Good day, Pokémon Trainers! The Pokémon GO World Championships are in full swing. This means trainers around the world are bringing their A-game in order to secure the title of “World Champion”. Though trainers will have to go through a gauntlet of other trainers for three whole days for this prestigious title. What this means is 3 days of intense competition, 3 days of hype matches, and 3 days of trainers putting everything on the line making every prediction and every catch to get an inch closer to victory!
And that’s where I come in. Whether you’ve missed some of the key matches or want to relive some of the best moments, I’ll be bringing you some of the highlights of each day and providing a brief description and analysis for each. But now we’re at the end of the road, the Grand Finals!
Noctowl’s Three-Ball Flex
The finals are on. And itsAXN is instantly bringing the heat with his Sableye and Noctowl Combo. itsAXN’s Noctowl was already a highlight for Day 2. And it’s back here again reminding everyone why it wears that best buddy ribbon with pride and firing off Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball. Ultimately whittling down xXRubixMasterXx’s Registeel before it could really do anything at all!
Deoxys Returns Fire
Deoxys (Defense Forme) has been instrumental to xXRubixMasterXx’s success all throughout the World Championships. Not only can it do a lot of Medicham’s job as a fellow Psychic counter user. But it also wins neutrally against Medicham. And xXRubixMasterXx has been navigating this space-faring Pokémon masterfully on his path to becoming champion. And we see Deoxys shine again on the final day. Defeating Medicham, chipping at Lanturn and shutting down Noctowl all in a single round. And giving xXRubixMasterXx the round 2 victory he needed.
itsAXN is Composed Under Fire
Amazing team reads have been a constant all three days of the GO World Championships. We had Arroh on Day 1, Wdage on Day 2, and finally, itsAXN shows the way on the final match. After a decisive loss in round 2, it makes sense to feel pressure. Yet itsAXN managed to keep his head in the game. Looking at his opponent’s team and putting his Medicham against xXRubixMasterXx’s Registeel in the lead.
But even that is dwarfed by round 4, where itsAXN started off with Shadow Alolan Sandslash against xXRubixMasterXx’s Altaria! That is such a gutsy move when your opponent favors both Deoxys and Registeel, both counters to the frail A-slash. Yet itsAXN read his opponent’s mind and made the best play possible!
The Final Strike
This is it! These two trainers have faced each other four times now all throughout the official tournament season. And here they are again on the Grand Finals on the world stage. Only one can go home with the first-place trophy. Yet the game ends not with a huge charged attack blow, but a steady fast attack down, very fitting for the winning trainer. Congratulations itsAXN, you are now the World Champion!
Closing Remarks
Each day of the tournament I’ve been trying to find a word to best describe each day of the tournament. On the final day, I think I’ve found it easily. It’s Consistency! itsAXN’s success is all about being steady and consistent. Consistent in his accomplishments, consistent in the energy he brings to every game, and consistent in his Pokémon. In worlds, people had moved on from Noctowls and Sableyes, favoring Altarias and Noctowls. Yet itsAXN had brought his Medicham, Sableye, and best buddy Noctowl in just about every tournament. And he stuck to the tried and true on the final stage of the season as well.
Indeed, both Sableye’s spam and Noctowl’s bulk have been key to itsAXN’s success. And even the second-place finisher xXRubixMasterXx has been consistent with his Deoxys. By the end, itsAXN stands as the champion. But each and every trainer that poured their heart out on the world stage has something to be proud of. My only wish is to see even more fantastic battles as Pokémon GO moves on to season 3!
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
