A new news article has been posted!

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The official Pokémon website has announced details for the Pokémon Oceania International Championships which will take place at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia, from February 9th to 11th, 2018.

Pokémon Oceania International Championships

The Pokémon Oceania International Championships are the second International Championships event of the 2018 Championship Series season. The event, one of the largest of the entire 2018 season, will take place at Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia, from February 9–11, 2018. It will feature high Championship Point payouts and thousands of dollars' worth of prizes, spread between the Pokémon TCG and video game competitions.

The Pokémon Company International is excited to work with ESL Australia as the operator of the event.

Event location:
Sydney Olympic Park
Exhibition Hall D
8 Australia Avenue
Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127

The Masters Division competitions will begin Friday, February 9, and go through Sunday, February 11. Junior and Senior Division competitions will begin Saturday, February 10.

Source: https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/internationals/2018/oceania/about/

Interesting that it's in Sydney this time. Previously the national and international championships have always been in Melbourne, probably because Nintendo Australia's headquarters is there.

According to the web site https://internationals.eslpkm.com.au there will be entry fees of $30 for juniors and seniors, $60 for masters, and even $10 for spectators. That seems pretty steep. I imagine lots of parents wouldn't be willing to pay $30 (plus the price of spectator passes for themselves) just for their kid to play in a video game tournament. And even a lot of players in the masters division would be students, so $60 is a lot to ask. That's more than the price of the game itself.

Oh I didn't even see the entry fee. Yeah, that is very steep especially for Pokémon. The London tournament last week had people from the USA and Canada winning some of the divisions. Since this is technically an International tournament, I wonder how many people from outside of Australia are going to actually attend this event. In the last year or two these events have become a bit more popular but the travel expenses are pretty high for International players. TPCi doesn't give too many travel bursaries either and that's usually for Nationals and Worlds.