2012 Players Championship

The 2012 Players Championship was held on 29–31 August 2012 in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was the inaugural Players Championship event after the previous Worlds system had been abolished; however, future iterations of the Players Championship event were named the World Championship, and the 2012 Players Championship has also been granted status as a World Championship event.

The tournament featured only 16 players; methods for qualification were exceedingly difficult in order to generate a field of players consisting of the best in the world. In a top four that featured Jon Finkel and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, considered two of the best players of all time, former Player of the Year Yuuya Watanabe defeated another former Player of the Year Shota Yasooka in the final 3–2 to win the first ever Players Championship. He simultaneously was awarded the 2012 Player of the Year title, as the title was not awarded to the player with the most Pro Points during that season (though Watanabe was the player with the most Pro Points in the 2011–12 season, meaning he would have won the title regardless), thereby becoming only the second player after Kai Budde to win that title more than once. His victory also retroactively made him the 2012 World Champion.

Invitations
The following 16 players were invited to the event: