| Event | 2026 Houston Regional Championships |
|---|---|
| Location |  Houston, TX, United States |
| Date | 21–22 March 2026 |
| Attendance | 625 MA + 34 SR + 24 JR |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2026 Season – VGC Regulation Set F |
| Format | 8+4 Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Gaming Gen |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Top cut
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10-2 | | Dylan Matthews (Dylan) | 2026 Worlds 350 CP $6,000 |       |  | |
| 2 | 10-2 | | Carson Confer (Carson) | 325 CP $4,000 |     | | |
| 3 | 11-1 | | Sohaib Mufti (soh) | 300 CP $2,000 |      | | |
| 4 | 10-2 | | Justin Burns (Justin) | 300 CP $2,000 |  | | |
| 5 | 11-1 | | Zac Emerzian (Zac) | 280 CP $1,000 |   | | |
| 6 | 10-2 | | Benjamin Harlan (Benjamin) | 280 CP $1,000 |     | | |
| 7 | 10-2 | | Giovanni Cischke (PqlarBear) | 280 CP $1,000 |  | | |
| 8 | 10-2 | | Lucy Fleming (Erza) | 280 CP $1,000 |   | | |
| 9 | 10-2 | | Stephen Morioka (Stephen) | 200 CP $750 |     | | |
| 10 | 10-2 | | Kian Campbell (Kian) | 200 CP $750 | | | |
| 11 | 10-2 | | Nicholas Morales (Charmdi) | 200 CP $750 |  | | |
| 12 | 10-2 | | Brandon Davis (Brandon) | 200 CP $750 | | | |
| 13 | 10-2 |  | Yuki Zaninovich (ゆうき) | 200 CP $750 | | |
Phase 2 Swiss rounds
Check here to see the seeds for top cut from the Phase 2 Swiss standings!
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 9-3 |  | Zhang Ruizhe (Asuka) | 200 CP $750 | | | |
| 15 | 9-3 | | Hudson Qiu (Hudson) | 200 CP $750 |     | | |
| 16 | 9-3 | | Joseph Cartin (Titan) | 200 CP $750 |   | | |
| 17 | 9-3 | | Joseph Selmer (Modern) | 160 CP | | | |
| 18 | 9-3 | | Daniel Yu (ArKane) | 160 CP | | | |
| 19 | 9-3 | | Josh Ritz (Jag) | 160 CP |  | | |
| 20 | 9-3 | | Estefen Luna (Stef) | 160 CP | | | |
| 21 | 9-3 | | Jonathan Chemburkar (JON) | 160 CP | | | |
| 22 | 9-3 | | Aaron Brok (Aaron) | 160 CP | | | |
| 23 | 9-3 | | Alexander Chaunvann (Pig) | 160 CP |   | | |
| 24 | 9-3 | | Yotam Cohen (yotam) | 160 CP | | | |
| 25 | 9-3 |  | Aldo Loyola (STATS*Ike) | 160 CP |      | | |
| 26 | 9-3 | | Louis Milich (Uncle Lou) | 160 CP | | | |
| 27 | 9-3 |  | Jonathan Zuniga (Jawnzu) | 160 CP | | | |
| 28 | 9-3 | | Blake Falls (Kaguya) | 160 CP | | | |
| 29 | 9-3 | | Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) | 160 CP | | | |
| 30 | 9-3 |  | Giovanni Araníbar (Libiak) | 160 CP |  | | |
| 31 | 9-3 | | Sebastian Gonzalez (Seb) | 160 CP |  | | |
| 32 | 9-3 | | Austin Le (Zutomayo) | 160 CP |   | | |
| 33 | 9-3 | | Abraham Orta (Abbysaurus) | 120 CP | | | |
| 34 | 9-3 | | Alejandro Terrazas (Alec) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 35 | 9-3 | | Masahiro Taoka (しの) | 120 CP | | | |
| 36 | 9-3 | | Alex Hurtado (Ray) | 120 CP |   | | |
| 37 | 8-4 | | Luhou Shen (Luhou) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 38 | 8-4 | | Zach Knight (Gworf) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 39 | 8-4 | | Cooper Arrington (Cooper) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 40 | 8-4 | | Chris Large (Chris) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 41 | 8-4 | | Dylan Stone (Uno) | 120 CP | | | |
| 42 | 8-4 | | Christopher Han (Darts) | 120 CP | | | |
| 43 | 8-4 | | Eric Bartlett (aric) | 120 CP | | | |
| 44 | 8-4 | | Connor Swikart (Condor) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 45 | 8-4 |  | Hoàng Hồ (Zoryaaa) | 120 CP | | | |
| 46 | 8-4 | | Grant Madden (Grant) | 120 CP | | | |
| 47 | 8-4 |  | Alexavier Alvarez (Areku) | 120 CP | | | |
| 48 | 8-4 | | Diego Chan (Diego) | 120 CP | | | |
| 49 | 8-4 | | Jerry Woods (Jenny) | 120 CP | | | |
| 50 | 8-4 | | Jason Kissinger (JASON) | 120 CP | | | |
| 51 | 8-4 | | Dominique Johnson (428) | 120 CP | | | |
| 52 | 8-4 | | Thomas Irwin (Thomas) | 120 CP | | | |
| 53 | 8-4 | | Cori Corley (Amethyst) | 120 CP | | | |
| 54 | 8-4 | | Nick Willems (Nick) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 55 | 8-4 | | Richard Macey (Rich) | 120 CP | | | |
| 56 | 8-4 | | Andrew Figueras (Andrew) | 120 CP | | | |
| 57 | 8-4 | | Koji Kanamori (カナエル) | 120 CP | | | |
| 58 | 8-4 | | Alexander Phipps (Alex) | 120 CP | | | |
| 59 | 8-4 | | Jacob Miller (HADES) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 60 | 8-4 | | Zach Holowiak (Zach) | 120 CP |  | | |
| 61 | 8-4 | | Calvin Nisson (Gazoney) | 120 CP | | | |
| 62 | 8-4 | | Michael Ruiz (mike!) | 120 CP |   | | |
| 63 | 8-4 | | Erik Holmstrom (Cyrus) | 120 CP | | | |
| 64 | 8-4 | | Andrew Briceno (Andrew) | 120 CP | | | |
| 65 | 8-4 | | Rocco Beckman (Rocks) | 80 CP | | | |
| 66 | 8-4 | | Andrew Xu (Timp) | 80 CP | | | |
| 67 | 7-5 | | Griffin Peters (Griff) | 80 CP | | | |
| 68 | 7-5 | | Paro Sen (Paro) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 69 | 7-5 |  | Arbin Tumaneng (jUN) | 80 CP | | | |
| 70 | 7-5 | | Nicholas Ng (Bobjoecarl) | 80 CP | | | |
| 71 | 7-5 |  | Luca Paz (0-x in swiss) | 80 CP | | | |
| 72 | 7-5 | | Baby Singh (N) | 80 CP | | | |
| 73 | 7-5 | | Tyler Gustaf (Rai) | 80 CP | | | |
| 74 | 7-5 | | Billy Whyte (Billy) | 80 CP | | | |
| 75 | 7-5 | | Jose Arteaga (Jose) | 80 CP |   | | |
| 76 | 7-5 | | Rohan Muthukumar (Myst) | 80 CP | | | |
| 77 | 7-5 | | Preston Gadling (heKtikVGC) | 80 CP | | | |
| 78 | 7-5 | | Alvin Mo (almo) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 79 | 7-5 | | Enrique Grimaldo (EGrim) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 80 | 7-5 | | Apollo Stephens (Cabbage) | 80 CP | | | |
| 81 | 7-5 | | Aaron Grubbs (Aaron) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 82 | 7-5 | | Elaine Dickson (E) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 83 | 7-5 | | Logan Castro (Yellowbox) | 80 CP | | | |
| 84 | 6-6 | | Alex Greenawalt (Dook) | 80 CP | | | |
| 85 | 6-6 | | Matthew Gonzalez (Melody) | 80 CP | | | |
| 86 | 6-6 | | Carter Lewis (Carter) | 80 CP | | | |
| 87 | 6-6 | | Karl Santi Lim (Katsu) | 80 CP | | | |
| 88 | 6-6 | | Zachary White (Zack) | 80 CP | | |
Phase 1 Swiss rounds
All players with 2 or fewer losses advance to Phase 2!
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89 | 5-3 | | Tyler Deacy (Steel) | 80 CP | | | |
| 90 | 5-3 | | Alex Hoak (Karen) | 80 CP | | | |
| 91 | 5-3 | | Darius Helmick (Hootie) | 80 CP | | | |
| 92 | 5-3 | | Joseph Pulkowski (babysheegoth) | 80 CP | | | |
| 93 | 5-3 | | Andres Wilkerson (Re-up) | 80 CP | | | |
| 94 | 5-3 | | Jeff Lehmann (Jeff) | 80 CP | | | |
| 95 | 5-3 | | Matthew Harris (Bozo) | 80 CP | | | |
| 96 | 5-3 | | Rob McNeilly (Rob) | 80 CP | | | |
| 97 | 5-3 | | Alberto Renero (GoldenEmp) | 80 CP | | | |
| 98 | 5-3 | | Michael Alfinito (Michael) | 80 CP | | | |
| 99 | 5-3 | | Nick Duncan (Frae) | 80 CP | | | |
| 100 | 5-3 | | Seaver Lyddane (Black) | 80 CP | | | |
| 101 | 5-3 | | Ricardo Rodríguez (Ricardo) | 80 CP | | | |
| 102 | 5-3 | | Timothy Hardin (Legna_K.ttv) | 80 CP |   | | |
| 103 | 5-3 | | Hazel Mewett (Maddy) | 80 CP | | | |
| 104 | 5-3 | | Luke Bowar (Annabelle) | 80 CP | | | |
| 105 | 5-3 | | Timothy Kendall (Gallant) | 80 CP | | | |
| 106 | 5-3 | | Andrew Lavigne (Andy) | 80 CP |   | | |
| 107 | 5-3 | | Huang Jianzheng (Mel) | 80 CP | | | |
| 108 | 5-3 | | Max Simon (Max) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 109 | 5-3 |  | Jorge Baca (Jorginho) | 80 CP | | | |
| 110 | 5-3 | | David Terry (drumtooth) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 111 | 5-3 | | Tianshu Ren (库洛伊史迪克) | 80 CP | | | |
| 112 | 5-3 | | Ian McLaughlin (raikoo) | 80 CP | | | |
| 113 | 5-3 | | John Lyons (John) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 114 | 5-3 | | Shray Chakraborty (shiloh) | 80 CP | | | |
| 115 | 5-3 | | Danish Ali (Scythee) | 80 CP | | | |
| 116 | 5-3 | | Christian Rivera (Koopa Troopa) | 80 CP | | | |
| 117 | 5-3 | | Thomas Johnson (Tommy) | 80 CP |  | | |
| 118 | 5-3 | | Brendon Gustaf (Stryker) | 80 CP | | | |
| 119 | 5-3 | | Toler Webb (Toler) | 80 CP | | | |
| 120 | 5-3 | | Brendan Trevethan (Brendan) | 80 CP | | | |
| 121 | 5-3 | | Alex Smith (Alex) | 80 CP | | | |
| 122 | 5-3 | | Ian Larson (Takedownmy) | 80 CP | | | |
| 123 | 5-3 | | Johnny Nguyen (Juliana) | 80 CP | | | |
| 124 | 5-3 | | Raymond Pini (Woopa) | 80 CP | | | |
| 125 | 5-3 | | Dillon Kleinvehn (MLBD) | 80 CP | | | |
| 126 | 5-3 | | Sahen Rai (Sahen) | 80 CP | | | |
| 127 | 5-3 | | Pável Valencia-Acuna (Pavel) | 80 CP | | | |
| 128 | 5-3 | | Johnny Selmer (Vivix) | 80 CP | | |
Top 256 players got 60 Championship Points! You can check a full list, as well as a useful stats tool in Stalruth’s Cut Explorer!
Teams and results - Seniors & Juniors
Senior Top 16
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-2 | | Nathan K. | 2026 Worlds 350 CP $1,000 | | | |
| 2 | 5-2 | | Hayes N. | 325 CP $750 | | | |
| 3 | 5-2 | | Francesco G. | 300 CP $500 | | | |
| 4 | 5-2 | | Joshua R. | 300 CP $500 | | | |
| 5 | 6-1 | | Conner P. | 280 CP | | | |
| 6 | 6-1 | | Collier C. | 280 CP | | | |
| 7 | 6-1 | | Zach S. | 280 CP | | | |
| 8 | 5-2 | | Jamie S. | 280 CP | | | |
| 9 | 4-3 | | Madison N. | 200 CP | | | |
| 10 | 4-3 | | Declan S. | 200 CP | | | |
| 11 | 4-3 | | Brooks J. | 200 CP | | | |
| 12 | 4-3 | | Leland S. | 200 CP | | | |
| 13 | 4-3 | | Arthur B. | 200 CP | | | |
| 14 | 4-3 | | Mace A. | 200 CP | | | |
| 15 | 4-3 | | Caleb B. | 200 CP | | | |
| 16 | 4-3 | | Zachary E. | 200 CP | | |
Junior Top 8
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | EVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6-0 | | Cameron C. | 2026 Worlds 350 CP $1,000 | | | |
| 2 | 5-1 | | Zachary T. | 325 CP $750 | | | |
| 3 | 5-1 | | James C. | 300 CP $500 | | | |
| 4 | 4-2 | | Charlie B. | 300 CP $500 | | | |
| 5 | 4-2 |  | Yanqing G. | 280 CP | | | |
| 6 | 4-2 | | Asher G. | 280 CP | | | |
| 7 | 4-2 | | Kennedy N. | 280 CP | | | |
| 8 | 4-2 | | Chandler K. | 280 CP |   | |
Streaming
The event will be broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube by TPCi, with Sierra Dawn, Evan Latt, Aaron Zheng, Duy Ha, Gabby Snyder and Joe Brown as casters.
- Day 1 (Swiss rounds): stream starts on 21 March at 14:15 UTC
- Day 2 (Swiss rounds + Top Cut): stream starts on 22 March at 14:15 UTC
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | Ryan Coomes |
vs | Leslie Fu |
| R3 | Dillon Kleinvehn |
vs | Enrique Grimaldo |
| R4 | Stephen Morioka |
vs | Ethan Trejo |
| R5 | Seaver Lyddane |
vs | Apollo Stephens |
| R6 | Zac Emerzian |
vs | Aaron Brok |
| R7 | Louis Milich |
vs | Max Simon |
| R8 | Hudson Qiu |
vs | Zhang Ruizhe |
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| R10 | Justin Burns |
vs | Luhou Shen |
| R11 | Dylan Matthews |
vs | Sohaib Mufti |
| R12 | Giovanni Cischke |
vs | Masahiro Taoka |
| Top 16 | Carson Confer |
vs | Yuki Zaninovich |
| Top 8 | Sohaib Mufti |
vs | Benjamin Harlan |
| Top 8 | Carson Confer |
vs | Lucy Fleming |
| Top 8 | Dylan Matthews |
vs | Giovanni Cischke |
| Top 8 | Justin Burns |
vs | Zac Emerzian |
| Top 4 | Sohaib Mufti |
vs | Carson Confer |
| Top 4 | Dylan Matthews |
vs | Justin Burns |
| Finals | Carson Confer |
vs | Dylan Matthews |
Usage stats
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held at the Halls A & B of the following location:
George R. Brown Convention Center
1001 Avenida De Las Americas
Houston, TX 77010, USA
Badges can be picked up in advance on Friday 20 March from 11 am to 7 pm CDT, or early on Saturday from 6:30 am CDT.
Players must be in the venue by 21 March at 8:30 am CDT (13:30 UTC) for the players meeting. The tournament starts thereafter with the Swiss rounds. Seniors and Juniors start 30 minutes later.
Players still on the run in Day 2 must be in the venue by 22 March at 8:30 am CDT (13:30 UTC) for the team checks. The next Swiss rounds and the Top Cut will be played thereafter.
Prizes
This event is part of the 2026 official TPCi circuit and thus it rewards Championship Points (CPs).
Check out the organizer’s website for information about participation goodies.
Additionally, the best-placed players will receive the following CPs, prize money and Pokémon TCG booster packs depending on final attendance:
| Placement | Championship Points | Kicker |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | Invite to the 2026 World Championships 350 CP |
0 |
| Finalist | 325 CP | 4 |
| Semifinalists | 300 CP | 8 |
| 5th to 8th | 280 CP | 17 |
| 9th to 16th | 200 CP | 33 |
| 17th to 32nd | 160 CP | 65 |
| 33rd to 64th | 120 CP | 129 |
| 65th to 128th | 80 CP | 257 |
| 129th to 256th | 60 CP | 513 |
| 257th to 512th | 40 CP | 1025 |
| 513th to 1024th | 20 CP | 2049 |
| Placement | Junior & Senior | Masters |
|---|---|---|
| Champion | $1,000 USD | $6,000 USD |
| Finalist | $750 USD | $4,000 USD |
| Semifinalists | $500 USD | $2,000 USD |
| 5th to 8th | – | $1,000 USD |
| 9th to 16th | – | $750 USD |
| Players per age division | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placement | <33 | 33-64 | 65-128 | 129-256 | 257-512 | 513-1024 | 1025-2048 | 2049+ |
| Champion | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Finalist | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| Semifinalists | 36 | 72 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 5th to 8th | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 108 |
| 9th to 16th | 9 | 18 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 108 |
| 17th to 32nd | 18 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | |||
| 33rd to 64th | 9 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | |||
| 65th to 128th | 18 | 18 | 36 | 36 | ||||
| 129th to 256th | 9 | 18 | 18 | |||||
| 257th to 512th | 9 | |||||||
If prize money is $5000 or more, it will be given as a choice of scholarship (in all cases) or cash (for minors, as a Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card). For lower prizes, it will be given as cash (for minors, as a Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card).
Overview
The Houston Regional Championships is an official TPCi Regional-level event for Pokémon VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. It is the seventh Regional-level event and sixth Regional Championships proper of the 2026 season in the North American circuit.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set F, and it is played using open team lists.
A little bit of history
The United States has been part of the North America region of the official TPCi circuit since the very beginning, also being home to the TPCi headquarters. It has hosted multiple major events, including Regional Championships, old-era National Championships, all editions of the North America International Championships and most World Championships (only excluding 2013, 2022 and 2023). The United States’ greatest VGC success are the five World Championship wins achieved by Ray Rizzo (2010, 2011 and 2012), Wolfe Glick (2016) and Giovanni Cischke (2025), not even counting being the home country of 7 Senior Division and 7 Junior Division World Champions too.
The most recent tournament held in the United States (not counting Puerto Rico) was the 2026 Seattle Regional, also played in the VGC Regulation Set F the previous month. The finals saw 2-time International Champion in the Senior Division Carson St. Denis defeat fellow American player Sebastian Gonzalez to win his first Regional Championship title in the Masters Division!
The last time there was an event in the state of Texas was the 2025 San Antonio Regional, played in the VGC Regulation Set G in January 2025. The finals saw then-2-time Regional Champion Justin Tang defeat 2023 Hartford Regional Champion Tang Shiliang to win his third Regional Championship title!
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through RK9 Labs platform, and you will first need to set up your RK9 profile and have a Play! Pokémon Player ID.
Sign-ups are $80 for Masters players and $40 for Senior and Junior players, and they open on 21 January at 7 pm CST (22 January at 01:00 UTC). Refunds are partially available up until one week before the event.
If the player cap is not reached, sign-ups close 3 days before the event starts, on 18 March.
For registered players, team lists must be submitted 3 hours before the event starts, by 21 March at 5:30 am CDT (10:30 UTC).
Spectator passes are $20 and can be purchased here.
