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This past weekend, I viewed the Pokemon VGC Oceania International Championship on Twitch. It took place in Melbourne, Australia, and there was a big time zone difference in viewing the stream, so I had to view the tournament after the fact. Since it would have been easy for many U.S. viewers to miss this stream, I will cover some of the details of this three-day tournament. I don’t have all the information available, so I will list the players and the Pokemon they brought, without move-sets and stats.
As a quick reminder, I will only cover the video game portion of the event, and only the matches viewed on stream. Any other information will be missing.
This is the only Video Game Championship International Championship that uses this year’s “Moon” rule-set. Like the “Sun” rules, it does allow two restricted Pokemon on any given team, and Mega-evolution (and similar transformations) are still banned. The main difference here is that Z-moves are allowed (except for the one that Ultra Necrozma can use). All games are played using the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon versions. With that information out of the way, let’s look at the teams used in each match.
Day 1:
Round one of Swiss featured Melvin Keh vs. Luke Curtale. Here are their teams:
Melvin Keh: Shedinja, Tapu Fini, Incineroar, Xerneas, Kyogre, and Ferrothorn.
Luke Curtale: Smeargle, Tsareena, Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, and Stakataka.
Melvin Keh won 2-0.
Round 2 of Swiss featured Gabriel Agati vs. Justin Burns. Here are thier teams:
Gabriel Agati: Kyogre, Xerneas, Incineroar, Ludicolo, Tornadus (incarnate), and Amoongus.
Justin Burns: Xerneas, Groudon, Incineroar, Tapu Koko, Amoongus, and Volcarona.
Gabriel Agati won 2-0.
Round 3 of Swiss featured Alessio Yuri Bosshetto vs Sam Pandelis. Here are their teams:
Alessio Yuri Boschetto: Xerneas, Groudon, Heatran, Incineroar, Venasaur, and Tsareena.
Sam Pandelis: Tapu Fini, Incineroar, Amoongus, Yveltal, Volcarona, and Xerneas.
Alessio Yuri Boschetto won 2-0.
Round 4 of Swiss featured Juan Naar vs. James Baek. Here are their teams:
Juan Naar: Xerneas, Bronzong, Groudon, Heliolisk, Incineroar, and Smeargle.
James Baek: Xerneas, Incineroar, Tornadus (incarnate), Kyogre, Kartana, and Amoongus.
James Baek won 2-1.
Round 5 of Swiss featured Malcolm Mackellar vs. Jesse Beard. Here are their teams:
Malcolm Mackellar: Raichu (Alolan), Tapu Koko, Kyogre, Aerodactyl, Tapu Lele, and Lunala.
Jesse Beard: Xerneas, Yveltal, Incineroar, Kartana, Amoongus, and Jynx.
Jesse Beard won 2-1.
Round 6 of Swiss featured Graham Amedee vs Luke Iuele. Here are their teams.
Graham Amedee: Greninja, Crobat, Groudon, Xerneas, Tapu Koko, and Incineroar.
Luke Iuele: Landorus (Therian), Tapu Fini, Incineraor, Xerneas, Yveltal, and Amoongus.
Graham Amedee won 2-0.
Two Round 7 matches were shown. The first game featured Eduardo Cunha vs. Liam Gilbert. Here are their teams:
Eduardo Cunha: Smeargle, Stakataka, Lunala, Incineroar, Tsareena, and Xerneas.
Liam Gilbert: Incineroar, Lunala, Amoongus, Xerneas, Toxicroak, and Tapu Koko.
Eduardo Cunha won 2-1.
The second Round 7 match featured Gabriel Agati vs. Luke Curtale. Here are their teams:
Gabriel Agati: Kyogre, Xerneas, Incineroar, Ludicolo, Tornadus (incarnate), and Amoongus.
Luke Curtale: Smeargle, Tsareena, Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, and Stakataka.
Luke Curtale won 2-1.
Day 2:
The tournament has now moved onto the top 8 players, now in single elimination. Each match was shown.
The first top 8 match featured Matthias Loong vs. Justin Burns. Here are their teams:
Matthias Loong: Kyogre, Xerneas, Amoongus, Incineroar, Tornadus (incarnate), and Kartana.
Justin Burns: Xerneas, Groudon, Incineroar, Tapu Koko, Amoongus, and Volcarona.
Justin Burns won 2-0.
The second top 8 match featured James Baek and Luke Curtale. Here are their teams:
James Baek: Xerneas, Incineroar, Tornadus (incarnate), Kyogre, Kartana, and Amoongus.
Luke Curtale: Smeargle, Tsareena, Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, and Stakataka.
Luke Curtale won 2-0.
The third top 8 match featured James Katsaros vs. Liam Gilbert. Here are their teams:
James Katsaros: Incineroar, Tapu Fini, Yveltal, Xerneas, Volcarona, and Amoongus.
Liam Gilbert: Incineroar, Lunala, Amoongus, Xerneas, Toxicroak, and Tapu Koko.
James Katsaros won 2-0.
The last top 8 match featured Eduardo Cunha vs. Gabriel Agati. Here are their teams:
Eduardo Cunha: Smeargle, Stakataka, Lunala, Incineroar, Tsareena, and Xerneas.
Gabriel Agati: Kyogre, Xerneas, Incineroar, Ludicolo, Tornadus (incarnate), and Amoongus.
Eduardo Cunha won 2-0.
The first top 4 match featured Luke Curtale vs. James Katsaros. Here are their teams:
Luke Curtale: Smeargle, Tsareena, Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, and Stakataka.
James Katsaros: Incineroar, Tapu Fini, Yveltal, Xerneas, Volcarona, and Amoongus.
Luke Curtale won 2-1.
The last top 4 match featured Justin Burns vs. Eduardo Cunha. Here are their teams:
Justin Burns: Xerneas, Groudon, Incineroar, Tapu Koko, Amoongus, and Volcarona.
Eduardo Cunha: Smeargle, Stakataka, Lunala, Incineroar, Tsareena, and Xerneas.
Eduardo Cunha won 2-1.
The previous matches were all in the Master’s division. Next, the stream featured players from the Senior’s division, which is one age division younger.
The only top 8 match in the Senior’s division shown featured Luca P. vs. Hamish D. Here are their teams:
Luca P.: Xerneas, Groudon, Venasaur, Incineroar, Gengar, and Tsareena.
Hamish D.: Groudon, Incineroar, Yveltal, Tapu Koko, Stakataka, and Venasaur.
Luka P. won 2-0.
The first top 4 Senior’s match featured Jack G. vs. Juan S. Here are their teams:
Jack G.: Xerneas, Tapu Koko, Amoongus, Lunala, Toxicroak, and Incineroar.
Juan S.: Lunala, Tapu Koko, Incineroar, Xerneas, Hitmontop, and Amoongus.
Juan S. won 2-0
The last top 4 Senior’s match featured Luca P. vs. Peyton F. Here are their teams:
Luca P.: Xerneas, Groudon, Venasaur, Incineroar, Gengar, and Tsareena.
Peyton F.: Smeargle, Xerneas, Lunala, Incineroar, Toxicroak, and Landorus (Therian).
Luca P. won 2-1.
Day 3:
The Junior’s division final match featured James G. vs. Justin M. Here are their teams:
James G.: Xerneas, Lunala, Incineroar, Tapu Koko, Amoongus, and Toxicroak.
Justin M.: Incineroar, Tsareena, Xerneas, Kyogre, Tornadus (incarnate), and Amoongus.
Justin M. won 2-1.
The Senior’s division final match featured Juan S. vs. Luca P. Here are their teams:
Juan S.: Lunala, Tapu Koko, Incineroar, Xerneas, Hitmontop, and Amoongus.
Luca P.: Xerneas, Groudon, Venasaur, Incineroar, Gengar, and Tsareena.
Juan S. won 2-1.
The Master’s division final match featured Eduardo Cunha vs. Luke Curtale. Here are their teams:
Eduardo Cunha: Smeargle, Stakataka, Lunala, Incineroar, Tsareena, and Xerneas.
Luke Curtale: Smeargle, Tsareena, Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, and Stakataka.
Eduardo Cunha won 2-1.
Of note, both players had the same Pokemon on their team. Also, the first game slowed to a halt when both player’s Stakatakas were the only Pokemon left on the field. This lead to the third game timing out, and Eduardo had the Pokemon advantage at the end of three turns after time was called. This is the only game on stream where this happened.
This tournament featured a lot of players using Incineroar, Xerneas, Lunala, Kyogre, Groudon, and Amoongus. Not all of these Pokemon got to the end of the tournament, and there was less variety as the tournament progressed. It looks like the winning Pokemon might become more popular choices, and are opponents to watch out for in future tournaments and in online play.
The last major tournaments of this year will feature the “Ultra” series rules, where Mega-evolution (and similar transformations) will be allowed in addition to everything the previous rules allowed. I look forward to seeing how this may affect each player’s strategies in the near future.
And that was a summary of the Pokemon VGC 2019 Oceania International Championship. Did you watch this stream? What was your favorite part of this tournament? What Pokemon do you think will be successful in the near future? Did you notice and incorrect information? Let me know in the comments below!
that's all games 