2022 Pokemon World Championships in London, August

Pokemon has officially announced the dates for this year’s World Championships. The World Championships will happen in London from August 18th through August 21st and will feature the Pokemon TCG, Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield video games, Pokken Tournament DX, Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon GO. The text of the official announcement follows below.

This August, the Pokémon World Championships will make their long-anticipated return! For the first time in history, the big event will be held outside North America when London, England, hosts the competition August 18–21, 2022. The event will include competitions for the Pokémon TCG, the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield video games, Pokémon GO, Pokémon UNITE, and Pokkén Tournament DX. The venue for the event is the enormous ExCeL London event center, which has also hosted previous Europe International Championships.

ExCeL London
One Western Gateway
Royal Victoria Dock
London, England E16 1XL

Worlds is now a four-day event, with exciting activities for players and spectators alike. The very best Pokémon Trainers will be vying for the title of World Champion, but that’s only the beginning of the fun—other activities will be available for all Pokémon fans.

From August 17–21, the 2022 Pokémon World Championships will also be home to a Pokémon Center store, where fans will be able to purchase a wide variety of products including a range of items themed around the tournament. The Pokémon Center will remain open while supplies last.

Invited players will not have to pay an entry fee to participate at Worlds, but there will be a nominal fee for spectator badges. Stay tuned for more information on the cost and availability of spectator badges.

The safety and well-being of our competitors, organizers, employees, local communities, and partners continues to be our top priority. Information on our COVID-19 policy can be found here.

If you want to compete in the Pokémon World Championships, it’s not too late to get started. Find an event near you and start earning Championship Points toward a coveted Worlds invitation!

We’ll have much more news and info on the Pokémon World Championships as we get closer to the event. Keep checking Pokemon.com for the latest details throughout the year.

With league cups and league challenges being cancelled on regionals, will there be any side events on the worlds?
Would kinda suck if I don’t get qualified the one time it is europe if there is no side events
 
"If you want to compete in the Pokémon World Championships, it’s not too late to get started. Find an event near you and start earning Championship Points toward a coveted Worlds invitation!"
I don't entirely understand, currently all of the events are suspended?
They are not. Only smaller events are suspended. Larger events like Regional Championships (one of which happened last weekend, with another scheduled for this weekend) and International Championships are currently underway.
 
I'd say 50/50 it actually happens. And of course it'll be hard to qualify with almost no events but it'll hopefully set up for next season being a normal season.
 
With league cups and league challenges being cancelled on regionals, will there be any side events on the worlds?
Would kinda suck if I don’t get qualified the one time it is europe if there is no side events
We COULD see the next worlds be in Spain because of the games but not sure
 
Not gonna lie I have no motivation to go to play at events when every person and their grandma is running Mew/Genesect. It sucks cause Yugioh is unplayable at the moment and Pokemon decided to create a stale format due to those two and now Arceus Vstar.
 
With league cups and league challenges being cancelled on regionals, will there be any side events on the worlds?
Would kinda suck if I don’t get qualified the one time it is europe if there is no side events

Most of side events aren't cups/challenges - most of them are quite accessible even in a no-cup format. Build and Battle events, pack challenges, small 8 player pod tournaments... I suspect there will be that kind of side event. But, we won't know the answer to this for a while I suspect; only TPCI can really answer it, when they're ready to.
 
Not gonna lie I have no motivation to go to play at events when every person and their grandma is running Mew/Genesect. It sucks cause Yugioh is unplayable at the moment and Pokemon decided to create a stale format due to those two and now Arceus Vstar.
The worst part is you can see their panicked attempt at fixing things with the new Mighteyena, Absol, and Samurott V Star; Dark is getting so much support, but I’m willing to bet it isn’t enough and will just end up unbalancing the format even further, making more and more otherwise good and fun decks unplayable. Mew is genuinely a monstrosity, I can’t fathom why they would make such a blatantly busted card.
 
The worst part is you can see their panicked attempt at fixing things with the new Mighteyena, Absol, and Samurott V Star; Dark is getting so much support, but I’m willing to bet it isn’t enough and will just end up unbalancing the format even further, making more and more otherwise good and fun decks unplayable. Mew is genuinely a monstrosity, I can’t fathom why they would make such a blatantly busted card.
These cards were designed long before Fusion Strike was released. I just think Pokemon genuinely doesn't care about balance or design in general.
 
These cards were designed long before Fusion Strike was released. I just think Pokemon genuinely doesn't care about balance or design in general.
They have to care to some extent, but every once and a while they want to do another power creep anyways because they want to ensure people have to buy new cards to keep up. The problem is that when they do this, it's not that they're not doing any testing, but that they don't seem to be doing enough to anticipate the full extent to which something like a Mew VMax is going to mess the meta up.
 
They have to care to some extent, but every once and a while they want to do another power creep anyways because they want to ensure people have to buy new cards to keep up. The problem is that when they do this, it's not that they're not doing any testing, but that they don't seem to be doing enough to anticipate the full extent to which something like a Mew VMax is going to mess the meta up.
The sad thing about Mew is that it doesn’t even take a lot of game experience to determine it’s a bad idea; the general pillars of balance in which you weigh strengths and weaknesses in Pokémon are so clearly violated with Mew V and Mew V Max, especially in this format.
 
At least there are Mew counters. The main reason it sees so much play is that people have pushed it so much. I guess Pokémon and the rest of the players are fine with throwing away the season and starting new next time. Strange they're fine with just ditching their newer player base to tap into but I guess that's fine. The older players are still kicking but they are definitely on the down trend.
 
Not gonna lie I have no motivation to go to play at events when every person and their grandma is running Mew/Genesect. It sucks cause Yugioh is unplayable at the moment and Pokemon decided to create a stale format due to those two and now Arceus Vstar.
Just a friendly reminder that the Digimon TCG's arms are wide open. The game is decision heavy and complex without being inaccessible, most cards are relatively cheap, and the meta is insanely diverse.
 
“Find an event near you!” ?
Good luck getting an invite unless you already have all your Cup/Challenge finishes.
Or, y’know. Just be wealthy enough to be flying all over the world point chasing.
 
Just a friendly reminder that the Digimon TCG's arms are wide open. The game is decision heavy and complex without being inaccessible, most cards are relatively cheap, and the meta is insanely diverse.
Is there an online scene? I'm not the type to complain about spending money, but I'd love to try it out first and see what it's like