The 2024 Pokémon European International Championships have been and gone, but what a weekend it was for the yearly event!
Thousands of competitors and spectators alike descended on London's ExCeL arena for three days of competition, meet-ups and (of course) shopping. Now taking up multiple halls in the capital's convention centre, this year's EUIC was the biggest yet, showcasing a new gold standard that we are sure the remaining regional events this season will be looking to replicate.
Of course, being the biggest event brings its own problems — it's now easier than ever to miss out on the action while distracted by whatever other shiny attraction caught your eye. But that's where we come in.
Below, we have broken down everything that happened at the 2024 Pokémon EUIC, from tournament winners to show floor surprises and you can find our thoughts on all of it along the way.
So, let's dive into a weekend of catching 'em all...
What Are The 2024 Pokémon European International Championships?
It's a fair question and one that is made doubly difficult by having the words 'European' and 'International' right next to each other. So, for those not familiar with the competitive Pokémon scene, here's the lowdown.
At a basic level, International Championships (like EUIC) are the competitions before the World Championships — the granddaddy of them all. To get to the International phase, players will have first progressed through League Cups and Regional Championships, earning 'Championship Points' to qualify for the next, larger tournament.
There are several International Championships throughout the season (the Latin America tournament took place last November and the North American one kicks off in June), but this is the biggest event of the year for Europe.
Of course, it's not all competition. The events are attended by thousands of spectators each year to watch the matches or get involved with the show floor activities (but more on that later).
For now, let's get into the matches themselves...
Watching The Tournaments
EUIC houses tournaments for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, video game (Scarlet and Violet this year, obviously), Pokémon GO and Pokémon Unite.
The matches take place across opening 'Swiss Rounds,' with competitors gradually being whittled down to the top eight, top four and, eventually, the finals. Oh, and things are also split between different age brackets — Junior (born in 2005 or later), Senior (born 2001-2004) and Masters (born 2000 or earlier) just to balance things out further.
Get it? It doesn't matter if not, because watching these matches is a wild ride.
The Swiss Rounds are huge, with thousands (yes, thousands) of players all competing at once. It's an experience in itself to just walk alongside these matches, soaking up the expertise at play, but the real deal is catching the larger qualifiers on stage.
These bigger events play out in front of a cheering crowd, with large screens giving a closer look at the action and commentary teams keeping you up to date on every move. The Pokémon Unite finals took to the stage to close out Saturday's events, while the remaining competitions all came to a head on the aptly named 'Finals Day' (or 'Sunday,' to you and me).