Pokémon: TCG Championships set to resume next March, dependent on “health mandates”
Europe and North American events confirmed.
The Play! Pokémon Regional and International Championships are officially resuming in 2022, after being cancelled two years in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Play! Pokémon Championships will take place across Europe and North America from March 2022 onwards, with the Pokémon Trading Card Game being featured as one of the playable titles - alongside the Pokémon video games, Pokkén Tournament DX and Pokémon Go - in both the regional and international championships. The regional champions will begin on March 18th in Salt Lake City, Utah, with competitions set to happen across North America and Canada, as well as in the UK, Spain and Italy.
The Europe international Pokémon: TCG championships are set to take place from April 22-24th 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany, with the North American championships following in June - 22nd to 24th - in Columbus, Ohio.
All the planned Pokémon: TCG events will apparently be dependent upon the “health mandates, guidelines and recommendations” set by each individual country, with The Pokémon Company “continually” monitoring the situation running up to the start of the championships. During the upcoming events “all competitors, vendors, staff and spectators must comply with The Pokémon Company International’s COVID-19 policy” - which states that everyone present must wear face coverings at all times, that players must sanitise their hands between opponents and that events will restrict total participation to a maximum of 30 people - in order to protect the health of attendees.
The announcement follows last year’s cancellation of all Play! Pokémon events during 2021 in response to the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pokémon World Championships 2022 are set to take place in London in August next year, with Pokémon: TCG players who place highly in the regional and international Play! Pokémon Championships set to be invited to compete in the event.
The Pokémon: Trading Card Game sees two players competing against each other with their respective decks of Pokémon cards. On a player’s turn, they are able to play energy onto any of the Pokémon on their bench and on their active Pokémon, with an active Pokémon requiring energy to perform the moves listed on its card. Players are also able to place more Pokémon onto their bench, evolve Pokémon - if they have the previous evolution on their bench or in their active position - and play trainer and item cards.
The first player to successfully defeat six of their opponent’s Pokémon, or knock out an opponent’s active Pokémon with no Pokémon left on their opponent’s bench, is the winner of the game.
Announcements regarding Play! Pokémon Premier Events 2022 in Latin America and Oceania are set to be revealed soon.