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. With that explanation out of the way, let’s begin with the highlights of Day 1!
The Perfect Opening Match
If there was ever a first match that perfectly sets the tone for how the rest of the tournament will play out, it might be this one. The first match, the first round, the first day, and the first tie! It’s neck and neck between Statastan and CrescentAngels with a first-match tie. This is what it means to be in the World Championships, blink and the momentum of the battle has shifted. The best trainers are here to make the best plays, victory lies in a hair’s length of margin of hp!
Inadequance Brings the Heat!
Now in my Pokémon to look out for article I mentioned that trainers have grown to rely on Shadow Charizard’s raw firepower when it comes to bigger tournaments. And there are definitely quite a few Charizards soaring about on the first day of Worlds. If you look at Inadequance‘s first match against IceCr1s I think it will be clear why. After whittling down the bulky Pokémon, Lickitung from IceCri1s‘s team Inadequance unleashed Charizard! And Charizard returned in kind by sweeping whatever was left of the opponent’s team.
Being Able to Read the Opponent’s Team
The unique trait of the “Show Six Pick Three” is that the battle starts before a single tap. As being able to read the opponent’s team and being able to accurately guess what the opponent will be bringing provides a huge advantage. One that only the most focused, most knowledgeable, and keenest trainers can claim to harness. Now enter Arroh, one of the most passionate trainers who wears his emotions on his sleeve. Take a trainer like that and put him in the ring for the year’s biggest tournament, and you have the recipe for some masterful play!
Lots can be said about Arroh’s performance against the then-undefeated Roroi1230. Arroh showed flawless move counting and very clever swaps. Yet in my humble opinion, one of the best abilities he showed is his ability to read his team perfectly in both the first and second matches. Claiming him a 2-0 victory!
The Return of The King
So I couldn’t help but mention Shadow Charizard twice in this post. Because along with Inadequance the victor of the European Internationals TontonBatteuse is also here to show what Charizard is made of. The dragon king, TonTonBatteuse won the hearts of many, myself included, in his European Internationals with his Shadow Dragonair and Charizard combo. And he has brought that exact duo for worlds!
Unfortunately, TonTonBatteuse got pushed to the losers’ side of the bracket early. But that doesn’t mean he was disheartened from making wonderful plays from the losers’ side as well. With his Shadow Charizard destroying his opponent’s Lanturn from 40% health using a resisted Blast Burn. And with enough energy left with the tank to close out the game as well! I sure do hope this top-cut French trainer brings similar masterful plays in the second day of the competition as well.
Shield Advantage? Who Needs it?!
A major part of Pokémon GO PvP is managing the precious two shields gifted in every battle and using them exactly when required. But that doesn’t mean it’s always the optimum play to be frugal. XjeraldX is here at the World Championships to show why. Registeel may be a popular Pokémon, but it needs to rely on its charged attacks to accomplish anything. XejarldX knows this quite well and hunts down Registeel with his Dunsparce using up both of his shields. This ends up giving him a decisive victory.
Despite this though, XjeraldX unfortunately lost to the equally talented qihuan123 in the next two matches. He’s still around for day 2 on the losers’ side of the bracket though. XjeraldX is a newer face in the circuit and one who seems to really enjoy the thrill of the game. So I hope he sticks around for both worlds and the championship circuit in general.
Closing Remarks
The World Championship is here, it is happening! And it has brought some amazing battles on day 1. What I’ve covered here is merely a snippet of all the amazing trainers pouring their all both on and off stream. If I were to put my personal remark for day 1, I would say the keyword is Change. The day may have started with the more common meta-picks. But as the day went on the Pokémon on display started to vary.
And it’s not just bold signature picks like TonTonBatteuse’s Dragonair or Arroh’s Frosslass. It’s the little incremental changes people are making. Favoring Galarian Stunfisk over Registeel, Altaria over Noctowl, Non-shadow Swampert, and Venusaur over Shadow. This is the Worlds Championships and you don’t reach the top by playing it safe. So trainers are adapting, they are asking “What do I want and what do I need to be the champ?” Only time will tell who reigns supreme. Whether you’re watching from home or out there in person at Yokohama, I hope you’re as excited for the rest of the tournament as I am. And you can be sure I will be here to celebrate the best of what Day 2 and 3 has to offer.
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
