2016 top-four worlds competitor Markus Stadter has announced Yoshi’s Invitational, an online VGC tournament where eight notable players from around the globe will compete for cash prizes and international acclaim.

According to Stadter, he wanted to provide an opportunity for fans of competitive Pokémon to watch high-level competition between major, official events.

“I always thought this was a cool concept to get some exposure for the players and have something fans can look forward to,” Stadter said. “The idea got more concrete after talking to Kevin Dong, who has a Hearthstone background where invitation-based tournaments were an important step in establishing the game as an esport.”

Wolfe Glick, Aaron Zheng, Alex Ogloza and Joshua Lorcy will compete from the US, while Spain’s Alex Gomez, France’s Thomas Gravouille and Stadter himself round out the initial list of competitors. Each was chosen for varying mixtures of quality skill level, community involvement and ability to participate on stream.

The tournament will start on February 10 and play out a few matches at a time over a four-week period in a best-of-three, double-elimination bracket. The finals, however, will be a best-of-five series with the player from the winner’s side of the bracket receiving a 1-0 lead. Every match will be streamed on Stadter’s Twitch channel, with commentary from both the competitors not scheduled to play that day and others in the community. The format will also follow the official VGC 2017 rules.

As for prizes, Amalgame has pledged at least $400 to the pool. Matcherino.com, which will host the brackets, has also pledged to donate a dollar for the first 200 people to enter the code “Yoshi” when donating. Finally, players will have the opportunity to donate to the pot leading up to and throughout the tournament’s duration to support their favorite players.

The tournament also features a $1,000 stretch-goal to add 2014 world champion Sejun Park to the tournament in addition to a special stream from Stadter and Glick once $2,000 is reached. Those who donate certain amounts will be rewarded with various benefits as well, such as coaching from some of the competitors. Regardless, the final pot value will determine how prizes are awarded to players.

Stadter added that if the event goes well, he plans to hold similar, additional tournaments in the future. In that case, he will attempt to open up the field by inviting players based on finishes in other online tournaments or live events.

Trainer Tower will have recurring coverage of the tournament, with everything from previews/recaps of each week to brief profiles of the players. Be sure to check back here weekly to stay up to date with the tournament’s latest developments.