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We are back here after 10 years a bigger and better for this year's world championships
We got Pokemon XP as well. There are so many exciting things
So here on your countdown show we want to break it all down for what you would be watching and
Experiencing this entire weekend. Hi everybody. I'm Joshua. I'm gonna be talking about Pokemon Unite
We got Amanda talking about Pokemon go Ethan talking about the Pokemon trading card game and
and Rosemary talking about the Pokemon video game.
We obviously have so much to talk about.
The competition is so exciting.
These halls are already packed with competitors
and fans alike, but we have a lot of major things
to talk about, one of which we are sitting on right now.
This stage is incredible.
Everyone is already getting a first look at it.
Rosemary, what's one of the coolest things
you've seen either here or at the convention so far?
Well, I gotta agree with you.
This stage looks amazing,
but it isn't just a stage.
We have so many activations all around San Francisco.
There's even a Pokemon Go stamp rally,
so you can see some of what San Francisco has to offer.
It's gonna be a possible to do everything this weekend.
Sir, how will you eat them?
Yeah, I mean, these events year after year
continue to grow and expand.
There's more and more to do each year.
The competition becomes even more intense as players
continue to hone their skills in all of the games.
It's going to be an incredible weekend.
Just bouncing off of that 30 years for Pokemon,
like you said, Rosemary, 10 years now for Pokemon Go.
It's been absolutely incredible, especially as a Go player
to see everything there has been to do in San Francisco.
Yeah, I mean, this has been, I said bigger and better
right during the intro.
It really is.
I'm so excited for all the competition that's
going to happen on this main stage.
But this convention hall goes for what
seems like miles that direction.
And there is Pokemon everywhere surrounding us.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
It is so, so fun.
But our job is to focus on what's going on here
on the main stage and in the tournament hall all weekend long.
So we want to talk about what you should be looking to watch
this weekend.
We're going to start off with some major storylines.
So girls, what is a major storyline of the video game
that people should be paying attention to?
Well, the highlight of the weekend
is that this is the first world championships
for Pokemon champions.
And what better way to be able to kick off
this game's life cycle than to crown a world champion who got mega evolution back.
It's going to be just such a great display for all of our top trainers around the world
to show what they've got for Pokemon champions.
Awesome. How about TCG?
It's really around that one big bad Pokemon Dragon Bolt EX.
You can't run and you can't hide from him.
He is everywhere, especially with top trainers bringing him to the world championship.
We're going to see if there's another deck that could be thrown in.
We had a similar metagame 10 years ago to very dominant decks, very dominant archetypes.
And it was actually a rogue deck that was able to take the tournament down.
So, who knows, we could see another surprise back in San Francisco after 10 years.
Ooh, I love that.
A look back is so fun.
I know we have the museum as well here in the venue.
I'm not sure if that rogue deck is featured.
I sure hope it is.
There's a lot of cool moments throughout TCG's history.
But how about the Pokemon Go, Amanda?
What should we be looking forward to watching all weekend long?
So I feel like Go is in this unique position right now.
We're kind of at the bend diagram middle between the video game and Unite,
because as the video game has moved on to a new thing,
this will actually be the last season for Go to have an individual world
champion as we are moving to three versus three for the World Championships next season.
So that's a big accolade that I think a lot of people are really hoping
that they'll be able to climb.
Yeah, I mean, you've had a few world champions already
and one more to take that solo thrown is so exciting.
Pokemon Unite, we are in a bit of a sweet and sour situation.
It is the final time for Pokemon Unite
at the World Championships.
However, we could not have picked a bigger stage,
bigger venue to crown our final World Champion.
That is gonna be the major storyline to watch.
There is going to be one final team raising that trophy
at the Chase Center this weekend, by the way.
We're switching venues and going to one of the biggest
that San Francisco has to offer for our grand finals.
That is gonna be just incredible.
I cannot wait to see all the competitions all day long
on Match Championship Sunday.
It's gonna be a lot of fun.
So that is why we think you should be watching,
but maybe you're asking, who should I be watching?
Well, that's our next job.
So Rosemary, what players do we have to watch
in the video game over the weekend?
It was so hard to just narrow it down
to three competitors because it is the World Championships
And we've got the top trainers from around the world
that are going to be competing here this weekend.
But we've got Wolf Glick, Marco Silva, and Ko Tsukide.
As your players to watch for the video game,
Wolf Glick needs no introduction.
This man won the World Championships 10 years ago.
And now it could be his time to get a second title.
He came off the back of the second place
at the first regional championships
that we had in Pokemon Champions.
And he's always a meta innovator.
He thinks about what is going to be strong and how can I beat that?
And that's why he had mega steel eggs at bad regional championships.
Marco Silva from Italy is going to be our next player to watch.
He is a three time international champion.
Only one of you competitors that can say that they've even won twice.
But he's missing the elusive world championship title.
So that's why I saw on him this weekend to see if he can finally claim that.
Last but certainly not least, Ko Tsukide.
He is a world champion from the seniors division in 2019,
but Ko has been on an absolute international tear this season,
top-running both the international championships
that he attended, as well as the Japan Nationals
just a couple of months ago.
So if there's anybody that you should be keeping an eye
on in Japan, it is Ko.
Wow, I mean, an absolute lineup there on the BG.
We had people cheering in the crowd just with a player
on players to watch so yeah some huge faces of the community here at the
World Championships so exciting I know the trading card game is no exception
though even who should we be watching over the weekend of course this year no
exception we've got international talent coming from all over the world our
three players to watch are from a mixture of different regions Yoshiuki
Yamaguchi player for many many years had a great season coming over to a
regional championships.
It used it in taking it down.
Eyes are definitely on him to see if Japan can win a world
championship on their 10th anniversary.
Tour de Rectle, no introduction for this man.
Did the global circuit, the grand slam.
The only player to win all four international championships
is also missing that elusive world championship title.
Got so close in Yokohama.
He's still looking for that championship win.
And of course, our defending world champion, Riley McKay.
Can't write off the back of Gardevoir this year,
but he's a very talented player.
We'll have to see what deck he decides to bring this year
to see if he can become a rookie champion.
Interesting.
Okay, so maybe even a rogue option for Riley McKay.
We'll have to see.
I know you already talked about being bad-dragable.
Do you think all three of these players
to watch are bringing the notorious,
maybe infamous-dragable this weekend?
I know I can probably speak for Torn up tour has played Dragon to a lot of different events
But he loves his trade ability on Zoroark. He played that to the North American International
Championships where he made top cut. I wouldn't be so shocked to see him come back with another
Innovative Zoroark build and try and take down this part. It is not about the spirit of the world championships trainers with their iconic partner Pokemon
I mean, that just fits the bill.
How about for Pokemon Go, any players to watch them?
We should never nice them.
Oh, boy, there are so many talented Go players.
And I know that we say in Go since we've been a little bit
about to be more new to the scene,
that we haven't had any repeat World Champions.
But the keyword is yet, because the first person
we want to look at here is Bills Boy.
Last season, the Anaheim World Champion,
he is from India, but he's actually had a chance
this season to play a couple times in North America.
and also international championships and has top cut during the vote so he is still really going through this season quite ferociously.
Next up we have Nighttime Clusher. We're going to call him Mr. Worldwide at this point because he's been playing in North America, Europe and Oceania.
He also got first place at the Latin American International Championships. He is also leading NA on the leaderboard so definitely a player that wants to be able to give this world championship title.
And last foot again, we can't say last but not least, we're always saying it, but we have to really say this because the Spanish sensation
Pataman is arguably the best trainer in Pokemon Go right now. I think you could ask 10 trainers and probably 10 out of 10 will say that he's had the best season.
He was the champion of the UIC two years in a row. He was our finalist last season in Anaheim. And I think a lot of people are wondering if he's going to take it all the way this year.
I love that. I mean the world championships always has that vibe. It's a championship of champions every single time.
Feels like Pokemon Go really leaning into that this time around.
Well I gave everybody else the chance to say three players to watch. I'm of course going to allow Unite to talk about 15 players to watch.
And they're going to be sectioned off into three different teams. We have some teams coming from all over the world.
Of course just like every title. And the first one we got to talk about is Fennel from Japan.
Japan. This team is unbelievable to tell you the truth. It doesn't feel like they know how
to lose the video game at any point in time. Every single championship this team has been a
part of this year. They have won in the R former world champions in Honolulu just a couple years
ago. This team is looking on a whole nother level. Moving on to the next team though
in North America is Root Dignitas. Zubra, not a huge fan of Umbrella in there. I am.
I got a pinch. But Zavra leading the way for Rue Dignitas. This team is looking amazing this year.
Champions at LAIC and at NAIC this year as well as a really strong performance in the Asian Champions League.
A lot of players on that team hunting for a world championship title, but this could be the one to do it.
Take a look at that group stage later on the United Show though. Crazy start for their tournament.
And after them, we have the reigning world champions, Peru Unites.
We last year in Anaheim were able to dominate the competition in the arena.
They're looking to do so again.
We have a stream season for this team, ups and downs,
but they are on the up, going into the world championships
when they won the Latin America Regional League.
Take it down to Utah and Brazil, Latin America, South and North.
So, doing an amazing season, they look poised to be a real contender.
at this time. So that is going to be what the major sore lines we think you should be watching this weekend and some of the players that you should be watching. We also want to give you even more reasons to be watching the world championships as well as all the broadcasts associated. We got troughs. We got this troughs Rosemary. What are we giving away in the video game?
Well, well, well, we do have an Incineroar that you can drop inside Pokemon Champions for just watching 60 minutes of the stream.
And alongside of that, we are also giving away some other in-game items so that if you don't want to use Incineroar on your next team, you can actually get an improvement for a new Pokemon and train it up.
So make sure that you're sticking around watching the stream.
recent launch of champions a lot of new resources even if you're a new player
these seem like great drops that you could add to your collection maybe get
some of this Pokemon recruited onto your team even I know the trading card game
you got a few of these lined up so what's going on in the world of
drops in the trading card game we've got a whole mixture of things look at
all those things you can get within the Pokemon trading card game live of
course those exclusive worlds accessories that box some cosmetics
for your avatar there's a mixed zero or a place at the mega zero or a EX. It's got two of the
special art rare so you know nice way to fling out your deck of it as well as a special world's
loot crate. You get all that from watching this stream. It's going to be plenty of awesome action
this weekend. Awesome. Yeah I mean huge show to Ethan by the way. At home I'm sure you can read
that just fine on your screen but that is some small font that Ethan was able to read on the
monitor that we have in front of us so speak behind the curtain there but great work Ethan.
That's in the trading card game for trading card game alive, but how about for Pokemon go?
What do we got for Josh?
Yeah, Ethan's eyesight is impeccable, but for go, there's also some very cool things that you are going to be able to do just by watching.
And the main thing, you can see him raising that trophy there.
You will be able to get a Tinketon based off of Beelzeboy's team last year that he was able to take that world championship.
Not only that, you're going to have a little choose your own adventure for watching 30 minutes.
you can choose between going down a lick-a-tongue, toadadile, or the Rupert hat.
So I don't know, Dunce, what would you pick if you're playing?
Oh, I'm going to toadadile all the way.
Oh, please, I love her.
Pokemon, I mean, it wouldn't even be a toad.
You're going, Rupert.
Yeah, Gladiator's so glad.
Ethan, what are you picking?
I agree, Gladiator's pretty cool.
I got to see you and Lick-a-tongue now.
I have to go to Lick-a-tongue.
Lick-a-tongue is probably going to be the major Pokemon in our meta,
so pay attention to that this weekend.
But yes, you've got to want to make sure you're watching because you'll get elite TM as well so you can use that to take away a charge cap on your Pokemon.
Oh, I love that. Prepare for future competition.
Sneave at the Pokemon Go season. That's a great job. Great time to do it right now.
Pokemon Unite, we got some really cool drafts this time around for the World Championships.
Of course, we got your classics, that World Championship sticker.
We also have License Art and then one of my favorite drafts that we have ever had.
If you watch Worlds for 45 minutes, you actually get a license of Pokemon that you can play in-game,
one of the five Pokemon that Peru used to win that game-winning match in Anaheim last year.
Leafy on Scythe, Xayshion, Intellion, and Crustle, those middle two, Xayshion and Scythe,
those are going to be the relevant threats this weekend.
They are going to be banned, they are going to be picked.
We're going to see a lot of them on the Pokemon United broadcast.
So we have so many rewards that you could be getting for watching any of our games.
I know in the Pokemon X we broadcast, we also have things to be given away.
So check out so many amazing moments at this year's World Championships in 2026,
which is, well, not exactly a rerun, but a return.
As 10 years ago, the World Championships was held here in San Francisco.
Love getting the chance to showcase Pokemon to this incredible city.
Yet again, that's got us into the nostalgic mood a little bit.
So we want to say one of maybe our favorite competitive memories of all Pokemon Rosemary.
How about you?
Being in San Francisco, it just makes me remember our time in Japan just a couple of years ago.
Another way that we could commemorate a huge milestone for the Pokemon franchise.
And so to see how the city was set up for everyone to enjoy and how San Francisco is now,
it's just a great time to be a Pokemon fan.
Absolutely. Even how about you?
Got a flashback to ten years ago.
What a tournament it was before in San Francisco.
The change inside from a hotel ballroom to now this incredibly expensive convention center.
Really seeing that road deck take down the tournament.
It's shocking the entire world.
I'm really curious to see what happens.
Awesome rapid fire feel in there.
I mean I think at the same point too just being able to beat in a stadium last season was such a big thing for a goal.
going from a state to a stadium is absolutely incredible and we're going to go ahead and do it again this year.
I cannot wait. I've loved all the world championships that we have had in previous years.
It has been so fun that like I said, we are getting bigger and better for this year's Pokemon,
XP and World Championships. San Francisco has been home to legendary Pokemon moments
across so many of our titles, but this year is going to be so fun.
So let's throw it to our opening ceremonies.
We stand at the start of a new day Looking out on a new adventure
No one knows where the road will take us Already said, cause now it's time to go
Maybe we can finally see Who we're meant to be
She's happy, we're ready, don't you know me?
You've been trying to kill us, you're the one
You've helped me fight, stop us, I've taken all of me
Together you and I will touch the stars
Let it end, with you and I'm over again
Cause even if we lose our way
Let it end, we'll always stay
Here we go
Here we go again
For some of us building our rooms, the control of the edge of the ring is
See when we're walking, victory road
And then, we'll feel it all over again
To see that everything in the day
Will always stay
Here we go
Here we go again
Here we go
Here we go again
Every last last time
You take me away
Here we go
Here we go
Here we go again
Yeah!
Hello, Trainers, and good morning!
To start things off, we are about to take you on a musical journey
from the past through the present.
Celebrating 30 years of Pokémon,
we'll start today by bringing you the great music of Kanto.
I'm your conductor, Charlie Rosen,
And we are the 8-Bit Big Band.
Thank you so much.
Please enjoy.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Well, that journey through Kanto was actually only just the start of our program this morning, Trainers.
Now, join me as we travel across generations to celebrate the amazing 30-year legacy of Pokemon.
Thank you so much.
I
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the 2026 Pokemon World Championships and Pokemon XP.
Well, right, let's give it up one more time for our fabulous dancers and the 8-bit big
Band!
I mean, come on.
No matter when you first discovered Pokémon,
I hope hearing those medleys from our orchestra
transported you back to some happy and cheerful memories.
Hi, I'm Gabby Durdin.
I'm your host for this weekend's festivities.
And just like you, I've loved Pokémon since I was a small child,
forming my first core memories.
So I'm beyond honored to be here on this stage coming alive from San Francisco, California.
This weekend is extra special for all of us.
One part of our event commemorates the hard work of our trainers as they conclude their journey to become world champions across four titles.
Pokemon Champions, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, Pokemon Go, and Pokemon Unites.
And, and, and even more adventure awaits with our first ever Pokemon XP.
where we couldn't be more excited for you to join us
for activities, panels, attractions,
and much more throughout the weekend.
All right, two incredible events.
One unforgettable weekend.
And you better believe we're gonna make sure
it's one for the record books.
But I think we should get things started, shall we?
Yes!
Yes!
It is my pleasure to introduce to the stage
the president and CEO of the Pokemon Company,
Mr. Sune Kazoo Ishihara.
Hello, Trainers, and welcome to the
the 2026 Pokemon World Championships and Pokemon XP.
First, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks
to everyone gathered here today,
as well as all of you from around the world
joining us online.
I'm happy to be here with my family and friends to enjoy Pokemon XP.
I'm very happy to be here with my family and friends for the 30th anniversary of Pokemon.
And whether you're here to compete for the title of world champion or you've come with family and friends to enjoy Pokemon XP
I'm truly delighted that we can all be here together on Pokemon's 30th anniversary
And from all the exciting experience we have waiting for you at Pokemon XP to the World Championship finals
We're gonna have a chase center on Sunday this weekend is sure to be a lot of fun and one that I think trainers will remember for many years to come
And to all of the competitors who have battled their way here, truly your hard work, passion and determination inspire future trainers to dream of one day standing on this very stage.
You truly represent both an aspiration and a source of hope for the next generation.
Just by being here today, you are helping pass those dreams onto the future.
Take pride in that and enjoy every moment of the competition if you give it your best
to the very end.
And with that, I wish you all the best of luck in your battles.
Thank you, Mr. Ishihara, for setting the stage.
Oh, so beautifully.
I can feel the energy in this room.
I can sense the excitement to compete.
More than 2,000 trainers have descended upon San Francisco to test their skills and fight
with all their might to become the next Pokemon World Champion.
Competitors, the time has come.
Please make your way over to the play tables to kick off your matches.
And before we get into the action, our casters are prepped to walk you through everything
in store this weekend.
So everybody, let the 2026 Pokemon World Championships begin.
just that. Hello everybody and welcome to the 2026 Pokemon World Championships here in San Francisco,
California. Erin, I am so honored and excited to kick it off the show with you. It is so good to be
back for us Mary. But like yesterday we were in Anaheim casting the World Championship Finals.
It's been a whole year. A whole new game has come out in Pokemon Champions and I think like
this is going to be a very, very special World Championships. It's going to be special because
of the arena but also because Chico. Look at the prize thing that our competitors are going
to be trying to achieve here $30,000 for first place. And there's so much more.
The glory of becoming world champion. It is truly everyone's dream in this competitive game.
And in addition to all the incredible prizing let comes just having the ability to say I won
the world championships is truly what everyone is fighting for. But of course,
there's just so much happening here. And the world championships is the best place for it.
And the honor is currently being held by our reigning world champion Giovanni Siskini,
claiming the title last year in Anaheim and doing it with a team that a lot of people had just under
prepared for, I think. A lot of people had to cry on very low on their radar, but Gio said,
you know what? I've been rocking with this team all season long. This is the spot I know that
I'm going to win both ways. Absolutely. Yeah. Really going to show like worlds is one weekend.
Gio had actually never got him past top eight in a tournament before the war championships
But all the stars aligned he was able to win his very first tournament choosing worlds to win
There's funny taking a look at those six Pokemon on his team because Rose
I don't think any of those are in Pokemon champions currently
So not be seeing any of them today, but probably somewhere down the road
But it was yes such an exhilarating finals between him and James Evans last year and it was just so fun to watch
That's what world is all about is about the best players in the world bringing the best teams and really do get out against each other
You may not see Corridon, but you know it's sunny in California when there's Tarsard, why
running around the mech?
Absolutely, yeah.
But this is just one of many previous world champions that are about to take the stage
of the 2026 World Championships.
This is a stacked lineup.
It's amazing that we can say that we have eight former world champions chasing a second
crown.
No player other than Ray Rizzo has ever been able to win multiple world championships in
the Masters division.
Of course, we actually saw Kevin Hahn in the Seniors division pull it off last year after
aging up from juniors, but eight different players who have won the world championships
before in Masters will be looking to get a second one.
And of course, we're playing with mega evolutions once again, and many of these players won
during the mega evolution era, starting with, of course, Sajom Park.
And actually, everyone talks about his patcherisa that year, but he shocked the world by
bringing mega Gyarados to the world stage.
evolution that we barely saw throughout that format for show Mahonami piloting
mega Kanga scon, Wolves using mega Gengor as well as mega Rayquaza, Paul Ruiz
using mega Salamence which of course is out in Pokemon champions but it's gonna
be really exciting to see how the players who got to the absolute top
during the last time that we saw these Pokemon compete once again. I really
wonder if Satan's going to be bringing Mega Raiju as a small homage to the
He did bring Patricio to the world stage in 2024 in a restricted format, which I think was a pretty big surprise to see, but yeah, I think very exciting to see so many ex-champions competing once again.
And I can't express how difficult the world championships is, right?
Like, we have so many incredible players and there's so many years where a lot of the ex-war champions, like, don't even make it past around five or around six and they get eliminated by then.
And so the quality of play and the quality of players just gets higher and higher and higher.
But I feel like a lot of people feel it in their bones that maybe this year someone could do it again.
It does feel like if it's going to be any year, it's going to be this one.
But there are a lot of other competitors caught on the tails of our previous world champions
that are hoping to make a splash at this one.
Let's start with some of our other players to watch from North America.
We've got Paul Chua, Justin Tang and Alex Underhill.
Paul is a player that many regard as one of the best player to not win a world championship.
He is incredibly high up there.
So many regional championship wins coming up a win at UIC this year.
Having won that tournament multiple times as well.
He's a long time veteran of this game having been competing since 2011-2012.
And so he's made it as far as top four at the world championships back in 2022.
Can this be his year finally?
Justin Tang, a rising superstar,
very quickly rose through the ranks
when he first launched onto the scene,
getting three quick regional championship titles.
This isn't a player that had just the best start
to a season we have seen in a long time.
He had six continuous top 16 cuts
across the events that he played at the very beginning.
So a little bit more quiet
as we've entered into the back half of the season,
but if anyone is gonna be ready
for the world championships, it's Justin Tang.
absolutely coming off a top 32 finish last year as well where he's using some
really essential Pokemon like groudon and jump love in a format where they
were not necessarily the most popular so excited to see what team he's brought to
the scene today but of course like you mentioned just truly one of the fastest
rising stars in DGC he only started playing in Pokemon Scarlet in Violet
one the first ever regional championships he attended and I think
many are expecting a big finish for him today or this weekend and then
Alex Underhill kind of closes the bookends with a lot of experience
coming into this world championships. He's also been playing competitive
Pokemon for many, many years, but I think maybe we'll be able to bring something
special to the table. We talk about meta developments very hard when coming into
the world championships is actually going to be the first official tournament that
we're going to be playing in this format, but Alex has been taking to
those online tournaments and already coming up with some unique teams.
Absolutely, yeah. I think him and his team building group, one of the
premier groups to watch out for in North America,
prominently actually debuting this dual weather team of Char's are cured with
Pelopter our child on Grim snarl that basket legion initially now mega swamp
or Venus or as well and so I'm very curious to see if he's brought that to
this tournament because if there was any player that I would expect to it'd be
him and his buddies. This is just North America we have lots more players to
watch from our other competitive region so let's now talk about Europe. This
is a tough one to narrow down to just three competitors as well but we've
got Marco Silva, Michael Couch, and Francesco Pioferro.
Yeah, three absolute tight ends in the game.
Marco also still looking for his first World Championship
victory.
He's won so many regional and special events.
He's won three international championships.
He's come very close to winning the World Championships
as well.
And he's just been one of the most consistent players
in the game over the last couple of years,
as well.
I think many hold him to be Europe's best.
Speaking of consistency, Michael Couch
at the World Championship level
has had that and been some.
second place at his first ever world championships followed up in the next two years by top four and a top eight
Hopefully it's gonna be better than just a top 16 this year
You know that Michael tells just one of those competitors that he's chasing that big win after being so close and knowing that he could taste the
Victory and must be fire under your belly to know that it was in your reach once
Absolutely. Yeah, I mean I spoke to him a while back
And he said I want to be remembered as the greatest player of all time what I'm done with this game and in just three years of playing competitive
EGC like you said Popka every word championships
He's intended he's gotten so close to the crown and
Marko and Michael actually both players I really have my eyes out on because curious what teams still bring because mega Gengar is not a
Pokemon that's very popular in this format
But both Marko and Michael have actually had tremendous success with it
Marko winning a regional championship with it Michael winning a big online tournament with David Swampford right before worlds
And so I think mega Gengar's was really hard to use, but if there's anyone in the world that might be able to pilot it from Europe, it's going to be these two guys would be really exciting to see some additional mega evolution into the meta for the world championships.
But someone that knows that sometimes the tried and true is what makes it possible. It is a Francesco Fiorero, the NAIC champion, first IC champion in Pokemon champions.
Yeah, he came off a top four finish at UIC this year as well.
He's been so incredibly consistent, having top cut every international.
He was always going to chasing that big win.
He had made it to the finals of regionals before.
He had made it to top four top A of internationals before.
It just feels like he was always in top cut, but was missing that big win,
but finally got it in NAIC.
And I think like he is probably coming into this feeling a lot of confidence
off that big win as well.
And Italy is just such a dominant region.
And you know, it feels like every tournament,
someone else's time to shine a little bit and now it's Francesco's time after that
before the form. Next up we have our competitors from
Latin America who have traveled all the way here to see if they can grab that
crown. First up we have Alexander Cascicco and I
think this is a player that I feel like has been a little bit underrated
coming into the world championships and even when just thinking about it from
a global stage but this is a player from Mexico that you've got to keep
your eyes on for this girl. Yeah definitely really consistent finishes
across multiple events over in LATAM and I think it's really awesome to be able to
highlight these players a little bit more and one thing that's especially
exciting is next season we actually will get to watch these players compete in
Latin America because we'll have official broadcasts there and so to your point I
think Alexander has not been able to get the chance to compete as much on
kind of the global stage right but has had a lot of local dominance and if
you take a look at you know some of the other players on this page like
Juan Salerno probably one of the if not the most well-known LATAM player
partially because he's attended multiple events outside of Latin America has done very very well
You know getting second at laic just this year back in his home region
I comes as one of the most dominant players in terms of championship points has had so much consistent success across the board
Last without leaves. We've got max moralists a four-time
Special and special champion. I think that really does keep volumes knowing that you have had that regional success
but now it is about being able to show up on that big stage and maybe this is going to be the world championships that
Had a miracle be able to get that second title after Paul Reed's playing it so long ago. Yeah, of course, I think
Feels like you know Juan in particular has really just had such a dominant season across the board
And I think his ability to venture into the other regions and compete in them as well
I definitely have my out on him
But I think all three of these players really really have to pay attention to from that time in particular
Next up, Oceania. Let's talk about our players to watch from that region. We've got Nicholas Kahn, Henry Rich, and Joji Kaida.
Nicholas Kahn is someone who is no stranger to the world stage, having won the World Championships back in the younger division before,
and he comes in as one of the leading players from Australia. Of course, his brother Chris Kahn actually won the trading card game world championships in the seniors division back in 2011 as well.
as well. So just truly dominant family in Pokemon, but Nick Lewis has aged up through
the divisions throughout the years and continued to just have success after success, winning
multiple regional level events over in Oceania.
Except we've got Henry Rich. He is a player that has been able to do well on the international
level, ended up getting regional championship title back in 2022. But he feels like he's
always gotten very, very close in some of the other regional championships he's played.
And so for Henry, it's kind of like you were able to show yourself all the kind of having
consistent day two performances at ICs at the world stage, though.
Is this the moment now that you can get to that day two and go beyond?
Yeah, I'm really excited to see what he's brought because I feel like sometimes he has
really essential teams.
I remember Crap, Chloe, he might have top eight in AIC during a restricted format with
overquel on his team and using some really, you know, cool strategies.
And even though he's from Australia, he has competed in North America, good
as well with multiple high-level finishes at regionals as well as NAIC and so yeah I always really like watching him especially because he's brought some really cool stuff throughout the years.
And then we've got Joji Kaida and this is a competitor that has also been able to travel across the world to be able to compete but I think also explains a couple of titles that we don't necessarily get to talk about very often.
The online global and brand challenge.
I got you, I got you.
There's a poppin' circumstance there.
But it is incredible that he has won several of those competitions.
Not just one, not two, but several.
Yeah, one of the most consistent players in the online best of one close team sheet environment.
And often the best players there translate over to the best of three environment as well.
It is really difficult to be so consistent.
And again, it has a lot of variants.
He's consistently top the ladder, finish number one, won a lot of these online tournaments,
have literally hundreds of thousands of players participating in that.
And so I think a big question is what kind of team compositions you kind of land on,
especially when you grind the ladder out that much.
A lot of experience that comes from that, but you know it's going to be open team sheet best
of three for this tournament. So you have to consider that your opponent's going to know
a lot of information about your team. You have another region coming up for you,
and it is going to be Japan. Japan, one of the strongest regions in competitive Pokemon.
And we've got Ko Tsukide, Yuma Kinugawa, and Hiroshi Onishi.
Any of these could walk away as World Champion this weekend.
Like, I think Japan in particular is just historically such a strong region in VGC,
having had crowned multiple World Champions.
And Ko is one of the players that I have on the very top of my list to win this weekend.
And he won the Senior Division World Championships back in 2019,
has top cut worlds in Masters multiple times after aging up,
and he has been on an absolute hair this season as well.
He's also traveled, you know, outside of Japan to be at the internationals and she's been so consistent every time I watch him play
I'm like, you know, I can see why he was a world champion
And I think he's here to prove himself like I can win in seniors, but I can also win in masters
You know, it's kind of interesting you be able to watch these competitors age up through the divisions and still find success
I think about Nicholas con and that's a yeah, exactly. We're able to still show your stuff once you have
have actually evolved, but you can go. I mean, this is a competitor that we talk about
you know the Asian national system. It is a very different qualification method to come
to the World Championships, but you know another one of those Japanese players that had decided
to test his medal in a more international stage and walked away successful as our LAIC
champion for this competitive season. Yeah, doing it with one of my favorite teams
of the season as well. This hyper offensive team that had Flamigo as well as his
He has been a veteran of the seat at this point and playing around 10 years, but feel like the last two seasons.
He has just been on a generational care. He won the Japanese national championships last year, then went to NAIC where he finished in top eight.
And like you said, Rose won LAIC. To win Japanese nationals and an international championship is just absolutely wild.
And so he's still hunting for I think a really big world's finish made it to day two with actually also ground on.
about Justin Tate using Groudon,
Kibao used Groudon in a different world's format,
which was also really cool to see with Iron Juggulist.
And so, yeah, I think he comes in
as definitely one of the favorites in Japan as well.
And of course, you have to talk about
our current reigning Japan Nationals champion,
Hiroshi Onishi,
ended up winning with a very standard set of Pokemon
there with the Charizard and the Flowette.
But I think it was really that Garchomp
that really helped him stand out amongst the field
when there were also so many other Charizard
running around.
absolutely. Yeah. And I think the Japanese national champion always has very high expectations
coming into this world championships for a very long time. It was like whoever won Worlds
was either the Japanese national champion or someone who had gotten top four at Worlds
before. And I think like he comes in with definitely a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations
and he has been a very strong player from Japan specifically. So he's been able to
compete at the world stage very much and so be able to see a exciting to see how
he'll be able to do it. But like you said, yeah, he showed what I can play the
standard composition but I can play it better than anyone else and yeah comes in with a really,
really big, big three over. This is just a snapshot of our competitors to keep your eyes on for the
2026 World Championships but if you're watching then you're going to get something nice out of it too.
Check out our distributions, make sure that you have linked your account so that you can get
an Incineroar to use in-game. If you don't want to use Incineroar then we also have some
other goodies for you to be able to recruit a new Pokemon and train it up to be ready for
for your team.
Of course, and we of course also have a distribution
for all of you here in Pokemon Champions.
If you want an exclusive hat, an exclusive t-shirt,
I think this is actually one of the coolest things
about Champions, which is being able
to get exclusive merch like you can't buy within the store.
All you have to do is use that passcode,
enjoy Worlds 26, and you'll be able to rock these
in Pokemon Champions.
Let your opponents know you are tuning
into the World Championships.
Maybe they'll tune in as well
and they can learn a thing or two.
And if you are enjoying all of our competitive titles,
and there's something out there for all of you as well,
so check out all of the drops and distributions
that are going to be taking place,
not just on the Pokemon VG side,
but of course for TCG, Pokemon Pocket,
Pokemon Go, and Pokemon Unites.
And of course, how do you earn these?
Well, it's simple.
You just need to log in, visitrewards.pokemon.com,
log into your Pokemon Trainer Center account,
your Twitch account and watch the desired stream for a period of time as you saw earlier. It's often 30 or 60 minutes on
the respective streams and you'll be able to earn these drops on Twitch specifically and you can also watch in other languages by turning on
the CC extension, which will then give you translated captions and so you definitely don't want to miss out on any of these awards
They're free, right? And so if you're watching on Twitch already, might as well link them. And that's not all. Last but not least, we do have a
a special twitch badge that you can apply after watching just 60 minutes of any of your
favorite competitive action this weekend. I think that is genuinely one of the coolest
badges I've ever seen. It is. I've seen many badges on Twitch in my day, Rosemary, and
that one I think is incredibly well designed, and so just 60 minutes, you definitely don't
want to miss out on that one. Follow along the action here on our stream to make sure
you don't miss another minute of it. Stay a part of the conversation using the hashtag
Pokemon X key and the hashtag Pokemon world on all of our social channels.
We want to hear from you, but you've been excited about who you're cheering for,
what you're following and yeah, make sure that you share your thoughts with us.
The Moongus wants to know he's not currently in Pokemon champions,
but he's really, really waiting.
I don't know when he's coming back or is I don't know if we'll be the next regulation.
Maybe sometime after, but of course one of the most important Pokemon in
VGC history, but we won't be seeing him on the world stage this weekend.
The double K with having a little a Moongus ring.
Okay. Yeah. That's a small one.
You know, just...
So, the worst might be as well.
Just a small one, and then we'll guess you can come back.
I'm sure we're going to be waiting for that moment with fated breath.
Absolutely.
I am so excited to kick off this World Championships.
The first round is up, and we've got some crazy matches.
I mean, of course, this is the World Championships.
Every round's going to be crazy.
These are the best players in the world.
Take a look at some of these matches, and especially that first one, Rose.
Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, I mean my eyes are going all over the page and getting bright-eyed for all the amazing action that we're going to have
We are just the mainstream
We are going to have featured streams and side streams that you can check out as accompaniment to our broadcast
But we've got wolf click versus here for me camera for round one. Are you kidding me?
Yeah, that's a match that you might expect to see in the world championship finals these players have
of so much history. Wolf, of course, winning U.S. Nationals multiple times, winning multiple
international titles as well, and winning the World Championships in 2016 alongside his regional
accolades. Hirafumi, multi-Japanese national champion. It is difficult for Japanese players
to get the chance to really prove themselves very much because they don't have too many
tournaments to compete in, and the Japanese circuit is so grueling. But for Hirafumi,
he has made it count on the world stage basically every time he's been here. Second
in 2019, top cut the last three
world championships with the top
four finished last year as well.
So it's going to be an unbelievable
match and yeah, I truly mean it
when you know what's so exciting
about worlds is somebody as
fast as that you see on the screen.
If you said, oh, that is what we
would see in the arena on Sunday.
Wouldn't feel like an absolute shock.
Yeah, and this is the world
championships. Every single one of
these matches going to be super
high stakes. And this is just
Swiss round number one. We've
got three incredible days of action
ahead and it does all come
I don't know how our competitors are going to react to that already we saw during the opening
ceremony.
There's a huge crowd out there just to watch the competitive action on the main stage.
But then come Sunday, it's like 15,000 competitors, like people watching two people do get out
on the stage.
Yeah, yeah.
I think it is probably something that is so exhilarating like in the moment it is
just like you're probably still focused on just trying to win the world championships
when you're there.
it will be the most unique experience I think any competitor in this game will ever have it's gonna be a long way to get there of course with many rounds of Swiss today another couple tomorrow and to get there you have to be the best of the best.
I know we're getting ahead of ourselves but here's here's a video to make sure that you're caught up to speed on exactly what you'll be seeing this weekend.
time watching, or you just need a quick refresher, here is an overview of the Pokemon VGC format
of the 2026 World Championships. The best trainers from around the globe are here to
compete for their share of a $2 million prize pool and the coveted title of Pokemon World
Champion. The first World Championships played in Pokemon Champions will take place
over three days. Days 1 consisted of Swiss rounds where trainers battled head-to-head
in a best-of-three format with open team sheets.
That means critical details about each trainer's Pokemon
are available to the opponent.
Trainers advance to Swiss Phase II
if they gain more match points
than their division threshold.
At the conclusion of Phase II,
the top eight trainers
and up to eight additional trainers tied with eighth place
will advance into an asymmetrical single elimination
bracket until only two finalists remain.
On Championship Sunday,
these finalists face off in San Francisco's
the arena, but only one will
walk away as the 2026 Pokemon
World Champion. Who will become
the first World Champion of the
Pokemon Champions era, which
Pokemon will dominate the
meta will be here all weekend
so you won't miss a second of
the action. With that it's time
to get today's matches going.
Castors take it away.
Thank you pass me for that
and that we're going to go into round number one between Wolf Glick and
Girofumi Kuro. You can't ask for a better way to start the War Championships
Rose, you truly can't. We saw this match up and we were like, come on. That has to
be the one that we show for everybody so hopefully y'all are eating good at
home but let's talk about these teams as we've already talked about the player
accomplishments. Look at them coming in with major successes at the World
Championships but you're not seeing things incorrectly. That is a normal
and a mega star after facing off against mega Blastoise and mega Delphox.
I think of course Wolf, a player that so many people are cheering for and so many people are curious what team is he going to bring to this tournament.
This meta game of course feels like there are around 10 teams that were incredibly dominant and established coming into this tournament
and for many players this question of are you going to use one of those teams or are you going to build something new and try to break the meta game.
the meta game. And at NAIC, I think that was something where we looked at and
we're like okay that's meta breaking. You've got mammoth swine, you've got
toxpex. And actually a lot of people took that team and realized that toxpex is
going to be pretty good going into the rest of the Pokemon champion's format.
But this particular team, it feels like it takes some of the best pieces of one
of the archetypes that really started to emerge when this format was
announced with Megastor After and Mega Tyranitar. But of course there's a lot
of wolf flavors behind it with something like that nasty-caught Grigorak.
Yeah, and I think a couple of elements to call out here.
You've got the Power Gem, Life Orb, Golden Go here,
so that is used as a way to counter Tarzan, of course.
Regular Taranatars, you mentioned,
Rosemeeper, over the Mega Taranatar,
mainly because for after support,
what that does, like Mega Evolving so much,
and the Trouble Berry just with a drive,
ensures a little bit of survivability
against things like Low Kick from King Gambit.
And you've also got Wingshot and Phyrigraap.
Now, this is a duel that won the World Championships
in 2024, but in a much higher Power Format overall,
of course, paired with Dronraaidon.
Of course, you've got the Nasty Claw on the Frig Rop, the Wimpscott here doesn't have Ritek, which it normally runs,
but the ability to switch in Frig Rop to block a fake out allows you to flex and have a fourth move on the Wimpscott.
And then we've got Exkidril with Expert Belp here as well, without Robslide.
You know, this is a little bit different from the traditional Exkidrils that you will see.
I think overall what's interesting is that there is only one Mega Evolution on this team.
A lot of the top teams in the format make you pick between, you know, one or two Megas,
or maybe even bring both Megas into a game, but Wolf says,
I'm going to bet it all on Star Raptor here and I've got so many pieces to support it as well as possible.
Trick Room on the Frigga, Speed Control and the form of Tailwind here on the Swimstekot.
And you do have the ability to come in with Tyranitar, but you do have to be a little bit careful since you don't have that mega evolution.
You've got one shot to set up the stand on Tyranitar and keep it.
You really do want those extra boosts to your special defense.
Let's take a look at the flip side of things though because while this might be a more unique take on that Star Raptor and Tyranitar archetype,
You're a movie is actually running something that is a bit more established.
You've got a choice and the mega thought or the mega blast choice to really help amplify.
You've got a boosting move on either of those.
And the idea here is pretty simple.
You're trying to set up either the blasters to the gel box and then let them sweep.
Exactly. Yeah.
This is one of the top teams coming into the world championships.
There was a huge online tournament.
Nearly 1500 people participated in it.
this team won. Seam also reached rank number one on the ladder built by a Japanese player a couple
weeks ago and so it continues to be a huge part of the meta game and Rose what makes it so scary is
that there's nine different lead combos that feel good. Incineroar plus any of last-way
style fox or king gambit. Cizler plus any of those or Cynish jump plus any of those right and
you have to respect all of the different Pokemon that can set up and often just run away
with the game and so what makes it also difficult then if you're using it as well which
Which one do you pick, right? King Gambit often kind of feels like a hidden mega evolution
and like you can actually lead it and just try to start sweeping with it immediately.
I think Delphox naturally is a Pokemon that feels strong into Sparaptor on Wolves team
in particular, but could see a hero from Elinian to Blastoise or Delphox or even King
Gambit as the lead.
I think Incineroar are really valuable Pokemon for him to potentially lead, get that immediate
Intimidate off into Sparaptor.
It's one of the ways that you can neutralize Sparaptor's damage output because of course
if you bring Incineroar and Sparaptor's already mega vault, what it feels really
Normally you might want to lead Incineroar to try to catch that Strapgir, drop its attack immediately,
and if Wolf wants to respond, you can try to find ways to beat that Incineroar as quickly as possible, right?
And so, if you don't want to, you know, get intimidated by Strapgir, things like Trinitarian Golden Go
can actually offer a lot of damage up, especially with Power Gem on the Golden Go, which is not the move you see super frequently.
And this is also a quick guard, which of course is a fun move that can help out against priority things.
Let's get into it, everybody. Game number one of the first round of the 20-26 World Championship
is right, and so let's see what Wolf and Wolf are going to start things out with.
For Hitokumi, it is going to be the Blastoise and Incineroar, but for Wolf, it is the Starraptor
Infrared round.
Yeah, so what's really interesting about this matchup for Wolf, I think, is that
at any given point, you can switch in wings to cock, right? You also have Fergraf
to block that fadeout, which is such a big tool on Herofumi's team, right?
Normally what Hero 3 wants to do is cycle these fakeouts, get set up, but immediately,
while the blastways can't get set up that easily, right, you can't fake out with Incider
or Orange, so you can always go for a close combat on some of that slot.
Frigrafters could potentially nasty caught it get Thunderbolt as well, but one thing
that's really scary I think for Hero 3 is that Wolf can switch in Wimspot at any
point, that Wimspot then can go for, for example, Oncord, you try to set up with
your pokebot, you even go for a side charm on the Smyrraptor as well.
So, the big question is on turn 1, what does Hero 3 want to do?
You do have something like hoping Hannah on the similar and Darkhold, so you just try to get a bunch of damage off.
And it is if we forgot switching, so here's that lose a pot.
It is going to be, and so Wintergoth comes in, so what would be a role to help to think something needs to attack a little bit more effectively on a stat in the similar one?
That's going to be the only hope, come on, that's really going to threaten for some pretty big damage or something like that, flared-less.
But is that something that you really want to try to lock into, into that trigger out there that's just on the other side?
What we do have though is mega evolution time for both the Starraptor and the Blastoise.
So they're both ready to put up a good fight on this first turn.
12 combat comes out into the Blastoise.
The extra HP going to help it out to make sure that it can take that attack effectively
because Water Spout now comes out.
Going to be a little bit muted because you did just take a ton of damage from the Starraptor
but it's still going to start to add up to a bit of chip across the board.
And the parting shot here so nice play by here for me.
I think there could be 10 themes to try to target down the frigor
aggressively, but manages to get Incinera out.
Waterspot still does okay damage, and of course,
virtually breaks focus out.
And now Sinisteria hits the field, right?
So you do get that recovery onto the Blast Loist with that
hospitality, and you have to play this guessing game now.
Well, if Staratford clicks close on, that Sinisteria
can just go for rage powder redirected away.
So of course, you can go for Brave Bird,
but if you're here for me, you can also make a call
and say, you don't want to actually get a protection
for out of your Brave Bird.
And so, Brave Birding the Blast Loist is probably
probably like the most guaranteed damage here.
And this is the awkward thing about Blastoise,
which is after that special defense
through some of the Scraptor,
the water spouse aren't doing that much damage.
So I think, you know, pretty okay trade
for both players on turn one,
but I think Wolves do in a really favorable position
mainly because of the offensive threat
of the Scraptor.
The women's pod, of course,
can go for a charm on through it as well.
There is an out of benefit
of the signature coming back in with the hospitality.
You're going to get a little bit of feeling
back onto the Blastoise.
So this water spouse will be a little more effective
as long as you don't take more damage
on this turn, but that rage counter is going to be what comes out when spot is a grass type though, so that move blast will not even be directed, because the blast wave takes damage anyway.
A great cover play here from Wolf to get the move left into the blast wave to reduce water spout damage, and also still angle that brave bird so that you have guaranteed damage into the Sinistra.
Water spouts though, I mean, we're starting to look at the 34st head mark here for both the way we're going to start after.
I think one thing that's really crucial about this draper on wall seam is that there's no roots, right?
It's actually every little bit of damage that lands on it will be permanent.
And so I think Harifumi is probably pretty happy about that trade at the end of the day.
You're able to actually get a good amount on this draper, keep it weakening,
while it's cold plon and one of the tricky things about this draper, I think,
is that you actually take a lot of recoil damage from Graper.
So that Graper damage does add up, and because of that parting shot on turn 1,
Lulias doesn't do that much, right?
So this turn I actually think is a pretty crucial turn,
because if you're a hero who may want to be considered,
potentially switching the Sinistera out
and getting it back in for more healing later on.
Or you could say, you know what?
I am just gonna go for the safe rage fodder
and water spot once more.
But I think hero swimming has actually done
a pretty good job of distributing damage so far.
And so after this, maybe not gotten as much
as you would want normally for this.
We're going to see the Sinistera switch out
to preserve that hospitality for later,
as you are saying.
It's great that the King of Ambit
back comes in instead.
It's just a little risky,
but it would be diabolical for Wolfe
to actually throw a close combat into a ghost type.
So it is going to be a new boss first and the phrase first
from the Star Raptor just to guarantee some damage.
My heart was pounding there, Rosa.
I was like, you called it.
What if it actually happens?
How diabolical could it be?
But the switch indeed does happen.
So now, of course, there is on-core pressure
from the Whips to call onto Blast Noise
to try to on-core it to protect.
I think if you are here for me,
it is still this guessing game of, like,
can I cycle win my Pokémon safely, right?
Because the King Gambit here
is going to be Black Glasses.
Thrapper has a defense boost, so Sucker Punch should not get the knockout onto it.
And if you're here filming, I think what you probably want to do is get that Sinisha in
to protect either of these Pokemon, but let's say you switch Blastways out into Sinisha,
then you're still vulnerable to just eating up a close opponent on that slot, or maybe Wolf
reads it and brave birds into Blastways, which then would knock out the Sinisha. So
it's actually like, I think this is a really, really G-turn. It's going to be the King
Gambit switching. Do we see an on-core from the Wings upon?
Okay, I mean that is entirely possible.
That would mean that this Blastoid can't do any damage on this next turn.
And that would start to go for charm instead.
And so angling that into the Sarvastar country
is actually going to make sure that that is an attack boost instead of an attack drop.
And so the brave, the braveest Blastoid sounds it's just a small sliver of HP.
And so this water style is what it means nothing more than just a couple of drops of water in the face.
Really exhilarating turn there. Yeah, I was kind of expecting Wolf to go for the self-tarm a little bit earlier in this
And so finally does get it off crucial trade there. I think if you're here for me
You're probably not too stoked about how that turned when because I hope was to just knock out some rafter there
Here's really makes the call and says look
I don't think you're gonna on for me because the switch is so obvious, right?
And so at the end of the day strafters does hang on with the sliver of HP
Basically one great bird away from getting knocked out right and personally is not a good job of
Distributing damage we have to consider instead of in the back probably not going to be the heaviest damage dealer
You know, it's throughout your king gambit actually becomes really threatening
You also know that wolf has to rigor out from the back
That's a regret great for blocking fakeouts really bad in the team gambit, right?
And so for her a flu me his goal is many knockouts throughout this quickly as possible
He constantly makes these switches and King Dan just gonna come in once again
Well, could this be the post-combat read if it is and then this is going to be K number one going over to
But it is still a very risky play to make.
It's going to be the move last first,
and that's actually going to feel a pretty significant amount here too that can gambit.
But it is the Brave Bird.
We're trying to secure the KO onto the opposing Mega Evolution first.
Yeah, I mean, great switches by Hirafuumi.
Like, it feels like it is so tense,
because like you said, Rosalind,
if you were in close combat in a gambit, gambit face-hards,
it's so, so tricky.
But gambit does come in freely,
and now it pressures Sucker Punch into Sporakura.
Of course, if you want to get around the center punch, what you can do then is switch the blimps
of caught out into trigger off, walk the center punch, and then maybe close contact in Gambit.
But this is such a high level game of Pokemon, right? It just seems so obvious.
Here, Fumi can consider maybe swapping Sinistra back in once again to heal the Blastways as well.
And it's going to be the Blastways pivoting out here. I think switching in Sinistra,
protecting in Gambit actually feels relatively safe. So, let's see if it's going to be the
protect way here. Now, because then on the next turn, if the Sinistra is still around,
you can actually go for something like a rage powder to at least try to free direct away another move like that the crit is going to
Sure the KO first wasn't off this game after so many turns and before he turned into the King Gambit instead
Maybe hoping that it was going to be the sinister on the other side. Exactly. This is like what high-level Pokemon is about right?
Because I didn't care for me. He didn't go for sucker punch. He didn't go for protect. He just goes for the couch house
He's saying look I think you're gonna expect me to potentially pivot out right and so gets a double knock out there
That's such a big deal and
Huge huge play by her food. I think you could things felt really tense especially with that critical hit onto sinister
Because as an outlet close combat could just go into King gambit safely and once again if the close combat goes off King gambit
Bates, I think it's just game over right and so that's her
Hero for me saying I'm not gonna suffer fun. Well said. I'm not gonna switch and bring her out
but it still works in Hero3's favor.
It's going to be Tarana here in the back as Incidero comes back in, so you're sure to intimidate.
But, make up for Lee is blocked, and for Hero3, the question is, can you actually still do enough damage
because the Tramator here does have low kick, it does threaten King Gambit with a ton of damage.
That would end up securing a knockout here, but we do have that Intimidate drop, so
it might be something that we'll have to wait and see.
But there's also still that blast grace in the back if you're trying to consider
Maybe instead of getting a parting shot off into the Terranitar, reduce the damage,
bring in the Blast Waste, and he's dead, and tap the five-shot.
Yeah, the main question I have for you is, if you're here with Fruity, how are you beating Terranitar?
Right, because Blast Waste is quite low in terms of HP,
and in similar in King Gambit, don't have attacks that can hit it for even neutral damage, right?
If there was no photograph on the field, I'd say, well, you can just fake out, you can sword stance,
but right now, I think it's actually still kind of dicey for here with Fruity because of the inability to fake out.
So it's going to be the parting shock here.
And so they're actually moving first before photograph
or the tyrannotar.
But then Karifumi's goal is, let me just
keep cycling in these intimidates.
Dwarves don't have to do enough damage to tyrannotar, though.
Before it ends up taking care of you in this last race,
he's unfortunately going to get switched in.
OK, one turn here, though, for the King Gambit
to use the protect.
And it was going to be a double of that thunderbolt
into the King Gambit as well.
As last, it actually doesn't get knocked out
to the status form chip.
Okay, so this opens the door. I mean, here a flaming out can potentially consider switching Blascois back out.
The Blascois at this point feels like a non-factor in terms of dealing damage to Trinitar, but it could go for Dark Pulse, right?
That deals super effective damage with the Frig Graph. The angles are flinched on a Trinitar as well,
and part of the way to handle Trinitar is when you keep swapping in and out during Timidate, so it's exactly what Heroes From Me is doing right now.
The sand actually really important in just being able to ensure that Blascois will face this turn.
probably expect to see a dark pulse here.
He's going to go into a free grasp, but how much is that?
Dude, that's a lot of damage.
Kind of will survive.
So I was able to at least go for one more attack.
It could be the Thunderbolt coming out here,
but it's going to be the Tyranitar going for the low kick.
And take a look at how effective those Intimity Attack drops
and the parting shot has really been onto this Tyranitar.
And the Thunderbolt as well.
I mean, this is seriously quite bulky.
We do see it for Alec.
That might come back to hurt a little bit
it in the remaining turns of the first game.
That's a big deal, right?
Because we saw on the center it was faster than both of these
both won initially, and so would have been able to either get
another parting shot into Taranitar or just knock out
Furigraf before they get the chance to move.
And so really, fake prowess is there.
For Herefuumi, the question still is, how do you beat
Taranitar?
The answer, I think, ideally is you get sword stance off.
And like, you need to knock out Furigraf first,
and then, you know, a sword stance, like, plus two,
how to outweigh it into plus two sucker punch.
You've got helping hand support on the Incindera as well.
Now, Taranitar doesn't be able to go for something like Rockslight, for example.
It's a question of does King Gambit protect this turn, right?
And if you're Wolf, I think you can always safely target down the Incendiary Sloth.
But if you ignore King Gambit and it gets the Sword Stance off,
suddenly things could become really scary.
So the question is, do you launch that slow kick into King Gambit,
do you Rockslight into Incendiary?
It's going to be Rockslight!
Okay.
So that means King Gambit here can Sword Stance,
and Incendiary can maybe just Flare Blitz and Kale for a grab.
If you don't get Flinched, there is a 30% chance for that to happen.
And so we're still in a lot of HP though to try to get it through these next couple of turns.
So it's going to be Furugraff going for the attack first.
A Thunderbolt into the King Gambit is not going to give that secondary effect to the paralysis,
but you do see the Rockside flinch onto that King Gambit.
Still not a terrible turn though for Furugraff to be as you end up getting the KO onto Furugraff.
Yeah, but I think the thing now is like the whole question was always, well how do you beat Toranathar, right?
Sneasler's the answer for it, but Sneasler wasn't brought into it.
Zinnishia's her other answer into it, but it went down so quickly.
And then lastly, the third answer to it,
but his HP just got whittled down so low, right?
And so had King Gambit been able to get a sword stance off there,
I think it would still be in Luthor's favor, to be honest,
because Taranitar should still outspeak the King Gambit
and just go for low kick into it.
But with the inability to get a sword stance off there,
I think Taranitar should be able to win this game.
That number will actually be really crucial damage
in just dropping King Gambit lower and lower.
This Taranitar is even multiple attack drops at this point,
but I don't think it's gonna be enough
for heroes from each of them to gain.
It's just him just trying to consider
like how little damage to the Incidor even in terms of being like the low kick and that's why I have that hesitation
There's also for it text and play so if you're free we can actually get a nice
Or maybe there's something important that the rocks I miss or you can fight through the clinch
That maybe things do end up actually looking a little different
Took a lot of damage that after
Like Lynch to never mind. I spoke too soon
Just look like Incidor is gonna go down to another rock sign on the next turn
Yeah, well speaking the nice ball there though right here for me protects King gambit
That was an opportunity to potentially sword stands up on it and well saying like I think you kind of have to protect here
So I'm just gonna be helping hand her to get one last attack off with no sword stands from that King gambit earlier
She's not gonna do very much with this sucker punch
It's just going to be roughly a quarter of the total a key office tyrant are in the low kick finishes it off
It's going to be a 1v1 between this incident or anti-ramitar and with
that speed is advantage from the paralysis that is going to be a win for Tyranitar.
Yeah, I think regular Tyranitar really proves me how powerful it can be here and for Wolf
prioritizing the early knockout onto Blastoise or the early damage onto a medlet, Tyranitar
wasn't really threatened, right?
And so I think if you're here foomy, you look at that game, you're probably thinking,
I feel like I played pretty well in the opening turn, so what went wrong for me?
And I think part of it is that Incinero is really good as a supportive tool, but when
it can't fake out, it then becomes less effective.
He intimidates on the attack drop for nice,
but it didn't feel like he had enough damage output basically, right?
His damage was mainly coming from Blastoise,
looking waterspout, doing 30, 40% here and there.
So I think if you're here for me,
you probably are starting to look at that Sneezer,
potentially as an adaptation, because of course,
that Sneezer does have close combat,
which gives you a ton of burst damage into Granitar.
There was that one turn where I was wondering,
what if the Blastoise that ended up going
for a Dark Hull instead?
It took so much damage that it was only around 10% left.
maybe that had been a dark pulse that could have been a potential knockout, I think, into the Staraptor on that turn.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think that is a really good point and I think what's really tough for Hierophumi here is that kind of threatening the needle of dealing with Staraptor at any given point,
because Staraptor was a huge threat in the early game, but then of course the win condition in the endgame kind of ended up being Taranitar, right?
So Hierophumi actually has plenty of tools to deal with Taranitar, for example, if you are able to get it out earlier on the field,
And Sinusha hasn't taken a lot of damage, Sinusha isn't insanely good into Terranitar after Intimidate, right?
Because you're able to feel back up with Machigasha, you can run into Burn as well.
So here are for these team as the tools, the question is, do you want to lean into Blastoise again?
Delphox is something like, can't come out, but it is a big question mark because it is so bad into Terranitar, right?
That is part of the reason why Terranitar is such an appealing team.
Can I say that Eshura wouldn't be a great thing for the Delphox to see either,
but as you call that before we even got into the match, there's a rock side on it.
You would still have to worry a little bit about actually taking, um, just like in general some damage here from the extra drill.
It can be very fast as well. That's something you're going to have to think about with pressing.
But I feel like you're right. I'd like to maybe Sneasler to actually think about still bringing in Blastoise and just switch it up and just bring Sneasler over and so on.
Yeah, yeah. I think Sneasler's damage output and that Focus Ash means you've been getting one big close combat with it can be a really big deal.
So probably the first adaptation looking for is on here for me then, but it could be delt boxes to switch up and
That's what makes this team so intriguing if it's this my expectation would be a
Sceesler in the back right to touch his post pop at tyrannosaurus
What to see but either way the delt box here just writing golden go up immediately
But question is can golden goes revive a key wave often it will be able to and this is life
We're golden go that you can shadow ball and return and that would be a huge knockout
Intimidates obviously pretty valuable in its tyrannosaurus
But I think here for me, maybe hoping to see Storaptor here, right?
If it's a Storaptor, basically, I think Delphox feel stronger.
But Wolfpix is also trying to forgo.
Delphox is in kind of an awkward position right now.
Because you don't necessarily, like timing of the mega evolution is also incredibly important.
So is this something where you say,
I want a mega evolve to Delphox now?
Do I actually want to try to switch it out and call something in like as soon as you're out?
Or were you possibly a pink gambit that might go taking absolutely better?
Yeah, I think there's so many places that could happen from Golden's right now.
Oh, just Keywave and no mega evolution.
So Rose, I think that probably means there's a blast with potentially in the back.
That also, by the way, could have been helping me hand on Incineroar.
It's not going to be to help me hand.
So Shadow Ball just comes out immediately.
Maybe it's a parting shot from Hirafumi covering for Golden will protecting that hurt.
Or a flip.
It will just be a knockout immediately onto the Golden Go.
You trade blow for blow here in an explosive turn number one.
But it is just going to be the carding shot to help reduce the damage output of this Tyranitar even further.
I love this, though. This is one of the most exciting things about the World Championships this year,
which is full Mega Teams, bringing both Megas and flexing it, right?
And so, it's going to be a single target Rockside here,
which actually does decent damage at minus two, right?
Every little bit of damage on a long or small Flaskoist really makes a big difference.
My question now is, what is Kira Fumi's core Pokemon?
It is Cidishja, so Kira Fumi says,
Look, I think I can flex my mega evolution
and I also think now he's in a really good position
with Blastways, right?
Obviously just breading with an immediate water spot right now.
And there's no good switching for the Pokemon
to be able to take that.
Golden Go is low enough that I feel like that might end up
being a knockout if this Blastway is actually
safe at this HP level.
But then, yeah, what would you bring in to take
the water spot if you want to actually preserve the Tyranitar
and shed those attack drops?
Yeah, I think the safe play for Wolfe
is probably to switch Granitar into Windsocon
because the Wimspot then has on-court pressure in the following turn, and then Shadow Ball into Sinisha.
The worst Shadow Ball in the Blastoise is just to guarantee that you get a lot of damage into it
because I think Sinisha is protecting, or switching into Incineroar is the most logical play for hero who he's at.
And so, I think I would be shocked if there were no, you know, if there wasn't Wimspot's character in the back of Wolf's Den right now.
So it's going to be Sinisha actually switching out first into the Incineroar.
Okay, so we'll at least put the fake out on the table for the following turn,
and kind of ensures that this Tyrinter's got to get out of there, but there's no other switches on the table.
It's just going to be the Blastways mega evolving and both of these Pokemon being on the receiving end of a potential water spout
You do also have the dark force if you want to try to guarantee the damage into the Golden Goat
But the Golden Goat moves first before and Blastoise has a critical hit
And it's going to turn it down to 90%
His water spouts are going to be pitiful, but it's a shell smash instead
That's going to help increase the speed of these Blastoise at an expense of its defense and special defense
And I think, oh, it's wrong, so he doesn't miss.
Oh, this is a zero.
But that's not the right one.
He'll connect up to the Blacks boys.
Oh, wow.
He actually was going to take it down at the end of the turn.
Yeah, that critical hit was huge.
I think definitely a lot of things going in Wolfe's favorite.
I don't think he needed it to be clear, right?
Like, I think he made the absolute right play.
But I think that's just game over, honestly,
on the spot, right?
Because Hirafumi's entire gambit here
was let me try to get the Blacks boys set up
and sweep with it.
But I think there was risk, of course.
Yeah, eating up that critical hit.
And so Wolf fakes the right call there saying I am going to just shadow ball into the Blasphus law saying if you switch into Incineroar, why guarantee the damage?
And yeah, I think if the crit doesn't happen there, the Blasphus does get set up and then the following turn, you just switch Incineroar into Sinisteria to go back up the water stop it.
How? I just don't think there's enough damage for Hero 3 at this point.
I agree with you there. There's not really a great way for the Sinisteria or the Incineroar to hit this Star Raptor either.
which still has the ability to mega-evolve.
Another KO for Wolf Blink.
The Scanshot is set packing,
and now it's Jossi and Sarah on an island.
Wolf Blink is about to close up this game 2-0
to take a win in the first round of the World Championships.
And it goes to show basically how thin the margins can be.
Sometimes we can set up these teams
because you often feel like you're going all in
on whatever Pokemon you're trying to set up.
I really like here if Umi's all to provide the Delphox as a beef here.
What's tricky is like going full commitment on turn one, right?
Because it could have just been helping hand key wave.
Try to knock out Golden Go immediately.
Probably be a very different match if that happens.
But if you go helping hand key wave, don't beg a bulk Delphox.
Well, then the Delphox is threaded by Tarana Targis.
Here we go. Wolf Glick will win his very first game
on his return to the world stage
against one of the game's best in hero food game.
Really, was it an amazing match to watch
to kick off our world championships?
Especially when a lot of the match, you know,
you were talking about it during game one.
there are a lot of obvious plays that we may consider to make just given a board
state that we see in turn of eyes but you gotta think several steps ahead are
they actually going to be seeing the same obvious play you want to play around
that and go for something different and I feel like that's what we saw on many
of these terms and I think this was a set where I felt like Wolf already was
kind of in the advantage and then you know a vulnerable para and the critical
hit just bringing it way too over the edge at that point where it felt
like here if we was already trying to play from behind in both of those games and I think once again
Like it is so critical this turn that wolf did correctly shot of all blast ways, right?
Because I think it could be tempting to shout of all sinister and try to get the knockout into it if you ignore blast ways
It's a shell smash that turn and blast ways doesn't have that much damage and sinister can switch back in it
Suddenly becomes a completely different ballgame, right?
So for here if we mean he was looking for the perfect opportunity to get that shell smash off and
Yeah, I really would have loved to see how that would have played out without the crib because I think wolves likely had
you know, when Scott strapped her in the back with Scott could still be able to set up a tailwind right and kind of match the speed from last
ways and strapped her they would still be quite difficult to deal with and so yeah
I felt like it was still probably a most favorite before the crit but the crit just like instantly wins the game and
It's kind of the principle of being able to you know get multiple attacks off into your opponent if they're constantly making switches
Yeah, and you see why the forfeit came through at the very end of that second game in center or was going to be all
and then also the low kick
from the Tyranitar. And that
it's definitely enough to get
that KO. So for me just knew
the writing was on the wall,
but that's still a great set
to start off our day. Yeah, I
think one thing that is, you
know, so tough about this
format in particular is like
the players are so good. And so
if you was like any little
bit of variance here and
there can all like I wouldn't
to advantage both of the games, but it's one of those where it's like even one flinch, one create,
you know, can often just see the difference between having it like the game being somewhat neutral
or to like completely blowing up, right? And so I think that Perifumi's team is one where you
ideally want to get set up with your Pokemon, but he basically never got the chance to set up,
and part of what Wolf did really well in that game was saying, look, any opportunity that you
have to potentially set up, I'm going to potentially look to scare you, right, from that.
And once again, the Phyragraph to block the fake outs and the wings,
to be able to switch in any point of potentially all for you really scary. Yeah just really did make
that it's in our field so much less useful those fakeouts being off the table. You never know if
that photograph is just going to switch in even if it's not on the field. That's going to do it for us
for round number one of our world championships move. We've got our analysts on the other side
to break this match down even further. Thanks so much Rose. Thank you Aaron. What a great
We're going to have to wait for the
final to be round one there.
Looking at the pairings when we
got things started. Lee couldn't
ask for about one. Could we leave
versus her a movie? We said
backstage in the green. We were
like, Well, I guess after this
round, maybe we just go home. You
know, that's it. That's the
world World Championship finals
all done wrapped up. Let's
let's call it a day there. But
what a What a way to start
with that kind of, you know, the set up orientation
that they've got.
Wolf really managing it very well,
but Wolf picking some really interesting choices
in team building around that star after that solo mega
we see so often throughout this format
where players are kind of going for a dual mega,
but Wolf really confidently putting all the eggs
in one basket with that mega star after
and it got off to a flying star.
Yeah, flying, yeah, you won't be able to do it.
I was gonna do it, so yeah.
That's the Charlie influence.
Charlie, if you're watching back home, it's all you, my friend.
So while we've got a little bit of time, because that was a quick round, right?
Let's take a little bit more time, I think, to have a look at kind of like the team preview,
the teams that these two trainers have been using,
because I've no doubt that we're going to see a little bit more of both of these trainers back.
Well, yeah, as we go through this tournament,
through this tournament. I think there's some interesting things to look at as we get to our first
play here of the two teams that we're breaking down. Now Wolf is running a really interesting
like sand composition. Now usually we see that with Star Raptor and also with the
Megataranitar, but Wolf's taking this team in a completely different direction.
Yeah and that's I really love it actually because there's a lot of different intricate choices within that competition as well
You've got the expert belt on the extra drill will explore that in a little bit
But like you say I think when on face value is this team going to struggle against some of the bigger kind of comps in the format
Yeah, well, he's got a lot of tools at his disposal there because of the photograph
Like you say really great against what here a few you need that fake out set up to allow things like the blast
So straight away that's out the question and even in future games where you both may not lead with it
You've always got that kind of lingering question in your back of your mind
Do I commit to the fake out to try and get this set up or am I gonna just fall apart because the photographs gonna switch in right?
Exactly that. So I mean, let's get let's get back to
the team preview here. So we had and
Wolf on one side and I want to highlight like a couple of things here on on this team
the first one that I want to actually go through there is this item on the exit. Right? We've
got the expert belt here. Now, this is an item that we don't really see too often in many
compositions of extra. A lot of the sound compositions that we're seeing with mega
tyrannot are usually really like to see the focus sash on the extra drill. One of those
focus was like, it's so easy to get knocked out, right? Yeah. But instead, Wolf deciding
like hey I want to get this extra little bit of damage here but not only that you've got the
high horsepower but you've also got the earthquake here on the X-Cadrill you've got that choice like
am I going for that solid ground type coverage the one that hits into a target maybe I'm next
to the frigoraf maybe I don't want to knock out my frigoraf of the armchair right but then
if you need that spread pressure if you need to get through a sinister redirecting etc
you've got the capability there.
I also really like it as well because of the popularity of something like YG that we now see,
and you know, when players are bringing Charizard a lot of the time,
one of the biggest threats to that is those spread damage and namely rock slides.
So having ways, although this isn't really against the Charizard and so much,
so it gets around YG essentially and giving the X-Rill a lot more flexibility to take
advantage of turns that it's got the sound on the field because we know whether it's so
dominant thing. He's really got to take advantage of the turn when it's in play.
Definitely, like, you know, Taranatar's kind of enough to knock out a Charizard, right?
Very well in that last game as well.
Well, exactly. Even still, like, against a lot of the Charizard compositions that we're seeing now,
Topsepex is a really big factor in that.
So I think there's a good deal of influence there coming out here from Wolfe.
You've also got some smaller things, like you've got the timid on the Golden Go,
and those Golden Go mirrors that you may be as fast as possible to be able to out speed them.
But also, you've got this tailwind on the Staraptor as well, and that tailwind is so important
for making sure this team is set up. Not only with the Whimsicott, if you want to go for it,
but if you're in a matchup, and there's not that many of them, but there are some where
you're like, hey, I really can't bring Whimsicott into this matchup, or I don't want to
to bring into the matchup.
Actually, you've got an option for speed control there
with the star actor as well.
So I really think this is a great showcase
of how to build these sand compositions
a little bit differently.
Yeah, and I want to point out as well,
the focus sash on the Whimsicott here
is a common item on Whimsicott,
but it feels a little bit counterproductive
in a sand composition.
Yeah, yeah, kind of.
There's a sand kind of self-breaks
that the focus sash put.
We'll make it a very big judgment call here
because I think a lot of the time, the Winter Cloud is probably going to be one of those
Pokemon that comes out before the sand comes out and it's there primarily to support.
Probably the Gold Angle, the Tailwind and that Starraptor, more importantly with that
Charm and then you've got the Disruption with the Yonkour as well and that Security
Blanket of the Focus Sash in the Scenarios.
Making sure you've got the early game sorted.
Yeah, exactly.
I really love it because a lot of the time when you probably put the pieces of this
together you think, I can't put the Focus Sash there because I've got the sand.
It's going to be a real detriment to my on-game plan, but I think Wolf is smart enough to
play that exactly how he needs to at the right times.
But I think that's got to be the other part of the puzzle about why this Taranatar is a
chocolate berry.
Yeah, exactly that.
Instead of being a mega, you're not actually relying as much on the Taranatar.
And we saw that in the game one with Hirafumi, right?
The Taranatar came out right at the end when the Blastoise was already knocked
out from Hirafumi's side.
that being non-Mega, put so much more focus on the Storaptor being the Mega of Choice and
that's what makes the focus Sash White and this is what I love about looking at different
team compositions, right? It's like one thing leads to another leads to another and you
can see the picture of how this team has been built up.
But let's go over to Hirafumi with his team and I think this is one of the teams that
We've really got to be looking forward to seeing quite a lot this weekend.
It's a team that's got a lot of popularity, certainly in the Japanese community.
But also the wider community has picked up this combination of set-up with the Blast Toys,
set-up with the Delphops, and set-up with the King Gambit.
And then you've got the Incineral, the Sinister, and the Sneaselor
going for their supportive options.
You've got the fake-out, you've got the redirect, you've got the parting shot.
You've got the pivoting action going on.
And so this team is really all about protecting,
even, well, I was gonna say protecting the kids,
we're protecting the King Gambit here,
where you've got the Shell Smash,
you've got the nasty plot,
and you've got the sword stance,
so you get to pick as the player.
Like King Gambit can come to all the games,
like it's a King Gambit in this format,
it's one of those Pokemon that you can splash
onto pretty much any team,
but then you've got that choice of like,
do you want to play the Blastoise,
do you want to play the Ghost?
That's what makes it so difficult for opponents.
You get that decision wrong in Team Preview.
Well, games can fall apart pretty quickly
just because of that support network
that Incineroar and the Sinisteria.
And even the King Amur to a certain extent
offer the rest of the team
those set up primary Pokemon, the Blast Loach and Delphox.
But you don't need to always go down that route.
I think Hirafumi in game one was very good
in being able to condition Wolfen
to a lot of scenarios where we saw that double knockout
with the Starraptor going into the King Amur.
It didn't switch.
And then the brave bird comes out, not the close comeback.
Yeah, and then the wins the cock going down as well
and put here a few in a really strong position,
but for Wolf, really smartly bringing the Taranatar
at the right time.
It was enough to close the game up,
but it can operate in those scenarios as well.
Just having the threat of that setup can make your opponent
act in a different way to what they would probably
want to optimize their play in that scenario, you know?
Yeah.
And then you've got the smaller things.
We saw it in the match, right?
You've got the shell smash on the blast toys, right?
That's getting the speed set up,
but then you're swapping in the sinister,
recovering the health.
If you get the blast always set up,
even if it's at half,
it's still gonna be doing lots of damage,
putting loads of pressure onto your opponent's side
of the field and really allowing you
to control the match.
What I love, and I really wanna shout this out
for Hirafumi, such a great adaptation in game two
of the match that we just saw versus Wolf,
where it's like,
Psych, Delphox, no, that's not the mega
that I'm bringing, going for the heat wave,
getting some damage on the board, just starting to get things going.
Yes, it got knocked out, but actually it did pave the way for a blastoid set up.
The critical hit on the goal and go, sometimes it happens, you know?
These things, it all played a really great game.
It played the right turn.
It really shut down the blast oys on that turn.
But actually, like, there was this game plan, right?
If the critical hit didn't happen, blast oys at half two,
flush shell smash, like, it's definitely something that could have brought
Herafumi making back into the game.
Especially with the Sinisteria in the back that could come in,
pop the health of that Blastoise up a little bit further, you know,
and then it's going to be getting to jump on everything on both sides.
You know the remaining Pokemon, the hard saw.
Yeah, it would have been, like Aaron said, really great to see how that would have
played out and what Wolf would have done to counteract the threat that Blastoise
could come, because Herafumi hard put themselves into that fantastic position.
So this team is definitely something at home that you're going to want to watch out for
out for as we go through the tournament. Absolutely fantastic. I'm sure we'll see a little bit
more action from Hirafumi. He's lost round one, but he's certainly not out of the tournament
and will definitely on the right path be going into round two. Now, let's have a look
at what Pokemon people are bringing this weekend. And if you're no surprise, King
Gambit Jorazad in Sinoraw there, sitting at our first, second and third position.
Big six there. Representing very well there in the usage stats, but yeah, that 52% on the Kingama, no surprise.
It is, I would argue, be saved between that Charizard and Vascular Legion, probably the strongest Pokemon in the format that we've got access to.
Very surprising that the usage stats are like this day one. I'm really looking forward to see how this transition going into game two,
you're watching. Is there anything that's standing out to you that's really a bit of a surprise?
I see the Venusol is a lot higher, but coming into the World Championships here, we've seen
a lot of that sun rain kind of composition. Pick up a lot of usage, a lot of success. So
the Venusol there, there's a really good role against a lot of the kind of comedy stuff
that you see.
I think this tells quite a good story about what the meta game really looks like. You've
got the couple of fire types up at the top. You've got a couple of dark types
in King Gambit and Incineroar there being a useful type.
You've got that little cluster of very tight Pokemon
at six, nine, and 10.
The best very tight Pokemon in the format,
players are really trying to focus in on
and deciding which one of those,
or which two of those in the case of Flouette and Windsor
because they really want to be bringing to the event.
But then you've got the couple of strong brass types
and then the sort of line of supports
that we've got up the middle with Incins,
Sneasler, and Phyregoraph,
with Sinisteria as well, obviously, to go with that.
And I think, like, it really does speak
to the centralization of those tools.
Like, those tools are some of the best
that we have in the game.
And no matter what type of team that you're running,
those support tools like Phrygoras,
Nisla, Sinisteria, Incineroar, and Wimzacop
always seem to sort of gravitate their way
towards making a slot on your team.
And so I'm not surprised to see those ones
getting a real lot of usage.
Surprised maybe actually to see Venusaur
as low as it is there,
where like a lot of the Charizard teams
do focus on a lot of the variants Charizard,
you focus on having Venusaur with them.
So like this shift that we've had in like the quote,
big six kind of archetype moving like
in the Venusaur direction slowly but steadily
over the course of the format.
But then like players saying,
Hey, maybe actually I want incineroar instead or maybe I want to like go down the the flow at Whimsicott route and try to
set up with my flow out or
Just throw a lot of ruin in there for good measure. Yeah
Another thing to point out. I think incineroars kind of rise as well
It would be no surprise to people more familiar with the circuits from previous years
But I think incineroar probably started out this format not the most used
But it has become one of the most staples on on these teams because of just the ability. Yeah, I know time again
But the ability to just support well being offensive threat when it needs to be and just be one of the best
Well, I don't know if anyone knew at home in Cinder all is kind of a good Pokemon
It took us a while to figure out. I feel like when we started this was like the most difficult time
certainly starting in MA, but even in the transition to MP is like, this is the
most difficult time in Cideron I've ever had and, well, look at it go. You're
doing well in Cideron. Congratulations on continuing to be like the best
Pokemon that we've ever had in the game. Right, should we have a look at the
Megas, Lee? Let's have a look at the Megas. Let's dive in. Right, so Charizard, we knew
was gonna be kind of on top, Mega Flowette there, but there's a little
bit of a drop off there down to
mega star after which is seeing
such a rise in usage since
this introduction and I feel like
we had that period of time where
we were all like, hey, new toy
syndrome. Let's let's see how we
can have a little bit of fun
with contrarian side parting
shotting side charming that
hasn't necessarily gone away.
But I feel like players have
really matured in the way
that they're approaching
certainly into the world
championship, how they're
how they're piloting their Mega Star Actors.
Yeah, I think, you know, to start out with, they were a bit more glass cannon-like.
Now we're seeing them probably get a little bit more towards that defensive side
just so they can stick around on the field a little bit longer.
Some iterations are relying on Roost as well to kind of prolong that longevity
and allow the Star Actor to perform those roles that it needs to do a lot longer on the field.
But I love it. It's one of my favorite Mega's that's introduced in the NBA format,
the contraria ability. It can be a hindrance sometimes because you see the adaptation a lot of
players you know will then stop putting swagger on their Pokemon. They've got a slot free just
to be able to kind of lure that attack rather than boosting it and that can throw it down.
I think it forces a lot of conditions as well where players if they have got
access to Intimidate you're almost forced to lead that out in the early stages before it
mega evolves so you can get that all-important
facelift, which both players can take advantage of.
And then you lead with King Gambit.
Yes, next to it.
And you laugh in it. It's great.
I'm looking a little bit further down the list there.
Just a couple of, I think, honorable mentions there.
The Mega Ryche Y usually is a partner to Mega Star Raptor.
That's been a team that's been rising in popularity.
I'm certainly excited to see how trainers are using
that combination because I feel like that's a team
that really does require the world's caliber level player
to be able to pilot effectively.
And then, you know, we've got a great turnout
for Mega Radactyl, even just equaling Mega Blastoise.
Mega Gengar has been a Pokemon that has been
on many people's minds coming into the world championships.
You have got to be on another level
to be able to pilot Mega Gengar
at the world championships in this format, I think.
But 10 years ago, Wolf Click did exactly that.
He was able to win the World Championships with it.
We know that he's not running it this time round,
but it's certainly on a lot of people's headless.
Yeah, I think of all of the Megas that we're showing now,
I think Gengar, for myself,
has probably got the most potential of the Lord down,
trying to potentially win the World Championships weekend.
It's so good, so versatile,
but you say there is a high ceiling, the skill level with it.
But if you've been playing it in the run-up to the World Championships,
maybe you've achieved a level and you'll bring in all of the action here this weekend in San Francisco.
And I'm really interested to see Mega Swampert. You know, we've got such a high usage of Mega
Charizard and that Sun. But Mega Swampert, if you can get in the right scenario in that rain,
we all know how hard it hits with those big muscles that it's got. Big muscles. That's
what we're going to be doing all weekend trainers. Now we've got a little bit more
round one action. So we're going to throw it back to our casters to see our next match
here on straight.
Round one, the round's so nice.
We got to broadcast it twice.
We had so many incredible matchups out in the field
that we couldn't resist showing you an additional one
after that quick 2-0 win from Wolf Click.
That should be a lot of fun here.
We enjoyed rounds four a few months ago.
So now we're going to try rounds one.
You know, never, no tournament other than the World Championship
I think where you enjoy seeing multiple round one matchups
so much.
And we're going to have another one with two really great
what have you just been ashamed not to get to see and broadcast absolutely and
so I have a thrill that we are going to be able to see our two competitors in our
second round one match of the day it is going to be here on stage our 2014
world champion from Korea Sajin Park is now back here in San Francisco
competing against our globally ranked number one in the championship points
Greetings, Juan Salerno.
This should be an extremely exciting match.
And actually, Scott, the last time you and I cast together
was that 2014 World Championship
the Satan took all the way.
A fun throwback, right?
Satan seemed a little bit different this time,
where he was really pushing the meta
in that 2014 tournament with that patchery suit team
that is so famous.
I'm particularly kind of with Megagarados,
who's the main attacker.
Here, it's a little bit more one of the standard
competitions.
If you're looking at those usage stabs
at the analyst desk there,
This is why these two teams in particular have really driven a lot of the high usage of this Pokemon.
On one side of the field, we have the big six with one here where it really is kind of just like,
hey, this is the strongest group of Pokemon you can select in this format,
regardless of the meta game. We've seen this at the beginning of regulation in MA,
and it really hasn't fallen off much at all. On the other side of the field, you kind of see
maybe the MB version of this, even though it's also only using Pokemon from MA,
kind of the evolution of what we saw Wolf Glick use at the NAIC tournament
where the tactic is still a factor here,
but Venusaur has worked way into this roster,
really important on these Charizard teams now,
where part of why he has jumped up and used it so much
is that it complements the Charizard,
allows the Charizard to run a few different moves.
I believe this one, like most of the Charizards
we see alongside Venusaur,
like it's from that ancient power move
that we didn't really see in MA at all.
With Venusaur like, hey, you know,
I'm the Grass type first,
partner Pokemon, I'll handle the Grass type attacking.
Charizard, you can do something else.
Yeah, did y'all know Charizard
actually got a Rock type attack?
turns out Charizard can beat opposing Charizard with that ancient power and if
you get that boost to all of your stats, oh well that's just the cherry on top here.
Here we go heading into our first game in our second round one.
Yeah, should be a lot of fun there. I hope we all have as much fun as this game as that
Walrain did. So we see this team here. Yeah this is kind of just the expected
version of this composition. Very powerful. I think Lash out on Inciderary,
standing out is something that we don't see as common, commonly with that
interesting dark type attack choice, but the rest of this is pretty much what we're expecting.
Venusaur going to have that focusash item. Sometimes you do see life orb instead though.
It's a little bit harder to fit on this version of the team because even Ardent for that Garchomp,
that's something that we've seen a lot on Garchomp are in the previous regulation.
And more frequent are defensive items or the choice scarf, which does still show up some
this particular version of the team. It's on Vasculation instead. So you know,
only so many great items to go around. You're going to have to distribute these all these great Pokemon.
Well, Garchomp is always happy to hold that life orb and get that extra boost to its damage.
Also important to note here, because that Charizard has Ancient Power, the rock-type coverage is being covered by Charizard,
which opens up Garchomp to use both of its ground-type attacks here in Earthquake for multi-target damage
and stomping tantrums that you aren't feeling super effective damage to Pokemon next to Garchomp, like that Toxinpex or Incineroar.
That's really big on this team, where you'd love to use Earthquake, right?
especially when you have the combination of Garchomp and Charizard on your team,
just being able to threaten that big heatwave and that big Earthquake is so powerful.
It really forces your opponent to respect that combination of Pokemon.
But the rest of this team is terrible next to Earthquake, right?
Either four Pokemon are all hit by it.
Two of them are weak against it.
You really don't want to be whacking your own partners unnecessarily.
So having the option of that is really nice.
And again, like you said, you see the combination of these Pokemon,
allowing Sage Inn and all the other trainers playing this archetype
to drop some of their coverage moves.
Speaking of an Ancient Power, as well, one thing to keep in mind,
I think oh, you know Charizard four times weakest rock have attacked Charizard great special attacking Pokemon surely
That's a one shot an opposing Charizard
It can be if you've got a truly fast and frail Charizard
But typically that's you can see that you about 80 to 90 percent you opposing Charizard
So pretty much any chip damage going to be enough to put it in that ancient power range
But you're not just going to see the trainers are full sending that turn one very often
But even like a heatwave is enough to easily put an opposing Charizard range of that ancient power
So it's kind of fun cat and mouse where you do want to get a little chip in there before you try to pick up the knockouts
Yeah, some chip damage from the heatwave also chip damage and a trap from the tox effects with that infestation or toxic
So be on the lookout for what Pokemon if Stagen decides to bring the tox effects
Which Pokemon is Stagen trying to draft in with the tox effects and whatever the partner Pokemon is?
Yeah, well lots of powerful poke around this other side of the field is he trainers exchanging their team shoots here
And you'll see the big six, you know, the big six.
You have to have a match up into in this tournament.
Yeah, we struggle to define what big six is.
There's, you know, approximately big 60 Pokemon that could be in it.
But I think this is the real big six here on the Pokemon
that were considered kind of the strongest combination of Pokemon
in the previous regulation.
And they haven't needed to change things too much in this format.
You'll see the life warm up here against this team.
But otherwise, if the team you could have just assembled
the previous regulation, you would have looked really good doing it.
Absolutely. And again, the ancient power on this car is art as well.
So Juan is also opted to forgo any grass type coverage
Which does help very much into the Charizard mirror
Which when we saw those Charizard usage stats at over 40% looks pretty good whamper only at about 9%
Yeah, and then that's just a match if you choose to throw away
You know I think the one Pokemon it's in to be really good on that
We see more frequently is that basket legion that we saw near the top of the stats
So you'll be a little bit more difficult for Charizard feel that but you really don't want to play that match up
More than you have to anyway
There's a lot of ways most teams can get basket legion to be faster than Charizard and even with the sun up wave crashes
If it's that a one-hit knockout, it's very close
So you really don't want to be taking that anyway preferring to have your friends help you deal with that particular both or not
Well, like we mentioned Juan Salerno is the number one championship points leader in the world heading into this tournament
He has done it by playing extremely well and extremely consistently and a team like this this big six team
gives you so many different options to always stay in the game you're almost never out of the game completely when you run a comp like this
I think options you'll be really fun to watch how these Pokemon are trained throughout the course of this set many of these really popular teams
We see are pretty tough to customize right like
Here or there, but Pokemon need to be fast and you'd be bulky. It's that you can kind of do whatever you want
It's a lot of just where you didn't we have as a team builder and I think that's really great for a trainer like one
Here it is the classic lead pairing the dragon type bar chomps against the higher type not dragon Charizard
But like you mentioned you like this lead because you always immediately threaten earthquake and heatwave into your opponent
But not so strong into the opposing Charizard
Yeah fun match if you're a free of the four Pokemon also have rocked at but has it's only the one Garcet that does not so
The charges probably all feeling a little bit threatened there. Our rock side will not chip the charge
I will probably just stock it out.
Either way, going at the pit very cautiously at this turn.
Perhaps both sides hoping your opponents would leave something else where
you're a little bit awkward here.
It covers everything except for the mirror lead pretty well.
Well, and you have to look at the guard chump in this mirror.
Of course, Sajian will be running the life orb guard chump
versus Juan running the citrus berry guard chump.
As both of the Chars are, they'll go ahead and protect themselves right away.
Here's the Dragon Trump call.
The life orb feels good damage to the guard chump
But because this is the bulkier Citrus Berry Garchomp,
it is able to hang on to just a sliver of health here.
It will be able to activate the Citrus Berry
and take some additional damage back from the rough skin
and fire back with a Dragon Claw of its own,
just barely missing out on that KO.
And particularly this is very interesting training there.
This is the matchup you usually use
Citrus Berry Garchomp for.
That's kind of a whole point, right?
You tank the Dragon Claw, you heal back up,
and then usually you do enough damage
and return to pick up that Garchomp.
This Garchomp's training away will pass
that doesn't happen and wants his darts up to stay in the field and be the quickest Pokemon
remaining. So, uh, starting a lot of damage in this turn. It's a really nice trade for
Sagan. Uh, maybe you get a little bit of a chart for Wanu. Probably expected that to
be a knockout.
Absolutely. Definitely expect that to be a knockout if you are running that Citrus
Fairy darts on. Like you mentioned, that is why you run that set.
Well, we'll go ahead and retreat for a favor of the Whimzacot now. So, Charizard
switches out for Whimzacot hoping to tank a dragon ball on the switch in. The
Sage is just going to go immediately for the mega evolution on his own Charizard.
Juan will go ahead and protect Garchomp this turn, trying to get in a position where a
tailwind might allow that Garchomp to do something on the next turn.
The Sage is just not falling for anything here.
The Garchomp fires off an earthquake, connects onto the Whimsicott, that will go ahead and
break the focus sash.
Garchomp will trade itself because of that life orb recoil, but you are happy to
to do so so long as you can land and hit into this Whimsicott.
Ninja Power actually, the choice just in case it stayed in,
a critical hit into Whimsicott, but not enough
to pick up the KO here.
So long does at least get Whimsicott next to Garchomp
with Grittin' Tailwind.
Maybe get the wrong low percentage roll back
where instead of getting each of power boosts,
it's a critical hit.
Critical hit doesn't really matter too much there,
but there is a knockout kind of going.
The right direction where the Garchomp
is thinking of a knockout by knocking himself in the way.
I want to say to you to get a free switch here.
I think if you pick up a knockout, the Windsor cap's looking really good,
where you can bring in something like Venusaur or Vascular Legion,
but you can't even manage it, but because that option isn't available
with the Windsor cap, almost certainly about to use a tail in there,
especially with the Garchomp having floated Protect already.
And so, I think the Incinerator is going to come in,
and he does a bunch of interesting things here, right?
Actually threatening a knockout probably with the effect of the Windsor cap
because of the credit for that in the previous turn,
so maybe not so well that after all,
intimidating the Garchomp, where now the Charizard probably can survive
an attack from it, and really improving his condition for a little bit.
So down in the Pokemon count, but especially with these Pokemon we can so much, I feel it's a pretty good position.
Even better, Garchomp went for a Prince Hecht last turn from one side, which means that Garchomp is extremely vulnerable to a fake out
and taking damage from the Charizard, either a Heat Wave or a Weather Ball into that slot would be enough to pick up the KO onto Garchomp.
Brucebeth does have the option to go for a Protect, so it's not saying to fake out into that slot, but Garchomp's wide open here.
Okay, well I can't afford to give up both these Pokemon for free even for a tailwind Gargoth going for the double not going to get it. So probably going to be liked up for Gargoth job.
Yeah, you got to go for that one if you're a wand. You don't want any of the Pokemon in the back to switch into this weather ball. And there it is.
Sajin will go ahead and even up the Pokemon score cleaning up the Gargoth with that weather ball. So safe there from Sajin. Great play there.
Here is the Charizard out on the field for Juan.
Both of these Charizard are at full health, so neither is necessarily in that ancient power
range.
So both of these Pokemon should be able to tank the hit from the opposing Pokemon.
That really interesting play for Juan now here where, well you could try to double up on the Charger
to pick up the knockout that way, but if you do you're definitely giving up the afternoon to get
tailed to the rest of the game and are your remaining Pokemon capable of winning from that
position, it'd be a risky play to go for. So a pretty precarious spot there with this
voice view of the cat. You really do want to get that tailed up. It's probably that window.
Yeah, this may be the only window Juan has to set the tailwind,
which would most likely last for the remainder of the game here,
as we are pretty deep into this game, Juan.
Here's tailwind coming up from Winsicott,
so Juan now has the speed advantage for the foreseeable future.
Here's the ancient tower connecting onto Sager's Charizard.
Scott, the math is perfect.
Charizard had 13% while surviving that ancient tower,
firing back into Juan's again.
Perfect math, Charizard at 19%.
But Incineroar does not need to spend time setting up the Tailwind,
it means it gets to lash out into Charizard and pick up that last 20% of health.
So now, Juan has Tailwind, has the Speed Abandoned,
needs something big out of this last Pokemon.
And it's a little scary looking at this, right, where if it's Pasquale Legion,
maybe the tight matchup is really good at least, but the sun is up.
And critically, there aren't many Pokemon remaining,
and Juan's got to have spread attacks, so he really want to burn through this quickly,
especially with Wimpycat also kind of on the brink of being knocked out.
But I thought it was a super efficient way to close this game out.
You know, the only Pokemon remaining with spread type moves is that Float,
but you assume it's not the final Pokemon, it is the King Gambit.
And now facing down two fire type Pokemon.
That King Gambit facing down both the Charizard and the Incineroar.
And actually Incineroar looking very good here.
Very difficult for Juan to deal big damage to that Pokemon.
Now Juan is running the four attack version of King Gambit
who does have access to low kick.
but Incineroar with that Citrus Fairy should be able to tank that pretty easily even a low kick and a Moon Blast from the Wimtsicott.
But you have to get that Charizard off the field, otherwise you're just going to get blown up by a Weatherball or any way.
Yeah, absolutely. It's just the scariest part. Your Jewel, you know, maybe you just full send, right?
Like, okay, well, Charizard, if you get back up, but I don't know if I NEED the Charizard, right?
If you attack with both Pokemon, there's going to be some fire type damage going the other direction.
So there's the Moon Blast into Charizard. Charizard will go down here, so Pawn is going to even up the Pokemon count once again.
There's low kick coming out from King Gambit dealing exactly 50% health to Incineroar,
just pushing it over to that Citrus Berry amount, going to heat up and heal up as well.
There is the Flare Blitz hitting up the KO on it, who wins the cut, and now it is
just this King Gambit with no protect and only single target damage against two Pokemon on
Sage inside. That Incineroar will be able to pick up a KO with the Flare Blitz, but
This is the worst possible Pokémon for Sgt. to have in the back.
Should Juan be able to get this King Cinder off the field somehow.
Yeah, maybe there's some way he can do this.
Certainly, Taksapex is not going to be able to Taksaq to be King Gambit.
He's going to have to only use the infestation.
But if he doesn't get critical hit,
I know it's going to be a huge flat blitz the other direction.
No crit coming out from the low click.
Here comes the flare blitz.
The Acaberry will help protect the King Gambit a little bit here.
Only takes about 50% health.
But that is all that Taksapex needs.
just needs time. Incineroar hanging on with 5% after the recoil is also huge. There's the infestation
and over time King Gambit now is on the clock. Needs to be able to get a KO on to this Incineroar
and onto the Toxapex and I don't think Juan has enough time here. Yeah I mean Toxapex is good at
one thing it's staying out in the field and that final Pokemon is going to be so threatening
here and not really going to be able to do any more damage itself other than that damage
over time but your King Gambit's still going to have to invest a turn docking at this
Otherwise, we'd just pick up a knockout on it.
And at that point, if this issue already almost be done.
But there's the Cautaupleade one is just trying to see how much damage
that King Gambit can deal into the Talks of Pecs here.
Those that there's no shot of surviving in the end of this game won.
It gets good information on the Talks of Pecs and gets
Sgt. to waste the critical hit on the King Gambit right here.
But from our 2014 World Champion, Sgt. Park, he's looking good.
I think that was a really neat win too, I think a lot of us like man, you know, we really love staging like we hope he's prepared enough for this
Right, you know, he's you know, football world champions played in I think every form of competitive Pokemon other than DGC
He won the championship. So it's like, oh, you know, like how prepared is he gonna be for this tournament?
You know, he's just here to have fun
But they get a really good game plan there
Both in the kind of the sequencing of his Pokemon as well in the way that Garchomp is trained
He was a nice little trap, a little bit of bummer if you're staging having to show that on stream during run one
But still a really nice win there and again, you know
yet. You know, one's been incredible. The world leader in championship points.
It's not like this is some, you know, that there are any weak players in the
world championship. But I think even among, uh, you know, world championship level
players, right? I think most people say, you know, one is a real threat to win
this tournament. Great game one for Sage in there. Absolutely. Great game
one there from Sage. And I love that you called out that Garchomp training.
That is something that we have been hearing over and over again in the
run up to the world championships. How important the Garchomp mirror can
And especially the Citrus Berry Guard Chomp is supposed to win that mirror.
That is the whole point of Citrus Berry Guard Chomp.
And Sajin realizing that I need to be, I can flip that on his head by investing some more deep into my own,
or more hit points into my own Guard Chomp.
Incredible play there, incredible practice.
Can be run up to the World Championship.
Now, here is an adaptation from Sajin.
This is the other lead for this team, Incineroar and Toxapex.
This is a pretty good lead for that Toxapex and Incineroar to catch.
Yeah, a lot of things to kind of enjoy here.
First you get the Attitiator, we saw how well Incineroar did against these Pokemon in the previous game,
or losing most of Characters to Axel,
though, hey, you don't think the H.E. Power didn't think it quite as well as it used to you.
But Toxapex is really the Pokemon to look at here.
So it has the option of trying to Toxic,
or invest one of these Pokemon to build up damage,
and quickly hit the Wide Yard to counter all those front attacks at the whole point of this lead combination.
Yeah, and Garchomp can only deal super effective damage to Toxapex with that Earthquake.
So if Sajun is able to get some poison damage down, get the Toxic going, get the Infestation going,
Wann could find himself just locked out in this game too.
Tarthar is going to go ahead and protect here because Wann just needs to see what is going on.
So why guard from Sajun, which means that Sajun is trying to get damage down onto one of these two Pokemon.
You can see how important that is in order to intimidate was neither Pokemon taking more than 39% there even though it was super effective damage and a parting shot.
This is disastrous for Juan if that Garchomp is about to get stuck out on the field against this Toxapex, especially as Garchomp switches in.
The two levels of reduced attack and there is that increase station coming down.
So Garchomp not going to lead to the battlefield, but that doesn't get a little damage on the opposing Toxapex there with these rough skin.
It's a really tough position though now where, say you got exactly the one in the turn, Charizard protecting bluntlessly there.
The Earthquake game is just nice where at least, you know, one wasn't afraid to go for that Earthquake despite the possible wide guard,
but this is exactly why it was worth that risk where Charizard, now full health facing down to Charizard, counters an opposing Charizard,
has had a attack reduced so significantly, and that isn't super powerful offensively to begin with because it's that citrus fairy variant.
Tox effects now looking pretty exciting as well where a wide garden really shut that most of what these Pokemon can do
So a great positioning for Sajin another really strong game time. We see how it this keeps other mode
Absolutely, Tox effects is sitting pretty with the minus two guard shop stuck out on the field
And Charizard unable to feel super effective damage into the Tox effects either of course
Our is able to feel good damage with you know weather ball in the Sun
But Juan is not going to let that Pokemon get stuck against the Toxapex.
Too many options here for Sgt.
And Sgt. just going on the offensive life orb guard jump.
The important thing is just getting that guard jump stuck on the field so it could not retreat from this life orb dragon claw.
Guard jump goes down for Juan.
And here comes Wimzacop on the switcher.
And it's not going anywhere.
But yeah.
Hey, what you think of that?
But, uh, Infestation going to pick up a little damage.
gonna break that focus. I really like that. I think that the completion there is to play that
defensively. We've seen a lot with Toxic Defense players. This Pokemon has picked up popularity
over the previous few months. Like, all right, gonna lower some things in packs. I mean,
he's gonna play with this for a while, leave it on the field, and I really like this, where I
think that would have been a great counter to a more defensive play. You know, one that kind
of switches in on a painful bunker from the Toxic Defense, and you can see Encore in the
previous turn, and then who's trapped with who at that point. Instead, kicking it from back
out there on the opposing guard chop which I think is also kind of just clever it's like hey well
you just barely survived the dragon claw so all I needed is this little bit of chip and then now
whimsicott as they close them on the weaker position here king gambit going to come in and at least
in a fairly favorable position here where it can do some stuff here you know can't be toxic um you
and cinder are going to be uh not something you really want to switch in and activate by defiant
but still not like a fantastic situation for one so you just really hit a great line into this
Now on the plus side for Juan, King Gambit is good into the Tox effects and Wimson Pot threatens super effective damage on the Garchomp with this Moonblast.
Not enough to pick up the KO though, he did the double target and finished it off with a slucker punch.
Instead that just means Garchomp gets to fire off a Stomping Tantrum into King Gambit.
Down to 23% hit points, Garchomp will go down through the recoil while you trade that every single day of the World Championships.
And now that's going to mean that King Gambit firing off a pow-tow cleave into Toxapex.
You cannot KO this Pokemon.
And now both the King Gambit and Wimzacot are strapped on the field.
And Sajin gets the pick. Which Pokemon do I want to face off against these two?
Because I know they ain't going nowhere.
Yeah, it's a really tough position out here.
Can you guys just kind of take it just to the damage to another one?
Or, you know, I assume they can run the math on this.
It's a really nice bit of damage where infestation will pick up B, dock out, and King Gambit X turns it.
If you want to, you could bring that Incinerator in, just pin it down with a fake out of it.
Well, it doesn't matter if I've given an attack boost because it's going to knock it anyway.
If you don't want to do that, you can bring in anything else that has protect, just double
protect the story to go down anyway.
You do have to heal some of that situation that would be threatening and on-pour on the
subsequent turn.
But you'd also know all of your opponents remaining Pokemon and be able to try to
figure out your game plan from there.
The Charizard is going to come in here, probably going to be protect, although it
isn't like half to be.
Doesn't have to go.
or you could just try to pick up the wins the kind.
Instead, the game that will go down either way.
The downfall there now, I mean,
there's one that's actually the first person to alert
all of the Pokemon that's playing GenBrah
so it can at least start forming his plans
for the end of this game.
But he is a very nice advantage to himself,
some really masterful talk of his play.
As we see it, a little more aggressively positioned
than we saw in the previous couple of tournaments.
Yeah, that was so important for players
who are using Cox effects
is not to get trapped in that defensive mindset.
You have to go on the offensive,
Otherwise, Toxapex just sits there while all of its friends faint and get knocked out.
Instead, Sajun going on the offensive with both the Toxapex and now bringing out the Charizard here to pick up KO's onto both King Gambit and Wimzacot.
Sajun will go ahead and protect that Toxapex this time around while Wimzacot protects itself.
King Gambit on its way out is going to fire off a sucker punch.
A critical hit deals a lot of damage to Charizard, brings it down to 33% hit points as to King Gambit.
Gambit now will go down to that infestation.
Well you know what's the damage we're going to see be trade off of not going for the protect where
Charizard not being threatened by an Abtorn the previous term but it could be potentially threatened by
an attack from one of the other Pokemon. Can Gambit do a damage?
I think the positive of what you did is you know just like I see you can see all the Pokemon in Team 3D right?
And again much like the previous game it's not very likely that well what is that final Pokemon
if it is instead you know the...
Yeah we did already see the Charizard at the beginning.
There's the Charizard, yes.
Sorry, yeah.
So, let's do it.
It's Charizard.
That's why the buttons are different colors.
So anyway, the Charizard on the station side of the building, it's great and all there,
but with the combination of a tailwind and an ancient power, it's not like a super great
position anyway where you're likely to take a lot of damage.
Instead, the Incineroar are going to wind up in a very similar position that we saw
in the previous game.
Most likely we're going to come in and go, you have to take out the Charizard.
So, I don't think this game's over yet.
The damage is pretty important on the Charizard where it would have been an ancient
power range anyway.
You don't need the critical hit for the sucker punch for that, but it's actually
healthy now that even a fire type attack might be able to knock it out there's not really any reason to
go for one in that slot where you want to like risk getting wide guarded here probably and
Incinero would take more damage from ancient power as well. Yeah and with the fainful bunker
Tox effects is at risk of being encored however Wimzakot can only do one thing at a time you
cannot most set tailwind to allow wands Charizard to outspeed Sager's Charizard and encore the
the Tox effects at once, which means that there are two options here.
Without Tailwind, Charizard on Sage inside can just pick up Ones to Charizard with Give
the Big Damage with the Ancient Power.
Or should One go for the KO onto Charizard this turn, Tox effects can start spreading
toxics and infestations to try and just chip down these Pokemon over time.
Or Whimzacot could just go on the Ascension with a Moon Blast that connects onto the
Tox effects feels a little bit of damage here, not very effective but any little
bit out. Here's the weather ball coming out from Sagan's Charizard. Connects on to Wim
Zakao. Picks up the KO there. On targeting down the Toxic Factor with Moonblast. I have
to wonder if he was softening it up for a heatwave trying to pick up a double KO. No,
just going to be the ancient power in the Toxic Factor. You cannot. KO's his Pokémon.
Toxic Factor hangs on and Toxic's right back. I love this little guy.
Yeah, that's a huge set for the Toxa-Texas, but the Toxa is almost going to end this one.
You know, the Charizard can theoretically use Fred Moose to try to burn down the Pokemon
before the Toxa is able to deplete all of its HP, but Toxa is a- wait a second, you know.
I will make you single target Pokemon through Wyldgard most likely.
I can protect first the Water Pea to protect on Charizard here.
You're like, hey, you know, like, let's make this last as long as we can.
Yep, and no risks need to be taken here from Sage and Double Protecting,
the Charizard arc and the Tox attacks.
Juan has no options here.
That toxic damage is just going to keep ticking up and up and up,
walking him out from this game too,
meaning that Sgt. Hart, the 2014 World Champion,
is now one and only here in 2026.
That was a really impressive set, Rayshu.
But hey, you know, I might be a former World Champion,
but that doesn't mean you can take me lightly
this World Championship.
Either, I think Juan Clarice kind of worked
sure what they were going to get from Sgt.
I think I would be afraid after watching that set there we kind of see really impressive line into that big six competition or composition rather and
I think that's also kind of a really great match to have on training in this first round because it gives us a lot to think about right
These are two comps that all the trainers knew they needed to be prepared for going in and while the big six may be the most
Powerful cop in the term the stats and damage if I'm having all those poke them on the top of the use of stats
But the weakness of that is that players have put a lot of thought into how they want to handle this match up and
they've had a really great plan both in game one and game two which one is some really difficult positions
Especially in game one, because it is a deceptively looks like they were favorable for one and it wound up not being so and perhaps
This is just what we're going to see throughout the course of this day for these big six players
Other players like hey, you know, I didn't come all the way to San Francisco for this World Championships
Not to have a plan for the most important team
Yeah, if you know this is going to be one of the most dominant team compositions coming into the world championships
You've got to have a plan and say you know that he has not only competed in the world championships here for the video game championships
He's competed in the trading card game. He's also competed in your night. He's competed in pumpkin tournament
Say you know what it takes to compete at the top levels for all of the pillars here at the world championships
Even the Pokemon go in the patient. Oh, yeah, he's got he's caught them off
I mean, yeah, he's such an impressive player.
I think maybe the purest fan of football out of the world in that way, or yeah.
Well, he seems to be good at everything.
Must be nice.
I mean, yeah, what a great set by him there.
Certainly, I wouldn't be too concerned if I was one yet either, where going 0-1-1 is
tough, where you're going to have to go a long way from this point until the single
elimination force determined without losing more than one more game.
But hey, no shame in losing this season.
When was the most famous trainers ever for a reason?
absolutely and showing off here in round one. The Toxapex composition is not easy to play. It is
so easy especially when you go the Toxapex mode to get stuck in situations where you have no momentum
and you have no pressure because you're just trying to set up those traps. And sometimes you whip and
you trap the wrong Pokemon in with you, but Sajin looked like he was in complete control of that
second game from the jump. Yeah I think it's a really difficult Pokemon to pile up to that
reason. We were talking about it a little bit during the game but yeah it's so easy to kind
kind of get trapped in playing slowly.
I think one of the reasons why Tock the Puck
for so many years just wasn't used
in the Pokemon video game championships
is that this dude is a single battle Pokemon.
Like, oh, that's a stall Pokemon.
All you can do with this Pokemon is stall.
And some games you can win by stalling, right?
Especially against these more defensive teams.
But the whole point of this big six team
is doing a ton of damage
and what are you going to do about it
and playing it a little bit more aggressively like that.
I think it's the key.
Being able to be flexible, really well played game.
And I kind of expected to see
more tax-effective tournament where we were looking over the teams all of the
trainer for using and I don't think tax-effective is really the sort of
Pokemon that ever is going to show up in like the top 12 most used Pokemon but I
think the Charizard, Venusaur, and Fiddle recombination is going to be very
popular this weekend and even though going to this tournament that was the
most popular version of the composition, many players did choose to
opt to drop that tax-effective in a little bit different but worked out
really well for Sgt. Absolutely and I am so excited to hear from Sgt.
Welcome back to the video game championship Sgt. Park. Let's go
and toss it down to the stage to hear from the man himself.
Thank you so much. I'm here with Sajian Parker, 2014 World Champion and Patrisu Lover
Extraordinaire. Sajian, congratulations on winning your round one. How does it feel?
It's amazing. Thank you. I see you have Patrisu with you right near and dear to your heart.
Um, you've, yeah, everybody here loves Patrisus as well, of course. You know, you've competed in
Pokemon Go, Pokemon Unite, the TCG. How does it feel to be back playing in the
video game championship series? Yeah, I played a lot of other games and compared
it but it's really happy to be back in VGC. Also, I've been I've been literally
losing a lot of stream matches but finally I can win in the stream so
it's feeling really great. Yeah, and I can't help but notice you're also
running a very, what I would consider standard team for this meta, you know,
What was your thinking coming into the tournament with what someone called the big six, the big Pokemon to beat, coming into this event?
Unfortunately, Pachirisu is not in the Champions yet, so I cannot start building from there.
So I tried a lot of things, but in this meta, I think the pretty standard team is always good to go.
That was my conclusion.
I mean, I'm certainly developers are watching,
so I'm sure they heard the Astro-Pescherese just now,
but you talk about the standard Pokemon,
but the Ancient Power Charizard was certainly a twist
coming into this event,
and it came so much in handy in that matchup.
What was your thinking in that positioning
against Swan's own Charizard?
So, my Charizard is timid,
so I can't even ask for their Garchem and Charizard,
so I was in the pretty, the upper position
in this mirror match against their Garchan Charger.
So I had to play so well and so yeah,
it turns out really well, yeah.
Yeah, and that end game with the Wimps of Cod as well,
was there anything going through your mind
when you walked in those moves?
So they have a very limited way to KO talks effects
if I knock out their Garchan.
So I focus on getting with the Garchan
on the board politically.
So that worked.
So after that, it was a really tough, tough, toughs-effects game.
Yeah.
A toughs-effects game indeed.
Seijun, it's been so great talking to you.
Do you have any shout-outs you want to give to anybody
who might be watching at home?
So, I fully thank you a lot for cheering me
for me in Korea and all the world.
I'm really happy to be here and back in Beijing
to play the BGC.
Yeah, I'll try my best to claim another champion trophy.
So thank you very much.
Thank you very much as well. Best of luck this weekend in the competition and let's go ahead and take a look at that matchup with our analyst Ben Kiriakou over in the analyst lounge.
Thank you so much Gabby and thank you as well of course to Sajian getting his first win here in the world championship. So of course Ben we're here for some battle breakdowns here joined with me is of course Rose and what a great what a great second round one that we've had here already.
We had a great first round one and we get another one to to boot
I'm glad you volunteered for that rose because you're gonna be here all day all night
Yeah, it's like especially when you get these trainers like that are at the level of the trainers that we've had already on stream like
you know you go to you go to your locals you go to your regionals you go to
your international to steal density is like pretty high and then you get so we
get to world that is like well what what what match do you even pick for the
stream right? Oh you better be prepared if you're here to play against former
world champions, former international champions, multi-time regional champions
there's no easy pass to the world championships at this caliber and so
we are going to be treated with such good matches all day long. Since we're
the early stages of this tournament, right before what we do rather than getting into the nitty gritty
of the match, there's a lot to go over there, of course, but getting into a little bit of the
nitty gritty of the teams that our players were using in this round, because we know that Charizard
is one of the most common megas that we have like 43% usage overall. I wanted to break down
a little bit these team, team preview graphics that we don't get as much time to talk about
on the desk with our casters, starting with Sage and here. And this is one of the variants
I think that has risen in popularity since Wolf used Toxapex to get top 4 at NAIC and just showed
us like, hey, this Pokemon is here and it's here for a reason. It was so funny because Toxapex
really burst onto the double scene at the end of Scarlet and Violet where we got a chance to
see some of the best competitors in the world using it alongside Restricted programming.
And so the fact that it was able to hold tall against some of those legendary Pokemon
But then you know when champions release it was in the game a little quiet
Toxpex is now back and people realize okay
Well, it was that good against a legendary Pokemon must be really good against some of these mega evolution too
And especially with the former I mean this Toxpex
It's
Like it's typing is pretty unique in the game water and poison and what I'm just gonna switch over to our other team
preview here. What are the team two most powerful mega Pokemon in the game?
They're fire and they're fairy. What does water and poison resist exclusively?
Fire and fairy. Big, big damage dealing moves. So, you know, looking at the the
position that this Toxapex takes in the former, it says, hey, you know, you've
got these really powerful attackers. I'm just gonna put a blocker on that
for a little while, but not only that, it gets to support its team with
wide guard to be able to take those big spread attacks. If you've got it next to a Charizard,
no rock slide is going to be coming down and hitting you, right? Like no earthquakes are going
to be able to come down onto the Toxic Packs as easily. But then you've got all of this stall,
you've got the Infestation, stopping people switching, trapping Pokemon in, you've got the
Toxic. You can't read behind there, but trust me, it's toxic behind there as well. But
But also, you know, if you feel like catching a physical attack,
painful bunker, get the poison that way.
It's just so fascinating when you think about how many
Pokemon in this format do use spread attack.
You talk about rocks, side and earthquake specifically.
You'll be able to protect something like that Charizard.
But when you think about there also being
a wave opposing Charizard or even Delphox,
water spout from opposing Mega Blastoise,
there's spread attacks on some of the most powerful
Pokemon in the entire format and so the fact that you even just have that as a threat on team preview
You got to think twice about whether or not you're going to be clicking that wide spread attack in front of which is a great way to segue
Into these Charizard's that we're facing down right and a lot of the power of these teams with such powerful
Pokemon so many stats at the disposal like you've got so many choices and the big one that's been coming out is this
Ancient power on the Charizard and especially in this like meta game where there's quite a lot of top-sur-pex in
the field quite a lot of wide guard where people can lock it in.
I was like, well, you know, I'm going to get my rocks from Charizard rather than getting
my rocks from rocks like, right?
And so being able to pressure the Charizard, never, never one hit chaos, right?
It never actually gets the chaos on opposing Charizard, but getting a Char, an opposing
Charizard down to the point where anything else can be able to knock it out is so
so powerful.
being able to remove the mega evolution that you have lost into for the game just
takes away such a big tool for any opponent but thinking about how Charizard
just also developed already right at the gates Pokemon champions launches mega
Charizard why is the premier mega evolution but the move set that it
actually has had over the last couple of months have changed given the meta
and the format that we've played so used to be heatwave, weather ball,
solar beam, cream attacking moves that you would want to lock in with this Charizard, but then
as Charizard has been this very centralizing piece for the meta, we have seen that technique
change a little bit. We've seen Lycanroc come in to have Xceleroth to try to start these Charizards
and then as you mentioned, Ancient Power has been the newest meta tech on these Pokemon,
so they can duel against those opposing Charizards, but it's just been really fascinating to
to watch how people continue to keep Charizard at the forefront of the meta game but protecting it in different ways.
100% and especially in these compositions you've got so many different options right. So you've got this ancient power slot on the Charizard.
There's a little bit of a flex slot. A lot of players really want to punish the Charizards so that they're locking in with an infestation from the toxic bags right.
But then you've got so many options on Basculageon. I feel like Basculageon is one of those Pokemon that we've seen evolve as well.
Like, Saging's running the choice scarf here, right?
It's gonna go quick. It doesn't need setting up.
It doesn't need to be in the right position, necessarily.
This was the first item that everybody was slapping on there.
Choice scarf, actually, with the adaptability.
Last respects coming in is like,
hey, you've taken some Pokemon of mine.
Let me return the favor and get some key knockouts on here.
But nowadays, you see a lot of this item change, right?
You see life orb, you see Mystic Warden.
the Zittras Berry as well.
You have that flex slot of like,
how do I wanna run my Basquiat Legion?
What speed control do I have on my team?
So where you look at all of Sajian's team here,
this Toxapex Venusaur composition
that's really been quite dominant in the lead up
to the world championships,
it's like, well, I don't have any speed control.
So I've got a force of speed ceiling, right?
You've gotta say like,
hey, I've gotta have something there with the Venusaur
that's gonna be able to outspeed
a bunch of my opponents Pokemon.
Sometimes it's on the garchomp, but this one's a life orb.
And so like life orb Citrus Berry Choice scarf and yeah,
depending on how you want to run that.
The other thing I just want to point out here,
just as a quick one before we move over
is lash out on this Incineroar.
I think it's a really cool tech on Sajin's teams,
like saying, hey, you want to intimidate me,
I'm going to do a little bit more damage this turn
just to put the pressure down onto my opponent.
I was sitting backstage with Aaron
as we were watching this match.
and I turned to them and I went,
I think I see Lash out in like four years?
Yeah, turn it up.
Not a long time since I feel like
this particular attack has been meta relevant,
but I really love this unique choice on Incineroar.
I think there are a couple of different tech moves
that this Incineroar can have.
Sometimes you end up seeing Darkest Lyria
if you wanna just have a flat dark type damage
that's going to be getting a same type of attack bonus,
but you've also seen things like Helping Hand
that's going to be on Incineroar.
Depends on what you feel like the team really needs
in order to have the best chance in the tournament.
100% and then, you know,
I like there's loads of options on the Venusaur.
I think, well, we've been talking about Sajin's team
and this sort of composition for a little while.
So let's jump over to Juan Salerno's team.
Now this is the sort of quintessential,
well, we were talking about this during the match.
We're not gonna call it big six, are we?
We're gonna call it little six,
we're gonna call it mid six, like medium six.
Well, what are we going for, Rose?
I don't, I'm, the jury's still out on that one,
But it's just because when you think about Big Six,
you think about some of the historical teams
that have existed earlier on
and the earlier days of competitive Pokemon.
So we'll come back to you on that.
But I thought particularly this team
is the perfect illustration of what you were talking about.
Item differences on the Bastille Legion and the Garchomp.
You can really see even though the movesets
are quite similar between the two Pokemon,
the natures as well as the items
are really what changed how this composition works.
100%.
It's like a lot of the early variants of this team.
I want to talk a little bit about Mega Flowette
before it comes away from the spotlight.
We start talking about Charizard all weekend.
But Mega Flowette is something that is obviously
really very strong.
We identified it pretty quickly.
It's like, hey, look, that's got fairy aura plus big stats.
It's like Xerneas at home kind of thing.
No GMMansi, which I think everybody was maybe happy
to see that it couldn't do something quite as strong as that.
But you still have calm mind and self-care.
You've still got calm mind, exactly that.
And that's the set that we were seeing so commonly
on these Mega Flowette compositions.
But the thing that's really evolved and adapted
over the time in this composition,
a lot of players choose it.
You can absolutely still run calm mind
if you want to play a little bit of a slower game.
But if you want to do some damage,
light of ruin there is really, really strong.
It does do recoil to your Mega Flowette
And so it changes the dynamic.
It's been so fun, like seeing in regulation, MB, right?
Like, how fast are you running your flow as?
Is it like, modest, a little bit fast, a little bit far?
Oh, wait, no, we're going timid now, because like,
yeah, everybody else is caught on to,
okay, we're max speed, right?
Okay, let's go for that.
And see if you get some tailwind setup
with the Windsor carts,
and you get a little bit of space
to just fire off those big damages.
What a dent in somebody's team
that they can't necessarily recover from.
But that's where you can see having
the Whimsicott on this team actually
allowed this basket legion to lean
a little bit more heavy into the offense
with something like that life work.
Contrary to what we ended up seeing
on Sage and Park's team,
Whimsicott has that priority tailwind
because of that prankster ability.
And that means that everything else can be
maybe a little bit on the slower side.
You've got that out of it basket legion
which is going to increase attack
instead of that speed.
And same thing talking about Tim and Full-Up.
Well, this one can be modest
leave a little bit more into the special attack output that way.
And it's exactly what Juan has decided to go for there,
having the modest flow out rather than a timid one and saying,
like, OK, I do want to do loads of damage.
And like, damage is the priority.
But my Pokemon can set up that condition where I don't
necessarily have to battle it.
If I'm against another one of these compositions,
maybe the game plan for Juan isn't
to go, like, toe to toe with flow out to flow out
and try to manage that Pokemon a little bit differently.
But then going through the team,
I mean, we've talked about the options on the Basque Legion,
and that obviously changes how you run it,
how you train it.
The Jolly versus Adamant Nature's
the ones that we usually see,
but also then the King Gambit,
which I think is the item that I see
like has evolved the most over the time
where a player started on Choppelberry
because Sneezeler was everywhere now,
And then it's like, well, okay, we need focus sash
because we can't like survive Charizard
as well as fighting type attacks
from like, say close combat and things like that, right?
But now it's like, well, you know, with these mirrors,
I've really gotta be able to switch into a Charizard
and get myself in, like the ability to go
for a sucker punch, maybe even go for a source dance
in front of these kind of team compositions.
And the move set here is like,
something that also changes quite a lot, right?
is like this one for attacks, but we see so many double dark sword stance King
Gambit's on so many different compositions as well. Yeah, I think that the
black glasses variant where you really are going to be putting a lot of eggs
into the dark type basket has been very popular, but I think the fact that this
King Gambit is here kind of built to do a lot of different things this team as
a whole is quite balanced in terms of the types of damage that you're
actually able to cover. I really like being able to see three different types
of attacks where low click is going to happen if you don't have another fighting type on the team
like that sneeze lord that could try to shore up the damage for you and you still want to be able
to have something like an iron head so that you will have super effective damage into opposing
flow at the end of this cost. It's kind of like yeah Incineroar's not on the team we need we need
the glue somewhere else. King Gambit's like the perfect like combination of coverage to be able
to do that. And yeah, like, I mean, both of our trainers have such a great showing of their
teams in our round one part two, but we're going to go to throw it to a quick break now
while we get round two set up. So don't go anywhere, trainers, because we'll be right
back.
Trainers, welcome back. We're here with Giovanni Siskie, our reigning world champion.
And we're going to be having a little bit of a chat to see how his seasons changed from becoming the world champion in 2025 to now coming into the world championships in 2026.
So Gio, thank you for joining us. Let's start with a really basic question. We'll keep it zoomed out to start things off. We're coming into the first world championship on Pokemon Champions.
What does that mean for you coming in? Like how excited are you to be playing on our very latest game?
I mean, I got into this game watching it just as a transition over to the 3DS era and joined
in just as it was in its twilight of the 3DS era, go moving over to the Switch in a couple
of years after that.
And so now that it's become this worldwide game that's even been played on mobile, it's
just absolutely insane.
And to represent a community as a whole like that as currently the best player in
And the world is just so mind-bogglingly.
Maybe still currently after this weekend we'll have to see,
GEO becoming the world championship is something
that very few people have been able to say in their careers.
What has that meant for you over the season?
Transitioning into the 2026 season,
like your expectations going into events,
how you're preparing, like has anything changed for you?
I think it's all I'm any more hungry to be honest.
going into the 2025 season, I had results that weren't really indicative of what I believed in myself.
And I was finally able to strain together a number of really amazing results.
Finishing off, of course, being crowned the world champion last year.
I've taken a step back a little bit, haven't played as many events, but I've still had some good results throughout the season, and of course with the auto-inputation to the world championships, I always had that locked in as well.
So I was really just looking to test myself and push myself for my abilities from every event I go to.
I'm glad you said about the way that you're playing less events. You've got the auto invite locked in.
How's that changed? What teams you're locking in? How you're approaching it?
Taking a swing at the format versus just doing what you did last season, tried and tested it.
Yeah, I mean, going into every tournament I always like to just play my style of Pokemon.
Pokemon that's kind of always been my thing. I want to stick to my brand as a player. I don't want to just play something because it's good
That that being said I might play things that are also very very strong good Pokemon a good right, but I
also tend to experiment a little with some more niche picks or that
Might catch people a little bit off guard might surprise some people
So I'm really looking forward to the events where I get to do that.
Okay, well, I've got one last question for you, Joe.
Got an open up heart take coming up.
So last year, I saw you on Saturday night.
We went out for dinner.
I ran into you completely unplanned.
You were sitting across the table from James Evans,
who you were playing on Sunday the next day in the finals.
So my question to you is, if you're in the finals,
I might go as far to say that we might have a repeat world champion, but cross-divisional
with Koseki Day, he's been on a tear this year with a top eight at both Japan Nationals
and the North American Internationals and he even won a very prestigious Grestons tournament
just a couple weeks ago where a lot of Japanese
representatives of the World Championships this weekend
over in attendance as well.
And so he's got to be one of my picks for a favorite.
Love to see that, Gia.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We're gonna let you get back to things
and we're gonna be back to the action very soon.
So stay tuned.
Join the adventure and hook him on horizons this series.
All right!
Explore a world filled with Pokemon alongside Liko and Roy.
Okay, let's do it!
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As they travel, battle, use our furniture to use my things!
And grow as trainers.
Pokemon Horizons the series, now playing on Netflix.
Welcome back everyone to beautiful San Francisco, California.
We are here at the Moscone Center for the World Championships and inaugural Pokemon
XP celebrating our 30th anniversary of Pokemon.
Can you believe it Scott?
I cannot.
We were here just 10 years ago for a World Championships,
and things look a little bit different back then.
I think it was a lot of fun, very extravagant at the time, too.
But wow, it's incredible how much things have changed
over the course of the few years.
Yeah, it's really incredible.
If you haven't been checking out any of the Pokemon XP content
as well, make sure you're doing that.
We're walking past the Requizer Road coming in.
They're just seeing all of the cool things
they have set up out there.
I am so jealous that I'm here.
But given the first two matches that we've seen here
at the World Championships,
It kind of seems like the heat's down here.
It may not that jealous, right?
Where I think we couldn't ask for much more.
And hey, you know, I think that's kind of the fun
of this whole event, right?
You know, have you come here for a quiz at Roland Comer?
You know, makes the tournament pretty cool.
Maybe you'll watch a little bit of that.
And yeah, we've gotten to watch multiple world championships
with the champions already, if this world championships
on Pokemon Champions.
During the course of the first round,
I'm going to have another great round coming up here.
And yeah, I think it's just impressive.
Giggins looking to pair these two.
There's so many great names on the hair.
We're like, you can't get an easy match in this tournament.
it makes it so difficult to actually pick out which matches we want to be
featuring here on the main stage because there are just so many incredible
competitors out there in the field and I'm glad you highlighted the multiple
champions that are doing well here in Pokemon Champions and of course Gio
saying he expects there to be a repeat champion this year. Looking pretty good
so far we've seen two world champions win on stream already and even more out
in the field are still doing very well. Yeah it's a pretty interesting looking
result I think it looks to you himself one as well I'll be when we call that
I think I would agree would be by, or an hour ago was by player to watch.
I think he did lose in the first round, so I think that's pretty shocking to me.
I think a lot of us feel like a really impressive player.
You want to, you know, Jeff, he's grassroots event just a couple of weekends ago
and look really impressive there as well.
But, you know, it's only one round.
It definitely feels better going forward if you win this first round.
It makes things a little bit easier, but you have to win a lot of games that are okay.
I really doubt this will happen in the round one.
So, pressure's on for the trainers.
You didn't win that first round, but you know, a long way to go still.
still this is a tournament that's a marathon, not a sprint.
Yeah, of course, you are not eliminated after one loss.
You have to, you know, two losses still qualify you
to the second phase of the tournament,
and two losses overall get you into that top cut bracket.
So every player is still alive in the tournament.
Let's take a look at some of the teams
that we expected to see perform very well here
at the tournament.
It's so far, so good.
I see the you and Sierra both being on the team
Toxpex here, Sajin made that Pokemon look extremely oppressive.
Yeah, I think it was one of our little anxious luck to hit myself.
I was like, how many players are actually going to opt to do this at this world championship?
But we've seen a lot of development on this team throughout the past few months,
where I think Wolves finish at NEAC, even though we've seen it get second place
at Ongon Nationals as well as in the last regional championships here in North America
and start and violate.
It started with respect to Toxpex, but the top four at NEAC is like, fine.
You know, yeah, this is a real Pokemon.
We need to develop this much Japanese players for depth as well.
Just maybe what I was thinking when I locked the team in there,
like, oh, surely some of the big games will actually bring this.
And I think it's pretty good to be invested in, you know,
and, you know, a lot of different teams here.
We see, you know, five Charizard.
So we managed to find three teams that didn't have Charizard.
Please be proud of us.
Please put the gold star for us on your fridge.
We're done for, like, us, but for the other casters.
Yeah, for Ben, and for Aaron, and for Rose.
we did already get to see the Blastoise and Delphox team in that first round. Of course,
it did lose to Wolf's team in that first round, but some other teams, I expect to see Ben's
team, the Frostlass and Scovillain that's been affectionately dubbed Italian Ice, one
of the teams that wants to feast on Charizard teams. And if Charizard's at 40% plus usage,
you would expect that team to be doing very well. And of course, Aaron highlighting
one of the newer adaptations using two of the new megas introduced to regulation and be in right you why and stir after
Yeah, I'm really I think one of the biggest disappointments maybe the faculty get to stream too many tournaments and regulation and these guys are just so much fun to watch
I hate playing it. I hate playing against it where it just it's a very
Yeah, it's that I think I have similar defensive stats to mega ride you why which is not a compliment to the Pokemon
But I think it's just so much fun to watch where it's very read heavy
You have tools to win every matchup if you get all of your turrets right, but what do you have tools to learn to lose quickly if you don't get them all?
I think those of us who maybe prefer a more defensive style of battling can look another direction
But I think it's a really powerful Pokemon we're likely to see throughout the course of this tournament
Especially at this level where everyone is good enough to be able to do some damage with a very difficult Pokemon to use
Yeah, and I also have to shout out my co-caster Lee there who has also chosen to go for the dual weather sun rain team
Usually you don't see a rain Pokemon next to a drought Pokemon like Charizard.
But the way this team works is so dynamic and interesting and engaging.
It's the most fun I've had playing Pokemon in Pokemon Champions.
It's been playing that sun rain team.
And I would not be surprised to see it go deep just because it gives you so much flexibility.
I very rarely feel like I'm completely out of the game.
And it's one of those teams that allows you to bring both of your mega Pokemon.
You're usually looking at the Charizard and the Swampert.
both of those Pokemon are very good non mega as well. Yeah, I think it's a lot of fun to play as well where I know
Maybe it's that quite my style, but I got most of my reps practicing for the practicing for this tournament on that team as well
So okay, I think this is gonna be a big thing like I want to be prepared enough to talk about it
And yeah, I had a lot of fun with it where I think mega Charizard or non mega Charizard
I should say in particular is a lot of fun where I think I remember hearing the last world championships in London
It's basically making fun of the trainers who would bring Charizard and then not to get it to Maxis, but regular Charizard is terrible
It's not so terrible now
It gained a lot of moves over the course the last couple of games where I was both weather ball and hurricane
It does a lot of damage regular Charizard
It's special attacks that is pretty impressive even in its regular state
And you know it's also just so much fun to play against where I think a lot of Pokemon
It's very suspicious you don't mega up all but immediately like always there another mega in the back
Charles, I keep you guessing a little bit longer because
Pokemon, you're naturally holding Mega any way often
to try to get weather control, especially on that team
where you have a second weather Pokemon.
I think it plays a little bit more fun where
I just like playing the double-climbal compositions
and the GS couple is kind of a simple thing
with Tiger and Groudon.
But I think they were much more in each other's way,
maybe like in a lore-appropriate way,
where I think with Palofer and Charles,
I kind of both have ways to power up each other's moves.
I think they feel a lot more like a combo instead of like,
like you have like two really powerful forces
that are great to have on your team,
but maybe don't work so well together
the way that the legendary Pokemon did.
Yeah, and it's the move weather ball
that really ties that team together.
Of course, weather ball gets a power boost
and changes its typing based on whatever weather
is on the field.
So it can be water typing, if rain's on the field,
it can be fire typing, if sun is out.
But it can also be rock typing,
if sand is up or ice typing,
if the snow is up as well.
And that gives this team so much flexibility
and really does allow your Charizard to be effective in rain,
especially because Charizard does not really have
great flying type options, except for Hurricane,
which is parable in the sun.
But if you get rain going next to Charizard,
all of a sudden you have another flying water type
attack current that can also deal some damage
to your steel types if you need to
with a fire type P-Wave.
Yeah, I think it's also just like,
I feel like you imagine like, man,
like what should a tournament double battle be like?
I don't know if there's any team
that's kind of like more exactly on game
like kind of how the battle plays out your dreams instead of in real life.
Yeah.
There are just so much people on where like the Pokemon really do feel like they
compliment each other.
Like you feel really smart.
Like, oh, like, my charge is in a bad spot.
But if I switch palipar in and like use a water attack with my fire type
Pokemon, like, I'm in a great position.
And I think finding that sort of solution is just so much fun.
Like kind of rewards you for being creative in a way that some other
people don't wear.
I tend to be sort of like a lot of technicality.
We're like, OK, well, it's objectively correct for me to do this.
I shouldn't take this risk.
This is a turn where I can't take a risk.
You're freestyling a little bit more and you can kind of have more explosive plays
They're attacking rather than studying up which we see a lot more of in this format
And I think it's just really thing also that this kind of show the creators where I think we saw a lot of it from Alex underhill and Billy Brad
particular in the
online
Yeah, there are not a ton of compositions that are have been piloted piloted
But I could have innovated by our home region of North America there
So I'm happy with the end of players over here contributing something to this meta game. But thank you. Absolutely
And it is a really interesting team because you do have a lot of improvisation in the team like you mentioned
but it also has such a high skill ceiling because it's also
In a pretty low skill floor because it's actually very easy to get your own way with this team as well
You never want to end up in a situation where you have the wrong weather up
You have a lot of different tools to get your weather correct
But you also do have a lot of anti synergy on the team
So it takes a really, you know, well-practiced pilot to make sure you're getting the most out of all those options and keeping the most options
Open for yourself throughout the entire game. So I'm really excited to see it
We may be able to see it very shortly, but over the course of this tournament. I expect it to be very well
That's why I picked this for my cast of predictions. Yeah, I hope we get to watch where I think
You know, it's like it doesn't quite look right when I'm doing it where I think particularly the thing I kind of learn
playing the team is that it's very important to lead well because it doesn't pivot super well,
or the anti-synergy, if you're having to make a bunch of defensive switches, you're in trouble,
right? Where I think one of the things that makes the comp really powerful is like you should be the
one setting the tempo, right? If pivoting tools, you have multiple leathers, like your opponent
should be reacting to you. And as soon as you're playing reactively, I think it tends to
be really weak, particularly if you give up a knockout too early in the game, where it's really
hard to avoid the anti-synergy, where it's like, well, I don't want the weather from the Pokémon
that's not currently in battle.
That's the only thing I can switch in and something is pinned.
It's like, well, yes, I get to pick a bad option.
That's awesome.
And yeah, I think you need some foresight
to play that team well.
Absolutely.
And of course, here at the World Championships,
we only have players that have shown
that they can do well enough to have that foresight
because they have qualified for the World Championship.
What makes this tournament so special every single year?
And it's why, you know, when we saw that we were going
to do a second round one, I wasn't annoyed or anything.
I was ecstatic I was like we get to see another one of these great matches
You know we have so many talented players here
We have multiple world champions eight out in the field trying to get a second world championship
And that's just in the Masters division as well. Yeah, definitely
I'll stay right here, but I keep my after this tournament like man
I really wish I got to watch more Pokemon battles. There's a side stream but a future match stream from
Victory Robots even more matches. I think definitely going to be fun to review those after this tournament is over where
I think this format is really neat where even though you have like a pretty definitive pool of like the top 15 is your best Pokemon
There are some fun Pokemon you can slide in there and then the way that the teams interact is really interesting where
You know you can change your team a lot by just swapping two or three Pokemon out
If you move like suddenly feels in place very differently
Then kind of what you started with and I think I'm just seeing more of those different combinations really interesting
I think this is a term and where we've kind of been talking a lot about big six
But I don't think there is a clear strongest composition coming in right?
There's not like a real favorite
I think this is the tournament where our trainers just need to identify like okay
Like what am I the best at what fits the best for me as a trainer and then hey, you know, I just gotta make my reads
I've got to know my lines
I've got to just do my best and it's gonna come down more maybe to me than my six Pokemon in this one
And I think that's going to make it more and more fun review because yeah
You know like one person playing a team and someone else who's been you know prepping it since NA
and you see it's going to look very different.
Absolutely.
And because we have so many incredible matches out in the field,
that means we have so many notable matches to take a look at.
And you're getting ready for our round two.
Here are all of the players out in the field right now,
or some of the most notable pairings here.
And of course, you can see our feature match
is going to be the 2022 World Champion, Eduardo Cunha
versus Alex Underhill, one of our players
to watch from North America.
But some also incredible matches out here in the field.
I'm looking at that match between Michael Kelch and Wade Sheer from Taiwan,
the most decorated player from Taiwan,
up against a player who has not failed to do worse at the World Championships
than Top 8, which is a wild statistic.
Three World Championships, he went second, fourth, and it's Top 8.
Yeah, what a player.
And yeah, I think it's been a really strange early turn hit for Michael,
where this first round played a mirror match to the team
that you should not have to worry about playing a mirror match with.
this round you get a very strong opponent he's probably not played against so
should be no fun for him you know it's fourth world champion tomorrow he's been
very strong I give us a little bit different this time you want to keep the
experience fresh for it absolutely and some other great matches out here of
course world semi-finalist last year Montana Mott will be playing against
Sebastian Escalante one of Latin America's longest tinder at this point
and top players so exciting matchup out there in the field of course our
Our colleague Yuki is playing up against Alex Gomez-Bernard, also out in the field.
Those are all going to be incredible matches.
Victor Medina versus Araf Almaraz, I would love to watch that match.
There are so many good matches out in the field, and I'm so glad that we're going
to be able to at least have VODs for most of these.
Yeah, it's going to be great, and I think it just could be fun kind of as a tournament
progresses, where I think one of the things that's going to be really fun about this
world champion particular, while they're all great, it's so hard to team-diff someone
I think there's going to be way fewer matches where someone just like, you know,
is just drawing dead is like, oops, I got the opponent I wasn't supposed to play
against. I mean, like, you know, just get a little bit of that. But I think
because this is so much more of a format where it's like, okay, well, I've got to
make the right choices in team preview. I've got to play well throughout the
game. It's more about like kind of knowing your lines and executing game
plans. I think the deeper we get in the tournament, the sharper everyone's
going to be because this is a tournament where you're just not going to stay
alive unless you're playing really hot. So I think we're going to see some,
maybe some of the best Pokemon we've ever seen over the course of this
Yeah, well, I'm really excited to get into it. We have so many great players out in the field and you know
Especially having some additional weeks of regulation in B after the tournament as well
That is one of the things that I most enjoy after the world championships is seeing
You know, we've had a pretty extensive offseason in between North American international championships and the world championships here
So a lot of players have been saving some of their adaptations for this tournament right now
And now we're going to have a few more weeks afterwards to really see what went what won here and then also be able to
Experiment and see what what still is left in the tank for MP. Yeah
I think that's kind of would be one thing that's fun to watch this tournament
In general too is like how much sauce was left in the bottle, right? I think the prevailing wisdom from competitors at least
The English speaking community tended to be like, okay, yeah
And there maybe there's like a few tricks that people have but like probably largely we've seen what we're gonna see right
It's more about optimizations, like really knowing your side of the field well,
so you can adapt to any surprises and then, you know, being able to have a good game plan into all the popular teams.
I mean, like, I think everyone was like, well, this is going to be something,
but there wasn't like a clear something coming up.
And because of that, like, I think it makes the Grasher Tournament going into this event
more important than ever, right?
Where, you know, just looking at NAAC and then, you know, playing with your friends and then coming here.
I think that's just not the way that was viable to prep for this tournament.
So I'm kind of keeping an eye on the trainers that were really effective in those grassroots tournaments because I think both proving they could do well
But also like okay, well they've got some higher stress wrapped to those teams
It wasn't just a screamer to friends
We're talking about you know what should have happened every turn like was there was some pressure to win
You know there are prizes and I think that like especially the players who both did well and then maybe you know
Innovative or like or like literally the best player in the world on a popular archetype
Those are the players I think are gonna have the best shot of this
absolutely and you know we've been talking a little bit as we were getting
started in the tournament today like you that it really does feel like it's a
meta where you need to be the best at this team archetype it's all about do
you click with this particular team because this team makes sense to you
and it's really difficult it can be really difficult a to find that team
but be also to stick with it when you're worried about you know other
meta developments that may be having and I think it's really important that
players understand who they are as a Pokemon player in this meta, maybe more
than any other meta we have.
Yeah, something I'm always kind of bushy about.
I was like, hey, you know, if you think you're the 10th best big six player, why did you
pick it?
Yeah.
Like, was it the goal to become world champion?
But I think especially in this tournament, where I think it's like, it's less clear,
like, maybe it's better to be the 10th best player in the best team than the
best player of the 15th best team, right?
But I don't think we know really how strong all the teams are relative to one another,
where I think it depends a lot on, like, how popular other teams wind up being and
like kind of what your your matchups wind up being okay you know maybe you wind up playing one team four times in a row because
that's just how your matchups played out so it goes yeah yeah but I think that mastery is important I think it's also kind of an
interesting one where I think it's easy to kind of like view the grass being always greener where hey you know this isn't a
format where you're gonna feel good about all your practice games right because you know it's again you're not gonna
have the team advantage very much I think there's a big switching cost like oh you know I'd like this matchup
little tough for me. So I'm going to try something completely different because it's probably also
just going to have the same problem with another team right and I think just yeah you've got to
control your own side of the field kind of just do your thing as best as you can and you've got to
trust yourself in this tournament I think. Yeah well we have two players who are ready on stage
who are definitely good at doing their own thing. We have Alex Underhill from the United States
up against the 2022 world champion Eduardo Cunha and I know when we were looking at the teams
this morning. You were extremely happy to see Eduardo's choices.
I love this matchup. I looked at both of these players, like they're among the first five players
I checked their team. I don't care what happens in the field, but I'm just here to commentate,
but I really do think it kind of just represents the game the best if the players kind of like
pick their thing. Both these guys I think are very iconic for the team that's elected.
I hope both of them have great runs. I think this is really fun.
And he was kind of the only player who really plays his sort of thing. He's kind of been
using a similar pool of Pokemon throughout the course
of the regulation.
He'd very well on the grass with early on.
They're a little bit quieter after that,
which kind of maybe suspiciously,
like, oh, I think he is going to bring it,
because I'm maybe trying to fall off the radars a little bit.
But a version of Parish Trap that no one else really uses,
right?
Like it's Parish 4, and they're calling it.
Trap might be a little bit aggressive.
He's missing a lot of the usual tools
you have that's where he's seen right now.
And they have multiple think-of Pokemon.
You don't have Sinisteria.
It's very unique and special.
I think, Edu, also, someone to keep in mind
was an execution-based tournament.
There's only one trainer in the modern era
who's won a world championship by going undefeated.
That would be him with his world championship.
We hadn't seen it since we're back in 2012.
I gotta tell you, I played in that tournament.
We didn't play nearly as many rounds back then.
So I'm back a little wonky in that stat.
And it was special.
Well, here is Alex Underhill,
who was one of the primary architects
of this Sunrain team.
You have the Mega Charizard and the Mega Swampert,
Dual Megas, and of course, like we mentioned,
they can both come to the battle.
So, be on the lookout to see how Alex is going to be able to maintain weather control,
which Pokemon he chooses to bring in, and actually keep an eye out on that Grim Snarl,
which is really the glue that keeps this team together.
Yeah, that was kind of quick for me, but I was like, oh, I get why I'm not playing this team.
Where you want to use Grim Snarl at a pretty high rate with this team.
It leaves well with almost everyone. It can do a lot of fun tricks.
You can kind of just play it straight forward a little bit.
I was like, hey, you know, I can leave it with a Charizard or something,
and I can protect them and get the screens up.
I'm going to make my already great Pokemon even bulkier.
It's also very cool with these two weather-based Pokemon where you can click a parting shot.
Your opponent has to switch first, you have to force the turn order,
and then the grip start with that boosted priority will parting shot,
and you can choose to bring in a weather Pokemon,
or perhaps if you predict it incorrectly, you can bring in a different Pokemon instead.
You've got to keep your options available for a follow-in turn.
I think another thing to keep in mind of this team that's kind of neat,
check out that nature for Archelodon.
Not something that we've always seen with it,
where I think one of the big trainers lamented with the Pokemon Champions game
is that no longer do we have a lot of held items that we're used to,
particularly that Assault Nest.
Special defense boosting nature is not an assault vest, but so much more vulnerable on these special sides of doing when he came there to increase the
Special defense of this Pokemon. If you can take a few weak physical attacks, it gets pretty gross on the defensive side.
Although, don't worry, I think being able to use our challenge on well is one of the things I think that makes this team really powerful.
Where it's just like a great Pokemon that is a little too reliant on the rain core, but otherwise maybe isn't considered to be super powerful.
But not so great maybe in this particular matchup where Parasong is like,
Hey, I would like it if you did not ramp against my team actually and it's a pretty hard stop
Yeah, I'm giving you three turns to ramp maximum
Otherwise your Pokemon is a done
But that is part of why Grim snarl is going to be so important here having that priority parting shot
Does give Alex a way to break the trap if edu decides to go for the shadow tag version with the
Mechagangar and here it is this is a team that really only he has been using and only player
One of the only players that I've seen with a Perish style team here in the tournament entirely and it's that that both centers around that Gengar
It centers around the poly toad and the Incineroar that Incineroar is a crucial piece of the parish war
I think it's pretty cool, too
I'm pretty shocked that we're actually getting a swamp mark nearer, but is it just the
Sunray team again itself where I think a Pokemoner can't work
Sure what to make of when regulation MB first came out because it's like one of these things where it's like
Oh, like maybe this is for like more casual players on the ladder
but it's not like the sort of thing that's going to show up in tournament.
Clearly not.
But we're going to do it.
You know that you guys are like, hard rain, right?
But it's a very awkward matchup where they have a lot of the same tools.
It's that palatone instead of the palapar.
Not something we see very frequently, but it's sort of like a Paris song specific tech here
where it gives you a second Paris Pokemon, also much more here than palapar is, has fewer tech weaknesses.
So sort of a fun thing to have mixed in.
But we're missing the moth of the room here.
I think the really interesting thing of this team.
Yeah, one of the things that Parish teams will love to have is any ability to stall out turns.
And one of the best ways to do that is sleep powder, especially on compound eyes, the villain here.
That means that those sleep powders are going to be much more accurate than usual.
And if Teddy was able to sneak out two or maybe even three turns of sleep,
that's enough to knock a Pokémon out with Parish Law.
Yeah, this is a fun synergy there, right?
Because if you do it that way, or, hey, you know, his own archer, that doesn't have to worry about Parish Law,
because he can just not push the buttons, right?
He's the one ramping, or his swappers on a rampage or something.
I think it's really interesting.
We do immediately see those trade bar close by.
Gengar and Dvideon, they get a more common lead on the other side
with that powerful Charizard Venusaur combination
that drives that offense like for Turn 1.
Got one of my favorite titles as well.
Gengar, the historic genius out on the field
alongside Eddus of the Dillion.
Double fleet powder options here
because you also have the Venusaur on Alex Underhill's side
is able to, with the floor ability, out-skied all the Pokemon out on the field, ignore rage
powder from Vavilion. So if Alex is worried about that Gengar setting a trap and setting
Parish, he has chosen the lead that gives him the opportunity to stop that in its tracks.
One thing that's important to keep in mind here too, if you play against Vivian a little bit on the ladder
graph, this is Focus Ash, not Twi-Star, so it's a little bit different. They get a little more
conservative. Everyone's got a world championship feeling version of this build versus just like,
Well, there is Mega Gengar, a Pokemon that typically gets slept on up until the World
Championship.
Now out on the field, Tyler is by the World Champion of Wargon Fumia.
Alex will go ahead and Mega Evolve.
The Taras are right away to get the drought on the field and allow the Venusaur to be
fast asleep on the field.
Noticing that as an option, Gengar will go ahead and protect this turn as well.
The Vigilion will also protect just to scout out what Alex is trying to get away with here.
Woo, Sweet Prouder enters the Vigilion and knocks the Gengar so calling out that the Gengar was being threatened
but Eduardo, with that double protect, giving her that there is no risk of any damage or any wasted turns.
Double protect, good for a lot of reasons there. You can always love to get that protect and I get an evolution.
I make a Gengar where you can or now, as it does switch out of battle, you can immediately threaten a crowd
you back in versus switching in the regular game which is very frail and also like not
immediately providing value. Also very fun to scratch up where the Charizard didn't
make it up. I think whether Alex chose to commit better or not was very interesting
on the first turn. Now potentially either player could bring in their own drizzle Pokemon
and change the weather which would slow Enosaur down and knock that it's slower definitely
than get down. Yep well there is the visually on point to switch out for poly-tones
immediately from move of the Sun. It's not going to be Alex's own Pelopter instead
Edo bringing out the rain with polytodes.
Lodgebomb feels good damage to the VSL,
brings it down to about a third health
as Hurricane connects on to Gengar out,
hauling that switch into the polytodes,
not going for a fire type attack.
Instead, the flying type hurricane,
perfect accuracy, connects on to Gengar,
hits the confusion,
and polytodes fall to sleep on the Switch-In.
Hey, suffering, baby.
That's it.
That's it right there where,
normally the situation really bad for Charizard, right?
Even like the flipped up standard verse,
You get an ancient power, Gengar, good job.
But instead that hurricane,
five more powers, like three times as powerful
as an ancient power would be.
Who's a very serious game?
Nipster, Gengar, as well as critically causing that confusion,
where maybe in another scenario,
Adi here is gonna go for the protect,
but potentially game losing
if you get that confusion roll on.
Now all it takes is one bad confusion roll,
and you can lose the game in an instant.
No self-hit here on this turn,
Gengar will be able to protect itself.
Hurricane catches the Archialodon on the switch in here.
That's going to deal good damage to that Pokemon,
even as a resisted hit, like you mentioned.
You do have to invest a little bit into the special defense,
but Archialodon will tank these two hits.
Deep is ineffective, mostly ineffective,
four times ineffective,
restore on to the Archialodon,
which now has plus two defense
against these two special attackers.
Sorry everyone, I didn't have my PTSD moment there.
We're doing that, so yeah, it's sort of an interesting fight for both trainers there, right, where two levels of boosted defense in our Shadowdown,
created a lot of matchup, potentially not very great in this one. The only physical attacking Pokemon in Alex's team is that Swapper,
who could still be in the back, as we mentioned, you do have that option here, but otherwise that's a good deal.
Also, Hurricane, I mean, because of that, you're catching Artalada, like I don't know who's catch what's this,
but it does do a little bit more damage to you, and it is Artalada, which is not palm-like.
probably more physically invested though.
It's another train as well.
The only know each other's nature is not
each other's training.
Absolutely.
Venusaur will protect itself this turn
while Gengar is able to snap out of confusion
trying to pick up the KO on the Venusaur.
But Alex will not allow that to happen.
Instead, the hurricane now connects on to Gengar.
But that does open up the charge
or to a huge electric shock coming out
from this arch-out is off, which
does go ahead and charge up.
We are in San Francisco, the land of the Golden Gate
gate bridge and this bridge is angry as you would like to pick up a KO here.
Yeah, I've never seen a bridge like this in real life, but it's really going to hurt Charza and both players are going to change their mega, or trade their mega for a Pokémon.
So, you know, it's not like I want to raise out to the nice advantage, but kind of still happening to take that trade and all of a sudden things don't look their bad, right?
You just have to, again, potentially irrelevant to levels of boosted defense, but a definitely relevant level of boosted special attack.
whether it will be rain for their main group's battle or nothing once it expires which is probably his advantage as well.
Still waiting to see some of Alex's under deal Pokemon but maybe at least looking a little better for Edu although
you just have to deal with that sleeping apollotote as well as the Lybion who's been running out of things to support
but we'll come out here once we have one big attacker and based on that Archela down on the opposing side as well.
And the Archialodon on Alex's side is going to be in a little bit of trouble here because
Edu is ahead on the boost so already has plus one special attack on his own Archialodon.
That means that with Alex needs to catch up it may come down to the hitting and Alex
hit his weak powders.
Yeah I think this is going to be a big deal.
I'm thinking most direction here is maybe on the other side of the field.
Also you know it's critical to keep them on here.
Did he have to start the battle?
So let's go with the focus action.
Ha, it's going to survive at least one more turn,
as it puts the opposing Archaladon to sleep.
Yep, the fastest thing on the field,
and has the compound eyes.
But it puts the Archaladon to sleep,
but Venusaur will go ahead and put them off to sleep as well.
Alex will go ahead and use the first turn of mandatory sleep
on his own Archaladon, as Eduardo will pick up
the KO onto Venusaur.
So no more sleep counters on Alex's side.
It is going to be all down with Archaladon,
And whatever the final Pokemon in the back is for Alex to break through this Archeladon.
And it's looking difficult, because even though this Swamport has super effective damage,
Edu did get two boosts to the physical defense.
There's a really awkward position for Alex there too, because not only that, but of course this one for Kent Megaball.
We saw that from Charizard as well.
And the Archeladon, and Alex, it's like, can't protect an earthquake because it's asleep.
So lots of things not quite right here.
The top star for Edu, and we see Pollux are coming in here.
No, we'll talk about it in a second.
So, Archelizan does not wake up here.
It's H8 Dragon pulse.
With that plus one special attack, brings it down to half health.
Swampford trying to pick up damage onto the Vavilion.
Will instead hit the polytote on the switch-in with the ice punch.
And now the rain has ended.
And then switched in polytote with perfect timing.
Awesome sequence. I love everything about what I do here.
I try to get a little too excited when I realize what's about to happen.
But, the polytote comes in here, does it, sets the rain again,
At this point, I think it's to his advantage
because the point that Palatote is probably going to wake up,
it's going to use Harrison.
There's still three Pokemon remaining at any side
to allow him to cycle here.
And it's gonna be very difficult for Alex
to do enough damage quickly enough.
He does not have any special attack boost
to that.
Chalada has no longer has the option of an electric shuttle.
You're gonna like try and charge it off
where there's simply isn't time to do.
And this Watford just did a tough spot, right?
Even with Kirkwick, I think it's gonna struggle
to damage the opposing Chalada.
Palatote's feeling pretty great too.
It's just so naturally bulky
just warped for its other moves.
It just doesn't seem like there's a ton of options left here for Alex.
And even though the beginning of the game seems like it went too well for him,
it just doesn't have a lot of pieces left.
And the one benefit is that Alex and Pokemon have taken their steep turns,
so Archialodon will wait up for Alex.
Feels good damage to Eduardo's and Archialodon.
We both fire back with another dragon pulse.
Not enough to pick up the KO.
We saw how much damage it did to the turn before.
or now Swampert, firing off the ice punch into Eddie's Arch-Alaban, gives it another
scan of the boost, fishing for a crit or maybe even a freeze onto that Pokemon at Toletone.
I believe that is its first turn of mandatory sleep.
So now Toletone is going to be able to wake up and set the Parach song, but the Vivaldium
also has not taken its turn of sleep yet either, but if he doesn't need those
Yeah, I mean you'd love Pauldrecht to wake up in a second, you know, he'll song off, and then you can choose again if you want to, he'll die.
But also, he's at this point, Pauldrecht could probably maybe just get mad and go on the offense, and that could be a cast to win too.
Also, we're seeing Pauldrecht, you know, Vivian doesn't need the ring to use his Perk in, it doesn't have that compound eye there.
It's not like Draco, but all of you know, the accuracy boost on the sleep-inducing sleep powder, but it also makes Perk in pretty reliable.
But the dragon ball's not going to be alive.
Well, it's not going to hit the knockout by enough
that Swampert probably can't finish it off.
Yeah, 10% health remaining on Edu's Archialodon
as it picks up the KO onto Alex's.
Archialodon goes down for Alex.
This Swampert needs to be able to pick up a KO
on to the Archialodon.
But all he has to do is put one turn.
That's the Paris song.
And now all Pokemon on the field
will face in three turns.
And Edu doesn't mind.
Edu doesn't care.
There's another Pokemon in the back.
Even though it's a sleep, it still has its Focus Sash,
the freeze, I don't care, that's fine.
I still have the villain in the back with the Focus Sash
and you only have one Pokemon left
and you're already out of time.
Yeah, I got that news here.
I think Paulicin probably wasn't gonna take any actions
anyway, he's gonna just hop on a battle there
and there's no way Alex is gonna be able
to pick up that knockdown.
So, going to be game one two, I do there,
and we see the power of this team matchup, right?
This team composition rather, maybe the matchup too,
but no one else plays this, right?
Again, this is a team that's only him
So he has posted some guides on it, so you know, perhaps people should have paid more attention to that.
It's a really impressive play, and really just kind of showing off the power of this composition there.
Where even though, things seem so great for Alex early, where he handled the Gengar very well,
the Gengar wasn't the only threat of the team, and we actually have a whole lot of trap there.
We did have a lot of parish.
Yeah, the Gengar did what it needed to do, which was it did trap that Charizard on the field long enough for Archaladon to knock it out.
And after Charizard went down, there was no chance of getting the Sun back up,
which meant that the Arch Aladon was happy to take special attacks from either of the Pokemon remaining on the field
and just boosted its defense enough so that Swampert couldn't do anything.
Yeah, we can't really see the impact of that on Venusaur as well, where it's just terrible on this matchup
once the sun goes down and the rain comes up there, where they were able to get ahold of the opposing Swampert or something.
That would make a big difference, but I don't think Swampert is nearly so pivotal to any side of the field as the Alates were.
Likely, on this sort of team, there's more of a back-up magazine.
Hey, the game got really isn't going to work here,
so I'm just going to play kind of a rain mode,
where proper level are important on Alistar's side.
So, because we're just not having a time to do it,
like, even Paladjot, it's not a swamp, right?
There's a real world where it takes probably two league storms
to, you know, survive the first one, eat up,
and then the special attack drop
with the main sword going down,
hard time clearing it as well.
So, Alistar can be back on the drawing board
a little bit here.
You know, one Pokemon to keep up eye,
which I think is actually very difficult
to bring this back in,
but, well, you can try Rimswell for the pivoting,
But I do think it is a tricky Pokemon to use this matchup because it is so passive which
potentially leads to some situations where hey you know, but who does find a way to get
a couple of knockouts is really bad against the Parrish.
Well speaking of the Parrish, this is a classic Harris lead with the Incineroar alongside
of Dengar.
Again, Alex will be opting into the Sun mode to lead at least with Charizard and
Venusaur out on the field.
But this time, Vivillon is not on the field as Wardo has gone for the more consistent
Fakal would definitely will block that Venusaur from going on the offensive with his weak counter.
As soon as we'll see a fairly passive turn here, that's maybe one of the two sides that's trying to make it weak.
Now you're just the option for Alex to try to fake out, to protect the block to fake out.
I also could switch here, if maybe you feel like you're the first team running charge with your traps, that's such a good idea.
You could try to delay the mega, that would be one switch-up option.
And then, you know, on any side of the field, he wants to play a little bit slow anyway because like those matches in the previous game,
you want to get that mega evolution up, so you have the option of switching to the round and pivoting back in later to catch something even easier.
Well, that is going to be a mega evolution onto Gengar right away.
Alex again opting to mega evolve Charizard on that first turn as well.
His Pokemon is now trapped on the field alongside of the mega Gengar.
As well, the Venusaur also trapped out on the field, but no protects.
Instead, make out connects onto Charizard this time.
No protect onto Gengar either, which means that Alex is able to launch a sleep powder,
goes for an aggressive play there, gets a sleep on to Gengar.
It uses its first turn of mandatory sleep here, but that is kind of a cool for Alex to at least get that Gengar
Away from being able to do any kind of parish synagogues. Yeah, this makes his turn
Really can't wait where it's just raptors
Sort of pivoting a palatote a Gengar wake up with a huge swing
It's not then maybe something big happens the other direction where this figure unable to do too much in
It's in or sort of an awkward spot here to where you it's a support Pokemon
But usually you want to admit with a party shot which will allow both the powerful Pokemon to act first and
I don't know if Gimgur has that much time.
Yeah, it's super aggressive play there from Alex to not go for a protect onto the Venusaur.
That is something you have to do against these parish games like you mentioned.
Doing any kind of passive play can just result in Eduardo getting a parish song off
and now you're just sort of out of luck here.
Venusaur goes for the sleep powder on to the Incineroar which does go for a protect this turn.
Ingar wakes up immediately, only takes one turn of sleep, fires back with a sludge bump
into Venusaur and is a critical hit this time brings it down to only 13% health but now
Charizard is able to fire back with a weather ball into the Gengar also able to hold on with
just a sliver of health this turn. Makes this next turn for Venusaur really important. You're
going to have to hit a read right. You go for a split counter then similar slot which
also could still miss and then go for it that way or do you catch Gengar perhaps
trying to get a little too cheeky here and try to pick up a knockout of that slot
a lot of the good leading on times would really hurt.
Chris Neitz, Joy, she charged her maybe somewhat free
as a result.
Yeah.
Again, you know, if you're going to,
it's like you get to switch it out, right?
You can't pivot here, so it's still a difficult position.
I think probably you see that you're all protecting the pivot
here on either side, but lots of damage both ways.
So close to something impactful,
you're going to protect, so likely, a parting shot from Neitz.
Yeah, at least an attempted parting shot,
but not gonna happen.
If the sleep powder is not going to happen,
your Venusaur is going to be able to connect with its sleep
powders throughout this entire game so far.
Keywave, though, will be able to connect onto the Incider Wars
or getting a little bit of chip damage onto that Pokemon.
But the sleep really crucially preventing polytoys
from being able to switch in this turn.
And Gengar is now blown as protect once more
and is vulnerable again.
You know, it's a much more awkward spot
for Eddie than anything we saw in the first game,
right, where the system is just Gengar.
So we get if it needs either Charizard or Fuse or Uncheckier,
it could be knocked out, which really creates some problems here.
Perhaps the center will just wake up immediately too.
But since Dengar has forced out a soccer-based college
that will come in, we'll see a hurricane call.
We'll let you select the previous game,
or even a weather ball, which is not water type into that.
If there are no heat waves, so what's the possible option?
Well, Polytote dodges the heat wave,
a little bit of damage on it to the Incineroar.
There is the option for Alex to cover with a Leaf Storm
on the switch, but a sleep powder in Polytote
He's dodging everything.
Good news for Alex is that Snorlax stays asleep
for a turn here, which means that Eduardo
still is having trouble pivoting that Pokemon out
and getting the momentum, but that is a huge turn
for Eduardo to get that Pokemon in for free.
Yeah, and that was a very pivotal one for Alex,
where that last turn is not great, right?
Where a miss an attack can make the wrong call
and another one, and an opportunity there
is kind of wasted, but the advantage of not picking
up a knock out there is that Gengar is off the field
to sleep, and he's trying to switch as he like
If he wants to, before potentially getting trapped again,
with a likely wake up parting shot here,
probably 50-50 for the Incineroar at the end of this turn.
So what Pokemon do you want to allow
to potentially be trapped here?
Diversely, if you could try to go for a big knockout
on something that I think is probably pretty risky
and Charles is going to come out,
this time to at least create some option
for a drought later in the game.
Yeah, if you get an opportunity to switch
against a parish team, you kind of want to switch.
How do you get to knockout, too?
Yeah, get the best of both worlds.
Leaf Storm connects on the polytode, picks up a one hit KO that Pokemon goes down.
Archaladon now gets in, but will be taking a hurting shot for its trouble.
Eduardo now will be able to choose which Pokemon he wants to bring out onto the field.
Most likely that Gengar to set the trap once again, or at least to prevent the sun from coming out
to allow that a Venusaur to get in the seeded area.
I'll have to see if Adir could be a historic G because this is a really difficult position now.
like Gengar has been so weakened, Palo Alto got this one shot.
And that really limits any potential endgame here
where you win through Parasol, right?
Only one Pokemon capable of using it last,
and very likely that it's going to get knocked out
before that sort of win position.
So probably going to need some sort of way
to actually score conventional knockouts,
and that's going to be tough.
We still don't know the final Pokemon,
I believe, on that side of the field.
You assume it's not Vivian just because of the way
that it's going out.
So there is on our channel down over the Swamper.
Well, with the takeout onto Arch Aladon,
That means that there will be a stamina boost,
but crucially ArchEllidon does not get an opportunity to move.
That means that Alex is not going to be able to deal any damage
this turn as Gengar picks up the Kale onto Venusaur.
And if you are playing a Parish team,
it is so critical that you don't fall behind
in the Pokemon Count.
Both of these two players are now even
on the Pokemon Count, but Alex
definitely with a huge momentum advantage right now.
I mean, I think it's just too late for the Parish team.
Right? This is not just a team.
It is no longer a Parish team.
Just a team.
Lockhart, the formerly buffed go-nature,
another fantastic penalty.
His strategy sets the mark.
But Lockhart looks great here, right?
Where some of the awkward situations,
the previous game, where it's like,
oops, sorry, I shall add on,
but at least a perfect link in here.
How you feeling about that?
His technique can protect it, it's not asleep,
but also as a defense moves,
it's a kind of the previous game.
So maybe you go full set here,
it can feel really crazy,
but there's also the opportunity
to play this a little bit more slowly,
of course there's no slip-squip
on the regular stop,
so J.Y. is the fastest book around the field,
but probably not threatening you
one hit Taylor and how they're supposed to land so you could try to electro shot and
scale if you think that you know I'm just gonna try to put this a little more
passively but you've got like one big play for something to do with game three
at your Alex. Yeah there is the protect coming out from Incineroar on Eduardo's
side. It is going to go for a parish option here just to at least try to
keep that archival down from getting too far ahead with these electro shots.
Once a timer on it said Alex at least has to really hit the gas here
and start picking up some KO's.
That is going to be a special attack boost
onto the Archialagon and it fires off that
entusian Gengar.
So Gengar definitely going down here,
did not up for probably about 50% ish damage
to either of these Pokemon with a Shadow Ball.
Instead going for the Paratons,
or at least hopefully try to get some momentum back
when one of these Pokemon has to switch out.
Well, just to see what this final Pokemon is here,
it's going to be pretty critical.
It has to be Arch, right?
I think so.
In that scenario, you're feeling really good
about this Swampert, Alex has some great options though.
We'll be talking about our parish.
You could try to switch to Zarchelodon.
Now, if you'd switch the boost if you wanted to,
like get that drought active again,
I think you're gonna switch to Swampert,
kind of just win that adult for that, of course.
You should only need to pivot it
because it's also still reflected with that Paris song,
but you got some great pools there.
At this point, hey, there are no special attacks
with Zarchelodon.
Another thing to keep in mind,
there's only one more turn of rate left.
You don't immediately want to pivot your focus.
Maybe you're willing to let one of them
put down a Paris song,
You could try to get some damage up first, but is that like a huge threat of the opposing
Michelle that's failing, but he just tries to be really coming in.
It's like, hey, no, no special attack boost, if you click that button, it is over.
Yep, it is over if you click that button.
Incineroar is continuing to protect itself just to dodge the damage coming out from slumpers.
Edward will be able to get the special attack boost from this Elector Shot, but
without the rain, he's going to have to wait another turn for the opportunity
to fire that attack off.
That just means it is going to have to tank this earthquake and Alex will be safe and free to just protect next turn to ensure
That it's no Pokemon takes any damage from that electric shock
I'm not protecting
Hey, I know how I can protect my Pokemon and it's not gonna matter
I think yeah, I went with all into that slot
It's gonna be a real bad for the Archeryldon and that pretty much will close it and swap it like that
They come out of the battle here, so they can come back later and finish off
I really want to play by Alex and I think I just played this right to you like hey like maybe I'll make a mistake
And let me have this lecture shop. I don't think I'm gonna win this playing it's great
But Alex gets the charge at the right time. I think it's just got you but that's what protects. He disagrees. Okay
Let's let's not risk anything here. Yeah, well, who knows who knows maybe this is a
Go ahead and get the 100% opportunity to win here the first chop connects on to our Jalladon from Alex
just giving over another salmon of booze so this incident was not going to be able
to do basically anything Alex has completely removed the Paris song threat
from his team his team
I hear a song
it's nervous to protect you with your own Paris tour
I can't keep it up a little bit longer but
Charles will face an essential down now no part of an electric shock and your
Charg-Arch Special Effect is pretty strong here, so
you know, eventually probably going to catch it.
No, not this turn.
Not this turn, but eventually, most likely.
And Eduardo, taking this time here,
just trying to see what opportunities he has
for a game three.
He's actually trying to learn some information
about the damage coming out from Alex's Pokemon.
The party shot will allow that Archialodon
to take the weather ball a little bit more safely,
but also gaining, is also gaining health
from the leftovers.
But with Incinero's Paris Count falling to zero,
that Pokemon is now off the field and Archeladon can't do this by itself. Mountain Vestal.
Yeah, now this is not an ideal setup here. Maybe you go for it, but you've got to deal with your opposite number
who's healthier than you plus the Charizard, plus Swampert who, if others ever come in,
you may be a little unhappy with the amount of defense boost that it's friends have given you,
closing Archeladon, but still has a pretty significant type of advantage.
We know how exactly the Pokemon are playing here. Archeladon is actually pretty decent,
the fence size so should take a dragon pulse pretty well. It's modest nature so perhaps that's why
Voltaire's playing this way down. I don't know for sure how quick it is relative to the archer dot. And
Adidas, usually a protect there, doesn't reveal it. I don't know if Jay's that was important.
They still don't know for sure which Adidas are practicing. I think really that Adidas and
Alex decide here. But he won't get the knockout and hey, you know, I think he'll handle all
that industry being involved or one more battle just fine if it sends him to a game three.
Yeah, I'm happy to trade a little bit of information
for just to guarantee game three here as Alex Underhill
bounces back from a game one where
Eddie would look like he was in complete control
and able to find the path out of the Paris trap
this time around.
I mean, she wondered, is Eduardo going
to try to ditch the parish this time around?
But I don't know if I liked the rain matchup
into the Sun Rain team.
So I think he's probably stuck with it.
Yeah, I think both sides will probably just run it back,
Well, as much as maybe you'd love not to do that having both lost a game
I don't think that you can significantly change things too much
I think Alex is public playing it exactly how he needs to I think I do it so often you can try to bring the Vivianne back if you
Want to maybe play that a little bit more forward the way we saw it in the first game
But unfortunately for both of these trainers, I think this is a matchup where sleep powder should be very important
Right up. I think Alex actually been fairly unlucky where he's missed some sleep powder
She gets a very short sleep. I don't know if I want to like be too defensive
Oh, he got a very short confuse
I don't know, does that count as unlucky? I'm not so sure.
But you know, if Venusaur has himself a game,
that could be very difficult for Edu to deal with there, where Venusaur probably still the MVP of Game 2,
but scoring that big knockout in politics really blew the game open,
as controlling the early game of Sleep Matter.
Yeah, and that is one of the risks of this Sunrain team,
is sometimes you do have to rely on Venusaur having one of those games.
If Alex wants to advance as an undefeated player into our third round of swiss
He is going to need something out of that venus or venus or is going to need to land those sleep powders and eddy's
Pokemon are going to need to stay asleep at the same time eddy needs to go back to what worked in game one and
Maintain control of the field. I think what really happened in that game to using the poly toad was a huge moment
Definitely the moment where the game turned on attack
I'll be excited to see what the trainers need here because I think the first turn of the previous game is also hugely impactful.
I think that Givvy has coming back down.
Okay, Incineroar, get out of here.
You didn't do anything, Incineroar. You fainted to our own pair, Son.
We know who the real star here is, and it's Givvy out.
Yeah, you keep protecting your pokeball, but I think it really does change things up here.
Because, yeah, I wasn't just doing whatever it was, instead I was doing the end of the game.
But there's critically that read in the first turn, right?
We just got the free turn by getting our dodging that fake out real thing the fake out wasn't coming
You just got to get more like a metaphysical sound but instead of this time
We can turn right will charge our choose to make it of all the media Lee will be a sort like this
We're going to go for it. Well, maybe I'll be able to probably like to sleep out if it goes forward. It's good. Oh, give it
It's good. It does not have a guaranteed sleep powder
But it most likely will but like you mentioned we are going running back to game one here and like in game one
going to see Gengar immediately going for the mega evolution,
locking both Pokemon on the field right now and preserving the option to switch out and lock in another Pokemon.
Alex also doing the same thing as he did in game 1 and 2,
once Mega Charizard pours this matchup and doesn't care that it opens up the opportunity for Koli Kote to switch in eventually.
There is the Drought Venusaur code on the offensive sleep powder,
of sleep powder and to the Vibhulion no protects from any Pokemon on this turn though sleep
powder connects onto the Vibhulion and goes ahead and puts that Pokemon to sleep as adu
will go ahead and launch a Parashon immediately. All Pokemon now are affected by the Parashon.
Charizard goes for a heat wave that's going to break Vibhulion's focus sash bring
it down to one hit point remaining and put Gengar over 50% damage that is a lot
of damage and a big change up from game one,
we're visually on how to focus the entire game.
This is a really scary turn now
and a lot of different reasons, right?
If the Vivian is able to wake up and do something here,
I think it'd be very impactful,
but now it's a situation where you can give us a chance,
right, we've seen previously,
Gengar can't watch out either of these Pokemon,
so if you just double send it back here,
you do, I guess, the first time is Gengar's
which is for Pollutory, that causes the Twitter order
to change, Vivian is able to get a sleep powder off,
but Vivian doesn't wake up here
and Charizard just wants you to hit me,
which looks like I have a ton of incentives
to do anything other than like you really need
to catch Pollutote that badly.
It's out to just be that close,
really great turn for him there.
Calling Gengar not protecting for the first time
with the match in turn one.
Well, Gengar is going to retreat
as Lardo brings in the Pollutote in stead.
That does at least temporarily lift the trap here
as Zillian goes ahead and sees one more turn.
Weather ball from Charizard connects on to the Pollutote,
gives a little bit of damage while now the Vsr is able to fire off a sludge bomb that will pick up the KO on to the Dizzle Young
but crucially allows Ivy to bring back in the Gengar. So both Tarzard and Vsr are now down to two on their Paris Count.
Gengar comes in here, will continue to trap them. Double protector brings them down to one. Alex gets one chance to sling at Ivy.
I mean, it looked a little bit bad there, but it is definitely not, you know, so far people have gone, yes, where it's a little bit awkward, where you really want to give up that Pokemon, you avoid it, get rid of the HP, it could still matter, but we finally see the pure Paris trap approach to this game, right, where, hey, you know,
how to sacrifice a Pokemon, that's a bummer, but that's its job, right, we're just there to slow things down, going to need to make a lot of value at the last turn, and politics going to switch out here, I want to see what comes in, and it's going to be archaic on it, so a very interesting kind of Pokemon here, going to try to sneak in on it,
Or maybe he thinks that that attack is either a decoy or a target or we target with weaker attacks that will help boost that defensive ability.
At minimum every needs to have some kind of offensive pressure coming out on this next turn.
Hedges the lead storm on the Switch and so only deals a little bit of damage to the Arch-Elegant.
Could be stamina boost for presumably the Swampert in the back as a previous game.
That could be huge right? I think that's a really big mistake where now he's a lead storm.
There's a lot of bad things there, right?
The boosted defense on the Archelodon,
I mean, that's a bummer and all,
but the play here in Adioside
is you're probably gonna switch the dinger
back out for the Pollutot, right?
Where suddenly that Leafs don't not doing so much.
You're no longer threatening that one hit KO
on the Pollutot that you were at the previous game,
where I could stick around a little while longer,
maybe create some more problems.
And it's actually also in a pretty safe spot
where you're making it put the Leafs instead
because you're not letting all the damage,
but you don't get the three-elector shot here.
I think I'd really like that
if I'm at any side of the field
where going for that H-Tone instead of a sleep powder run
could really wind up causing some problems.
Absolutely, and Archaladon doesn't even
need to go on the offensive here to pick up KO's
because both of the H-Tones are on their final turn of character
and who has the opportunity to just go for a protect.
But instead, no protect coming out,
Polytote tanks this hurricane on the switch in,
going to be able to heal back up with its citrus fairy,
brings it back over 50%,
and the sleep powder connects onto the Polytote as well.
That means that Archialodon gets a turn to go for a boost with this Electro Shot.
Both of these Pokemon are fainting at the end of this turn,
regardless that Eduardo gets away with everything.
A stamina boost and a special attack boost.
Both of which are going to be critical at breaking through,
presumably, the Swamper and Archialodon in the back for Alex.
That really interesting choice your Alex is having.
So I think he's like we get exactly what he's supposed to do there.
So I think the fact that you're Alex and he's like,
I'm probably going to have to give up this electric shot boost to your
Jelladon, but the advantage of this is I have a very high chance of putting the
book of eyes next to our Jelladon to sleep. It didn't give you any sleep turns
there, so we'll not wake up with the following turn, but not knocking a
pallet toad. I don't give a free switch to get there, which potentially I don't
want to do as well. Instead our Jelladon is coming to watch the club,
while we're going to come in here, do what's supposed to help out as well.
And I tell you, maybe things will reverse you a little bit, right, where the defense
Closed again, potentially being impactful.
Edu has one, Alex does not.
And being ahead here with that swap for maybe one of your Earth
like all of your Archialodon, going to make a big difference.
Also kind of makes a situation here
where it's nearly impossible for Edu to try to switch
the Palatode, right?
Like, yeah, it's so risky where now Alex
is in the position, right?
Like, do you try to talk to Archialodon?
Do you maybe hope that you get a long sleep on the Palatode
so you can isolate that slot?
You're definitely going to electric shot something.
Maybe picking it to back up the Palatode will
have to see.
Well, that's the Electro Shot, so Alex can start catching up to Eduardo's Archaladon's special attack boost.
The Electro Shot is going to fire off into the polytode. Pretty clean KO there as polytode goes down.
That means that Ed will be able to bring in the Mega Gengar on this next turn.
But Edu is also trying to keep those special attack boosts up.
Getting a second special attack boost from the Electro Shot that's only going to deal a little bit of damage to the Archaladon, which does resist this attack.
It doesn't have the best special defense though, so after two boosts, feeling not insignificant damage
and making the Swampert have to go for the Ice Punch, which is way weaker than Earthquake.
You know, you need that freeze, there doesn't get it going to make it even more tanky against proper future attacks.
Also, the Electrician boost is big, right?
It wasn't at a point where it could knock out either of these Pokémon Dragon Balls anyways.
Yeah.
Get a little chip damage, which could be great, maybe you need one fewer boost.
boost, knock out that, knock out that Archeladon with Dragon Pulse but you know regardless you need
the boost anyway right? It's a lot for a pretty old Pokemon, it's a little wider, not negative so
powerful so that ramping is going to be important and while Gengar's Shadow Attack not going to
make a big difference anymore it is the quickest Pokemon in the field right could do some
significant damage to either of these Pokemon. I already saw that the Archeladon despite
the filmmakers didn't take the awkward shot from the opposing Archeladon super well
So a double up in his Pokemon, good enough.
Yeah, a double up onto either of these two Pokemon
should be enough to pick up a KO.
So either Archialagon or Swampert both are in threat right now
and there's really no way to get around it
other than making a call here.
And Edgy's going to try to stall that out
by going for a Protect on the Gengar.
But not a Double Protect Archialagon
that is going to try to go on the offensive here
takes that Dragon Fools for good damage.
And another Electro Shot, Eduardo is trying to just get as many boosts as possible here.
That gives Alex another opportunity to potentially get a freeze on that Pokemon with an Ice Punch.
Or maybe even just try to pick up the damage with an Earthquake.
Art still hangs on just barely there.
Won't be able to take another Electro Shot this time around.
As the wave crashes the choice into the Gengar and the Protect.
preventing that from having any effect here and now Eduardo is in the perfect position to clean this up and go undefeated into round three.
Yeah, it's definitely still a throwable game or if you can find a way to get your own dengar knocked out here by the Swapford maybe like double into arch and miss it or something.
You know, the Swapford knocks out dengar, the arch howl it out and Alex that maybe can pull it off.
But Julie Tess now, Eddie's done a great job of pulling from back from an awkward looking beginning of the game.
And you know, game two didn't go quite the way you wanted, but both trainers are close now.
Now we are right on the edge of this one.
Absolutely.
Both of these trainers are so close to winning this game three.
It's going to come down to if Edu is able to make the correct
targets or if Alice is able to sneak in a KO here.
Getting a third electroshock boost,
that might be enough to make Arch Alibam able to pick up
the KO onto Swampert with the Shadowball now
collecting onto the Arch Alibam from Gengar.
That's enough to pick up the KO here.
Dragonfall isn't up to KO to Swampert here, there will be no opportunity for Alex to have one here, not quite enough, 14% hit points, and Earthquake would be enough to pick up the Gengar and potentially get a crit, but instead just going for the wave crash onto Gengar, knocking that Pokémon out, and now Eddie should be able to lock this one up.
Watch it now.
Almost got a little exciting there.
But for a second at Arch, you could have been a little bit different.
But I think you can close this one out in one exciting matchup
between both of these creators.
Seema could easily have gone either way.
Really interesting matchup.
I don't think I've seen these teams play against each other before.
So really a treat to get to see the masters of these archetypes
facing off.
And I feel a little bad for what this puts forth.
Are you stressed?
I'm stressed watching these four guys.
That's like silly round two.
They're going to have a long day.
Yeah.
It could never be me piling, especially at his team.
team. Having to think so far ahead on each of those games, you know, this is why most
players have opted not to bring a team in this style. It does take a lot of mental energy,
but if anyone's going to be able to do it here, it would be the player who won his world
championships going completely undefeated.
Yeah, and I think we're going to shout out Gengar a little bit too, right? It's
kind of the one of those Pokemon, it's floating Pokemon a little bit here. We've
been talking about Gengar since Pokemon Champions released right. You immediately win at events
in Europe with a very Paris Trap based team and based on that you might think oh Gengar
has been a big presence on this game for the entirety of its life and you would be wrong.
You would be so wrong. Yeah we've been talking about oh yeah Trap is really good Gengar is
going to be a big thing and then we basically haven't seen it at all since Turin like again
you know Edward been playing this at Grassroots events like we knew a few players had it
but it just not really be a thing at all right. Him and Marco. Yeah Marco and Michael right
And that's basically been it.
I mean, like, hey, I think it's easily the most difficult
Pokemon in the format to use.
So perhaps not so shocking that we're only seeing, like,
the trainers are known as being the very best at the best,
especially from, like, a technical gameplay perspective,
opting to go for this Pokemon.
But you see how it works, what it works, right?
But you also see how easily it could not have worked
and how things could have gone so wrong
with even one mistake from any over the course of the end
of those games there.
So, hey, hopefully both these trainers get a chance
to catch their breath after that one.
What an incredible match, but what a stressful one.
Yeah, I really enjoyed that matchup.
I'm gonna have so much fun going back and rewatching this one.
I'm really excited for Ben's segment
and just a little bit as well to dive deep into these teams
and how they bashed up against each other.
And you're right, Gengar, despite most players rating it
in sort of the top tier of Megas,
consistently from the start of Champions,
the conversation around that Pokemon
heading into the World Champions was like,
is anyone really going to bring it?
Like, is anyone really putting in the work on Gengar
figure it out because it is a dominant Pokemon when you put in the work and you need to put in
so much work to make it work for you. Yeah I mean I think I'm actually a little more scared for
Gengar after watching it win not because of our power perspective at all obviously like it's one
we all saw we're all here together Chas but I think specifically just because it's like I'm
only half joking about the stress right off where that was a very difficult game to play
and if every game that adu plays is going to be just like that that's going to be very
difficult by the time we get to tomorrow afternoon. If you play so well as to get to tomorrow afternoon, right?
We've got to play a lot of Swiss rounds. Just to give it a try. I believe we got a like a dozen rounds before they even get to the elimination bracket.
It's just it's going to be as much a battle of his own endurance as the endurance of his Pokemon. Trying to survive the battle long
enough in order to let the Parasites go off. Yeah, 100% an endurance battle when you're playing a team like a
Paras crap team.
Hopefully for if you're a fan of edu you're you're cheering for him to get a couple of rain mode games in.
to take a break in between the parish games,
but gotta shout out Alex as well,
really showed his understanding of this dual weather team
that he was one of the first players to come out
and win an online tournament using this style of team.
One of the players that was known for this style,
and you could see exactly why,
because he was shown that even though
things looked really bad in game one,
he made the correct adjustments in game two
and made that game three still feel competitive
throughout the end game.
Like you mentioned at the end it looked kind of over but it was still a throwable game
Alex kept himself in it and kept himself having an opportunity to win no matter what I feel a little bad for him
I think he played the right lines, right?
But it's kind of a bummer from Alex's seat if you're playing as a mega ginker and she kind of don't get to do anything
Yeah, it's like well like I either let the right Pokemon right into them
Like I kind of just have to hit buttons after that right right I can't switch
I'm like losing kind of like the critical element of like what makes you good at VGC
which is positioning. Well my opponent gets to position like I'm just trying not to make errors and like it's a little frustrating
I should just hit this lever like you only want to show off all your prep. It's like yep
I'm looking for power because that is the correct thing for me to do
I thought the heatwave in particular was really nice down our game as well as really got to eating the fake out not happening in
Game 2 so I think that's been really well. It's just again
It's just it's hard to look good when you're getting shadows act
Yeah, absolutely, and that's gonna be something that we're gonna have to see if that follows Eddie throughout the rest of this tournament
He's going to have plenty of matches to go like you mentioned before.
He's going to be able to make it into either day two or into the top cut or
all the way to the finals on championship Sunday with a hope to repeat as world champion.
The first time someone would be able to repeat in the Masters Division since Ray
Rizzo back in 2011, who won a second and then 2012 when he won a third.
That's a couple of years ago.
The view.
Things have changed a little bit since the two are really knocking maybe.
I mean, this tournament is huge now, right?
And the main thing is sure you get that endurance, right?
Where Ray won six rounds of Swiss
before the top racket, I believe,
at least the last two years, I did probably all three of them.
And nowadays, that doesn't even get you to day one, right?
You need six wins and two losses
just to move on to tomorrow,
where you would then need to go undefeated
because you would have two losses.
I believe that Ed is really showing his ability
to do this already.
Again, there's one in London
to be the most impressive that we've ever seen.
I really didn't think it was possible to win an entire World Championships in the modern era going undefeated.
It is just so long and there's just so much variety in each individual turn of each game of Pokemon
that to go undefeated is really wild. And even to make it to the top cut going X and 2
is a monumental achievement in Pokemon now.
Yeah, I feel like he obviously dropped some games on the way, but I mean just think about it, right?
These are the best players in the world, right?
playing the ladders like okay you've got to win 20 games in a row like most of us
haven't done that let alone against players of this caliber you know let alone
you know he doesn't get any breaks right okay enjoy your five minutes between
matches where you gotta do it again and it's just so difficult to stay locked
in stomach errors especially getting keeps like this one it's just so easy
for that to happen. Yeah very error prone teams it can be if you are not
ready and with all of your prep but the man who was ready and with all of
of his prep is Eduardo Cunha are 2022 world champion
and he's ready to tell you all about that last match
and the rest of the tournament to come.
Thank you guys very much.
I am joined with you who moves on to two and zero.
You do.
How does it feel to be playing back here at the stage?
Feels great.
I really missed it.
Actually didn't get at my last few worlds one fantastic.
So I haven't been here in a while.
So I'm just so happy to be here.
I want to talk to you about your team, because I think I have seen you as the premier pilot,
the number one player on this archetype, not a lot of other people I think are on it at
this tournament.
I don't think it's very easy to use, especially with Mega Gengar in particular.
So yeah, what made you feel confident in it for the tournament?
So obviously my comfort with the team helps, but I also feel like the team was kind of
built to beat a lot of the common teams, and I feel like the format hasn't changed
too much.
There were a few teams that popped up, but then they kind of disappeared.
So I feel like into the strongest teams, it's really good.
The problem is like some weird stuff like the sand team that was going around.
That matchup's a bit tricky.
But I saw that for worlds, people weren't really liking it too much.
So I thought it was a good opportunity to bring it back.
And of course, you went up against the dual weather team.
That's been quite popular.
A lot of sleep powders thrown left and right.
How did that matchup feel?
It felt really tense, especially with Alex bringing a regular swamper here and there.
Yeah, actually I faced them a little bit on laddering practice.
I think the match-up comes down a lot to like the turn of one how like well
It ends up coming out coming down less than I thought because I felt like if I got it wrong
I was in a really complicated position
I kind of got it wrong game three because I was expecting not to mega because a lot of people
In practice would not mega evolve the Charizard scouting my double protect so then they could mega evolve
No problem, so I was I was expecting to do that and my best punishment sometimes like to sweep out her Paris
and he can protect you both, I really couldn't understand.
I was expecting that kind of went all in.
Maybe I could have found a better mid-ground,
but in the end, I was able to like pivot back in,
perish, trap the Venus on the Charizard,
but it took like some careful maneuvering.
And I think that's a part of perish too,
is that you can create a lot of positions
where you just flick by a song and you switch out,
and if they can't do something,
you bring it back in, they're trapped.
If they don't, they're still forced to switch
and you can capitalize on it.
So I felt like I was still in an okay position
even if Vivian hadn't been KO'd,
and that was a chance I could wait up as well.
So I feel like the ultral kind of in my favor,
and that also goes for the sleep outer ward,
because I have compound eyes and he doesn't.
I also have Hurricane, the one in KO's,
and well, they have focus on us as well,
but he does a lot more damage,
so much easier to finish it off afterwards.
So I feel like I have a slight advantage
against the Venusaur with Vivian,
but at the same time, if they have the speed advantage
with the floor fill, so I have to be careful
with the weather management,
I think that's what it comes down to.
Absolutely, yeah.
I think you were the last round
to finish that last one, so let you go,
but before any final words or thank yous that you want to say.
My main thank yous is going to be to my son, Lucas,
my wife, Katerina as well, my whole family,
and my friends who've been helping me.
Francesco Pardini who's been helping me so much.
All of Team Aqua and Gasparcio.
Also a special shout out to Luca Lusignoli,
Ruba Gianzini, and Luca Cerebelli,
their inner rough spot right now.
And I hope you figure things out and we're with you.
It's great to see you back here on the world stage.
Congratulations and best of luck to Marissa Tournament.
Welcome back, trainers.
We're here to break down some battles,
but we don't have too much time to break down some battles this time,
because as Aaron said, we've got our next round getting kicked off.
But before we get into the little bit of time that we've got
to talk about these teams that we just witnessed here,
we've got a little bit of an update for you on the Twitch drops.
There's been a couple of issues, I think, for a few players trying to get their drops for this weekend,
but don't worry, about half an hour's time from now, one PMPT, we're going to be seeing a little bit of an update to,
I don't know what happened behind the scenes, but there's some magic that's going to happen to hopefully get that fixed.
Yeah, so they'll be pushing an update in about a half hour's time, so thank you so much for your patience.
Please stay tuned and we'll be getting you that update as soon as we can.
So again, thank you so much for your patience.
But let's go ahead and break down that battle
because that was such an exciting matchup.
And I think we saw, you know, really the creator
and the master of this dual weather team,
this Charizard who is honestly the most powerful
Pokemon on a rain team really are his best
against the rain team to beat, I think,
coming into this tournament.
And what better way to see it piloted
by the creator of the team himself?
Yeah, Alex has been on this, this sort of archetype was one of the people that actually got this got this archetype set up and is like, Hey, hang on a second. How do I, how do I actually make the rain team composition work as like, maybe the answer son. I don't know. Like this is definitely a very different take on playing Charizard where it kind of feels like it's come as a secondary part of the team rather than the primary.
I mean, you wouldn't know it seeing that match against Eddie, right? And so the way that this works
I love this composition where you've got the combination of quite a few different ways that this team can play together
So of course you've got Palapah. You've got our challenge on you've got mega swamper and you've got Grimstar, right?
You can put all of those together
You've got the Grimstar with its parting shot making sure the rain set up making sure that electro shots going off with
you're not going to be able to
do that. You're not going to
be able to do the R challenge on
setting up the Swiss win for
the Swamp. So if you're not
against the Charizard, even if
you are against the Charizard,
you can you can feel that you
can flex that rain mode, and
especially as well. This
light screen and reflect Oh,
yeah from the Grimm's null,
especially I think our
challenge is definitely one of
the best users of it. But
yeah, big shoutouts to big
boy Swamp because, you know,
sometimes even if you are hitting it with a grass type move, right? It's so, so difficult to take down.
But the thing I love about this team, and we were talking a little bit about it, right,
is how this Charizard fits in. Water type weather ball, hurricane in the rain, and being able to
function both to set up the Venusaur, but also to play in with the Pelopon.
Yeah, and I think that's something that a lot of players will forget, especially when just
just looking at the team sheet as it is right now.
You know, you see the normal type icon next to weather ball.
So you might forget that weather ball special effect
is that whatever the weather is set up on the field,
it changed types into the type of the weather.
So it can be a fire type move
when Charizard sets up its own sun,
but when there's rain on the field,
it becomes a water type move.
When there is snow, it's ice type,
and then when it's sand, it's a rock type move.
And Charizard's very high special attack
always will take advantage of that.
So it gives Charizard this flexibility
that it otherwise does not have.
Definitely is like when all else fails, right?
This team, it does have some matchups
where it's like, well, do you know what?
And we saw it here in this match, right?
The right thing to do.
Scott called it out perfectly.
Like sleep powder, that's it.
You know, you lead with a Charizard,
you get the Venusaur set up,
you put something to sleep,
you create the space for Charizard to do his thing,
go on the offensive,
put some tents in your opponent's team.
Maybe then you've got Achalodon and Pelopur
the rain and preparing for all of these different modes of this team is so so
difficult takes an intelligent pilot like Alex to be able to use the full
potential of it but it's got so many different bits of potential that it can
hit on. It's so funny you mentioned that though because then if you swap over to
Eduardo's team you can almost hold up a mirror and admittedly maybe it's like a
funhouse mirror because obviously it's not an exact copy of what we just said
but a lot of the same principles apply because you have that
that live lawn, who also has that sleep powder
who can put something asleep
and then open up opportunities for the archalodon
to start setting up those electric shot.
You still have that Swampert, of course,
who can take advantage of the rain.
And, you know, polytode, of course,
can set that up for its buddy.
But then, of course, you have the very oppressive
combination of the Parish song,
both on that polytode and on that Gengar.
And then Gengar can mega evolve,
have the Shadow Tag ability,
and then trap a lot of Pokemon on the field.
So then now Alex just loses the ability to switch those Pokemon around and set up those
things we just spoke about.
100% right?
If you haven't seen too much of this Perishong archetype, the way it works is everything
hearing the Perish trap will think in free turns and so that in combination with the
Shadow tag on the Mega Gengar here will be able to track Pokemon in.
If the Gengar is able to stay on the field, it's able to lock your opponents in
on the last turn.
So, you can switch out on Eduardo in this case is side of the field, the person that's using the perisong and then the other players Pokemon to to knockouts happen, but then the beauty of that is that when two Pokemon get knocked out, there's only two Pokemon left.
We only take four Pokemon to a battle, right? And so they can't switch either and all you have to do.
So we're going to go with a
little few with a few little
steps in between. Click that
Paris song again and then wait
that time out. And that's why
we see moves like protect on
Incineroar, where we don't
often see it. We've got
protect here. We've got
protect here. We've got
protect here and we've got
protect here. Every single
Pokemon on this team can
wait it out if the perish
mode is going to be the
option of choice. But what
really like okay end of game two he clicked the button it was like well this is kind of still over
in Alex's favor but in game one he was able to take the win without even clicking the button
just using the high special attack of Gengar the ability for Archarodon to get its boost up with
the electro shot and use that momentum to just conventionally damage all the pokemon on Alex's
side of the field and that's the scary thing about playing an experienced parish song user
is that I think someone who's newer to the archetype will go for the I pressed parish song once I wait three turns I switch my Pokemon out and then I do that again to win the game. But someone who's played this team and knows it inside it out will know when to use parish song versus when to save it. And having to play that mind game against somebody is really what makes it tricky.
I mean, like, especially in a lot of the turn ones that you see with that composition, like,
the way that you have to aggressively target down a Pokemon that's using Parasong, a Pokemon
that can trap Pokemon in, like, by definition, opens you up to taking attacks, right?
And so it's like, well, you have to play aggressive, you have to attack into those
Pokemon to make sure you've got enough damage down on the board.
But in doing that, it's like, hey, if you just want to attack me, by the way,
I've got to open myself up to that as well.
It makes it so, so risky to play in these matchups.
Yeah, and I really love just how this team is composed,
just to talk about other ways to stall for time.
You know, yes, you can use your own protect,
but you could also potentially put your opponent to sleep,
but sleep powder, you could use Encore
to lock your opponent into a move.
So you have more time to go for that pair of song.
And of course you have rage powder on Vivillon as well.
So there's a lot of different ways you can stall for time.
I guess there's also in Centaur's fake out,
but that felt a little bit apparent.
I'm just gonna do a big ring around center all that.
And Senor's existence will help you stall for time.
This whole team is just constructed in such a way
that enables both this aggressive mode of play
but also to slow down for parashong speed.
And someone like Eduardo has that experience
to know when to put your foot on the gas
and when to hit the brakes.
Yeah, this is the other part of it.
I think a lot of players have tried to figure out
I think Eduardo has hit the nail on the head here where you do have this like rain mode coming out here with these three rain abusers.
And I think like a lot of the early stuff where you had Mega Gengar Kamoho because it has this combination of soundproof.
So it doesn't hear the Paris song. It doesn't have that timer ticking it down.
But also like Gengar likes to knock out fairy type Pokemon Kamoho, fairy type Pokemon are its worst enemies.
that's worse enemies. And so you get this like automatic synergy there. But it just didn't
quite hit in the same way that previous Paris song used to work. I think a large part of
that down is, large part of that is to down to gothtel not being in the game, not having
a secondary Pokemon that can trap things in like, Hey, Gengar's, Gengar's getting
a bit low. Let's, let's lean on the gothtel to get the trap going. And so yeah, I
I think our trainers have struggled with that.
I think this is where Eduardo's commitment to the team archetype
and also figuring out exactly how he needs to run it really cracks the code.
For sure.
So I'm curious, we've talked a lot about the teams.
Were there any turns from those games that really stood out to you as key turns?
If you had to pick one or two?
They're like, any turn one.
Any turn one.
Any turn one.
You want to go to game one, turn one?
Let's go game one, turn one.
Let's go game one, turn one.
So we're here.
Let's get to a little bit of a nicer frame here.
So we're seeing the Venusaur and the Charizard.
This is how Alex was leading in this match
versus the Gengar Vivillon that Eduardo was going for
in games one and three.
And so what's happening here that's really, really important
is like there's a lot of sleep powder being threatened
on both sides of the field.
And so if Charizard goes for the Sun,
Venusaur gets its chlorophyll boost,
then it's threatening some fast sleep powders on the Gengar.
It's like, how do you actually deal with that pressure
if you're Eduardo trying to keep the trap right?
So sleep powder coming in here and then the Charizard
maybe going for a little bit of spread damage,
just attacking down into the Vivillon and the Gengar
and just bringing it down to lower HP.
But if, like we saw here,
Eduardo just goes on the defensive,
plays the double protect,
stops all of that damage coming into his side of the board, then actually Alex has got to commit his mega.
There's a rain setter in the back. The sun's already on the field and then Gengar can go for either the Perisong or just start going on the offensive.
It's a tough choice to make. I mean, that's always the prediction you have to make when you're playing these double mega teams.
Which Pokemon do you mega, especially when you do bring both of them?
exactly like and and so like what we what we saw here are things like really key is in all all the
games you have this swamper of challenge on sitting in the back here knowing that you were
gonna Alex knowing that it's like well we're probably gonna end up in rain one way or another
my Charizard is gonna get trapped yeah and who's got the rain as well he's gonna set the weather
weather situation what do I want in the back I want to I want to like lead out with my
So I think that's all we've got time for, Gabby.
We've been going for this for a little while,
but I think it's really important to understand exactly
how these parish song users work.
Now, we've got round three coming up.
So we're going to kick it straight over to the casters
and get things rolling.
but I think it's really important to understand exactly how these perished song users work.
Now we've got round three coming up, so we're going to kick it straight over to the casters
and get things rolling. Thank you so much, you two. Sierra Dawn, Leigh Provost here. We're so
honored to be here for the 2026 Pokemon World Championships, and it has been a fantastic
day so far. And we're just round three just around the corner. I can't wait to dive into this.
I know it's been such a fantastic way to kick off proceedings here this weekend and yeah, the action's been hot and it is going to continue on.
Grand three on the way and I cannot wait to get into Sierra. It's been phenomenal so far. As you would expect, it is the World Championships, right?
Yeah. I mean, looking at each one of these periods and these matches, it's like, wow, this is a crazy matchup.
But then you look across the board and they're all crazy matchups. We've got the best of the best trainers from around the world
trying to claim their stegas so why they are the greatest here in football champions and it's been
Absolutely incredible. So we hope you've been enjoying so far because we certainly have been in this next one as well
This is a familiar matchup looking at our notable parents in swiss round three
This is a throwback to reach a very familiar to you. We yes very familiar
Yeah, we can look at the notable matches,
but the stream match one way we'll be featuring
is gonna be between Zachary Wood and Portia.
I'll draw back to that final in the UIC earlier this season.
What a match that was.
And we're gonna be able to have a kind of repeat here
at the World Championships in round three.
I'm so excited for this.
The fact that you get to see an international finals
replay now on an even bigger stage is incredible.
And of course then an opportunity
to maybe try and take down a prior university nemesis,
but across the board, so many strong matchups as well.
A Europe matchup, Marco going up against Aurelia,
certainly a very strong matchup,
and Kuma facing off against the South Way as well.
Yeah, I mean, just across the board,
just shows the Cabba players
that we've got here at the World Championships this weekend.
When you have round three,
pairings are looking like this.
I mean, you go down the board at the bottom there,
you've got Georgie Kader against Glick as well.
we had Wolf on earlier and started amazing fashion,
Rintaro versus Taran, another really great one.
And some of these players,
I have been able to have a look at the teams.
I'm not going to give anything away now,
but some of them have some really interesting choices
amongst the competition out there.
You know, there's one in particular player
with one particular Pokemon.
I won't spoil it either.
That's not our business,
but certainly we have brought some spice
to the Pokemon World Championships,
but it's time to head over to the stage
and get started with our feature match.
Paul Chua facing off against Zachary Weed.
Again, a rematch from our European International Finals
where Paul was able to best Zachary
and take that UIC title for himself.
Now on an even bigger stage, can Zachary get his get-backs
and take that win?
A player that has certainly had a incredible season.
Yeah, exactly that.
And I think one, if we look back at UIC,
That wasn't stolen by the trustalization was the choice there, but now we move into champions history match here and mega's taking centre stage.
Really interesting choice from both players. All known for how well he can play those standard teams.
Taking that, sure as I've been in so talks of X4 and going up against another very convenient team from the MA format where that was originally conceded to the current league championships.
everything that Zachary has really enjoyed playing.
I believe run at NAIC as well, playing a mega-froze-less,
mega-scovillain team.
Yeah, looking back at NAIC, we got to make that phase two
of competition with this exact same team.
So certainly well-practiced at this point.
And a team that was designed to help beat some of the
biggest teams that we have in the format when you
look like Pokemon, like this, like in Rock,
like the Straflas, this can offer just so much
offensive pressure.
And of course, you always have to be careful when
This team extremely strong port and got really good answers against the common Pokemon we see in this format.
In particular the Lycan Rock. You have a really good answer to be sure why.
And that's something that we can leverage in this match.
So it's going to be very good against King Gambit.
With that focus there, it's got a little bit of security.
It can take at least one attack, keep around on the field a little bit longer.
it longer and more importantly it supports that frostbast so well in allowing that aurora
veil setup if you can time your mega well enough it charges us out on the field you can get that
set up and then maybe end the game with something like that king gambit that is the main set of
pokemon on the scene with that sword stance once that gets that powered up under its belt it is
going to be hitting extremely hard with those priority attacks.
For Zachary here and when I look at this team in general though of course if you have a
team that was designed to beat some of the biggest teams in the format, like we call them
Tarzan archetypes. Of course, you have to be so careful with those pieces and those Tarzan players
are going to be expecting it. That's how we saw the downfall of this team at NAIC and how it kind
of got picked off along the way. But of course with months of practice since that opportunity,
time to see if he can now take down Paul. Paul didn't compete at NAIC. We did see him
compete at Indy where he had a nice run. But of course a little bit of a different variation
of the team yet now, but of course, the most common variation when you look at so many of
these strong meta picks, things like these prospects to really be able to stop the opponent
in their tracks.
Yeah, you've got the fast defensive mode, you've got the choice guard jump, it's going
to get the jump on pretty much everything.
It's not going to be comfortable in front of the mega force last season, you need to
give it a little bit of protection there, but you've got the tools to do that mega
charge on Y of course, offering those gig fire type attacks, got a way to disrupt
the weather and set up that Venus over, you can get in a place where that chlorophyll
and three draws and huge damage when it's supported by that lightball.
But the key piece for Paul is going to be protecting that Toxapex.
That's going to give Zachary a big headache,
because he can't go free any direct answers to removing that quickly, right?
So Paul can play his cards right.
The Toxapex could end up overcoming everything on Zachary's side of the field.
I think Zachary needs to probably concentrate on taking the pieces around the Toxapex down
so it's left on its lonesome to kind of overwhelm it at the end of the battle.
but Paul won't allow that to happen easily.
And we know Paul was so, so good with the standard form.
And Paul is such an accomplished trainer
with international titles,
multiple regional titles under his belt
and trying to make that claim to the World Championship title.
Getting into this nod, a very aggressive start
from both of our trainers, Zach,
with that king gamut, Sneasler,
up against Sylvain and Charizard, Paul.
Yeah, they immediately fake us
what they've got from the Sneasler onto the Charizard,
just to stop it in its tracks,
protect the King Gamma this turn. It allows it maybe to get a sword stance up, but Paul does have a little
bit of security on his side as well. It has got you on on the Sylvian here where it can potentially fire that
off into the King Gamma, but it can't keep too careful here because you have to worry about the
sneeze left. Maybe not going for the fake out, going for that gunk shot. That'll pick up a one hit
KO into that Sylvian and then call me to the piece of carry early on. And that fake out immediate
pressure is going to allow that Charizard to be sitting good, potentially faked out,
how to clean into that slot and Charizard doesn't want to take too much damage early on.
It's whether you call it a Feezzler, it's going to go all other fensive or try and stop a Pokemon,
but with the mega Charizard, we'll be stopped on this turn as Zack will off to faked out instead.
Hyper voice from Sylveon, a lot of damage on to the board, pretty less is or down to less
than half. How to at least in return though, Charizard will take a hefty amount of damage.
Yeah, and now Zachary's put themselves in a great spot, right?
That kowtow cave onto the Charizard, it's in stuck-up on shrink now,
so that Charizard has to be very careful with it, stay in, protect,
so that it doesn't switch out, maybe open the door holes,
actually to even capitalise on that.
And the Sylveon now in a position where, well, the Sneezer is still active on the field,
and that doesn't shut.
100% accurate, it is a bit shaky, it is threatening a knockout onto that Sylveon,
depending on how it's been trained.
Yeah, and threatening a double knockout on this turn,
so much women could swing in Zach's favour.
So for Paul, if you call out that backwood, maybe it's just your telegraph, right?
Or do you try and swap out?
It will be the swap with a lot of pressure on it to that Charizard just to switch around
and it detects on Sylvia.
No damage will be done to the one Pokemon.
And if it wants to suck your punch, Charizard won't have stayed safe.
But it will be a different move instead, King Gambit with the Cautile Queen
to bring the Caution down to about 40% damage.
That's a really great play here from Zachary.
You know it's risky going for that cout of cleave hit the Charizard
It stayed on the field and went for the heat wave the king gamma would have dropped
So I'm knowing that the switch is coming great and I'm really paying off there the god trump now not on a safest
Position it was before is it in sucker punch range?
That's the question because if not gotcha I'm gonna be able to go for an earthquake
I think all in the position where you could switch out the Sylvia and bring the Charizard in
It's got an immunity to the earthquake and both Pokemon on the trackery side are gonna be susceptible to super effective damage
go down to that fast scostle first wave.
It will just be the sucker bunch into the Garchomp, no a switch.
Back with another great ball to get a Pokemon KO'd and take momentum into the match.
Gunshot now into the Sylveon as well, that's a double KO!
Wow, what a play from Zachary, you know, it shows how important that pow-tow cleave
onto the Garchomp switch was before and you can see the lock up now.
Hold on though, there's no way back.
I believe the Zachary was enough there, locking things up with that King Gambit and Sneez-Lam so well played, so much overwhelming power.
To have such a dominant first showing on this world stage over an opponent that is best of you in the past is absolutely incredible.
I mean, we talk about Hall being just such a don't player and that is still true, right?
But for Zach to constantly get those drinks right and just take so much momentum from the get-go no choice
But the poor kid has her three turns
Yeah, I mean Zachary got every new fly-along every iteration of that first match and made it extremely difficult
All to get in that position where they could stop building in and then
themselves and I think if the coach on but come in if we've seen the sucker punch
It would have been a different story, right?
But Zachary knowing Charles I was so pressured in that one moment and then being confident as well with the
calculation go for the sucker punch into the goal jump knowing that the cow
tile the sucker punch combination is gonna be enough to close it up then they
were in the driving seat and I think all for Paul to do going into this game
please. That's a wake-up call of a game one if I would ever see one so a switch
desperately needed in this game number two and we will see a Charizard again in
the lead next to Gerchamp but a big switch up from Zach as well like a
rock and frost last to make an appearance. Yeah great adjustments here
from Zachary firstly from Paul you think the goal jump coming out early is
but then the like and rock appearing the one thing that you can checkmate that Charizard with and that's exactly what's happening here
The Force Lash as well is in that position where it can maybe stagger its mega evolutions it guarantee an overwrite of the Sun and that's what it is here
But I'm gonna say a little bit of a switch and culture I'm gonna kept the later it's in all coming in dropping
And we will see mega evolution that ends of play play as cross last of course will mega vault and
And with that, this could be a go button, as you will get the snow on your side as well,
but Charizard not looking to reduce any mistakes and take a lot of damage on this first turn will protect Blizzard,
Lightning Rocks, not Lightning Rocks, but Centaur as a Pokemon that will,
oh my god, mind that hit, with just minimal amount of damage.
But it's time to see what the Lightning Rock has done on this turn.
Do you keep Charizard honest, or do you try to recall?
It will be a rock slice, so Charizard will stay safe,
But instead of all, will it take some damage?
Don't fully mitigate it thanks to that previous intimidating.
Yeah, nice play from Paul here.
Just to kind of mitigate the threat of that lightning
of trucking intimidating.
Now you've got that active takeout,
so you can stop it in its tracks, as well as that you
delayed your mega evils.
Now you can mega all the charges on it.
And you've got access to going for it either
by the same across our switch out,
so that sun, if it comes out of this thing,
can be overwritten in your turn.
That's one of the things with these matches,
when you have these weather football.
You want to make sure your weather is the weather of choice of mega evolution on the Charizard will get the drought and will bring the
Sunshine out for this incineroar
We do have the option of a safe out and with that pressure like a lot will protect on this turd
Even the Pokemon honest take out from incineroar
It will just be the Charizard left to attack heat wave nothing into like a rock the basket legion that has just walked in though
We'll take a decent amount of damage considering not very effective. Yeah, it's a nice switching
it's probably the best one you've got there but the main thing is you preserve that focus
session and liking and now you're still in that position. We're threatening the Charizard,
you can also maybe just get that vasculation out of here or harm's way, get the frost
lads back on the field, get control of the weather and get rid of the weather on the
open side of the field. We can keep it in and just attack into the incidental slot maybe
pull on your weather a little bit later down the line. Also looking for this incidenter
are swapped out in a miss for the Rockside onto the Garchomp, but you kind of wish that
was the Charizard instead, because that's still a lot of damage that we will hold on.
It does flinch though, so Charizard no attack in Vasculation with the follow up will bring
Garchomp down to about half health, so no one will be able to begin from the whole
of that turn.
No, and this is not looking great for Paul in this scenario, getting the Garchomp on
the field is great.
You've got the star, you've got the earthquake now, but the Lycanrug still got that focus
action.
Charizard in no way, shape or form, you're going to be able to take another attack.
You've also got the Accelerator to think about as well.
You maybe if you're Paul trying to preserve the Charizard, switching your Incineroar here
to drop another Intimidate onto the Lycanrug.
And then give a little bit of help to that Garchomp after this turn once it goes into
the field.
But it is the Sylveon.
Yeah, it will be a swap, but with the Intimidate just instead of Sylveon to soak up some
damage.
the protect on the turn as well as Vasuki Lijun with an awkward jet into the guard chop just deals
a wee little bit and getting really low with thanks to the light orb and rough skin recoil.
Zombie Tent from Guard Chomp will deal off that remaining HP to fall to be able to take care of
the skin too. Yeah it's a nice knockout there the liking rock still safe and sound though and
that's the thing I think what you would want to do with the liking rock against these
as our team is preserving and that's exactly what the team is actually doing.
Now bringing in the King Gambit, we saw the Cyclo-Bunch damage earlier,
so the Garchomp is going to be threatened. We know it has to attack with stairs on this field.
Cyclo-Bunch has the choice here. Do you go for a Cyclo-Bunch if the Garchomp removes that?
Or do you go for Cautab D, which would pick up the knockout on Cyclo-Bunch?
And it would also get the Charizard, which is the only option if Paul wants to switch around and preserve it for later.
So it will be just like an rocket that swaps out though as Frostlast will re-hit the field.
And of course, coming back out will be the snow warning once again to get your weather of choice.
Sucker Punch and Garjump low enough, will be enough for that Kego.
The explosion was actually right in slow-down this game.
But of course now, Sylveon, this is the opportunity to go on the offensive.
And we'll deal a respectful amount to each one, but still just not quite enough
You can reach for many Jesus, because again, this Charizard has just taken so much damage.
Yeah, and that's the problem here. You've not got the leverage now to be able to deal with this Kingama effectively.
And yes, the Sylveon's doing good consistent damage each turn, but can it only be for the remaining Pokemon on the sacri-side of the field now?
It's sitting in super-funched range, and the Kingama is probably just out of range from another Heigl voice here.
So you can imagine, you can go for that, you can go for tech C, if the draw goes for tech C,
but they're not looking for it to pull, it's actually still commanding and showing how well they know this T-Hin side out.
And King Gambit with protect, if you do just try and, if you were just trying to rotate it out,
that's not even going to be enough.
So it will just be a hit in to the Sylvia, on special defense dropped as well,
and a heat wave on the board.
You do have this on on each side, so you can deal a lot of damage,
and into the frost last already at half will be enough to take another pay go
we talked about you know the Sylvio not being able to pull on four but if you're doing taking down
all the other pieces you might have a way back into this yeah and i think the thing is yeah i think
you just want to get a little bit as much damage in possible after the frost last which is that
sylvian and get this lycan rock in as healthy as possible that's exactly what exactly he's
done it doesn't seem there's a way around the rocks like now going to be enough to take
that Charizard down and do enough decent damage to that Sylvan as well while you've got the King
Gambit to kind of back up and help out with that extra damage here. It does feel very difficult
for both of them back into this, but remember they do have that and you know still in the back
and they can cycle in at any point. It's really difficult though in front of this King Gambit
that has a defiant ability so low boost it's attack rather than lowering it like you normally see.
It's difficult. The path is a difficult one.
We've got to try and see if you can break out any of the assaults and catch Zachary,
Slyphe and Rockside on the turn to deal a lot of damage to both of these Pokemon.
But it will all, et cetera, into that citrus fairy range for a little bit more of the recovery.
But if you wanted a way back into this, your Pokemon have to attack and flinch from the Sylveon.
That's just devastating. It was a difficult one anyways, but no damage done on that turn.
I mean, you have to faker, but again, you're just not doing enough.
Now the flinch there was so, so important, was accurate to get pretty much locked this game up,
but I think there's the hydro voice coming out there.
With that extra Pokemon advantage, of course, it gets a little bit closer to closing this match up,
but now the double protect is an obvious one to turn through that faker.
Now you're in that position where you can rock slide again.
You're probably going to be able to pick the Sylveon up, get enough damage on T and Sideron,
And then, between the light and rock and gambit,
you should be able to close things up.
But not all but just yet.
Not quite yet.
There's always different shenanigans that can go on.
If we're looking for the rock slide
to deal a lot of inhibits in Cineror
and pick off the Sylveon,
there's always the opportunity of a miss.
There's always the opportunity of a miss up along the way.
And Sylveon will just detect.
So hoping that in Cineror can make a play
to do something here.
Like Cineror can set an option for the SL Rock
to make sure that you can pick up that Sylveon pass.
Suckerbunch into Incineroar will bring it down to 25%.
What does this Incineroar do though?
Flare Blitz, you do have the Sun.
You have a King gather that was low health.
So that does bring it down actually
into just this Lichenrock against the world.
Just so focused on this Incineroar
not actually being an attacking piece of the puzzle.
If there is a Rock slide this year,
this Lichenrock just picks up both KOs.
Yeah, that's all Zachary needs now
in the position to preserve this Lichenrock
so well to the end game.
everything in rock slide range.
She just needs those moves to hit.
And it does!
Coming out, it does hit.
Taking both down, leaving that charizard in the back.
The double connect from the Rock Rock.
Mike Rock will get it done.
That is a double kill on the turn.
And now it's just a 1v1.
And when you look again at the move set on this,
Mike Rock and the Assault Rock,
it will be enough Zachary Weed
to take the victory to a zero.
overhauled to a run back of UIC,
but Zach the Vicar at the end will put him undefeated
so far here in day one of Worlds.
Yeah, what a commanding performance by Zachary,
so well played from start to finish,
really dominating the game and not giving Paul
an inch to get back into it.
It did look like there may be ways in that game too,
is the game kind of dried out
and Paul's really one of those great players
being able to do that,
but you know, preserving that life in Rock,
we outlined at the start,
it is the key to kind of getting the value
like rock against his Charizard
team once that gosh I'm felt and
that's exactly what's actually was
able to do the way that he was able
to preserve the like and rock as
well to not just have the Pokemon
but be able to have it with that
just the focus sash intact was
just incredible. That offers just
so much more pressure than a
Pokemon at full health because
then you essentially have those two
lives right and along the way
the flinches you know in that
that was in a tricky spot and still would have had to then, okay, see a rock slide miss and maybe come on through.
So I think Paul played the best considering the board state at that time, but a big congratulations to Zachary for how well he was able to play this because you get into that end game,
London Rock at full health. That's a, that's just a commanding way for Zachary starting off the day.
Yeah, you know, I got heart and mouth moment there.
And that looked like the rock slide onto the in-sir on Sylvia.
And I know that's exactly how I felt.
So I can't imagine how Zachary was feeling in that moment.
But yeah, able to lock it up.
And after such a commanding game as well, I think, yeah,
really fitting way to end this set.
But it just shows how well Zachary knows his team inside.
And I knew the lines into this team.
It's not been one of the teams.
It's been around as long as maybe the integration
of their running.
I mean, there's a reason that it was popping off
so much and why it was such a
big bring into NAIC.
And there is the opportunities
for things to go wrong, right?
We get one of those Rockside messes
along the way that could have been really crucial.
Yeah, well, then you're like in Rocks cooked, right?
But there's so much strength to this team
and so much pressure from just those constant
Rocksides or even those Accel Rocks.
Not even that to mention the King Gambit.
Now, how much work not put in with those sucker punches?
Paul is forced into so many
of those switches. So, Zachary,
Zachary, he is a phenomenal player, he has been one throughout the season, second place
at Las Vegas, second place at DUIC, he's a player that has been looking for that title
in.
I mean, we're day one.
We're not counting our time here.
But I feel like he has been a trainer that has been on that comment, has been really
ramping up the season, has been such an indication of that and victory like that
is true.
Yeah, I mean Zachary, definitely one of those players capable of getting to the
final and getting over the line to take the challenge.
championship this entire weekend so we'll have to keep an eye on them as they progress through this tournament
and I think the way that they really utilize the tools that they had at their disposal to get that initial
Chip damage on everything. Yeah, and it put the King Gabba in that spot where it was able to be so valuable and just pressure knockouts
there there and across the board making it impossible for Paul to really utilize especially the guard jump when you look at it
You think great you can get it in if you can remove that frost last which Charizard can kind of do well
Well, um, but yeah, Zachary just doing it and doing it well.
It was an incredible win and congratulations to him.
But of course we need to go here from him.
You're standing by with our interview.
Thank you so much, Sierra.
I'm here with your round three winners, Zachary.
We eat our finalists at EUIC
and just beat the person who beat him at EUIC.
So congratulations Zachary.
How's it feel?
It feels really good.
Going into this tournament,
I didn't have a whole lot of prep done.
So I kind of just picked something
that I felt comfortable with and being able to wing it
into beating one of the best players in the world
feels very good.
I was going to say, I've seen you run this mega frost last,
mega scovillain team a lot coming into this tournament.
What made you sort of gravitate towards these two Pokemon
at first?
So I've always really liked frost last
because the teams that is built around
have both ways of dealing damage
and ways of controlling defensively
with Aurora Veil or Burnship.
And I really tend to gravitate towards teams
that don't have like a ton of Pokemon
that are just completely dedicated to one or the other.
And I really just like having a bunch of versatile pieces
that can work in a lot of different situations.
And this team is probably the best in the format
that, because pretty much every Pokemon can be a damage threat in its own right.
Yeah, and I think we saw you use those pieces really to your advantage in that matchup, as
it felt like in Game 2 in particular, you just sent out the two Pokemon that had the
best counters to your opponent's lead. What was going through your mind in that Team Preview?
So I figured that in the first game that King Gamed was a really good piece, because
Because it deters the slow incineroar Toxpex mode and forced them to kind of do a more
offensive angle.
And in the second game I knew once I led King Game at Sneasler that an easy adjustment
for him was Garchomp because it hits both super effectively and can reasonably take
hits and puts me in a position where I don't have a good fake out target.
So I realized that I could pin the Charizard with Lichenrock and then be able to safely
mega frostlass in front of Garchomp Charizard, because I knew that even if he went for his
mega evolution turn 1, that he was ultimately basically risking the game by letting me hit
an Excel rock into his Charizard.
Yeah, and like with rocks, he's pretty good at getting those Excel rocks up and then really
snowballing.
Is that been your experience?
Yeah, it's the, in my opinion, the best counter to Charizard in the format.
because no matter what sort of speed control or pivoting they have,
they, well, you can always line up the Accel Rock, always have a ton of
rock slide pressure and just always have a way to
always have a way to pin it, which is very useful for
two mega evolutions that aren't super great into Charizard.
Well Zachary, thank you so much for your time. Before I let you go I do want
want to ask, you know, I've seen you sort of really come into your own this season.
You know, we saw you have some really great finishes.
Do you have any advice for anybody at home who's looking to find their footing
in competitive Pokemon as we enter the 2027 season?
Just don't be afraid to play.
I mean, every tournament is an experience or it's it gives you valuable
experience regardless of how you do.
And just just play the game and not just don't get too frustrated in it.
I mean, I've been able to keep playing the game for a while
because I haven't put too much pressure on myself to play it.
Not every tournament is going to be some crazy big run,
but I've realized that if I just relax and keep
playing one round at a time, that good things will happen
to those who wait.
Yeah, and I think we've seen you have some incredible wins.
So best of luck in this tournament.
Best of luck throughout the rest of your day.
And of course, do you have any shout-outs
to wanna give to anybody who might be watching at home.
Shout out to my mom for taking me
and all my family at home, all my friends watching
and shout out to Evan, Keon,
and Gianna for getting shiny Pokemon
for my team this weekend.
All right, thank you so much for your time.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you all for watching at home
and for those of you who are hanging out here
in the hall, having a good time, my hope.
We'll be back after a short break,
So please stay tuned.
The best of the best!
The best of the best!
The champion of the Pokemon champion,
The winner of the 2021
is
Fennel!
What's my favorite?
My favorite is the one that's got jet black hair.
He's extremely fast.
She has a 12 octave vocal range.
She can become powerful.
She would improvise on the spot.
She always finds a way to make it funny.
We both have very fast moves.
And can change the world using its mind.
Jigglypuff is my favorite.
Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff.
Every single time you met a new Pokemon,
felt like you were the only one who knew how to play.
I was like, I'm not good at this.
I'm not good at this.
I'm not good at this.
I'm not good at this.
I feel like she's just like me, just like me.
I'm like, I don't want to put a ton of scenes in this.
She has a lot of ways to operate her opponents.
With all these cheerios for her girls who love language.
She uses her voice to protect herself.
She's holy, you know?
Absolutely.
That's what I love it.
My name is E.
My favorite is Cigar.
Alcanalia.
Cigar.
Cigar.
So, we'll put you together.
I'm not sure what to do with this.
I'm just going to just go back and forth.
I'm not sure what to do with this.
I'm just going to go back and forth.
I'm just going to go back and forth.
Welcome back, Pokemon trainers, you're looking at the lovely city of San Francisco and Ray
Quasal Road outside of the convention center here.
We're at the Mosconi Center and of course, if you can't join us in person, you can always
check us out over in Pocopia with that lovely code you saw on the screen just a little
bit ago.
My name is Gabby Snyder.
I'm joined here by Ben Carriaccio and while we're unfortunately stuck here in the real
world you can bet a lovely Poke dollar that I will be logging on to Pocopia later on today
to check out the Cloud Island and hang out with some of my best Poke buddies.
And I'm definitely gonna go and see if I can spend a little bit of time on the Red
Queens at road upstairs.
They've got to kind of walk down to the basement here with all the players.
With all the cool kids.
I'm sorry, I misspoke.
I'm sorry all of the cool kids all of the cool. We are cool kids too. Yes, by the way
I just want to throw that out there
Making any comments here. We're also calling. You know what else is cool
We're here at the Pokemon 2026 World Championships, and we have had some absolute
Bangers of matchups that we've seen already
We've had clean two-ohs all the way through both of our round ones round two and round three
we're gonna have a little bit of a refresher on our players to watch and
how they're getting on in our event so far. For sure. So let's go ahead and take
a look at Paul Chua. We just had him on stream for round three of Swiss two and one
currently just in Tang three and oh and Alex Underhill unfortunately one and
two. Yeah Alex playing against Edu in the Perish Trap round earlier on
stream and that was such a great game. Two and one very very close
scoreline there but you're doing very very well. Paul running into a little
of a match up there, getting his first loss of the tournament, going 2-0 into that last
round, and then Zachary Weed being able to get a little bit of the upper hand with that
frost last mega-spin penalty.
Yeah, just really well-prepared for one of the more common archetypes I think we've
seen so far, at least data-wise, coming into this tournament and running a team that
I think he's very comfortable with.
He mentioned in his interview, not very well-prepared for this tournament, decided
to make a comfort pick, but having seen him use that team in one of the largest New England
grassroots tournaments that happened recently, maybe about a month ago or so now, he plays
that team very well and very strongly into that archetype as you may have could have
told by that previous round.
As you know, he's in a position where he's literally just playing well on the couch
at home.
He's really, really in a strong spot.
Justin, of course, going free over as well in our tournament so far.
haven't got to feature him just yet but maybe a little bit later on we can see how he's getting on
what he's locked in. It's not just NA of course we've got players from all over we've got our EU
players as well so we've got Marco Silva, Mikhail Kelsh and Francesco Pio Perro. Now Francesco I
saw actually did lose his round one. Oh interesting. But he's managed to bounce it back and
yeah no surprises there from a player of his caliber. Exactly I mean we saw him do so well
at the North America International Championships just a couple of months ago playing that incredibly
tough mirror matchup in the finals against Eric Rios and really just showcasing how strong
of a mental fortitude he has as a player and that's exactly what you need to come back from
a round one loss at the World Championships as these losses will carry over into competition
tomorrow and you can't afford to take such an early losses that will hurt your resistances
going into a potential asymmetrical top cut.
Definitely.
And Charlie got to, in the preview show,
we had the world championships.
Have a little chat with Francesco.
He's saying, like, how much he's prepared for this tournament,
how much he's just put the tournament first,
coming into the last couple of months,
getting ready for it since his win at NAIC.
Michael Kelsch is coming off the back of a grassroots
tournament win, one of the biggest
that we had using a mega-gen-guard team that really
nobody had on their radar until like, hey, by the way, I'm winning a tournament with it.
Yeah. And certainly, a player like Mikhail was with such a great grasp of the game and how to
position in a game. Knowing how to calculate these matches, Mega Gengar definitely one of the
strongest counterparts for a player like that. And I really hope we get to see him in that team
later on on the stream in particular because that team has a Mega Gengar without Paris song
and without the Paris trap ability. It's just a trap team. And if you think back to the last time
we had the world championships here in San Francisco when Wolf Click won, that featured a mega
Gengar team without Paris song. And I just think that the storyline there is very interesting.
And admittedly we had many years in between where mega Gengar wasn't really an option available
to people. But let's just ignore that and just say that, you know, it's an interesting
coincidence so far. I think so. Coming back 10 years since San Francisco when it last won the
world championships. Marco of course going 3-0 as well and I feel like looking at Marco's journey
he's been one of the championship point leaders like across the last few years but also it's
well just the only one that he hasn't managed to take down yet and I think there's
a lot of eyes on a player like Marko is like it's not a case of like if he could maybe win the
world championships it's like well which year is it gonna actually happen and a great start
there for Marko hopefully he can manage to keep it going all the way through the tournament
because it only gets harder from him. Exactly and that's one of the interesting things about
Pokemon as a game is that you can be the best player in the world but there is still a lot
of things that have to go right for you to win a tournament like the world championships and
I do think that you're absolutely correct when it's a when is he going to win the world championships like when are those things going to line up perfectly for him so far he's off to a very strong start I know we're going to see him eventually on this stage if he continues to have that momentum going for him we'll just have to see when that will be.
And let's see our players from
LATAM as well that we have
representing. We've seen Juan
Salerno on the stream already
going one and two. Unfortunately
wasn't able to get his win on
stream against Sajom Park around
one part two, but he played so
so well into a matchup that
really did feel like it was an
uphill battle. Alexander and
Max Morales going to one as
record overall getting their tournament going to a good point. I feel like especially coming into
the world championships like if you're not hitting it right off the bat and if you're not getting the
momentum going early, like these these two trainers have managed to get themselves in a position to
do, it's really tough to come back. Juan Solano could still win the world championships. He very
much could and you know I do want to mention real quick that even though some of these trainers
are a little bit unfamiliar to us right now because we don't get the opportunity to see them
outside of international championships and the world championships. We are going to be
broadcasting regional level events throughout Latin America, those special championships
and regional championship tournaments, starting in the 2027 season. So I really look forward to
seeing trainers like Alexander, Juan and Max compete at the regional level coming up next
year. For now though, hopefully we'll get the opportunity to feature some of them today
and tomorrow and who knows maybe even on Sunday let's keep our fingers crossed because you know this
the tournament is only just begun and there's a lot of more Pokemon left to play let's have a look
at Oceania now and see our players how they're getting on now uh Nicholas Khan is a player that
really from from Australia that we we do keep an eye on because he's been so so consistent as
as well as Jodie Keider, who's like the online like King really, like how many like online
tournaments are global global challenges? Has he actually managed to win like most of them?
Many of them, yes, getting up there on the ranked battle ladders and like winning it several
times like it puts you in a good spot. Even if it's close team, she's even if it's best of
one. It's the reps over and over and over again that Joji is not only like really well
versed in, but also is usually using the strongest Pokemon that are out there.
Exactly, and Henry Rich as well, off to a very strong start at two and one, but I don't
want to run out of time then. Let's go ahead and look at our players to watch from Japan
as they have come all the way over to compete after finishing very strongly at the Japan
national championships earlier on in the summer. Unfortunately, Ko Tsukide did not have the
best day. It happens to us all. He is out of the tournament at 0-3. However, Yuma Kinagawa
and Hiroshi Onishi are still competing at 2-1 and 3-0, respectively.
I don't think we can say enough how difficult the World Championship is.
Ko Tsukide was one of the favorites, I think, for a lot of us coming in.
He's going to be one of the favorites for us coming out as well,
Even if this wasn't the world championships of choice for him,
he's going to go back to the drawing board and keep showing us why he's one of the best
trainers in the world, let alone in Japan. Yuma are one of our previous Japan national
champions as well, doing a great start. Hiroshi Akaren, Japan national champion on an absolute
tear as well. Again, getting that momentum started and looking forward to seeing what
these two trainers have in store for us later. Me too, me too. It's always so exciting to
to see just what teams people are bringing,
you know, who's doing what, what Pokemon,
what strategies, how are they thinking, you know?
And it's also just very nice to have that confirmation
that everybody can have a bad day, you know?
I know you and I competed back in the day
and I had my bad days.
I'm sure you had your bad days.
It could happen to anybody.
And what's important is like what Zachary Weed
was just saying to me in that interview,
keep playing, keep trying.
You know, you're gonna have your bad days.
You're gonna have your good days,
You're never going to get to
your good days if you don't get through your bad days.
Exactly that.
I mean, yeah, I've had an LAIC flying over for a long weekend,
a free drop and coming back home.
It's not, it's not feeling great, you know, when you're,
when you're sitting at the plane thinking about what you've done.
But, you know, I hate a lot of the players here.
In fact, all of them, they've shown over the season,
their resilience is competitive.
They've shown that they've got what it takes to be here.
Everyone is deserving.
What happens when you get all of those players that deserve
to be there collected in a room like we've got here and say like hey you know now you've
got to battle up against each other a lot of these trainers like our Japanese players
play in their own separate circuit from the international compositions that we're used to
in North America in Europe in Latin etc and so you know the change of pace coming into
these international tournaments is so so big but also yeah that's the same for all
of our traders right I mean you're used to playing with your friends you're used to playing in your
local you're used to playing in the regionals and it's like hey people do things differently over
here when you get to the international level when everybody is at the top of their game. Exactly and
you only get the opportunity to practice this what like once a year if you're lucky maybe two or
three times if you can travel to those international championships if you get a travel award or
you know maybe you're just lucky that you live close enough to one to go it's very difficult
and if you have the, you know, fortune to go to multiple ones and get those reps in, get that
experience, you know, you could still just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and that's it.
It just happens to everyone. So the wrong side of the bed is always coming. Yeah.
But I am, I will say I did have the opportunity to walk around the hall a little bit earlier
after lunch. You know, I did my traditional lap around trying to look like I was doing something
important so people wouldn't talk to me so I had enough time to actually make the lap and then get
back here. But I did see a lot of smiles in the hall. I did see people having fun, you know,
talking about their matches. I do think that the sense of community, even if you are having a bit
of a rough start, is what brings you back every single time. 100%. I mean, yeah, we first
met in what, the 2012 World Championships in Hawaii, way back in the day. I'm not going to
going to think about that too much longer.
I feel like we've had this conversation, Gary,
it's like the thing that keeps us in the community,
the thing that keeps us coming back,
playing these tournaments, the privilege
of being able to bring these to you as well
is the fact that the community is so much there
for each other.
It's a real collaboration out there.
Exactly.
And you see, you know, you're
talking to people online, your friends,
your people that are working at building teams
together and trying to do as much as they can.
And these international events and especially the world championships is the time where you're like you get to sit on the same
side of the table as those people as well and you're really
Hone in on the thing that you enjoy the most which is being that part of the community
Exactly, and I think you got a chance to talk to Giovanni Costa the current world champion. Yes
earlier and
Our sisky sorry not Costa
Yesterday and he did you mention the building group and talking about building his team at all with him?
Or was that a different interview?
That was a different interview, but we were talking about how he's developed his season
since becoming our world champion.
The short story is try and test it, keep it going.
It worked for me last year, it's going to work for me again.
He was one of the earliest players that we had on Toxapex, he's running Toxapex this
weekend.
Oh, he is?
He is running Toxapex this weekend.
And so, yeah, I think we've talked about it a lot.
Our co-casters have talked about it as well.
This is a format of comfort.
This is a format of wanting to play the thing
that you know the best overall,
and which is exactly how Giovanni was, you know,
running up to the World Championships last year.
I feel like he'd been running the team
that he won the World Championships with in some
iteration the months and months and months before
eventually got the world's is like how the tournament came together how he came
together just like you just have that comfort in knowing like oh okay I'm
playing against this like oh I do this this and this and let's see how it goes
yeah and I feel like when I think about trainers who have that like community
around them I Giovanni Siskie is one of those trainers that I feel like you know
has that building group has that community that's constantly like
trying to innovate constantly trying to lift each other up and it's
interesting and when you think about the past couple of world champions that we've had um in the
I want to call it the switch era let's say sure I feel like they all have that in common and I'm
sure for the 3ds era as well but when trying to come up with things off the cuff as one would say
my memory is not that snappy and I would have to do research to confirm that so I'm gonna limit
myself to what I surely know and hope that I'm right about the other side I think I think
I think you are.
It's definitely, you know, one by tribe in many respects.
Exactly.
And you only have to look at some of our communities and the success of the Japanese community
have been ubiquitous over the years for being able to come together.
I was talking to Shoma yesterday about how the Japanese community came across chalk.
Oh, yes.
Electively decided that that was the best team back when he won the World Championships
in 2015.
And while Shoma's opinion is like, well, the kind of big six variant, our Charizard mega
flowette composition isn't quite the same level that Chalk was back way back in the day.
Yeah, it's close to being that kind of same mentality where players like,
they're gravitating towards those strong rules.
Question. Do you find the fact that Shoma considers the mega Charizard mega flowet
or less powerful than Chalk comforting or concerning?
I think comforting.
OK.
Thoughts off.
That's kind of where I'm at, but I
wanted to do like a vibe check.
It's a bit of a column A column B situation, right?
Because it's nice to be able to think of it as like,
you know, we all have it.
The highest parrots, this is one of the teams
to really watch out for, right?
Because it's so strong, because it's
got such a share of the meta game.
like you know, if you're going to play the world championships
unless you've got this miracle run,
you're going to face up at least against one,
if not a few of them across the Swiss rounds.
So, yeah, nice to think of it as like not completely
the strongest team in the format
and that we have options.
Equally, the implication is that there's like
stronger stuff out there.
That's kind of scary.
Yeah, that's the concerning part for me.
Like, does this imply that they were working
on something that didn't quite make it
that's more powerful or, yeah.
I don't know, I think like, you know,
it's clearly one of the most powerful,
but it's also one of the teams with the target
that is back, so, you know, all of our formats,
I think the important thing to realize and recognize
is that everything is about context.
If you went into, you know, previous part of the game,
it was a surprise when like Gavin Michaels won
an event with Basque Legion, for example.
And now you're looking at it as like,
So, you know, it's definitely shifted its position in the format, depending on the game that we're playing at the point in time.
So I think it's really important to recognize looking at like these strong teams, but also looking at the ways that our players have built around the meta game that we formed.
Yeah, and that's actually why I put it as my caster prediction, because I had a, it was like a 50-50 for me, okay?
You know, the traditional Pokemon 50-50 if you will.
sure it's either gonna hit or it won't in the sense that people are either gonna
over correct for the meta game and assume that people are not gonna bring
it and then the one person who brings that team is just gonna you know just
go all the way to finals because everybody's like no it's everybody's
gonna have a target on its back like I'll bring one counter for it but it'll
be fine or it's gonna just be everywhere and because it's gonna be
everywhere one person is gonna make it far enough in the tournament that
look smart regardless.
Exactly.
So it just felt like one of those things were like if I were playing in the world championships
personally I would run the Mega Blastoise, Mega Delphox team because I think that's fun,
but I do think that it deserves a spot at the table because of those reasons.
Yeah, I think.
Yeah.
It's such a hard call.
I don't envy anyone coming into the world championships and trying to pick what team
that they wanted to lock in but I know a lot of trainers they've been putting
the time in they've been putting the work in and so yeah I think most importantly we are
getting our players ready and set up for the next round. You'll all be happy to hear at
home so why don't we wrap this up Gabby and get over to our casters. Thank you so much
my name is Rosemary Kelly and I'm joined again by Erin Dang and we are about to
bring you Swiss round number four where we will be featuring two more players that
undefeated on their run to make it to phase 2 of the world championships.
They're using a lot of Pokemon that I have not seen on a lot of other teams so far in this tournament recently.
Which is so exciting because we just heard our analysts talking about the most popular archetypes coming into this weekend.
All eyes on Mega Chargers are Y as well as taking a look at some of the more established cores like the Frostless Lycan Rock team without even rain.
Yeah, it's interesting because coming into this tournament, it felt like there was a pretty big pool of teams that were viable and a big question mark is, well, are you going to use that team or are you going to try to counter those teams?
Right? And it feels like the answer for a lot of players was, I am just going to use what I think is one of the best within this pool of 10, right?
And for a lot of players, experience really trumps all.
If you think about last year how Gio was able to win the World Championships, he had been working on that same concept for months.
months. I've been piloting it at regionals and at international as well and so sometimes I think
back in the day people would often try to feel like they need to have the call for worlds. Can
you make a brand new team that completely breaks the meta game? These days it feels like there are
just so many really powerful teams already leading into the championships. It's quite difficult
to create something completely from scratch and really just innovate on the meta game when
there's been already so much that has yet been created. That's why these two teams
Hopefully it will surprise you.
Let's take a look at our notable matchup
setting into Swiss round number four.
We are going to be focusing in on
Tom and Lee versus Chloe Burke.
But that doesn't mean we don't have
other incredible matches that you'll be able to check out
on our future match streams.
Yeah. One thing that's really exciting, honestly,
looking at these players who are three and zero.
I've recognized, obviously, you know,
a lot of players that we get to cover in North America
and Europe, but there are a lot of other regions
that are represented here.
For example, Southeast Asia, right?
and seeing players who, this is their one time
to really get to shine on the main stage, right?
Because they don't really have internationals to compete in.
They maybe have their local national championships.
I think it's really cool to be able to feature our match here,
which is a player from Korea and a player from Australia
that is particularly exciting.
It is so cool, because you're right.
The fact that the qualification method is a little bit
different for Southeast Asia doesn't necessarily
mean we get a chance to see them
at those regional championships.
But I'm hopeful that in the coming years,
We will see more competitors travel outside their home region
in order to compete with some of the other competitors
on our more global stages.
But let's get ready to go for Swiss round number four,
the Chonlin Lee versus Chloe Burke.
This is Korea versus Australia.
An incredible matchup because, yeah,
which Pokemon are you looking at?
There's like eight on this graphic
that I feel like are just super cool
to be able to call out.
I think the first thing when I saw this matchup
was various, I saw Swapper.
And I was like, oh, okay.
So that's interesting, like mega swamper
as a non-range team.
And I was like, oh, it's not mega.
It's actually citrus berry swamper.
And recently we've seen actually
flip turn Dawn swamper becoming a thing,
but this also isn't that this is just a swamper
that's meant to be offensive.
I've got wave prep, I've got earthquake,
I've got ice punch, and I don't need the mega stone.
I want some citrus for nice little recovery.
When you think about just swamper typing
in this meta as well,
I think you have to think a little bit
about toxic X, right?
When we have that stool poison and water typing,
some good defensive profiles, but for Swamper it really is about the offense, thinking about how
super effective ground type damage really functions, especially when you're looking at the team on the
other side, but also just the fact that you have ice punch for things like guard chop or daftle,
there's really a lot of great coverage on this Pokemon. Yeah, absolutely. I think if you take
a look at the team, you know, Whimsecots thereafter, Golden Go maybe Pokemon left,
a little bit more mainstream. The key thing to call out here is the Whimsecot does not
have the protect, right? Wanting to run charm to, of course, self boost the raptor. You've also got
Choyscarf, Hydraegon, and Cyroledge. These are Pokemon that actually did have a pretty big
performance at the North American International Championships, getting top four and top eight,
respectively. But they're still not the most common Pokemon in the format. Choyscarf, Hydraegon,
of course, has a lot of immediate offensive burst power. I actually lucked at the opposing
team with a Metagross and a Raichu. And hey, Choyscarf, Hydraegon can outspeed both
both of those threatened them with super effective damage.
Of course, Sera Ledger's the Pokemon
that really started picking up a usage
with that bulk up to be able to wall post Charizard's.
Although coming into this world's meta game,
Ancient Power feels like it's on almost every Charizard.
And so Sera Ledger no longer the definitive counter
you could use to beat Charizard previously.
Yeah, a couple of different setup options.
You mentioned the bulk up on the Sera Ledger,
you also have Nasty Claw in the Golden Goat.
Even Side Charm for the Wimpy Claw
for when that Star Raptor inevitably mega evolves.
A lot of really great choices here.
I don't know how important it's going to be in this particular matchup of that is one of those Pokemon that has been text on to teams in order to have a better matchup into things like Delphox, since that's been creeping up there.
But it's really cool to see that with that choice garb, it's going to be hitting a really speed tier.
Yeah, exactly. And I think that's a really good point because bold players here have tailwind whimsicom, right?
right and so if your Vulcan is that up tailwind then it kind of just neutralizes the playing field so having a choice card
Pokemon in that Hydragon can be really crucial
But not necessarily the easiest either to use because then you're bringing it out against an opposing whimsicott
And you're not going to be able to do too much damage to the whimsicott the whimsicott can just starting you with a one-hit knockout with
That moon glass as well. This Hydragon actually crucially doesn't have something like a flamethrower a heatwave as well
So even worse into that whimsicott
But being able to get a fast attack off into a Mega Raichu,
why into a Mega Metagross can be a big deal.
Speaking of that Mega Raichu, let's take a little closer look at it.
This is going to feature Zap Cannon and Focus Blast.
One of the cool things about that Raichu is with no guard.
Those are going to become 100% accurate moves.
You don't have to worry about the fact that they might miss.
But you also have that dual Mega within that Metagross.
So if you feel like that's going to be something that ends up being more popular in the bathtub,
you at least have to choose from.
Yeah, absolutely. I think Metagross and Cleaver are two of the Pokemon that really stand out here.
Cleaver is a Pokemon that started seeing a little bit more usage in the mid-season,
but I feel like it's kind of fallen off.
But of course, an excellent pick into opposing teams with Charizard.
And Metagross is a Pokemon that people expected to have a huge impact when it released in the metagame,
but when Charizard is still just everywhere and on 40-plus percent of teams,
it's kind of difficult for it to thrive.
So the idea behind this team is, hey, well, I've got Raichu, I've got Cleaver.
Those are Pokemon that normally really scare away Charizard.
Metagross has really good offensive coverage as well, right?
Being able to hit many things for super effective.
For example, here you've got right shoe Metagross.
I wouldn't even be surprised to see Chloe bring both
because you get fake out into Whimsicott,
then Metagross can follow up, get an iron head,
knock out the opposing Whimsicott.
There's no free graph or protect on the other side.
And so if you can deny tail into the other side,
get your own tail end up,
it'll give you a pretty big edge.
One problem, that's bumper.
Let's get both of those Megas and, you know,
rubbing it's hands together.
and I'll wait to see them on the other side.
I am so excited to see Swamper.
It's funny because we have already seen it in regular form
earlier in this tournament,
but to see it with no mega stone,
potentially thriving in a unique matchup,
and it will be particularly exciting.
So let's see, it's gonna be Wimmscott and Raichu
from Chloe to start off this battle,
and there's the Swamper.
Wow, super stylish though,
with all of the shiny Pokemon on the field,
but it is going to be a seven-eight drop,
not mattering for either of these special attackers for Chloe.
So Swamper here, of course, is exerting a ton of offensive pressure immediately, right?
I think one of the reasons why Camden wants it is because it does really well to right you, right?
You have fast, you just focus, blast it, but being immune to that zap tendon is such a big deal.
So Camden on this first turn, she goes for something like a detech on the scrapper in the first place,
or, you know, double protect the tension switch on afterwards.
Do, of course, have the risk of just taking a lot of damage,
So as a result, Starafter doesn't want to protect itself.
Don't want to be on their seeding end of a fakeout and just an attack like a moonblast.
As that fakeout actually goes into the swamper instead to try to delay it for the one turn.
Moonblast misses the mark there into the protect, also the Starafter.
But you still have your work cut out for you to try to figure out how to take down these two foes.
Yeah, I think Chloe did not mega vault there, so it makes me think,
oh baby, there's a mega meta growth in the back.
We're using the right you're here mainly for fakeout support.
Now Starafter is threatened by that on board, right?
So of course you can swap it out if you're worried about on board.
The big question is how will you deal enough damage to Swamper throughout the course of this game, right?
I think the number one answer is going to be Light Fork, basket legion being able to just get a huge wave crash off.
And so Starafter recognizing the threat off that on board is going to switch into win spot.
There's no way to potentially fall in.
Well it's going to be a switch out on the Ry 2 as well.
So we are going to be that basket legion.
No powered up last respects just yet.
as the win side did try to encorder that Starraptor into the protect.
The Swamper is going to go for the Earthquake. Even Harming, it's always harder when it's
caught on the switch in.
Yeah, breaks the focus ash which can be a big deal and I think virtually here Chloe
has been able to position Vasculation against Swamper right. This is your number one answer
into Swamper. It can take damage easily while right. Earthquake is basically as
strong as a pack you can have into Vasculation, only to 47% from that. So I think Chloe
He's done a pretty good job of dancing around Swamper.
Her priority probably is to knock out Swamper immediately,
then ideally get something like Dermetagross out.
But now Vasiliych is putting on a lot of pressure.
Bowl players can pressure with Kaowyn.
Kamen on his side, of course, also has charms.
You can use charm, as you see here,
to drop Vasiliych's attack.
Suddenly, that wave duck is gonna do way less damage.
Nice when you can use it on the side
for your own Storopter,
but it can still be that defensive option.
Wow, move block.
So close being able to knock out that Wixicott,
but it's a laser just long enough
that it's going to take the wave crash.
It's kind of nice though that you're going to be taking less recoil,
but you would actually really like that to have been a clean KO
onto the Lixar Cod so that their wave crash got redirected into the Swampers.
Yeah, definitely.
Vazgulija at this point actually has lost a considerable amount of HP.
Ice Punch comes out.
And Lixar Cod doesn't have to focus.
That's the very feather, but still hangs on at 1%.
So the charm, of course, making sure that Swampers could get through the turn
Down Vasculation kind of caught in an awkward position where it has, you know, lost a good bit if it's held, it's almost half good to present at this point.
Womper is still just looking so threatening though, right?
And I think people normally see Whimspot as a sharp, you know, user into Seraptor, but using it to drop your opponent's damage output is really crucial as well.
So, Kevin right now definitely has a lot of offense.
The Whimspot going down on this side, Chloe now can set up a tail on Whimspot and guarantees the advantage he's at the latter half of this game.
But as you were saying, with Vasculi didn't have any less HP to leverage, you have to pick your target because you're going to get knocked out to either the Swamper or the Golden Goal on this turn.
So everybody see Chloe preserve that Vasculi for later and actually bring out the King Gambit.
I like this decision when the Swamper is protecting, it's not going to be on the receiving end, on the edge.
Super effective round-tank attack and if it's a Shadow Ball going into that King Gambit slot then it's going to take that much better as well.
well just to make it rain. So that is also going to be something that King Gambit can deal with as when Tuckett's knocked out.
That's a free switch in for Chloe to bring back in that basket. Yeah, I think that's a beautiful term for Chloe, right?
Because now the goal that goes that minus to the sloppers just protect us.
You know, you can target that slot, bring right through or a basket, you can back in.
I think basket we should probably, you know, a little bit more consistent here.
Want to conserve that right you for just around there.
And so there's talking about Metagross potential being in the back,
but I think King Gambit actually even better here
threatening Golden Rose for super effective damage.
And so I think Chloe has navigated this slumper
actually really effectively.
This is not an easy Pokemon for her team to go up against.
In fact, I actually think it's kind of a nightmare matchup,
but has found a good angle.
Now my big question is, how bulky is slumper?
Can it survive a life form,
wave crash from Basqueegis?
Slumper here says, you know what,
maybe we'll find out later.
I'm gonna bring us to Raptor for now.
Yeah, so Raptor gets to come back in
because the Magnavole actually doesn't get
Intimidate drop so it's going to have to take that full power play fresh from the basket Legion gives up a big chunk of his HP
From the recoil of the wave brush as well as the life orb a surreptor
It's going to be a subvert KO on to the start raptor
It's a KO but Bowling now can respond it was not
targeted and this means a shadow bolt to knock out basket Legion and suddenly the number one
to deal with slomper has been eliminated right if that was just a cutout
even a golden go well then thereafter so low right you can finish it off with the
off which either a sucker punch but now Chloe has lost what has been I think the
primary weight condition against slomper so Rosemary even though it felt like
Chloe had put herself in a really good position
we should have it on offense for slomper at this point in the game. I think it's tough right because you wonder if you can see the reason it. Chloe was hoping that maybe playing around with the golden goal protect
You're guaranteed to have it in that slot because if you do get the tail on this Corruptor with just the wave crash
Then you are able to get that move redirected
But now it is going to be a final 2v2
Swap her in Golden Go from Tanya and can Gambit right you for Chloe
Yeah, this Golden Go of course has dropped a special attack
It's not going to do the most amount of damage, but King Gambit crucially also can't use
Upgets damage on the opposing end. There's no sword stance
So I think double protectors always really stays just ensure that you don't take my knee unnecessary damage as you see the takeout plus Kautauk weave
But yeah, once again the swampers like okay, I still have my citrus fairy. I haven't taken any damage
I think conserving the wind conditions really really effectively. It's looking very scary right now
I mean focus less than Kautauk weave will do okay damage
But with citrus fairy swampers gonna feel all the way back up
This break is gonna just do so much damage to the opposing side here
So feel your dirt Chloe you might need some critical hits right now
How beefy can this right you really see it's not no for its expenses, but maybe it can surprise us when it comes to an
Authentic action. We finally see the mega evolution as Chloe has a chance to mega evolve that right you
It is the focus blast. So see just how much it's going to end up doing to the slumber and it actually doesn't even cross the citrus berry
So beefy.
Cow's out.
Leap comes out and it's not a critical hit here.
So that's the risk that we're coming out on Swampert.
It deals it back up.
Shadowball here gives you just a little bit of chip.
Let you pass.
Gonna say a little bit long.
That's minus two still to so much damage.
And now Swampert will be able to retaliate back with an earthquake.
The thing is you are earthquakeing your own Golden Goat here.
Oh, King Gambit does hang on.
Okay.
I mean, it hangs on through that.
And we've seen it be faster than this Swampert.
So maybe, Ken, this can jam it.
We got the jump on it on this next turn.
Tailwind has expired, so the speed order,
we get to see at neutral now.
Yeah, I think that maybe could have been a make it rain, right?
Because the make it rain.
Okay, here's the Cal Cal.
It's still going up first.
It's still going up first.
Oh, it's so close!
3% left for the Swamper to retaliate with the earthquake
and nail up his first game for Tenen.
How exciting is it to see a centric series swamper here on the world stage just clicking earthquake clicking ice punch and
The mega stirrupter didn't do anything in that game, right? It wasn't about the mega pollution
It was about swamper just consistently getting blow after blow after blow
And I think the recognition to say this is my primary condition
I need to switch it out and nailing that fast to Egypt getting to knock out onto it attacking with the Golden Go
I think just completely allowed for this position for swamper
but that was so close at the end, just 3% survival.
Yeah, I mean, Chloe, as you mentioned,
did such a great job of playing around the Swampert
to try to mitigate his damage output
in the first couple of turns,
utilizing very smart defensive switches,
but then I think there were just a couple of turns
right in the middle where you could see the thought process,
hoping that one attack would be enough
to actually get the knockout
and have that second attack get redirected into the partner,
where it didn't happen either time
because this Pokemon survived
as such a sliver of HP on pundit's side.
Yeah, so cool to see. And fun fact, he actually brought Exkidrel to the Korean national championships where he finished in the top four.
And it was also an Exkidrel, not on a sand team. It was Exkidrel with Reign.
So he is really kind of the master of finding unique ground type Pokemon to use in the format.
And I think, yeah, what a game it was for Swamper here on the world stage. Just dishing out so much damage.
I think if you're Chloe, the first thing you're probably thinking is, okay, I probably want to still get a Basque Legion wave pressure to Swamper.
Ever ended up seeing one of those, right?
That is kind of the primary tool.
And then Raiju, this shit just feels really bad
into Swampert, right?
Like Metagross, of course,
also takes super effective damage from it,
but it's a little bit naturally bulkier.
Of course, a lot of people are training Raiju
to be very physically defensive,
but at the end of the day,
it's still just not got the best stats.
So I think if you're Chloe,
you might want to consider bringing Metagross.
Like I said, I think there's a world
where you can bring both
and use Raiju just regularly,
but Metagross would be the adaptation
I would think of
and also walking to get a wave crash
with basket. Well he's going to be a mix-up in the week as Chloe is leading the King Gambit
right next to the Winscott this time around, but for Tom then it's going to be the Golden
Goal and Swamper. So the King Gambit here obviously exhorting offensive pressure into
Golden Goal, got Kowtowsk lead into it, Winscott can't set up a tailwind, still the fundamental
problem of how are we going to deal enough damage to a regular Swamper here, right?
And so Golden Goal could very easily protect. I think the King Gambit lead here would
to punish the Swaraptor lead right and you also can't switch into Swaraptor unless you
want to give over that defying boost and should you do that like the awkward thing I think
is it's quite actually difficult to quit Earthquake if Swaraptor is not on the field right you're
going to physically damage yourself so that's something like Chloe can potentially take advantage
of as well.
It will protect no switches here on turn one.
Good to be oh.
Fast tailwind from this Whimsicott to allow this King Gambit to get the Caltas
move off immediately into the slumpers.
Heals 40% as the Golden Goose fires back with a make it rain.
Going to one hit, knock out this win surprise as the Golden Goose gives up
in bias two special attack drop for its troubles.
But again, it's close in this position where you do all the free switch,
but can this thing even actually hang on to do something on this next turn?
Yeah, you would think it's going to be a wave crash here.
It's still really powerful.
We haven't seen it use it yet in this set.
That's us so much damage still.
Swapper this time just take a happy amount.
I think Chloe's probably hoping for Golden Go to protect there, expecting Golden Go to
not get an attack off there.
So, I'm hoping they're probably, you know, leverage the whips a little bit more.
But once again, you've got Tarot Windup, you've got Vast Religion in.
Things could be worse.
And now this actually looks like a pretty good position.
Yeah.
Vast Religion, King Gambit, post-master, then the opponent.
You get a Vast Religion, now go through wave pressure to Swapper.
Yeah.
You've got the pin on the coutel, claving into the Golden Go.
Exactly.
And so, the response would be, well, let's swap Golden Go out into Starafter.
I give a defiant boost over to King Gambit, but if you're not going to click that sucker
punch I can survive Wavecraft from Swamper and get a Earthwake off potentially.
And so, yeah I think this is a big turn where Chloe gets it long to be really scary.
It's actually going to be the Swamper pivoting out instead into the Hydraigoth.
Oh!
It's going to be an adjustment here.
Yeah, that Hydraigoth comes out.
That's going to have a pretty good matchup into both the King Gambit and the Vasculation.
That's the Wavecraft comes out.
See that actually does us!
Good!
Tron to this Hydraigoth!
Oh my goodness!
Oh my goodness, a critical hit.
I'm going to make things a lot easier now.
86% from a non-resistant attack,
or a resistant attack, I should say,
just does not feel right.
Yeah, once again, like the tailwind is up,
so the offensive pressure, like Vasculation is happy
to just keep clicking its moves right now.
The one question I'd have is how the Hydragon
on the Vasculation or train,
because while Traynwind's up on the opposing side,
sometimes like Vasculation doesn't invest in us either.
Like, I just post our picture,
I don't think I'll outpace it.
So if you're Chloe, you know,
If you know you're faster than you can always just quickly crash on the left side.
Otherwise, you might want to consider putting that awkward jet, awkward jet into high-draged
off, finish it off, how tough we get to Golden Hill, but clearly does have a lot of office
and pressure right now, and it is because Q has managed to set up bail-in, whereas there's
no tail on the opposing side.
I think that you're right.
Like the speed order of the high-draged versus the basket legion is going to be
really important, and if you are worried about that, maybe you end up trying to
make a switch.
This might be one of those situations where I would have considered actually bringing
in the star after if you were worried about the damage output.
But Vast Allegiant is still faster in tailwind.
It's able to get the knockout onto the high dragon
as it can get a bit, gets to follow that up.
We did not see a protect coming through
from that golden ghost though.
It is going to be very vulnerable
to the super effective counter cleave.
A double knockout for Chloe.
Yeah, I think Chloe just getting tail wind up
and saying I'm just gonna use
these really powerful attackers, right?
It hasn't even revealed what mega effluent
I'm just not gonna imagine this, but Swamper has taken a little bit more damage, so it's gonna be Swamper in Cerulej actually, so complete mix-up here.
Yeah, I'm surprised to see no one's got no Starafters, no Mega Evolution, yeah, I mean, that is his thing, would he solo Mega Teams or sometimes, like, you decide, you know what, I don't have another Mega Evolution,
I'll leave Starafter actually, he's, I'm like, y'know, let me be expecting adjustment from the opposing end, they go to Starafic here, but yeah, I think like, Chloe just has the full speed advantage right now.
You see, it's gonna be a double protection just falling out that tail when that basket
Legion on the opposing end is still looking really scary after this though.
Absolutely.
Do you see a good matchup here into the Serra ledge from both the sneak and yam bit and
the basket Legion?
And the fact that you still have an unrevealed Pokemon in the back takes always in a pretty
good spot.
Yeah, definitely.
The Serra ledge now does exert pressure with Shadow sneak into basket Legion.
So the question is, can you get a knockout with that?
Because if not, yeah, here we go.
If not, I think, possibly, you can just get a kill in response.
Yeah, if not enough.
Tanks on like a champ, as it's going
to be able to fire off another wave crash,
might knock itself out for its troubles at serial ledge.
Now, take super effective damage from that.
That's going to bring in one more Pokemon here
for Chloe, as his swapper now has to fend for its life
and for its allies, as it is in a 1v2 final situation.
Cows out please though from the king gambit is going to soften the swampert up to 30%
going to take more recoil now from the wave crash it's about now it's a 1v1
it is a 1v1 yeah but I think regardless either mega right you or mega metagross
should be able to close it out you just need to do 25% of damage here and so
it is gonna be the right you once again so metagross actually knocked off
here but this time around you got the damage you needed on swampert adding
up that damage on turn one means that now a focused boss will finish it off
So I think the main thing here is that's the illusion, plus the gambit just had the person positioning for Chloe in this match.
It's not a great angle for it.
And yeah, got enough damage.
On to the Swamper early in us now, we should of course go to the Game 3.
Yeah, it's going to be a protect.
Justin, give you some time to actually think about what that game 3 might look like.
Because Unmin actually did make a pretty significant adjustment in the Pokemon proc.
Seraledge as well as Hydraigan, both making appearances in the second game.
And do you think about committing to that again as you think about the answer?
Yeah, to me, I feel like the answer is you got to go back to Winsicott with Tailwind, right?
Or you can separate something for your students.
Like, I think if I drive on, it makes sense if you are pairing it with the Tailwind, right?
But then if you just bring it by itself and there's Tailwind on the opposing side,
like, you saw what happened, right?
Like, yes, the wave brush got a critical hit on the Lager and on,
but I think you would have been able to hit Tail anyway, right?
And so, the reality is that it is a Pokemon that is actually very ineffective outside of Tailwind
if your opponent has K1 up on the opposing side.
So I think Swamper is still such a key Pokemon in this matchup,
but I like the idea of going back to what's got in Storaptor,
because even though Storaptor didn't do very much in Game 1,
I think getting the Intimidate alone into Vasculation is a big deal,
because if you think about, well, how do I beat Swamper?
Vasculation is one of those tools,
but if you Intimidate, it suddenly actually becomes a lot less effective.
So I think I'd probably like to see a return to Swamper
plus when I have that Swamper or Storaptor,
And then you can flex between all of them.
I don't know if I really love the Sire Ledge,
but I wouldn't be surprised if it came out as a prediction
to deal with the Metagross on the opposing side,
trying to catch it, and then Metagross
didn't end up coming out, right?
Sire Ledge and the Hydra gone.
Both can threaten Metagross a good bit.
So I think that was maybe the adjustment
that you was expecting to see.
I like the Sire Ledge in theory,
but I think it was underwhelmed by the Shadow Sleep
damage that came out.
The fact that it did almost less than a quarter
to that BasculiGen makes it feel like there just
wasn't enough damage to get out on the board.
That process being like, Serylutch can come in,
and even if your opponent does have skill with,
you've got that priority.
It's actually just helps to clean up some of those pieces.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, I think, so the question is,
you know, what needs do you consider from both players
and I think like Swampert Starafter, which we saw,
is pretty decent, right?
Chloe, Leipzig and Gambit,
try to get a defined boost from it,
and so I think like that's the fear
in Leading Starafter once again.
I also am curious if you're Chloe,
like maybe you think well right she hasn't really been that important in the last game
I would have won the game with Metagross anyway do we potentially see it just
became Rita Metagross calling it out but either way I think yeah it's been a fast
pace set but really fun to get to see some unique Pokemon especially that
Swamper and Cleaver makes it a fierce battle. That is an awesome Pokemon to see hit the field as he called it here and it's going to be back to form here for Chumman with that
star after whips it caught, but Cleaver, how exciting.
Yeah, I don't know if it's in the best position here,
truthfully, it can stone axe, right?
I will say, actually, one thing that's interesting is
you do have to respect the whips it caught
on the opposing side, right?
Fairy feathers and moon-boss,
and the opposition is actually really scary.
I like Kevin's position more here though, honestly,
because like the whips it caught on the opposing side
isn't even focused on, right?
And yeah, the Cleaver being intimidated
just means it can't do very much.
moves that is stone at at scissors faith right like it spades into list or after
try to break through protect same to the limbs cross we're just going through
stone that's like get the stuff off the reality is this turn I don't expect it
to be that much I do wonder how much the pointed stone damage will actually add
up it's already off to a very quick start here as both with the cops are
are going to set tailwind for their respective side,
and then we'll see the moves to follow up.
So Raptor goes right away for the brave bird,
knowing that the damage output from this keyboard
is going to be mitigated.
A one hit knockdown in the Winsicott
is going to be the first KO that this Starrafter takes.
Let's see what this keyboard's damage can look like.
So now, since so many of you have about 50%
to this Winsicott, so it's good damage.
You do get a chance to set up the stealth rocks.
Yeah, but now the question is,
where do you go from here, right?
because the Cleaver is kind of stuck on the field.
I think both players kind of felt forced to tail in,
and Kevin really doesn't want the opposing Whip to come too.
And we see Metagross here, okay?
So that actually I think is a pretty good response.
At the point I wanted to make though
is that like you never want to eat a Moon Blast
from the opposing side,
so you feel forced to go for tail in for a bird, right?
Well, you also tail in, but yeah, the Cleaver once again,
I think because of that Intimidate
just caught in a little bit of a tricky position.
And so next we'll still do decent damage here,
but Metagross at least does exert
bottom offensive pressure into both Pokemon. However, you are staring down the charm once again from
Winston Todd. One thing you could do by the way is you could charm Dettagirl, like saying. Yeah,
I know you've got Mirrored, but you have to mega-vaul. If you get that off, that would be really
tough for the bathroom. It would, so let's see what happens. Just by the faint here from
the cleaver to ensure that the Star Raptor can't actually go for a projectile nister,
it's a side charm. It wants to boost up the offensive power of this Star Raptor.
Oh, it's so hard!
This time Raptor goes down before he can get off another attack!
And that is why the Shades has been able to potentially turn that Metagross would be a big, big deal.
But, yeah, these Pokemon speeds are obviously very, very, very close to each other.
And so Metagross being able to move first is a huge deal there.
Gets the knockout.
And that's just a complete swing of events, right?
Because this Raptor was looking to try to just get an immediate one-hit knockout there.
Instead, Wimmscourne doesn't get to accomplish anything.
It's going to be a Hydraigon though,
which of course does exert good offensive pressure here into the Metagross,
but I'm sure Darkwills will get in one hit and knockout.
Like, I think we need to get a double open to it if Metagross protects.
If Lever can now access her into a Hydraigon, like,
Lever with that faint, yeah, making Shirley get that attack off,
also getting that self-rockout that's early damage to Wimmscourne.
It's actually done a lot better than I expected it to coming into this one.
Yeah, and maybe in a second, Stoneaxe would actually finish off the Wimmscourne.
So you don't even have to go after this Hydraigon
If you are worried maybe you could even go for a double protect here just to scout out with the hydragons
Gonna lock into with that twist arc
But we do end up seeing an encore into the opposing plebora
So it is going to have to go for things
Just stacks up a little bit more damage into the hydragon not being able to put any more damage out on the board
It's a dark bolt. Oh my goodness, Metagross! It hangs on with just 3% remaining!
Look at the Metagross actually break through it, it does!
Ironhatch to finish off the whips and cocktails not get flinched this time. No flinch and you don't imagine that the meta girls from straffler
Or we're ski tied there earlier since the rafters did move first
They see a very different game
But once again, it is still this endgame swathler that we've been talking about right? It is quite bulky
We were does have its focus after that because right on here of course may as well lock into dark balls
It's pretty good moves to have you probably want to clear it before the basket region
Which is to do anything in the back takes the field but it's been a really really tense game
but I honestly think I prefer Bowie's position right now.
I just wonder what's going to happen to the tailwinds
all are going to expire in a bit.
And that's the way to get the advantage over
to the high-fragments later.
As the Dark Holes comes back out,
the Smedigorff has to sacrifice itself
in order for the Clueboard to come back in
and change up its move down to the Oncourse.
That's where it was really scary.
I think it was Dark Holes
into the Vasco Legion switch
and you might just throw away kind of the big answer
into the Swaport, right?
But I think, Bowie's saying you really need
to respect the Metagross. It does manage to get Vasculigian in, and when now he is going
to expire on both ends as well.
Cleaver is able to come back in, and with Cleaver, I think what you can do is protect Vasculigian
X's or into the Hydraegon, and boy, he might just have gone in here. The main thing here
in response is Hydraegon could go for Dark Souls into Cleaver, expecting Vasculigian
to protect. If you get a flinch, well then Swamper could just follow up, get an
off-down, and Vasculigian over as well. So big turn here for both players. Do you
predicts the protect from Vasu Legion and it's so right you target the Fleever and doesn't get a flinch.
Oh so tense. In a game three situation with an undefeated record on the line heading into the second
half of day one of the world championships it's all going to come down to this bad
the Legion protecting so can the Sleever actually get it off?
It ends up going to the dark post in that direction and Sleever makes a CF hitter off.
Higriakin goes down for the count and now the Slamper has to win at the 1v2.
And if the Slamper is going to knock out the Sleever, well that just boosts last
respect to damage output as well so Earthflake coming out makes the current call but no
No glitch coming out, we were faced,
but honestly it was incredible in this game.
I thought when I came out on the lead
that it wouldn't be able to do very much,
but being able to knock out that,
I drank on such a big deal.
Vascular Legion now a light form,
it's got three stacks, we see that last respect.
Here we go, into Swampert.
Can it clutch it out here, it can knock!
Wow, another from K.O.
And Chloe Burke with game number three
to be four zero on day one.
That was so high for this very,
when we saw the teams and the matchups
I was like, they've got a lot of cool Pokemon.
I don't know if we're gonna get to see all of them.
We got to see all of them.
Everything's on one.
Clearly.
Wow, eyes for feasting today.
That is for sure a phenomenal three game step
between two incredible trainers.
What a match.
And I think the key term was truly just
Metagross the Rapper in that interaction.
I think the Rapper goes first and knocks out Metagross.
The main thing I was actually curious about was
whether or not like, I didn't expect the plus two
close combat to actually be able to knock out the Metagross anyway.
And so if Chloe gets the knockout on strapper,
I think it's actually still a pretty positive turn for her.
And the other thing I was curious about was, yeah,
we had seen the charm into Metagross, right,
to potentially get around this.
That could have been really interesting as well.
But either way, the Swamper, I think, if you're Chloe
and you're staring down this team in T3,
first of all, this is not a standard team at all, right?
It's got a lot of unique pieces.
It's really hard to figure out how in the world
do I beat the Swamper, but manage to pick up
the puzzle pieces and put it all together.
And this, I mean, the final turn is so tense, right?
Like, Kevin gets the right call, targets the believer,
has that chance to flinch, but does not get it.
And that X is there being able to just one shot
the high string on, so well done.
Yeah, and then the last respects,
whoo, one final side art there too,
that swamper in Chloe Burke ends up
with that four zero record.
It's just so cool to be able to be at the World Cup,
you just see the fast trainers bringing
the most cool Pokemon and duking it out. Absolutely. Yeah, I think, you know, at the
World Championships, there's always obviously so many incredible players that we've seen
prove themselves on the biggest stage consistently, whether it be at Regionals or International
Worlds. This last game with feature two players right from regions that we don't get to
cover as much, they both finished in top four of major tournaments there, whether
it be the Korean National Championships, or for Chloe, you know, one of the Regionals
over in Oceania. And here they are right duking out at 3-0 really. This is like
their first chance to really prove themselves to the world and that was a
really fun set to watch. I couldn't have asked for it anymore.
The fact let's swagger put a masterclass of that game one and hangs on just with a sliver right in in game three.
It being spilt so tense.
I was not expecting Cleaver at all, but I think it made a lot of sense because I think Chloe recognized.
Look, Vasculation is really good.
What are you going to use to beat Vasculation?
Well, it's probably going to be the Hydragon as well as the Storaptor.
So I need to take care of those and how do I beat those?
medical medigress for
stirrupter and then I of course,
yeah, just all came together
and then we were of course
for the hydragon and I just,
yeah, I think that this is
what the best of three
Pokemon is all about and the,
you know, the, the,
the number of adjustments
we saw in both ends was just so fun.
An amazing set for sure.
And also one where you can kind of
see the nerves playing on the
stage and for such a big crowd,
I felt like there was so much
emotion for both of them in this
moment. The pressure must have
been really intense.
absolutely. Yeah. And so I need to hear more about Chloe and the team and just that set.
So let's go through it down to the floor for an interview.
Thank you so much. I'm here with Chloe after a fantastic win. You're currently undefeated
at the World Championships. How do you feel?
Pretty good. Yeah.
Anything else just pretty good? Like were you nervous for this event? Just excited?
I mean, it's okay. I mean,
for someone with nonstop
anxiety, you certainly played a
wonderful match. Talk me about
that match because for yourself,
you're going up against a really,
really strong team and also lose
the first one in this set. So
then what's going through your
mind to be able to rally back
to take the set when I thought
that my Pokemon choices in game
one were pretty good. And I
just kind of need to adjust my
to adjust my game plan. I didn't respect this one but enough in game one. But I kind of
figured it out and then I made a call that he wouldn't bring Goldango game three. So
I didn't bring my game game at all and it ended up paying off, fortunately.
And now I want to talk about your team because you have one of, one of if not possibly the
craziest team in the tournament. But it was just cool, you know, everything else
for the cleaver. Why cleaver? Um, most of the field is charizards. Cleaver sets rocks.
Um, the main idea of the team is that I set rocks for Metagross to be able to KO both
charizards and flowette regardless of what the main team in the format brings. Um, and
yeah, it just has a lot of good matchups into very common teams. So it's worked
out pretty well. I feel like when I hear you talk about there's so many charizards
around the other direction people have gone with has been the light can rock right is there
a reason why you've particularly straight away from that team or you just thought this
had a better match of spread across the board. I feel more comfortable piloting like tailwind
offense generally. And I wanted to make meta gross work because it seems like a good one
but the meta doesn't really favor it a lot. So yeah I don't know I the ability
from the crowd. It's a
really cool thing to see for
mitigation to care. Chara's
consistently. Is just it makes
it so much better, sir. That's
why I chose clear where I'm
like, no, and it certainly has
a lot more style. Let me say
it is so cool. Now tell me a
little bit about yourself, too,
because of course, now you
have the opportunity to compete
on the stage. You're
undefeated and we heard the
cheers from the from the
crowd. So tell me a little
bit more about yourself. I've
been playing BGC for a few
I did pretty well in the Australian, the Oshanya circuit this year and I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know. I like offensive teams. I play offensive teams. I really don't know what to say.
No, that makes sense. We'll take one more step this way as I want to make sure you're a center stage here.
If you have an opportunity to thank anyone or just any final words when you're on this stage.
All right. Thank you to my girlfriend for always supporting me.
Thank you to all the Oceania community for like always
giving me a challenge and making me a better player.
Thank you to the Sydney local scene.
It's really good, really great players, really nice people, especially
a Pokeford great community would recommend going
to those locals if you're in Sydney.
I love that. Congratulations yet again on this win. Best of luck.
I hope you can take leave her to the top. This is just absolutely incredible as for us. Of course, we need to hear more about this team and everything else. So let's hand over to our analysts.
Thank you so much, Sierra. What a crazy match. I had to steal our rosemary there after that match concluded because you look like I was having just as much fun as Chloe was there going for over here at the World Championships.
That game 3 still, I mean, the Swap or Metagross speed interaction, like, or sorry, the Metagross
Starafter speed interaction, I was like, that's one thing that's so interesting about these
Pokemon because it feels like with Starafter you basically have to go max speed, but sometimes,
especially on a roost stat, like maybe you don't, but then the Metagross, I was like,
I don't know who's gonna move first here, and then, yeah, Metagross just completely
annihilates the Starafter, and I do think that's one of the cool things about it
is a pick in this meta game, right, is you do thread in the Starafter for Super
perfected him and maybe even want to get knocked out if you don't get intimidated and you get to move first.
Yeah, 100% Rose pick a favorite point in the match because that seemed to be like all the way through it was delivering
not just the Seraptum-Ettagross interaction right there. The moment we see Cleveland coming here,
James Wadden too as well, the Serrelates coming out, like you can see everything.
We had so much, I literally cannot boil it down to a single thing that I enjoyed about that match.
I enjoyed all of it, every single thing.
So diplomatic, Rose.
Thank you.
We'll get you in a little later.
Well, we'll give you a trick crusty later in this.
And yeah, I think this is just showing as well.
Like it isn't just the Charizard flow at compositions
that are making it like really deep in this tournament.
There is so much room still in M.B.
So like we'll have some a little bit different
and like take the meta game in a completely different direction.
There is still a little spicy out there.
I if you told me that we would be casting a game
where like Swampert, regular Swampert.
regular. Yeah. Yeah. No, I drag on Sarah ledge. Right. All would be like the use and actually come out of
the battle. I'd be like, there's just no way like statistically that makes absolutely no sense. But here
we are. And that's what makes Pokemon really special because I do think for the most part this
tournament, a lot of the most well known players, it just picked one of the most popular teams
and you know, figured out, Hey, I'm just going to master it. I'm going to be really good at
it. And so it is such a treat to see it at, you know, three and zero here at the biggest
stage at the Capitol. So cool. I feel like as well like there's been a little bit of you know discourse
in the community we've had JB Boy on Twitter calling out like Metagross is the play a few days ago
and and like yeah I'm guilty of this as well like people sitting there being like is it though
Jamie? Are you sure? Are we really living in a world where Megametagross in the Charizard
that is going to be able to
take it all like I'm not sure,
but maybe hey, Chloe showed us
that it might be possible.
As you know, else is possible
is we've got a feature match
lined up.
And it's going to be an absolute
cracker.
So we've got Justin Tang
versus Nikolai Hoynilson.
And yes, that is a camera up
you're seeing on your screen
right now.
A camera up and a mega
kangaroo scot.
I really hope that we get a
chance to see some trick room
action and see that camera up
going nuts.
I think it's actually
regular kangaroo scot.
I think it's actually regular tango skull, which is even crazier. Oh
Yeah, it is life for life. Oh, yeah. Wow
Really crazy that the main thing if you look at that team though is that there's no water resistance, right?
So just as I say, hey, I have swamper. I can water
Yeah, they're not no giving out here immediately
It's a cool mega team and they're not going to interrupt actually and it blocks the fake out here immediately
last one is also just not mega fall so much going on here just to start off the game getting the water start off but honestly
there's not a lot of damage but it's pretty good I feel like you know when you
feel like when you're making a team with no water resist water start looks very good until the Silvia on works out
Silvia is absolutely ready for business here I believe is kicking off that KO
Wait I wasn't ready
would be here and we're like, let's just give Sylveon a highlight.
Like for him to believe.
Oh my gosh, that was wild.
OK, so now I know why the mega blast oise didn't happen.
It's because there's a Delphox in the back.
Yeah, I mean, you know, it makes sense as well.
We saw this the other way around in an earlier round on the stream,
right, it's like Delphox wasn't the mega of choice.
Instead, blast oise was, and now we're flipping things round.
We're just in just playing this slightly different way.
Now that the Sylveon has to take a turn recharging,
So, you know, great job knocking out the blast tooth,
but now you're vulnerable to taking another attack.
That's true, but Sylveon is one of those Pokemon
that I feel like just has surprising special defense bulk.
So the fact that I was able to hold on
through that water spout,
even the Delphox on the other side,
doesn't really scare me too much,
but this Delphox does get that nasty popper free.
So maybe I take back what I just said.
Yeah, I think with this team,
you always want to get that nasty pop off.
And instead of going for party shot,
it makes sense as well,
because I think you really want to make sure
that you can bring it back out for Aerodactyl.
I think what's scary right now, if you're Justin,
is you don't know which direction
this game is gonna go down.
Is there gonna be trick room set up,
or is there actually gonna be a tail
with an Aerodactyl in the back?
Sylveon recharges here,
and it's not going to be the trick room,
because I think recognizing, hey,
if I just get Aerodactyl,
I can actually mega vault this Pokemon,
and just start clicking Rock Slide.
Yeah, so I think this is the really important part
of the way that Nikolai has built the team.
Yeah.
It's like, it's floors and ceilings.
You can go right down as slow as make a camera up
and start attacking that way, but if you see the opportunity,
especially against a Pokemon like Mega Delphox,
but you really don't want to be hitting with your camera
instead, you want to be hitting with that Mega Aridactyl,
you get that ability to set that up too.
Very cool.
I totally agree.
I think that's such a unique call-out in that it,
when you see his team,
I think if you like remove the Aridactyl,
you're like, well, it's clearly a hard trick routine,
right?
Like everything else is super cool,
but the Aridactyl alone actually just induces,
just a completely different play style.
like, are they slow?
Right, yeah, exactly.
You can definitely play, like,
in this, like, middling speed
tip.
You have got the top and the
bottom, but, actually, the
stuff in the middle can be a
little bit squidgy and, like,
middling speed tip.
I like when we call these types
of teams a tailroom, because
they have both the tailwind
and the trick room, and it
is just really cool to be able
to see that.
Oh, my goodness!
Survival!
You know, with a nasty
plot on the deltas, it's
like, you know, it's like,
it's like, you know,
it's like, you know,
it's like, you know,
it's like, you know,
it's like, you know,
the game. You're gonna be
nervous. I'm gonna be like,
you know, with the nasty plot
on the Del Fox Rose, you have
like you've come into the
perfect match. This is this is
exactly right for you. 1%
Sylvia on survival. Just like
a shot hyper voice. Oh, my
goodness. Okay This is it.
Well, championship for Rose.
This is this match. Yeah
Absolutely peak, but there's
still a trick room going up
Del Fox is racking up a lot of damage and even though it's taken a lot of damage
there is sort of this weird option where you know Justin takes a couple of KO's
and then sets up the trick room against the Mega Aridactyl. There's a way world
in which like Justin can actually use that middling speed tier that he's got
but also like well Del Fox is in the middling speed tier but it
compared to Mega Aridactyl it kind of is. I do wonder if this would be the
turn that Justin would consider setting up trick room knowing that that
the back. If you are confident
that maybe something else is in the back there,
like a like your kangaroo is
probably slower than you.
We do see the incident where it come in and it's
not going to be the trick room set up here.
Yeah, it's so awkward. I think for this turn is
that Justin wants to get the healing with
signature, but now by putting in center on
the field, well, then aerodactyl could come
out next turn doesn't get intimidated.
However, crucially, there is no
protect on the aerodactyl, right? Part of
these teams is that you rely on Phyrograph
to block those fake outs. And so while you
Now, Nikolai, if he brings out Aerodactyl, that's just vulnerable to Fakeout plus an attack, right?
So, I'd actually want to go into your Ford Pokemon here, so Justin,
capitalizing off the fact, like, I think if Aerodactyl, yeah, hat protect, then the Fakeout is a lot less threatening.
Aerodactyl can come in just for spamming Rockside, right? Even with it, Intimidate, the
Delphox actually will likely still go down to a Rockside, even with Healing as well.
But the thing is, you need to weed the, find the position for Aerodactyl, because if it gets Intimidated,
or if tricker is up and you have Incin plus Sinisterial, suddenly Macha-Gacha spam makes
it so hard for the air deck.
And it's sort of telegraphing, maybe like maybe the King Gambit is the final Pokemon in the
back for Nikolai and like you also kind of want to get your Incin into a position where
it's on the field and not intimidating the King Gambit, not making it a threat to
the Sinisteria that Justin, we know has in the back and can use to start healing
up that Delphox and getting it like redirecting sucker punches away so that the Delphox
can carry on just dishing out
these big powerful heat waves.
I think it's tough though too,
when you mention the King Gambit,
there's no protect on that either.
So you have two different options there
in the Aerodactyl or the King Gambit.
You can't bring it either
and expect them to not get faked out.
We do see the mega evolution
committed onto the Aerodactyl,
but do we see the fakeout?
Yeah, is it just a double up, right?
With fakeout plus the psychic from the Delphox,
fakeout does come out here.
So I think that, you know,
that much was pretty obvious.
Aerodactyl flinch,
this is a really big interaction.
It is just going to be psychic here.
So if there was King Gambit in the back,
that would have been a free switch in.
And that, you know,
Eric Acton looked like it was a win condition.
That's why I was saying it feels kind of
off-world to position it out right now.
But Sylveon still gets a hyper voice off.
Oh my gosh!
Oh, I was literally, I was literally killing up.
Sylveon is now the win condition.
And then it just, just misses the KO.
Oh wow.
I mean, it's doing,
it's absolutely doing its job.
Like, keeping the pressure down onto
just inside of the field.
like especially like I'm just gonna check if that if that's Sylveon has access to quick attack right because
it does have access to it because now that delt box even like it forces just into have to think about
bringing in the sinister otherwise the quick attack starts going crazy that feels really bad though
it's a loose mega aerodactyl and getting nothing off with it because it kind of just cleaned up this
entire ending right and but like we the nuance here is because neither team gambit or aerodactyl
had the protect like you pulled out Rose well you have to switch in one and I think
Nikolai there might have been trying to go for a call thinking all the fake outs
like it is so obvious I'm going to switch in King Gambe you're gonna heat
wave instead if you heat wave well then that's probably winning for me but the
arid act oh yeah this goes to show why fake out is such a good move and
frigraf normally allows these teams to say well you can drop your protect
because I'll protect you from fakeouts but when a photograph goes down suddenly
the fake up becomes that much stronger and yeah now with no arid act all
it is still really scary.
Renesie, Sylveon protect itself from you.
That's going to be a sucker punch.
So, K'Amba is successful at securing another knockout.
And now this is kind of awkward, right?
Is it? Because Justin has, instead of our sinister shot,
as the final few, is there actually Renesie and Sylveon?
Okay, so this is a big deal.
Like Sylveon still staying on the field
is quite a big deal for this end game.
We know that it has a hyper beam at its disposal.
like you could make a read like knowing that hyper voice is so strong right hey i need to knock out this incineroar as quickly as possible if you're nickel i like
This could be the opportunity to get that hyper beam and it also obviously depends as well on the training between the sylphion and the incineroar
They're both capable of out speeding the other one. We haven't seen that interaction yet
And so this this endgame like it just got really really dicey with no flab that's going down into the king down
getting that last like little bit of damage that maybe a match of gotcha could
clean up at an endgame. Yeah and just what was the opportunity to go like protect
Dalfox switch Imzin into Sinistra and then just rage about her heatwave but
maybe fearing like that's such an easy call out that you'll double win to that
slot. Just gonna be third chop here so instead of her moves first, Sylveon
doesn't get a hyper voice or hyper beam off here. Speed and
reaction playing a really big deal. I think Ben. But King Epic gets the low kick.
It's not bad damage. It's good damage. It's good damage. Not too good, Chef.
I was gonna say kind of just go back though than a couple of turns prior
because you both bring up excellent points about some changes that either
player could have made. But in that situation I wonder, well, instead of
actually the hospitality lane from the Citistra brought that instead of
out of Kale range from the low kick. So was there an opportunity there
there instead to quick attack the Delphox for that 1% and then go low kick into the Incineroar instead.
But then also like there's a question of how this Incineroar is trained. Does it knock out the King Gambit and it does like get close, but does it like get there.
Does it manage to knock itself out? Out from Recoil, that's right.
Yeah, that's a really big attack. Getting the KO there, that's going to take game one for Justin.
the game. I mean, it's a
lot of things that we're
going to be able to get in,
but such a close set all the
way through so many reads, and
you talked about it, obviously
all the way through the match
like reads on top of reads on
top of reads, right? Yeah, and
I feel like the big picture
here was mega aerodactyl not
getting an attack off because
once that blast was taking
care of it felt like
aerodactyl kind of just
sweeps. We're going right
into game two and regular
Kangas gone makes an
appearance here with that
frigorap. Of course, for
graph blocks that fake out.
approach though, you're gonna have to knock out Blastways really quickly because Blastways is a nightmare for Mega Cameraman to deal with.
Yeah, and also there's this especially like how is Nikolai gonna use this Tango
scum to be able to try to put some pressure down like Incineroar was one of
the last problem Pokemon in game one right or Nikolai now like this
hammer arm that's on the life of Tango scum setting up the trick room
and then maybe getting itself into a place where it can attack first but
also put that big, big damage down onto the Incinerator.
Wow.
25% to Blastoise with big out in life form.
Oh my goodness.
I really like a lot of the points you were talking about there,
because I think that one key thing is normally Incinerator
on this team doesn't seem like a huge offensive threat,
but it carried in that end game of game one, right?
And a big reason is because of the interactions.
And so I think realizing that, saying, look,
it is still a pretty good tool.
Let me switch it out.
At the Sinistra, what I love about this Blastway's Delphox team is just the ability to flex either Mega Blush or so cool to see a lot.
My expectation is that there is still a Delphox in the back here, but it's kind of scary right now, right?
You've got the Attack Drop onto the King, it's gone. Sinistra can just go for a Rage Power, and even though Blastway's at minus 1,
the damage that you do for me is still non-tribial. Sinistra, of course, could even potentially reverse trick from if he wanted.
One crazy play, I was like, what if you Shell Smash and reverse trick for him?
I was just looking at that, but I'm sorry, I stole your thunder back.
You've got you've got the sinister there. You're a trick room. You shall snag
Yeah, all the attack away mega blast toys are not like
You know what I both would have clicked it there
100% right there
So cool cuz like it forces Nikolai to start going on the offensive and play play this sort of like aggressive trick
Oh, no
On the Kangas car, okay, we would have lost cuz they doubled up in the last way, so you would have taken too much
Yeah, yeah, especially with the bird actually
Yes, that's true
Because the awkward thing you know with these teams is you normally want to get your heavy damage dealer in right and that heavy damage
You know, it's gonna be camera
They also could be sober under King Gambit, but when you set up trick room and you don't have that much damage
You're wasting your own trick room turns. Zinisha now just content to go for a rage bar there, but
Come on do the shell smash. You got this
I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I'm excited. Okay, so damage good damage good damage double head scruffy
Of course bypassed. Oh my gosh, but then absolutely nothing after the burn and the knife will ticking away the burn as well
the next turn, right? Yeah,
but I mean, it's in a good
only two years of trick room.
It's you go rage powder
waterspout protect last ways
on the last one of trick room,
and then you probably even
just mega ball. But that's a
good point. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, really like the show.
And actually, like, I think
there's worth calling out
there is like the patience
to not go for it straight
away. Yes, you see that.
You see that. You see that
right there. Yeah, I think
that's a good point. Yeah,
I think that's a good point.
Yeah, I think that's a good
point. Yeah, I think that's
you see that you see that line,
but you don't necessarily want to risk it
and getting the match about match got you out,
giving yourself the opportunity to one,
do a little bit of damage,
but maybe get the burn slow down the pace of the game
and then sort of commit to it when you know
that Nikolai isn't going to be able to ever
is really influential in the way
that Justin is playing this.
All right, well, the rage powder is going to redirect
away at the side gig and it's going to be the double edge
to finish off the tennis job.
But let's see, Blastoise, what you got?
Come on, show us that big water spout.
Here we go, yeah, what Leo is thinking is
if you ever intentionally don't knock out Kink,
it's gone to deny a free switch in,
just KO for a graph and say now you're stuck in the field,
but it is just going to be water spout
coming out from regular Blastoise here.
Actually it doesn't knock out for a graph,
but kind of accomplishes the same thing,
not giving a free switch in, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
And like, again, there is, I mean,
we're telegraphing over and over again
that Del Fox is the mega of choice in the back, right?
And your point earlier, I was like,
there's no water resist on this team.
You don't have to overextend to try
to do that extra bit of water damage.
You can just carry on putting a little bit more pressure on.
And then now, if we double protect,
if Justin double techs out of Trick Room and Nikolai
isn't able to put themselves in a stronger position, maybe
bring the, not even sure, bring the Yeridactyl,
puts you in a strong enough position
to be able to have a good time.
Maybe the soccer punch on the Blastoise, non-Mega,
could take the water spout.
Out of range, you're being able to knock out the Mega Aridactyl,
but you've got to get on the front third of your Nicolai
and get that position set up while there's this last turn,
a trick room, this defensive incentive for Justin
to just not attack this turn.
Totally agreed.
Yeah, and I was going to say, this game actually
doesn't feel over because of the King Gambit.
The soccer punch from it is actually so immensely
spreading to vote Delphox and Blastoise.
You can see this is really cool to fact that Justin's like I can mega either Pokemon right now
You still don't know which one I am going to pick is a big deal
And so sure could make spires now, but this is I think the really really interesting turn
It's tough though because you know
There is just two very powerful spread team which option yeah on this team if you do sucker punch the delt box
But if you sucker punch the blast ways and so goes for water spot anyway
and then Del Fox can hit you with a heat wave.
Exactly, yeah.
And the question I have here is like,
how the Del Fox and King Gammon are trained,
because I think like,
you can train Del Fox to survive Sucker Punch,
and then you can also,
I would expect King Gammon to actually survive Heat Wave,
especially because often on these teams,
the Del Foxes don't have that much offense,
but it is gonna be Del Fox.
I think heat wave water spell here works, right?
Let's see.
Yeah, it's like,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
With the help of your hand, yeah, hold on.
Okay, okay.
How could he have Sucker Punch?
Hold the phone, this is,
I mean, even knockout would be really, really great
in this game.
Oh, there's the waterspout do enough to take that King gambit into any way range.
They might close the crash.
Oh, big critical hit on figure out actually going to help out a little bit here.
But he went does double connect onto both Pokemon.
Wow, the last like a real good in this game.
This was a really cool game.
Like I have played a lot of Blastway.
So Fox, I've seen a lot of Blastway.
So Fox, I haven't seen a setup like this before.
And I think the like you need such a good point about like the
He's just hold on to it, right? Because he saw the line but didn't go for it
Exactly what we were talking about. Cameraman is hit the field. Hold on. Not over, he's hit!
I mean it's gonna be hard for this powerup to be able to get through this even a water spout is now single target
Yeah, I think water spout psychic might just do enough to be even if not like you could protect Elfox water spout
If Cameraman knocks out Blastoise, it's what, instant order. And this is the opportunity to put another shell smash just to start spanking
I see. Wait, hold on, hold on.
You might be cooking with that, actually.
You're right.
Make the protect that.
OK, it's actually just dark.
I wanted to see the water spack.
Ah!
Give us the 11% water spack.
Right here in San Francisco, we've been screaming it.
Oh, this is it!
Hang it up.
Hang it up.
It's all up.
I think that's a while.
Yeah, be right though.
The heat went there.
I was really hoping that maybe, I don't know,
I would want to see, like, Agent Power's going to do it.
But yeah.
Just, just enough the opportunity
to show us the strongest 11 percent water spout of our life.
100% like, you know, we're running the numbers in our heads, but our heads are pretty good.
So I think that water spout probably would have done more damage than the, uh, dark.
Oh, I was thinking like at least 50%. Yeah.
Camera Ops is like, I mean, make a camera Ops gets a bit bulkier, you know, we'll give it its due,
but yeah, really well played there by, by both players. I mean, Justin really,
showing us a different way as you said for like the two pilot this Delvox
Blastoise team the way that you can bring both legors to the game and turns
out water spout is a really powerful move yeah sometimes that's just enough and
I think Nicolai did a really good job of trying to control the pressure like
that he had onto just inside of the field but you know it's calls like that
sucker punch it's calls like the aerodactyl staying in where maybe it
could have been a switch out to take a sidekick and at the world championships when you're
playing up against these these trainers that are so good like these calls are tough to make
and sometimes you get them right sometimes you get them wrong.
It just it was so cool and I think it lies probably not feeling great from that game
one specifically because I think it was like it felt like every mega aerodactyl could
come in and just clean up and have to find the right position for it and the call
for Justin to say you know what I'm gonna go for the obvious fake out sidekick you
to show me that you're going to play around it doesn't airdacro just faints i think so ready to
just click rock slide and rock slide and rock slide but that game too just really really clinical
and i am sad that mega camera makes an appearance and it basically just fades immediately obviously
the team has put in a lot of work it had it was going to be slow one turn that's right that's
right that's right let's not let your camera well traders what a brilliant match that we had
last round on the desk what a brilliant feature match that we've had now let's get our next
ready to go to Costas, take it away.
Yeah, Aaron, let's be real here.
Camera up survived a full turn before being knocked out there at the end there.
So mega camera up two turns of the World Championships here in that game.
So we are getting ready now for round five of our Swiss Tournament here at San Francisco and Scott.
We have had such an amazing day of Pokemon already, but now we're getting into crunch time.
This is where people's like careers are made or broken as they start qualifying for day two and then opportunities to qualify for
Later on I'm kind of shocked looking at the standing. There's so many good players or they're eliminated already or kind of already
It's that you lost threshold and
Throughout the year, you know, you can't like all you know the top name
They're pretty safe until like at least the end of day one
But very much not the case here at the world championships
We see some of the folks who are doing very well.
But even for these folks, you know,
they still got to get through one more round today.
So even 500 is going to put you right
to the brink of disaster.
Absolutely.
But here, take a look at our Swiss rankings right now.
These are the top 16 players.
They are all currently four and O undefeated right now.
And I have to say, Australia, having a great tournament
so far, three players still undefeated.
Liam, Chloe, and Joe G. All are undefeated
at four and O right now.
But of course, some other names that we are very familiar with.
I'm looking at Eric Rios there.
We just saw him in the finals of the North American International Championships
and following that up with a 4-0 start here in San Francisco.
He's a lot of fun looking at this list, right?
We're in the same way that some of maybe the really big names
that we're expecting to do well, struggling a little bit.
I mean, some folks that we weren't looking at coming to the tournament
doing really well here.
So maybe, again, these world championships are when those names are built, right?
Winning this tournament means far more than any other.
So maybe next time we're coming to the world championships,
So there'll be these folks that we are talking about as the favorites.
And yeah, I got to second your shout out to us really as well.
I think often they feel a little disrespected in it.
They're really making a great showing for themselves so far.
So props to them.
They shouldn't underestimate any region.
Yeah, also have to shout out the two undefeated players from our APAC region.
Naruj, Naina and Ryan Kenrik Chua, both at four and oh from Thailand
and the Philippines respectively.
The APAC region is our only region that has not made it to the top cut
at the World Championships so far.
Australia has not one but has made it to the top cup.
And of course, all of the other regions have a champion to their name.
But the APAC region, these two players, if you are rooting in the Philippines,
in Thailand, in Taiwan, in the entire APAC region, these are your people you're cheering for.
That could be the year for it to get a lot of very strong trainers.
So this world champion just feels wide open and wave it.
I can't remember a feeling for a very long time.
Yeah, absolutely.
and let's go into our notable matches here in Swiss round five.
We are going to be following our last remaining world champion
chasing a second crown here in San Francisco.
Nato Mizoguchi, of course, was our 2019 world champion back in Washington, D.C.
We'll be facing off against a French up-and-comer, Adam Cherfouille,
who has been doing very well over the last few seasons,
has had kind of a quiet season so far this year with only a top 16
in the top 32 as the best finishes,
but starting four and O at the world championships,
this is when you want to get hot.
Yeah, we've been talking off stage a lot about
how much better France has been this year, right?
Kind of another country that's not like the first thing
you think of when you think of the Europe region,
but here we are, right?
And I think that it's been a lot of fun
kind of watch the turnover this year.
Of course, a bunch of other big names
in the spent as well, though.
Again, you know, mostly not those folks
who've been previous tournament winners.
One to shout out for me is Amelia Forbes,
who to post that you're off
that immediately won original championship two
on a ball fight for the world.
Here he is again in three and one year.
He's been a runner up at this tournament before.
I think definitely a big player to look out for.
Yeah, and for players in Spain,
you're gonna have Eric Rios versus Antonio Sanchez.
We're also gonna be on our featured match at stations.
That is gonna be an exciting match.
If I can't wait to watch that one after this,
but also have to give some shout outs
to Hiroshi Onishi,
the Japanese national champion right now,
still undefeated in the tournament,
against countrymen. He did sooner. She means she means it. Hey, that's just how it is. You know fainting
tactics in the Japanese champion making it today to write it. Things you could always count on.
Absolutely. Well, we are just about ready to hop into our Swiss round five. I am so thrilled that
we are able to continue to follow these trainers. I'm really excited to see now to again. It's
been a while since I've seen now to at the top tables. But of course, he is a world champion
and the 2019 meta, I can see some similarities here.
Yeah, I mean, it's not quite as similar as I think,
like the one people could be comparing to is 2015,
although I think a little bit false.
I think you're right, right?
I don't think it's like that different.
There's always a lot of transferable skills.
And, you know, I think it's also just normal as players
kind of just like playing a lot, right?
I think that like the, as with,
they were both champions,
kind of like the difference between maybe like
the in-game battling and the tournament play
is not so significant as it was the past few years.
Yeah.
You know, I mostly games like largely players from Asia, right?
So I think it was like a bigger shift here where I kind of introduced to the rest of the meta or
that's the world's meta a little bit more.
So I'm kind of thinking like, you know, like Japan, Korea, you know, Asia in general,
maybe just a good year for them where I'm going to be a little more ready for the rest of us or
and we're all playing the same game in a way that should cause everyone to need similar adjustments
for this tournament versus the past where it could be a bit more adjustment for the like non-Western regions.
Absolutely. There's definitely been so much more cross-pollination across all of the regions.
I definitely think a major part of that is the champions ladder.
It definitely has been a place that players have been using to prep for the world championships
and also to understand, you know, what are the other regions potentially bringing to this tournament.
And it's been really exciting to see that develop over the course of the season.
But let's go ahead and jump right into our fifth round of Swiss here.
That is now toe on the left and Adam on the right.
just saw the Blastoise and Delbox in our featured match from the last round looked incredibly strong
up against that hard trick room team and now Nalto will be facing down those two Pokemon with
sort of a it looks like kind of an amalgamation of all the different types of Charizard teams
we've seen so far. I was kind of thinking the same thing right where this is why that you know
the big six being 60 Pokemon starts where it's not really any of the standard Charizard variations
To me, like the core I would most look at is that your Charizard, you know, Garchop and like Charizard Incineroar and Venuswars to me is like kind of like the identify there, but like the way the team is finished, like doesn't really match any of the most common variants.
So pretty interesting. I think to me, the hook when it feels weirdness is still having Aerodactyl with these other Pokemon, which they get more frequently paired with Phryggraph.
So kind of interesting to see that mixed in here. Interesting hook with this matchup as well. You know, typically with this sort of team, it's Grimzacot if you want, Tailwind without the Phryggraph, which would be nice against the fake-out cycling.
cycling so I'm curious to see what his lines are on his team because unlike his team, certainly he's
going to plant into Adams which I think is going to his group to be one of the most popular teams
at this tournament. Absolutely and dropping the Ferigara 4 that Venusaur tends to be the Pokemon
that you would most see against with the rest of these other Pokemon does make Naltos so much
more vulnerable to fake out cycling. Multiple options for Adam to get three turns into
to Naltos team using think out.
And what you absolutely cannot do
against this Delphox Blastoise team
is give either of those Pokemon a free turn
to boost their stats.
Yeah, I think they're both kind of scary here
in a lot of ways.
Both of them could easily kind of be the Pokemon
that Steve Church seems to make Naltos team preview
a little bit challenging.
There's no wide guard in the Aridacto,
which is kind of the one thing
that might really be helpful with that Pokemon
but doesn't have that trick available to him.
So yeah, there's just like a ton of resist really
to those Pokemon across the team.
really don't actually have to worry about the two opposing fire type Pokemon, but
an Aerodactyl to Blastoise offensively doesn't worry so much, but obviously a little bit tricker where Blastoise is naturally slower, so you need speed control in order to get to your most threatening there, but I'm really interested to kind of watch these things match up, right?
Where even though it feels familiar, I think that's just different enough that the solutions both players are going to need a little bit different than what we've seen with similar matchups in the past.
the Venusaur is maybe the only saving grace against the Blastoise mode for Adam.
In addition to being able to resist Water Spalm, being able to hit it with super effective damage with the Least Storm,
and also critically being Grass-type to avoid Rage Powder from Sinistra.
If Adam goes Blastoise mode, Nalto seems like to me like that Venusaur is going to be a really critical piece for him.
I think so too. I think it's also one of those folks who's like,
Okay. Well, no matter what move both my opponent picks, you know
It's probably going to be at least felby or pretty valuable to me if you get weather control
Allow Venus or to hop over the speed of some of the other Pokemon
I do think the item choices to Venus or could be pretty integral in this matchup as well
But typically we see one of two odds your focus has to be a little more defensive
Which has not to be so grating is this fake out cycling sort of strategy anyway or the lifework to a bunch more damage
This one playing a little bit differently with the wide lens will be more accurate than we normally see pretty big for that
Sleep powder maybe not as important this matches and others where you'd like to go in the office with these go
But hey, that's not a very accurate move either. We've all wanted to see this by lifting that one
And especially gets up last away
So you may not get to try again if you miss the first time after he shall smash
So maybe appropriately built to battle it out with its fellow Kanto region first partner Pokemon
It's the whole trio and to incinerator in this one and Delphac
So six just the half of the book on this match our first partner Pokemon from one region or another
Yeah, all of our players here continuing to battle with the Pokemon
They first chose to begin their adventures with here as you know now
So using this this Charizard version of the team your Charizard and aerodactyl was the early regulation
Combo like these were the two Pokemon that people were really frustrated by at the start of regulation in a
Is it really kind of a throwback especially going with the focus sash on the aerodactyl instead of the aerodactyl I
Yeah, I think that's a kind of a neat trend for the tournament in general where
I would have expected from the ladder, but they're kind of several teams ago. It seems like there should be an aerodactylite here, but instead it's the Hocus Ache. So number of trainers really feel like, hey, you're making aerodactyls and feel so great or, you know, mega charts are so good that, like, I, you know what, get the rest of the poke when you got to figure it out that a mega stone is taken.
Absolutely. We have to also call out that there is a third boosting option here for Adam in addition to the Blastoise and Delphox as Megas, you have the ability for King Gambit to set up a sword stance.
And if you thought it was bad enough, tanking a plus one after a defiant sucker punch or Kowtow cleave, just wait until it's plus two and the life orb.
That picks up so many important KO's into teams like this Charizard base team that now is running.
Yeah, I think it could be really important here, and I think it's just an important thing to watch whenever you're watching this very in a team
I even go back to regulation MA where in the blast was it was available typically at that point
It was the mega flow at instead
But it's a very important secondary sweeper because they give this team kind of two additional options where either you could
Opt to go for King given early. Maybe you're expecting your phone is leaving the timid eight
I'm kind of start blowing a hole in the team to make it easier for your mega of all Pokemon
You come in and sweep or it can do the reverse right?
Hey, you know my opponent has wasted all the resources taking down my mega of all Pokemon
I've got a secondary sweeper in the back and I think with all the support on this team King Gambit often feels as if it's a mega
Overall Pokemon itself even though it isn't and sort of like uniquely awesome as well
I think it's one thing that makes this team much stronger, but it was in regulation may even though
I think one was the junior division and I see there
So I was pretty strong there already
But that life-warping King Gambit's kind of send it to another level and very few Pokemon can comfortably take a
a short stance boosted sucker punch with that life orb added on.
Absolutely. The Black Glasses are doing enough damage already.
You get a little bit extra firepower of the life orb.
It really changes some of these calculations
for players who are facing down the King Gambit.
But we are just about ready for our game to begin here
as our players are choosing which Pokemon
they will be sending in to battle here.
And you have to mention the speed control options here.
The Sinistra does have the ability
to set up the trick room while Malto has
been focusing much more on the tailwind with this team and
for a fill on Venusaur.
So that's maybe something that we end up seeing as we start
into our Swiss round five game one, Charizard and Venusaur
being the lead for Nalto and Adam will be in leading with
Delphox and King Gambon for Sweepers on the field.
Yeah, it's a lot of fun here, right?
We're, hey, who needs support?
We can all go off the off-end.
It's definitely the after-expecting from Nefus.
The kills are kind of curious if this is what Adam
thought he was going to get more or not.
As you're sort of feeling, parents, oh, we have both
the footballers supposed to go in the off-effort
that they've been just supporting.
But there is some need to kind of focus on both slots, right?
Venusaur can't sleep harder, both of them at the same time.
And well, I think sleep harder is very scary here.
You can't afford to score either of them, potentially
too, and so it feels like, OK, well, now
that I see what I'm going to get, you know,
pivot is an option.
But something scary here, especially
on the side of the safety goggles
to make it sooner or later the safe combination
of the chances that used to be,
but it's going to come from the dial on the back.
Yeah, the Centaur now out on the field, Adam would like to have that takeout pressure instead of just offensive pressure into Malto.
He'll be hoping to create out some protects or some other slow play from this Charizard War Venusaur before bringing in the Inceneror.
Just gonna start off with a couple of mega evolutions, getting the power levels increased across the board here.
Delphox has mega evolved into the Mega Delphox and now Charizard Y out on the field,
setting the sun for Venusaur, hits the fire off this wide-lens boosted sleep powder that will connect on to Delphox.
Delphox of course now has to take its mandatory turn of sleep while Charizard goes on the offensive with a deep wave.
And Cynor will dodge that, not a huge amount of damage lost there.
Decent amount of chunk into that Delphox, however, with that sun boosted deep wave.
That's not nothing right where it does matter and sir going to come in relatively safely here
I'm gonna be wishing you left the King gambit out now. Okay, if he would have died
Yeah, but still not sleeping you're burning the fake out
Delphac does take some damage there, but has an opportunity to wake up on this next turn and at that point
Hey, you know, maybe it's not super thread and you couldn't ask it
I don't even kind of getting the mode you want to be in with the key
You know the foot side Delphac did take a decent bit of damage there
You're kind of a sterile at the point where you even charge out you're whacked it three times might be enough to knock it out
there firing in the air traffic center. Well, Incineroar goes for the fake out into Charizard
preventing more damage into the Delphox. That sludge bomb deals a good amount but Delphox
wakes up firing up a heatwave of its own connects onto Venusaur in the sun the one-turn sleep
allowing Adam to pick up the KO onto Venusaur and a critical hit just for good measuring
there. Charizard takes a little bit of damage as well from the heatwave and from the
and that means that Adam just gets to pick up that KO for free.
Now the hell that I'm really thinking of the difference in that Venusaur there,
when Focus Sash there instead, you've got that 1 HP Venusaur sitting with Breton and Karrot in the deltoid,
instead of with Wild Hunt, hey, you know, great thing you hit the sleep powder,
but maybe you would have hit that anyway, and now the cost of Venusaur is to back down here,
and Eridacta will come in to try to replace the Function Venusaur a little bit.
Like, okay, well, I lost the Pokemon, his speed was doubled in the sun.
Are you just going pretty fast, right?
I like to use KO, wait a minute, it's like kind of the same thing.
uh, eventually threatening, uh, not caring about the delt box as well as a bunch of damage in the incentives.
Not gonna go down to a single rock slide or anything, but
Erdachal are representing a lot of good things for now, Joe.
Erdachal giving now to so many different options to continue throughout the rest of this game.
Either just go on the offensive with damage for Rockside or set up the tailwind for the future here.
Of course, Erdachal doesn't have the wide lens, so you do have to worry about those Rockslides hitting as well.
But famously, we're going to tell him for his accuracy, that rack slide, and that aerodactyl, but still very threatening here.
Charizard also feel a little bit scared, going to protract it, trust its front aerodactyl. Maybe he'll get tail wind up and flip the speed condition.
Okay, Delphox though, is going to move faster than the aerodactyl, but misses the heat wave.
That means that this Focus S is still intact for the aerodactyl.
Delphox will go down, connects both of the rocksides, so Delphox is down, and center takes a little bit of damage as well.
And Flint is disaster there for Adam as he loses the Mega Pokemon and Flint is on the Incineroar
preventing Adam from going for any kind of positioning or getting damaged down.
You know one of the remaining Pokemon on Adam's side is like damn it, which I think there's
no kind of expected anyway.
Most likely then Sneasler or Sinistra in that last slot.
I'm very important to find out which here.
You know, if it's not Sneasler, then hey, you didn't need the Tailwind anyway,
so it's really good to protect the Charizard, but it will be important now to decide
who feels.
Conserve that Charizard a while, if you can, to help deal with the congambant later.
It's probably just out of sucker punch range, but Caesar's gonna come out here and cause some problems for both of you folks.
They're going to put another fake out, which Charizard's going to be full of Lyria that's protecting on the previous turn.
Potentially an option too, just to try to slow this Eridactyl down.
If you think, hey, you know, I can't afford Fjord Slynner to take another one of those rocks line.
Yeah, at minimum, you would be able to break the Focus Ash on that Eridactyl, which does get a little bit scary if you leave that Pokemon out against both of these.
Erdachal has the ability to pick up KO's onto the Sneasler with dual wingbeat,
or just continue to fish for flitches and damage onto the Incinero with Rockslide otherwise.
Yeah, and it's impactful here too, and it would be impact of Dinosaur not having to focus action,
and you really want to get the value out of having a full point of view.
Well, here is the option for Nalto switching in Garchomp.
Perfect switch in there, tanks that fake out from Sneasler,
breaks the focus act with the rough skin,
and Incinero just barely hangs on after that Rockslide.
Super effective damage once again as Kneesler takes just a little bit more damage from that rock slide.
No flinch this time around so the parting shot now actually connects on to the aerodactyl allowing Adam to reposition
and potentially start taking control of this game, through switches and fakeouts from that incinerator.
I mean maybe, but I think that maybe has been a key point in guard chop switch.
I think you love that if you're an actor.
Now we're barely, you know, we're talking about the focus that break is that good breaks and focus lashes do you get it from free with the skin
But I got you up in the field at a great time here where a little leery of the damage spirits though
This means look at potentially cause to it
But you know and a double would probably pick it up here with the sucker punch and it's close combat
So do you need to look out for that with Eric d'acqua not looking so effective in the field now?
But I got you point old remaining both lines a lot of attention being drawn in the car
Now, now to us in the green, okay, well, is he going to assume that I protect this because it's so obvious, or can I get away with one here?
Now, Sneasler switches out four Incineroar, Adam is just trying to stack Intimidate on to now.
Those two physical attacking Pokémon on the field.
That's going to be a tailwind coming out from the Aerodactyl to ensure that this guard drop can outspeed a Sneasler.
In the future, the Earthquake fires on super effective damage, and both of these Pokémon, plenty to pick up the Incineroar,
But King Gambit holds on over 50% health here.
This gives Adam an opportunity to either go for a sword stance
and start sweeping, or potentially try to pick up damage immediately
with Countdown's lead.
Sword stance is necessary to make sure that this King Gambit
can actually pick up these KO's.
And absolutely needs a sword stance.
I think one of the things that we saw in regulation
and anything King Gambit can't even train for,
I mean, it's like, with Black Lives you usually just miss
the back-out and you fall off Charizard,
so it's hard to extrapolate exactly.
I think you're trained a little bit differently that you but probably just would have missed the knockout and got a separate
But now probably just has it probably at the knockout a car chopper wouldn't have before really needed that down
So you get rid of this arid axle
Maybe King Gambit can handle the rest of the Pokemon now very close
But that was a critical so I think anything else in this game look at briefly for Adam
But got himself back into it that would use able to cure that sword stance
This is the power of the sword stance King Gambit
It is now threatening to KO Pokemon with that priority sucker punch before they can get a chance to move here.
And also, sneeze their back out on the field means that there is baked out pressure once again from Adam.
Malto will retreat to the Aerodactyl to make sure that that Hokusaki stays intact, bringing back out the Charizard.
That's going to be a switch and a protect.
Malto is trying to dodge sucker punches and gets it.
No Pokemon War going forward in attack, so the Sucker Punch does not work, but Sneezler gets to fire off a poison deck.
It's huge! Just a poison deck! It does!
Oh, that's huge! It's really important! But what now we're trying to do there is take Charizard and Garchep on the field together,
and say that, okay, King Gambit, you can Sucker Punch one of these folks, but you can't get us both at the same turn, the other one will knock you out.
Now with Charizard poison, if Adam could just stall out this poison, you can check Garchep with King Gambit and kind of deal with both of them.
Really important there because the tail would have caused Charizard to be quicker able to check the Sneasler now it can't.
Yeah absolutely disaster for Nalto and that is why players have been using the poison touch and poison jab Sneasler to increase the options from the poison to get that a little bit extra damage onto those Pokemon.
Now that means that Nalto will have to do something with this Charizard or else it will just faint after the next turn it's on the tail.
really awkward term though because it'd be really easy if Sneasler could protect
but because the Sneasler's on this version it's even quick guarding instead.
It's not safe here and if the king game is like hey bud do your best it's
probably going to go down for this. Yeah good hustle Sneasler you got the
poison down that's exactly what I needed from you but now I'm just gonna
protect myself this turn you take this earthquake for me. This is like bud?
Friend? Team? Team? Sneasler? Me? Well me thinking hero here. Chars are
going to faint and go here as it goes down and we're going to wind in the situation with
both Star Trek and an Aerodactyl facing down to King Gambit which is a pretty funny situation
here.
So if Star Trek attacks and gets caught by a sucker punch it's going to be all over
for the Star Trek.
However Aerodactyl still free to do whatever it can here.
Unfortunately the Aerodactyl is a very support oriented set.
You know it's not that Aerodactyl really has all that many coverage moves that
would damage King Gambit anyway but this Aerodactyl has a Rock Slide, Blue Wing
both of which are resisted by the King Gambit, tail in which doesn't matter, and protects it.
So, uh, it might seem to be mostly a door here, but a rough spot.
At the same time, Life Orb King Gambit needs to swing three times to KO both of these Pokémon,
one of which also means it has to swing into the rough skin of Garchomp.
So even though Aerodactyl does not have a lot of damage, it doesn't need to deal a lot of
damage to break through the King Gambit here.
Yeah, I just don't know if that masterness one's gonna work,
And I think you need to make perfect holes, maybe this will happen like I feel like in this one
You almost have to sucker punch the air Dachau just evil
He's not gonna let me get guard shop right here
But one mistake will get him and even he I give one lack of this or like one non mistake is still pretty close
They aired act all even getting like two rock slides off is probably enough for the
Garchamp will protect itself
There's a sucker punch King gambit targeted down the air Dachau like you mentioned the focus sash is still in
attack. That means that Adam needs to get this right two more times as the
life orb recoil means that King Gambit now loses 10% of its health. There is a
damage from a dual wing beat dealing about 14 to 15% there. Two more life
orbs and a rough skin. King Gambit is out of health. Yeah I think it's a tough
one. So I think you have to knock out your jackal first. Pick the life orb
recoil because I think if you faint to life orb you win if you faint to
watch skin. Garchomp wins. So Garchomp, I think Garchomp is actually just for you to attack here.
Yeah, Garchomp should just be free to attack here to make sure that that King Gambit is not able to pick up the KO.
Right. I think, yeah, the other way around. Garchomp.
The other way around. Yeah. Well, there's a Sucker Punch into Aerodactyl, but no damage going or no protect from the Garchomp.
Because that Garchomp was left alone, King Gambit's life orb is going to take that tick here as the Garchomp finally takes
at the King Gambit with the Earthquake extremely close there Adam came really close to getting everything
correct there but just a little bit too much recoil damage put him in a tight spot at the end there.
Running in there I did my best to make it as convoluted as possible so hopefully you didn't
follow it at all. But yeah I think there is it was almost a mathematical impossibility there
ain't got to play that really well. I was like hey you know like I just need to not do anything
too crazy there. I'm likely gonna win almost every outcome but how close is that right again
Again, you know, the King Damage is like, you know, 5% more HP.
I think it's like a more realistic wincon.
So, uh, really, really close one.
And again, you see the power of, uh, King Damage is a secondary sweeper for these games.
Or maybe that goes super well for the Delphox there,
but still almost able to pull that one out.
Absolutely. Adam came extremely close to taking that game one.
And if that is how game one is going to go,
I hope we get a full three game set out of these two players
because that was extremely entertaining.
and you can't ask for any closer of a game than that.
Super fun.
And I assume we're going to see similar stuff
to what we saw in the previous game here in this game too.
I think even though Blastways's matchup
is pretty good with these Pokemons,
it's pretty difficult to actually wind up
in a situation where you can attack safely with it,
where, especially with those two lead Pokemons,
they're like, not only have to worry about Venus,
we're just knocking you out, but you're
having to potentially deal with drought the entire game.
It's pretty difficult to deal with.
So I'm probably going to see the Delphox mode again.
One thing to keep in mind is there's a lot of volatility
with the way that game started out.
Sleep powder hit, which is more likely to be normal
if that held item on Venus lore.
Delphox woke up in the minimum amount of turns if it did not.
I think that would be a much more
anato favorite game state.
Equal odds of both of those things happening.
So potentially we see a similar game play out
where it could be a blowout for anato.
So I think I would change things up more
if I was out of and then here we are.
Yes, Exkizler is the lead instead,
but also a switch up on Natosot
with Garchuk coming in.
We can get the other iconic Charizard leads in the front of this team.
One of the reasons why you normally don't see the compilation of both play-togethers,
because your focus sash is a little bit too wanted by this team,
but you get both Venusaur and Charizard and Garchomp,
and both of those options have looked at a different point to the set here.
I don't think the suggestion is going to set now to at all.
Absolutely not.
And being able to catch the Sneasler there instead of having to deal with any kind of...
Previously, you had the King Gambit, which felt pressured enough by the Venusaur and the Charizard.
That ended up being a huge deal, lost a lot of momentum,
I think that turned one having to reposition.
Now, the sneeze arc at least gives you fake out pressure
so the Delphox might be able to start making something happen here.
Better than if that's a lot better.
You can't put like the previous game,
but Garchomp still looking pretty good here.
And kind of should something to watch with that agenda, right?
If you're not going to bring this to our last wave,
Garchomp is good.
There are no Pokemon here that call,
at least the Delphox is going to be able to levitate away
from the ground type attacks,
with this Garchomp does still have Rock Slide
still able to hit that Pokemon for its future effects of damage
in without getting boosted from the nasty butt Delphox
isn't going to be able to deal enough damage right back to the Garchomp.
That being said, both Pokemon are going to omega evolve on turn 1.
There is the fake out from Sneeze,
are targeting down the Charizard and gets the poison touch right away
onto the Charizard and is going to add up pretty quickly here.
There is the psychic onto Garchomp.
That's a two hit KO without a nasty plot.
Crocsite connects onto both Sneezer and Delphox
dealing good damage to the Delphox,
but two hit KO on the guard jump with Sneezer with psychic,
you're happy about that.
Yeah, it's a lot of damage going close to actions
in that turn on the poison big on the Charizard.
Well, yeah, after watching this,
you're wondering why, why is it poison,
Kachanet, and burden on these teams?
I'm just exactly it, right?
Sneezer playing a little different role on this team
than it might in some others,
but you're the sweet, necessarily,
although as individual damage could be fairly impactful
here as well, because it's also kind of
checking our job. But critically, you know, once we put this make out, get that extra damage,
click things a little closer. We don't know for sure if in the back there is a signature or not.
So it'll be a little scary to try to bring it out in front of a Charizard that's been motivated to
try to attack quickly. But it'll be Incineroar coming out for now. Incineroar here will at
least get the intimidate down on to Sneasler protecting either the Charizard or the Incineroar
itself from damage from that Sneasler this time around. That they protect coming out
from Delphos just trying to survive another turn as the poison jab connects onto Charizard.
The decent amount of damage of course reduced by the Intimidate.
The Seekwave is going to connect onto Sneezer and in the Sun that is an easy payout onto that overlock.
And since your damage there by Sneezer, it's like not only damage rating, right?
No stat boosting, no courage, and Adam's side of the field,
but now to keeping us in pressure of it is not allowing that in.
With the Incidor coming after Adam, creating a pretty interesting situation here.
The opponent and the opposing Senors, like nice and all, that probably doesn't matter, but
now both sides are threatening a fake-out, and with Charizard HP being so well, these passive turns are really fast, right?
It's actually given it, you know, not like a super great court-state court to begin with, like a few-part type Pokemon around.
Delphox is not exactly looking so healthy over there either.
I mean, we've got four Fire-type Pokemon out on the field right now, so everyone's resisting those Fire-type attacks, but Charizard and Delphox are so low, they probably aren't surviving that anyway.
That's going to be the guard chop switching in for the Incineroar here.
Again, Nalto catches the fake out onto the rough skin,
so you get a little bit of extra damage now onto the Incineroar as Delphox will just clean up that Charizard with a Scythe here.
So, repositioning there from the Nalto giving up the Charizard in order to get the guard chop on the field
and potentially bringing in the Incineroar again for fake-out pressure.
Yeah, although, you know, half of the dead, right? Delphox goes to the Protector,
kind of wind up back in the same spot. Now do I know we lost many Pokemon but
they're all kind of just being weakened enough that even in Cinewar they're all
kind of being checked now by this Yelfox still missing any Pokemon as well
on the other side of the field. You just look like last game we don't know what that
marine Pokemon is. This game is to potentially be either more aerodactyl
here depending on the situation so that would influence things for a little bit too.
Certainly if it was aerodactyl I would kind of expect to see it so this
hesitation makes me think that they're needed.
And honestly, really scary Pokemon for Adam right now is that Incineroar.
If you assume that it's going to be the King Gambit in the back, Incineroar, Delphox, and King Gambit,
all you need is your own Incineroar to check all three of those Pokemon.
Yeah, and I think that's really scary here.
Should I tell you, 33% HP very critically.
No, I only got hit once. It really drops it.
It's theoretically checking the catch-up though again that they think I'm ready to hand right here and
Hey, you're the center of the atom side with a pretty vulnerable here like maybe try and
you know, yes
going to the game should probably be scary because you really can't afford to even like to protect player blitz might pick it up
from
Adam side of the field so hot returns for both players and
Sonarore retreating for King Gambit Adam has decided that he really needs to make sure that the
Intimidates can stick on to the physical attackers that now though is showing right now
Xenor goes for the fake out, will connect with the protect as the rock slide is locked into by Nalto.
No damage, end up to Delphox and King Gambit gets in for basically three there, just 9% chip damage from that rock slide.
And now you have the King Gambit out on the field, but there is still a turn of Marsh sunlight and Xenor can still deal big damage to that King Gambit.
That's the awkwardness of this tournament, both King Gambit and Delphox potentially threatening a Mac out into the Starshop slot.
like where does it get you really where an increased rich just to stop the rock slide right now
Hey, I guess like to make two more defensive switches dark top will take care of itself
But it's still like that like that super safe situation where I sit on a threatening a knockout probably in either of these Pokemon
So they both like to stop boosts, but you know one of them at least probably needs to actually check the car job
Plus your wrist is going to set here
That's really what it's about you have to make sure that this car Tom doesn't get to swing for free and just the presence there
of the king gambit and suffered much genes to be checking the guard top there as it retreats for the
venosaur. He gave it now protecting from this for this turn not trying to get KO'd by a flare blitz
but Delphox firing off a e-quave. How's going to pick up the KO onto venosaur on the switch and
like you mentioned the way Nalto was playing this and that air knuckle was not in the back
here instead the venosaur goes down and the flare blitz did try to connect with the king
Gambit. So Adam is getting these reads when he needs them. Something's looking pretty good for Adam,
right? It's a knockout for free because it's a worry about the mystery of that final poke
about it even Lauren. Now he's getting pretty close. You can get back probably not going to get one
shot by a similar from here. So I could really help actually sit around, but something that's
what the guard shop is going to do, right? So it's the option to protect them. So Delphox
is a two-stage viewer and how do you want to deal with this, right? Do you try and guess
guard shop protecting here and then you play defensively through your own Delphox. It's
is nagging them, he's protecting the last turn.
They have some options here, but Adam's very close
to setting us for a third game.
Well, and there's also the Incinera in the back
that can put down and intimidate onto both of these Pokemon,
which would make it even easier for that King Gambit
to survive a flare blitz or an earthquake
or especially a rock slide from that guard chomp.
Again, the ground type cover tier being earthquake
means that this guard chomp can only deal super effective
damage to King Gambit by knocking out
There's a partner Pokemon there.
Heatwave though connects on the boat.
Don't protect all of it, pick up the knockout.
And I don't think there's much left for now
to do in this game.
Great move by Adam to pick.
You know, as the knockout was going to be available,
pick it up.
The flare blitz and King Gambit going to do a lot of damage.
But there's a lot of work left for Incidero to do.
Yeah, and that's a lot of recoil damage right back.
A lot of that will be fueled up by the Citrus Berry.
But that means you're going to have to take
multiple hits from this Delphox.
If it can land a cheap whiz,
and King Gambit just got that sword stand spot.
So you're really relying on Delphox missing those heat waves.
Missing a whole bunch, and the Incineroar in back,
like, I think you're rooting for a DC at this point.
It's hard to see it picking this way.
I'm pretty much just flicking slides.
Going to bring Incineroar here, because, you know, why not?
Really, you need to be managed to stop doing this,
but I'm pretty locked up here in the second game.
Yeah, absolutely safe play here from Adam
to bring in the Incineroar and protect King Gambit.
That means that Nalto is not
able to pick up any KO's here.
You have fake-out pressure now for free damage
to Incineroar and that will lock it up here for Adam just about whether Nato
wants some extra time to think about game three or need some more information
how to add them before locking in a forfeit before we head into game three.
You know what, I'll take your time right here, just take a little bit of a
crucial moment for both of these traders. They both have three four one starts to
turn his power to knock out a lot of damage. They gave it a little bit of a reason. A couple of
trainers I think in the field have decided to use it. I'm going to a third game here,
Yeah, a critical moment for both training.
The one trainer going to move to five and zero
would be at the point where they only need one more win
to secure their place in our continued Swiss rounds tomorrow
and be phase two of this tournament,
which gives a big mental edge, right?
Or going forward in line, especially, I think,
after losing a dream, it tends to be a little bit more
emotional, maybe sort of like, oh, man, are things turning
the wrong way?
It's a very pivotal game, I think, for both of these trainers,
perhaps through this tournament.
Absolutely.
Again, yeah, like you mentioned,
when you're undefeated here,
This is the last round before walking in your your ticket to day two and continuing on in the tournament
This is the worst round to lose and then go on tilt for the rest of your tournament because you would have come so close
So both of these players I am sure are feeling that pressure to clutch this one out in game 3
And I have to shout out the poison jab and poison touch
Sneasler getting the poison from the fake out was huge onto Charles are just getting those ticks of damage and Adam
Showing the importance of those additional pieces of damage, just like the life orb on King Gambit pushes some of those calcs over the edge.
One extra tick of poison damage, two extra ticks of poison damage also push some of those calcs over the edge.
Yeah, and I think that's also something to keep in mind as we go into this third game.
It's been very close in both game 1 and game 2, but that was like a whole lot going its way, right?
The first game, the sleep being minimum turns was pretty unfortunate for him.
Void's Intouch is activated in the first activation twice here.
The two instances where it even had a chance to activate.
So, perfect so far, Sneezer's having itself a set
where they're now avoiding that sort of thing
to really change things for a method he can do anything, right?
His cross his fingers, hope for the best.
But it really changes this way that Snatcher plays out, right?
Where it kind of prevents him from playing defensively,
where what your poison wants a Pokemon like that,
especially your Mega Evolve Pokemon,
especially the Pokemon bringing drought
when you also have Venusaur.
It's very important to try to win
while you still have that resource active.
You have limited turns, and you can't switch as much.
You have to start making reads.
You see how aggressively that D'Archef has been using
Rock Slide, because now what they're
doing is like, I can't play with Delphox.
I can't afford to miss a read.
I just have to try to catch it when it's available.
And in that game, Adam was able to hide it from D'Archef
just enough.
All on another switch up from Adam,
choosing to go for a different fake out user in the lead
here.
This is going to be Incineroar next to the Delphox.
Palmanto is going to go with the Tarzard and Venusaur.
game one. And while the good news is this time there won't be any poisons up the
front. He may be excited to see that, but it's a difficult matchup, right? You know,
one of the reasons why Incineroar is so great is that just that he's in the physical
mode, he's very good against this particular combination of two opponents.
Right? Still can you put to sleep again. Not the Incineroar of yesterday or
exactly, but able to cause some problems here where maybe, you know,
even to try to fake out, you don't necessarily want to double protect against
because giving three streams to Delphox is very scary.
And the last time we saw a situation like this,
we knew it was just like full set to sleep powder
into Delphox.
It means that it happens again, but this time,
Charz are going to switch out, maybe try to fly a little more
and it's back to place.
And get Darchomp out of the field
to help fight these two fighters at Pokemon.
Yeah, Darchomp needs to be on the field
against both of these Pokemon.
And maybe go up, Charz, hoping to go three for three
on catching rough skin fakeouts on the switch
in here as Darchomp switches in.
And Delphox will go ahead and mega evolve.
Once more, the Rustin damage connects onto the fake out, but there is the nasty plot coming out from Delphox.
No protect from this Venusaur, however, means that there is an opportunity to go for Sleep Hunter, and it connects Delphox now asleep.
And so smart from Nelto to switch out there, now Delphox has to take it's sleep turn.
Yeah, it's like everything is way better in this chart as we're still in the field here because yeah,
Nelid you not have to waste that first turn of sleep, kind of doing nothing, but Garcep is already out on the field,
Already isn't intimidated and certainly the damage of the Delphox right great position by in yeah
Everything is just kind of wrong for Adam
It's gonna take multiple turns the cycle intimidated back out Delphox
It has to be set up the field that nasty plot ends up doing nothing
And it never took a bleep turn the worst feeling to switch out your nasty potted Delphox as the moment
You got it up and the rocks like dealing big damage to incineroar with no
Intimidates now on to the guard Trump can gamble of course is able to take that very easily
But those high life warp on guard top did so much work there and center are forced to eat its citrus berry
At least Adam gets the king gambit switch in on the sludge bump, but you know when things go right
Sometimes they go wrong too as in center are flinches from the rock slide
That's a huge plunge first even just being stuck on the field
Yeah problem for the incineroar there most likely going for something like a burning shot
Which would have allowed it to cycle back in maybe for the start right now
And instead, you're going to situation once again where God job
Unintimidated able to threaten a bunch of damage on these opposing Pokemon
And King Gambit is a very important resource where maybe you can switch
Delphox into a bunch of ground type attacks and start killing sleep trunks somehow
But if you can't, it's really only King Gambit who's a viable link in the stream
Now facing down both the damage from Garjub and the potential sleep from the Denisaur
And worst yet, I think because there's no pressure, you want to
Now you can bring Charizard on the field very easily if you want to
And that's going to make things very difficult to switch any Pokemon in the battle.
Absolutely.
Now Toe has figured out the way to get Garchomp next to Charizard.
Both of these Pokemon are able to start scamming their spread moves if they want to.
There's the Earthquake from Garchomp that is going to be ineffective into the Delphox,
which has just switched in for the Incineroar.
Adam knows that he needs to get, uh, inseminates down onto the Garchomp,
but that is a huge Earthquake.
King Gambit has one shot left.
10% health.
We don't know the exact numbers.
Maybe King Gambit can sing twice,
but only with that life orb at maximum two opportunities
to hit any of Malto's Pokemon.
Exactly. I get a real pretty check.
One is 10%, not 10%.
There's no rounding in Pokemon that way.
It always rounds down, I guess I should say.
It could be, well, exactly be knocked out by a life orb.
Slightly more likely than unknown to us
that it can survive one attack.
Critically also unknown to Malto,
but not unknown to him.
So, we have one player working with some information that the rest of us don't have here.
But a very critical turn.
Also, we're thinking with this damage calculation.
If sword stance boosted, Sucker Punch will knock out Garchop.
Charger, I think it depends on how it's trained.
It's possible it could just barely survive.
I think in black glasses, you could just sit if you built defensively.
So, we'll have to see how long this Charger is trained.
They tend to be quicker nowadays, which would indicate that's so good on the defense.
Here's the sucker punch into Garchomp, the rough skin, plus the life orb recoil, regardless of how we round.
That is a KO into Garchomp and a trade KO into King Gambit.
Exactly enough. Huge, though, to get that Pokemon off the field.
Delphox still asleep, finally uses its first turn of sleep.
Takes an Ancient Power from the Charizard, feeling just under half health.
No boost from the Ancient Power as well, so now, Adam has the opportunity to have Delphox wake up on the next turn.
but he's gonna need to get a lot out of that Pokemon.
Yeah, I mean, it's a one big problem dealt with
where Garchomp's rock type attack,
it's one of the most threatening things
in the Delphox, should it ever await.
But again, the Delphox lost that nasty Pokemon,
so it's still got a long ways to go.
Now, their damage has been defeated as well.
I think it's very critical.
Maybe like one more hit point really changes
how this battle looks.
You know, could have been threatening
a probable one-shot potential one-shot.
And he's trying to learn,
so he's sure going to come out here
and continue to make things difficult.
The remaining Pokemon and Atomsite going to eat irrelevant to 10-8 here.
But hey, you know, this has got the type of advantage, but I don't know if Poison Touch is going to be enough this time.
Definitely going to be just sort of flying to Poison's in a hurry.
Absolutely needs to get the poison and just all their damage down onto these Pokemon.
And I love the Incineroar switch in here.
Morsing Delphox to have to go for a protect this turn to waste the fake out from Incineroar.
Otherwise, fake out plus Ancient Power may be able to pick up the KO there.
there. Instead Adam is just going to retreat the Delphos and bring out his own Incineroar to take any damage coming out from Nalto's Pokemon.
There's a fake out from Sneezer, connects on to Charizard, gets the flinch, but does not get the poison.
There is the Slope Chop connects on to Incineroar on to switch in negligible damage there.
But in a race between damage between these two Incineroar, Nalto is way ahead.
Yeah, and I think critically too, NullFax doesn't get to use a turn of sleep, right?
So, Zill has only slept for one turn, it's not a guaranteed place,
but I think there's also some wire to sleep there, you know?
You can't just protect because there's always a threat
that you don't succeed there and take that damage out even instead.
So, forced to play defensively, I'm not out of this one yet,
but the puzzle is getting more and more complicated.
Absolutely, it is more and more complicated here.
Sneasler does have a good matchup in to the incinerator,
Even into the Charizard, out-steaming and being able to deal good damage back.
We're going to see the Incineroar retreat for Venusaur as Charizard protects,
wants to dodge a fake-out from the Incineroar on Adam's side, and it does.
And being said, Venusaur is now out on the field.
Poison Depp also into the Charizard, which means that Venusaur is out on the field for free,
with two turns remaining of the harsh sunlight.
Excellent switch there, and again, now to try and realize that, hey, you know,
Charizard is very sensitive to this notice.
Maybe he's got enough attention, I can kind of sneak Dinosaur in here.
Neither the Incinerates can keep threatening to one another, although you need to deal with Incinerates eventually.
You're out of him because of Delphox, it's a potential win condition here.
However, it's completely free and now Azura gets to be safely in the back
or can switch back in to intimidate and put Charizard in a safer position
to get some more damage down and keep working towards this endgame.
Absolutely a second Intimidate down on Tuesday as there is a big deal.
You can see how much Charizard is able to tank back.
But now, the poison jab plus poison touch means that Charizard will be poisoned here.
And Heatwave is going to miss the Sneasler!
If you wanted to hit that, if you are tiering for now, tell me the Bucci.
Instead, Incineroar tanks the Heatwave, so Adam just gets the poison down on to the Charizard.
And here comes the flare, but it's trying to pick up damage onto the Venusaur.
Instead, just starts tipping away at that Incineroar.
That is a huge dodge from the Sneasler and gets the poison at the same time.
definitely makes things a little bit more interesting here where you know Charizard now at a timer only has a handful of turns remaining and
You know it only takes against a couple of poison ticks before maybe Sneezer can just pick it up with poison gap itself
But you know Adam's still losing to you right then the scenario is very close to being knocked out
Diesel has been intimidated repeatedly now where I can switch it out of battle at the very least
That the deltbox is still at low health and still isn't guaranteed to wake up when it comes back in the battle
This, the Huff bars are getting more similar to one another, but I don't know that the board state is quite caught up yet
And if you're now so you're also worried about the turns of our sunlight
This is the final turn of Sun which means that if Charizard is not able to switch out and back in
Venusaur would be slower than Delphox which still has the opportunity to wake up at any moment now
These are retreats for the Delphox resetting its attacks that there is the fake out it will connect on to the Delphox on the switch
Heatwave connects on his Bose Pokemon here and Zinoror goes down.
Delphox hangs on with just 15% hit points remaining.
That means Sneasler now gets to switch in here as the harsh,
unlike Baze.
This Delphox is now the fastest thing on the field,
but it's going to need to make sure that it can wake up
and start dealing the damage.
Pretty interesting finalize.
Well, maybe not final turn, but kind of final climactic
situation here where Sneasler potentially threatening
threatening an Akra and Centaur, Delphex threatening,
particularly threatening an Akra and the Charizard.
Charizard would really like to switch out
in order to set up that Sun for Venusaur,
but you're firing a second type attack into that slot anyway.
That doesn't work because Venusaur doesn't have a sash, right?
You just get it knocked up and then wind up right back
in the same spot that you're in.
So, Adam, maybe by getting the Delphex in as a chance here,
but it still has to wake up.
It could go either way.
Two potential returns remaining.
It'll either wake up this turn
and probably win the game or one turn too late
and probably lose the game.
You wake up this turn, you win the games, hit the snooze, and you lose!
You've got to wake up right now if you are Adam's Delphox.
Incineroar switches out.
That is a way to get the Venusaur in without risking damage on being the Venusaur.
On the switch, the Delphox spends another turn asleep.
There's a close combat from Sneasler, connects onto the Venusaur.
Big damage there, 40% to the Venusaur, but not enough.
Sneasler drops its defenses here, and the ancient power comes out from Charizard.
are that's gonna pick up the Del Fox and with just the sneezer against three Pokemon now
So Mizu Buchi looks like he is about to be undefeated heading into round six
So close at the end there but now able to work around to see that he went which means that I'd get much more challenging for him
That I think it needed to be even the game where he got lucky
They just couldn't stop being excited, but really fun ending there.
And what Claire's doing a great job of keeping themselves in the game, right?
I think either of them could easily have gotten blown out with a couple more mistakes there,
but kept doing what they needed to do to keep the game moving forward.
I think that was a great move at the end there by Natto, even if Delphak did walk it up,
still some pads forward there, or would have been able to bring his own final Pokémon back
in to get that fake-out pressure again.
Maybe still would have been okay, but it would have been a little spookier, so...
would have been tight, would have been rough,
would have been real tense to make that happen.
But wow, what a three game set here.
If you are Adam, if you are cheering on for him,
you have to be proud of how he played across all three
of these games.
And of course, now Tomi is a Bucci now at five and O
on his way to potentially becoming the second world
champion to repeat.
Yeah, I mean, he'd say probably never felt closer.
I mean, five and zero is looking good.
You know it's another tournament where I feel you feel good about your team. I mean, why not you right now proven
He can win this tournament before he's proven
He can handle the stress and hey, you know again look at the standard show a lot of the players
And maybe he's coming in like man, I sure have to you know, I don't know if you're intimidated by anyone if you're that tier player
Like you know, I prefer to play that player a little later in the
Maybe some of them aren't gonna get there right so maybe you look at that as an opportunity and yeah
What are the impressive players you I think just a really fun
that he played there as well where I think there's a combination of Pokemon that
he did work a little bit in the team creation phase maybe to fit all the
held items together where actually the anti synergy there isn't so much the
Pokemon is and all kind of wanting this they all want the same thing it worked
out pretty well and hey you know I think there's something to be said to
you know these dinosaur teams do often wind up relying so much in sleep
hydra hitting I think maybe being a little bit more reliable is worth
some of the cost of it just getting exploded like it did in that first
game. Absolutely and you know it's so tense when it comes down to that one
extra turn of sleep. When you're running a VSR team this happens all the time.
Either you need to land that one crucial sleep powder to give yourself a
little bit more breathing room or you are just hoping and praying that you
are going to get the extra turn of sleep that you need. You start flipping
coins sometimes it comes up heads sometimes it comes up tails. I think
it's really fun about watching the best players playing VSR as well.
Okay, well, how can I manipulate this game to kind of minimize the damage of the bad roles where you know something
They're just gonna happen right? It's the nature of the Pokemon. You know a fortunately
We don't have a Pokemon that's faster with everything else on the Sun in his score, right?
I think they don't think our case. We don't right. I think we're all happy to have a way happy deal with anything
I quite that level of power
But because of that, you know this Pokemon has weaknesses and I think he having to manage the probability is being the
I think that's the course of that set.
I played pretty well in the face of that sort of probability, right?
Where things largely weren't going that way, right?
Where certainly that sleep by Delphox particularly was big,
but almost every other roll went the wrong way, right?
I guess there's an incident where it's like,
well, other than those two rolls.
Other than that.
Yeah, it's asterisk.
But still, a lot went the wrong way, right?
And played well, that's like, hey, you know,
even with the dice maybe going a little bit the wrong direction
in that one, able to close that out.
Not comfortably, but like solidly.
Yeah, not comfortable in any sense of the word, I would say there at the end there, but I know I need to take a breather after this set, so we're going to toss it down to the stage to hear directly from Naoto, who is now undefeated, heading into Swiss round six.
Thank you so much Scott and Evan. I am indeed here with the winner of our Swiss
Mr. out at number five, Naoto Mitsubuchi,
how are you feeling now that you are undefeated still?
Naoto-san, congratulations.
You're now in the fifth place,
how do you feel about the current situation?
I'm very happy.
I want to go to D2, so I want to do my best
to win the first place.
Yeah, I'm feeling really well.
Going 5-0 right now, hopefully I can make it to D2,
and we can still continue that streak
to make it 6-0.
Well, that game 3-win was very exciting.
Why did you decide to change your team between Japan
Nationals and World Championships?
The third match was really great.
I think we changed the team structure in the second and third matches.
Why did you change the team structure?
I think we changed the team structure for Japan and the world.
What is the reason for changing the team structure?
That's right.
If we had the same team, we'd be able to use it.
There's a change.
We'd like to change it to a different color.
In Japan regional it's quite boring if we stay with the same composition,
so I feel like switching it up was better in this case.
Well, in this match you played against a very established team
with Megadel Fox and Megaplast Joyce.
What was your game plan,
that had him into it to defeat this team.
This match, the Megamaboxy and Megacamex
were pretty strong,
but did you think about this strategy?
Honestly, I thought it was a pretty tough matchup,
but if we play it well, we'll have a chance to win.
So, this time, we managed to win.
Yeah, that matchup is actually quite difficult, but with Shier will, along with being able to strategize
with determining, making sure that the movesets are correct and such, I was able to come to it on top.
You did amazing. Nautil, you are coming in as a previous world champion, so how are you feeling
about making Day 2 and making Japan proud.
Thank you so much.
Congratulations again and best of luck in your next matches.
back to you. Thank you so much Rose. This is a fantastic tournament. This is shaping up so,
so well. Nelto played that game so well against Adam. It felt like Adam had all the tools to get
there in the end, but sleep powder is doing its thing in this in this particular format,
in this particular match. When you land your sleep powders and you get the turns of sleep
you need. Venusaur is a pretty good Vaan. Yeah I mean you know, Sneezle is a pretty good mind in that set too though right? I think that's kind of the front of it is, you know every game is a little bit different this form now where there's enough things that can kind of go right, can go wrong, you gotta improvise a little bit.
I think both players look very good in that set. Easy to see how both of them have gotten to 4-0. Yeah 100% I mean especially like that game too where you know it was going well for Nelto and then like everything just went right in that end game.
game for Adamie like made call after call after call and that's like what you've
got to do especially if you're up against the caliber of players you are
you're sitting for no doesn't get easier from there so you know
congratulations to both of our trainers from the last round we've got another
fun feature match before you we've got Stefan Mock versus you your wakasui
here on on the size three matches we're gonna get straight into things
we've got Gengar and Sneezer setting out against King Gengar in this case.
Yeah, I'm really excited about this match because I love this team that Stavon is running here.
But King Gengar, that's not Parish, it's actually just Substitute Gengar.
And using the normal Swamper as well, more supportive here with Yon and Flipturn.
I think this is a really cool team and I'm excited to see how it matches up.
Yeah, I was kind of worried we might not, right?
Where him and Michael Kallshan are very similar teams if not exactly the same one,
but Michael was down to 2-2 before we went up to do this game and like, oh man,
like we've been talking about like the mega Gengar like kind of like trap offense stuff for two regulations now
I was like are we gonna lose it again, but here it is we found it
Yeah, and under 4-0 as well
I mean, you know it just really comes down to who you pair up against in the day and like how those matches go for you
Yeah, it's a team that
Michael
Michael the best was able to apply it to win a grass-freeze event is like certainly came on a lot of people's radar like
especially if a lot of trainers like not really necessarily play to come up against it too often
But like it's something that you definitely add to the list to make sure like do I have a matchup into this
Yeah, we were talking about this a little bit earlier when we saw the the previous Gengar from edu
Which was just that like everyone sort of talks about Gengar as this monster threat that exists at some point
But we never really actually see it because no one was really practicing it publicly before this turn of out
I think one reason for that too is like is that really something you want to be too much anyone's radar like the whole point is like
Oh, like I realized there's a combination of Pokemon that I can kind of just GG without any real counterplay by trapping with Gengar
I'm bringing in an appropriate counter like if they realize that the board state that I need they can either change their team
Or just like not give me that I think this a little in 90 else
He's conveniently just entered the fields
I want to talk about this I was kind of very much that Pokemon right where typically given the choice scarf
I don't this team which is not the way we used to play this Pokemon
typically like sash or light clay and that you're playing very defensively where here you just try to get in the field like
Catch usually gar chop, which this is definitely not what gar chop looks like
But it could help out a little bit against the women's against that like coming back to the match here
I feel like this is one of the things that Gengar actually does struggle with like the team is set up to be able to
Knock out King gambit pretty well. You've got the sneeze leave your life up to power in a focus on
Dragonite, so you can't slow it down with a fake out
You can't slow it down with an Intimidate as well and you use doing a great job in in this early stage of the game of like
Positioning the King Gambit next to the Windsor Cop both getting the speed control pressure up there
But also like hey locking the Gengar into substitute and letting it knock itself out is also an option here to break
Break through the trap. Yeah, that's certainly an option
But Stavon was able to get the substitute onto Gengar before was not afraid of encore pressure earlier
9Tail, you kind of love that you have the ability to potentially lock out this King Gambit with Encore because it's not prankster based.
Another fun thing with 9Tail, it's a weird mechanic, and yeah, is that Encore going to be having? Look at Evan Guild.
Again, it's kind of the fun trick that this Pokémon has, especially with how quick it is, boosted with the item.
Pretty much everything is going to be stuck with this, and yeah, I mean, is Cautail Cleave the ideal move to lock it in this situation? Maybe not.
not. But Nantil's itself now is very safe although I guess it's got a bail too. So you
can get the full reset here. It's like hey, the sports state is bad for everyone. See you in two
turns. I think this is like one of the things that makes this team and mega gengar probably
feels broadly quite difficult to pilot in a format full of basque legions and king gambits
and charrots and etc. Like when you get that nice easy game where you're up against
a mega flow out and you're thinking I don't have to worry about getting knocked out in one.
You're picking daisies in the field.
Exactly.
You're like, you know, it's easy.
They just get picked out so nicely.
But you is doing a great job here.
I think, yeah, seeing how the frets from the front side
of the field is adding up and locking into a Caltow cleave
instead of Suckabunch, not wanting to get caught
by the substitute, but also just
to be able to even move any on-call pressure
just keep on the offensive.
What a great call.
The poor Dragonite taking a ton on the way in,
and I guess these were damaged somewhat negligible,
but I think that's a great turn in.
I think it's a 3.2-men work.
I hate playing against this sort of team,
and I think it makes it just so taxing.
It's like, hey, anytime Gengar's in the field,
whatever play I pick has to handle.
Gengar protects it, and I tell switches in,
and I go, is me?
Because there's so many ways, like, oh man,
like my team is just totally hosed for their main device,
for it's going to take you most of what's left
to recover in.
You get so far playing really well in the device
where it kind of feels a step ahead of a team
supposed to be pushing the tempo against you?
That's right.
Like I'm wondering if and or when we're going to see the Swamper sort of like coming out
because I think it's one of the main tools that you have against just like putting some
pressure on the King Gambit and that's what this team is designed to do in a lot of ways
like Gengar traps a bunch of stuff on the field, you know, you find a way to put
it in the Pokemon that's good against those Pokemon and then you start putting
the damage down on them.
Well here's what you do is you just fire off double, well at least one fighting
type attack into King Gambit here. Of course, blocking the extreme speed there,
Troubledary just enough to keep the King Gambit up on the field here. But I think, you know,
the Dragonite feels good to me, except that it got hit by the Moonblast on the Switch in here.
Other than that, this Dragonite would have been in a great spot, but the call out from Yuya
just making it so that Sophan has really few options here.
Yeah, and it's a tough two. I've just missed that Naka to your right.
As soon as I kept protecting, you know, the extreme speed in that slide
It sounds a very different looking turn, but I probably expect you to knock out, you know, it's also early in the set
We're like, okay. Well, I'm gonna write that one of my notes
But differently next time. Yeah, definitely
I feel like this is one of the things that you've got to like be able to
Understand playing into these sort of game guard teams like trying to keep on top of it with the move selections that you're picking up
But also just like maintaining at least some semblance of momentum over it and seeing those turns where oh
Oh, okay. Scarf, uncle.
That's not looking so threatening this turn.
What's possibly going to be able to switch in?
Ah, I figured it out.
Like, I'm going to moonblast this dragon knight
on the switch in, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
And of course, also then picking up the KO,
they're on the sneeze there with moonblast as well.
Yuyya is playing lights out here.
Yeah, it's tough to see, like, how Stefan can really
come back to this match.
I mean, there is speed control, obviously,
on the Whimsicott that sort of gives the nine tails a little bit of a hard time because in
choice scarf it can't protect itself from any damage. Possibly won't go down in one to
like say a dazzling gleam if you want to respect the dragonite on the other side of the field
but you know that dragonite is on pretty low HP and it's really quite easy to find the
opportunity to pick up a knockout here.
focus on whimsicots huge here too, uh, Stefan does have to double into the whimsicot in order
to pick up the KO there, so you're committing blizzard and extreme speed into that Pokemon
to knock it out, but you really want to be getting damage down onto that Floette that
just mega evolved, yeah, that's a little bit of damage, that's some chip damage right
there, uh, yeah, whimsicot going down to less than half of its HP, like, it's,
it's easy to forget how strong
Dragonite is we haven't seen it as much of the format since it was next to Chen Powell doing. Yeah, I believe Terra normal
Choice band extreme speed. I feel like someone's kind of got lulled to do like a full set of security bites
He's like, oh, like you know that that stuff's not here in Dragonite time
I'm back. Oh wait, that's still it's attack is very high. Oh, hang on a second. Yeah
It's better like while you're kind of getting put in the face by an extreme
I'm getting that knock out the rock into icy wind here probably actually quite influential right because great after the one speed drop on to
The flow at now the nine tails is going to out speed it even in the tailwind
Environment and then the second icy wind takes it to slower than mega gang are the mega gang are can kind of put some pressure down onto that
Pokemon to I think it's really cool right where like maybe one of the more interesting uses of dynamic speed that we've seen where
It's like icy wind in general, it's got way better.
Once things changed a few games ago,
so you have your speed ordered like changed
in the middle of turns, but rarely matters with something
like that.
And you know, the icy wind also does a little bit of damage.
I mean, not so great in the flow out there.
It's pretty strong defensively on the special side.
But there are some Pokemon loose.
I mean, it's not quite that extreme speed on Whimzacot,
but it's not completely irrelevant damage.
Like, you know, if like a Crisely,
it was icy wind to you or something.
Yeah, but the Scezor has the ability to just pick up
that KO.
There's still tailwind up here.
the K.O. on to the Ninetales, and I don't know that Gengar has enough into both of these
Pokemon.
It's hard to imagine that it does.
I mean, his Moon Blast is going to do a big, big chunk, even though Mega Gengar is resisting
that attack.
And, of course, Stefan, following up with the Slug Bomb, trying to get the knockout
on your flowette.
I was about to say it was good I kept the knockout on the flowette, managed
to catch herself, sure.
But, yeah, living on 3%, they're actually quite big, because if the flowette goes
down on that turn there's a world where you can see like a protect on the
gang are the tailwind gets run out and then a couple of shadow balls is enough
to pick up the sneeze alert if it doesn't isn't able to one-shot it from
this range with a diet well you got the out of missing rock slides or something
like that yeah I was like this is like a really interesting my position that's
to find is it I mean I'm the game right he's lost
to here to I think that's like that's the second time in this game where he
He went for an attack, probably expected to get a knockout, played as if he was going ahead and just missed it.
Not that there's an alternative play this time, but at that point, for like, oh man, math is just not on my side today.
It was like, oh man, how is my opponent trained as Pokemon?
I think it's still a very interesting element of the open team sheet format, where the one thing you don't have is training.
I'm assuming here, this is much more defensively oriented training on this team, which can still be deceptive, right?
Because I think people tend to leave the Pokemon open when they're affecting knockouts. It's a great chance to counterattack.
Sorry, we got Dragonite on the field. I'm so happy.
We've got another Dragonite.
On the wrong side of the field, on the other side of the field,
as we say now, you'll notice that this game has been sped up.
We're just trying to make sure we give our players their props
in going through this match and managing to get it
where our trainers are getting set up
for our next round of Swiss.
So here we go, Mega Dragonite coming out here for you.
Yeah, dropping the Charizard on this team
for the Mega Dragonite instead
It takes a little bit of damage from that sludge bomb.
And look at the dragon pulse coming out from Dragonite,
dealing good damage to that Gengar.
Now, looking better here than Charizard
would have probably so far.
But yeah, I mean, I was,
we were looking at this before we gave my air.
I was like, what do you mean you dropped Charizard
from mid six?
That's not mid six.
It's only six.
But hey, I mean, it's showing you that,
actually maybe Charizard isn't actually needed on that.
Well, Dragonite has Heatwave too.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's got like, ear wings.
So like, it's like, some way Charizard, no, no.
If we, if we squint, you know, it's, it's one of those sort of situations, but the dragonite, the dragonite is taking the team in a different direction.
And I feel like, especially going into this where everyone's so practiced with, yeah, the very good Charizard, let's not be around the bush here.
You know, it all swings a match up to his head.
And certainly if you're, if you're targeting those specific kind of archetypes where you think, hey, hang on a second, if I had a dragonite in the situation, my, my time gets much easier.
Yeah, I kind of assumed you like I'm pretty well and like
The air quote mirror against other Charizard camps especially when they don't have any sort of like
Charizard doesn't do super well at dealing damage against Dragonite or Dragonite does pretty well in return. Oh
I can't believe that that Sneasler missed the KO on the other Sneasler
Oh, and then Lynch that is punishing immediately for you. Yeah
Yeah, I feel like this is this is what I think one of the things about the Mega Dragonite as well
It's like it's a lot of trainers are training their chargers
I was very very bulky to be able to take a taxi. She's like you just don't need to do that with dragon eyes
But that was only two times a week instead of four times
Exactly exactly and so you know you you get these situations where a dragon I can sit in front of a lot of
threats much more safely and sort of like dish out that consistent damage
Rather than trying to yeah play for those inaccuracy powders play for those end games that maybe aren't as consistent
It's kind of spooky for Yuya now, having to lock into the rocks like here.
Yeah, it's...
Oh, yep.
See, it just got spookier.
Oh, wow.
Stefan is looking great in this game too right now.
Yeah, getting...
Everything's sort of going a little bit more...
Even when that Gengar hangs on one HP.
So, you know, this is looking like Stefan may be able to take this to a game three.
I see why we're at two times speed now.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, Whimzacot coming in here and, you know, putting a little bit of speed control pressure going on,
the Sneezerless still going to be able to knock out that Gengar regardless,
but it's not going to be able to do too much damage to the Dragonite.
And of course, that extreme speed is out prioritizing the tailwind from Whimzacot.
So...
We need speed pressure.
We need speed control.
Be first.
Just be first.
just play just play every attack being priority and you know you'll have you'll have something to do
Masculine is a pretty good poker player though or that one HP or one percent HP at yin gong are not
looking nearly as good as it did a second ago plan uh and that kills the previous good I know
they're premiums which are right here oh no oh how okay last respects going
Yeah, I think that could be that could be the
Exactly the time that you you needed to come back into this game, right?
Just living on one getting out rocks light to rock slides
I think if I'm not mistaken that Sneezler has had its white herb activated and is faster than both of these Pokemon
So okay, not gonna outpace in extreme speed, but the life orbs gonna take care of that for
You yeah, and now the Apple Jet picking up the Gengar and you you're taking this game to and oh
Wow, perfect adaptation there with the Basque Legion at the end.
Just being able to clean up those last couple of hit points on Stephon's Pokemon.
That was a cool set. I like that.
Definitely. It felt like even all the way through, it's hard to keep up with at two times speed,
but it felt like all of these Pokemon were just living on 1%, like the whole way through.
Not too many focus apps to throw around in a team.
Just train your Pokemon into a position where they can take those attacks, right?
That's the trust and love I've heard so much about, I think.
The first game was kind of the same way, too.
But I do think it's a great game to highlight as well,
where it's very much kind of what we've seen
for regulation of AM and B.
They've been very offensive formats compared to what we saw
during Scarlet and Violet.
And you just have exactly the right final Pokemon.
They're like, hey, things have gone a little bit off the rails,
but I can close out the game this way.
Definitely.
It's all about finding those little opportunities.
And we're going to get an opportunity to kick it over
to our casters to keep this world championship rolling.
Thank you so much. I love to have the opportunity from you three to be able to hear all about that last feature match.
I can all wait to get started back with our main competition coverage here Don.
We're at that exciting time at the tournament where we're starting to, who has what it takes to be the way to phase two?
Yeah, we're nearly there almost here. And this is the, I say the important part, every part of this tournament this weekend is the important part for our players.
gets tougher each and every round if we're all getting closer now to seeing who we're maybe
moving on to that day to unfortunately the tournament. That is the exciting thing about
this match, we're whittling down the competition, getting closer to crowning our world champion.
It's already been really exciting because one of the things is the world championships is
like the culmination of Soledad's entire season, but also you've gotten to see the growth
of trainers throughout the season, right? So there's always going to be favorites going
into a world championships that we've known to win competitions, we look at, you know,
if another world champion can take the win. But it's also really cool to see who has what it takes,
that we've maybe just discovered throughout this past year, that we've talked about,
okay, maybe they're good. Okay, wow, they are good, they show what it, they have what it takes,
and to see them really be able to pop off the world championships. Like, I don't know,
I love being able to see that story, like develop and unfold here.
I think that's one of the views about the World Championship because players can have a little bit of a flying under the radar season where they've just been consistently racking up points doing well.
Maybe not actually winning any of the big events, but they put the hard work in behind the scenes and then they come to this floor and then they give us this story and you have the narrative and you have a new champion, a new champion to follow and share going forward in future years, so yes, you're right, quite rightly.
but we have the notable matches ready for next round.
So if you can have a look at these
and check out which match you will be streaming.
Looking over at these matches as well,
a lot of four ones, of course,
you took a one loss, you're good on the day.
Five of those, you're one away
from you're securing your spot here in phase two.
And for our next feature match,
it's gonna be Kari D. Ortona going up
against Narrowich Neda.
And I love this matchup because when we look
at the stories throughout this year and past years,
Terry is someone that especially this year has really been able to have such a
I don't want to say glow up because that implies that it wasn't you wasn't good before right
But we've really gotten to see those results come to light here on these regional stages
And for narrow edge I looking back at past kind of some championships
You know get finalists finalists like we know they have what it takes to make the right to the top level
Looking to get a first place here on an even bigger stage I think that she's absolutely incredible
Yeah, it's very exciting. One of these players will be walking away after round six, six in all, which is just an incredible feat in itself.
But looking at some of the other matches here that we've got as we go down, I brought a QnA we featured earlier against Fuyoji Kaeda.
That is a QnA 8 matchup there.
You can see as well a colleague of ours, Marcus, on the other side this weekend, having a QnA 4-1 up against a very tough opponent in the W, the Carrera going up there next.
But you can see the absolute class that we've got here across the board in round six and we're only just at the tip of the iceberg with the tournament.
We've got so much to come over the weekend as we get to the proceedings.
At this point, though, for any of the trainers, especially sitting at that five and zero, you're just one spot away from phase two of the competition.
And it does kind of seem like there is a little bit of breathing room if you take a loss here because, oh, well,
only a couple of matches you just have to win one more right, but we have gotten to see
especially at the world championships that there has been people who have gone undefeated up until
well okay we took our one loss okay oh yeah I have a couple more chances all of a sudden it's this
absolutely cracked player or a rock slide flinter anything else and that could just be your
world's dreams completely shattered so to be able to secure a spot now for these trainers
would just be so good. So let's go to the stage and start seeing what we're talking about for
this match. Again to start off 6 and 0 would be incredible and you want to be able to go beyond
as well in Rack of Us as many wins as possible for Top Cut with two teams that are very Pokemon
champions. Yes, one that has picked up a lot of popularity coming into the world championship
starting to mega ride to Y and D to Mega Star at the team. Sort of there with the
Relation the mega star after this is such a fun at Pokemon because of course you can deal a lot of damage
And think you're putting a really really tricky spots and bright you for that coverage is amazing
Yeah, these reasons pair quite nicely together and it's not one of those teams where you kind of pick one mega over the other
These commonly come together you bring the star after mega that bring that right you along as well because not mega
It's got a lightning rod so gives up really nice support. It's got plastic out as well
also can provide a lot of value and bringing bolts sometimes on the fly can make you kind of decide
Okay, well, I was gonna go this Megan now
I'm gonna go down this other line and that can prove the difference between winning and losing a lot of the time
I can't ignore the Sui and Arcanine as well. What a big powerful plug on this is ChoSka
Sorry, focus sash on there getting carried away, but it gives that little blanket of security
Of course, it's gonna have to be hit twice before it is taken down and with that rockhead ability not taking any recoil
of the game. You have to be
very, very respectful of that
Pokemon when it is in front of
you. It called out looking at
Kerry's team. No weather. That's
because never which has both of
them as we get to see that dual
weather team. You have the
chargers that of course upon
mega evolution, such the sun
or Telepter and of course a
variety of options for either
which mode that you go for
that. I love the amount of
options we have. Yeah, and
that's the beauty about this
team. You can really pick and
choose the best fall on all the
options that you do have over
those two Weathers. Not only
that, you've got the archaled
on as well. They can come in
take advantage of the rain.
It doesn't necessarily mean
if I'm really benefits with
that electric shots in this
will want to be an attack.
The big part of this team
those support it all around by
that green snow with that,
you know, the light clear
light clear item that it's got to extend the screen support and looking on the
carry side they don't have anywhere to stop or get rid of those screens so if
the Grim snout is there setting up the light screen reflected it's gonna make
it look like a hole. A winning in for these two trainers the winning in to be 6 and 0.
It's time to see who that's gonna be as we get into our match. Right away that
weather mode, remember which we're gonna see that rain so right away
Pelopter drizzled, the rain is out, but really shine's kind of an option for Harry.
Yeah, I mean, the Intimidate here was really useful on to that Starraptor, the Arcana here is nice as well, it's going to naturally outspeed that Pelopter, it is heavily threatened from the Monter, but we can talk about that in a closer patch.
It is going to have room to take at least one attack from that in the Monter, so we're all good to go.
We're just making a quick appearance in this match.
We are out of there and instead of Pokemon, I can really start putting more offensive pressure
or calibon to join the field.
The Megalusion for this Star Raptor, but not the only one, as it's going to be Meta Swampert
coming out as well as much damage out on the board.
But we'll have to see where these trainers decide to target a lot of heavy hitters
here.
First off though, it's just going to be priority that extreme speed into Swampert
to start dealing some amount of damage
in retaliation though with that mega evolution
you have this speed on your side
wave crash will be sure after down to
about a third of its health
the slowest combat this with the mega evolution
is so nice not enough
to pick up the swamper though you get that defense
and special defense raise but you didn't
pick up the kale the swamper still can be taken off
by an extreme speed next turn
yeah it's a really nice double up from karry not
focusing on trying to match speed
control here with the kale and going full out
and he's trying to contain this swamper.
Now, like you see, the extreme speed pressure in there,
so now Richie's gonna have to use it to check out a switch
and let it go down three without really getting that much value off it.
Now you've got the Autelidon in, it hasn't had a stamina boost,
but it is threatening the Electroshock into the store after this turn.
It has to be careful though, it's got no defensive support,
so the post-combat into that slot would be detrimental,
maybe even close the screen of a knockout.
And you don't have to worry about a hit from the Mega Swamper,
because it is gone, extreme speed priority.
It is out of there in the follow up post
on that into the Archaladon.
It's not gonna appreciate the hit,
but it will survive it.
Another defensive special defense move
for that start after though,
an offense one for the Archaladon.
Electro shot of course with this rain,
this is gonna get instantly powered up.
So you first take a pause,
you breathe, you absorb the electricity,
you get that special attack.
Now targeting you down into the closing end.
Again, we got two special defense moves at this point,
But with the low amount of HP, it's not going to matter.
We're going to trade Mega Volcano on this turn.
Yeah, it's nice to get rid of the Star Raptor,
but it carries so much value out of that Mega Evolution.
You feel like you're still far ahead in this match.
A lot for now, it's due to so much damage from that post-combat.
And you know, the Teleporter is in the back.
That isn't able to come in free as long as it's organized.
Still active, it's going to be susceptible to an essential head smash.
Get knocked out by that.
and then he goes to the corner.
Still didn't come in, but we haven't seen a field yet.
Now we're bringing in that Venus,
so that is gonna help out a bunch against that
Tilt-E on a particular, but we still got to deal
with this Alkenine.
It's still helped.
It's still got that focus-hatch attack.
That's the problem.
The focus-hatch attacks, where you have to put two hits
into it to take it down, and it's just addition out.
I wouldn't say Oodle's a damage at this point,
but the extreme speed has put in a lot of momentum,
and at any point, Gary does decide just to bring with
one of those big moves.
Like, even on the PlayerBlitz,
any hand smash that could maybe
just even threatening one hit here.
So protect from the Venusaur,
or chop it on as well.
Making sure both Pokemon can survive this turn.
You get opportunity also,
what's going on.
PlayerBlitz, despite the rain,
trying to target down into Venusaur.
So now you have full information
that you can take into this next turn.
But what do you do here?
You get a little bit of leftover recovery,
but it's about it.
It's a very difficult situation. I think, you know, the reindeer in the back of the house,
you think it's the flair blitz, so it gives Venusaur a little bit of time.
The one thing you could say that Venusaur could maybe take a time to jump, is the speed pattern.
You can put that alkanine to sleep. You don't need to necessarily worry about the Sylvia,
but you didn't get that alkanine as sleep, surviving in flair blitz.
That might be enough to give you room to get the helipad back onto the field after waiting to sleep.
trying to make sure that we can take this Venusaur down in one hit though.
Quick attack, break the focus off, follow up, we're going straight for that head
smashage, eight, five, Venusaur down, another fail in Mary's way.
Electrotop for the Archialodon, we already have one of those special
attacks too, so we're looking at a lot more damage though, but again a lot of
momentum has been taken by Mary in this mess. The Archialodon has a lot of
brown to take up and Arcanine, I mean you're still sticking around for another turn.
Yeah and it's in prime position to throw another head to match the next turn.
The hell of it, look at this, he's out here from that if he does connect.
And then the Sylvian keeps fire out of a hyper voice, so it will be enough to pick up the Archeladon.
Remember the Archeladon has had a few stings in the belt, so he's the flash cannon at this range.
I mean if you take down the Sylvian you've totally said not.
So, Sylvian feels in a really strong position here.
The telephoto doesn't pose a point.
Well, it's a little bit of an alleviation there, but it doesn't have any protector.
It is really going to be a good set of location.
Headsmash is coming out right now.
Headsmash into the telephoto.
Absolutely no chance.
Only one Pokemon left for Norwich in this match.
And it's an arch-elidon.
I guess you have those moves,
but how much damage will this do into Sylvian?
It will be enough here, so it is a KO.
Yo, you have that information going into the next, but again, you have just this Archialodon left within this match and an Archilodon that's ready to take it down.
Yeah, they just...
You know, Sylvia might not be able to walk here, but now you've got a little bit of support in that Archilodon, and it's going to offer up a takeout, allow Archilodon to get at least one more attack off before it goes to a down.
anything coming out from that R-Telegon, that slot will be enough.
Are you going to have to rely on the right to use non-Mega Forcus Blast
to really get the last bit of damage off as we see that R-Telegon protecting on this stage out?
Yep, protect past the turn, pass the potential, take out,
and we just get to sit through the animation.
Focus Blast, a flare blitz, go next on this turn,
get a little bit of that left over's recovery, bring it back up to almost a felt full.
Yeah, it's not over yet, and it makes more sense to go for focus blasts there if you all carry, because pick up will activate the stamina or weaken the Alcanine attack, so if you go for that focus blast, although it's not the best of accuracy, if you hit then it's 3 and the load is dead, the level is coming out, and it is going to be in touch with no end here enough, tying on like constantly there, but it says the Alcanine on target, not Alcanine.
That's going to be the question and no, instead into the protected right shoes.
So Terry on this turn gets some damage down and that's about it.
Still eats two, the one with an archaladone that could protect for a little bit more left over recovery, but.
So let's talk some more.
Terry to the spot and one of those focus classes, who are you going to hit now?
I think that protect is so crucial that for Terry, really smart to play.
Coaching his finale just getting taught any wrong it was a bit of a 50-50
or can protect right but now you're probably putting yourself out of range from that flablet
but you still if you want Harry kind of able to go for that focus blast and the flablet
and be off, you want to support it and then the combination isn't that big a stand.
The focus flash comes out and is hitting and makes it target and it will be enough to
take this Archeladon down. Archeladon can do so much but 1v2 in this situation
not enough carry to take the first game in this set.
I mean, the amount of momentum we got from this arc nine was incredible.
Even just softening up Pokemon at the beginning with those extreme speeds.
And even if we weren't picking up peyote, you bring them down to a little bit of health,
you pick them off next turn.
It's absolutely incredible.
I mean, even if some of the Pokemon were feeding, you just couldn't do enough.
No, and I think the pressure from right out of the gates to the carrier fight
It was just remarkable there. It really stopped Nara to be able to lean into this rain mode.
Like they would probably like to. On paper, this one putt has a great matchup into this team, right?
But the Arcanae got to those latter turns, it still hadn't taken any damage.
Just because of the utility of that extreme speed, throwing the close combo into it early
and putting in range of a second extreme speed.
Will Nara which fall for that this time around, or will there be more protection against that one putt?
But there is leverage about going after that off in an early goal.
It's a 6-0 spot on the line, carry one game close to that, heading into game number two though.
Narrowich, again, will go for the really strong rain lead, so Calliper with the rain.
And we're just having a full run back here with Kari as well.
So how are we going to differ this?
Because last time, Kari was able to get a lot of momentum with just starting with an extreme speed into what was a squat out Pokemon.
We'll have to see if we target into the Archaladon as again,
swap start happening.
And the problem is if you target down into the Sauraphae,
you're ignoring the Arcanine.
If you target down into the Arcanine,
you're ignoring the Sauraphae.
So this is why you can't believe this.
You suck, but because you believe,
it makes it difficult to choose the right target
every time you saw how things are holding
against the Sauraphae in game one.
You've got the Arcanine here.
We might see how that turns out and plays on board.
But we're not seeing any Stream Speed this time around.
No extreme speed wave crash into the star after the sun again to just feel a bunch of damage from the get go
The star after and said wants to make sure that carry has the speed going on for no offensive
Just tailwind head smash though will be a miss into the arch out on so no damage felt from carry at all
Yeah, and now we've got that tailwind in effect so the star after the arc and angle naturally outspeed everything
On narrowest decided feel which gives that star after a little bit room to go after that
that Swampert, or more importantly, you can go after the Archaladon with a post-combat.
And look at this there, it's much more amazing.
Even if the Archaladon actually kind of came a little bit out from a wall here,
where the defense hasn't been activated.
So this close combo will do a little bit more.
So the double up into that slot, if you get a break, it's going to pay off.
At least the first call here is good.
So at least for Narrowich, it will be a protect from the Swampert,
and it's carried both Pokemon attacking into it.
So no damage done, eight again.
And Arteladon now out on the field in the rain is the perfect situation to go ahead and click this electro shock button.
Sir Afterhead's already taken so much damage, you cannot let this Pokémon start to run away with the match.
So we hit into it, Narich the first to take a KO.
Yeah, this makes a big difference from that game one.
Now the Arteladon hasn't taken that initial close combat damage.
We saw how good it was in the late game for Narich, now I'm gonna be able to take fully banning full health.
now got that special attack boost, Han starts to go after maybe that Arcanem with the skill
it's still the intern of someone with the skill, you hog it down into that
you go after the Arcanem with an electrician knowing that if you get through that turn
then the following turn a flash cannon is going to be more than enough to pick up
knockout there and you also got to contend with the fact that the killwind is in effect
so you want to try and stall that out as well so you want to just go whole
dive in straight away you want to try and take your time, utilize your protection
you can, but also not put yourself in a vulnerable position inside.
That's exactly it. If you're not in position to wanting an attack with both your Pokemon this turn,
go ahead and make a read. We can maybe just see some protects, but instead, feeling comfortable
in this situation, your rain is, you know, on a timer, at least for the right here, right now.
First hit into the air, Taladon. Samina defense is up. Wave,
Fragment House Wampra is still oh so speedy and so much damage into the Sylveon. A lot of
the three quail done to this
one for though it's about half
but it's still beyond it's the
hyper hyper beam coming on out
into the search out to take it
down. Wow you can see the value
of that intimidate the star after
dropped onto that swamp but
earlier on allowing you to take
that wave crash not out speeding
it until when tells you a little
bit about the training but that
hyper beam so pivotal there to
remove the threat that was
damage in this match that is still kicking around, but Venusaur hitting the field, this
can threaten into this Sylveon, but again, you'd have to get past this Arcanine. Luckily
for Nirwitch though, it is protecting, as Venusaur also opts to keep itself safe on
this turd. Now to see where we're thinking for the other Pokemon, Swampert with this
Earthquake. That would have been so much damage into this Arcanine, but it will
be hitting into the Sylveon and already only at 9% health will be enough to take it down.
Yeah, a bit dead weight there because it had just, well it has to spend a turn of W charge
after the Hyper Beam. And now you've got the situation where that seal went ended. Now this
one's, with the Rain Active, is going to be the fastest thing in the field. It will be threatening
that arcane now. And it's out of range from an extreme speed, you know that? So it's got a
free wave pressure into that slot. And then you can utilize and leverage the Venus Soul.
Good to be a bit careful.
The photograph on the field now
is offering significant damage to the Venusaur,
but there is the Sleep Powder.
If you can hit those Sleep powders,
like you mentioned, again, Mon,
go for that option.
It's pretty hard stuff to shift down these options
and do yourself that room.
The room needed for the Swamper and the Venusaur
to cause this match of tie-in and take us to game three.
One more turn of rain left in Pelfer,
still hidden faithfully in the back here,
for Narrow Edge as a earthquake from the Swamper
to hit everything out on the field.
Arcanine, that's gonna bring it right down to its focus sash, but we're just going all out offensive
It doesn't matter if we hit our own Pokemon head snatched in return into the Venusaur
We'll take it down so two Pokemon remaining for now
It's now with this paragraph not only snatched it's barely the most offensive
But again, there's been a lot of recoil, but Swampert still gonna be holding on
Yeah
And now this that psychic might be really important just to put this home but in range of extreme speed now
now the arcanine looks like it's numbers are up but I don't think so the extreme speed coming
out into that swampert the thing that you've got to be careful about is going for extreme
speed into protecting the pellet picking you up now which one do you target it's really
difficult to get the pellet but swampert if they touch that arcanine they are going
to take it down and then photograph really not in a position to handle the remaining
pokemon in the field no extreme speed in the nerf coming out.
No extreme speed and an arc line that's just on his sliver of health, so Earthquake will take it down.
Only one Pokemon left for Kari with his Briggarab, and it's with the Swamper still kicking around,
and a paliper has full health, ready to go out on the offensive.
The weather ball is probably all it's going to take, but it's not good.
Next turn, soon, we'll put what we need to take.
But of course, though, we'll take down the Swamper, so we will go down to a 1v1 situation.
But we can have these two Pokemon. We're just a hell of a present.
Majority health. All of the health.
Yeah, the other Pelopas sit in a great spot.
It's still got its citrus berry as well, so if things do get a little bit overreacted,
I don't think that's going to happen.
The Weatherball is going to pick up the knockout here on this photograph and close it.
I mean, we'll be going for them for you. Or maybe not this time here.
The photograph wants to do many things at the same time.
With that protected, we see the Weatherball.
I think the thing you could do is try and stall out the rain, but I don't know.
I'm going to get down to protect the ball.
This turn, you were trying to put the end game button
last turn, it was me.
But at this point, it's choreographed with not
that much health, no double protect on through,
and a pellet for, again, with this weather ball.
That will be accurate.
You have this rain.
And will be enough.
We are going to a game three.
Fantastic win going with this rain mode coming out
from Norwich.
This is the same mode, the same leaves we saw from game
number one but such a drastic difference. Yeah we saw some a little bit of a
different approach here the wave crash coming out and into that Sylveon there
catching it. It's a big damage. This is the the point where you think well if
the Sylveon goes down here this hyper beam doesn't happen and I think
Swampert our challenge doesn't just run away with the game but you can see the
defense investment that Karrie's got on that Sylveon you know kind of what
its speed is we're not at speeding Swampert in the tail end so you can make an educated guess
where most of its investment is.
It's helping stuff, but yes, the adaptations won't make the difference.
What are we going to see going into this one?
Same leads from now on.
One more game and we're running it back again.
Same leads for all three games.
It's very different results since.
So how, now going into this game three with both trainers
knowing that these leads are capable of winning,
do we switch it up to make sure we get the upper hand here?
I think it's again, I think if you are narrow, which you've got to really deal with this alcanine as best as possible
Because if you leave it on the field, it's okay more
And how quickly you can run away with things, but again, you've got to have a backup plan for the star after as well
But switch or a lack of a switch coming up from narrow, which is another way
We're going to be switching up this game number three as Pelper will remain on the field to try and maybe put
Some offensive pressure on its own as of course both trainers will go ahead and mega obon wave trash first
first from the Swamper, we've seen this damage roll start after a third of its health, but
where are we going to switch it up here? Close combat into the Swamper in retaliation, we're
running it down to about a save. But of course, get that defense and special defense boost,
head smash into the Felipher there, Felipher is back around and it's going to be taken
down. Yeah, that's it. You know the Felipher has switched out both Kills 1 and 2 this
Time now, I'm going to try and catch you with it, but Harry is smartly not falling for it and really getting a big return there.
Now the Archeladon comes onto the field, Swampert is in a really good position to get another wave crush off, but as you would say, it's probably just our range from next game to the next game, but you never know on the roll.
That's the thing, does Harry commit to that? Try and kick it up, because if you do it for instance, or after the Archeladon, get a close combat off, which we've seen how valuable that can be,
getting closer to picking up a knockout. Not enough extreme speed. We'll bring it down low,
but Squamper still gets one more attack and into the Starrafter, that's going to be one mega Pokemon
down. It was a lot of damage into the Squamper though, so with the recoil it's going to be an
eye for an eye. Both trainers will lose a Pokemon on this turn. Now our charlatan gets
this electric shot, so an opportunity to start getting those special attack boosts.
Yeah, this is a really huge turn and one of the drawbacks about going for that extreme
speed and not picking up the knockout is this arcane now going to be a bit of a sitting
target here.
This electro shot that Valkyrie Sash is now broken as well and the special attack boost
on the Archalagon making it bigger, direct going into the next turn.
There's Vurgac coming out next here for Peri and the Venus or something out as well
which is nice.
Peri's got the psychic super effective damage into that Venus so we've got to try
and break the Sash on that Pokemon before going after it and it's not the Silgion
like we've seen in the past, you know, there's still being to come in now, yes it will be
thrown by the Venusole, but we do have that hyperbose, so the hyper beam that can quite
effectively deal with our Chaladon, so maybe that's something that we're keeping for later
on in this game to try and utilize as a last option.
Looking at these four Pokemon as well, as well time for sex, but maybe it goes huge
here, but we're just going to go all out offensive starting off with the Flare
Blitz, still a lot of damage despite the current climate, sleep outer that we
We talked about how much that can switch a match,
but it will miss.
Furgraph is a wake and kick in,
but our Dralodon at least gets another opportunity
to set up.
Again, we've gotten to see how low
this archer mine's been brought down.
So do you feel for the KO or for the Furgraph?
We're going for that guaranteed KO.
Only two Pokemon left for Karrion.
There is still of course the opportunity
for the Furgraph to respond on this turn,
and we're switching up the dimensions.
Now all the slow Pokemon are gonna be super super fast.
Yeah, that's a great turn from Kerry just to say okay.
Well, if I lose this arc around here,
I set the trick room up and now I get my Sylveon
in a blind position.
Now it's gonna go before that finish off.
It would otherwise threaten super effective damage
with the sludge bomb.
All that sleep barra to shoot it down.
Now you've got the option to go after
and arch it on with that big, powerful hyper beam.
It has got two electric shots under its belt.
It's plus two if a flash cannon hits the Sylveon,
we know that's enough to pick up the knockout.
Then where do you protect?
What do you attack with on this turn?
Make sure you can make the most of these two
as I mentioned.
Bill Vion, not one of the full victims.
Two of that Flash Cannon will protect the Arch-Halladon
as well.
So we're looking at the Venusaur going up against this
burger app, as that psychic heading down into the
end-by-the-saur will be enough.
A 1v2 situation.
The Arch-Halladon does have full health,
does have the two special attack raises,
but you're still contending with two full health
Pokemon on the opposing end.
Yeah, and the one thing that Kerry has as well on top of that
is this helping hand.
That's going to boost this movie and further make it more
powerful and guaranteed, potentially, a knockout.
Sylveon can do it all.
And with the help of this helping hand,
it will be the Hyper Hyper B once again, Archialodon.
That is a one hit.
Hey, yo, and with that, Kerry, see your tone up.
Find yourself undefeated still here at the Pokemon World
Championships, and we'll be moving on.
base two of the competition.
Get a trainer that has accomplished so much in this year.
He's broken, he can win.
And he's looking to try and make that push once again.
Yeah, doing it in a real style here.
What a way to do it against a tough team as well.
When you look at it on paper, you say,
how are you beating this mega Swampert?
How are you beating the rain?
You've got nowhere to disrupt it.
The Swampert feels like it could just run through you,
but picking the move choices
and getting everything right so often,
not getting caught, not getting conditioned as well
that game three going after that Pelipere against him. Okay well if you keep it in
then I'm gonna get it. If you switch it to the Archaladon we'll approach that
next turn. So here now in the moment I'm making some real decisions that are
gonna sway this match in my favor. I did get a bit fortunate with that sleep
out of miss. If that hits then the trick room doesn't go off. The Sylvian's
not in such a great position the Archaladon feels like it could close
the game up from there. But that's the risk you take. Sleep out of the
most accurate attack and take an advantage of the turn that you've
hard with a trick room getting it set up, Sylvan comes in and then closes everything out.
It was just such a well played set for both of our trainers though to be able to see three
identical leads throughout the matches but such varying results was genuinely such a treat and the
biggest congratulations to Kerry. I mean the way he was piloting this team there's so much offensive
pressure from the get-go again which had to pick. What do I want to try and take down?
Okay. Well, the other football is now a big threat and I think that was just a really really great set from both trainers
But for Kerry find himself phase two
That's very very exciting and yeah, what a way to do it
And I think the adaptations as well from game one to game two all the time you can take in two
I think switching from the right shoe to the furigraf
I think obviously paid off dividends in game three, but that adjustment there
So we didn't get time to talk about too much
But I think a real valuable one because that was the difference in our game three and now rich kind of
adjusted as well knowing that the threat that the Arcanine was, we saw them struggle to deal
with that threat from the Arcanine in game one and it just kind of ran over the obstacles in front
of it and I think the adjustments game two really showed why they're at this stage, why they were
five and oh yes they've taken a loss but I'm sure this won't be the last we'll be seeing of them
over this weekend without such strong Sunray team. With such a well-placed that, how could
we say otherwise, right? It'd be a criminal not to so hopefully we do need to get to see
We still have a couple more opportunities for anybody who is taking a loss or potentially
two to make their way there.
But for now, of course, we have to talk to the man who is undefeated, carries on stage
with their interview now.
Thank you so much, Sierra.
I'm here with Kari Diotona undefeated here at Day One at Worlds.
Congratulations.
How does it feel?
Nerve-wracking a little bit.
This team likes to miss a lot of moves, so that's probably the most stressful thing
about it.
Well you have your best buddy Arcanine with you right there and I have the first thing written down in my notes
I mean his suey and Arcanine into a rain team led right in the front games one and games three possibly game two
I had to go get my mic all set up. So I missed that
Tell me the reasoning behind it. So the reasoning behind it is things can get really sketchy if he decides to go
Charizard Venus or for example mainly because if I lead anything else like let's say King Gambit or Sylvia on which are really good
into a Swamper Pelper lead.
It's not as great into Charizard
because you're not really pressuring Charizard at all.
They can just sleep powder the Starraptor
and go for Heat Wave and start expanding.
So Harkinine is mainly just to pressure that out.
I do have some like other game plans
I could have gone with,
but I felt pretty confident in the Harkin plan
as long as I just got the turns right.
Well, tell me a little bit more about your team
because the last time we saw you compete,
it was at the North America International
Championships where you were running
the Mega Charizard Y team that we've seen.
So many people run throughout the champion's life cycle
I mean, this team is very different today, so I stuck with Charizard for a pretty long time
I thought it was the best one in the format and it still obviously is
My issue with that kind of archetype is right now due to the limited decks
I feel like the teams are trying to do too much and it leads to where you have a lot worse matchups into more things
rather than having more positive matchups into others and so
After playing any I see and I wasn't too proud of my play. I tried big six as it's called
for the start of this format and I wasn't really bobbin with it tried some other
Charizard teams those didn't feel great like the top specs teams have very niche
matchups that they lose to and then I come upon this team actually from a
video that Colin Hire and Raghav made together and I'm like you know this team
looks awesome this looks fun and so I do some digging I see that you know
Kamura is playing around with it and I start looking into it and the team
pretty much doesn't really have any like I would say absolute negative
matchups at worst everything is like a 50. So I would I would have wanted to
bring that because at least my words matchups come down to 50-50 calls that I
could make and capitalize on. But at the other side of that coin is that you're
making these 50-50 calls and I mean I think it was Lee who said this you
had to pick every single call right in that game number three that's a lot of
pressure for yourself. It's round number six it's been a long day is that
starting to wear on you a little bit? A little bit. Game two I was
particularly stressed about because I found the one way back in which was he
eqs himself on the Venus order and then I can head smash and then it just came
down to a 50 if he protects Swampert or not because if I if he protects Swampert
and I head smash Pally then he loses but if I protect Hark and he swings with
Swampert then I can psychic to kill the Swampert so it's just a lot of 50-50s
I did get very lucky with the sleep powder miss game 3 but I still had a
chance to close it out if Pharigoraph does get the wake up but
like you know RNG stuff happens stuff like that so it gets shaky. Is there
anything you're doing to help keep your energy up throughout the tournament day?
I'm trying to take breaks when I can like refocus on mental talk with friends,
take it one game at a time that's the most important thing of all. For sure,
well I do want to make sure you have a chance to take a break before the next
round of Swiss. Carrie do you have any shout outs you want to give to anybody
who's watching at home? Yes, so first off I would like to shout out Patrick
Connors and Kayden Owens. I worked with them on this team heavily. I also
I just want to shout out you to Kamara
for making the original build of the team.
And then I would also, I guess,
shout out Colin and Raghav,
because they made the video.
And then lastly, people who just give me
like ever loving support,
not only from my Florida group,
but Stefano Grepi, Carson St. Denis,
and Christopher Hahn.
I love you all.
Thank you so much.
Thank you as well for joining me on stage
for this quick interview.
Best of luck in the rest of the tournament.
And thank you all for joining me here
on the stage and at home.
We're gonna be back after a short break,
So please stay tuned.
Welcome to the finals in the junior division of the Pokemon video game.
Most iconic moments in Pokemon come from trainers in the Masters division, but this time around
the juniors stole the show in Columbus.
The trainers in the juniors division often show the purest form of passion for the
game of Pokemon.
Avery's energy made him an immediate fan favorite.
Got Avery from the United States and Takumi from Australia.
I am enchanted with these trainers.
Avery made it to the finals with the help of his hard trick room team.
Trick Room can be a difficult strategy to implement, especially when relying on an unconventional
the Pokemon like Orangaroo.
Orangaroo is my favorite of all time.
I mean, he's like, he supports other Pokemon.
Orangaroo is carrying a very interesting move called
Instruct.
So if you're able to get the twerkle into position
or something that's just going to be a little bit slower,
then you can start firing off some big damage that way.
Trick Room teams flip the game on its head
by having the slowest Pokemon on the field move first.
Tell us about your team that you're about to play.
It's hard Trick Room.
Hard trick room game plans can even be difficult for masters of vision trainers to pilot, but
Avery was ready to show the world that juniors are wise and well beyond their years.
For his strategy to work, Avery's orangaroo would need to twist the dimensions.
We're going all in with a terrestrialization on the orangaroo, while the game plan is
being executed for Avery very very quickly here.
With iron hands going down, Avery brings Torco onto the field for free.
In another trick room, Torco is one of the strongest Pokemon in the game, with the Sun
boosting all fire attacks by 50%, and Eranger is instruct allowing it to attack twice in
one turn.
This Torco was ready to erupt.
With the momentum in Avery's favor, Takumi's savvy defense turns the tides of Game 1 and
punishes Torquil, putting the Australian youngster in a winning position. Despite properly setting
up Trick Room, game one got away from Avery, but even if Orangaroo didn't work the first time,
it was important for Avery to trust the process and rely on the strategy that got him to the
finals. This one is going into game two with Takumi up one and oh. After the exact same turn
one play in game two, Avery's Torquil was ready to take over, which meant it was time for
to do it again. Every once again is the opportunity to bring in the tour calls. Let's do it again. Yep. That's the
instructor learning from his mistakes against Ting Liu in game one. Avery made an adjustment to keep
momentum on his side. This was where last game got a little bit different because he went for the
overheat into the protect. Let's see if every country again. See you late to cheer you. Although it
didn't have a single attacking move. Terrifier. Aranguru was the star of the show. The ability
The ability to instruct your teammate to attack again would lead to more offense than Takumi could handle.
Does it hit this time of rematch? It's going to be another over-heat from the Torcal.
Avery's confidence was back, taking down Takumi's team one by one.
This championship would be decided in game three.
The crowd became enchanted with Avery and Aranguru.
It was incredibly amusing to watch such a simple yet repeatedly effective strategy from a junior.
first two games playing out the exact same way on turn one there would be no
surprise with these two trainers would do in game three. This is three games, three
identical turn ones. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. With trick room set up, the
crowd was chanting do it again knowing another instructor was on the way.
Avery's bravery relying on a 90% accurate overheat to connect twice
into G.U. would put him into a commanding position. With Takumi's
back against the wall, he would put all his hopes into Terra Water Fluttermane, but Avery's
orangrew had one final instruction, become champion.
We know what's coming, and even with that defensive Terra, Avery is getting another bite of the
cherry.
Avery will be a well-deserved champion, showing a crazy strategy.
I think people have forgotten about it too.
Avery is immortalized in Pokemon history as a champion, captivating the audience's
heart with its charming personality.
As for the oranguru that clicked and struck 13 times in the finals, Avery summed up its
role in the team perfectly.
So tell us about your oranguru, how do you use it?
It doesn't do any damage.
Who knows what the future holds for Avery?
And who knows what Ironhands is going for in all three games?
Well we can be sure that Avery's future will be bright in Pokemon as long as he
remembers to do it again.
Thank you for watching and let us know some of your favorite competitive Pokemon moments
by using the hashtag PlayPokemon.
What's my favorite?
My favorite's the one that's got jet black hair.
He's extremely fast.
Limitless.
So cute.
She has a 12-optim vocal range.
Can be calm.
Powerful.
Steal a woman.
I'm a little hungry.
Oh.
He would improvise on this part.
He just always finds a way to make it funny.
We both have very fast moves.
And can change the world.
Using it's mind.
Jigglypuff is my favorite.
Jigglypuff!
Chigali puff, chigali puff
Every single time you met a new Pokemon
It felt like you met a new part of yourself
He likes to sleep
Just like me
I'm like, I don't want to be a little pet
I'm not seeing those people
He has a lot of ways to overcome opponents
Kong is cheery
He's got to be honest
He loves language
Salvayute, saapite
She uses her voice
To attack her stuff
It's holy, you know
It's totally...
That's why I love it
My name really is...
E.T.
It has been an incredible time here in San Francisco for the first time in a long time.
has been an incredible time here in San Francisco for the Pokemon World Championships. The energy
out on the floor, whether you are a competitor, a spectator, just enjoying the convention,
has been amazing. We hope everyone has been enjoying whether you're out there or at
home tuning in. But of course for us, it is all about the competition and it has
been delivering so far with such high-paced competition though.
We need to take a step back, guys.
We need a breather.
We need to let our casters have a breather.
And we're gonna be talking about a couple of the fun things
that you can get by watching at home
and take an update on our players to watch.
I personally always miss all the Twitch drops
and everything else, and I regret it every time.
So don't be like me.
Make sure you get the Twitch drops and everything else.
So let's dive into it.
Let's talk about them.
Well, fortunately, you still have two full days
to leave your phone on in the green room
to get these twist drops.
So you have time to go back to the hotel room tomorrow
and bring your charger with you.
So you can leave your phone on
and watch for 30 minutes to earn some quick coupons.
Well, I guess you can't earn those today,
but you can earn some teammate tickets tomorrow
or some training tickets on Sunday.
And of course, you can watch for a total of 60 minutes
this weekend to get a World's 2026 Incineroar,
which I'm sure we all need for our VGC teams
going into the 20-27 season probably.
Very much, we see that this morning.
We know it's only on the road up.
So grab your Incineros.
Make sure you do clock in the 60 minutes at least on Twitch
and grab yourself a very valuable competitive Pokemon.
I'm trying my best.
I haven't been able to get the Incineros yet.
We also missed the Blastlers from NAIC both.
I'm very sad about that.
We missed the NAIC drop and I still regret it.
I'll get that Incinero.
We will get it.
We'll make it a team mission.
Gabby's job for remind us now later
What if I told you you could just go enter in this code as soon as we're off the segment and get a t-shirt and a cap?
I mean that you guys could do that, right?
It was a passcode so I can do that Gabby. It's enjoy worlds 26, but I'm pretty sure those O's are actually zero
Zero they are 100% I did this earlier. You did this earlier. It works and it works. They are zeros though not O's
Okay, I still need to do this one actually so I will do this after this segment
But you know the most important thing in Pokemon Champions is, of course, the outfit.
Of course.
That's how you get wins, right?
Yeah.
So you intimidate your opponent with your style, not your incinerator.
Yes.
Yes.
Imagine the power level if you had the swag and the incinerator.
That's too high.
The power level is too high.
Of course, we got drops not just for our channel, but across all of the different
games here that are competing here at the Pokemon World Championship.
shifts so whether you're a fan of well like also a fan of these other franchises we know you're a
fan of Pokemon champions, Pokemon VGC here but if you also want to dive in with some Pokemon
ghosts, some Pokemon Unite, some Pokemon TCG it's your opportunity to do so here there are so much
on the screen screenshot it check out socials make sure you get all of that fantastic free free
stuff and if you're unsure about how to redeem these twitch drops here's a fancy guide for
you to follow. You can visit rewards.pokemon.com. Log in with your Pokemon Trainer Central account
if you don't have one. You can always create one and then link that account to your Twitch account
and then all you have to do is watch your desired stream for the required period of time to earn
your rewards. It's that simple. It's that simple and of course for another thing that you can
burn an exclusive twitch chat back and I will say actually out of all things that I regret was the last
Twitch batch they shared I missed out on that one and it haunts me to this day guys. I am so serious
I'm not making it up for the bit or the segment. It actually does on these
I mean, this is like proof that you were here, right? And this will follow you
Into design as well when you're watching like the pokemon animation on twitch when you're watching like the next pokemon
you have to get it. I have
not gotten it yet. I feel
ashamed to talk in the regional
chest because I don't have the
previous state. It's so so
so incredibly so make sure you
get all that while you still
can. There's so much Pokemon
this weekend, though, and I'm
really excited to dive into
it, especially we've had that
really fun part of the day,
guys, where we've got traders
that are locked up face to
we have traders fighting for
their lives and narrowing
down the field, which is
and narrowing down the field, which I don't want to be fair because we know with each match
We're one step closer to finding our world champion. Yeah, and I think sorry. No, no, go ahead
Why don't you tell us what you think while we take a look at our North America players to watch? I was just gonna say yeah
I think
You know, it's a beauty about this tournament in particular. We've had full chew on
Didn't actually get that win but still in contention just in time though one of our players to watch that we
The outline of the star of the show today is on a tap, is in great form as well, 6-0 so far.
I don't know what it is with Justin Tang, but I don't know if it's a bit at this point,
but every world champion or any major, I don't have a team, I don't have a team.
I swear, guys, I don't have a team undefeated.
Is it a bit? Is he just crazy at the game with these brand new teams?
Like, someone's got to tell me.
Maybe he's just prepared at being unprepared, like it's like a opposite-day kind of effect.
I don't know.
I feel like Justin as well, he knows all of the kind of archetypes inside out as well.
So he's one of those players that's very good at kind of adapting a playstyle to be able
to kind of pick up a team and have success with it.
And I think that maybe helps them out with the diverse knowledge that they've got of
the former as well, coming in, picking up something that they feel confident with
and that's obviously shining through this weekend so far at least so far maybe
Paul and Alex needed that PanCham Pleshi as opposed to PanP1 that's that could be it
maybe that's the secret but let's look at EU Lee and you can take us through this
because for EU I mean there's a lot of eyes EU's been such a strong region but
we've already had to say goodbye to our NAAC champion yeah and Francesco
hard-prepared and put a lot of work in going to this event and I think
probably one of the favorites to actually go on and potentially win the
World Championships this weekend and really unfortunate start the event, but that's it sometimes happens
I think you mentioned with with Ben earlier, you know, sometimes you are gonna have a great day
Sometimes you are gonna have a bad day. Don't go for you. So that's just unfortunately
Maybe what's happened for Francesca, but they will guarantee be back stronger than ever next season
Just unfortunately not this weekend, but we're still in contention with Marco Silva
We all know Marco the other kind of favorite coming into this event just incredible player
See when the Turin regionals earlier on this season the first champions event that we had in Europe and I don't know
I need to say about Michael Kelsh
I think Michael has has been incredible the last two three seasons since they burst onto the scene and always performs
Well at world's level and even though they're on the cusp of kind of blowing out
Maybe they're still in the tournament and that's all Michael needs to push on and just continue on because they are such a high
quality player I was gonna say I always feel like
Michael's strongest tournaments are at the World Championship, so even though he is at that critical two loss point
I still feel like he has a very strong
Opportunity to just kind of deal with the pressure and keep going in this field
Yeah, and I think one of the things that that Marko and Michael have a lot in common is maybe when they are on that
Cost that X and two record. That's maybe when they're at their best
Yeah, when they've got everything to play for each and every round
It kind of focuses them almost to push on and that's what makes it dangerous as trainers for our position
And I think you know they're probably in the perfect position now to carry on and push and try and get into their two first
And then see how far they can carry on into this one. It's moral
Even if you're sitting that X2 record as long as it doesn't hit a three you're still alive in this thing
But talking about latin as well
There is eyes on some really really strong players heading into this event
I feel like it's pretty safe to say that we're expecting a lot from wants to learn
Oh, but something you're at the world championships
It's you go up against the strongest trainers and you know, I'm excited to see the bounce back next year because he is a man
I'm expecting like that crazy world one and when coming out from him soon
But we also get to see him bounce back next year because we're gonna be able to see
regionals and special event broadcasts from the Latin America regionals starting
next year which is going to be so exciting on the Pokemon broadcast channel
so I cannot wait for that. Yeah that is a one thing to look forward to but here
and now it's unfortunate for Hanna I think having a phenomenal season not
acquiring so many championship points throughout the year have an incredible
finish it's just really consistent. Yeah but like you say Sierra it just shows
the quality of player at the world championships that is at the highest
level, even the players that are kind of tipped to be the ones to go and take the title at the end
of the weekend are going to have a hard time because each and every round is the hardest games
that you're going to have in the entire season. Yeah and that's the thing you look at the fairings
you're like wow this match is incredible oh yeah of course they're all going to be incredible
it's the world champion Jepson, big congratulations to the outsider who is still in this two away
from phase two, looking at Oceania next of course making a long trip over we still have
have Nicholas and Joji in the field 5-1 for Joji Kaeda.
So one away from securing his spot here in phase two at for Nicholas as well.
It goes back to that previous conversation.
As long as you don't have a three as that second number, you're still good.
And Nicholas does have that experience to fall back on and has competed at the world's
level for many years.
So not someone that you can necessarily count out just like Marco Silva, just like
Mikhail Kelch.
And I think someone you can still keep an eye on as we go into these final couple
rounds here today. Yeah exactly and I think you outlined it perfectly Gabby. I think that's the
one thing that Nicholas has got that experience yeah bountiful championships in that over the years
where they're going to be able to really lean on that in the next couple of rounds to make sure
they do make that push to get into there to progress and then put themselves in a really
good position going forward but Georgie is just a phenomenal player. I mean every time we
see Georgie at big tournaments they seem to turn up and they're doing it again here and what
a great way to start this tournament five and one and in with a great show to lock up day two going
into this next round. I think going into the world championships there's a couple of regions that
we're really being talked about and one that's so talked about every year but especially this year
at least in my opinion has been Japan. I feel like when I when I had to answer who I thought was
going to be the region most represented in top eight I said Japan it's been just incredible
to see level up across the board and for a hero who she this is five and one again you are one away
though i'm heartbroken that co is out looking at co's matches they were just it was such a tough
feel like that's just incredible and knowing how close they were but again co is like we're waiting
for co or like we know that he's capable of another one here in the master's vision like this i'm
i'm excited for that day yeah and the same thing with yuma kinugawa i mean this year has really
been the first year we've seen Japan compete outside of their own circuit, you know, even
though they can't necessarily earn championship points, you've seen a lot of these players
traveling to international events just to get the experience competing, which has been
really exciting. So I really hope we get to see more of that coming into next year. For
now though, Hiroshi, the reigning Japan national champion, it's really great to
see him at five and one, and I really hope we get to see him walk in phase two
and get to see him compete more in our circuit because a majority of that tournament
I believe was best of one and we didn't really get to see many best of three games from him and that finals like going back to watch
It was just incredibly exciting like I was on the edge of my seat the entire time
Yeah, that was probably one of the most exciting final pad and champion so far and hopefully we can kind of
You know top that this event. I'm sure we will but yeah, I think I'm not afraid to say that call was
My pick coming into this weekend. I think they were in such hot form
But again, I want to repeat myself, but it just shows the level of trainers that they aren't competing here this weekend
Even the players of such high caliber like Korn, like Yuma, they aren't at that point where they're able to progress
But here are some amazing results earlier this season at the Japan national championships
And it's exciting to see the Japan national champion doing well, coming into the world championships
And you know, they're always the ones that are tipped to maybe win the world championships
If you win that event, then it goes hand in hand a lot of the time.
So we'll see how things play out for the rest of the weekend.
I mean, while we wait for our next Swiss round to be ready,
I want to hear about your guys' world experience so far.
How you feel like the field is kind of narrowed down.
And maybe like your hot take,
because I know my prediction to win is out of the tournament.
So like, here we...
Where are you guys on the spot?
Who are you things taking it?
For a region that's top eight, you know.
I really haven't put much thought into it
because I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this tournament
Because when I was like checking social media, trying to figure out how people were feeling
coming into this tournament, I just saw a lot of people like give team.
Give team.
I have no team.
Which, fair.
Honestly, I think my gut is telling me that this is probably going to be a Japan year.
I think that traditionally Japan is at a really good job of working together and
coming up with the best strategies.
And I think that given what kind of meta game we're in, this feels a lot like 2015 to me.
And I think that will lend itself to a similar result.
I don't think I could pick an individual from Japan who will necessarily win it, but that
is what my gut is telling me.
It doesn't want to put it all on the line.
Okay, you know, I won't put you that much on the spot.
I mean, if you give me a few more hours to like, you know, run the simulation.
Wait until, you know, face you happen.
Yeah.
I didn't say that.
Face you'll get to camp at Sunday.
Who's up the game?
the game I'll tell you that I'll tell you that just give me until like two seconds before the
pyrotechnics go off on Sunday and then I'll tell you okay you know I'll be truly a wavy pig wrong
really what about you it's so tough right I think there's there's such great trainers in every
region but if I'm I'm really I'm actually rather than use my head use my heart on this one I do
think it's gonna be a back-to-back any champion really I think someone from NA is gonna come out
and take it again this year. They never really get tipped to be the region to win worlds a lot
of the time, just because it's never consistent really. As consistent as maybe Japan, but I do
think maybe we're going to see a back-to-back NA World Champion, although it'd be the first
way of course, didn't get the three times in a row. So yeah, I couldn't name a player in
particular I think it's too hard at this stage but I will I will put my money on
any to win. Okay I'm gonna take a leaf out of Gabby's book and wait it out
because our next batch is actually almost ready so I am a let's send it over to
your casters to get started with your next Swiss round save by the belt and
not have to put your money where your mouth is but don't worry everybody we
We are almost ready to go with round number seven.
My name is Rose Marie, once again joined by Aaron,
and I am so excited for this next match.
There's a Pokemon that I didn't think
would make it this far in the event.
It is one game away from potentially advancing
to day two of the competition.
And I was really hoping to see some unique mega evolutions
in this tournament.
It felt like, for the most part,
top players were going to pick some of the most popular
ones, Charles Artfulettes, the Raptor, Raichu Swamper,
for example.
But there's one that it kind of felt like it could
a sleeper pick in Mega Blaziken and you're just sitting here at 5-1 looking to advance
the day two has two shots this one and the next one.
Here are our standings before we get a chance to dive deeper into that Mega Blaziken.
We have our competitors that are going to be sitting at 6-0.
Those players have already locked in their spots in day two of our competition, but
every win matters.
So it isn't just about being 6-0.
want to maintain the best win-loss record possible to move on to phase two and then start to think about that top cup.
Yeah, huge credits to Naoto specifically. I think there's been a lot of talk this tournament about, are we going to see a 3P World Champion?
And Naoto's quietly been just truly one of the greats in the game, obviously having won the World Championships in 2019,
but also played in the 2010 World Championships where he just bubbled out of the top eight, I believe, finishing in 10th or 11th,
11 and then also at a top four finish in 2015. And so he's been around longer than almost anyone who has played competitive Pokemon VGC
He's back with the vengeance looking to add another big finish
And he now is guaranteed a spot in day two and so yeah, I definitely have my eyes out in him in particular
You know our fellow cast is we're just analyzing talking about how Japan is a region feels really strong
Well, he's one of the all-time greats from Japan
And now they're talking with him at his winter interview
He was still being so humble.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like, I'm going to do my best,
want to make face to you,
and then kind of try to think
about things after that.
I love that our competitors
are going to take these matches,
one step at a time.
But let's take a look now
at how some of these hearings
have gone for this round.
We've got Philip Bosniak
versus Evan Choi as our
feature on the street.
So many big names here.
Five and One is a scary place
to be because you are so close.
you have two of the toughest
opponents possible ahead of you,
right? And so it is not going to
be easy for anyone. Of course,
if you're sitting at 6 and 0,
like Justin Tang or Antonio
Sanchez feels good. But like you
said, Rose, everyone today just
makes tomorrow that much easier.
And if you've got a lot of momentum,
you haven't even dropped the game yet.
You just want to keep that momentum going.
Try to finish the day strong for
sure. Sometimes these things can
going to be one penultimate round before we do close out our day but this one
you said it let's talk about it. Mega Blaziken. Erin we had Mega Metagross earlier today. We did.
Mega Blaziken now is now going to be on the docket but why is this particular
mega evolution something maybe you feel like it's underrepresented or
overlooked for the spoil championships? It's a really fair mega evolution in
in that I feel like it does a lot of damage, right?
And of course it has an incredible ability,
which allows it to get a free speed boost,
allowing it to basically outpace everything.
And Flare Blitz, close combat, rock side,
you just get really good coverage
against some of the most popular Pokemon in the format,
especially obviously that rock side into Mega Charizard.
It is, I think, a Pokemon that's honestly
not the easiest to use because your best move often
is gonna be Flare Blitz or close combat.
For the Flare Blitz, you take a lot of recall damage.
We've seen Swamper, it's constantly waved
faster today on stream and, you know,
even though it does a lot of damage,
also loses a lot of his health similar concept with that flare blades close combat really powerful move
But you drop your defenses plays against not the bulkiest Pokemon so after that drop normally it will fall quite quickly afterwards
So part of the skill about using blaziken is how do you pilot it right because I think a lot of people want to lead with it
Immediately maybe you trade one for one, but if you trade your mega evolution for something
That's not a mega evolution doesn't feel that great a lot of the times
but ultimately it can hit really hard has great offensive coverage and
and if you position it properly in the end game, can just kind of pull a sweep.
Well, I'm excited to see it, aren't you?
I am.
I hope it makes an appearance in this match as we head down to the stage
as both Celies and Heaven get ready to battle each other.
And it's not just Blaze again.
We're talking about the Firewater Grass Core and there's a free Marina here,
which is not a Pokemon that's seen a lot of successor usage so far in this format,
as well as a Venusaur.
So what's really cool about this team is that you obviously have the Torcal
and the Venusaur. You also have the Torcal and the Blaziken. That allows you to play really quickly on turn 1.
But there's also a pretty clear Trick Room core where you've got the Furgyrap, the King Gambit, the Primarina and the Torcal.
Primarina in particular. Really interesting Pokemon here in this matchup because of course it can hit everything on Evan's side for super effective damage, right?
And so for Filipe, he's got the potential to just go fast and go hard immediately.
Or you can just try to set up Trick Room and I think for Evan you have to figure out, do I want to deny that Trick Room?
I want to set up a tailwind with aridactyl because actually the aridactyl on his side is really branding with tailwind
Being and dual weenby that's right in place get immensely
But if you tailwind and you got a Phyra graph on on the field and it trick rooms on you
Well, suddenly the speeds become really awkward
And I don't know if there's a really great way for Evan to deny that trick room from getting set up
You look at a Pokemon like King Gambit with something like the cow tab please
But this King Gambit is actually going to be a focus dash
So there isn't really I think maybe enough damage that could be powered behind the cow tab
to actually take this burger off down.
Maybe you get the cow tail, you activate the Cypress Berry here,
and then how do you follow that up?
It's a great question, yeah.
Taking a look at Philly's team once again.
We've got some unique elements here, life orb for Marina.
Of course, you can see the natures as well.
It's going to be a quiet nature,
so we really wanted to take advantage of that trip room.
Aqua Jet, which often is valuable
and just finishing off Pokemon that are quite low HP.
We've also got the Aka Berry here on the Venusaur.
The focus session is already taken on the King Gambit,
and so Aka gives you advantageous matchup
into opposing fire types, like Charizard that we see here on Heaven's team, and the
Torcal here also is helping hand. And so, sometimes players like to just run three attacks
on Torcal, but helping hand means that you can allow things like pre-Marina to do even
more damage under Turkuro.
And that liquid voice is going to be so important. Like you talk about the super
effective damage output of this pre-Marina, while the Aerodactyl on the other side
also doesn't have wide guard. So there isn't really a way to actually stop now this
water type hyper voice from hitting your team.
Yeah, and there aren't that many great hyper voice users right in the format to begin with and certainly non-letter
We'll turn it into a water type attack. And so I think that's a really great call out and I think
Did you see Evan's reaction just now
Vicky saw the team and he was like, sorry, what is that?
You know, what's also really cool is that this is a solo mega blaziken team
It's not a dual mega team
And so Evan is using kind of one of these standard archetypes that we saw have a lot of success, of course at the North American International
Championships the Perry of mega eridactyl and mega Charizard and you have the flex between trick room and tail when King Gambit on this team
Normally is quite speedy and pay attention to the fact that Evans King Gambit has low kick
But Felix does not right and so that means that Evan can have a damage advantage
But inability to protect means that the King Gambit is vulnerable to getting doubled up into and crucially
There's a life warp guard shop, which is one of the biggest breaths to blaze kid in this format
I also want to call out that this particular tarzard is one of the
Original tarzard that we saw and that's a solar beam. So that's going to be a really potent attack into something like that
Exactly. I think the leads are going to give us a really good sense of how these games will go because the name of Evan's team
Is you have so much damage across the board, right?
something like arid after one guard shop. If you lead blaziken torcal well then ebbing can just click kill in an earthquake for example immediately
So I think for feel if it's all about how can you figure out?
Maybe when you can get frigor off on the field potentially set up trick room
The awkward thing is if you set up trick room will mega blazik ins obviously not a very great pick right?
And so you have to figure out if I'm gonna set up trick room
Can I do it then bring out?
Actually afterwards, but here we go win and in the winner of this will move on to day two of the world championships
It's going to be Aerodactyl King Gambit here forever.
And it's now going to be Sotha Rigoraph and Blaziken getting revealed here for free.
So Blaziken hits the field immediately. Now this Aerodactyl has the dual wingbeat.
So, of course, you've read in Blaziken immediately turn one with something like Mega Evolve,
or you have Charizard in back, you can actually choose not a Mega Evolve.
Just dual wingbeat to Blaziken immediately.
And so, if you're feeling, the question is, well, do you maybe want to predict that?
Like, let's say you think it's going to be dual wingbeat into Blaziken,
The Blaziken counts up even a Frigaraff.
You can protect the Blaziken or even switch out into,
for example, your Torkle or Dream Arena.
Another thing Evan can do though is say,
well, Blaziken has to protect here,
so I'm just gonna mega up off
and double up onto your Frigaraff turn one.
Good to be it's a mega evolution.
Stingy though, from this Aerodactyl.
So that's actually going to answer one of those questions.
See the Aerodactyl now being able to get a bit
of a boost of damage,
they just do that Tuff Clog ability,
but the Blaziken, matching that.
You've got mega evolution for both sides.
So cool to see Mega Blaziken here on the World Championship stage in round seven.
Does it protect?
It does.
Evan's nodding.
So my question is, is it a double up into the free graph?
Okay.
Just a double for time.
Okay.
You can see Evan immediately go, oh, okay.
Yeah.
I guess it's kind of expected there.
It is going to give you the opportunity to scout out that Mega Evolution first and
foremost there from Evan, but also give that Blaziken a chance to actually activate
that engine.
speed boost so you can be faster than Aerodactyl and guarantee damage this turn.
Yeah the tricky thing here I think is the King Amit having that focus sash right
and the trigger up here doesn't have helping hand either and so it's like if
you had helping hand maybe you could bread an Aerodactyl with a helping hand
close combat or rock side try to get a knockout onto it. The tricky thing here
is Blazingen has to pick its target it is gonna be close combat into Aerodactyl.
Oh my goodness!
It's a walking knockout!
I'm not expecting that to K-O, I'm gonna be free though.
I mean, that was also without a crit,
that was just a raw close combat.
And now, I can give it to follow that up
with a house out cleaning of the burger app
and now all of a sudden, there is not enough damage
on the board, you're gonna take out this burger app
before it gets up for a drink.
Well, so that's the interesting thing, right?
I think, really it might've been like,
I think you're gonna survive this,
you're gonna knock me out,
and then you're gonna give me a free switch
and into your room.
Now the awkward thing is, you have Mega Blaziken out
while your room is set up.
So, many eridactyles of Pokemon that normally actually has started to invest a lot in HP and reduces its attack investment there.
So, I thought it would survive close combat there for sure, but no, it just goes down in one hit.
Now, he looks not in a bad spot, but you kind of feel like you need to get this Blaziken off the field, right?
The Frigraph, of course, can go for something like a Thunderbolt onto the King Gambit, get an attack off and break its focus sash on the way out.
Blaziken, I think, ideally would love to switch out.
The Free Marine is a really great Pokemon to come in if you've got that in the back.
but I think this turn for really good
is maybe playing a little bit more defense.
It's actually gonna be Blizekin protecting first,
so maybe actually willing to sacrifice that Blizekin.
I think that's kind of okay,
or maybe you're baiting out an attack here from the guard.
Oh, wow!
That's like just a double into the Blizekin,
and so this Blizekin actually gets to fire off
in close combat.
That's so much damage.
Mega Blizekin, welcome to the Pokemon World Championships.
Feels like it's been a highlight reel for it so far,
But of course, now you can thread in the Garchow for a knockout with Frigraf, with that psychic as well.
And so, I think, we're getting even more than he really was expecting, right?
I think the idea there was, okay, you know what, if you knock out my Blaziken, fine.
I've got him my trick room up, and I think free Marina under a trick room looks like an absolute monster.
But I think right now, that was such a great turn, really.
And yeah, this Blaziken really wanting to prove its worth here, bringing him into day two.
I mean, if you get another turn like that, that might be the King Gambit.
all the way down to one with the focus dash and then we'll see what happens after that.
But I think that's a relief at this point, it says, you know, I've actually gotten away with a lot.
So let's go ahead and make a small adjustment here for Giraffe, save it for later.
That free marina takes the kowtow queen instead, which will definitely take it a lot better.
As the stomping tantrum now comes out and finishes off the place again,
but it's already dealt out a lot of hurt to Evan C.
Yeah, the main thing I was kind of curious about there was the speed interaction between
and King Gambit, right? Because I think if...
For a giraffe there, maybe if it had just stayed in, gone for a sidekick to knock out Garchomp
and blazing could have knocked out King Gambit.
Either way, though, now this is kind of the trip room dream where you have the Twerkl
and the pre-Marina position next to each other.
The main thing is that Mega Blaze again has gone down
and there are only two turns of trip room left.
However, King Gambit crucially cannot protect itself, right?
And so, Twerkl plus pre-Marina here have a super free eruption.
Garchomp's gonna switch out.
Pre-Marina could either Hyper Voice or Boom Blast,
which I think is probably just a little bit better.
and Gambit will fall.
It's going to be the second punch first though,
so it will mitigate some of this Tarkoal's damage output
as a rocket is based on the amount of HP that people want as left,
but as still they're bringing the Gambit down to its focused dash
as that gun boosted, Tarkoal boosted,
eruption still does a lot of work.
A follow-up here for the premium, she's moonblast,
so it isn't going to get hurt by its own partner's weather setting,
and that finishes off the Gambit for real.
Yeah, the question though is I think Evan has managed to weather the storm of Trick Room, right?
There is only going to be one turn left after this.
So Garchomp can come in, you can protect both of your Pokemon, and then Trick Room has concluded.
This Garchomp took a lot of damage, but it hasn't tainted, right?
And 17% there's also that Aqua Jet on-frame arena.
It's- the sun is up, so it's not going to do that much damage.
But after Garchomp takes one more hit of life form, then surely I think an Aqua Jet will finish it off.
And so for Evan, it's managed to probably get through the Trick Room, but-
Oh man, it's gonna be really close.
The Torco of course also has helping hand.
I don't think helping hand Aquajet
is killing a 17% Varchomp in Sun,
but yeah, the Evan now really has got to rely
on the speed advantage after it's falling off
this last year of Tripple Rope.
If you see the Sylveon go for the Protect
and keep the Varchomp as it's falling that up and dies,
so that is going to be the final turn of Tripple Rope
stall, then you do have to think about,
you know, I don't know, Erin,
I'm not really willing to put it on Aquajet
not getting the KO after we saw the close combat push off the aeronautical.
The SUD is up, free marina's attack is not that great.
This sort of is really interesting.
You know, let's Sylveon just protect it, right?
And so the guard jump isn't going to want to click earthquake because otherwise you're
going to damage yourself.
I think if you are healing, what you can do is protect the free marina, switch orc
out into frigoraps like guard jump, he's that extra tick of life form then Awkwajak
can finish it off, right?
And so, he was like the most logical play.
Otherwise, you are vulnerable to just eating up something like a stomping tantrum and a hyper voice or even hyper beam.
The Garchomp here does not have rock slide.
Actually, if it had rock slide, rock slide plus hyper voice is also something you can consider clicking.
So, it really tends to actually no switch into the frigrap.
DreamerNet is just willing to protect saying, I want to conserve that frigrap, and it is stomping tantrum into the fork wall.
Alright, that's enough to get the knock out there.
And bring the leap down to just two Pokemon remaining in this first game.
So we have a true 2v2.
Because Garchomp with that life orb recoil can take about just 7%.
Maybe now we can actually start to use the jump to that Aqua Jet's ult.
That Grigraff does have to come back out.
Yeah, but isn't there enough damage, right?
I think Evan has done a really fantastic job here of positioning his damage dealers outside of that trick room.
So now you have Aqua Jet threat into the Garchomp.
Garchomp could try to predict it, go for a protect.
Sylveon then could go for a Hyper Beam, one shot for Primarina.
He would also just go for a Hyper Voice here.
Primarina's Moon Blast is also quite powerful into Soga, and Garchel protects!
Is there a read here?
Oh, if it's not going to be the opposite, and it is, that's going to get negated by that protect.
And so that's going to be one source of damage that you won't be able to get down the circle behind the voice.
Can't get the KO on the Primarina either.
So Primarina goes up, Primarina has the speed advantage.
Yeah, it feels like that could have been a hyper beam into Primarina instead, right?
You get the knock out there, but that Trimarina might just be enough
because now pre-marina will be able to get a move last off into the Soviet. So then the question is
can that get a knockout? You know, do you target the Garchov with the Frigraf going for a psychic
into it or do you double up onto Soviet? Oh my goodness, what a clutch trick room and a clutch
survival by Frigraf. I think if it were a hyper beam coming out onto the pre-marina that likely
would have been game over. It's going to be pre-marina actually going for the protect though,
okay. Maybe just hoping the Frigraf can get a little more into it, but it's actually just
going to be a double attack scout out for an opposing protect on the opposing end it makes total
sense to lay out the sun as well yeah so that would be really nice if you do want to actually
get a hyper voice to their own for great later with the object but it was the earthquake so the
guard chop is actually going to hurt its partner still gone and uh yeah that's gonna knock out
silvia and you know what else that's gonna knock out guard chop with its own life form yeah that
is going to be a double ko but it was a good effort because you can see there evan was kind
kind of banking on their being a position where you can get the double kill with
earthquake, but also that Garchomp and the Soviet actually are on the
receiving end of an attack. They're going down anyway. Yeah, I want to explain that
turn because I'm sure a lot of people are like what in the world did he just
do? Why did he do that? And I think basically the whole thing is that the
pre-marina moon blasts into Sylveon and Psyche goes into the Sylveon, right?
Because Sylveon obviously with a hyper voice is just so threatening. So if you
think the double up's gonna go into that slot then Garchomp can just finish
off every Pokemon on the field, basically, but yeah, I think this game was really interesting because I felt like we've actually had a pretty huge advantage after Blazing got that free attack off, but then Frugeraff switched out.
And the guard chop actually got a couple of extra turns, managed to weather the storm, which her groom that in early game damage was really important though.
Can we just point out the fact once again that we saw Mega Blazing in just one shot, Mega Aerodactyl was close combat. That is a neutral attack.
that was awesome. I mean, it
is getting so much hope that
there's still more to this
regulation to be explored that
we do get a chance to see such
unique Pokemon being used. But
just playing through the rest
of this, I think just the fact
that Billy did end up setting
up that second trick roof. It
was missed opportunity, I think
from Evan, as you mentioned,
maybe get that hyper beam.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, Marge
is really, really done there,
right? And so I think if you
If you go back to the drawing board, you've seen double protection is a possible play.
Close combat also can knock out my Aerodactyl.
So if you're Evan, you can consider playing a little bit more defensively.
For example, Aerodactyl, if you think it's going to eat up a close combat, potentially
switching into a Sylveon, for example.
I really like Sleeps Overall Game Fender, which was a mid-use play.
It's getting into early game to immediately get some knockouts and as it fades I get
my trick room up.
Bring Marina under trick room is an absolute beast.
able to do a lot of damage in that one. Part of the other thing is if you're Evan, do you ever consider switching to Mega Charizard instead, right?
Yeah.
Instead of that Aerodactyl, but I don't know. Even though Aerodactyl did get one hit KO'd in that last game, like it still feels better than Charizard, honestly.
The Charizard doesn't really have the best offensive matchup into the Mega Blaze again, so lots that both players can do right now.
Now, Garchomp as a lead I think is also another powerful adaptation, something like Charizard
Garchomp actually would put on a lot of pressure into Frig draft and blaze, you know, to dissolve.
Now, of course, you do threading with the rock side immediately on the Charizard, but
Charizards normally are really physically bulky these days, so it actually expected
to potentially survive, and if you survive, well, then you could retaliate back with
something like a weather ball and an earthquake, for example.
And it's not going to get the same type of attack bonus there for blaze to either
fight sides.
That's right.
in favor of the Charizard surviving that attack.
But one way to find out, looks like our competitor
is getting ready for game number two as a reminder.
If we win this next game, he has secured a spot
in phase two of the World Championships.
But Evan will still have one more chance with round number two.
Let's see.
I'm just so thrilled to see Mega Blazicade on the stage.
And for the work that I put in,
someone's got to run the numbers on a close combat
on Aerodactyl.
Like I said, I was expecting to survive
just because Aerodactyls normally have a fair bit of HP and defensive hold.
And so, yeah, to see it just an immediate one hit with not a critical hit to start off the set,
absolutely exhilarating.
And I think if you're Evan, you also have to respect some other lead mix-ups, right?
Like Blaziken plus Torcal is one, where you can double protect on turn one, sun is up,
and then on turn two you've got that helping hand pressure from Torcal.
Torcal's damage is actually, it's like a really good Pokemon in a King Gambit,
because King Gambit can sucker punch or counter tower for 30 or 40%,
but then the Torcal can just bring you down focus-ash really easily.
That's another lead. Of course, there's the Torcal Venus or lead as well, which pressure is with immediate sleep powders, right?
So a lot of combinations. We have seen sleep powder be like the final boss of some of these games.
Let's see what is in store for us in the second one though, as we see.
Aerodactyl is Garchomp for Eden this time, and it's going to be, it's a regrapable in once again, the police.
Yeah, so I think the Garchomp makes a lot of sense here because of how much offensive pressure it exerts, right?
you can immediately go for earthquake.
That'll do, just basically immediately
knock down onto Blaziken,
get a lot of damage on the three-graph as well.
The other thing here is of course, okay,
it is gonna be Blaziken mega-balling,
so I was gonna say Aerodactyl here,
because you knock the mega-ball,
and then that way you have to be on Nerve active,
so Cyprisparium for Grapples and Activate.
That is a really great call-out.
Something that has been a very impressive ability,
and we are just going to see the mega evolution
for Blaziken and not Aerodactyl on this first turn.
Double protect though, going to be able to scout Alpha Protect on the other side
and maybe we're gonna see something with the tailwind, but it is just right here.
The air daft will turn to go for the dual wing feed.
See if that pluss the follow-up of the earthquake damage from the bar, Trump will be enough to get the tail.
Yeah, I think the double protect takes a ton of sense once again.
Let me just get my speed boost.
Evan's response there would be to tailwind, but are you really gonna tailwind in front of a frigraff with Trifor?
Right? That is such a hard call out to make.
And so now, he has the speed boost once again.
Blaziken is exerting that close combat pressure.
No protect no switches. It's actually close confidence a guard shop probably predicting the aerodactyl this time to protect the switch
It's a lot of damage here, but I think Evan will get a decent trade in return
So doing the next on the further off, but that's actually not going to do enough
Because for a graph even if there's going to be that follow-up from the earthquake
You're going to be able to get off something like a trick room or just an attack outright
Blaziken goes down, but this time I think Talith is much happier with this outcome with the board drafts at the end of the season.
Exactly, because now you get that free switch in.
Free Marina, I think incredibly powerful to bring out right now.
The big question I have is, is there a Charizard at the back?
You would think so, right, because I think it makes sense to conserve for the Unnerved,
but if you're not going to get the Knockout anyway, you might as well go for the Mega just for, you know, a stronger damage output there.
And so, Free Marina does come in, and I think Free Marina looks so good on paper into Evan's team.
Evan's team so even though of course Mega Blaze it gets really flashy it's you know
it feels like it should be the primary star of the Leap's team it's actually
Karina left feels like he's immensely difficult to deal with and so now Evan
has to go through all four turns of trickery right you can obviously go for
a double protect and make a swap but hyper voice here right now is just so
powerful there's nothing that resists water type damage on his team
you just have to take that and you don't want to switch charges are into
that absolutely not just paints so you have to find a way maybe through a
A double protect here from the Aerodactyl plus the Garchomp.
See if you can make your way through this.
Abbe is going to be the Aerodactyl that actually protects and it's going to be the only one.
So as Hyperbole has come down from this pre-Marina, it's going to actually send Garchomp packing.
Another Pokemon gets to take its place, maybe.
It's going to be something like the Silvion.
He'll be able to stand up at least a little bit taller with that natural specialty entrance.
Yeah, I think you could be Silvion.
I think Charizard actually now does get the opportunity to switch in a Mega Vault.
And once you Mega Vault, there it is.
Yeah.
turns on the Sun and suddenly Hyper Voice is less powerful. Now Hyper Voice plus Thunderbolt,
it's still going to do a lot, right? Like I would expect it to knock out the Aerodactyl even
in Sun. The Charizard here, as you pointed out Rose, is the Solar Beam set. It's the
standard set. If it were Ancient Power, I think it would be in really, really bad shape.
Solar Beam will do a lot and every time Primeran attacks, it's also going to take a fair
bit of damage from that life form, right? So right now, if you're feeling, if
you have a pretty safe play, which is just going for Hyper Voice and Thunderbolt,
and you can double up onto the Aerodactyl slot, try to eliminate that immediately,
You could also double up on Charizard, but I'm not confident on Hypervoice and Thunderbolt
despite both being super effective with this knockout.
Brugger off damage either surprises me in how much it's going to do or it's underwhelming,
but we see the Charizard make it evolve and set the sun and then protect itself.
So unfortunately the Aerodactyl doing all the previous turns doesn't want to risk failing
and double protect, so it just passes it to Hypervoice and it's looking 60%
in the sun, but is there going to be a Thunderbolt follow-up from this Brugger
that will actually be able to help knock it out,
but into the Charizard, great protect.
Yeah, really nice play. I gotta say, though,
wow, this will wing-beam not really that strong,
but manages to, yeah, get the extra attack off there
with Aerodactyl, stall to turn a trick room,
and now you also beat up a little bit more life
or damage with that free marina, right?
So free marina attacks again with a hyper voice,
so it'll be at 71%.
Mush it is, then can a Charizard finish it off
with that Solar Beam, so nice call by Evan there.
I think Ferdrake had the safe Thunderbolt and the Aerodactyl, but in sleeve size, well, Aerodactyl is not really that big of a threat anyway, right?
I mean, it basically did, like, 15-20% there.
I think Rockside might have been nicer to get some extra chip damage on a Primerina,
but it's actually Primerina swapping up the Torquil right now.
Hey, so maybe Torquil going to be a better Pokemon to take something like the Solar Beam,
but that's actually not what's going to happen on this turn,
because Evan is also going to make an adjustment bringing the King Gambit out as the Aerodactyl protects himself.
So King Gambit has to take some damage here maybe from the thunderbolt as the
burger asked us, Bill charges down that slot hoping it was the Charizard.
That's going to be a good amount.
Yeah but I think if I'm fleet I'm pretty happy about that turn right?
I managed to switch work went for free like the Aerodactyl could have clicked
rock slide there. I think fleet's idea was let me get damage onto the Charizard.
I don't want my pre-Marina to just get knocked out this turn.
Aerodactyl can protect now but the King Gambit of course is just going to
get obliterated by Torcal here.
Yeah, there's just not a great way to stop yourself from a full powered eruption from this poor goal.
And so, King Gambit unfortunately has to sacrifice himself for the second game.
The trick room is almost over, but Evan only has two Pokemon remaining to keep himself in there.
Yeah, and the other thing is, Sun is slowly expiring, right?
If you manage to make it out of the Sun, that primarina cannot be hit by that Charizard, right?
I mean, you can't get away with a leather ball, but as you see,
I'm at two turns left, right?
And so, can free Marina potentially just
clutch this out in the endgame?
I feel like that is what Gilibe was playing for.
And I think to get that knock at King Gambit
to not lose Fugra or Torcal puts him in a nice position.
But of course, right now, like you said,
trip room and that speed advantage
going more in Heaven's favor.
And so things feel really tense right now.
Feeling like free Marina has an advantage in this endgame.
there's so much damage on the board if you go with something like a rock slide and even just like a key wave
Maybe the circle gets softened up softened up enough that you're able to within another eruption
So that rock slides never in this purple down to about 60%
We'll see a follow-up here from the Charizard if you do it. It's a weather ball and so okay great call there to ignore
The protect and it actually does just get the knockout outright. Oh, that was close
I think Evan was not confident that was going to KO, right? Especially after that rock-side damage.
So now Primarina will come in. He can protect, obviously, to just fall out the last turn of Sun.
I just don't think Life Orb Aquagest is doing 40% to Aerodactyl even outside of Sun.
It's a super effective attack, and the Aerodactyl doesn't appear to be bulky,
but this is a Primarina using a physical attack that we're talking about.
So, Fertigraf does get the double protect though, okay?
Oh, okay. And so, that's going to save it from this vital turn of Sun that Primarina
to protect yourself as well just to make sure you're not risking anything unnecessary.
But once the sun disappears, still I think you have to worry about like a Charizard trying to go for
heat wave. Solar beam will come out, won't do anything, and that is going to be the end of
sun. So now Aerodactyl can rock slide, or it could try to protect potentially. Charizard could
just go for like you said a heat wave. You go for weather ball, it's a very weak attack,
when it's not boosted by the weather, but at least it's 100% accurate.
Here's the awkward shit. Is it enough to get the knockout?
It is! The arena doesn't!
That is a huge knockout.
We're never underestimating Primarita again, because that was a clutch KO.
And also now that the Unnerve is off the table,
this Primarita can finally have its citrus fairy back it's been waiting for
as Heiwei comes out and misses the Primarita and the Primarita just to add insult to injury.
So this server has set up to a group for free and it's game feels over now.
Yeah, I was gonna say it all fair and I was like even if it was a pre-Marina still doesn't,
but believe moves on to six and one takes this unique team with Mega Blaziken and life or pre-Marina.
Two day two of the Pokemon World Championships in a format where so many teams feel hyper-optimized,
they've used this relative same pool of Pokemon.
It is Mega Blaziken and pre-Marina here in round seven that moves on.
And what a cool way to be able to win a match on stream as well Justin so much style
I love that we got a chance to meet just great highlights of both of these Pokemon in action
One hit knockout from the close combat into the aerodactyl the Agudette KO to take 40% off of an aerodactyl
I gotta know that account honestly because I think it's to me and my guess is this aerodactyl has absolutely no bulk
Right because it got one shot by Blaziken in game one and then also fainted to pre-marina in game two
even with no bulk I was like oh 40% that's so much health right but wow
pre-marina clutches it out and just so fun to see these Pokemon being utilized
and that game was really tense because it was like I was saying like if you saw
the Sun well pre-marina just won't be one Charizard so I know the double
miss there in the end was quite dramatic but even if he with double hits
for a graph veins tricker doesn't get set up you would need a burn like that
would be your win condition on pre-marina and then like a double
protect or triple protect potentially but yeah the miss just obviously
immediately allows you to win the game just so cool to be able to see this
composition come to the forefront I was wondering if we would see the Venusaur
because the other thing I was thinking is what if you just let Evan set the sun
for you and then the Venusaur comes in and you're able to just put things
just like but Philippe showed us you can need the Venusaur in order to win the
game just had to make sure that you got your trick room up in the right
conditions I just think it's so cool to see how that team functions right
because I think on paper you look at it and you're like I don't get it
Like Mega Blaziken's really fast, the rest of your team is really slow, like how does this really work, right?
But, if we've showed us, it's me just getting a ton of damage off with Blaziken in the opening turns.
Now, what makes it so liable is if you just close combat into a Protect or a Switch, right?
For example, we saw close combat into Garchomp.
Garchomp protects there, Aerodactyl goes for dual wing bead on a Blaziken.
It's a very different story, but what allowed Blaziken to really thrive in this one,
and that's why I call it a fair Pokemon, right?
Because most of the time, you're clicking a single target attack into one specific slot.
If your opponent protects your switches, well, it can be a huge sling, but Blazegun I feel like got
more than it really would have wanted in that game, which was a knockout on the Aerodactyl,
close combat in a Garchomp, both in games one and games two, which really weakened it.
Yeah, I agree. It's just so cool. You'll see a Pokémon that, you know what, that Mega Evolution
has been around for a while, but I think this is really the first time I'm looking at it. I'm like,
hey, that looks really good, but I cannot wait to see how far Phillipe can take this. I know this
to such a stellar win.
And so let's hear from Philippe
on how he's feeling after this match point.
Thank you so much.
I'm here with Philippe,
who has just punched his ticket
into phase two of the tournament.
Congratulations.
I know you're a little shaky,
but how are you feeling?
It's amazing.
I really can't believe it.
I was only aiming to compete
at the World Championships
and make the two here.
It's just great.
I mean, your team is absolutely incredible.
Mega Blaziken on a trick room team.
What is the inspiration behind it?
Actually, the inspiration was Wolf Glick's regulation I team
with Corridon and Lunala, which I got my best results
this season.
So the plan is, I probably shouldn't tell it,
but use Megabrez again early on with enormous offensive
pressure and then let it die because it's just really
frail and get a free switch on the trick room
and then just go from there.
You mentioned to me before we started this interview
that you had a lot of help from your friends.
Did they help you build and test this team?
Yeah, exactly.
I would like to thank all of them, especially Daki, who
found the prototype for the team,
helped me track a lot, found a lot of useful stuff.
Ickczak, who has found a really secret tech for the Venusaur.
Narad, who's staying with me here.
Joship, who has also helped me and everybody
in the Polish community, Polska Gurum.
All right, well, I don't want to let you go just yet,
because we have to talk about your run so far today.
I mean, this is the first time I've seen you.
Tell us about your matches so far.
I was aiming to play as many non-EU players
because it's the World Championships.
I can play EU players at home.
And that has managed.
I played four Japanese players.
One of them was Shoma Honami,
which I managed to win,
which is also incredible for me.
Yeah, it's just been really great.
I hope that I surprised all of them with my team.
And I guess I did because I'm here.
For sure, for sure.
And I mean, going into tomorrow in phase two,
are you gonna be doing any preparations tonight, you think?
Or you're gonna just try to get a good night's sleep?
Do you have a game plan?
No, probably just a good night's sleep
and celebrate with my friends, which came here as well.
For sure.
I know you already gave some shout outs, Philippe,
but is there anybody else you'd like to say hello to
who might be watching?
Yes, I would like to say hello to my fiancee, Veronica,
who is probably asleep right now
because it's the middle of the night in Poland,
but she has helped me emotionally a lot.
She has put up with me being really not good
in the household or very stressed,
but she was very considerate and helped me a lot.
So thank you, Veronica.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
Congratulations again on making phase two of the competition.
Best luck in the final round of Swiss.
And for everybody watching at home,
we're gonna be taking a quick break
before we get into our final round of Swiss.
So please stay tuned.
and welcome to the Pokemon Center here at Worlds 2026 in San Francisco. As you can see, we've
got the World Championship side. We've got the Pokemon XP side. I hear it's absolutely insane
in there. Let's go take a look. We got to get me popping out behind everything that we can.
Let's take a shot of it.
Hey, how's it going?
Beautiful pieces, breathing close here.
I want you to take a look at this for everyone at home.
This is a fantastic piece.
This is the beautiful sable eye we have right here.
question one of the finest we have beautiful sparkly we have the eevee right next to it
and finally the jigglypuff very nice collection
the official matte limit one per customer but i count as two customers so i will take two no
king paint you
We have now transitioned from the world championships to the XP area.
Space themed, extremely cool, in my opinion, cooler than the world championship area.
I'm probably not supposed to say that.
Let's do some pop-outs.
Boom, pop.
Okay, okay.
Get a picture of me with the Umbreon.
the world championship play mat and bag also limit one.
These are different though, so I can take them.
Yes? Yes. I got a yes.
This place is poppin'.
Beautiful. Special, elegant.
One of them's going on a trip.
One of them's blasting off.
Another one would be in a spaceship.
I think I like Kierli the best.
I have been excited to see this the entire time.
time. This is the item I have had my eye on more than anything else. This jacket right here.
It's beautiful. It's special. I'm not exactly sure where I can wear it, except everywhere,
and I want it very badly. I will be back for it, because secondly, I'm not allowed to shop for this right now.
Let's do this.
I'm going to be back. And we're
back trainers here coming into
round eight of the Pokemon World
Championships here in San Francisco.
I've taken our own Rose again for
another little spin behind our
desk here, and we're just
having a fantastic time. What a
great match that we just
featured on stream with
predictions like Mega Blaziken. They're so so strong right? I was gonna say Ben, I didn't know if you were talking about Mega Blaziken or Primarina because neither of them were actually getting apart when we got to see both and they both clenched up in games one and two respectively.
Little column A, little column A. I mean even the Torco as well right? Yeah. It's like one of the strong Pokemon it's not, you know it doesn't have as many wings as Charizard but it's still bringing the sun it's still putting up a lot of damage so yeah I think we've seen such a, we've been so lucky I think in the tournament so far we've seen such a great variation of teams
and people really trying to take a swing at the format and really tried to do
something maybe a little bit different rather than coming in just with the
tried and tested compositions. I think what we need is a section for like our
underrated picks. I think that would be it. Like the spice we think is going to be
brought to the tournament so maybe we'll have to think about that for next time.
Okay well add it to the list. Let's have a little catch up with our world
champions that are competing this weekend as well. See how they're
getting on so far. So, Sajin, we saw them on stream a little bit earlier. They were having a
great start to the tournament, hasn't worked out quite in their favor, unfortunately for them
getting 3-4 so far. But a good opportunity last round of Swiss, make that even in this world
championships. I mean, that would just still be such an impressive result. I think looking
across the board at some of the competitors that we saw at 0-3, 1-3, kind of slowly trickling
out of the tournament, there were a lot of big names down here. So, I think if you could
say that you finished 4-4, you got to be really happy with a result like that.
Especially with the caliber that we've seen across this world championships so far, not
just on the broadcast, but who we know is in the field and playing their tournament.
So looking a little bit further, we've got Shoma who I was able to have a little couch
up to with yesterday saying like, I asked him whether or not he thought Charizard was
going to win the tournament as a little bit of a heart take and he said, I'm
I'm running Charizard and I will win so yes, Charizard is going to be winning, still in
contention there at 5-2 alongside Wolf Glick running a little bit of a different iteration
on a sand composition with Mega Star after.
That's even possible.
All of these in the mix as well, two of these War Champions have already punched the
ticket to day two in Naoto and Shohei of course, two of our Japanese War Champions.
Shohei I believe lost round one and just won every game after that.
And so just another phenomenal performance by him, he's one of the most consistent
players on the world stage and yeah just constantly delivers and now I think it's yeah
feel like it's been a while since we've gotten the chance to see him play especially on stream
and yeah he had a very nice win in his winning in and has just been a top for us I think
I was seeing him I think to be earlier this morning is like I would just be really happy
to make it to day two but I'm sure now he's looking for more.
Yeah it's like when you get to that stage and you're thinking like okay coming in
this is going to be a tough event right and then it all sort of lines up for you
you make it for that thing and then you hang out a second.
What if I can get to after they do?
Exactly.
I started to wait in a little bit,
but everybody's still having great results on the day,
but I think definitely looking at Shoma, Wolf, Paul,
can they get the final win in this final round of Swiss
to punch their tickets too?
We know that they're capable of doing it, right?
All of these trainers have been
in those pressure situations before, right?
All of them are capable of doing it.
It's just, you know, we've got a few trainers
that are in contention, that just have to carry on winning.
And winning is what these trainers are good at.
That's not just, again, so hard.
It is the world championships.
Every single matchup is one that you
could see being at the finals of a stage like this.
And so thinking about that and knowing the schedules
that some of these competitors have had,
I'm just very impressed and hoping and cheering for them.
So let's have a little look going on from our world
championships.
We've world champions that are competing this weekend.
Let's have a little bit of a look back.
Now we're going into round eight.
We've seen loads of different teams on streams.
We've seen loads of different players.
Let's have a little reminder of the usage
across the tournament there.
King Gambit, this is the top 12 overall usage
regardless of if they're Mega Pokemon or not.
King Gambit, Charizard, Inciderol.
I don't think any of us were surprised to see them
on the top pedestal,
but I feel like we've seen a lot of different variations
of Pokemon, different variations of teams
on on this graphic as well. I mean yeah we had Swamper, we had Cleaver, we had Hydraegon,
of course Mega Blaze again at pre-Marina like it goes to show that there are some really
interesting things that you can do in the format. I suspect once we get into phase two
of the tournament though there will be very few of unexpected surprises obtained and
there will mainly be things that we expected to be very powerful and true established
compositions coming into this event. There was a vanillax at x1 this last round so
That is a Pokemon that's not on this graphic that I also don't think people expected to see at the world championships today.
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's kind of similar to Alolan Ninetales in a lot of different ways.
It just doesn't have that very typing to complement it.
And it's, you know, there's a few other alternatives.
So, I mean, like, looking at this list of top 12 Pokemon,
I think there's a good set of, like, your fairy compositions, the grass compositions,
And you know the strong Pokemon that we've got King Gambit and Basquiat Legion and Incineroar that kind of walk guard jump
But why just keep I'll just keep going. I'll just keep listening
They're on the graphic, but I think we've done
We've had a great run in showing a lot of these Pokemon on the stream and Sylveon. We've got to give their shout out
Have we seen much of flow at
Yeah, I was like I don't remember seeing much for that on stream today
But it obviously has been if anything it's kind of had a comeback right like I feel like well
I'm gonna say it's completely disappeared over the last couple of weeks
But of course this was one of the best Pokemon in regulation and may was also seen success in MB
But it felt like people were trying a lot of new things
But yeah, I hear here it is sitting at number six
Well, let's go along to our mega Pokemon that's a look that's and see how that's shaping up compared to what we see
I think one of the things that really stands out to me especially seeing
We've got Justin Tang at 7-0 with Mega Delfox, Mega Blast Toys, going into the final round of Swiss.
I'm really fascinated to know how Mega Blast Toys specifically is going to be converting phase two, right?
Like who's going to have been able to have just that really amazing run and just, you know, hit all of the predictions in the right spots.
It's a tough Pokémon to use. I mean we saw it earlier, right? Going for a Shell Smashing Trick Room.
like if you if you know you know and it was a non mega shell smash as well like I
truly think what makes that composition with the delfox and king gambit so cool
is that you have three big threats that are looking to just take over the game
at any given point and one of the things I really like watching at the
world championships as well if these players have been on these teams for
weeks they've probably figured that you know most hyper optimized lines
possible into the other really popular teams right so you start doing some
funky things that you probably normally wouldn't think of if you were
and we're seeing an opposing
team for the first time.
But it's a thing about a
competitive game like VGC.
There are established
metagames and so you should do
your homework coming into this
event.
Probably at least prepare
against the top 5 to 10 teams
that you expect to see.
And as a result, yeah, we got
to see a regular Blastway
Shell Smash with Mega
Delphox in the back.
And I think that was one of
the coolest wins on stream
this weekend.
I do think this graphic is
so cool to take in that a
lot of these mega
evolutions actually do come
from Pokemon Legends CA.
Some newly discovered
mega evolutions are
coming from Pokemon Legends
some newly discovered mega evolutions there with the Raichu as well as the Starraptor.
I think it's just cool. I don't know if you all remember the conversations about both in
particular mega Raichu, mega Starraptor when they were first legal in the format. People
were looking at them and going, are you sure you want to use that Pokemon? Do you really
think it's going to be good? And there are so many competitors at the World Championships
that do believe in those Pokemon to have brought them.
Yeah, it's right. Especially with that Mega Rytue Y, right?
Like, we've seen it on stream today,
really focusing on not going for its Mega Evolution
and actually using the Lightning Rod,
using it like the conventional Rytue of Oz,
just with the Focus Blast
that you'd never really consider putting on the set
lest you go for a Focus Blast
and get nicknamed Focus Miss
and be loving people in the community.
Still managed to hit that Focus Blast, actually,
the match that it played, but a really cool way to keep that composition going and actually flex this
dual mega archetype that we've seen so much in reggae MA and MB where, yeah, there's a few less
items, but also you want to have that flexibility in your team building. Absolutely, yeah, and I
think the big question everyone's still asking is will megacharser be thrown for this event,
right? Because it kind of felt like it was the top Pokemon mega evolution coming into this, and
you think back to the 2014 Kangas call was the most dominant mega evolution back then but it got
really countered at worlds but that was a much smaller world championship only 40 to 50 players
who qualified in the masters division so you could do things like try to you know play super
anti meta because the pool was a little bit more limited but now these world championships are so
big there's so many great players competing in it as well if you're going to try to build
something that's anti-metal you got to make sure that you can also cover for all the other
things like you might go up against here at Worlds and so I don't know I was like in 2014
Kengis Khan was like the number one mega-coat going into Worlds and like only there was one I think
were two in the top 16 overall and it didn't even make it into top eight but I don't think that's
going to be the case for Mega Charizard in this one it's just too good of a Pokemon.
Yeah I feel like Kengis Khan back in his day was kind of like a better Pokemon than
Mega Charizard is currently but like just because of the fact that it was so hard to take down
right? It has no weaknesses. It's a parental bond before it was broken. You said it, I didn't,
but I mean, we're all thinking it. I interrupted for a reason. Yeah, and rightly so. But I mean,
yeah, I think, like, I was excited to use Megastar coming into Reg MA thinking, hey,
maybe this could have been like the old days. It just doesn't quite hit the same,
But then we did see the King has gone with just life or no mega stone. No nothing
just a great teammate on a team and I feel like that was another one where I
think that's really where some of these mega evolutions or Pokemon that can
make you evolve it stuck out is can they do both things can they actually
act on their own without the mega evolution so they're not just dead
weight when you want to bring it to a match yeah I'm like you know those
those last respects, our last resort sets on Kaga's car as well.
We're seeing lots of different adaptations in this format
where there's a few less things that different Pokemon can do.
And that's all we've got time for for the moment.
So we're going to be taking it to a quick break
before we get round eight up and running
here at the World Championships.
Hey there, Pokemon trainers.
Gabby Seder here with Dawey C,
one of our top placing trainers at NAIC this year.
One of my favorite Pokemon trainers to come from the New England area.
Dawei, how are you doing today?
Yeah, I'm doing really great.
How about you?
I'm doing really great.
I mean, we are here on Rayquaza Road.
It just opened up for previews.
It's pretty exciting.
But what's exciting to me is your journey here to this world's competition.
Dawei, I'd love to hear your story.
What got you into competing in the Pokemon video game championship series?
I have been playing this game for so long time.
I used to play just like six versus six in-game, but then I found this thing called VGC when and at that time
I was still in China. There was no official tournaments in China at that time
So I just wanted to join this circuit so much
That's a part of why I came to the US to study for my graduate school. While I'm not doing so well in the graduate school
I I think I I really have a lot of fun in Pokemon VGC
I mean every time I see you compete you're always on stage smiling you have the
best outfits I have to say and your run at NAIC this year was absolutely
incredible so how did you prepare for that going into the tournament?
Because NAIC is so close to Indiana Park, it's original and I didn't do well enough
as I expected in this so that's why I think I should give that team another
chance because at that time I don't think everyone just still recognize their team and it works just
really great because like in that regulation the Charizard dominates the whole format and which
makes Sterillage just a perfect choice for the NAIC and I also want you to say I really had good
luck in NAIC that's also why I did well. I feel like Sterillage is kind of your signature
for Pokemon right now. Would you agree?
Uh, maybe. Yeah, I'm not using Signature Pokemon at all this time. It's just so difficult
to use it any more in the regulation. Yeah.
Fair enough. Well, maybe not a Signature Pokemon, but who's your favorite Pokemon?
Oh, my favorite Pokemon is Gerachi because it can just, like, grant you any wishes
that's who didn't want that right and it's also my um like my favorite one since I was very young
when I was I was watching the anime and stuff it's just so cute and so lovely. The Gerrachi
movie was my favorite one ever since I first saw it too and Gerrachi's a favorite for that reason
for me as well. We talked about wishes let's talk about predictions going into the world championships
this weekend don't don't tell us anything about you but what do you think we're gonna see
you know what's the competition gonna look like?
I hope it's not getting boring because like everyone is complaining this
regulation doesn't have much new teams but I hope everyone is just hiding their
team and to reveal them only at once so I hope
everyone has a really interesting team to like to
to watch and also so yesterday when I was
Opening the booster pack I got from the checking and I managed to pull out a mega flow at the
Front-end boost pack. So that's my prediction mega flow at we'll win the world
I think that's a pretty strong prediction. So Dawai. Thank you so much
Before I ask for shout outs
I think a lot of players look up to you in the community because of you know what you represent and how strong of a
competitor you are. Do you have any advice for anybody who's watching who might want to
be in the position you are here at Worlds next year?
Oh, I guess just play, just come out and play. It's very fun, it's very interesting.
And every brand you make here is so exciting.
Thank you so much, Dawei. Do you have any shoutouts you want to give to anybody watching
at home?
Yeah, shout outs to my partner, Lisa and my parents and just everyone in the Chinese community
because it's so difficult for them to come to this event, but all of them are so caring about
this one. So really shout outs to them. Thank you so much, Dalai, and thank you all so much
for watching at home. We'll be back with more Pokemon action real soon.
Welcome back, trainers to the
Pokemon World Championships.
We're nearing the end of our day
with one final map which could
Which could be make or break for some inspiring of hope on world at champions out there
My name is here Don joined here by Lee prose one final match for day one of her competition
I can't believe we're at this stage of the tournament already to be honest
It's flown by the quality of games. We've had the place
We've had it's been phenomenal and it's been up there as one of the best starts to a world championship
We've ever had so really fitting for the 30th anniversary
We've got so much to come and so much more to look forward to which is even more exciting
It has just been such an incredible day and for some trainers, they have already locked up their spot in phase two of the competition for others.
This round is going to be the one to determine if they will be back here competing tomorrow, but taking a look at the standings, of course, we got some trainers that are currently at that undefeated standing.
Congratulations to Justin, Carrie and Yuya all sitting at seven and zero.
So they have more than locked their spot for phase two.
They are now eyeing up that next portion of the competition,
which of course is top cut.
Trainers sitting at that 6-1 also looking good though,
so they are in.
But of course you have to start looking at that next point,
racking up those wins.
Yeah, incredible achievement by all our players
to come into the event in such tough competition
and get to this stage and put them really
in that contention to go forward tomorrow
in such a good place to potentially push on
to championships Sunday.
and taking a look at her notable matches
and what we're going to be eyeing up next year on broadcast
it's going to be Hiroshi Onishi
going up against Shohei Kimura.
A matchup that once we saw it,
we knew we had to lock it in.
Our stand national champion going up against our 2023
Pokemon World Champion, incredible.
Yeah, we'll find a way to finish day one.
We started with the former world champion
with World Fun with finishing up with Shohei.
And on top of that, we get to feature this year's Japan national champion, absolutely incredible game.
I can't wait to get into it. Both players have had an extremely good run so far, so I'm sure they're not going to let down.
But looking through the other notable matches, all of our players so far have just been incredible so far this weekend.
And of course, with these two trainers sitting at that 6-1, we're not worrying about not seeing one of them here tomorrow.
We will see them both here tomorrow, thank goodness.
But of course we want to see who's going to be making their way to talk and getting a win here as well with that confidence you get from that as well, either taking down a world champion or taking down the current national champion is just incredible.
So so excited as we head over to the stage to get started with this next match.
Yeah, so it's right like you say the confidence it gives you, especially now at the end of the day to bring into smart push on and hopefully take that little extra record that you've got from the end of the day.
If you come out victorious into tomorrow's just going to make things a little bit easier and anything that makes it a bit easier at this sort of level of tournament is something that you are going to want to chase after.
You can see the teams here is going to be very similar across the board there Charizard of Y on both sides of the field and that mega flow at these players are very familiar with their teams respectively.
So she has used this exact six
in the Japan national championships to win that event.
There are some updates, of course,
to that team we'll get into in a minute
on the back of MB format,
and some new items being introduced alongside that.
Looking over at this team,
the Charizard and the Mega Fluet
are two of the most dominant Pokemon
that we have here, the Megas,
just really carved out with a lot of really other
powerful picks.
You look at the really powerful trio
of that King Gambit, the Vasculi,
Jinn, the Archon,
And then having something like this wins a call to either set up the tailwind or really be able to pressure with an encore is a lot.
There's a reason why this six or a variation of this six has been so popular.
Yeah, very strong across the board.
You look at this team a little bit like they kind of put together with triangles.
You've got the wins a cut adding to the fourth of those other three.
It really is going to depend on what each player thinks the opposing player is going to bring in and trying to get around that because
the Charizard helps check things like that King Gambit. It matches up into the
Mega Floette very well. But the Garchomp then checks that Charizard and then you
look at something like the Basque Legion or the King Gambit is kind of clean up
at the end. The Whimsicoc going to be there to support the rest of the team
with that tailwind. Catch your opponent out with an on-call if they get a bit
passive. Go for a protector, go for a tailwind themselves and it can be an
offensive threat if paired up with that Mega Floette especially with that
very aura and some adjustments there that we've seen on Hiroshi's team. But now with the life
up on that basket engine, that thing is going to be hanging extremely hard was previously mystic water
and yes for attacking gamut as well, which is really huge in this matchup. And looking over at
Shohei's team, yes, a lot of the same when we get later into the competition. It's fun
when we get to see some of those unique picks at the same time. This variation, this six
has been so strong for a reason,
but there is a couple of different variations along the way.
And of course, there is also the opportunity
that not all the Pokemon are trained the same.
And I love being able to see two teams very similar
face off against each other,
because that's when you really get the minds of the trainers
and how they approach these types of matchups.
Yeah, and it's those differences
that the players can really lean into
and what will make the difference
between winning and losing this match.
You can obviously see here that all teams do have
It's that alignment, timid on their Charizard. Both players have ancient power as well, which is being kind of
over superseding the solar beam that you would normally see there.
That's going to make Charizard sitting in front of an opposing Charizard a lot easier. Are both Charizards max speed?
Oh, they slightly slow.
This is something I'm going to have to find out as the game plays out, but that could be quite pivotal in that Charizard
mirror here if that's what the players decide to go down. Other options, like we've mentioned, King Gambit here.
You do have the iron head which is going to be really useful for Shōhei against the opposing
Floette if that is brought from Hiroshi but the King Amit on Hiroshi's side does have that low kick
and the iron head that can provide really useful against that King Amit and the Floette. The
Basque Legion on Shōhei's side does have a Cold Barberry so that does help against the King Amit slightly.
Both trainers sitting at 6-1 trying to end off the day with a winner. Japan national champion
going up against our 2023 World Champion. Let's get to it. Aggressive leads from both
but very different approaches with Wimpsacott and Baskilligian for Hiroshi as opposed for
Shohei, Garchomp and Charizard. It's interesting both of them are bringing their Pokemon with
the life orb to kind of maximize damage on this early turn. Now you'd say that Wimpsacott's
not in a bad spot. It's for that focus. That should have had to be twice.
Thanks to the ability as well it's going to be able to elevate the Baskilligian into a
place, we'll be able to outspeed the Charizard and the Garchomp with a tailwind and then that
life-old boosting that even in the Sun will threaten maybe a Charizard knockout. So you
have to be careful if you show here here, you can leverage the Garchomp here to get some
good damage onto that Basquiat. But the Sun is pivotal in this moment if you are keeping
that Charizard on the field. No damage being leveraged with the Garchomp, instead
just to pivot out in King Gambit to join the field instead as Charizard will go
go ahead and mega and with that green the Sun up out so we're looking at a
production to do those water moves and of course if you want to go with the
offensive yourself you want to get the max amount of damage of course you're at
risk of potentially taking an attack but it will be a whim to call it not often
for tailwind but it protect in a step. Tards aren't a little bit of the same
though so we get a squawk we get some Sun time to see what the
vasculation does off for it will be a protect but will fail because the
last act in the turn. Yeah and the switch for sure hey here to get the
King Amid on the field really good now that King Amid can start to pressure the
Basque Legion that was a threat originally. Now we've seen her protect all
around the Charizard does lack a way to actually hit the Basque Legion as well
opting for that engine power that he could have been previewing. So don't really want to stay on the field.
Yes you can do some good damage into the Whimsicott but it's not not at the
cost of losing your Charizard to maybe a Basque Legion. The question is
has the King Gamma gone enough to be able to deal with the Basque Legion on a Hiroshi side.
Charles R.B. and Prestige, you have to get out of there. And when Scott coming out on
the field and said is a great answer, but Basque Legion also understanding the
threats of a potential Sucker Punch swapping out for Garchomp instead, a battle of positioning for
those two. And the threat of Encore won't come to light. Sucker Punch has a well, so a lot
of great heads up played from both our trainers. Yeah, well, pleasure taking it cautious at
this time you know not wanting to overcompensate just taking things easy
seeing what both trainer is trying to accomplish here now the gold chunk
coming in obviously does put a lot of pressure on the King Gambit here it hasn't
got that like also you'd normally see so it's not going to be hitting as hard
or threatening and just all the knockout there is always the
potential of a double up if you want to get rid of the King Gambit I'm sure
it's either risky though but you could go for something like a moon blast
and then a grand type attack to get that knockout and remove that threat from the field
but it does then leave the Wimzacot open to go for an important main Blast in return
or even set up a Tailwind that would be very beneficial if you did see something like a
Protector on the game gambit this turn.
That's one of the things with the Tailwinds and we have a Wimzacot versus a Wimzacot is
do you want to go ahead and press it right away to get the speed?
You might just be a turn behind, but we will see Tailwind from the Uroji
and a lot of damage into the Garchomp is now earthquake to deal damage
into everything on the board. Both Wimzacots will shrug that off with King Gambit,
Gambit brought down to about a third of its health now we get to see retaliation
come out notably no tailwind from Shohei means offensive instead and Moonblast is
enough to take the first KO of this match. That is a huge turn for Shohei yes
you're behind with the tailwind but you can set your tailwind up this next turn
right and then you've got an extra extended turn of tailwind when your
opponent's does finally end. The big thing is yeah your Charizard is gonna
to have a such an easy time when it's in the field.
Now, it doesn't have to worry about that ball jump,
that you've been able to get rid of with that really good
double up.
Floette doing in the field, though,
this is where we can see a lot of pressure come out.
Because for Hiroshi, he has the tail went on his side,
and you're now offering, you're now
pressing so much with this Floette.
And if you just want to go double on the offensive here,
and you could just potentially wipe this board.
So Shohi goes ahead and tries
to set up for his own tailwind now.
It could just be a little too late.
Yeah, and that's the problem now.
Either the King Gambit, even in tailwind,
isn't going to stick to see that the flow out,
which you probably expect it is going to mega evolve
and then activate that ferry aura.
And then all you need to do is go after that slot,
maybe Datsun's being a moon blast from your own rims
because just to clear the field and make things
a more difficult, nice switch there, defenses,
the Charizard, to be able to at least take
these ferry type attacks that you would expect coming out
a lot easier than that King Gambit.
very aura and the potential for some big damage,
but a win to go for Shohei that will protect.
It is not just the potential of the damaging move,
but of course it's right if the on court has a well
dazzling gleam, not gonna do anything
into the wins to go for Charizard.
Swapping in will take some damage,
but again, not very effective.
We'll start off the hit quite well,
but now again, we do threaten something
like an on court again or going back to
the amount of damaging potential you just do.
Yeah, this is a really awkward scenario here
show here because you want to get your tail and enable to allow that Charizard to be at least able to keep face with the
Flood and any other options that are on the opposite side of the field but you can't do that because that Onko locked the
pressure from the Roshi side position is extremely well and now the Flood not really in any danger of getting knocked out
but it is going to take big damage it's not getting the damage you really want onto the Charizard but that chip will add up
time again till with no on call coming out. No on course means all out offensive
for Hiroshi as instead Moonblast into the Charizard again not very effective hits
but with the help of the fairy aura it is to really a double up into the slot
see how much it can do. Charizard though the speeds are evened out so we'll be
able to retaliate with a heatwave. Wimzicott is down only two Pokemon left
for Hiroshi in this match but light of ruin to try and start ending up this
Pokemon count, turns out it will be KO'd!
Yeah, even though you're resisted, the light of Rune is just so powerful, able to remove
the opposing Mega on Shohi's side.
Now Shohi has been able to set up the tail end, which is great.
It puts them in an advantage position going into these next few turns, because that
wins the call.
It's dropped for Horo.
She may don't have access to that speed control anymore.
They do still have that basket legion that will come in and offer some offensive
pressure.
Going into this though it's so a Pokemon count that isn't Shohei's favor and a tailwind that is going to be lasting longer on his side
So you have a flowette four hero sheet that is one third of its health a basket legion
That is full but build a little bit more for the offense with that life orb
So my question is is do you have enough in the tank to take down the rest of these Pokemon once your tailwind's done?
You're gonna be outstead when it's but that full and there's still another Pokemon in the back
Yeah that's a question and now we're just seeing the save play from Shohei probably
don't protect you just to get through this last turn of tailwind on her or
she's side so now going into the following turn you have got the speed advantage I
forget. Is the question is that going to be enough? We've been put by that life
up now the Sun's gone so we've got to be able to pick up the King Gamma that
will be crucial and it will that turn it would have superseded the
second punch now you're going to be susceptible because the King Gamma is
going to be faster than that Basculature with that tailwind support so
the Basque Legion not sitting in the safest place against that sucker punch.
At least with Life Orb does mean we have protecting moves and we do have the
option protect if you want to try and make that call but again the amount of
damage that this collect has taken it's not going to take necessarily the most to
take it out so if you try and protect and flow it is the target at the end of
all of it and you're not going to get anything done on this turn.
Yeah and the Flareora really counterproductive here for Horoshi where it's helping the wins
The basketball legend is enough to pick it up and it takes it down now it comes down to the winds of
fall as the very orbs of Moonblast got enough to take down this flat.
Where Mr. Scott Moonblast won a Pokemon left for Yoroshii and Flo-Wet goes it down.
Shohei will take game number one in this series.
I mean that was just an incredible match from the get go.
We got to see some momentum coming out from Yoroshii but later tail ends.
better Pokemon count and Pokemon that just couldn't quite get the kills over the line.
I feel like the preservation of the Charizard was just big.
Like you had to hit Korea tax into that to take it down.
That was just so much time, unfortunately, wasted that mid game.
Yeah, and it's wide so good into these fairies.
Interesting, Hiroshi decided to go down the line with the Mega Floette rather than their own Charizard here.
But Shohi had shown their experience and that really shined through, I think, in this match in particular.
the tailwind and being brave as well in front of an encore potential threat going for that tailwind and that turn was key to be able to kind of get to the point where you had enough room to
enough room to stall out the opposing tailwind and then get your King Amit in that spot where
he was able to pressure with that all-important sucker punch to close things up.
It was a great turn being able to go for the tailwind when there was the on-court threat,
but also you're in a situation again where it was a whimsicott that was next to a mega
Charizard that was threatening so much.
So you on-court the whimsicott and Charizard wipes your board unfortunately because you
can't double up and it just reached the end of the game.
It was just kind of a tough call at that point.
So now, going into this next game, I would love to see how we adapt things.
Both trainers had very different approaches to starting that out.
They were playing so cautiously in the first couple of turns, but for Hiroshi, now down
a game in this set, do you stick with the chain lead and try and shoot up a little bit,
or do you take a page out of Shohae's book?
You might want to adapt here, and you know, Hiroshi is so well-versed with this stick.
They don't know exactly what they need to do to adapt coming into this game, to
to try and take it into a game three.
But I do think the Charizard is a better route to go down.
The primary thing that you need to do
is get rid of the opposing Garchomp
as quick as possible.
Where Pokemon that can do that,
that's to put the Charizard and the rest of the team
is that, that, that, that Wintercote.
You can utilize that leverage,
that to try and get rid of the Garchomp.
And Wintercote generally sits in front of
Life of Garchomp without too much trouble
in comparison to some of the other Pokemon
that they've got access to.
Maybe King Amateur, something that you look at as well.
because that sucker punch was so valuable and we saw Chávez take full advantage of it in the last game.
Getting into game number two, time to see where a trainer's minds are at.
It'll be Garchomp and Chávez again for Chávez, and on the opposing end, we'll get Garchomp and that wins the cut.
Yeah, a little bit of an adjustment, no basket legion here for Hiroshi, but it has got that goal jump out,
and that goal jump is going to pressure the Chávez out immediately.
They do have to be very careful about the opposing goal jump,
because the one thing that you don't want to take is a likeable boosted dragon pull.
Has it got enough investment to be able to take that? That's the question here.
If you're confident then you can go for tailwind, rock slide, hope that you get that Charizard.
But is the Charizard really going to leave itself vulnerable in this scenario?
Is it going to switch? That's the big question.
You could potentially think, okay well, sure he's not going to leave it in a vulnerable position.
The tailwind's there, so maybe see it switch out and then you target and you see that gollish jump.
protect your own guard jump and go for a moonblast into your lane's guard jump to try and remove it as quick as possible.
Our turners played the beginning of that game once so safe.
If you try and target down this Charizard, it protects Niko from broke.
That could be game lost on the spot.
But mega evolution coming out.
Will we get to see protect?
No.
Instead, a tailwind from Hiroshi and we have to assume a fall-over attack.
Guard jump with the rock slide.
Then double connect Charizard down to such low health already.
We'll have to see the retaliation because the Garchomp on the opposing end can do a lot,
but Earthquake isn't going to be packing the same punch out of what could have been a potential Dragon Claw,
as neither Pokemon takes too much damage, but it'll be the follow-up from the Charizard that will be determining how much.
And if it is going to be just a He-Wade and a Double Connect, what Wimzacot will drop, and Garchomp brought down to quite low health.
Yeah, the Garchomp, the earthquake there, quite an interesting choice, maybe go ahead and switch in the scenario here to kind of maybe catch something, but the damage there really respectable as well.
That leaves the citrus very activating, and now the tailwind set, and sure here hasn't got their Whimzacot active now to be able to match that tailwind.
I love the earthquake because if you're not too worried about the Garchomp on the opposing end and you want to get rid of that Whimzacot, you set the tailwind, it's gone.
He did that double up to get rid of that focus dash.
So now you've already gotten a Pokemon advantage
and you can bring your wins apart and potentially later.
The problem is now that you know
that Hiroshi's Charizard has got ancient power.
Now it can mega-revolve and it can go for a key wave.
That key wave's probably gonna be enough
to get the opposing Charizard.
Is that chip gonna be enough to put the Gaucho
on show his ATM range for dragging full follow up?
That's the question.
Question and that will have to see answered.
only real soon as mega evolution now on the opposing end.
Roshi has switched to the game plan for game number two,
but a attack from Shohei onto his own Garchomp.
For me, it lives the turn.
I drag and clock targeted down into it.
How to see for the opposing Pokemon.
Heatwave, of course, Garchomp stays safe.
Do we get the connect into the other?
Yes, it will be enough as well to be picking it up.
So you're evening out the Pokemon count
and you've lost grid of a mega Pokemon,
But if it's a whimscott coming in,
you can set the tailwind and really pressure
your own car chop now.
Yeah, and that's the thing.
I think, surely, it probably doesn't mind in that scenario.
Back against the low, let the chargers out, go down.
It's kind of done a decent job so far.
Yeah, you got rid of the whimsicott.
Yeah, so you bring your own whimsicott, like you said.
Now you match the tailwind, and you're kind of staggering it
like we saw in that game morning.
So when your opponent runs out, you're still active.
Whimsicott comes out, and it seems just so telegraphed
this point and calling out that these teams are so similar but a couple of key differences again that
life orb that you follow on the gargoyle over on shohais end we saw that gargoyle from hiroshi with
that rockside wasn't enough to KO onto shohais but doing a lot of damage that extra life or boost
would be enough to just get it over the line completely get rid of the tarzard and then
it would just be a whipspot you have to follow up and that turn with the moon blash shohais
into the Insachi strong spot.
Yeah, and it will come down to speed-tie here.
It used to detour us over three points.
He said, but later on, I was like,
I'm gonna enter the field.
Now, if the tailwind is set here like a seam,
which go-on trump is gonna hit first?
Well, it's gonna be the question,
so you know one is built for offense,
the other with the citrus berry,
and it will be showhays at moves first.
Dragonclaw instead, going to giant take
down the opposing go-on trump,
and it will succeed, whether it's a speed-tie
or an outspeed.
basically seen but that's gonna be a huge momentum swing and show his favour.
Yeah, now you've got that King Gamma on the field.
It's not a competitive spot but it has got no protect.
So it's gonna be susceptible to an earthquake here but I don't think you can afford to
earthquake and ignore the Charizard because you're lacking any other way to
hit that Charizard. You need to go after the Charizard here.
Maybe a rock slide but is it easy for Horoshe just to say
I'm just protecting Charizard here and then trying to leverage my King Gambit.
How to believe it's the Ozengarch on that combined with life orb damage might be enough to pick up the knockout there.
The problem is, if we do see a double up here from that one support and the Garchup in Skipping Gambit,
but can you afford to break your own sash and risk and hope that the Charizard on Hiroshi's side protects this thing?
And do you get enough value out of that protect that you're willing to risk a potential encore on the next turn?
The answer for this one is no moon blast, so much damage into the King Gambit thanks to that critical hit.
And a Garchomp with the Earthbeats, we are targeting down the King Gambit, we do not care about Charizard.
And with the amount of damage that double up is enough to take another KO.
You said how do you take down the Terzords?
Well, he takes down all of its friends, only one Pokemon now remaining for Hiroshi.
Yeah, this is perfectly played from sure hands.
Another heatwave comes out, the swimsuit goes down, but that Garchomp all importantly is sticking around for one more crucial turn.
We've got the Garchomp still around, Tailwind's staggered, and show his favor as Tailwind for Hiroshi theaters out, and we still have another Pokemon to be joining the fray as Vasky Legion.
If we had questions about whether Garchomp could get it done, well Vasky Legion is certainly good, still even in these sunny conditions.
Yeah, and that was the perfect Pokemon to keep around especially bringing in especially when that King Amid has just fallen
So lots of people to charge on that. I'm thinking it's gonna be able to do it
Dragon claw bring the charge are down to less than half health the last chance for your feet in this match
And last respect will be enough to get it done
Zero
Take this match seven one here at a Pokemon world
world championships. You see a mashup like this on this stage.
National champion going up against a world champion is incredible.
But world champion coming out on top, incredible.
Absolutely amazing. You know, I think Shulhaze's performance in that match was just incredible from start to finish.
I knew exactly the game plan that they needed to follow.
Adapted on the fly, different scenarios occurred, but I think just showing their experience at this level of
and being a former world champion.
That was the difference, I think, between the two.
I mean, there's a reason that Shohei is consistently talked about as a favorite.
To be making new runs and tournaments, even at still a world level,
we've talked about the champions that we've had in the past.
And can they make that run?
Can they do it again?
And I feel like Shohei has to be at one of the top of so many people's lists
to be able to take that crown.
And to take down the Japan national champion, Hiroshi, he did so incredible there.
He's probably such a strong team.
He was 6-1 going into this match as well.
But for Shohei to come out on top of 2-0, amazing.
Yeah, and it sets you up so confidently coming into tomorrow's tournament.
You know, you've taken one loss all day in this tough field of tournament,
and then you're finishing the day off against such a tough opponent
that's running the same six, there are slight variations there.
But in really what was such a dominating fashion,
really making Shohei seem like they're gonna be one
of the favorites coming in to tomorrow to push on
and maybe get a second world championship to their names.
They would just be incredible full of ISE, I'll say,
but Shohei being able to win a second world championship title
would just be absolutely incredible.
And I mean, there's a reason that we've talked about him
and like that he could do it
because he really realistically could.
Of course, there's still so much for him and left to play.
We can't get ahead of ourselves.
But 7-1 and seeing a display like that,
can you blame us?
Can you blame us for playing that?
I don't think you can.
I think on the back of it,
we saw Horoshe at the Japan National Championships
came out on top.
So many players playing that big six team,
they were the one that came out on top.
So knows this team inside out is adapted.
It obviously feels confident coming into this tournament.
and then Shohei has been playing the same six well,
but Shohei's been playing a lot of other things
in grassroots as well.
But to be able to come into this tournament in particular
with the adaptations they've made and a play like that,
it does make them a scary prospect
for the rest of the field.
It was just the confidence too.
Both trainers played so well,
but especially looking at that game number two
and the choice of targeting throughout,
I think was just really well done.
Even at like, oh, this could be an easy target,
this is what's going to advance me further. I know that's just like essential VGC, but to be able to
see it on such a display is always just truly incredible. Like it, I don't know, like, am I wrong
that it just seemed like such a confident match even when we did get to see such a good match?
No, I don't think that's wrong in this lightest. I think that's exactly what we saw, a confident
performance. I think, you know, Shohei, from start to finish knew exactly the direction that
they needed to go in. When they needed to attack, when they needed to stagger the tailwind
to take advantage of it, maybe later down the line and preserve certain Pokemon at the right time.
So game one, the preservation of the Charizard. That was perfect. That worked out so well,
bringing the King Amit in the perfect timing. Again, you know, closing the game out. The
Godchomp was in probably a position where it was able to close out the game by itself,
if it was a one-on-one with the Charizard on Hiroshi's side. But
hand back up. Didn't need it. The Basque Legion was there. Full health to come in and just
I'm going to say, yep, these are my last respects, and I'm going to send Shohei 7-1 into danger.
I still have some respect for Heroes 2, like you can't say, you're here enough like, we're sending you back, you're not making it phase 2.
Heroes are still in phase 2, everyone.
Of course, yes.
But it will be a bit more of a difficult run, at sitting on an X and 2 record, you've got to make the run.
But for Shohei, you know he's got to be feeling good about that one, so let's go here from him.
As he's standing by now for our interview.
Thank you so much. I'm here with Shohei Kamuro, your 2023 world champion and phase 2 competitor.
Shohei, congratulations. It has been a pleasure watching you compete this season throughout the world.
What has it been like being able to travel and compete so much in the international circuit?
First of all, congratulations on your victory.
This year, you have joined the World Cup and participated in many other events in the world.
What kind of experiences did you have?
Did you have fun?
I had a lot of experience in the long-range match between regional and international.
Today, we were able to concentrate on the last round of the 8th round and finish it off.
What those changes were and why you made those changes
So in the meta right now, Toxapex is really really strong so he changed up Charizard's
moveset and also gave King Gambit Protect to be a little bit more on the defensive side.
For sure, and in your matchup just now, you know, those same six Pokemon but you had
different items and how did that factor into your game plan against your opponent?
This match was a Miramatch match, but I was wrong about what I had.
So, I'm ready for the Miramatch match, but what kind of things do you have to be aware of?
Well, Charizard has the power of the elements, so the opponent's Basque Legion, Ida Ito, is very powerful,
but I was thinking of countering it with King Gambit.
Yes, so my Charizard had ancient power, so you know that was a very deliberate choice on my side
So the opponent's Basque Legion obviously very powerful Pokemon
So I just wanted to make sure that I was facing that down with my Kimber King gambit
I'm not getting too overwhelmed by that Basque Legion. All right, Shohei. Thank you so much for your time
Do you have any shout outs you want to give to anybody watching at home?
Yes, I go need on this get a mall. I don't meet a look at the company my cancer no Codoba to cut message in a door
Do you have any thoughts?
I'm grateful for my feelings, but I lost in the final round 10 years ago in San Francisco, so I'm happy to win today.
today. Well congratulations I'm glad you will be moving on to phase two tomorrow best of luck
and thank you all so much for watching at home we are not quite done here yet we are going to be
wrapping things up with Ben over in the analyst round lounge so take it away please.
Thanks so much Gabby and what a day we've had here at the 2026 world championships in San Francisco
it's been I think action from top to tail here today and we've seen so many things that
I have so many different things to what we were expecting to see, but I'm glad we've rounded
things out with a Charizard flow out there just to end the day like we expected to.
Look, we had a whole lot of things that we had to adapt to on the fly earlier in the
day.
It's all good to end the day with something that's familiar.
It's comfortable.
It's a big bowl of soup on a whole day.
Big bowl of soup, love that.
We're going to have more of that action for you tomorrow, of course.
we're going to be kicking things off at 9 o'clock Pacific there. I'm not to be trusted with time
translation so I'm going to leave that with you viewers at home but 9 o'clock Pacific will be
back tomorrow and yeah in the meantime we've got we've like looking back on today we've had um
we've had lots of things Scott like what's been a standout to to you that you've seen today
maybe you weren't expecting to see? I mean I was definitely expecting to see mega players
against it. That wasn't surprising at all. I think I like the way in which the
games have been closed. I think we knew margins were gonna be small over the
course of this weekend where like just it's hard to get team advantage of this
format and I think it's hard to like take out your Pokemon too much. So there's
not gonna be close but it's like an idea so we had a lot of games are like
fab sloppy I guess where it's like oh man like it seemed like one player is
gonna lose and the last second the rug would get pulled out. No no the other
player is gonna win where this time you know there's a lot of probability
management this format for sure wherever it's just a lot of accurate
I feel like, you know, the players are doing a good job of navigating the games.
It feels like the right player is winning every set, even though the path there is maybe a little more twisty and turny than we're used to in some other formats.
So I think I've been impressed by the players. It's a really difficult format to play.
I know a lot of even really good trainers having tough weekends, but the folks that stream have really locked in.
Yeah, I totally agree with that.
Yeah, 100%.
Like, this has been such a set of close matches.
I'm just looking forward to
seeing how those players convert
that have made it from phase one
into phase two and like how this,
you know, narrows down to the top
players where, you know, it's not
just like the players have been
building their teams right, but
they're also on form on the day.
They've been hitting the matchups.
They've been executing their
matchups properly. But in the
meantime, you know, if you've
the stream here on the broadcast, watching for only 30 minutes.
I'm hoping you've been watching for more than 30 minutes across the day
because we've had some great action there to get some quick coupon,
some teammate tickets and some training tickets.
Yeah, but if you did miss that already, that does also still count
for the rebroadcast that will be happening immediately afterwards.
So you can catch up on all the action from day one
and still get those Twitch drops for today.
And of course, you know, if you're not watching 30 minutes,
but you are watching this rep, what are you doing?
Don't forget, you do need to link your account to get some of the drops, so there's instructions
to Twitch chat, which you open it up, a little pin message, I'd read it.
Definitely, definitely.
And we've also got our distribution, of course.
Enjoy World 26 to get a little bit of extra swag in Pokemon Champions there.
I think that's one of the things that I'm looking forward to, seeing like going on
the ladder, these World Championships, you're like, you're watching, you're
watching you're watching but yeah great great extra little distribution there
for all you people at home. I really like that it's you were watching you were
watching you were competing because I know that our competitors also got some
in-game swag as well as part of qualifying for the world championships.
Yeah definitely and it's you know it's not just video game as well that
we've had our distributions in we've had distributions for across all of the
other games as well. If you've been watching the TCG, if you've been watching Pokemon Go,
if you've been watching Pokemon Unite as well, there's a long list of all of the great things
that you'll have been able to get. And if you haven't already, you know, just have it on in the
background. If maybe you're watching TCG, but maybe you want something from VG, you know,
you're going to have a second window going on there just to get all of the extra stuff that
we have here at the World Championship. Hey, that's what I've been doing it too. You
know, I've been on the VG stream, but my phone has been watching the other stream.
I know everyone has like 10 tabs on their computer open already, so just add a couple more.
100%, 100% and you know we've got a, here's a little bit of an instruction on how you can actually
earn those Twitch drops if you haven't already and as Scott says if you've only just tuned in
for now, if you're going to be watching along tomorrow or the restream of course,
this is how you can get a hold of all of those Twitch drops. And as we say,
tab open for each one, collect everything that you possibly can across this weekend.
Okay, I've got to shout out to the closed captions as well, being able to see that in your chosen
language. That's a really cool feature and it's really necessary because this is such a global
tournament, this is a global game and I'm so thrilled that everyone across the globe is able
to see and experience it in their own native language. And if you want to experience more
of course, you can follow along at pokemon.com forward slash broadcast. Make sure you follow
of course, hashtag play Pokemon app play Pokemon play Pokemon pretty much everywhere that you can think of there so you can keep up with all of the action both in the world championships of course but also our 20 27 season will be starting in just a few short weeks after this and has concluded we know who our world champion is will be going to see our next season and what that could entail now as well we know we've had a little pity tell us that there is maybe
if you're here, something extra that maybe Pokemon Go will be bringing to us through Pokemon XP.
We don't know any of the details, but you haven't already got yourself back into Pokemon Go.
This word on the street is maybe it's a good time to get back into the game. Maybe
redownload it if you haven't got it ready, if you have been carrying on playing it,
because there's going to be some cool stuff going on.
them into you update, get your app ready to go so that when you are out wandering,
re-quays a road or just being out and experiencing the joy that is this experience in Pokemon XP,
you're ready to go.
I think, you know, even if you're here and you haven't downloaded it, I'm personally enjoying it, but
I think there's a lot of fun things you can do too. I think one of the things you kind of need
is we've, you know, watched these events grow. Unlike back, maybe when we first started doing
these, there's an awful lot of things you can do with the event, both in-person and virtually,
It's a unique bug where you can catch the custom Pikachu in the world and from PXP in the game, so definitely check that out.
Now, 100% I mean, I've opened it and looked at all of the focus stops, all of the things going on.
There's a lot here.
So you're going to say, what is a focus stop?
Basically, like every street corner and everything in between the street corners is pretty much lit up at the moment here at Pokemon World, Pokemon XP.
That's all we've got time for today. We're going to be going now closing off our broadcast.
We'll be back again at 9 o'clock Pacific time tomorrow for Phase 2 of the World Championships.
You