Palworld TCG Masters League 26/27 - Dates, Format, Prizes

The first Palworld TCG Masters League qualifier outside Japan is on 7-8 November 2026 in Kissimmee, Florida. That is eight days after Booster Pack "Legends Awaken" goes on sale, and as of today Bushiroad's official card database holds exactly zero Legends Awaken cards. The international season opens on a card pool that is not in the official database yet.

The rest of the international season is now public too. Bushiroad's English Masters League 26/27 page lists 23 qualifiers across three regions, a two-day tournament structure, a prize ladder that ends in a sponsored trip to the Masters World Finals, and a new eight-card promo pack. In August our promo cards guide noted that the English site carried no regional schedule and that Bushiroad's two conference recaps disagreed on whether the season started in September or November. The two event pages reconcile them: Bushiroad's Japanese Masters League 26-27 page dates Japan's first qualifier to 22 September 2026 in Kyoto, while the English page's first dated qualifiers are Kissimmee on 7-8 November and Surakarta, Indonesia on 8 November.

Everything below is read off the English page, its Japanese counterpart and Bushiroad's product listings on 28 September 2026, plus the one thing the English page leaves you to work out yourself: which sets each qualifier will actually be played with.

Where the Masters League sits

Bushiroad's English events page sorts its current Palworld TCG events into Competitive and Casual. Under Competitive sit the Masters League 26/27, the Challengers Cup and Bushiroad Summer Fest 2026. Shop Tournaments are filed under Casual, next to the demo sessions.

On the English page, the Masters League has only two levels: Masters League Qualifiers, and the Masters World Finals. Outside Japan there are no regional or national rounds in between. Win a qualifier and you are invited straight to the finals.

Japan runs its own leg of the same season with an extra tier. Bushiroad's Japanese Masters League 26-27 page lists four stops - Kyoto on 22 September 2026, Tokyo on 3 October and 6 December 2026, and Chiba (Makuhari Messe) on 23 February 2027. There, the top three earn a place at a Japan Finals, the champion also earns a World Finals place, and the Japan Finals sends its own top finishers on to the World Finals. The rest of this guide covers the 23 qualifiers on the English page.

The store-level Grand Challengers Cup, which each official tournament store can hold once in October 2026, is a separate programme with its own promos, and nothing on the Challengers Cup page mentions a World Finals invitation. The Masters League page is where the invitations live.

All 23 qualifiers, by region

Seventeen qualifiers have a date. Six do not yet. Dates and venues exactly as Bushiroad lists them:

Americas (10, all dated)

Asia / Oceania (8, four dated)

Europe (5, three dated)

A few listings are worth a second look before you book anything. The French entry names Saint-Soupplets as the city but gives "Creteil, Paris" as the venue's address line, which is a different town, so confirm the location with Bushiroad before buying travel. Italy's venue is explicitly marked tentative. And two stops are listed as a single day rather than a weekend - Surakarta on 8 November and Buenos Aires on 14 February - while France runs across three days.

The six undated stops are Melbourne, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, St. Polten and Malpensa. Singapore has a date but no venue. Bushiroad's FAQ is explicit that residence and nationality do not matter: you may play any qualifier in any region and earn an invitation there.

Which sets are legal at each qualifier

The page's card legality rule is one line: "All cards can be used from its official release date." Put that next to the release dates on Bushiroad's own products page and the season splits into three card pools.

Map the 17 dated qualifiers onto those dates:

Four qualifiers on the first pool, two on the second, eleven on the third. Three things fall out of that table.

Houston is the day after a set release. Booster Pack "Eternal Ascent" is dated 29 January 2027 and Houston starts 30 January. Anyone playing it gets one day with a hundred new card types.

Manila is the last stop before the third booster. It runs 23-24 January, five days before Eternal Ascent. Vancouver and Manila are the only two dated qualifiers where the Eternal Ascent trial decks are the newest legal product.

By Duluth in late March, 200 booster card types that do not exist in the database today will be legal - Legends Awaken's 100 and Eternal Ascent's 100, per the two product pages - plus two trial decks whose contents Bushiroad has not listed.

One caveat governs the whole table. Every one of those product pages says "Design and specifications are subject to change", and it has already happened once: Sleeve & Card Set Vol.1 moved from 2 October to 16 October in a notice Bushiroad posted on 28 August. If a release date moves, the pool at the qualifiers either side of it moves with it. The six undated stops cannot be placed at all yet.

The format: Day 1 Swiss, Day 2 top cut

The page lays out a two-day structure:

• Day 1 (Qualifiers): Swiss rounds, best-of-one, 30-minute time limit. The number of rounds depends on turnout and the event schedule, capped at 10.
• Day 2 (Top Cut): single elimination, best-of-three, 75-minute time limit.
• Finals: no time limit.

One inconsistency to know about. The same section is headed "Standard Qualifiers: Swiss Rounds + Top Cut (Best-of-1)", which contradicts the best-of-three written directly under Day 2. The Day 2 line is the more specific of the two, but confirm the top-cut format at check-in rather than trusting either line.

If Day 2 is best-of-three, it is a genuine change of pace. Every other tournament format Bushiroad has published for this game on the English site - Shop Tournaments, the Grand Release Tournament, the Los Angeles Release Party and the Grand Challengers Cup - is best-of-one. The page does not say how many players make Day 2, and it does not describe a time-up procedure for either day. Our promo guide covers the Annex A double-loss protocol Bushiroad announced for its other events; the Masters League page does not restate it, so ask the head judge.

You must also play the same deck for the whole tournament, with no card changes between games.

The prize ladder

The page lists prizes by finish. It lists each tier separately and does not say whether higher finishes also receive the lower tiers' prizes.

The X-2 prize is a consolation for players who go the distance at two losses, and the page is explicit that you have to complete all rounds to receive it. Drop early and it is gone. The pack pictured beside the Cattiva is the purple Special PR Card Pack Vol.1 wrapper.

The three placement cards are Soul cards, not Pals: each is a full-art Soul with the Masters League crest and "1st Place", "2nd Place" or "3rd Place" in large gold lettering, and no text box at all. One numbering quirk if you are cataloguing them: the card faces print 1st as ESOUL-014, 2nd as ESOUL-015 and 3rd as ESOUL-016, but the event page's image files and alt text label 2nd and 3rd the other way round. The printed numbers are on the cards; go by those.

The Special PR Pack Vol.1 is eight reprints with two firsts

It is the participation prize for every player and again the Day 2 participation prize, and the page describes the cards as having "special foiling in an OSR style". The wrapper states the pool on the front: one card per pack, eight types.

I checked each card image on the page against Bushiroad's card database. All eight match an existing printing on cost, text and, for the six Pals, Power and Strike - the same reprint pattern our promo guide found in the first sixteen promos.

The X-2 Cattiva, EPR-020, is a ninth reprint (of ETD02-023) and the only one of the nine with the Masters League crest printed on its artwork.

Two of the eight are Events, and that is new. All 26 entries currently filed under the PR2026 promo code in Bushiroad's database are Pals or Souls. Across promo numbers EPR-001 to EPR-020, Treasure Chest Found! and Found an Egg! are the only Events - the first non-Pal, non-Soul cards in the promo line.

None of them is a Lucky Pal, and the chase tier is still out of the pool. The highest base rarity among the eight is Pengullet's R. The serial-numbered Jormuntide Ignis from the Grand Challengers Cup is still the only Lucky Pal among the database's promos, and nothing on the Masters League page adds another.

The "My First" trio runs through the whole prize table. Only three cards in the pool carry "My First Pal" in their name - Lamball, Chikipi and Cattiva - and the Masters League reprints all three: EPR-018, EPR-019 and the X-2 prize EPR-020. The champion's Soul pictures the same three Pals. EPR-018 is also the second promo printing of Lamball – My First Pal, after EPR-001.

None of the nine, and none of the three placement Souls, is in the card database yet. The highest promo number there on 28 September 2026 is EPR-011, out of 266 rows in total. For what OSR means on a regular printing, the rarities guide has the full breakdown, including the fact that Bushiroad has not published what the letters stand for.

How a finish becomes a World Finals invitation

Three invitations come out of every qualifier on the English page:

• 1st place: a sponsored invitation.
• 2nd and 3rd place: non-sponsored invitations.

Unaccepted invitations pass down the standings, but only as far as 4th place. The sponsored invitation can only reach 4th if both 2nd and 3rd are unable to attend. If the champion of a qualifier has already accepted a sponsored invitation, that qualifier's sponsored invitation passes down; the same applies to 2nd and 3rd place finishers who have already accepted any invitation.

That clause matters more as the season goes on. A player who has already accepted an invitation can keep playing qualifiers, and under those rules their top-three finish passes that qualifier's invitation down the standings instead of wasting it - though never past 4th. The page does not cover a player who holds a non-sponsored invitation and then wins a qualifier. If all 23 listed qualifiers run and every invitation is taken up, that is 23 sponsored and 46 non-sponsored invitations from the English-page qualifiers alone.

The invitations come with conditions:

• Bushiroad books sponsored travel. For a sponsored invitation, flights and accommodation are arranged by Bushiroad or its representatives, and there are no reimbursements for arrangements players buy themselves.
• Two weeks to accept. If the completed form has not reached Bushiroad by email within 2 weeks of the qualifier ending, the invitation is treated as declined and withdrawn. The page gives this under its sponsored-invitation FAQ.
• No visa help. Bushiroad does not sponsor or assist with visas for any participant.
• Two weeks' notice to back out. Players who cannot attend must tell Bushiroad at least two weeks before the World Finals, or it counts as a no-show and may be penalised.

The page dates the Masters World Finals to "Spring 2027" and names no city. Bushiroad's English Conference Spring 2026 recap said the World Finals would be held at Card Game Festival 2027 in Tokyo in May 2027; the Masters League page has not repeated that detail.

Rules that are stricter than your shop tournament

Every qualifier and the World Finals are Level 3 tournaments; side events at qualifiers are Level 1. Those levels come from the Bushiroad TCG Advanced Floor Rules. Section 3.1.3 describes Level 3 as the most competitive level, where "all penalties are given strictly", and the penalty guidelines add that strict penalties may be given even to unintentional infractions. The same guidelines recommend Level 1 for shop tournaments, where infractions caused by unfamiliarity with the rules are to be penalised lightly and judges are told to educate players. The same accidental mistake can be penalised far more heavily at a qualifier.

English cards only in the main deck. Only English edition cards are legal, and mixing languages in the main deck is not allowed. Soul cards are the exception and may be in any language. Floor rules 2.3.4 allows translation slips for Japanese edition cards, but that does not help here, because Japanese main-deck cards are not legal at Masters League events outside Japan.

Licensed supplies only. You may use your own sleeves, deck boxes and playmats, but they must be officially licensed products with a copyright on them, and supplies from competing trading card game brands are banned outright. Patterned oversleeves are not allowed; emboss, matte and textured oversleeves of the right size are.

Trade, do not sell. Players may trade cards at the venue but may not buy or sell cards from each other, and only Bushiroad card games may be played on site unless another sanctioned card game tournament is running at the same venue.

Eligibility. Everyone may enter except the tournament's organiser, staff, head judge and judges.

Registering, and what to bring

• Bushi Navi, SMS-verified. Registration runs through the Bushi Navi app, and your account must be authenticated by SMS before you register for any Masters League event.
• Pre-registration is recommended but not required. Each event has a maximum capacity. If it fills before the day, you can join a waitlist and check in in waitlist order; if it does not, you can register on site.
• No entry fee for any qualifier, though side events may charge and a qualifier hosted inside another ticketed event may carry that event's admission fee. General admission for spectators is free, but may not open until tournament check-in closes.
• Bring: your main deck and soul deck sleeved in distinct sleeves, a life counter, Material and Ingredient markers (dice or flat glass beads are accepted as substitutes), and a fully charged phone with Bushi Navi for pairings and result reporting. Venue Wi-Fi is not guaranteed; players without a connection can check pairings and report results with the Tournament Organizer.
• Pack food, or at least plan for it. There are no planned breaks in the schedule, food policies vary by venue, and open food and drink are not allowed in the tournament area.

The deck-and-marker rules are the same ones the floor rules already require, which our promo cards guide covers in more detail, and the rules walkthrough covers what the markers are tracking.

What Bushiroad has not published

• Dates and venues for six qualifiers, plus Singapore's venue, and confirmation of the French and Italian locations.
• How many players make Day 2, and whether the top cut is best-of-one or best-of-three given the page's own contradiction.
• The champion prize, the trophy and the Bushi Navi flair designs. All are placeholders marked "Coming Soon".
• Side events. "More details will be announced later."
• A time-up procedure for either day.
• The World Finals city and exact date on the Masters League page itself.
• Card lists for Legends Awaken and either Eternal Ascent product in the official card database, which has no entries for any of them yet.
• Database entries for EPR-012 to EPR-020 and the three placement Souls. They exist only as images on the event page.

Quick reference

• 23 qualifiers on the English page: 10 in the Americas, 8 in Asia-Oceania, 5 in Europe. 17 dated, 6 still TBC.
• Japan: a separate four-stop leg (Kyoto 22 September 2026, Tokyo 3 October and 6 December, Chiba 23 February 2027) feeding a Japan Finals; each champion also earns a World Finals place.
• First qualifiers outside Japan: Kissimmee, 7-8 November 2026, and Surakarta, 8 November 2026. Last dated: Duluth, 27-28 March 2027.
• Card legality: everything from its official release date. Legends Awaken (30 October) is legal from the first qualifier outside Japan; the Eternal Ascent trial decks (18 December) from Vancouver; the Eternal Ascent booster (29 January) from Houston.
• Format: Day 1 Swiss, best-of-one, 30 minutes, up to 10 rounds. Day 2 single elimination, best-of-three, 75 minutes. Finals untimed.
• Invitations (English-page qualifiers): 1st sponsored; 2nd and 3rd non-sponsored; unclaimed invitations pass down to 4th at most.
• Level 3 enforcement at every qualifier and the World Finals.
• English cards only in the main deck; Souls may be any language.
• No entry fee. Register on SMS-verified Bushi Navi.
• Participation prize: a Special PR Pack Vol.1 - eight reprint promos, including the first two Event promos.
• World Finals: Spring 2027 per the Masters League page; Card Game Festival 2027 in Tokyo in May per Bushiroad's spring conference recap.

If you are choosing one qualifier to travel to, pick by card pool, not just by distance. The first four international stops are Legends Awaken events, Houston onward is an Eternal Ascent season, and with neither card list in the official database yet, there is no official data to compare those two formats on. The dates, at least, are no longer a guess.