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badass_tiger) wrote2025-08-15 03:03 pm
badass_tiger) wrote2025-08-15 03:03 pm
Pokemon World Championships 2025
Happy Pokemon World Championships weekend, everyone!!! This is the best time of the year for me, even if I don't go in person. It's that time when the competition, the blood, sweat, and tears, that competitors have poured into their skills and their Pokemon, come to a head. It's that time that, after a year of hard fought battles, we find out who will come out on top as the World Champion in their respective games!
If you don't know, although perhaps it is becoming more known these days, Pokemon (or big Pikachu as some affectionately call it) holds competitive tournaments for the Trading Card Game (TCG), the Video Game, (VGC) Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon Go throughout the year. The big ones are called major tournaments but they're supplemented by Local Leagues, which are held in game shops and the like. All official events award Championship Points (CP) which are earned based on your placement at any event. The competitors of each region who hold the most CP are invited to the World Championships where they compete one more time to find out who will emerge as the best.
I follow both VGC and Pokemon Unite, although I'm much more well versed in VGC than Unite. I used to compete in VGC somewhat, haven't done so in a while, but I'm looking to get back into it. I actually signed up to go to a local tournament next week, which, uh ... I haven't played at all in quite some time, no idea what team I'm going to bring ... or how to even make my team sheet ... but I wanted to force myself to do it! Even though I haven't properly competed in a while, I have attended events as a spectator, and they are always the absolute best time ever. I love the atmosphere, people are so kind and friendly, and I feel ... at home. Amongst my people. So I wanted to make myself properly get into it so I just signed up without thinking about it.
But enough about me. I want to talk about my predictions for the event as a rank amateur who only knows enough from religiously watching every tournament up until now.
First of all, I want to talk about Unite because that's the one I know less about. My top 3 to win the event are:
1. Luminosity Gaming (North America)
2. Zeta Division (Japan)
3. Hi5 (Asia Pacific-East)
Luminosity Gaming is going to win the whole thing. It will be shocking if they don't. They are far and away the favourites to win. This year is the 4th year of competitive Unite and LG won the World Championships the first 2 years. In the third year, the team split up due to one of the members being temporarily banned from competitive play, but now the core 3, Overlord, Slashcan, and Kyriaos, are back, with two more team members who are new to the team but not to competitive Unite, Trainer and Otter.
These guys are unstoppable. They won all three International Championships this year, which are the biggest tournaments barring Worlds, and is utterly unprecedented. They came 3rd at the Asia Championship League (ACL), and have also won a number of monthlies. It really does seem like these guys are in a league of their own, a completely different level from everyone else. That said, they're clearly not unbeatable. They've lost monthlies and one of the other teams on my list has beaten them in a big tournament. However, they're still the clear favourites. I'm also a huge fan of Slashcan, who is just an absolute sweetheart, very knowledgeable about the game, and a huge asset to the community, but I'm also quite fond of the other boys so I'm rooting for them.
Second is Zeta Division, a group of players who are even younger than LG (the members of LG are 20-23), being high schoolers from what I know. Because of that, they often struggle early in the season when they're busy focusing on school and don't have much time to practice! Then later on in the season, they get more time and hugely ramp up their play. They're very talented and very consistent.
Third is Hi5 and if I wasn't a follower of LG, I would be rooting for Hi5 all the way. Hi5 used to play under the name Alter Ego. They were the team to knock LG out of ACL. They came second at ACL in the end, but they are a group of extremely charming and talented young men who, if they don't win this year, will keep trying until they do. The members are also close friends with LG and it's tradition for them to go to karaoke together whenever they meet which is utterly adorable.
I haven't been paying that much attention to the meta lately so I don't have any guesses as to which Pokemon are going to be top contenders. Latios ... Ho-oh? I guess? Lol.
Moving on to VGC. How I love VGC. Pokemon VGC is my life. A couple of days ago, it occurred to me that in some aspects, I am living the life I dreamt of as a child, where everything around me is Pokemon and everything I do is Pokemon. I am surrounded by Pokemon merch like plushies, shirts, crockery, a teapot, I go to every in-person tournament that I can, and watch the entire streams of all the others. Make no mistake, this game is everything to me.
I could say a lot about the competitors who are going to be present. I follow VGC very closely so I am closely acquainted with many of the storylines going into Worlds. There are so many players who I'm rooting for but I'll keep this to my top 5:
1. Marco Silva (Italy)
2. Michael Kelsch (Germany)
3. Federico Camporesi (Italy)
4. Victor Medina (Spain)
5. Wolfe Glick (North America)
I'll be starting from the bottom and making my way up this time. These are my top competitors who I believe have the best chance at winning, but I confess that I've placed Wolfe here, not because I think he's going to win, but because I love him and I can't count him out. Oops. For most people who know anything about VGC, it'll be from Wolfe, and you know what, I'm very glad for that. Wolfe is an extremely kind and sweet person who, back in the day when the VGC community was small, niche, and gatekeep-y, we didn't deserve. He has always been a generous person who was never outright negative about the game or other people, even when he had the right to be, which made him stand out from everyone else. There is no one to whom the current popularity of VGC owes itself to more than Wolfe, one of the few positive forces of the sphere, who has made VGC the friendly, welcoming space that it is today.
But you don't win Worlds by being the nicest person on the planet. Now, if you know anything about Wolfe, you'll also know that he is not just a pretty face. He is, as a matter of fact, the most decorated VGC person on the planet, and arguably the best player at the current time. But so far in the current ruleset, he seems to be struggling, so I would be very surprised if he makes it to top cut. The one thing you can always say about Wolfe though is that you can never count him out, so he could still very much make it. I would be delighted if he did. And ... Wolfe loves being underestimated. Being the underdog lights a fire in him, so ... I will underestimate him for now.
Next up is someone else who I am actually not sure can make it top cut or not but I still don't want to count him out due to my affection for him. Victor is a crazy consistent player, making many many top finishes ... but he has never won a major tournament. Not once. This year, every single time he joined a tournament, I would say 'This is Victor's time' and it never has been. (One of those tournaments was EUIC (European International Championships), which I was planning to speak to him at if I saw him, and the tournament was won by WOLFE.) So how sick would it be if his first ever major win was Worlds?! I think that he can do it. I'm rooting for him to do it. I believe in him.
Third is Federico, the winner of the most recent major tournament, NAIC (North America International Championships). He's one of two Italians on this list and let me tell you that Italy is DESTROYING this season. They have always been an extremely strong country, but in NAIC, Italy showed up, beat every single NA player out of top 8, and we had a completely foreigner-dominated top cut, not a single American. Federico is close friends with the number one player on my list, Marco, and the Italian VGC community as a whole has always been very close-knit even when they all live in different cities. Back when we played closed team sheets, it was said that if you played an Italian player in the tournament, the entirety of Italy would know your team before the set was out. Federico has proven himself this year with a win at a regional, an international, and an online challenge, so he's looking to do the unprecedented and claim the quadruple crown in a single season. Also just a note that Wolfe has done the same thing this season so he's also a contender for the quadruple crown, but there's no one else apart from these two players.
Second is Michael Kelsch who is an absolutely insane player. His first time competing in VGC was in 2023 when he came second at Worlds, and last year he came 3rd. This year he won 2 regional titles back to back. He is such a good player, so talented, and I would not be at all surprised if he won the whole thing. Michael's only flaw in my eyes is that he's a 'hf' kind of player which is kinda BM in my eyes but I'm sure Michael is cool apart from that lol.
(Before every match, players usually wish each other 'Good luck, have fun', but some players will simply reply 'Have fun' because they have a superstition that saying 'Good luck' will let the other player get lucky on critical hits and damage rolls. Like I said, kinda BM, but it's not that serious lol.)
Finally, my top player to win Worlds is Marco Silva. At the beginning of this season, people were saying that Marco is the best player in the world, hands down. He is extremely consistent, extremely talented, and extremely hungry for success. I believe that if he has the right team, this year is his year. He won LAIC this year, and won LAIC last year too. But there are two players he struggles to win against and those are Federico and Wolfe. If he can dodge them, or squeak past them, he'll make it, no question.
I want to post this before the broadcast starts and I have to run for work now so I'll just quickly say that my Pokemon predictions to win are Zamazenta Miraidon, Amoonguss, Incineroar, Ogerpon Rock, and Urshifu. Not completely unbiased picks there, I must admit.
And finally, special shout out to a few more competitors who I'm rooting for: Justin Tang (Tang gang!), Markus Hamann, Dyl Yeomans, Yuki Zaninovich, Aaron Traylor, James Evans, Behzad Muntazir, Stefan Mott, Eric Rios, Mattie Morgan, Ibrahim Maarouf, Riley Factura, and now I really must go but there are many, many others. And check out the soundtrack for this year!
If you don't know, although perhaps it is becoming more known these days, Pokemon (or big Pikachu as some affectionately call it) holds competitive tournaments for the Trading Card Game (TCG), the Video Game, (VGC) Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon Go throughout the year. The big ones are called major tournaments but they're supplemented by Local Leagues, which are held in game shops and the like. All official events award Championship Points (CP) which are earned based on your placement at any event. The competitors of each region who hold the most CP are invited to the World Championships where they compete one more time to find out who will emerge as the best.
I follow both VGC and Pokemon Unite, although I'm much more well versed in VGC than Unite. I used to compete in VGC somewhat, haven't done so in a while, but I'm looking to get back into it. I actually signed up to go to a local tournament next week, which, uh ... I haven't played at all in quite some time, no idea what team I'm going to bring ... or how to even make my team sheet ... but I wanted to force myself to do it! Even though I haven't properly competed in a while, I have attended events as a spectator, and they are always the absolute best time ever. I love the atmosphere, people are so kind and friendly, and I feel ... at home. Amongst my people. So I wanted to make myself properly get into it so I just signed up without thinking about it.
But enough about me. I want to talk about my predictions for the event as a rank amateur who only knows enough from religiously watching every tournament up until now.
First of all, I want to talk about Unite because that's the one I know less about. My top 3 to win the event are:
1. Luminosity Gaming (North America)
2. Zeta Division (Japan)
3. Hi5 (Asia Pacific-East)
Luminosity Gaming is going to win the whole thing. It will be shocking if they don't. They are far and away the favourites to win. This year is the 4th year of competitive Unite and LG won the World Championships the first 2 years. In the third year, the team split up due to one of the members being temporarily banned from competitive play, but now the core 3, Overlord, Slashcan, and Kyriaos, are back, with two more team members who are new to the team but not to competitive Unite, Trainer and Otter.
These guys are unstoppable. They won all three International Championships this year, which are the biggest tournaments barring Worlds, and is utterly unprecedented. They came 3rd at the Asia Championship League (ACL), and have also won a number of monthlies. It really does seem like these guys are in a league of their own, a completely different level from everyone else. That said, they're clearly not unbeatable. They've lost monthlies and one of the other teams on my list has beaten them in a big tournament. However, they're still the clear favourites. I'm also a huge fan of Slashcan, who is just an absolute sweetheart, very knowledgeable about the game, and a huge asset to the community, but I'm also quite fond of the other boys so I'm rooting for them.
Second is Zeta Division, a group of players who are even younger than LG (the members of LG are 20-23), being high schoolers from what I know. Because of that, they often struggle early in the season when they're busy focusing on school and don't have much time to practice! Then later on in the season, they get more time and hugely ramp up their play. They're very talented and very consistent.
Third is Hi5 and if I wasn't a follower of LG, I would be rooting for Hi5 all the way. Hi5 used to play under the name Alter Ego. They were the team to knock LG out of ACL. They came second at ACL in the end, but they are a group of extremely charming and talented young men who, if they don't win this year, will keep trying until they do. The members are also close friends with LG and it's tradition for them to go to karaoke together whenever they meet which is utterly adorable.
I haven't been paying that much attention to the meta lately so I don't have any guesses as to which Pokemon are going to be top contenders. Latios ... Ho-oh? I guess? Lol.
Moving on to VGC. How I love VGC. Pokemon VGC is my life. A couple of days ago, it occurred to me that in some aspects, I am living the life I dreamt of as a child, where everything around me is Pokemon and everything I do is Pokemon. I am surrounded by Pokemon merch like plushies, shirts, crockery, a teapot, I go to every in-person tournament that I can, and watch the entire streams of all the others. Make no mistake, this game is everything to me.
I could say a lot about the competitors who are going to be present. I follow VGC very closely so I am closely acquainted with many of the storylines going into Worlds. There are so many players who I'm rooting for but I'll keep this to my top 5:
1. Marco Silva (Italy)
2. Michael Kelsch (Germany)
3. Federico Camporesi (Italy)
4. Victor Medina (Spain)
5. Wolfe Glick (North America)
I'll be starting from the bottom and making my way up this time. These are my top competitors who I believe have the best chance at winning, but I confess that I've placed Wolfe here, not because I think he's going to win, but because I love him and I can't count him out. Oops. For most people who know anything about VGC, it'll be from Wolfe, and you know what, I'm very glad for that. Wolfe is an extremely kind and sweet person who, back in the day when the VGC community was small, niche, and gatekeep-y, we didn't deserve. He has always been a generous person who was never outright negative about the game or other people, even when he had the right to be, which made him stand out from everyone else. There is no one to whom the current popularity of VGC owes itself to more than Wolfe, one of the few positive forces of the sphere, who has made VGC the friendly, welcoming space that it is today.
But you don't win Worlds by being the nicest person on the planet. Now, if you know anything about Wolfe, you'll also know that he is not just a pretty face. He is, as a matter of fact, the most decorated VGC person on the planet, and arguably the best player at the current time. But so far in the current ruleset, he seems to be struggling, so I would be very surprised if he makes it to top cut. The one thing you can always say about Wolfe though is that you can never count him out, so he could still very much make it. I would be delighted if he did. And ... Wolfe loves being underestimated. Being the underdog lights a fire in him, so ... I will underestimate him for now.
Next up is someone else who I am actually not sure can make it top cut or not but I still don't want to count him out due to my affection for him. Victor is a crazy consistent player, making many many top finishes ... but he has never won a major tournament. Not once. This year, every single time he joined a tournament, I would say 'This is Victor's time' and it never has been. (One of those tournaments was EUIC (European International Championships), which I was planning to speak to him at if I saw him, and the tournament was won by WOLFE.) So how sick would it be if his first ever major win was Worlds?! I think that he can do it. I'm rooting for him to do it. I believe in him.
Third is Federico, the winner of the most recent major tournament, NAIC (North America International Championships). He's one of two Italians on this list and let me tell you that Italy is DESTROYING this season. They have always been an extremely strong country, but in NAIC, Italy showed up, beat every single NA player out of top 8, and we had a completely foreigner-dominated top cut, not a single American. Federico is close friends with the number one player on my list, Marco, and the Italian VGC community as a whole has always been very close-knit even when they all live in different cities. Back when we played closed team sheets, it was said that if you played an Italian player in the tournament, the entirety of Italy would know your team before the set was out. Federico has proven himself this year with a win at a regional, an international, and an online challenge, so he's looking to do the unprecedented and claim the quadruple crown in a single season. Also just a note that Wolfe has done the same thing this season so he's also a contender for the quadruple crown, but there's no one else apart from these two players.
Second is Michael Kelsch who is an absolutely insane player. His first time competing in VGC was in 2023 when he came second at Worlds, and last year he came 3rd. This year he won 2 regional titles back to back. He is such a good player, so talented, and I would not be at all surprised if he won the whole thing. Michael's only flaw in my eyes is that he's a 'hf' kind of player which is kinda BM in my eyes but I'm sure Michael is cool apart from that lol.
(Before every match, players usually wish each other 'Good luck, have fun', but some players will simply reply 'Have fun' because they have a superstition that saying 'Good luck' will let the other player get lucky on critical hits and damage rolls. Like I said, kinda BM, but it's not that serious lol.)
Finally, my top player to win Worlds is Marco Silva. At the beginning of this season, people were saying that Marco is the best player in the world, hands down. He is extremely consistent, extremely talented, and extremely hungry for success. I believe that if he has the right team, this year is his year. He won LAIC this year, and won LAIC last year too. But there are two players he struggles to win against and those are Federico and Wolfe. If he can dodge them, or squeak past them, he'll make it, no question.
I want to post this before the broadcast starts and I have to run for work now so I'll just quickly say that my Pokemon predictions to win are Zamazenta Miraidon, Amoonguss, Incineroar, Ogerpon Rock, and Urshifu. Not completely unbiased picks there, I must admit.
And finally, special shout out to a few more competitors who I'm rooting for: Justin Tang (Tang gang!), Markus Hamann, Dyl Yeomans, Yuki Zaninovich, Aaron Traylor, James Evans, Behzad Muntazir, Stefan Mott, Eric Rios, Mattie Morgan, Ibrahim Maarouf, Riley Factura, and now I really must go but there are many, many others. And check out the soundtrack for this year!