2026 Regionals and Internationals Announced, Changes to Worlds TCG Invites!

By: Water Pokémon Master · Posted Posted onJun 23, 2025 at 8:59 AM · 17 Comments

TPCi has updated their website with the first details for the 2026 Championship Series!

For 2026, the following players will receive direct invites to Worlds based on their Championship Point total:

  • USA & Canada: top 80 Juniors / top 100 Seniors / top 135 Masters
  • Europe: top 80 Juniors / top 100 Seniors / top 135 Masters
  • Latin America: top 50 Juniors / top 50 Seniors / top 125 Masters
  • Oceania: top 10 Juniors / top 10 Seniors / top 20 Masters
  • Middle East & South Africa: top 5 Juniors / top 5 Seniors / top 10 Masters

Additionally, direct invites will be awarded to the following high finishers in Championship events regardless of their final Championship Point total:

  • Special Championships: 1st place
  • Regional Championships: 1st place
  • International Championships: 1st through 4th place

Direct invites do not pass down -- if a competitor who has already received a direct invite for Worlds would earn a direct invite at one of these events, the runner-up will not receive a direct invite.

The top four finishers from the previous season’s World Championships will also earn a direct invite.

Events

The following International Championships have been announced so far:

  • Nov. 21-23, Pokémon Latin America International Championships, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Feb. 13-15, 2026 Pokémon Europe International Championships, London, UK
  • Jun 12-14, 2026 Pokémon North America International Championships, New Orleans, Louisiana

The following Regional Championships have been announced so far:

  • Sept. 13–14, Frankfurt Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Sept. 13-14, Monterrey Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Monterrey, México
  • Sept. 18–21, Pittsburgh Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Oct. 9–12, Milwaukee Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Milwaukee, WI
  • Oct. 11–12, Belo Horizonte Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
  • Oct. 25–26, Lille Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Lille, France
  • Nov. 1–2, Gdansk Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Gdansk, Poland
  • Nov. 13–16, Las Vegas Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Las Vegas, NV
  • Nov. 15–16, Buenos Aires Pokémon Special Event 2026, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Nov. 29–30, Stuttgart Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Stuttgart, Germany
  • Jan. 23-25, Birmingham Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Birmingham, UK
  • Jan. 24-25, Mérida Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Mérida, México
  • Jan. 24-25, Auckland Pokémon Special Event 2026, Auckland, New Zeland
  • Feb. 7-8, Santiago Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Santiago, Chile
  • Mar. 27-29, Seville Pokémon Special Event 2026, Seville, Spain
  • Apr. 4-5, Querétaro Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Querétaro, México
  • May 15-17, Utrecht Pokémon Regional Championships 2026, Utrecht, Netherlands
  • May 23-24, Lima Pokémon Special Event 2026, Lima, Peru

Adjusting Swiss Tournament Rounds

After analyzing data from the 2025 season and taking Trainer feedback into consideration, the Swiss format used for Pokémon TCG and Pokémon video game Regional Championships, Special Championships, International Championships, and World Championships will undergo a variety of changes.

All age divisions at these tournaments, if they have at least 65 participants, will have one additional round of Swiss pairings. This additional round will make it more likely that Trainers with records of X-2 or better (such as 9-0, 8-1, or 7-2) will reach asymmetrical Top 8. This additional Swiss round will also improve the tournament experience as competitors vie for top-cut placements and cash prizes in the final matches of Swiss phase two.

For most age divisions, Swiss phase one will feature eight Swiss-tournament rounds, with rounds scheduled to either conclude on Day 1 or continue into Day 2 of a tournament. Since this can fluctuate, it’s best to review each tournament’s schedule as provided by the Tournament Organizer.

In an effort to smooth out tournament proceedings, asymmetrical Top 8 will now be capped at 16 total participants (compared to the 32 total participant slots from the 2025 season), regardless of the number of competitors tied with the 8th-place competitor. Tournament results and community feedback pertaining to this change will continue to be closely monitored.

Pokémon TCG End-of-Round Rule Change

During the 2025 season, when time was called in a round, competitors had +3 turns to conclude their active game. If the game did not resolve in those turns, the game was declared a draw, and the match concluded accordingly. For example, if one competitor was ahead 1-0, they were awarded a match win, but if the game score was 1-1 or 0-0, the match was a tie.

This end-of-round procedure creates complicated situations for event operations, since the +3 turns phase of a match technically has no time limit. It’s been observed that competitors play differently during overtime and stretch out their turns, making round turnover unpredictable and significantly extending round times. We’ve concluded that the overtime procedure is not achieving its intended goal with a significant percentage of matches still resulting in a draw after +3 turns. To mitigate these unintended complications, we are implementing the following rules:

After time is called in a round, competitors will have an additional full turn (+1 turn) to complete their match. The active competitor will complete their turn, their opponent will then complete their turn, and if no winner is determined by that point, the game is a draw.

An “overtime clock” of 10 minutes will be instituted for this additional turn, and if play does not conclude within the allotted time, the game is a draw. The overtime clock is intentionally long compared to the average turn length with the hope that this clause will trigger only in extreme situations where slow-play penalties may already be considered and applied where appropriate.

Championship Point Table Adjustments

Slight tweaks have been made to Championship Points and Kickers for Grand Challenges, Global Challenges, League Challenges, and Regional, Special, and International Championships events.

Grand Challenges and Global Challenges now provide separate rewards per rating zone to promote more opportunities to earn Championship Points in smaller rating zones.

League Challenge Kickers have been adjusted to better reflect average attendance.

More Championship Points have been allocated to 9th through 64th place at Championship events.

View thread (17 replies)
MythicalTreasur said:
Or california... :(
I know we're spoiled with the 2 worlds here but that's only for really good players. I just go to regionals close to me for fun and rn there's only Las Vegas.
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The Western US gets more than the East it seems... I wish they were better divided or TPCI added more events. FL didnt get a single Regional last year and we have one of the larger player bases. Im over the "oh this state is bad, this state is this or that." Its a damn card game that should have equal opportunity no matter the location. More could be said about Cali than FL but it shouldn't matter.

More events will be posted as time goes on and before the season officially starts and I hope TPCI is fair with their event locations...
 
Guys they absolutely didn't announce all the North American regionals. Wish they announced December's but hey I got Pitt to look forward to. Maybe Vegas too not sure.

The Ace Trainer system not getting a second tier off the bat is a bit of a bummer. The gap between Ace Trainer and Worlds invite is rather large and while it is better to just enjoy regionals you attend first, would have been nice to see another motivator at around 400-500 points. Maybe I'm bias since I cleared 200 middle of the year for 2024-2025 season and didn't feel I had anywhere to go for a point objective. With no expected changes in BFL for locals, makes sense leaving Ace Trainer at 200 still if it is in fact on one tier.

Regardless, I attended 2 regionals last season, and will try to shoot for 3 or 2 and NAIC this year. I want to keep positively focusing on expanding to what locals I go to, and what regionals I try for.

End of round procedures speeding up the process is good from a timer perspective, but the tie rate will definitely go up overall especially for less experienced players.
 
Not a fan of the +1 turn to overtime, they should've ONLY added an overtime clock. Sometimes that +2 or +3 play can be enough to end the game rather than tie and I think limiting this to one turn per player rather than 2 is unnecessary
 
Shining Goodra said:
The Western US gets more than the East it seems... I wish they were better divided or TPCI added more events. FL didnt get a single Regional last year and we have one of the larger player bases. Im over the "oh this state is bad, this state is this or that." Its a damn card game that should have equal opportunity no matter the location. More could be said about Cali than FL but it shouldn't matter.

More events will be posted as time goes on and before the season officially starts and I hope TPCI is fair with their event locations...
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Central gets so shafted too. Denver's got a decent player base and I don't think we've ever hosted one
 
Flash~ZT0 said:
Not a fan of the +1 turn to overtime, they should've ONLY added an overtime clock. Sometimes that +2 or +3 play can be enough to end the game rather than tie and I think limiting this to one turn per player rather than 2 is unnecessary
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You must not have been around when tying didnt exist. Imo ties are more manipulative than winning 1 game then stalling. Judges need to be more adamant with the timing rules and giving out DPLs when slow play is clearly happening. +1 is fair. It suggests that you should play according to the rules and not slow play. 15 second deck search, and so on.
 
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