Nuzlocke Invitational 2026 — officially “Nuzlocke Invitational 2” — is the second edition of PointCrow & pChal’s Nuzlocke Invitational, announced in the first-ever Nuzlocke Direct on June 29, 2026. This page is a snapshot from August 15, 2026; for anything after that date, check nuzlocke.in directly.

Time-sensitive page

As of our last check (August 15, 2026), the official site had published Week 1–4 recaps and the full tournament VOD. We did not independently verify the August 2 finals results — the official site’s Archive and Highlights sections are the source of truth for outcomes.

Timeline

  • June 29, 2026 — the Nuzlocke Direct announces the event, rules and lineup.
  • July 2026 — the Nuzlocke phase: participants stream their runs (runs closed around July 25).
  • August 2, 2026 — the live 1v1 tournament, played with each player’s surviving Hall of Fame team under the official battle rules (bring 6, pick 4, doubles VGC, level 50, Bo3).

What’s new in 2026

From the Direct and the official rules:

  • Bigger encounter pool — every Pokémon available in Scarlet/Violet can appear, with built-in dupes protection and “enhanced encounter distribution” so runs look more unique.
  • Speed incentive — Pokémon submitted to the Hall of Fame by players who finish early are removed from the encounter pool of all later runs. Finish fast, or lose access to what the winners used.
  • Quality of life — HM effects unlock with their badge (no HM slaves), Fly is usable from the very start with a simplified Hoenn map, and party management lets you level instantly to the cap — no grinding.
  • Logic-based randomization — weak Pokémon randomize into weak Pokémon, strong into strong. Gen 9 mechanics are implemented.

The embedded Nuzlocke rules

The 2026 mod enforces the ruleset automatically, including automatic level caps:

  • Faint = gone forever; whiteout = restart from the beginning.
  • First encounter per location only; duplicates are rerolled.
  • Nicknames required; Shinies can always be caught.
  • No items at all during battle.
  • Your level cannot exceed the next Gym Leader’s highest level — set automatically by the mod.

Participants

The 2026 lineup (~18 creators, per the official Participants page and homepage highlights): pChal (Jan), PointCrow (Eric), AstralSpiff, Atrioc, BruceGreene, Foolish, FrostPrime, Kkatamina, TinaKitten, Tubbo, Buhrito, Byonemil, FlygonHG, jackieinternet, KyaColosseum, MANNAT, NedPT and Safetyman420.

The mod

The 2026 edition runs on a custom randomized Emerald mod built by Atsign — and it is not publicly downloadable. Details and the fan-made alternatives: the Invitational ROM hack.

Sources