| Event | 2026 Pittsburgh Regional Championships |
|---|---|
| Location |  Pittsburgh, PA, United States |
| Date | 20–21 September 2025 |
| Capacity | Undisclosed |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2026 Season – VGC Regulation Set H |
| Format | 2-day Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Gaming Gen |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
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 30 July at 7 pm EDT (23:00 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 17 September.
For registered players, team lists must be submitted 3 hours before the event starts, by 20 September at 5:30 am EDT (09:30 UTC).
Spectator passes are $20 and can be purchased here.
Streaming
Check out this info soon!
Check out this info soon!
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held at the Halls A and B of the following location:
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15222, United States
Details about badge pick-up will be known soon.
Players must be in the venue by 20 September at 8:30 am EDT (12:30 UTC) for the players meeting. The tournament starts thereafter with the Day 1 Swiss rounds. Seniors and Juniors start 30 minutes later.
Players qualified to Day 2 must be in the venue by 21 September at 8:30 am EDT (12:30 UTC) for the team checks. The Day 2 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 Pittsburgh Regional Championships is an official TPCi Regional-level event for Pokémon VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. It is the first Regional-level event of the 2026 season in the North American circuit.
It is played with VGC Regulation Set H, using open team lists. This returning ruleset was last used in a North American tournament in December 2024, and in a United States tournament in November 2024!
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 was the 2025 World Championships, played in Anaheim, CA, with the VGC Regulation Set I the previous month. The finals saw American Giovanni Cischke defeat 2018 Senior World Champion James Evans to be crowned as the new World Champion!
As for Regional-level events, the last one held in the United States was the 2025 Portland Regional, also played with the VGC Regulation Set I in May 2025. The finals saw 2023 OCIC Champion Gavin Michaels defeat 2022 Milwaukee Regional Champion Zhang Zhe to win his fourth Regional Championship title!
It is a returning ruleset! The last Regulation Set H tournament held in the United States was the 2025 Sacramento Regional, played in November 2024. The finals saw 2016 Senior World Champion Carson Confer defeat 2-time Regional Champion Joseph Ugarte to win his first Regional Championship title in the Masters division!
The last time there was an event in Pennsylvania was the 2024 Pittsburgh Regional, played with the VGC Regulation Set D in September 2023. The finals saw then-4-time Regional Champion Riley Factura defeat 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glick to win his fifth Regional Championship title, 5 years after his previous major win!
