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The Pokémon Company has officially announced that the next online tournament for Sword and Shield, the Spikemuth Cup, will give competitive trainers a chance to experience the Galar region in a new way.

The Spikemuth Cup is a Singles Battle tournament with specific rules. Players can only use Pokémon from Galar, The Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra, and Pokémon cannot Dynamax during battles. Players will have separate tournament ranks with the opportunity to earn rewards for participating.

Those interested in participating must sign up between March 3 and March 18 before the tournament officially starts. Players can sign up in Pokémon Sword and Shield by opening the VS Menu, selecting Battle Stadium, selecting online competitions, searching official competitions and choosing “Spikemuth Cup.”

Once the tournament ends, Pokémon will release a leaderboard showing how participants performed. Those who played at least one battle during the event will be eligible for Battle Stadium Rewards via Mystery Gifts. To get these, players must go to the Mystery Gift Menu and select “Get Battle Stadium Rewards.”

A format without Dynamax

Ever since the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield, some fans have been clamoring for a competitive battle format without Dynamax. Pokémon Showdown, an online battle simulator, even banned the mechanic from several of its formats. However, Video Game Championship Series format, which uses double battles, has included the mechanic. Since VGC is the official competitive format supported within Sword and Shield itself, players haven’t had a chance to enjoy the new Pokémon without Dynamax. The Spikemuth Cup grants them an opportunity to do this, but only in a singles format.

The fact that this is only coming in a singles format means that players won’t be able to experiment with different VGC teams. Additionally, the event itself conflicts with the next stage of the Pokémon Players Cup III, the only official VGC event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some online remarked at the irony of the situation.

The Spikemuth Cup officially runs from Thursday, March 18 to Sunday March 21.