The hotly contested Pokémon European International Championships 2026 took place this weekend and it’s heartwarming how much everyone enjoyed it, whether they won or lost.
It’s been hard to miss that 2026 is the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, with events and crossovers filling trainers’ calendars thick and fast. Although a Pokémon Presents is expected for Pokémon Day itself, on February 27, the buzz this weekend was focused on London ExCel and the Pokémon European International Championships (EUIC). This is the first step for competitive Pokémon players aiming for the World Championships, which this year will return to San Francisco for the first time in a decade.
There was more than enough drama to keep spectators happy during the finals on Sunday. The early start for the Pokémon Unite Aeos Cup didn’t dampen the shouts from the raucous crowd, where Team Peps (France) won with a respectable 3-2 against Evil Geniuses (North America) in a thrilling best of five final. Team Peps dominated the weekend competition, defeating several heavy hitters along the way to Victory Road, including Dignitas and the reigning world champions, Peru Unite.
There was something fishy going on in the Pokémon Go Championship, as water type pokémon Seaking emerged as a superior wildcard pick for victory, due to a recent buff to the Fast Attack Peck. This proved effective against the meta’s prevalent bug types, allowing Spanish trainer P4T0M4N to become back-to-back EUIC champion.
The current state of the Pokémon TCG meta
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Waiting for the DLR on Sunday morning, I spoke to Reuben Davidson about the TGC meta: ‘This season I’ve been playing Gholdengo ex. I think the current meta is fairly settled, with four major decks that all have strong match-ups against each other.
‘Gholdengo ex feels like the strongest deck in the format to me because it has so many options and draws so many cards. When you’re consistently drawing well, it’s hard to lose games. It’s definitely seeing success, one of my friends, Drew Stephenson, is even in the finals today playing the same deck.’
This year’s TCG Masters final was the absolute opposite of last year’s blink and you missed it victory, as this final was a marathon of hand management, deck searching, and defensive pacing as Gardevoir vs. Gholdengo decks did battle, but finally Edwyn Mesman (Netherlands) defeated hometown favourite Drew Stephenson (UK).
I loved seeing cute purple pokémon Indeedee get some action in the Masters video game final, which always closes proceedings, but Zachary Weed’s PsySpam team couldn’t quite pull it off as Paul Chua (North America) won the title, winning 2-0 with a team centred around long neck Raging Bolt, Ogerpon, and Urshifu. The victory earned him $15,000 (£11,002) and a guaranteed invite to the 2026 Pokémon World Championships.
What is the Pokémon European International Championships?
The Pokémon World Championships first began in 2004 and focused primarily on the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), but it has since grown to include dedicated competitions for Pokémon video games – primarily Pokémon Scarlet and Violet at the moment – Pokémon Go, and Pokémon Unite. Every year, the EUIC draws Pokémon players from all around Europe to battle it out for the chance to earn Championship Points for their championship of choice.
This year saw over 5,000 competitors registered from over 50 countries and regions, making the EUIC the largest Pokémon tournament outside of Asia. In these highly competitive tournaments, each game has its own format and set of rules, including different divisions for pros, seniors, and juniors.
With a total prize pool of over $500,000 (£367,000) cash prizes are determined based on the amount of players in each tournament and range from around $500 (£367) for smaller player pools to around $25,000 (£18,339) for the winner of the TGC Masters division. In order to qualify for the World Championships, a player must earn an invitation by gaining enough Championship Points by the end of the competitive season, through placing high enough or winning official Pokémon tournaments.
Tord Reklev’s advice for playing Pokémon TCG
I spoke to Pokémon TCG legend and five times international champion Tord Reklev about his experience of EUIC this year: ‘It’s been a really fun weekend. I finished in the top 16 out of around 4,000 players, which I’d say is a pretty respectable result. Of course, I would have loved to go all the way and still be playing in the finals, but I’m genuinely happy with how everything went and with my overall performance.
‘For this event, I chose to play an Absol deck, with Absol as the main pokémon. It’s actually a deck I created and popularised a few months ago, and it has since become one of the major meta decks. Seeing it perform so well this weekend, arguably as the most successful deck in the tournament, was incredibly rewarding. I’m always happy when I can impact the meta game in a meaningful way and it felt great to pilot the deck myself to a strong finish.
‘One of the hardest parts of attending these events is simply the scale. There are so many people to navigate, and I do get a lot of attention, which is flattering but can also be exhausting. Being stopped for photos, autographs, and conversations throughout the day adds up. More than anything, though, the toughest part is the pressure to perform. Even if I’m feeling unwell, underprepared or haven’t slept particularly well, there’s still that expectation, both internal and external, to live up to my reputation. Managing that pressure can be challenging.
‘With Pokémon celebrating its 30th anniversary, it feels especially meaningful to be part of the competitive scene right now. Pokémon has been part of my entire life. I grew up with the games and experienced every corner of the franchise – the TV shows, video games, card game, mobile titles, and more. It’s shaped a big part of who I am and I’m excited to celebrate such a major milestone for something that’s been so constant in my life.
‘Next up, I’m heading to Japan to compete in the Champions League in Fukuoka. It’s one of their major tournaments and there are only a few each year. Entry is limited through a participation lottery because so many players want to compete, so even getting in is special. There also aren’t many non-Japanese players at these events, which makes the experience feel even more unique. If I get the chance, I’d love to visit PokéPark Kanto while I’m there, though it can be hard to secure a spot.
‘As for my favourite Pokémon, it’s Celebi. It’s a Generation II Pokémon, similar in spirit to Mew from the first generation – small, mythical and magical. I’ve loved it since I was very young. Part of that is probably because my favourite colour is green and Celebi is a grass type, but it’s also always felt like a kind of lucky charm to me.’
As usual there were huge queues for the pop-up Pokémon Center, fuelled by over 13,000 attendees this year. It was themed for the new mega evolution pokémon from Pokémon Legends: Z-A and trainers were keen to get their hands on some EUCI exclusive merchandise featuring the two mega Charizard evolutions X and Y. But it was the new Pin Trading booth where most of the action happened this weekend, as trainers swapped out pins they brought with pins they preferred, either from other trainers or from a wall where pins where displayed and cycled throughout the day.
In addition to the Pokémon Center pop-up store, there were big queues for a demo of the upcoming Animal Crossing-like video game Pokémon Pokopia and the Play Lab which allowed fans and visitors to learn the basics of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
This year we had a special treat with an exhibition on the show floor of some of the artwork of the most famous and beloved Pokémon TGC illustrators, such as Asako Ito – famous for crochet Pokémon cards. I fell in love with the pink and blue Altaria poster but unfortunately didn’t get a signing slot in the lottery. Matazo, Yuka Oka, and Scav were in attendance and available for personalised autographs.
While the closing ceremony was surprising low-key, with no new announcements, that wasn’t exactly a surprise given how close Pokémon Day is now. As the newly crowned champions stepped off the stage at London’s ExCeL, the spotlight now shifts to other regional competitions and then the North American International Championships in New Orleans this June. That event marks the final major showdown for many competitors, before the road culminates at the 2026 World Championship in San Francisco this August.
Walking out of the event on Sunday evening, I spoke to content creator Dev, who goes by the name @alcremiesundae, and who summed up the weekend perfectly: ‘More than anything, this community means everything to me. I genuinely can’t imagine where my life would be if I hadn’t put so much dedication into Pokémon. I’m incredibly grateful for where it’s taken me and for the people I’ve met along the way. I wouldn’t change any of it.’
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
