The Nuzlocke Invitational is the largest organized Nuzlocke event: a creator tournament hosted by PointCrow (Eric) and pChal / Pokémon Challenges (Jan Krüger) — the streamer who formalized the Hardcore Nuzlocke ruleset. Its official home is nuzlocke.in (© 2026 PointCrow LLC), and the community treats it as the biggest annual Nuzlocke event.
How the tournament works
The event runs in two phases:
- The Nuzlocke phase (July). Participants play a Nuzlocke run of a custom randomized Pokémon Emerald mod built for the event, streamed over several weeks (the official site publishes weekly recaps).
- The live tournament (early August). Players bring the surviving team — their Nuzlocke Hall of Fame team — to a live 1v1 bracket.
Your run is your roster: whatever survives the Nuzlocke is what you battle with.
The battle rules (official)
From the official rules page at nuzlocke.in:
- Players bring the 6 Pokémon from their Nuzlocke Hall of Fame team and choose 4 for each round.
- Double battles under standard VGC rules, with open teamsheets.
- All Pokémon are set to level 50.
- No Terastallization, Z-moves, Dynamax, or Mega Evolution.
- Item clause is in effect.
- Matches are Best of 3.
The game: a private custom mod
The tournament doesn’t use a retail ROM. The 2026 edition runs on a custom randomized Emerald mod built for the event (modder: Atsign; the 1st Invitational used a FireRed-based randomized mod). Crucially: the mod is not publicly available — the community confirms “it isn’t available to public,” and it includes Pokémon and modern mechanics up to Gen 9. Full story: the Invitational ROM hack.
The two editions so far
| Edition | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Invitational | 8 creators paired with 8 coaches | FireRed-based randomizer mod |
| Nuzlocke Invitational 2 (2026) | ~18 participants | Custom Emerald mod; July Nuzlocke phase + August 2 live finals |
Details of the current edition — participants, new mechanics, schedule — are on our Nuzlocke Invitational 2026 page.
Watch it
- The official site hosts weekly recaps and the full tournament VOD.
- PointCrow’s “I Created Pokemon’s Largest Nuzlocke Tournament” is the host’s own introduction (800K+ views).
- Full VOD playlists for both editions are linked from the official site and the hosts’ channels.