The 2027 competitive season kicks off south of the equator. The Pokemon Company International has launched the official hub page for the 2027 Latin America International Championships, and the reveal is packed: a confirmed venue, a two-phase registration schedule, and a Salamence-themed welcome kit that collectors are already talking about.
- Venue: Centro de Convencoes - Distrito Anhembi, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Dates: November 20-22, 2027
- First registration window: September 22, 3:00 PM PDT
- Second competitor window: September 23, 5:00 AM PDT
- Welcome kit theme: Salamence
- Exclusive Top 8 and Champion playmats confirmed
This is the first of three International Championships on the 2027 calendar, and it sets the tone for how TPCi is handling swag, logistics, and player experience heading into the new season.
Where and when the 2027 Latin America International Championships takes place
Sao Paulo hosts the tournament at the Centro de Convencoes - Distrito Anhembi, a venue with enough floor space to handle the thousands of competitors who typically show up for a Latin America International Championship. The event runs from November 20 through November 22, 2027, which lines up with the usual late-autumn slot LAIC has occupied in past seasons.
Brazil hosting the opener matters beyond logistics. Latin America's competitive scene has grown fast over the past few years, and giving the region the first International Championship of the season, rather than a mid-cycle slot, signals that TPCi is treating the market as a priority rather than an afterthought.
For players outside Brazil, factor in visa lead times if you are traveling internationally. Past LAIC events have seen last-minute travel scrambles from competitors who assumed a tourist visa would clear in a week. It rarely does for Brazil, so start that process the moment your travel plans are locked.
The Salamence welcome kit: what is actually in the box
Every confirmed competitor walks away with a kit built entirely around Salamence artwork. The full list, per the official hub page, includes a cap, a playmat, card sleeves, a deck box, a pin, and a stamped Poke Tablet promo printed in Brazilian Portuguese.
The Portuguese-language stamped promo is the detail worth noting. TPCi has leaned into region-specific card printing for International Championships before, but pairing it with a stamped variant makes this one genuinely scarce outside the event itself. Expect these to show up on the secondary market within days of the tournament, priced well above a standard promo simply because of the stamp and language variant combination.
Card sleeves and deck boxes from these welcome kits rarely get much attention, but veteran collectors know better. Limited-run accessory items from International Championships tend to hold value better than most promo cards, mostly because nobody bothers to track print runs on sleeves the way they do on cards.
Registration: two windows, and why the timing is deliberate
Spectator and competitor registration opens September 22 at 3:00 PM PDT. A second registration window specifically for competitors follows the next morning, September 23 at 5:00 AM PDT.
Splitting registration into two waves is not new for International Championships, but it does create a real strategic question for players. The first window typically draws players in North American and European time zones who are awake at 3:00 PM PDT. The second window, opening at 5:00 AM PDT, sits at a friendlier hour for players across South America and parts of Europe.
If you are aiming for a guaranteed spot, do not wait for the "better" window based on your own schedule. Competitor slots at recent International Championships have filled within hours, sometimes faster. Set an alarm, have your Pokemon Trainer Club account and payment details ready in advance, and register the moment the window you are eligible for opens.
Top 8 and Champion exclusive playmats
Beyond the standard welcome kit, TPCi confirmed that Top 8 finishers and the eventual Champion receive exclusive playmats not available to the general competitor pool. These have historically become some of the most sought-after pieces of Pokemon TCG memorabilia, since production runs are tied directly to how many players actually reach that stage of the bracket.
A Top 8 playmat from a major International Championship is a different collecting category entirely from a set-based promo. There is no reprint, no secondary release, and the total supply is fixed the moment the bracket resolves. If competitive results and tournament history matter to your collection, this is the kind of item worth tracking closely once LAIC 2027 concludes.
What we still do not know about LAIC 2027
The official hub page confirms the essentials, venue, dates, registration windows, and welcome kit contents, but a few details remain unannounced as of this writing. TPCi has not yet published the specific side events, the Trainer's Toolkit offerings for spectators, or whether any additional promo cards beyond the stamped Poke Tablet will be distributed on-site.
Past International Championships have added surprise announcements in the weeks leading up to the event, sometimes a special guest artist signing session, sometimes an exclusive product only sold at the venue. Given how much attention TPCi has put into region-specific swag lately, do not be surprised if Sao Paulo gets something similar closer to November.
Streaming coverage details also have not been confirmed. Recent International Championships have leaned heavily into official stream coverage with dedicated commentary teams, and given the growth of the Latin American competitive scene, a strong broadcast presence for LAIC 2027 would make sense as a way to showcase the region to the wider Pokemon TCG community.
How LAIC fits into the Championship Points race
For competitive players, LAIC 2027 is not just a weekend in Sao Paulo, it is a Championship Points opportunity that shapes Worlds qualification for the following season. Points earned here stack with results from Regionals, other Internationals, and Special Events throughout the year.
Being the first International Championship on the calendar carries a specific advantage. Players who perform well in Sao Paulo lock in points early, which takes pressure off the rest of their schedule. Players who miss it, or bomb out early, have two more Internationals plus a full Regional circuit to make up ground, but the margin for error shrinks with every event that passes.
Expect the meta at LAIC 2027 to look different from what dominated late 2026. New sets released between now and November will have had time to settle into competitive play, and Latin American players have historically brought builds that surprise the wider community, favoring aggressive, low-curve strategies over the control-heavy decks that tend to dominate North American and European events.
Travel and logistics worth planning now
Sao Paulo in late November sits in Brazil's early summer, so pack accordingly, this is not the cold-weather gear players bring to European winter Regionals. Guarulhos International Airport is the main entry point for international competitors, and ground transport into the city during a major convention weekend can run long, so budget extra time getting to the venue on day one.
Hotel availability near the Distrito Anhembi convention center fills up fast once registration opens. Waiting until after you have confirmed your competitor slot to book a room is a common mistake. Book refundable accommodation now, confirm your slot during whichever registration window applies to you, and cancel the room only if you do not get in.
Keeping track of what you pull from LAIC 2027
Between the stamped promo, the welcome kit accessories, and the potential Top 8 playmat, a single International Championship can add a surprising number of items to a collection in one weekend. Cataloguing them as they come in, rather than sorting through a shoebox six months later, makes a real difference when it comes time to sell, trade, or just know what you actually own.
BindeX handles that cataloguing without the manual spreadsheet work. Scan a card or promo with your phone camera, and the app identifies it, logs it to your collection, and tracks its market value over time. For anyone attending LAIC 2027 or picking up secondary market items afterward, it is a fast way to keep an accurate, up-to-date record without falling behind. Download BindeX on the App Store to get started before the tournament weekend arrives.
What this means for the rest of the 2027 season
LAIC 2027 is the first domino in a three-International-Championship season, and how TPCi handles the Sao Paulo event, from registration flow to swag quality, will shape expectations for the rest of the year. The Salamence welcome kit sets a decent bar. The stamped Portuguese promo shows a continued willingness to localize collectibles rather than ship the same generic English card to every region.
Players chasing Championship Points will treat this as the opening stretch of a long qualification road, one that eventually points toward Worlds. Collectors, meanwhile, get a fresh wave of region-specific cards and accessories to track the moment the first attendee walks out of the venue with a bag full of swag. Either way, September 22 is the date to have circled, because seats to Sao Paulo will not stay open for long.
Frequently asked questions
The event runs November 20 through 22, 2027, at the Centro de Convencoes - Distrito Anhembi in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It opens the International Championship season for the year.
Spectator and competitor registration opens September 22 at 3:00 PM PDT, with a second competitor registration window on September 23 at 5:00 AM PDT.
Competitors receive a cap, playmat, card sleeves, deck box, pin, and a stamped Poke Tablet promo card printed in Brazilian Portuguese, all featuring Salamence artwork.
Yes, since competitor slots at International Championships have sold out within hours in recent seasons. Registering during the first window on September 22 gives the best shot at a confirmed seat.
Top 8 competitors and the eventual Champion receive exclusive playmats not included in the standard welcome kit, on top of Championship Points and prize payouts.