Play! Pokémon is bringing back fantasy teams for the Pokémon North America International Championships (NAIC), and fans can win sweet prizes by playing along.
From May 24 at 7pm CT, Pokémon fans in the U.S. and Canada can submit fantasy teams for which Pokémon and cards they think will win NAIC in Scarlet and Violet VGC and TCG. You can sign up for both, with the first 10,000 U.S. registrants and first 2,000 Canadian registrants receiving a discount for the Pokémon Center store.
In addition, you might even be rewarded for your predictions, depending on which VGC team and TCG deck win the big Pokémon international. Top finishers will earn merch from the Pokémon Center including a TCG booster display box, an adorable plushie, or a figure.
There was a similar fantasy team contest for Worlds last year, and it was a neat little thing to do to participate even if you couldn’t attend the event in person. I remember including Palafin on my VGC fantasy team even though it was more of an off-meta pick at that point, but it was fun to root for one of my favorite ‘mons from Scarlet and Violet while watching along. Spoiler alert: Palafin didn’t win and neither did I.
The team that did end up winning Worlds was more standard at the time, with Urshifu, Flutter Mane, and Amoonguss, so sticking to popular meta picks might be the safer route when selecting ‘mons for my NAIC fantasy team. That means I may have to go with current Regulation G threats like Zamazenta and Incineroar.
The Pokémon NAIC will be held from June 7 to 9.
