Season 3 of the Unite Champion Series Has Been Announced
Each season of competitive Pokémon Unite has seen brand new changes and this year is no different. Here is a quick list of what to look forward to in Season 2:
- “Aeos Cup” has been changed to be an international event with multiple regions to compete in London
- Monthly tournaments will now have prize money.
- Open bracket events have been added to both EUIC and NAIC
Pokémon Unite — Top 5 Pokémon in Season 15
A brand new announcement was released from the Pokémon Unite Championship Series on Dec. 15th. Included in it were a lot of exciting new details for the competitive scene. The series has come a long way since season 1 when the game was blind pick and the only in-person event was the World Championships. Let's break down everything to look forward to in season 3!
Unite Champion Series Schedule
The first thing we have to talk about is the new schedule that was released. Dates for all tournaments except the World Championships are included in this list.
- Aeos Cup Online Qualifier - February 3
- Aeos Cup Play-Ins - February 10
- March Cup Open Qualifier - March 9
- March Cup Finals - March 16
- Aeos Cup (In person at EUIC) - April 5-6
- April Cup Open Qualifier - April 13
- April Cup Finals - April 20
- Regional Champion Open Qualifier - May 11
- Regional Championships (All regions except NA) - May 18-19
- North American Regional Championships (In person at NAIC) - June 7-8
- “The Final Stretch” - June 7-8
As you can see the season will begin in February and continue until the World Championships. The biggest change to the schedule since the prior seasons is the removal of the Aeos Cup for each region and instead, it being an international event held in London. While this does mean each region has one less tournament in the series cash prizes have been added to the Monthly events.
Cash Prize For Monthly Cups
Historically Monthly Cups have only awarded “Championship Points” in the UCS. Starting this season cash prizes will also be awarded. This will include:
- Aeos Cup Play-Ins (February 10th)
- March Cup Finals (March 16th)
- April Cup Finals (April 20th)
The tournaments listed above are the events that have been changed to award cash prizes. The events that previously awarded cash remain the same (Regionals, Aeos Cup, World Championships). The exact number of what will be awarded and how it will be allocated has not been announced at this time.
Aeos Cup Transformed
Aeos Cup used to be the mid-season event for every region which awarded Championship Points and prize money. However, this year Aeos Cup has a brand new look. Teams from every UCS participating region will have the chance to qualify and earn travel awards to compete at the event live in London April 5-6. This event will be awarding $100,000 USD in prize money and a spot at the World Championships for whichever team wins first.
The online qualifiers in February are not the only way to qualify for this event. For the first time ever Aeos Cup will have an in-person open bracket in London. Teams who qualify via this open bracket are entered into the group stage of the Aeos Cup. Any team who is from a participating UCS region is allowed to enter this tournament. The exact number of teams who qualify for the event via online qualifiers or the in-person open bracket is still yet to be announced.
This format for an event is nothing new to fans of other esports, MSI from League of Legends for example is extremely similar. The only remaining question around this tournament is how many teams can compete and if any teams from the Asia regions will be invited.
LCQ Added To Regionals
The final big change that was announced is the addition of another open bracket at an in-person event this season. This time it is held at NAIC, where the NA regional finals will be held. The tournament is called “The Final Stretch” and included in the prizes is a spot at Worlds! We still do not know if this tournament is open to any region like the Aeos Cup open bracket is.
Remaining Questions
While a ton of information was dropped for season 3, there is still a few questions we need information for.
- How many Teams are invited to the Aeos Cup?
- How many teams are invited to the World Championships?
- What are the exact numbers for prize money this season and did it increase?
Despite not knowing the answers to the questions above at this point the community has responded to this news excitedly. The general sentiment is that the UCS is becoming bigger and better each year, and the competitive scene is a huge focus for Pokémon and Unite. We couldn’t agree more!
Joshua “ZOINKS” Hiebert is a Pokemon Unite Commentator and esports enthusiast residing in Chicago. He has worked on a variety of Unite events including the World Championships held in London in 2022, and in Japan in 2023. In his free time he can be found watching esports ranging from Pokemon, Overwatch, Halo, League of Legends, and even Mario Kart. In his writing and in his casting ZOINKS pushes to make sure that players stories are known to the audience.