More than six months after all of the winners were named for the Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest 2022, The Pokémon Company is finally ready to distribute a limited run of promo cards—which will be done through the usual raffle method fans have mixed opinions on.
For Pokémon fans or TCG collectors who might not have kept up with the contest in early 2022, the TCG Illustration Contest is a way for The Pokémon Company and Creatures Inc. to welcome fan artists to create Pokémon art themed on a specific template for a chance to win prizes and potentially get those cards officially created.
The 2022 event was the first to welcome artists in the U.S. to compete alongside Japanese artists for the first time since 2015, with a total of 10,830 entries being submitted across both regions. These were slowly voted down over multiple months before winners were decided upon by a panel of judges including official Pokémon TCG illustrators and senior staff from both Creatures Inc. and TPC.
Only the grand prize winner and a runner-up from each region were awarded the honor of being turned into actual promo cards, along with winning the biggest cash prizes. Here are the top three finishers.
Grand prize winner: REND
Japan runner-up: Kasai Taiga
U.S. runner-up: Julie Hang
These Arcanine, Greninja, and Bulbasaur cards are now set to be released as a promo collection in 2023, with the actual release to be done via a digital raffle system that TPC has used for multiple other promo giveaways.
Fans who are 18 years or older in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. can register via the official Pokémon Center giveaway page, with a full list of requirements available. Once you enter your information, you will automatically be entered to receive a special one-time-use promo code within the next 16 weeks.
Lucky fans who get this code can then use it to obtain the cards, but you must also spend $30 or more on the Pokémon Center online shop for the code to be redeemable at checkout. This is an easy way for TPC to promote sales through a “free” promotional collectible that will only be available for a very limited time.
If you don’t receive a code, you will be unable to obtain these cards directly through official methods, which means you will be stuck looking on the secondary market for anyone who only grabbed the promo cards for resale purposes.
