahadi got his revenge when it counted, beating Shachar in the semifinals. Jahadi's quarterfinal victory over 2009 champion Jeremiah Fan was similar retribution, as Fan eliminated Jahadi in the semifinals two years ago.

In contrast, Park started quickly with three straight wins before dropping two straight, only advancing to the final eight with tiebreakers supporting his 3-2 record. His ultimate second-place finish was still a great accomplishment, though, especially since this was South Korea's first year competing in the Video Game Championships.

Finally, Ray Rizzo became the first repeat world champion, toppling Italy's Matteo Gini in the final to make Pokémon history in the Master division. Aside from Thundurus and Terrakion, which all three champions used on their teams, Rizzo tried to win with underappreciated Pokémon so that his opponents would be uncertain of how to handle them. Apparently the strategy worked, as his nearly flawless 8-1 record would indicate.

Ruben Puig Lecegui handed Rizzo his only defeat in the third round, but the champion redeemed himself by overcoming the Spaniard in the semifinals. Aside from Rizzo himself, Lecegui was also the only trainer to mar Gini's record, ruining his 3-0 start with a fourth round win. Time will tell if Rizzo can three-peat next year, whether Gini or Lecegui will take the final step after coming so close this tournament, or whether a new challenger will step up and steal Rizzo's crown in 2012.