Welcome everyone to the 2026 Pokemon World Championships.
here in San Francisco. Competitors have been competing all week and long preparing for
exactly this day. Championship Sunday and we are here in the Chase Center Arena. We are
going to be starting with Pokemon Unite but we got all the Pokemon titles here and we
are going to be crowning champion after champion on that stage. Welcome everybody.
This is your pre-show, I am Zoinks, joined by Wondershep, Danly, and So-Chan.
We're going to be talking all things world championships as the crowd starts pouring in.
What's going on?
It's early in the morning, but we have incredible Pokemon action to be breaking down.
What a weekend it's been.
Wondershep, how fun has this world championship been?
It's been amazing.
There's so much to go today.
First we're starting off with Pokemon Unite.
of course we all here on the desk are very excited about that the grand finals
and then we're going over to Pokemon go grand finals right after that followed
of course by the three different spots for TCG and then VGC a little bit later
on for the junior senior and masters so lots of action throughout the entire
day I know that Zoinks you and I both love all of the games and I know we're
very excited for. Oh yeah, championship Sunday. You can't miss a single moment. I mean that's
been the case for the Pokemon Unite Championship Series as well. Our tournament has been unbelievable.
It has been a lot of fun in the landscape of Pokemon Unite has been changing quite a bit
this year leading up to this championship Sunday moment. Denly, about this tournament,
any favorite moments that you can think of that happen overall?
Look, I think we have to be completely realistic here.
The entire tournament has been my favorite experience.
And this is the grand finale for Pokemon Unite
because for anyone that is unaware,
this is our last ever championship at World.
After this, we won't be long to be around.
So for crowning our last champion,
we're basically experiencing the best of the best
we could ever have for Pokemon Unite.
And so, I mean, we've got an incredible weekend.
We have had so many upsets.
We assume our top teams are gonna be making
to the grand final but time and time again our underdogs coming in and surprising us with
some incredible plays. Yes that is so true Danily because we saw earlier in the tournament
Fano one of the highest contenders that we had before going into Worlds getting eliminated
then we saw Root Dignitas number one for North America getting eliminated and then we saw it
seems like exist climbing up David Division of course they were our second place last year
in 2025 but they won performing as great in their own region in Japan but completely stacked up
when it came to championship Sunday right now as they got themselves to of course Kamai has been
so incredibly powerful being the first seed in Europe did incredibly well almost undefended in
groups going into the bracket stage they defeated Grimui Sports in the semis much like Zeta Division
Defeated exist and here we are now points. Yeah, we got our two finalists set its seat on the bracket
There's Sada division from Japan versus Komai from EU and let's start breaking down these teams
Sada division are going to be the first of our competitors to take the stage
We don't know Moomoo, Rom, Mizutama and Resta and fans of the Pokemon United Championship series specifically at Worlds
We'll recognize a couple of those names Zeta division the runner-ups from last year's world championships
Two of those players are the same as that last year roster and they have a second chance to take a world championship title
The final one available. That's right
You know, I feel like we're gonna hear a little bit something similar to that for the next team after this
But I've got to talk about this. I said so much on broadcast yesterday
But of course for every one out there who is this familiar with Pokemon unite the story of Zeta is ridiculous
not only are they returning into this arena, this grand champion potential spot, but they only qualified out of Japan in the fifth place spot.
But normally there would only be three places.
There were two teams that were extremely strong to qualify through the other qualifier for everybody, kind of a last chance ish qualifier called ACL that qualified in first and second place.
They both took their spots and moved them down because they're both Japanese teams and then both of those teams lost one of them to Zeta.
So the only reason it's even here is because the entire region was so strong
and then they fought up through that region from the final place
to make it into our top two potentially our final champion.
Right. I kind of want to add on to this as well.
We did have an opportunity to talk to the Japanese casters, right?
They're very passionate about their region.
And apparently even the Japanese community was surprised that Zeta was able to make it so far in the tournament.
Everyone thought it was going to be fennel.
Everyone thought it was going to be reject.
But after these two teams got knocked out
and all of a sudden we have Zeta coming into the Grand Finals.
This wasn't something that the community originally anticipated.
And knowing Japan, they rally behind their teams
as they make it into the Grand Finals.
So you know Zeta is going to have huge community support,
especially coming into such an important match-up
in their entire career.
So true, and honestly, when we talked to Shinohara,
one of the Japanese cast is such a great person
and incredible crew that they have there with TPC,
the Pokemon Company in Japan. Honestly, it was incredible to hear from them just the
storylines that Japan has really built all throughout 2026. And like you said, so many
strong teams, their five teams made it into Worlds just as strong as that. They made
it into the bracket stage as well. And there were so many Japanese teams that they had
to face each other in multiple moments of this bracket stage. I'm mistaken. Quartus
and then same ease as well.
So yeah, it was a long road for them.
But same for that other roster that we
want to be talking about on that world stage out of EU
will be.
Oh my eSport Gattler toast, Gek,
Narami, and a desu.
We can hear the crowd going wild for this roster.
All bracket day long and day number two and Gattler
and a desu two players were members of nouns
eSports in year one who had a chance at a world
championship ended up being runners up in London in 2022.
Amazing that we now have two teams that both have players on them that were runners up the
first worlds and now the last world.
So I should say the second the last worlds, you know, getting that opportunity now for
the final worlds, they will be facing off.
One of them will finally achieve that dream that revenge match of being able to become
the world champion.
We'll see which of those two can be my favorite moment of the tournament right there.
I love it so much the storyline though of course of combined as well really interesting
I kind of felt like they didn't have they weren't bad the entire time
But they the rest of the season maybe they weren't quite as strong as they're showing and warms, which obviously has been incredible
Yeah, I mean look they have to be driven now. They're here. They're going into grand finals
We are gonna be going for a complete reset. There is no advantage for anybody and knowing a desu
I saw a desk one of a desu's tweets last night and he said he's broken the top eight curse
Yeah, he's motivated. He's got that energy. He has Gatlou to also be there to back him up
I had a quick chat with Gatlou right after the show yesterday, and he's I saw the fire in his eyes
You know that that that instincts that killer look to say that that title is mine
And to know that this is his last chance to claim that title
I think they're just gonna go all out in today's grand
Love to see that fire. What are you thinking about come I so well honestly?
I think they have been so consistent right first seed in regional league
They did incredibly well
But we know as well that a competition when it comes to regional going into
International going into world state is a completely different beast and the way that come my has been handling all of these teamfights has been just so
So focused
Determined and they have a strategy that works and their strategy is we have so much available
available in our options, the Pokemon pool and everything that they can use that they
can adapt really well. And I believe that when I spoke to them, they were saying, well,
it's very interesting because this meta is so versatile. It's just so wide that when
you prepare, you're like, wow, there's so many options you need to be completely confident
that you can deal with any threat. Exactly. Prepare for everything. Prepare for every
opponent while there's only one more to prepare for on this grand final stage. We want to give a bit
of a heads up to everybody in the crowd as well. World Championships is going to be going on all day,
have some very exciting announcements for Pokemon coming up throughout the event, so make sure to
stay tuned for every title all day long. But for those of you here in the arena, remember
we love to cheer on our competitors and get them started at the beginning of every match.
In Pokemon Unite, we hit a ready go before every single game.
You'll see it on screen.
We would love to get you to join in karaoke style.
Hit the ready, hit the go, and encourage our players
to start the match.
You can see here we got a screen right now
of the crowd predicting who is going to come away
the champion currently in Zeta Division leading.
But feel free to use that QR code
and join the conversation.
I think it might be time for us
to start beginning that conversation we got a grand finals up and coming and we are on the
analyst desk which sometimes means we have to make some difficult decisions so it's time
for us to do our predictions we will begin I mean I just introduced the segment so I may as well
start I'm agreeing with the crowd I am going say to the vision along with Danily and the rest
of the crew is going with KOMI from EU.
Wanderchef, how are you feeling about KOMI?
You know, current chef, it's so torn, right?
Current chef is so torn.
Zeta is amazing.
KOMI is so good.
And both of them are pulling up ups this entire weekend.
But as you can see on there, the picture of 2022 chef
that hasn't been updated in five years, really likes KOMI,
really loves Gatloo, really loves Adesu.
I mean, just such a fun team.
And I do feel like, of course,
we've got to be a little bit biased.
I just love to see you finally take a spot at Worlds.
Japan has one world championship,
and I do absolutely love Zeta.
Love the entire Japanese scene,
but it would just be such an amazing story.
All right, and Dan Lee, defend our pick of Zeta Division.
I thought it was going to be outnumbered.
I was told originally, like, hey, everybody's pick, come on.
I was like, do I save Zeta Division?
I had to say it, you know?
But ultimately, I would have loved
to have supported both teams,
but I think at the end of the day,
My heart is telling me Zeta Division because as much as I love Komei, I kind of feel like
between the two teams, Zeta, they seem to be a lot more composed in these very high-stress
situations.
I think yesterday was a really great example of Zeta testing that resolve.
They were about to get knocked out of the tournament.
They dropped two games, it was a best of five, and they came back with a three-game
reverse sweep.
A lot of teams might have collapsed under the pressure, losing two games back to
back in the best of five, but they said, that's okay. We reset going into game number three.
They get that one and things start to pick up the momentum picks up. They start to look really
good. They're very quick with the draft. So you can tell that Zayna once they have that momentum,
this team is deadly. The power of the reverse sweep is so incredible head in the championship
Sunday. So yesterday, you had the opportunity to talk to so many of our players on that stage
with interviews. You caught a little bit of a vibe from a lot of these players. I'm sure
You'd go out with Coman, so what is leading you in that prediction?
So, funnily enough, I would say that my position here for Coman Zoinks is more towards what I watched
on in-game, more than it is even from talking to them, because these are players that we have
been knowing them for so many years now through Championship Series that I was trying to, you
know, try to get the bias away because I'm usually very unbiased, no region whatsoever
that I am, you know, preferring during tournaments, but I decided to be a little more umpire than usual.
So, trying to look more objectively onto just the games, the drafts, I totally agree with you,
Dennerly. I've been torn as well, Chef, in regards to these two teams and who would I choose,
because they are incredibly strong on their own. The way they fought through group stage and bracket
was impressive and that three were sweet was amazing.
But Kamai just felt more cohesive, I would say.
All right, well, I mean, that's a good breakdown.
I think both these teams have so much
to offer on this grand final stage.
If you are watching this event, you are in for a treat.
The final Pokemon Unite World Championships
are about to begin.
And what follows after that is also
going to be incredible finals for every single game here
in the chase center. So exciting.
The stage behind me is remarkable.
Absolutely incredible.
We have a wonderful, wonderful event set up for you
and these competitors are getting set as well.
This grand final is gonna be so exciting.
We're split on our predictions.
So is the crowd.
This is going to be so unbelievably fun.
I can't wait to get into this one.
Thank you to our analyst desk.
I'll have one more fist pound down the line.
So let's send it over!
I
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 is time to go
Maybe we can finally see
A cruel man to be
Let's be strong, we're ready for the story
Every child we call a failure
We know we've got a side to glory
Together you and I will touch the stars
And then, we'll do it all over again
Cause even if we lose our way
We will always say, here we go
Here we go again
And even better than our time
Here we go
Here we go again
Again
Here we go!
Here we go again!
Let me blast that blast out
And you take it away
We go after this
We go
We go again
Welcome to the Pokemon World Championships.
Trainers from across the globe have spent the past year in relentless pursuit of one
goal becoming a Pokemon World Champion. It all comes down to this. This is Championship
Sunday!
Of more than 2,000 trainers, only 24 remain. Each with one final opportunity to claim the
the most coveted title in all of competitive Pokemon,
World Champion.
Broadcasting to you live from San Francisco, California,
who's ready for championship Sunday.
Take a look above you and witness the banners
featuring champions from last year.
This year's finalists hope to achieve the same honor across Pokemon champions, the Pokemon
trading card game, Pokemon Go, and Pokemon Unites.
It's time for us to stop talking history and start making it.
Let's get this show on the road with our first feature title of the day, Pokemon Unites.
I have a solo and a talent that I think this is re-enactment
that they haven't and it's not a day and day that I see like Glacier.
We can't go in a wrong hall the way down.
And they secure the wrong state of town.
The king makes the best of it and go by his vomit.
They are a team of deterred undenied.
Evil geniuses need to take a buck as all five members of state of division
are blue and red.
But then, Stalks rest a win.
I'll have your talk.
Holy majority.
What an insane final stretch.
No, it doesn't go in.
Wait.
Hold too hard.
Don't let go, Big.
What just happened?
A lot of murder going in.
A few clean, but that one starts a fast fight.
Zana Division runs it back three games.
Straight for down two, left.
And that won't be enough with 23 seconds left.
I say that's a mission, incredible!
What?
Face out, out of the way, and pace land in!
Secured by a day suit!
And this is gonna be!
Don't mind showing them finish this thing out!
Call my fixing master, fight on your word, little man!
Unfeeling, sweet, in our semi-finals!
The past five years, the world's best Pokemon Unite teams have battled for one goal, becoming
world champions.
We saw the introduction of a league format this year in the Pokemon Unite Championship
series.
The most demanding competitive format in the game's history.
Now, only two teams remain.
With this marking the final Pokemon Unite World Championship, the stakes have never
been hired. One last title, one final champion, one team will close this chapter of Pokemon
Unite history forever. Zeta Division left last year's world championships with a second
place trophy. At Worlds this year, Zeta Division proved that they have leveled up, starting
off strong in the group stage and then dominating the bracket stage. Zeta Division
will return to the championship stage for another chance at the greatest prize in
Pokemon Unite, a world champion title.
Komai led the way in the group stage
with a flawless 3-0 result,
including a win against defending world champs,
Peru Unite.
Komai found even greater heights in day two.
A star-studded lineup of opponents
fell to Komai in epic matches,
including a 3-0 victory in the semi-finals.
Adesu and Gatlu returned to the championship stage
for the first time since 2022.
This time with a brand new roster with the same goal,
to become world champions.
Two teams who have built the sting of second place
now have a chance to rewrite history,
but only one can become the final
Pokemon Unite world champions.
Whether they pulled off a reverse sweep
or a clean 3-0 to get here.
Both of our teams share a competitive spirit.
It is time to meet our finalists for Pokemon Unite.
First up, welcome to the stage,
KOMI!
And for the opposition, we have Zeta Division.
Zeta Division.
Get lost from Izutama,
Nobu, Rome,
Resta, and Titovo.
before we get into the matches we have to get a word from the players and selves
over on the side of Khomei this is the first appearance on the stage for Europe
since the first world championship what does it mean to represent your region in
such a fashion it means a lot I hope you're giving those for everyone in
Europe but right now today is just me and my team is Zeta division is no stranger to the final
stage how have you and your team been preparing to ensure it's a championship finish this time
of the round.
We've been doing everything we can to prepare for this moment and we're dead set on victory.
Victory is in the air for one of these teams.
I won't hold you any longer.
Feel free to make your way to your battle stations
and join the rest of your teammates
to prepare for your matches.
Best of luck, everybody.
And with that, it takes the best of the best
to get us ready for this matchup.
Let's hear from our casters for Pokemon Unite.
It's taken us five years to get to this point, and here we are.
KOMI once again looking to become a world champion.
We have Gatlu and Adesu, the two-time runner-up on the side of Zeta Division.
We have VTOPO and Rome, the two-time runners-up.
We will have a grand final with a brand new champion.
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the final Pokemon Unite Grand Finals.
I am Jake, your resident content cowboy yeetoo the ha joined by the one and only noob snacks.
Hello, noob snacks. Hello, cowboy. Whether you've been watching Unite for day number one or this is the first time
you're tuning in for Pokemon Unite at the World Champions. It's our World Championship. It's our last time.
So let's have a good time. Showtime. Yeah, it's showtime. This is the last one.
We will crown our final champion and it means no matter what we're leaving here today
So we can kind of do whatever we want. We can pop up again if we want
Will do that a lot it's gonna be a how far off can we get high off?
We're just testing the range here
It's gonna be important because you night has a ton of energy to it
We bring a lot of energy to it because that's what it deserves
And we need a lot of real estate to move as you can see that's right
This is your first time watching United is a five versus five competitive battler
Action-packed matches. That is what you are going to see the entirety of championship Sunday with again two teams
Who are looking to become the first-time champion with multiple members who have come this close last year?
Zeta division loses in the grand finals in Anaheim and our first year of competition
two members of Comey come this close, but they go down to North America and now one of them will get that final moment that final trophy
They will become our final champion. They get to finish writing their story for one of these teams
They leave in shambles and the other one they're going to be crowned
Champion, but of course these teams don't get as far as they do without the support of their friends and family
So we have a friends and family interview for you right now take it away
And hello there everybody. We are here to ask some questions. We have Sari,
coach of Zeta Division, and Zara, a fan of my eSports. So, Sari, first question to you.
What's it been like watching Zeta Division perform this weekend?
They've been so strong, I feel really confident watching them play.
Thank you so much for that, and thank you, Zara. I know we have seen you out in the crowd cheering for Okamari each time they are playing on the stage. What's it been like getting to watch them perform?
This is just a dream come true. I think this is a very, very happy moment for us. I think we're
really, really proud of that. Let's go. Hi. Let's go for my feeling proud. Now back to you, sorry.
This is Data Division's second chance to play in the Grand Finals with the Potopah
and Rong being on that safe last year. How do you feel seeing them up there once again to have
a second chance at that world championship position.
So last year they ended up second place, but they didn't get comfortable and they worked
really hard to get back here, so I'm really excited to see them.
Yes, hard work. They have definitely worked hard indeed.
Nadal, back to you again. You have been there supporting EU region for quite some time. How has it been
feeling seeing Galu and Adesu have that second chance spot at getting that world championship title
alongside Kamai? It's absolutely amazing. I mean I was there to watch them at Worlds in London
when they were in the finals and unfortunately they couldn't make it but I think this time
they can definitely make it. I have a lot of faith in them. They've worked so hard. I've
I've seen it with myself and I believe in them, they can do it.
Thank you, it's been wonderful to hear from both of you here today.
Any final words of encouragement you'd like to give to the team?
I just really want them to have fun and play hard.
And safe for you, Zara, any words of encouragement you'd like to give to my esports?
We're all proud of you, Kermai.
We know you can do it.
Let's go, Kermai wins.
Thank you so much, Sari and Sara.
We're going to go throw it back to the casters
to get this action started.
Thank you very much, Kello.
It is almost time.
The stage is set.
The two-time runner-ups on both sides.
Versaida Division, they were the fifth seed team
out of Japan.
counted out, even though they are the strongest region in our game.
It looks like there were many Japanese teams that were going to go deeper in this tournament.
But Seta would not quit.
They fought the entire way through, coming back to secure their spot in the grand finals
on a reverse sweep after losing the first two games.
And on the other side, Dupesnacks, we have Komei.
Yeah, players have been around the game for a very long time, of course, in a day
shoot datloo, and they're captain Gek.
And then they got the two young upstarts there.
Narami and Toast really bringing and throwing life and energy into this team.
Both of these squads on what I like to consider a Cinderella run here.
Nobody really put all their money on them to be the final two teams to make it.
But here we are.
All these teams needed with it was a chance and they absolutely snatched that opportunity.
No question about it.
There were so many amazing teams showing up to this competition.
Huge teams like the top squad out of Japan getting eliminated first in day two.
Our former world champions going down first match of day two as well on their side.
Just incredible the entire way through.
A story you would never expect but a perfect ending for Pokemon Unite.
Two teams that were so close to hoisting that championship trophy.
One of them will now walk away as the final Pokemon Unite champion.
That is without a doubt. Just one best of five separates five players from their championship title that they've been yearning for.
Again, Zeta Division on the doorstep last year. Two of their players, Votopo and Rome, just falling short against Peru Unite.
And on the other side, you have Colmai and Adesu and Gatlu in London falling just shy in the World Championship chase of that year.
Everybody has the opportunity to correct the record and again stamp themselves not only as a Pokemon tonight world champion
But the final Pokemon Unite world champion
You know I think a lot of what happens here is going to be decided early on in these matches
In fact, it's going to be decided before the match in this draft screen
We're going to find out what Pokemon they're going to be bringing into battle
And I have a feeling that the team that out drafts the other out picks the other out
skills the other and what they are bringing to Thea Skyruins will be the team that wins the entire thing.
Yeah, typically when you draft better play better and execute better you tend to win.
So that strategy makes a lot of sense. Well, that's the kind of analysis people
You know if you play better you end up winning and I've always said that. Yeah, you know if you want to play not good
That is not the way to get yourself across that finish line if your goal is to be champion
which I'm pretty sure that's the goal of both these teams.
They're gonna look at our crowd here in San Francisco.
The Chase Center is gonna be filled throughout this day for
all of our incredible competition from our multiple titles.
And we have a ton of people here ready to crown our final
Unite Champion.
Something we do here for Pokemon Unite that let's be honest,
we stole from the Japanese casters is the ready go.
So at the start of our match, we see the ready go at the beginning.
And we are all going to do that here together.
So in just a moment, we are going to test it here
and get a little energy from you in San Francisco.
We're going to have a fly through of the Fayette Sky Ruins.
It's going to cut to a screen with the 10 minute timer
clocked up.
And then it goes into the ready go.
We're going to have a couple, at least one practice
round here.
We're getting told it's ready.
So let's get into it.
We'll do this together.
Again, we'll have the fly over.
As soon as you see the 10 minute timer, it's ready go.
Let's get into it.
Let's give it a whirl, a little test run here.
Beautiful Fea Sky ruins.
Ready, go!
That's right, San Francisco.
That's what we're going to be doing the entire time.
Get ready for EU2.
Oh, and it looks like they were playing for a second there.
I thought it was a real match.
I was freaking out.
I was hearing my voice, and I was like, am I?
Am I?
what is going on here? I know I have all the faith of the world that the fans and
the stands are going to be able to deliver the energy that these teams want to
hear and feel being in the chase center and of course let's get a little pep in
that step by being active participants. That's right bringing the energy to this
and we can see our players right now practicing getting ready for this match
here. Zorak is a Pokemon that I'm gonna have my eye on. I really do feel
I feel like if Komae allows this Pokemon onto the battlefield, it will be a huge problem.
The Toppo qualify basically because of this Pokemon.
The high skill level of that player and the top level play on that Pokemon.
With that in doubt, I mean when you're looking at Zeta Division, it's really tough to say
that their run was not absolutely anchored by the Toppo going into that hyper carry
mode.
Zorak, we've also seen them do it on Urshifu, the rapid strike Urshifuers. We like to call
it the Blue Shifu, getting those crazy combos with the Unite move. I've never seen Atali
as high as Votopo yesterday on this Blue Bear, getting 49 hits off that Unite move.
Yeah, this is going to be quite a matchup here. And then on the other side, you know,
when you take a look at Komae, they've had some incredible plays throughout the day.
Kiro saves last night by a desu on their team a desu playing in that attacker role a lot of Pokemon
We've seen throughout this tournament espion has been a huge one
But a desu bringing up the new to whine this Pokemon incredibly strong
But not seen as much in the competition lately a desu
However making huge hero plays on the mega view to yeah, I mean just a mobility or
for escape ability that Mewtwo Wang has,
especially through those two dashes, right?
It can dash and dash again.
And of course, it goes into that unstoppable mode
when it's lining up that big side strike
which deals damage and has a stun associated with it.
So it's a great engagement tool,
it's a great disengagement tool,
and overall it's your night move,
that infinite side burn from space
that just rains supreme on the heads of the opponent
is a great way to start or end a battle.
So many powerful picks that these two teams are going to be fighting over a Pokemon that has gotten so much priority
Lately in the United Championship series is surfetched played in that top path got Lou on it most of the day yesterday for
Comey having some incredible games
But when you recognize your opponent has a strength in a Pokemon there are a couple things you can do you could ban it
Away from them and you can also pick it for yourself as no two Pokemon will be the same in our matches
Yeah, of course, as we go through our band phase here, there's going to be three bands per side,
and then we go into the snake draft order. So it'll be one pick, two, two and two, two, one.
And that's going to round out your teams of five to make sure that these teams are able to square
away. A lot of teams prefer that first pick. On the other hand, a lot of the best teams
like that last pick where they've got as much information as possible that they can make
that big big counterpick to counter punch inside that 10 minute game. That's right there are so
many different strategies when it comes to the Pokemon you are picking in the order you want
to play them in and it also is based on which map you were playing right depends if you're on
the Sky ruins with grout on in the middle Kyogre, Rayquaza each one lends itself to a different
strategy where Kyogre map you might be seeing Pokemon that are a little tankier than others
something really high HP because if you get that Kyogre buff it's incredibly difficult to
to take them down. Meanwhile, Groudon giving you all of that crazy attack damage, some of
the more powerful carry Pokemon maybe played on that map.
Without a doubt, and again we will see all our maps here because it is a Vest of Five
and we'll be cruising through those as we are watching again these players warm up
as they get ready to battle in a Vest of Five for the World Championship title.
It's going to be incredible when they get to face off. Obviously the nerves
between these two squads must be intense with everything on the line here.
Not only is everything on the line looking for the championship,
but this is our final championship series match.
This will be the last time Pokemon Unite crowns a champion here at Worlds.
You want to be the final champion.
You don't want to miss your final shot.
As we have another pan of the crowd here, they're getting anxious.
I know I'm getting a little anxious.
I want to see these teams scrap it out and get into the action.
and we will be in there shortly.
Until then though, we've got some stats.
Take a look at the top Pokemon by Bandrae throughout this tournament.
So these are things that both teams say,
okay, it's not coming out onto the battlefield.
No shocker here.
One of the recent releases to our game,
the Feraligator, getting our top band, followed by Kumpay.
Feraligator, incredibly powerful, crazy amounts of burst damage,
especially with its Unite move and its attack crunch.
And then Kumpay, one of the most difficult supporters
to shut down, it can just hop onto a Pokemon and basically act as if another version of it,
just giving it more HP, giving it more speed, huge shield, it's so tough to fight.
On down the line, Blissey, Zashin, Snorlax, and you, Feraligator worth mentioning,
so strong that the only game that Luke didn't play Surfetched is because Feraligator was
available and at that point he was pretty much no-lifing that Surfetched. That's just
Notice how strong Feraligator is when it's allowed into that draft screen.
Yeah.
Powerful Pokemon that neither team wants to see here.
Snorlax being a real top defender.
And now we're going to see the Pokemon that make it through.
So even though Snorlax view top ban Zasin as well, also when they are not banned, they
are picked almost every time they can be.
Blastoise has been an absolute menace this weekend.
Yeah.
Blastoise has been the top Pokemon by Pickrate on this screen for every year, for last like
three years.
It is so strong.
I mean, both kits, right?
You can wrap it, spin it, Hydro Pump, and you can have those big surfs if you're playing
a more true defender style, and of course, that big swirling unite, that Hydro Typhoon
which has the capacity to get big knockups on multiple members on the opposing team
and often is Curtains if you hit multiple targets.
Yeah, you'll notice that our top Pokemon by Pickrate here,
three of them are in that sort of Defender Support Core,
Blastoise, Snorlax, and Psyduck.
All incredibly powerful, and all sort of feeling
more of that tanky Defender role,
even though Psyduck is a support.
These are Playmaker Pokemon.
They're so difficult to fight.
They're not the ones in there doing the damage.
We do see a few of those here too.
Mew from long range.
Espeon is one of the best attackers in that bottom path.
Then we have Zashin.
incredibly powerful, not shocked at all, that is one of our top encounter rates.
Almost every top path player in our game has this in their repertoire.
Without a doubt, so encounter rate if you're new again to Pokemon Unite means it was either picked or banned,
which means it showed up in the draft screen in some capacity.
So for Alligator leading the charge, unsurprising, if it's not banned, you better believe it's getting picked.
It is just so strong.
Yeah, and down the line.
Last one, Snarlax, Mew, and Sida.
Mew is one of those attackers that it is getting some bans,
especially when you know that there's a powerful Mew player
on the other side.
But with only three bans per team,
it's sometimes hard to target ban
exactly what's on the other side.
For instance, Sada Division, so many powerful choices.
They have the Zorak yesterday,
Lodios and Lodius on their side,
especially played in tandem,
so difficult to deal with, and they were bringing that out.
But you can only ban so many things.
You can only take away their platoids and their Zora.
It's just there's so many options right now.
The meta feels incredibly diverse.
It really does, right?
Deck actually said it in an interview yesterday.
The game is so balanced right now
that a team can bring a strategy
that you never even considered
and you just go, oh no, that can actually work
and we're not ready for that.
And a perfect example is the Galarian Rapidash
they had to face down.
It gave them so many problems.
They just ended up just having to ban it because in their book of strategies, they didn't have anything to combat that.
That's right. Komai almost knocked out of our tournament, I believe in our top 8, as they were running into C2 from Japan, playing Galarian Rapidash, and they had no answer for it.
One answer that you do have, of course, is that draft screen, and they were able to get rid of it, and they were able to beat that team.
But if you could just find the Pokemon that your opponents can't counter,
if they don't have time to figure out exactly what they're going to do about it
and they don't ban it, that could be a way that you win these things.
Without a doubt. I mean, you have to not be afraid to just take the tough thing off the table.
You know, sometimes it feels bad to use a ban on a Pokemon that's not considered S tier or the best thing going.
But hey, if your team can't deal with it, just get it out of there and then face the next problem head on.
Yeah, absolutely. And that's what these teams are going to have to decide as they start to head for these matches.
As we mentioned, so many powerful picks that you really only get to pick a few things that you don't want to see.
You can ban it, you can steal it away from your opponents, but at the end of the day, you're going to have to face something powerful by a top-level player.
And as we've mentioned, so many of these players with so much to prove here. Some of them, their first time on a world stage like this.
And again, others is their second time, not a single champion amongst them yet.
But there will be, just a short best of five.
We're taking a look at Komae, you know,
there Achilles heel has always been that top eight.
They finally broke through that ceiling and then breezed through the top four
into this grand finals.
Can they keep up that pace?
And it's really tough to contend with the momentum of a reverse sweep, too,
on the side of Zeta Division.
So both of these teams really finishing yesterday strong and in a commanding fashion, leading them to this moment and set up for success.
And now it all boils down to execution.
Yeah, I wonder which you'd rather have walking through on a 3-0 victory feeling strong or recognizing that your team is the kind of team that can adjust and pull out a victory when you absolutely need it by winning the reverse sweep.
Well, that is what Saida Division out of Japan did.
They were down 2-0, it looked like they were going to be heading home.
I think most people thought they were the weaker team, but they found another level.
They changed their strategy, they went in there with what they played best,
and they absolutely crushed the next three games.
Without a doubt, when you think about Zeta Division and Komei,
we keep saying they've both been runner-ups before.
That being said, Zeta Division's finals run, grand finals run,
was a much stronger showing than the last time Komei's players made the world stage.
They got absolutely rinsed in 2022, straight up 3-0.
Curtains packed them up, send them home.
Zeta Division, on the other hand, took Peru to the limit.
And yes, they went down in four games, three to one.
However, every single one of those games
was balanced on a knife's edge.
The thing I worry about for both of these squads
is what happens to the team who loses that first game.
You know, for Zeta Division, they
won their first game against Peru.
And then Peru came back, figured them out,
We're able to take them down.
KOMI, if they start to lose their first game,
are they going to fall back into that year one?
What happened there where they just
seemed to fall into this quicksand and not
be able to pull themselves out?
We're going to have to see.
But both of them approved through this tournament
that they can win when they are behind.
It's one of the most exciting things
that you can see in Unite.
A reverse sweep happens all the time.
And there's nothing I'd rather see in these grand finals
than a game five.
We have never had one on championship Sunday.
All right, you can go ahead and scan that QR code
to see yourself on the video board.
Go ahead and get your phone out there, cowboy.
I'll scan it.
Maybe I'll get on the video board.
I'm concerned that we haven't been on camera enough.
Been looking at all our graphics.
There we go.
Oh, wow.
That's actually really cool.
I did not anticipate that.
Are we on?
Are we going in?
That would be so great.
I'm starting to get in right now.
imagine the ego on the two of us. Can we get on the video board that we're already on?
It's loading up. We'll get there in a moment. It's loading up. It's something that we actually
do care a lot about. Well, it's our last go here. If the Pokemon
Univworld Championships, let's have a little fun. What do you think? The camera is on,
but are we on the screen? Just leave it open. I'll keep talking or you can talk.
Taking a look at our crowd here in San Francisco.
I know we are all excited and hyped to get into our matches.
Our players getting ready on the big stage.
Once United get started, it goes pretty fast, guys,
with 10-minute matches, extremely fast pace,
all leading to this big fight in the middle
over that groud on Kyogre or Rayquaza.
And now, I love that people are having their camera up,
having their camera up and just finding themselves on the jump boat.
Tron is a very excellent thing.
I'm glad we did that, especially for you and I, who are going to try and pepper
that thing with our own presence all day long.
We're good.
Yeah, they have to put us on the screen.
You know what I mean?
What about us?
I think is what everybody at home is asking.
I think that's what everybody's ultimately asking.
Oh, listen, listen.
They've looked at us and they're like, listen, we know it's an arena and
what you guys are thinking is obviously bigger capes.
Right, but we said no use that on Pikachu. It's gonna make for great key art for our 30th anniversary of the game of Pokemon
So shout out to us for being so kind shout out to Pikachu for wearing that cape so darn well
Yep Pikachu looks great on it. Obviously we inspired that and no you are not seeing double unless you're seeing four of us
Then yes, you are seeing double you might be concussed you might be concussed, but we do look like the same person
We have to get confused for each other.
It's great.
The very first interaction I had here in San Francisco was,
hey, Spragels!
And I was like, no!
I'm the author guy.
And then we both went, aww.
To be fair, when someone says, hey, Spragels, I'm like, hey, they go, aww.
So it happens to me too.
Well, I'd like to think that at least somebody cares about us somewhere.
I think they're out there somewhere.
I don't know how we get confused.
We only look alike, sound alike, dress alike,
stand next to each other all the time,
have the exact same takes on everything.
We don't do ourselves any favors, to be fair.
We haven't really taken it to heart,
but let's differentiate a little bit.
We just kind of, I don't want to say lean into it,
but we're not course-correcting either.
No question about it.
You know, something I'd like to do
is our players are getting ready,
is get a little energy here in this stadium
in San Francisco.
How you feeling, Chase Arena?
It's pretty good.
pretty good but I think we could do a little bit better I think we can let's try this all right
oh whoa they're getting loud beautiful all right let's see do we we have a get loud up there on
the jumbo tron I love it do we have a get quiet do we have a B son do we have one of those yeah
let's try and get everybody as quiet as possible yeah and on to we'll just erupt right I want to
So I want to see everyone, not a sound.
I want to be able to hear a pin drop in the arena.
Nothing.
And now, we're going to start with a light clap.
Oh, OK.
A little bit of a golf clap.
Oh, that was something kind of neat.
All right.
Oh, now something a little more interesting happened.
Kind of get a little more energy going a little bit.
Oh, my gosh.
One of your favorite players is on stage playing
something you absolutely love.
And then here we go.
We're heading to the grand finals.
Let's hear it.
San Francisco. Not bad. Not bad at all. And that's a way to lead into our draft here. Our
fans are locked in a day's to grabbing espion off rip. Sororark band, the Topos, just a prime
pick. Blissey Zaschen and the Feraligators serve fetched Mimikyu. Toast on Mimikyu was
going crazy yesterday. Now NoMu locking in the Crustler, something that Gek as their
defender player loves to play.
Yeah, this phase of the game is so important, Dupestacks.
We're stealing things away from our opponents.
We are banning things away from them.
Gek was amazing on Crestle.
And now Zeta Division has that.
Using the priority for that espion,
it has been a power pick all weekend,
especially when paired with Machamp,
which is not currently banned.
No, and it's been terrific.
So we'll see where Kamae wants to invest.
Gatlou going with the Kupwawl.
Gek on the Snorlax has been a presence to contend with.
I absolutely love this Kupwawl pick.
a recent addition to the game.
And when a player gets a head on this Pokemon,
it is so difficult to shut down.
Wolf, Vito Poe on the other side,
playing my absolute favorite, the three headed bird,
Doe Drio.
This speedster is incredibly powerful,
especially when it comes to harassing your opponents,
invading their central area,
putting pressure on them all game.
So you're gonna look for that from Zeta.
Resta, again, on the Latios.
It's worth mentioning, Rom, immediately to Ladeos.
Gonna take those planes to battle as Toast grabs there.
It shows Scizor, but you can either be Scizor or Scyther.
And Toast is most likely gonna be Scyther here.
Worth mentioning Mizutama on this Mega Lucario.
Great, great secure, great rip on objectives.
It's really, truly the meaning of an all-rounder
and can help take over a game.
Tell me about this Ladeos-Ladeos combination.
Yeah, they are powerful Pokemon, one the attacker, Lodious, and one the supporter of the Lodious, but both of them do incredible damage.
They work even better when they're together, getting increased movespeed, the ability to fly to each other across the map,
and they unite move the combos together, dealing extra damage on the same target.
We saw Zeta use this yesterday perfectly. We're going to see if Komai has an answer for it.
One Pokemon they did not want to see, and I'm not shocked, is that first ban.
That is Zoroark.
Zoroark from Pitopo was so incredibly powerful,
as our players are now loading in for our first match here
of our grand finals.
You can see the Pokemon selection up on the stage.
What a time to be alive, new snacks.
All right, we've got our flyover.
We're going to see that 10 minute.
We're going to get our ready go.
Everybody, let's do it.
Here we go.
Zeta Division.
Oh my, our first match.
Ready, go!
Oh my, your purple team stated division, your orange team.
We are getting this thing started here in just one moment.
You know, better to pause when everybody's in base, right?
Before things actually develop, you know, make sure it's all sorted out.
I'm not going to say the production did that to us on purpose
because I yelled ready, go with a lot of energy, but I think they might have.
You know what just for the sake of the ready go let's just remake the whole thing, right?
Let's get this going start from the top. Yeah, let's just do a free show again
Yeah, all the way back going back out here. Let's do the warm-up. Let's do the practice
Let's get into our first game and hit them with another ready go and I promise you production
We'll get us to that 10-minute thing that we said was gonna happen so we can all get into the ready go together
You know I'll tell you this
When when this show goes live did not not this rehearsal that we're having right now, right?
It's gonna be so good. I'm sorry production. What how long this is live? Okay?
You know what I can't I like I am feeling yes anxiety right now
I can't imagine being in the seats of those players who are now at this point been waiting all night all morning
gearing up for this moment and
Just when they think they're gonna get into the Faes guy ruins and start rocking and rolling
We've got a quick hit pause that being said I much rather have it happen when both teams are in home base
Yeah, then in some pivotal critical moment in the middle of the game
So let's get this sorted to make sure that we are keeping this competition above board and we can crown our true champion with no
Astrix no question about it
We want to make sure that these matches are perfect as we were taking a look at our stage right there
I absolutely love it and that is going to be changing throughout the day for all of our titles
This is gonna be a very special day of competition the most incredible stage set here for Pokemon's 30th anniversary
In San Francisco, and they really have gone all out
They absolutely have I want you all to know that in that middle table with the two chairs Sprayles
And I tried to allow them for us to cast from there, and they said it's absolutely fine
There's no way we are doing that. I can't believe you even I said what percent chance do we have they said an absolute?
Zero zero percent negative. We give it to you. It's a zero percent. That's what they say well according to our stats team
You can round to zero and you can round to a hundred
We'll see if we get that shake out for our final
Pokemon Unite competition match right now. This is one of those tough moments where of course these players getting into this game
They're ready for it, but they are now put on ice here for a second
This does give you the opportunity to refocus really discuss what happened in your draft screen and
and recognize some mistakes that you may have made
outside of the pressure of running right back into another game.
So before we have the information about what happened,
you can say we really didn't expect them to immediately steal Crustle from us.
That's something we're going to have to prepare for.
Yeah, I mean, especially something that I don't think
Khomei has scrapped up against this tournament too much,
which is the Latias-Ladios combination.
Now, obviously, these high-level players are familiar with
what all these characters can do.
However, this is a great opportunity to use this pause
and look, hey, we might be on eyes for a second,
but we can use this to gain momentum, at least strategically,
getting into this game and making sure that we're checking all those early game boxes
so that we can execute on our game plan.
You know, we talked a little bit about some of these team compositions.
I love that you can see them up on the stage right there.
As we're looking at the composition here from Zeta, the Dodrio,
the Mega Lucario, Crustle, and the Lodious.
Lodious back to the other side.
Espeon, Kukbabel, Snorlax, the Scizor, which will probably be Scythor and Psyduck.
When you look at these two teams, it feels like Komei needs to win fights, right?
But we have opportunities on the side of Zeta Division to not necessarily win a fight,
but win a huge objective. You have crazy burst damage from this Lodio.
So you have Dodrio that can be extremely aggressive, surprising with all of its mobility.
And then of course, Mega Lucario, probably the scariest thing on their side.
Because if you leave Mega Lucario alone for just a moment on an objective,
it will use its Unite move, go Mega, and then rip through it before there is much you can do about it.
If Komae is not careful, even if they're playing well and they take their eye off the ball for just a moment, Zeta can steal the match from them.
Without a doubt. So, when you think about Dodrio, it actually plays the game in a much different way compared to a lot of other characters.
It has high, high mobility.
The way it scores is actually in pieces.
It's split up into three, one for each head, of course.
And because of that, it scores incredibly quick.
Yep.
And it can really flank easily, because it has such high speed.
So it's one of those things, if you take your eye off the ball,
you can lose track of that trio,
and then it's right behind you, dealing massive damage on a flank.
And then Megalucario is in your face with that close combat,
that big power up punch.
You mentioned Quakwavel is incredibly strong.
if it gets ahead. But if you look at the side of Zeta Division, Dodreo can give it fits and soak in
that megalooka. So just a small investment on the side of Zeta to make sure one of those characters
is higher than Perpoval, it could just become a 1v1 for the rest of the game. Like my only goal
is to make sure Gatlou does not get this thing online and I think we'll find some success
with that. Well, with how well Gatlou was playing yesterday, there is a question as to who
you're kind of trying to target on the other side, right? What player do you want to shut
down the most. And if the Scopable gets online, gets its Unite move, starts dancing through
some of these battles, it could be very, very tough for the side of Zeta. So that would
be a good player to shut down. One that's going to be extremely hard is going to be
a Desu on this Espion. Espion evolving at level 4, all of our EVs do in this game.
They're so strong early. Espion probably the strongest with the ability to secure
easily with SciShot. Yeah, and not to mention, it could also go into that stored
power which we saw yesterday as well which is pretty solid against Doudreo
right because Store Power has that sure hit and can really track a
Doudreo so it helps at least mitigate some of that crazy mobility that Doudreo
has to escape fights that it doesn't want to be in so I'm gonna be looking to a
day suit to see how they cover let's talk about the support core of
Komae which has been critical get the captain of the team on that
Snarlax and very quietly the Kit Narami on this Psyduck has been
having crazy crazy psychic pulls you put the disc down and then you yank somebody
out of the tall grass and they've been setting up great chaos for their squad
by doing that. You know you and I love to talk about the support cores of these
teams because while all of these you know carry Pokemon are flashy they're
picking up huge KO streak sometimes wiping out the entire enemy team none of
that happens without these playmaker Pokemon on their side and we've seen
huge plays from both of these teams. Gak in particular on Komei I feel like has
made some hero plays for the squad. Absolutely has right and we keep talking
about Gatlou, Adesu, Gak, Naurami, but also there is Toast and Toast most
primarily on the Mimikyu. We've seen them go across a couple things of course
gonna be on the Cypher. This game also is a great shutdown player like they
They can make huge plays.
They're always pacing the other team as well
and stressing them by attacking from different angles.
So amazing seeing this hype crowd here in the Chase Center,
the arena filling up throughout our day.
I've been told it seats almost 300 people.
Wait, oh, you're getting something else.
18,000 people, it was way off.
Yeah, you don't know numbers, my friend.
Here's the good news.
We might be game pause, but all that's doing
allowing for more people to file in and enjoy the experience of Pokemon Unite live here in
the chase center and its experience unlike any other that you will get today because this game
is fast paced action. No turn-based action here. We're all about the smoke once we get into
the Vethaius Sky Ruins. That's right. The texture of all of our games here on Championship
Sunday is so interesting, exciting. Each one having their own flavor and Unite, no question
about it is the most high energy of our titles non-stop action and battling
throughout in our 10 minute matches here do snacks as we're taking a look at our
hype crowd I love how the plushies were brought of course there's Pikachu who's
using our capes from last year we are representing our teams here Zeta
Division got the jacket on got the jersey on dripped out of control to
support the squad as they make their run the championship gold man I
I absolutely love this stage.
It's awesome.
It's so cool what they were able to do with this.
It's an even bigger step up from last year,
which was already an amazing stage in the arena.
This is just incredible.
What's that production?
You do want us to cast from the table in the middle.
Amazing.
Are we sure it's set up?
Should we run down there right now?
Right now.
OK.
What's that we're lying?
Bear.
Oh.
Bear.
Our game is being remade here
to make sure that all of our players can get it.
And as soon as it is ready to go,
we are going to head down to Thea Sky Ruins
and watch them battle it out here
in our first game of the PESTA 5.
Got one of the greatest signs.
You have to bless the old me and only me,
said by the legendary two-time world champion, Overlord.
I will secure also a great, great sign.
And I love, I've been watching those signs
pop up throughout the fans all weekend long.
And the energy commitment and passion
these fans have for this game cannot be denied.
And you know what?
I asked for the game to be remade
so we could hit a hard ready go.
So let's make sure that we are now getting a second fight
at this game one ready go.
Apple, let's make it a big one.
So our players are getting ready to head
into the match right now.
I always wonder with moments like these,
whether it's a technical issue of player needs a moment
or something like that,
how that changes the mental state of these competitors
as you're getting ready for this match.
There's so much on the line here,
and I don't know about you, Dupesnacks,
but I know for me, I would just want to be thrown
into the defense right away.
Yeah, 100%.
And I don't want to bring up past history or old wounds,
but if you recall, this same EU team
with a lot of these players got stuck on ice on stage
in the World Championships and fell apart afterwards.
If you recall that, I'm hoping the mental fortitude
is there, and they are ready to go.
And I'm hoping that Gek, again, is keeping this team from tearing apart at the seams.
Because Zeta Division, again, we know their resilience.
Comai, the question is really still up in the air because we've seen this team have some bizarre, bizarre missteps.
But if their focus is there and their intensity is there, they can deliver in a big way.
What you'll notice about Unite is it's often a game of momentum.
It seems like a team that's winning keeps winning here, but both of these squads with the reverse sweep yesterday really shows you
That they can pull it out when it counts change everything and there is something about a team
That's been losing and then they start to win. It's just so hard to defeat them at that point
It's like they figured something out and then once they hit that their opponents can do nothing about it
That's without a doubt, you know
Is this production is this an opportunity where you can put me in the cowboy back on screen? Oh?
What's your plan?
Oh, nope. No. Oh, you have no plan?
And what so ever?
Great.
Like, at all, actually.
I just feel like we're dressed nice.
And, you know, I'd like to be seen.
He's not wrong.
The fact that this is our last day,
I mean, it sounds like it with how we're acting.
Doesn't it?
It really does seem like it.
Listen, I feel like production is minimizing
the amount of time we're on camera
because they don't know if we actually have tapes or not.
Yeah, they're wondering if we're going to put them back.
Are they going to unfurl the tape back there?
They have crowns.
They have those ipollettes, those gold shoulder things
with hassles.
Nobody knows.
I love that you're bringing up all the things
that we asked if we could bring in.
They said after we got them.
No, no, they said no to all.
But you put positive out.
Maybe it's positive back.
Maybe we get something back.
Surely if someone in the audience had a crown
and they brought it to us, I could not wear it.
I mean, I can't work.
But actually, what's that you're going to get rid of us before the end of the show?
Okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, that's where we always thought we would be in the trap here.
Doop snacks, stadium filling in to you absolutely love to see.
I love this, this ripple effect.
I love seeing myself in the jumbo tron.
That's terrific.
I'm a big fan of that.
I can, I cannot deny this is a great experience.
It's a great experience for those of you in the arena, of course, great
experience for our players on stage. Phenomenal experience for me and the
capital. Selfishly for us. This is a great day. It's just so good. Yeah, we're
absolutely loving it right here and this is our final Pokemon Unite cast. It
really is the most amazing way to send this game off. You know last year in
the arena it was absolutely electric and this is even bigger huge snacks. Yeah
exactly. That's again why everybody at home assumed larger capes but now
Now look, just look how sharp we look.
And here, and here.
Well done.
Let's talk about these teams again.
Zeta Division on that reverse sweep,
you talked about momentum and how critical that is,
but we've seen time and time again.
The momentum not necessarily carrying into the next day.
We've seen teams go on miracle runs
through day two of a bracket,
hit grand finals and fall apart.
Is this going to be the case for Zeta Division?
That's a question that remains unanswered.
Yeah, it really is.
I mean, can these teams keep that momentum?
Can Zeta keep that huge win going from being behind
to now winning?
Or are they shaken by the fact that the team
on the other side three owed their opponents
as we're getting set up for our match right now?
And it sounds like we will be soon heading into our game.
Once we do, 10 minutes time on the screen.
Ready, go.
We're all going to do it together.
I want to show everybody at home what they're missing out
as they're watching through their screen
because we're going to have a raucous crowd here to get
loud and deliver the energy to these players on stage.
You can see the screens.
Our players are loading in now for our first match
of our grand finals here in San Francisco.
I need to take a deep breath.
I want to get into it.
Here we go.
Ready, go!
Koma Esports, your purple team.
Zeta Division, your orange team.
The first game of our grand finals begins now.
We see the players on their minimap cruising towards their path.
We'd love to see the character of this group.
Oh, here we go.
Because GOMU is immediately going cross-town shootout,
and they're going to go for an invade to slow down
the progress of Toast.
Narami sussing it out quickly,
and going to A, press him down.
Yeah, this play right here is taking
of your Pokemon especially with an experience share across the map trying to steal away some
experience from their powerful central area of Pokemon. No move, looking to see if they can secure
this buff for their squad and no it goes over to Toast. Resta and Rom downstairs there with
the Snarlax and a Desu moving through the S-men already evolved and Toast decides to collapse
in the bottom path but Toppo now peeling back up top trying to see where all the action is.
Yeah, here we go. Adesu seeing the side here of Zeta Vitopo throwing some of that tri attack at them as we head to our top path here.
Mega Lucario starting off extremely strong, almost already level 5.
Yeah, meanwhile the other side look, we are struggling to get our evolutions.
Toast and Naramie have to pull up for get a little support on Gatlu.
Swablu and Altair here, big dual wingbeat, and we do have our evolution for Gatlu. That's a start.
Meanwhile, we have a fight in the bottom path that looks like Dodrio was there for just a moment.
And we might have a scrap in the center of the map here as Scyther and Dodrio are very close to each other.
Vytopo moving in now, Dupesnacks.
Yeah, Vytopo actually seeing that.
Whoa!
There's two players there, the K-Opener gonna go to Koai.
Narami gets the credit, but the damage done by Gatlu and Toast.
And now Nobu's struggling to evolve, but they're losing sight of Mizutama,
who is getting now matching parity with Gatlu on the levels.
And Gatlu quickly caught out.
The pressure's on.
The dry attack's gonna seal the deal.
And Gatlu, overstanding is welcome in the central area there of Zeta Division.
Kind of giving up a lot of the experience lead that they got from KOing that central area.
Pokemon unfortunately, those are some of the plays you have to make though.
If you could extend that victory even further, it would be incredible.
Adesu, they are on the stored power build, which is going to be tough for the bird.
It is going to be very difficult. No move, finally hitting the crustal,
going to be able to space out and see that big rock tomb, shelling toast away,
which means Zeta Division is going to grab the first Regi Drago.
Great secure from Zeta Division, giving their entire team some team-wide experience
and a buff that allows Nomu to score faster.
And it looks like we have two members of Zeta hiding in the tall grass, trying to take down Toast.
Oh, they know when those timers are going to be on the respawn, but Toppo and Nomu are going to put pressure on Toast.
Toast actually bailing into the bottom path, which means once these things spawn back up,
if Zeta Division wants to hang out long enough, they can take them all.
And that's how aggressive that Dodrio can be.
Toast just had to leave here and see what they could secure in the bottom path.
Here comes Nomu. Meanwhile, Dodrio taking all the experience on the side of Comai.
Yeah, Nomu coming down from the central area, giving Zeta Division the rest of the information they need,
which means Votopo knows that they're pretty safe to grab all the experience from the side of Comai.
Meanwhile, up top, it looks like Narami and Gautler are doing a good job. We do have Kukwable online.
We do, yeah, and it looks like they did pretty well into this Lucario,
but Gautler's gonna need to be careful right here. Lucario has incredible secure potential.
Kukwable does not. They're moving forward, looking for a fight.
4v3 big heavy slam for Kwavel, closed it out, they're all over NoMu.
NoMu getting shredded, big X scissor, put the block, Eject button out of the cross,
to get back on the back side.
Reds, they have the Ladius, is trying to make it happen.
Toast secures the Regice, and they might look for a push here.
They got a 4v2.
They're gonna get the Cheeky scores in now, and they're gonna go for the big 36 over.
And now the points lead, but gone belongs to Koma.
That's right, 159-53.
Koma ahead.
We have a Desu trying to fight the Topu on this goal zone,
but they are not able to take them down.
even the Unite move could not save them. We now have the Topo scoring stacking up
their attack weight in this bottom path making them more and more powerful for
all these fights. Here comes Koumai right back at it looking for NoMu when they
pick up Akeo. Now they're moving forward. Nerami get gonna be the security guards
for Toast. That big Scyther. Tons of burst damage but incredibly fragile when
it comes to taking damage themselves. Nerami nice little psychic reposition
Jerome. Heavy slam there to separate Resta. The block is back. We're
trying to put damage down.
Nirani gets hit with a Unite with their low on HP.
Do a wing beat, knockout, pressure gun, heavy slam again,
and hook Wobble's moving to the back line.
Nomu's getting shredded.
Huge psychic reposition on Mizutama.
They're on the back side, they missed a close combat,
and a day suit closes the door.
Nomu getting shredded.
Do a wing beat, and Espeon gets credit.
Holy smokes, Komai is here to play.
Komai is absolutely cooking in this bottom path right now,
but they're deciding not to break this goal,
Dube Snacks.
I want to keep this bottom path open
so they can continue securing some of this experience.
Meanwhile, Vito Pugh trying to take everything away.
Big way out and they're gonna be able to get out.
They're running away from the central area
and that is the power of Dodrio.
That is the power of Vito Poe.
The Toppo up a level.
If Narami hits that psychic and drags,
Vito Poe will go down to toast.
They use, I believe, the full heal to cleanse that away
so they can get the knockout and escape.
And on top of all that, they got Narami's unite move.
Let's talk about a quiet battle
that has been happening throughout this match.
And that is the battle that Lodious and Lodious are playing.
These two Pokemon are looking to continue stacking up their Aeon power.
They get stronger and stronger throughout this match and
have crazy potential as the game goes on.
Komei looking good now, but these could turn into real problems for them later.
Big Kukwable dunk downstairs, 240-wound, 110.
Komei is there in the face of Ford.
No move goes down, no get can move forward.
Mr. Tom appeals back.
Rom using their United Group on a day-to-day strike target.
Half HP gone, rest is eviscerated,
but Toast is gone as well.
Gek is looking for Rambi's Uthama,
strikes down on the Rambi, close combat doesn't fit a damage.
Votoko stressed the scoreboard downstairs.
Close combat is there, back on top of the Desu.
Nice, heavy slamming.
Okay, we took care of the trash then,
and now Koma is pivoting to Registeel.
No comeback for the action, but it's gonna be tough.
Meanwhile, while this is happening,
Dodrio is scoring in the bottom half,
trying to even up the scoreline.
No moves, stopping the big-time Rumble Rouser unite,
and here come the Ladi-Os and Ladius.
They took their eye off the Regi Steel and since they took the fight, no move but enough
time.
Now Gekis trapped in their option, they had it be slammed back over the wall, but now
it's Sadie Division that has control of the Regi Steel objective.
Absolute swings back and forth here, Lucario back.
This is going to be very difficult for Komei to stop at this point with the incredible
secure potential on the side of Zeta and they do take it there.
It is the Ladeos getting them the Regi Steel, a huge buff that is going to give
them extra attack and special attack.
off-screen we had Potopo on the De Draco level 13 go down tons of experience in
the hands of Komei three minutes and 20 seconds left in this game and it is
getting close. It's getting very close you're less than 100 points separate
these two teams and when Dodrio is on the side of Zeta you cannot feel good
about that it can run away from our final fight in double time and make
some huge plays. Reggie are lucky now being taken by Zeta no one from
Komei in a position to deal with this in fact they're just looking for
experience on their side of the map. I think they recognize they have to win a
huge fight. We are at the three minute mark, which means in one minute here we
are going to have grout on spawn in the center and these two teams are going to
need to decide how they want to play the final moments of this match. Take a
deep breath 40 seconds and our boss monster here in our first map is going
to materialize. Meanwhile these teams are waiting the call before the storm
getting their levels up and Zeta Division on the hunt trying to get
vision and you can see Zedid is right here with some extremely aggressive
position do they decide to go in it looks like they're going to use the
power-up punch fly backwards and throw some damage on to the Snorlax here they
know exactly where they are on the side of Komae this makes it difficult for
Komae to engage. Oh Narami's getting real close to that Dodrio on our mini-map
Roman Resta, Nomu moving forwards in the bottom path here we've got five
seconds brother. Yeah here we have five seconds till our first. Oh no!
Over the wall, this could be too early, noob snack.
Oh, straight into the United move,
they get hit with everything on the sun, the Ladius.
Whoa!
The huge KO.
Rock Tomb bubbles out to support Core and Adesu.
They're trying to put the store power on, no move.
Groudon's getting worked on.
We've got to make a loop choreo going for the rip.
Groudon in the central area, all of Komae spaced out.
Get to the back side,
Ghost Frenel using their United move.
The Aspire United pops up a couple,
but everybody's still standing, the power nap.
It's just on no move.
And there's only three players standing for Komae.
Gek just get the knockout from the rip is started.
Noremi is there to make a hero play.
They can't get it, it's Potopo!
Insane Division secures the first objective in a grand final!
And here they go, rushing to score.
Here they just need one huge one to even this up.
241-248, but this match is incredibly close.
In just a moment here these players are about to find out how close it is.
When it says it is close battle, that means no one knows which side exactly is up.
But with these grout on buffs, Zeta Division is in a perfect position to win.
They just have to have one player sneak off and score.
For Komai, they need to run to the other side of the map.
They need to KO members of Zeta, take these buffs for themselves, and make something happen.
Komai now looking to figure out exactly how they're going to make that fight.
We have two members of Komai in the bottom path, and here comes Zeta Division,
sneaking from Tallgrass.
Get getting the information, but of course the Doudreo has a great capacity to score
and stretch this lead that's a division have.
Gatlou has exposed themselves.
The Rock 2 forces out of Desu and Narami.
Backdoor, heavy slam by Gatlou.
They're trying to block and isolate.
Gatlou looking for a target
and they're trying to pin down that big rest.
The rest, it gets out.
And now they're trapped and the United move back from Rome.
And it's going to pinch in the middle.
Toast is using the United move,
but it's a fruitless endeavor.
They're getting absolutely eviscerated.
Meanwhile, the Topo's on a scoring mission.
They're up by over 100.
Insated Division is cruising in the next 10 seconds.
Beautiful crowd on fight, perfectly played by Zeta Division.
As we mentioned earlier, you leave the Megalucario alone
and they are taking that objective.
Koumai, having the Kukwabu fly over on the jump pad,
getting absolutely caught.
I don't think it's what they wanted to do at all.
I think the Rock Tomb got them stuck
in a crazy position that they did not expect
and then everything started to go wrong.
The beautiful Unite move from Latios,
able to pick up the KO.
Latios and Latia, they both honed in on the right target.
And you know what, if the other team gives you an inch,
it'd take a mile.
And that's exactly what happened.
I have no idea why Gattlou springboarded into the middle.
They landed in an absolute blender,
and Zeta Division made them pay in the biggest way.
We're going to have to take a look at some of those moments
in a replay here in a second.
So that is something that I want to watch back as well.
I think it was a rock to get into forcing them over the wall.
Let's take a look at some of these moments here.
So it's a nice early fight here from Kamae,
but they did end up paying for it.
They could not get Nomu in this situation.
Gottlieb does go down.
Again, great early, early game action out of Comai.
And if they were sticking with their game plan
in the final stretch, I think they would have been fine.
Here we have a great little fight here on the Regice.
Going to be able to lock it down as well.
Yeah, Regice here being taken.
We have Gottlieb getting extremely aggressive,
pushing forward towards the side of Zeta.
Very aggressive plays from them.
They knew they needed to win a fight as a team.
They were not able to do it.
As we mentioned before, Latios and Latios getting stronger and stronger throughout the match.
By the end there, they were able to use that connect move as a delete button on Gatling.
Oh, without a doubt. And now you're seeing when Komae is taking agency in these fights and not on the back foot.
They're doing very well. Unfortunately for them, Gatling over the wall.
I can't wait to see it so we can really analyze how that went down.
Yeah, here we go. Looking at some of the scores.
Yuzutama moving forward right here.
Rome, our player of the game.
I mean, are you shocked there?
The damage just starts going up and up and up.
And I really do think that catch on Gottlieu
from the side of Zeta Division entirely,
but especially the Unite movement to finish them off
really was what set up Zeta to win.
Yeah, one thing I want to talk about.
We mentioned a lot at the top of the show,
Votopo being a critical member
of the Zeta Division team,
getting them to replay the finals here.
However, Votopo a very quiet game, in game number one.
So if you look at what Komae was putting together,
and if their plan was shut down, Votopo, they succeeded.
However, they kind of lost sight on every other player
in the game.
Here we go, right back into draft.
Amen.
Komae is going to need to deal with what just happened there.
Adesu picking the SP on here first.
They like their strategy.
It really was going well for Komae.
It just went catastrophically bad there at the end when Gatlu got caught as we're seeing the next couple of picks over to the side of Zedah
Division are we going to see the same Pokemon? They did just win with it. So you might not need to change much up
Sweetcoon and they are one of the few teams that have been playing a sweetcoon
And I talk about the sweetcoon unite move how
Devastating it can be if it tracks and freezes multiple targets when you have the skill set on the rest of your team like Zedah
that the mission does, it is curtains for you, son.
Yeah, and what they're really setting up here
with these bands and the Feraligato, the Surfetch,
the Mimikyu, they're targeting out a lot of these
all-rounders.
We're seeing exactly what Gottlieu wants to play here.
Kukwable looked pretty good last match,
but Kukwable into Suikun sounds like a nightmare,
dude, snacks.
He wants to fight at close range.
It does not want to be stunned by this Pokemon.
Worth noting that Mizutama went with base model,
Lucario.
Komefe enters the game here.
one of the most banned Pokemon all tournament long.
Rome on the Zarina will see how Comai reacts,
and now they're gonna get the Machamp-Espion combination.
So you're gonna see a big submission,
and then that Sci-Shock Bam stun.
I was wondering what the final pick
was gonna be here for Comai.
The reason I was wondering is because
what Pokemon would they want to play into this Suicune?
I don't think it would be the Scyther.
We've got a slightly tankier Pokemon
with the Mega Charizard X,
and if they could pick something up,
especially something that already has a confé on it,
and delete it fast, you're kinda getting two KOs
for the price of one.
One combination that we have on Ko-Mai
that has been absolutely brutal
throughout this entire tournament
is the Machamp and the Espeon.
Machamp with submission, making themselves unstoppable,
running towards the enemy side,
grabbing one of their opponents,
throwing them over their shoulders,
and then letting Hadesu on this Espeon
hit them with the side-shock and side-beam.
It's kind of a one-to-punch
that knocks out most things in the game.
The question is, does Adesu want to play that build,
or is he still feeling the stored power?
I think without the Dodrio around,
we're probably seeing the Sci-Shock.
I think you want to go Sci-Shock 100%, right?
Especially because Rome or Votopo
is going to be carrying the Compe.
So doing the Suplex stun right there
is going to get you that what I call that little Vogo deal.
You get the big guy down, and the Compe comes for free.
Here we go.
Heading into game number two in the Chase Arena,
our final Pokemon Unite World Championship
as our teams are loading in.
Ready?
Ah!
No!
Pretty good, noobs, nice.
You saved that well.
You think?
Yeah, I think you did great.
Yikes, brother.
Unite's staying true to itself,
fell the bell here, save the thing.
Here we go.
Go on your purple teams.
Zeta Division, your orange team up one game now
in our best of five.
Jack, running across the map, looking to see what they can take away from Zeta.
When you have an Urshifu on the other side, you want to be very aggressive
because this is one of the toughest early game Pokemon.
Kapfu really struggles to get online.
Struggles in a big way. Jack doing a great job with invasion.
You think, hey, are they going to get knocked out?
What are they actually trying to accomplish here?
And it's the waste time.
Yeah.
And Jack is being incredibly successful right now.
And now they're pulling up the slow smoke from rest of the Topo.
of the topo still that couple does get both buffs but slowed down immensely.
Yeah. And you want to slow this down, right?
Because if you do not slow down this or she foo, it is going to enter the battle
very quickly with that rapid strike. It could be a real problem here.
No move trying to secure that.
But it looks like that Lou was able to take that in the bottom path.
Couple now looking for their moment, looking for their level five.
They have it. They have evolved.
This is a scary place, especially with the come fake caller.
They're going to be very careful on the side of Khomei right there.
right in the middle looking for their opportunity is a little machop saying I
just want to get my points and can't I know 30 of frozen for absolutely no
value here we'll see if they get knocked out rest of the topo cruising through
the central area here as Kami is committing to the top pack yeah and
beautiful stuff from Kami there right they recognize that that fight was not
going to go well for them however they put a lot of pressure on top but we
do have the urshifu making their way to the top pass seeing if they can
punish some of the players no move here in the bottom path just trying
to attack them on this gold zone.
Romm now already level six.
Giving them fits here.
Romm with so much mobility.
You see that big stomp out of this arena
and just gliding in.
Queenly Majesty takes going up
as they're about the action.
And now they're just wasting time
because they're able to prevent Gautu from evolving.
His toast is getting bullied in his own central.
And look at this here.
Here comes Vito Poo.
This is the power of some of these Pokemon
like Urshifu, the Dodrio.
They can really move through the enemy central area.
Look how aggressive Zeta is being never letting up here.
They've already taken game one.
They want to finish this.
They absolutely do.
And look at that quick little freeze from NoMu, Rome as well.
I mean, everything is moving for Zeta Division.
They have complete control of Reggie Drago.
Narami trying to move forward as a little Duxy
when they can do.
Whoa!
Narami!
Honestly, you don't know the value
that that just brought to a struggling Komei team.
And sometimes all you need is a cheeky objective steel
to get yourself back in it.
Yeah, there's something about just taking something
that you shouldn't have gotten from your opponents.
Your team can kind of get the energy they need back
in this match.
Narami heading to the bottom path here.
The Chards are toast heading to the bottom.
Adesu as well with the Unite move,
making their way to the bottom path, looking for a fight.
Consistent freezes from Nomu.
Always getting at least one target.
Sometimes multiple.
Very impressive.
You've got the moral pool down, pushing forward.
Ice beam lined up.
No, Regi Rucks working.
Raul is stomping.
Narami trying to give cover.
Nomu with the support.
And here comes Mizutama, power up, punch close to the door, moving forward.
Nomu getting credit, with the pressure's on.
Toast is pinned against the walls, Charizard, they're knocked out.
Then running away is Rome, rest of hopping off as the comfy jumps right back on.
And the Regirock belongs to Zeta Division.
Regirock being ripped apart right here.
The Serena playing so well for the side of Zeta.
And also the fact that it has the comfy on it just makes it more difficult to fight.
You don't realize it when you're fighting it all the time, but you are fighting two Pokémon at the same time.
with a little psychic pull from Hirami,
can't come out and do anything with it.
Have you seen him over Suplex?
Forced set the Earthshake for United.
11 hits down, blocked, except right,
Mizutama from the team.
On the back side, we're getting Adesu knocked out,
but Toko's still going.
Mizutama's right there, and they get Suplexed into path.
Keck looking for cover, with the goal zone is closed.
K.O. Striga 3.
Gatlu keeps trying to hold it down,
but they're gonna be dispatched.
Announce the Rami and Adesu.
Toast isn't even paying attention.
Complete control, first data division.
Toast with the United move,
coming right back, trying to stop them right here,
but gets taken back up into the air.
Fire!
The Ice Age freezes, come on!
And that allows Aida Division to keep pushing.
K.O. Srigatu for the legendary dog,
as they're gonna peel back.
And it's finally a Machamp, get steps up,
block back, suplex, but is there enough for the tank?
Here we go, Machamp Unite move,
looking to get a K.O. right here at Destu,
coming in with missing the shy side-shock and side beam,
because the Topu was able to move out,
beautiful plays there,
Zedah Division 4, Dominating Game 2.
Holy brother, you take your eyes off of Toppo
and you're getting arranged by Vizutama.
You take your eyes off Vizutama and it's NoMu buckling you
with the ice blocks.
Zedah Division in complete control.
Zedah Division in control.
Komai struggling here.
There are a few bright lights.
They finally have their levels where they can have
Unite moves, especially that Charizard.
Unfortunately for them, they were absolutely shut down
the last time they used it.
They need to get a great fight online and isolate some big targets.
Good suplex, blocked there to ensure at least vision top.
Here comes the total on coffee, snatched into the air,
we're gonna try and burn them down.
Works for United, the combo hits a 36.
They're looking for more suplex.
Can they convert?
No, 42, 45.
The numbers keep climbing.
No move with a huge freeze on the backside.
And it's Rome looking to stop through the rest of Comai.
Rome might be a water type, no, they're a grass type.
They're burning it down for sure.
Don't worry, we make a lot of mistakes here. No one will notice that once.
Snorlax in the top path, we have the SIDA moving with it, but here comes VITOPO.
Once again in this central area, looking to make something happen.
Doomsnacks, like they have been all game. Just take over the map, take all the experience from KOMI.
This is such a difficult match. If they were able to get a huge pick, a submission into the side-shot, into the Charizard United.
They can take down one of these huge targets, but SIDA has been playing so well.
They've got to make sure. Oh, the champion night for three.
Mr. Thomas there, though, pressure on Gatlou, Fruitslitz, and never gone.
Here we go. Vythopu heading back towards their side, Gek now in the top path.
Rome level 12 up here as we have toast also level 12.
But you would really hope that your central area Pokemon would be out
leveling us right here as we have 13 on the other side for Zayna Division.
Koma is not out of this, but the fights are looking grim for them.
Listen, this is exactly how some of their matches went yesterday,
getting bullied most of the game and finding it in the final moments.
No one was very low.
There's a quality knockout opportunity.
Charizard United does lock down the Suicune.
Now, Rome has to stop.
Boy, right back in is the Blunshifu.
Getting combos up to 45, 47, 56, 57.
We keep pushing, Megan, 60.
Wow, unbelievable from Zeta.
You just see the level that this player is playing at
as they score another 50 points.
75 to 312 from Zeta,
and they are dominating all of these fights.
You can see why Kumpfe is one of the most banned Pokemon
in our entire tournament.
It is so difficult to shut down a player
that has this on them, especially people
that are playing at this level like Vitopo.
Okay, take a deep breath, Komae, just like I did.
Figure out the type of your Pokemon,
because apparently I'm still learning that.
Let's see what you can come up with together
in the next 40 seconds,
because you've got a big fight to win.
Regi Alecki now being taken down by Komae,
they have to deal with this,
where Zeta gets to do whatever they want on the map.
What they're gonna do is hide in this tall grass
and see if they can catch a member of Komaite
early before this fight.
30 seconds until Kyogre makes their way to the center.
Narami hitting a psychic.
Galu moving in.
They might take the fight early as they brought the sweet goon.
New Plex over the wall.
Rome is two.
Nobu's low. Nobu's knocked out.
Ice Sage gets three.
The block is there to protect the team.
Votopo looking for a flank right back into the middle
is Mizuzama.
Rome on the backside looking for To-Votopo.
Eyes down, Gax.
We finally have the charge there tonight
with their punch.
They're shielded, they're back!
Finally, Mississippi goes down.
Roma's on the top of Bucks, too.
Black's spot, up on the heavy slam.
Gowler needs to use a move,
but we have a huge jersey for United again.
They get 60 and counting.
They're pushing back,
and it's just two players on Zaynep Division,
but they're fighting.
Oh, so well.
Vy Topo somehow making their way
through the relentless assault from Koma.
The Charizard Unite move picked up multiple members,
and now, for just a moment,
The calm before another storm, Kyogre in the middle, Zeta coming back.
We now have Charizard coming back in just five seconds,
but will Zeta start this before Charizard is ready to fight?
Here comes Lucario looking for Gek, the block right now.
No one wants to make a mistake here, but Zeta wants to scrap.
So, the Toppo getting straight in the middle,
a little bit of a freeze, follow-up suplex.
The Toppo is split, the Toppo goes down.
Narami's getting chased, they're snuffed out and snuffed.
Just two players for Komai, Toast is on the chase.
Singular Unite move from Rome.
And Rome is in fact burning for Komae here in game two.
They're not gonna worry about Kyogre.
They're gonna assault those goals zone.
They are heading towards the central area goal here of Komae.
And this is going to increase their points lead considerably.
There's still time on the clock,
but now Komae's only shot is going to be able
to quickly get that central area objective
and make something happen.
171-528.
And we can see Rome attacking multiple members here
of Komei, fighting them on their own goal zone.
It doesn't look like there's going to be enough time
for Komei as Charizard finally hits the map.
Gotlu working on Kyogre in the center.
And meanwhile, the rest of Komei getting snuffed out
as the scores keep going in.
Zeta Division with an exclamation point on the line
that was game one.
They hammer home game two, and they're up by so many points
with 13 seconds left, it's going to be tough.
And you see Zeta Division right here.
look at how smart they are deciding. There's no reason to fight near the
tier one goal zone. They just have to stop them from scoring in here and in the
home goal zone. Beautiful plays from Zeta. An absolutely dominant performance here
in game two and they are now one game away from being your final Pokemon
Unite World Champions. You said the team that would win the first game
would gain the momentum and carry it through and right now we have Zeta
Division with all the momentum in the world but Zeta Division knows what
being down 0-2 means yes because they did the reverse sweep yesterday and they
have to keep the pedal to the floor you cannot let a team with the skill level
of Comai scratch and claw their way back into this you got to snuff them out
Just like we saw yesterday, both of these teams have been in a position to reverse sweep, so this is not over by any means.
But if you're Zeta, you have to feel good about how that match went. Game 1 was very close. Game 2, they were in control the entire time.
NoMu on this Suicune was a problem, brother.
And you can see why Zeta Division committed a first pick to it.
A Pokemon that has been quiet all weekend long,
and now surging onto the scene with the surging strikes
from Blue Shifu.
And really, Blue's a good color on Zeta Division.
Game to win.
Look at that.
95,000 damage from Rome on this arena.
This is a Pokemon that's received a lot of bans
throughout our tournament because of a team plays it they are incredible
you are pretty big number there Vito po 18 knockouts 18 knockouts to assist one
faint and that gives you a KO plus a over F a cough of 20 91 K damage out of
Vito po I mean every one of these characters was a problem yeah real
problem toast not coming online as fast as they needed to on the side of
Komae was also a real issue.
Mega Charizard had some huge moments throughout that match,
but you want it early, and you want them often.
You want to be megging in a lot of these fights,
picking up huge KO's, and they only had a few
that went their way, and even when they did,
Zeta played so incredibly well
that they were able to stem the tide,
get right back in there, and win the refight.
Look at that heat map, brother, everywhere.
Once Rome got online, they were skating
all over the map, finding targets,
and taking them down as we have our crowd right there
plundered up ready to go for game number three.
Oh, I'm getting word from our production teams.
Thanks.
This is actually a huge deal.
Your mistake in the last match, that is our 10,000th mistake.
Whoa!
Let's hear it!
We did it, everybody!
Look how excited they are about our 10,000th mistake.
Big deal.
A big deal for us.
A lot of us said we could do it
before we shut the game down.
But you know what?
Yes, we can.
Never give up on your dreams.
of just catastrophic mistakes on the biggest stage.
You'll love to see it from the boys.
We won't be back tomorrow.
Ha ha ha.
As we're getting ready for what could be our final match,
dupesnacks, between these two squads.
KOMI, they're really going to need to figure something out.
There is something about a loss that huge
that gets you to recalibrate everything.
Go back to what you know.
Go back to what you know is going to win.
Stop trying to play better than what you are.
Play the Comi that got you here in the first place,
but they need to make it happen right now
as Zeta Division could become your champion
in just 10 short minutes.
Again, Comfe available for one of these teams.
Blastoise is the first pick.
The band's the exact same,
and Zeta Division has been navigating their draft
after these bands incredibly well.
They feel confident.
Comi feels like they're just going with the flow.
Here we go.
Next couple of picks over to Zeta.
They are going to take that crustle and they are going to take Ladius, which we saw in game number one.
Obviously, this could easily lead to Rome once again being on that Ladius, which was incredibly powerful,
difficult for Komai to shut down, especially towards the late game, when the burst damage was just so high
that Gottlieu went down immediately.
They're back on the Kupava, which for Komai, their early game in game number one has been their strongest showing throughout this entire tournament.
So I understand heading back towards this.
Yeah, absolutely. They have to make sure that whatever toast picks
isn't super duper susceptible to an invade because you really want
Narami to be sticking in path with Gottlieb to get them on lock.
And this has been the Achilles heel of Comai on Saturday.
The games they have lost in rough fashion have been because across the way
was the horse, the Galarian Rapidash.
This pick right here from Zeta Division is the most targeted pick
that we've seen throughout this entire series.
Recognizing that Komai had a very difficult time
into this Pokemon yesterday,
so much so that they needed to ban it.
This could be the ace in the hole for Zeta right now
and how they win the entire tournament.
Adesu back on their hero Pokemon from day two.
Mew2Y and Toast on the Talon Flame, incredibly fast.
So we have a very quick speedster on both sides.
Yeah, and I mean Talon Flame does a decent job
holding its own in the early stages as well.
it has some decent secure in its kit.
Rome is going to Lodios,
and this Lodios-Lodios combination in game one
we saw was incredibly strong.
So, Coman, with their back against the wall,
they are fighting with Blastoise,
Proquovel, Psyduck, Mewtwo, Y, and Talon, Flay.
State of division with everything on the line,
the championship one game away, stealing away the crustal,
which had some huge place for them in game one.
The Lodios-Lodios coming back out,
And now two speedsters on the side of Zeta
as we're taking a look at our crowd here in San Francisco.
Hopefully we do the flyover right,
and we can brace this game with a team ready go.
There are battlefield, Thea Sky Ruins
with Ray Quasar in the center.
This could be your final match
of Pokemon Unite in the championship series.
One more game for Zeta Division, and they will become your champion.
KOMI needs to win three in a row.
It's been done before, members of KOMI have done it before, but KOMI, this is tough.
Ready, go!
KOMI, your purple team, Zeta Division, your orange team,
as we are one game away from crowning Zeta, the champion.
But standing in the way is KOMI.
You are down, but you are not out yet.
Keep your eye on the prize and keep on fighting
and make your story happen.
Narami immediately sussing out.
Nomu putting a press pressure on,
which means auto attacks on your opponent.
That's right, you're looking to shut this thing down
before it could really do something
towards the central area.
We have Toast right now looking to see
if they can get some of this experience.
Nomu trying to steal it right here,
but that does go over to the side of Komei.
Not only is Toast trying to get this experience right here,
But they're also trying to shut down that Dwebble if they can.
Yeah, I mean, just the little rocks
peppering you on the top of the head for that miniature stun
is so annoying.
And Toast actually getting surprisingly low,
does close out with the knockout.
So Toast's going to hit path, but not quite level five.
Yeah, you could see the red buff was taken there by the Dwebble.
And that's why getting that KO, they get the buff back.
But they're still not yet level five.
They're going to take some of this experience right here.
And Talonflame is getting closer and closer.
It does evolve at level seven to its final evolution.
These are Toma.
I'm down to Swablu in Altaria.
Great presence from Komae.
Rob Chum is there.
Not actually isolated.
Gottlieu very quickly.
And something they need to watch out for.
VTOPO is now something they're going
to need to watch out for.
As Dojrio really gets to decide
how they want to play this.
Looking for the town flame in the center
as we're fighting over some experience right here.
VTOPO moving forward, seeing if they get the KO on Toast.
Toast actually has to run away from their own central area.
And this has been the story of all of these matches.
Zeta Division doesn't look at my half of the map, your half of the map.
It's all their map.
And it's working.
It's working great.
We see toast behind on levels.
We see Fatopo doing whatever it is they want.
The Galarian Rapidash, the horse with the sharp stuff coming out the top of its head
is looking good now because they just hit their evolution.
Narami's headache takes over after a rock doom from Nomu.
And really, Komai is just kind of turtling up all over the map.
Yeah, Komai not up on levels, so they're going to need to fight together
if they can make something happen here.
But Saito Division with the Vitopo already at 7,
really taking over the map and stealing everything they can
from the side of Komae.
Rome now getting the blue buff here in the bottom path
while Dodrio is going to clean up some of the experience.
Calm for a moment as we have a huge objective spawning
in 40 seconds in the top and bottom path.
But before that, we have a fight over some Altaria
as well.
Desu doing a decent job trying to keep pace
on these levels, but being left alone
is the Mutu-wise Difficult, Rome and Resta,
seeing that they can put some pressure on
and they do indeed, you see the life bar of Adesu
just getting clunked every single time.
Here comes Gett for a little bit of support
on the Warthorne.
Yeah, now we have the block there of the side strike.
They're looking to make something happen
in the bottom path, but they are behind in levels
and that is a really tough place to be.
Blastoise desperately needing their level seven.
Toast is still not Talonflame.
Level six is vicious.
Taking over to seven is at least something.
Nice reposition, Rome getting knocked out by Adesu.
Adesu's gonna have to anchor this team for a bit
because Toast is so far behind.
Here comes Nogumu and Batopu.
Rock, two pins, Gek.
Adesu slides back, Regiroc getting worked on.
Tri is in there, Gek secures,
and this is great opportunity for Komae now.
This is a huge moment for Komae.
Koukwable alone in the top half,
and moving as a unit here,
we actually have something happening from Komae.
Zeta Division in control of this match
up until this point, but that was a huge swing of momentum and experience towards the side of EU.
Comai, Poquaval, just super, super quietly level 9, and Potopo going down is kind of huge.
Adesu getting big now, they're getting credit for a lot of these big-time knockouts.
Yeah, this is actually getting kind of tough for Zeta Division. All of a sudden,
we're seeing a lot of cracks in the armor of this squad in control for a while,
But Komae gets together. They Pokemon unite if you will and now they are winning this game
Deccan try and hold down this pad in the face of three players from Zeta division and doing a pretty good job
Stimying that push in the top path. We've got quakwaba working on regi
Alecki Neurami is there for the support and we'll see where Komae's next move is as the talent flame secures
The surf is gonna get the surf gonna pin back that Alteria and the unite move from Rome does hit
Yeah, yeah, and you can see the Rome use this not to get a huge KO
But just to charge up those a on stacks is here comes come on in the top path looking for a fight talent flame in the air big-time flame
Sweep that's no moon and that's a knockout. No trio unite back to pad to get with the team
You see that big triangle gas layering rapid as your neck toe sticks the skies again
Big you to why you might gonna disjoint say to division good fight from come on
I read you like he hits and the scoreboard belongs to EU. Good morning. Come on
Welcome to the World Championships Grand Finals.
Where have you been this entire time?
They just needed a little bit of a wake-up call,
and it turns out their alarms were set to five minutes left in game three.
205 to four.
KOMI in commanding position here.
Zeta actually for the first time getting beaten in this series.
KOMI looking incredible.
It must have been the switch over to the Mew2Y.
You got to believe in Adesu.
There's a little headache taking off from side-up.
It's enough to slow down Zeta division, at least for now.
And what I'm impressed by is how far behind Komai was
and how far ahead they are now.
Regi Rock now just being taken by Zeta.
No one on Komai really ready to do much about this
and to how in flame actually taking as much experience
as they can in the top half.
Got a little bit of a fight breaking out here.
Role looking for a unite move at Deso.
Mega, Mewtwo wise and peels out with Teleport.
Yeah, Teleport using that to just escape there,
not overextend is good.
Mizzutama, their own team's Roptoom, keeping them from pushing forward.
Here comes Rome lining up a target.
Mizzutama can't use that smart strike to get a pined target, so they peel back for just
an instant.
Gek on half HP, Narami as well, but they're holding pretty strong.
We talked about this when we saw the Lodios earlier, but there is another game happening
here that really only Rome is playing.
They are trying to get as much A on power as they can, and they get that by hitting
that dragon pulse on their opponents, or KOing wild Pokemon.
more times this happens the stronger it's going to be in the late game and we
saw the power of that without quickly they were able to do Spatch of Gotlu on
the Kupval last time big fight starting there comes the glaring rapidash with a
flank with Topo forced out and Arami gonna put a bubble beam on them we do
have the rapidash tonight move into the middle toast gets the knockout on
Dodrio Mitsutama bush back as Kupval secures they do grab a berry that
chases on nice stun we take to the sky with fly and the door is closed
on the rapidash finally.
And here we go.
They have the Reggie Alecchi walking towards the side of Zeta
Division.
And Koma is going to use this opportunity
to make something happen in the bottom path.
Already up on the scoreboard, 250 now, 260, 303 to 79.
No moving trouble right here.
X-Scissor back on deck, Votopo peppering
in some damage with a try attack.
There it goes, back to the skies, fly,
Toast gets credit for another.
Ejects into the bush, but Votopo predicts and gets
a big charge in knockout.
get goes down and now Koma has overextended their welcome and Zeta division is more than happy to show them the door.
Here comes Gwaml, do they decide to fight? No, Gottlue is intelligently brought to life.
Get out of there. You know there's a part of Gottlue that's thinking, I am going to fight everyone from Zeta right now.
What I'm going to do, I'm going to springboard in the middle of their entire team. Not a good look. Gottlue just get out of there for now.
That's very heads up play here by Koma intelligently moving away from that fight because in 23 seconds we have Rayquaza hitting the map.
This could be our final objective of our world championships.
Zeta just needs to win one more game.
Comi playing incredibly, but everything is on the line.
10 seconds left.
The question is who is going to start this fight?
Can they stop Rome and the crazy amount of damage
from this Latios?
And at the same time, can Zeta kind of get this match
back under control?
Gek hiding in the tall grass on the side of Zeta Division,
possibly looking to make a big flank here
As Blast Loose is now moving doob snacks around on the minimap, we see Zayda getting extremely aggressive.
Here comes Galoo!
Galoo, United move right in the middle! U2Y, United to stun them down!
Hydro Typhoon hits a bunch!
With Tombo's taking care of Mr. Tombo's y'all low, putting a triangle down, they're knocked out!
Everybody on Zayde Division is getting scrubbed!
Galoo's a crowd circuit, sacrificing themselves and the team converging to Reykwaza.
Noamu's looking for a way in, but Reykwaza's getting low.
We've got Resta stepping up.
Can we have a hero play?
Rock toom's too early!
Can we get a secure? The whole team's gone.
Koma is going to take Rayquaza.
And Koma is looking to take game number three.
Koma coming back in this, but it is not over.
They have the Rayquaza Shields a minute 12 on the clock.
Toast was knocked out in that final moment,
I think by Rayquaza itself,
possibly helping Xayah Division secure a win here.
But with a minute left, Xayah needs to make a huge play.
And unlike our other objectives,
they cannot steal these buffs away from Koma.
All they can do is simply break these Rayquaza shields.
Komai in a great position here, but it is not over.
All right, Geck getting pinched a little bit,
gonna surf towards the pad and gonna create the chase
onto them, waste some of that time.
They're gonna go for the score,
they're gonna get pinned, isolated and knocked out.
Zeta Division eyeing up what a comeback looks like.
Yeah, Zeta Division looking to make something happen here.
Here comes Vito, who is that's doing some cover right now.
Multiple members of Komai,
already caught, that's two down.
Oh my, you can't go down here.
Gottlieu is in a blender.
They have just a shriveled HP.
Oh, no!
Three players down.
We've got to cover the pads.
Toast is sitting there.
Reston Votopo looking to make a move.
And here we go with the Side-X scrambling across the map
with reston not able to score with a double KO
from Talonflame.
10 seconds left.
Komei can breathe a sigh of relief.
They are still in this tournament.
We're heading to game number four.
What a bounce back from Komei.
That beginning of that game felt in shambles.
Just a couple cheeky plays, nice little secures,
and all of a sudden, the team has life.
This is very scary for Zeta Division.
Now, obviously, they're up in this series,
but this has been happening time and time again.
Zeta Division, reverse sweeping to get here.
Komei, reverse sweeping to move on through their bracket.
Zeta is also a team that was up in the grand finals
that they lost to a team coming back.
They have to be worried about how this is going
after game number three.
Ooh, we're watching some great plays from this game specifically.
And right around that five minute mark
is when the KOMI alarms were set to wake up
because they showed up and really
closed this game out in a meaningful and powerful way.
Yeah.
And this is exactly what you're hoping for,
of course, in our grand finals.
If you're a KOMI fan, this is exactly what you want to see.
This team does not shrivel when they are behind.
They instead get big head on in there
and fight their opponents.
Look at the aggression here from the Blastoise.
The flank, Unite move, taking every KO they can.
And the patience here of this fight, so impressive.
Ripping through Raekwaza, then once their opponents
come back in, knocking them out before the secure.
Great stuff from Kamai.
I'll tell you what.
Whatever studying Kamai did overnight
about this Galarian Rapidash, they certainly snuffed out that problem.
Zero knockouts, five faints, one assist, Mizutama,
an absolute non-factor here in game number three.
Yeah, I would say the Galarian Rapidash was
a completely useless Pokemon for them,
and I know the reason they picked it because they
recognize that it was the Kryptonite yesterday for Komai,
but they did not have the strategy behind it that C2 had.
Comey wins the game and now they're slowing down and potentially snatching back the momentum from Zeta Division
I am shocked that Zeta Division didn't go back into the well of game number two for game number three because all of those
Pokemon were still available and they could have easily just ran it back and said you couldn't deal with it once
Let's see if you can deal with it now. Yeah
The question is how does Zeta want to react to a moment like this
Once you lose a match it can shake a team. We've seen it many times. You've seen teams that are almost
Unbeatable brought an entire season of Unite and then something happens a bad match happens and their mental falls apart
We'll have to see if Zeta can bounce back from a game like that after being so dominant in game two
You have to wonder where they went
Yeah, I mean
They just took their foot off the gas belt, right? I mean we've seen it time and time again
You're like, oh, you know, we've got some games to give, you know, maybe that, you know, maybe they're cheekily thinking,
um, well, if we win this game, what Pokemon do I want to be represented by as being champion?
Uh, when in reality, you gotta win first before you get represented by something.
And, uh, we've got the Zorina band, the Zorak band, Zashian, has been unleashed from this band section,
and Gek is still grabbing Blastoise first.
I think it's a great call. A huge playmaker here. We do have Zashian from Mizutama.
And given how he played the last game, I'm excited to see them on a Pokemon that they're more willing to play or that they have more experience with, I should say.
With that in doubt, how do we react here from the side of Komai? NoMu on the tree Pryo is crazy.
Yeah.
They are prioritizing NoMu's pick every single game and clearly they are working through that player.
Galu, Narami, Poquaval, Psyduck. We're keeping it with the birds over there. All water types as well.
as well. Interesting. We're looking at the Umbreon here from Zeta and we have a Mew from
the side of Zeta Division. So obviously we're moving away from the Lodios and Lodius that
we've been seeing for a few games out of Zeta. They're deciding that strategy is not working
the way they wanted to. Komei here now getting some late picks that are extremely powerful.
Adesu does get the SP on all the way at the bottom of the draft basically. That
was the fastest lock-in on the Lurch and War. Yeah, it was the fastest Urshifu we've
seen but the real question is is this going to be as powerful without the
comeback as an accelerant for these Pokemon right? That's a huge deal. Toast now
with the talent flim they had a great talent flim game the best we've seen
from them I'd say throughout this series here a Desu very comfortable here on
this espion and Gottlieu had an amazing game especially in that top half all
the loan with Kupapu. Yeah well they got to have a good game and because
they were left alone in the top half and if I'm Zedah Division I'm just
He's not letting him be on babysat.
Don't let him take over.
Taking a look at our crowd here.
Getting hyped for game number four
between these two squads.
Zeta, still one game away from becoming your champions
and there is our battleground.
Thea, Sky, Ruins, Groudon will be our map here.
Zeta Division, two, Comi, one.
Koma needs to win two in a row right now, Doob Snacks.
Let's get ready as we're getting into game.
A good ready go.
Ready, go!
Koma, your purple team, Zeta Division,
your orange team, Zeta, one game away
from becoming the final
Pokemon Unite Grand Finals World Champion.
All right, Narami, Gatlou heading to the top half, the birds of a feather flocking together here as they're going to see what they can do in the face of Mizutama, Zashin, an early game, Manus quickly stunned, good secure.
Here we go, Gatlou looking to stop, rest of right here, Gak in the bottom half, hit some trouble, few incredibly difficult fights, especially early with that electro ball.
Yeah, absolutely. It puts so much pressure on, of course, it has so many tools in its toolkit, and that makes it difficult overall.
Nomu trying to out secure, going to grab a fairy, as really Komai doesn't care. They just want to make sure they're getting their wild Pokemon down.
And they do here, and that means Adesu does evolve as they are moving forward right here.
They can evolve, they can try to out secure the Mew, which is the plan.
Toast, level 5. They weren't level 5 last game until 7 minutes in, so doing a lot better already.
boosted auto, step up a day suit on the gym so the gap doesn't go down.
You can see the power of that side shock, right?
An incredible amount of damage while at the same time a huge stun.
Here we come, Vitopo back down to the bottom path.
Toast baiting in Vitopo.
The side shock misses, Vitopo decides to peel back
and that's what they were setting up.
Present toast, allow them to retreat, hit a side shock
and maybe take a big fight.
Vitopo actually staying in this bottom path.
They did not expect it right here.
They pick up a tail, a desolence of trouble right now
deciding whether or not they want to stay here to fight.
If Utopu decides to dash forward,
they can pick up a huge win,
but we do have members of Pomai here to counter it,
and it looks like Utopu sussed that out.
They say, ah, this feels too good to be true.
Yeah, I mean, Utopu really hiding out.
They got their prize, right?
They got a knockout.
Why overextend and give up that value
you just picked up?
Gatlou now doing pretty good job keeping pace.
Actually outpacing Mizutama,
and they haven't been helped, though.
Here comes Resta for the support on this Umbria.
Yeah, Resta now up in the top path is some brand.
I'm not sure which umbrella we're going to be looking at here,
whether it is going to mean look or it is going to be foul play.
More often we see the mean look, so shut down your opponents,
keep them in an area where you can tail them as a team.
Yeah, Umbreon, a mean look on the talent flame would go pretty hard right now.
No more getting chumped.
Reston, Votopa moving forward.
Are they eyeing up a combat?
No, no more going to leash everybody along, fly to the skies.
That's a knockout, but Reggie Drago is going to go to Zeta Division.
Data Division takes Richie Drago, but they do lose their trevenant for that fight as now we're now moving back down to the bottom path that looks like trevenant is going to be here for the spawn of the Swablu Altaria at 7 minutes 20 seconds.
Resta in some trouble right now.
Yeah, tons of damage down, but the wish from the Umbreon is going to keep their HP topped off so that they don't get burst down by the Big Talon flame.
Here we go. Gek, Adesu in this bottom path, seeing what they can secure.
Obviously we want to get as much experience as we can over to a desu, but deck only level six here still a war turtle
We need level seven before we get served. Yeah
Look at the swap the guava going down the rest of my going up
They're showing a different look here and Mizutama thinks they've got a free nice pull by Narami
The fly of the skies is gonna fall just short. They can't land on their target
E ball eaten by deck on the front line red guy stepping up
We've got the side shot put it to the Rami that gets credit snatched is that Reggie?
Reg Ice over to the side of Ko by beautiful secure right here. They're actually moving forward despite another psychic catch
They're looking for rest of the guava gets the KO time a KO here on Zashi and looking for it with toast, but no
They just barely miss solar beam does hit a day soup
But that's enough for Naramian got loo to flip the script and get a knockout on that
151 and now come on fading back and they've got the slightest score lead
Josh, you're way behind here in the top half only level seven right now compared to the wobble already at level nine for
Komai this match incredibly close between these two squads no one dominating early all right nice pull on no move
But I don't think they know that they are outgunned right now big solar beam on Jack
Trying to figure out our position in our way in here
We go five members of Zeta hiding in the tall grass right here not letting them know that the topo is there
but it looks like Koma is pretty aware that they don't see this Hershifu anywhere on the map.
We've got the Kukwavo flank attempt, the Topo susses it out, and now Gatlu just has to run away.
Yeah, Gatlu has to run away because multiple members of Zeta could collapse on this Pokemon,
as you see Rome heading to the top path with Mizutama, seeing what they can make happen.
Gatlu, all alone here right now, Psyduck is on the way,
but here comes the Topo looking for the KO and they get it.
That's absolutely Fisher-Price, Psyduck coming out from the Psyduck,
going to lower the damage that's going to be dealt fly to the sky and that's a big knockout for Toast.
Flaying sweep, it's a wall that's the only target it ever gets 100% of the time.
Here we go. Oh, nice pull!
Side kick and they're looking for the KO here of the Zashi unit.
Go down, but right back the other way they take Talon playing.
What an exchange there. What a pull by Narami. Hornley's back into the gut.
Three-position, KO Shrigatu for Rome. Narami's on the back side.
I give credit to rest of three players in a heartbeat dispatch and now Zeta Division takes control in the top path because we've got a Reggie spawning
We go Gottlieu looking for something right here, but incredible positioning from Zeta and look at the talent flame seeing what they can do
It's a little too early. They can't get the secure
Beautifully played by Zeta Division retty rock to their side giving them increased offenses
Well, it wasn't enough for the trevenant as they go down
I we saw on the left-hand side of your screen a nomu actually went in and hornly each three players from Komae away
giving them that window of opportunity to secure the top red king while Potopo
wasn't even scrapping with them scoring points downstairs.
See, Potopo almost level 13 here.
Gotlu trying to make something happen in this bottom half.
Looking for my big time.
Unite move, they go in.
Potopo went on the back side right to the championship.
Big Unite move.
Picking up a bunch.
Hits her at 31.
The scales are continuing.
Komaia is falling.
Potopo's taking over.
They're taking that last performance personally
and they are putting the team in their backpack.
Look at this here from Zeta Division.
These fights are beautiful.
Kobai taking this opportunity to score and keeping this close.
103-128.
Mizutama, a bit of a non-factor this match as well,
but Zashin is now getting online.
Resta, peeling back towards their squad.
So aggressive this player from Zeta Division is.
Regi Drago now just being ripped apart.
This is something Zashin can do so well
with Metal Claw and the increased attack speed.
They take that, no problem.
Noamu is going to end this game with like 400,000 damage taken.
It's like 12 feints.
But all they're doing, Forsaken Division,
is buying time everywhere on the map
so that the topo can get huge.
So it's Mitsuzama.
Excuse me, Mizutama can catch up.
It's a great look right now.
In trouble right here, Gek has to peel back.
But Gek also doing this job of getting
a lot of information from the team.
Gatlu right now fighting over this.
And look, stolen by the Umbreon.
I mean, what a look by Zeta Division here.
Comey had some moments, but so does Zeta.
Votopo almost level 14.
Getting caught here, nice little pull.
Mizutama with great cover.
Here we go, two minutes, 45 seconds on the clock.
We do have an objective in this top path.
I don't know if Comey wants to fight over
to get some experience.
Looks like they are sending Talonflame back.
Reggie Seal could be massive.
The increased attack and special attack
can change the fight in a huge way.
But are they able to get it?
Toast, eating a solar beam right there from the Mew.
No one looking for this fight. Zeta, however, looking to set themselves up perfectly for the final moments here with such a high level or Shifu.
This is going to be difficult for Kamii. Over the wall, we are looking for something. No move. Just getting chipped a little bit right here, but everyone from Zeta is ready to fight.
These could be your final Pokemon Unite moments in our championship series. The question is, how does this fight start? Zeta Division chipping at the crowd on, looking for their opportunity to move in.
Gottlieu looking for a fight, Toast on the other side.
Here comes Jack with the blasters, peeling back the huge solar beam!
You into the mist, Hydro Typhoon, Eject button, done get Votopo!
Gottlieu collapses, Surf is there, but Votopo gets out.
The Rocks ball, we're looking for the move.
The Forest on the top side, Curses there, Flames sweep!
Doesn't hit anybody, but does get a reposition.
Fly out of the back side, Rome is gone.
Votopo trying to work through the rest of the team.
Two players down for Saito Division.
B2 Zama, waking up!
They crash, Land does Toast, looking for a couple more.
The RIP is happening on Ground On!
Mitsutama the whole way!
They're completely alone!
No one is with them!
Zeta Division is gonna take Ground On!
Zeta Division is running to score!
No betas for Zeta!
They're looking to be out for today!
103, 228, one minute left on the clock.
Koumai is behind it.
It all comes down to this.
Zeta Division with the Ground On buffs
and a beautiful fight.
The Fly on Toast just barely misses VitoBo.
And because of the entire fight, Ghost Sideways, a beautiful rip there for Mizutama.
50 seconds left.
Komai is going to need a miracle play to stay in this tournament as they are looking for this fight.
Narami, Gotlu, Toast, Adesu, Gek all positioned here.
40 seconds left.
The Solar Beams fly.
Multiple members of Zeta looking to score.
30 seconds left.
Thrupe Snacks.
Surfing in.
We're trying to make a play.
Perquavo on the backside getting roam.
Toast doesn't land on anybody.
The defense between Resta and Nomu.
They're anchoring it down.
They're standing tall.
They're peeling back.
They'll give up that goal zone
because they just counter scored.
Oh, Hondo Burger back the other way.
10 seconds left.
The defense a huge hydro typhoon,
but it looks to be too little, too late
as the clock is counting down.
It's Aida Division fights on their tier two goal zone.
Zeta Division are your final Pokemon UNITE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
The comeback story.
Zeta, second place last year, the bottom seed out of Japan, and now your final champion.
Japan, a region that loves this game, that supports this game, that invests all the time into this game.
You want to talk about how strong a region is. Japan is without a doubt the strongest.
Their fifth place team out of their whole region just crowned themselves world champion.
Amazing stuff. What a story for this squad being counted out by their region.
And now here they are, the victors.
You can see the excitement and well-earned, well-thought, well-deserved, and what a set of games.
Unbelievable for these two squads. Both of them.
Second place runners-up. Zeta finally securing that victory.
And we're going to take it down to the big stage with Soinks for your winners interview. Take it away.
All right, congratulations again to your world champions, Zeta Division!
You did it!
The final Pokemon United World Champion!
You're doing it on stage.
You get a second chance after last year.
How good does it feel to win on the world stage?
This is the second time we've won the championship.
It's the last time we've won a Pokemon Night.
Can you tell us what you think?
Right now, we've won the WCS championship in Pokemon Unite for the last year.
I think we've won the championship.
We've been playing for a long time, and we've been able to reach one step at a time.
I'm really, really happy.
So yeah, it's extra special to be able to do it on this final stage and especially that first step didn't come through for us to just incredibly happy.
Of course, I mean, you're gonna have to celebrate so much after this big win, but alongside this team of yours, this team of five looked incredible.
How good does it feel to work together as a team and become the world champions?
I was able to win the team work and win the championship, but can I ask you something about that?
Yes, I'm doing it passionately as a judge, so I think it feels good.
It's incredible. Working together we were able to achieve our goal and we're just overjoyed.
Alright, amazing. One final question. Anything to say to everyone who is supporting you here in America as well at home in Japan?
We're just so grateful for your support. Thank you so much.
All right, let's give it up one more time for Zeta Adonisio!
Analysts, take it away.
What an incredible grand final set to close out Unite at World 2026.
I am so happy for Zeta division, extremely well earned.
Of course, we've got the rest of our casters here on the desk.
We saw us all a little bit earlier in the pre-show but Kela will be joining us this time as well.
Hopefully we can see everybody else pretty soon.
But wow, what an amazing tournament.
A great way to close out what I think many would consider the greatest Pokemon Unite tournament that we have ever seen.
And Danily, of course, you've got a chance to.
We were kind of watching together.
And I mean, how do you feel just in general about how both these things played?
I put my money on Zeta Division.
division. I knew coming into the grand panels that they looked so clean in
yesterday's games. Like there were times where they kind of faulted but I think it
was especially that semi-final matchup where that that was where they solidified
their position at Worlds, their form, that perfection, the line-up, their
Pokemon that they played. Like we we see there are definitely Pokemon that they
can play at that top level and as soon as I saw that drafting game
four I thought that was it. This is the championship winning draft. They
They got it, it was clean, it was smooth,
Zeta Division just impressed at the last World Speed Unite.
That's right, and it does seem like
before I get to ask a few any more questions,
I do think we are going to have an announcement
for something that's coming up very soon in Unite.
So I'm very excited to see what that is,
because to be honest, I don't think any of us
have a chance to see it.
So let's check out something new.
It is perfect that we stop right before Kelesaurus before we got to that video.
Hello, we've got all the EVs!
All the EVs! I'm so happy, and I can hear that the crowd is happy about that announcement as well.
The fact that we have the complete set of EV illusions now, Flareon and Jolteon are going to go and join Vaporeon.
So, that generation one is complete.
Genuinely? We didn't see this or know about it before this, to be honest.
I didn't even know I was going to throw it, I'll just be honest, but that's a great way to surprise us.
us so that's very very exciting I mean we were all hoping eventually we're gonna
get everything but what a great set of announcements so if anything in there
you excited about? I'm a big fan of evolutions as well and I know everybody
much like myself and Kelly are so excited about Jolteon and Flareon
personally Flareon which one are you guys from the two of them most excited
about Flareon? Flareon still? Well I like the player Flareons but Jolteon is
actually my favorite evillution so I'm really excited we finally got it I mean
Sylveon might be close there so I'm definitely a jolteon enjoyer I'm gonna
be excited about that one but speaking of electric types as well I've been
talked to you was an awesome choice I've got to book what I really liked just
lots of really cool pics with an action was a lot of electric types I know that
I think about that time exactly exactly so I'll just I mean all of those
are very exciting can't wait to see how those play out but I mean wow that
a little bit of a surprise at the end of an amazing set. I mean anybody have any fun thoughts on
those VLC announcements before we move on to the set? You didn't say which one you were more excited
for. Oh you can't make me choose. I'm sorry. I'm excited for both. All right well it's all for
Kellogg. If anybody out there knows Kellogg it's definitely all but okay going back to it of course
I mean we've got to give so much love to Zeta Division. I mean what an ending to an
Incredible story and the story I mean is the entirety of Pokemon Unite at the world championship series
I mean truly the fact that we got a second chance for some of these players on Zeta Division
Who have been playing for such a long time and also a second chance of course to my who did an amazing job with
You so much love to them. They played their hearts out on stage this entire weekend
They made it not an easy fight right they definitely didn't go down without a fight didn't get swept
So it's great to be able to see that but okay
Can I ask you down already your thoughts on some of this set?
But any thoughts on these teams and their their parents throughout this weekend fellow I?
Honestly having interviewed sorry their coach a little bit earlier
I know that they must be feeling really proud of them right now that just you know
Not only this weekend, but it's this whole season the fact that you know
They didn't exactly place the highest in terms of the Pokemon Japanese Championship in order to make it here, right?
The fact that they have actually put in the work, put in the effort, it has clearly been demonstrated here.
Just that hard work and honestly, I'm feeling proud of them.
I'm sure as I said, everybody there supporting them is feeling proud of them and I'm hoping they are feeling very proud of themselves.
Oh yeah. I mean it's such an incredible showing, especially from Europe in general this year.
just to kind of actually step away from the arena for a moment. So I want to ask you, of course,
you had a chance to see Brazil, you know, a region that you are very familiar with, plays
extremely well as well in this final thing. Well, you know what, real quick, real real quick,
you felt just a little bit of love to them. A lot of love for all of the regions in
Bokeh, and when you add a lot of love for Japan. And shout out to the Japanese fans that
are here in the arena today and everybody in the audience as well at home. And of course,
I'm always going to be a crazy Brazil region fan,
but that's about it for me for now.
All right, well, we've all got our thoughts in.
Let's set it up to our champions, of course,
on the stage to receive their awards.
The tenacity of these teams was terrifically tested
across four full games.
And now we must recognize our finalist in Pokemon Unite
and crowned our first champions of the 2026 Pokemon World Champions.
Let's get into it. First up, we have our runner-up team, the Pride of Europe,
but they can stride onto this stage with their heads held high. Give it up for Komar!
Congratulations to Nurami!
We have toast.
It's got you!
And a desu.
And finally, GAC.
Our next team not only pulled off back-to-back stage appearances, but can now add champions
to their resume.
give it up for Zeta Division!
First, it leaves you, ha ha!
We've got Nomo!
Come on down a wrong.
It's Resta!
And finally, Vittopo!
Everyone in the Chase Center, give it up one more time for your Pokemon Unite by Melissa!
and we want to thank every one of you that has supported the world's journey, whether
it is our devoted developers, staff, competitors, and all of you
trainers in the arena. This may be the end of Pokemon Unite's
tenure on the world championship stage, but it is not the end
of our journey. Our analysts are prepared to reminisce upon
the wonderful memories we have created throughout these
years. Wonderful memories. They have been indeed these last five years has absolutely blown by and that cannot go understated from the fans to the players to the energy that is just brought to the broadcast and passion exist throughout all of those categories.
I think our mark has been undeniably left on the world championship series in one way or another
It is the 30th anniversary and if Pokemon has taught me anything in the last 30 years
It's that a trainer's adventure never truly ends and with that cowboy
Take us into the sunset brother. Yeah
This is a huge moment for all of us
We love the United Championship series and what we've been able to bring you.
So just a final bit of gratitude from all of us here at United.
Thank you so much for this.
Thank you to the players for competing at the highest level
and showing us what that looks like up on the big stage
in front of thousands of people here and an arena with everything on the line.
Thank you so much to my fellow casters who are amazing
and care deeply about this game and making something that you enjoy.
Thank you so much to our crew that puts up with us when they definitely probably shouldn't have.
Thank you so much to Pokemon and TPC Eye for putting on this tournament right away.
It really feels like Unite came at the perfect time for so many of us in this community.
So it means a lot that they created this series for us.
Thank you to our incredible producer, Will, who is an amazing leader and an even better person.
And most importantly, thank you.
Thank you for watching.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for showing up live to events like this
and cheering on these players.
Thank you for every comment, for every like,
for every time you shared it.
Stop to take a picture.
Just reminisce about this game and this community.
It means a lot.
Thank you so much, everyone.
I had the privilege of welcoming you
to the Pokemon Unite Championship Series
just a few short years ago.
And now I have the honor of saying goodbye to all of you.
So this has been the Pokemon Unite Championship Series.
Goodbye.
The Stuttles have no way!
Another player for a score!
Got a hundred!
I just ate dinner!
They're gonna have to pay for this!
You're black!
And if you're a world champion,
I'll put them on you now!
Oh!
Oh, no!
Are you kidding me?
This could be a video scouting!
Oh!
There's a stout!
Come on, win!
Now, stop!
Interdress the score!
But that will be the end of the game!
This is the end of the point!
Time for a challenge!
The team team is the one!
Transact!
Take it to the end!
Change the best team in the world, two years at a roll!
Team Trash on the front!
That's a banter!
Our champion, Spaddle!
He's gonna score!
Whoa!
That's a tie-dating!
He's gonna win!
Wow!
Wait, look at these builds!
Yeah?
I don't get a snort, they're going in for Skorhoff.
I don't know, this is just a sneak down the lead.
With 10 seconds to go, now they're being cleared.
And even though they haven't done it,
they have broken through with a Skorhoff.
They hide their way in, break with the flow.
It's good, they're in center.
What's up, you guys?
Are you girls in the air?
Go back to your position.
The room finally doesn't and becomes your world champions and they I assume they were
gonna go from that camp because clearly it is the other camp but I'm not turning around.
Nobody deflates a moment like old Spragels and Snacks. Holy smokes.
Of course we have the stairs. These ones. This is a solid angle. Yeah, bring them in this way.
We are. We're gonna slay. Oh we're so gonna slay.
Okay, delicious, you might find out.
Oh, baby.
It's okay.
He's killing you, but you take both.
I don't know.
You don't know?
You'll take that as a yes!
I'm not sure about you, babe.
I am a crime-ranophysicist, so that it does work.
It seems he's not capitalized, so it's not my title.
It's just a description.
I don't know.
Zoinks now currently erasing his tower rankings behind him.
You can see how difficult this is for him,
but not only apparently physically, but also emotionally.
Let him do it.
I'll do it more than later.
The coin is here.
Oh!
Something exciting for you right now.
We have an interview lined up.
Thank you so much, Destin, for nouns, everybody.
Grace, I think you're scared.
I think he's scared, too.
Sometimes I just get scared at night,
But it's just because I don't have a light on oh hey, so why don't you bring us home here?
I always like to share the stage with you
He knows the gameplay again, performing like the big moments that I really got is definitely a special feeling
Well if there's nothing else to be said you and I are gonna lock in lock eyes right here as we send it back to the booth
take it away. Goodbye everybody. A final yee-haw to you and yours. You did it.
You did it! Y'all!
What a wild ride. And again to everyone who helped build the Pokemon Unite community
and give it your all. Thank you so much.
While this may be the end of our Pokemon Unite World Championships, the action don't stop, won't stop.
We've got another title, another opportunity for glory. It's time for Pokemon Go.
Trainers from around the world have come together for an incredible weekend filled with Pokemon Go competition.
And now, everything comes down to this.
After we've seen so many incredible plays, unforgettable moments,
and trainers making their name on the stage, we still have so much more to come.
And this stage is ready.
Our trainers have been preparing for this exact moment.
And in just a few moments from now, our Pokemon Go Finals will be underway!
I apologize, I'm getting something seems to be happening.
I'm getting an alert.
Okay, yeah, so I think we need to go over to the desk for some more information.
Analysts, you got us covered?
Attention, trainers, we have a Pokemon emergency.
just detected a very powerful psychic type presence
in this very arena.
It's Mega Mewtwo X.
It's an unexpected challenger has entered the arena
and it's standing between the Pokemon Go Grand Finals and us.
There's only one way we're taking it down.
Every trainer in here, we have one goal together.
Let's defeat Mega Mewtwo X.
Take out your phones, launch Pokemon Go
and get ready to join the fight.
Bring your strongest Pokemon.
We need every single trainer here to stand together.
Let's show Mega Mewtwo X what happens
when trainers stand side by side in battle.
And take a look at that countdown.
We've got just a couple of minutes until it attacks.
There's only one way we're stopping it.
Every trainer, one goal, one battle.
Take out your phones.
Launch Pokemon Go and get ready to join the fight.
We are going to need every trainer we have.
Trainers, this is Mega Mewtwo X we're talking about.
One of the most powerful Pokemon we face
has just taken over our arena
and it's going to take all of us working together
to bring it down.
So if you haven't already, get those phones out,
open Pokemon Go because we need you for this fight.
And that clock is still ticking.
Look around this arena.
We've got trainers here from all over the world,
all here for Championship Sundays.
No matter if you're team mystic, team instinct,
team baller, we need you to band together
and be on the same side to defeat Mega Mewtwo X
because it picked the wrong arena to challenge.
So get ready, trainers.
Bring your strongest Pokemon, bring your best strategy,
and most importantly, bring everything you've got
because taking down Mega Mewtwo X isn't going to be easy.
We're getting closer.
If you've got Pokemon, go open.
You are exactly where we need you.
Keep your eyes on the big screen
and get ready for your next instructions.
This arena is about to become one giant battlefield.
thousands of trainers one mega Mewtwo and one chance to take it down
Trainers get ready to enter that raid lobby now
Make sure that you get into the battle select your team and prepare to take on mega Mewtwo X
Wait, wait, hold on hold on we're getting another alert. There isn't just one mega Mewtwo X
There is multiple mega Mewtwo X have been detected and with battle taking place across the arena
Insidings near Moscow. So trainers your battle may not match what we're seeing on the broadcast
That's because there's multiple Mega Mutu x-rays happening
Simultaneously, don't worry. You're in the right fight every battle counts every victory matters
So let your strongest Pokemon and get ready. It's almost time
thousands of trainers multiple Mega Mutu x one goal take them all down and who knows
Maybe we'll even get the chance to catch one.
Get ready, Trainers.
When that clock hits zero, we take back the arena.
All right, Trainers.
It's time to battle Mega, Mu2X.
Everybody together, give it everything you've got.
Let's go, Pokemon Trainers.
the timer is ticking down if you are in one of those original raid lobbies you
might have 40 seconds 50 seconds on the clock until we take on this mega mu2x
anticipation is building we are moments away from taking on this challenge but
if everybody battles together we can do it
19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, let's go!
It's time to battle Mega Mewtwo X!
Make sure to work together and take down this Pokemon.
It is not going down easy, make sure you are brought your strongest Pokemon to take
it down.
Over 240 trainers are trying to go for this single task.
We're getting closer and closer to take you down.
We're over halfway there, trainers.
We've got this. Keep up the pressure.
We might give up, yes.
It is starting to go into the red health bar,
but we need to keep on pushing.
Are we doing faster? Is we nearly done?
We are so close to taking back this arena.
We're getting closer and closer.
We're getting closer and closer to taking down.
We are almost there being a Mewtwo.
It's almost been defeated.
Send in your strongest Pokemon.
Fight to the very last victory will be ours.
Now we have to band together for our unity attack.
All your devices in.
You're going to have to use the Mewtwo.
devices into the air. Do it together.
There we go. It's amazing seeing everybody in this arena get involved.
Last moments here to take down the Mega Mewtwo X.
Charging is complete.
Hold up those phones. Trainers charge off your Unity attack.
Mega Mewtwo X must be defeated.
We're so close now, we just got a little bit more
to go over the finish line.
The shield is wearing down, we are almost there.
One more time, hold those devices up trainer.
We have to save this arena
and the Pokemon Go Grand Finals.
For a third Unity attack, it is an excellent one
as we take down the final shield for Mega Mewtwo X.
Let's go!
You did it, Trainers!
Together, you defeated Mega Mewtwo X and saved Championship Sunday!
Give yourselves a huge round of applause!
an incredible sight. Trainers across the arena and beyond all battling together to take down
Mega Mewtwo X and trainers. The battle might be over, but don't put those phones away just
yet. It's time to catch that Mega Mewtwo X. Wow, what an incredible moment seeing everybody
with their hands in the air in this beautiful arena joining together to catch Mega Mewtwo
You asked one a moment.
And I even got the shot.
You shot me.
Whoa.
Let's go.
Let's go, Caleb.
Woo.
Let's go.
What an awesome time.
And thank you all for being a part of it.
Because trainers, we have now defeated mega mutual ex
together.
And hopefully you made the catch.
Because now, it's time to turn our tension back
to the stage.
We just had thousands of trainers band together
to take down Megami to X in an epic battle.
And we have our top two trainers in the entire world
about to face off on the biggest stage
in Championship Sunday.
And it finally comes down to this.
Butters, how are you feeling about these grand finals?
I am feeling amazing.
This is a grand finals rematch.
They played each other in the winners' finals just yesterday.
Of course, Hiromaru did win that decisive game number five
to come in on that winter side of the bracket.
That means our former Pokemon Go World Champion,
Amy Weedle, is on that loser's side of the bracket.
And what's most fascinating to me,
home size Henry, is how about Hiromaru
using the exact same line of three
for four straight battles?
And it was a spicy line of three at that.
What I really like about Hiromaru is,
Hiromaru has chosen to try and break them
rather than bringing a Pokemon like Shadow of Pound on that maybe not necessarily every trainer believed in.
But, take a look across the most used Pokemon, this Pokemon like the Dantornine Tales and
M.E. Weedle used in that finals and Pound on Dip very well there. Now Hiromaru was able to
emerge victorious there. It was a traumatic Best of Five series, but at the 2025 World Championships
you will remember, Plato Man entered from the winner's side and Beelzeboy won two Best of Fives
getting that Bracket reset and becoming world champion,
will history repeat itself or will Hiromaru become the first Pokemon Go world champion for Japan?
There's so much incredible history to be made and we're only a few moments away from seeing which
of those two incredible trainers will be our world champion at the end of the day. If the
winners finals was anything to go by, this is certainly going to be a treat.
It's a great point because it did come down to the decisive game number five. It was
incredibly close.
Emi Wiedel said it yesterday in his interview
that he had four elite battles,
and after that it was type two to two.
He said he had a rare misstep in that game number five,
but he had the entire night to think about it
to adjust his strategy.
And it is time for the Pokemon Go Grand Finals.
Oh, no.
It's 2026, Mewtwo has fallen, hundreds of trainers entered the battlefield, now two remain,
and only one will be crowned the 2026 Pokemon Go World Champion.
We are finalists, shall we?
First up, making a run for the record books.
We will be getting ready to be introduced to our finalists
soon enough.
We've got one coming for the record books.
And now we are going to be throwing
to get us set up for the match ahead.
It goes for the acrobatic.
It is lighted in the clash.
It's like a deathmatch.
No!
It's equal to it.
An end comes with no chase and two hits.
It's Delta trying to go for the swat.
Oh!
Beautiful replays.
Like he owned up deeply.
He wants to hang out, punch out the buckle,
but then this army voice is there.
He is one of a Pokemon.
No, he didn't beat Ghost for a reason.
It's got nothing left.
What an incredibly well piloted game.
What a series for her.
It's up.
It's like a point.
He doesn't go home.
He's got the magic gas and the well of all absolutely huge from the world champ.
It survives, Jin's can't believe it, PVP David, he fools.
I don't even know how he found that with God.
It knocks out the new in the hallway.
My God, it's fucking amazing.
The even Marshall Golden's absolutely in shock.
Yeruel Maru is in sub-attach position.
Does he swap?
No, he throws the energy ball.
Yeruel Maru has changed the script and
And he is making to the grand finals!
Kill and watch my side away!
And Becky Lido will secure his spot!
You gotta get any done to him!
Across the globe, our trainers have been battling all season.
using new and exciting Pokemon in ever-changing and unique matters.
But all of those journeys ultimately came down to this.
Before Pokemon Go enters a new chapter next season,
with the introduction of 3v3 battles at Worlds,
this final 1v1 match will crown the last Pokemon Go World Champion of the current era.
History is a remake.
from hundreds of world competitors, only two remain.
GGs489 Hiramaru and M.E.
Going for his second ever world championship title,
the first in the planet you ever possibly achieved
that impossible.
2022 Senior World Champion is back on the big stage
with the opportunity to not only become the first ever
two time Pokemon Go World Champion,
but also the first and last world champion
of the current 1v1 era,
any Weedle has everything to play for here
on Championship Sunday.
Qualifying for his first ever World Championships
after a top 12 finish in the Japan Championships,
Hiromaru was one of a number
of talented Japanese players
looking to make their mark in San Francisco.
Hiromaru is first ever World Championship
looking to pave his own legacy.
Having played and beaten any Weedle on day two,
this grand final is a rematch to relish.
Hiromaru cemented his place in Championship Sunday
on the winner's side of the bracket.
Covered on the post.
However, Pokemon Go is no stranger to a bracket reset
and any Weedle is ready to write history.
Your hip is still gonna be hungry after our battles.
Now we are right and ready to get going with our Pokemon Go World Championship.
Let's go ahead and meet our finalists.
First up, making his first World Run, he's already taken down champions to get here.
Let's give it up for hero Maru.
Up next, he's already gotten a taste of World Championship caliber in 2022 and now looking
to do the same thing in 2026.
to the stage, M.E. Weedle.
Word is that your Hisune Electro has been putting in work.
What do you think your greatest strength as a player has been in this tournament so far?
Yeah, he wanted to trust his might he found on.
The trust is real. The trust is real. Now, I mean, Viral, I know you were saying in your postgame interview
yesterday that you felt like you had four strong games. What are you doing to make sure you have
full confidence going into every single game today? Nothing different, to be honest. I feel
like if I keep up the performance that I had in those four games that you mentioned, then
I have the potential to flip the bracket win the whole thing. So I'll give it my all.
I know you'll both give a ear all. Thank you so much.
Go ahead and sit down at your battle stations and we'll be getting into your match soon enough.
All right, pastors, I know we're ready to get into this match up. Take it away.
Go ahead. These two Titans in our game, they started out with 16 different groups on day
one of Worlds. Now it's down to the final two here in the Chase Arena. We're about
to see who's going to become the 2026 San Francisco World Champion.
Elite talent, perfect plays and not just over a single day but two long grueling
days of competition these trainers have shown us they have everything it takes to be on this stage and Amanda as Mewtwo once said
The circumstances of one's birth are relevant
It is what you choose to do with the gift of life that truly defines you and what transpires here in this arena
Will be remembered forever
From the first focus stops to spawn the first egg hatched in the first legendary raid boss defeated
For 10 years, Pokemon Go Trainers have been chasing Pokemon around the globe, and now
two Trainers will be chasing their dream of being the World Champion.
Kirumaru, the heart and the hope of Japan is in search of his first title.
Meanwhile, Emile Wiedel.
Yeah, well, Emile Wiedel, our 2022 Senior Worlds Division Champion, is searching for
his second crown.
They were able to take it to game five
in their first best of five matchup.
M.E. Weedle's giving knockdown to that loser side
of the bracket, coming back up to be able to play here.
And the real question is going to be, who will take it all?
Yurimaru seems so calm, cool, and collected.
M.E. Weedle with a bit of a stumble.
We came very close to an all Japan grand finals,
but Kanto no could not hold off M.E. Weedle's determination,
defeating him in game five.
another incredible series that we capped off yesterday with and it all comes
down to this. Emmy Weedle has fought so hard two best of five, it's coming up just
short. Kiro Maru needs to win two sets, excuse me, if Emmy Weedle needs to win two
more sets straight, whereas Kiro Maru only needs to win one. Absolutely, if
Kiro Maru can take this first game of five, he will be immediately crowned
that champion. Emmy Weedle will have to flip that bracket, but if anyone could
So it's someone who has that amount of prestige that amount of cloud behind his name
He has been someone who has been on this stage before he has what we call the gauntlet
He is a world champion. He was our stuttgart regional champion and he was also the EUIC
Champion one trainer in search of another crown
Another trainer in search of their first and maybe that dream is a pie in the sky
They're gonna fight as hard as possible to turn it into a reality such fascinating Pokemon
We've seen over the weekend again. He no more with the shadow have out on and pursuing an electrode has been absolutely
Electric all weekend long, but does he have what it takes to bring down Emmy Weedle again?
Absolutely some of these Pokemon we saw all weekend that take a ton was everywhere that shadow can turn mind tells
everywhere licky-licky, but
Shadow, hip-hop on, trusting in the hip-hop on to take everything you heard in his interview.
I have no doubt that we're gonna see it in some of these games.
And don't forget about Jealousynd either, a Water and Ghost type Pokemon that was largely overshadowed by picks like Galarian Corsula,
but it has such unique coverage and it really helps you tomorrow to shore up some of those matchups and address the corebreakers that Amy Weedle's trying to bring.
Going ahead, taking a look at these teams yesterday, he really relied on a certain free.
We have to wonder if he's had some time to think about that if he's recognizing that those three will still be his strongest
Against the opponent that he played in the winners finals or if he's going to do a little bit of a mix-up change of his plan
Now that we're here in the arena
Everything comes down to refinement when you watch the winners finals yesterday
You probably noticed a lot of similar Pokemon being used matching and match out each of these trainers through their five battles
actually used the same team four times. These Pokemon are absolutely instrumental
and for Emmie Weedle he relied so heavily on the Shadow Kento Ninetales,
Shadow, Quack, Sire, and Licky Licky. Well Emmie Weedle told us a little bit
earlier on was that actually up until the first game that he played against
Hiramaru he actually used Empolion for every single battle to get him into
those winners finals. However that was not a Pokemon that he's really
relying on against hero Marlsteam, relying more on a Pokemon like that Shadow of Magsire.
It's one of the more fascinating things about show 6, pick 3, and the championship series for
competitive Pokemon Go, because you can bring different tools to address different opponents,
but it kind of makes you predictable if you keep running the same picks over and over. So let's
see which trainer made the best adjustments and who has the best plan going into the most
important games they've ever played in their careers. And we saw that taking a look around
the arena taking it all in as this is the largest Pokemon go tournament 30 years of Pokemon 10 years
of Pokemon go and five years on the competitive circuit. Ami Rideau with such a fascinating
opportunity here could be our first Pokemon go senior world champion and the last individual
Pokemon go world champion before we switch to a team format next year what a legacy that would
would be. He is coming in from that loser side of the bracket in our double
elimination tournament. That means he's going to have to win this first best of
five to be able to play one more time with a bracket reset. But as we've known,
as we've seen, this man is no stranger to a bracket reset. He's had plenty of time
to be playing this game. No mental mistakes, perfect execution. Our trainers
got a lot of rest last night. I'm sure that they're ready for a big
This could go three battles or could go the distance all the way to 10 games.
Cuner Amaro is going to be tested by a former world champion.
And again, this is just his first world championships event ever, and he's done so well.
Cuner Amaro calm and collected throughout this entire tournament while his expression might not be so much.
His skill expression and the game has been absolutely top notch.
not to be able to go in, sweep his bracket day number one,
stay on that winners side,
and now we're gonna see what he can do here
on Championship Sunday.
The mighty Pippoudon going to be taking on
M.E. Weedle's shadow, Kanto Ninetales.
It's gonna be dynamic, it's gonna be fiery,
there's gonna be fireworks galore.
As we take one more look at the teams,
just compare the accolades.
M.E. Weedle with so much hardware,
medals, trophies and beyond. Meanwhile, Hiromaru, the heart and hope of Japan trying to bring
that trophy home. And I know that we just see these teams of six, but actually Hiromaru is
bringing some unique things that we didn't see very often in that tournament. Not only that
Shadow of the Paldon, but also that Jellison was something that we really didn't get an
opportunity to see very much. Exactly. Jellison, such an interesting Pokémon. We highlighted it
briefly before but I think it's gonna come out pretty much every game in this
series it's too good to leave on the bench it's up to any needle to address
that and find ways around it all that these trainings looks like they're
getting locked in we're getting ready to get into any needle shadow black
sire my part is gonna get things I protect for this as does the awkward
tail but this shadow ball does hurt quite a bit in the shadow packs I
can not absorb too. Going ahead and actually taking that first one here.
Mark has noticeably gone for that shuttle quite a few times with that
Licky-Licky when he does have the body to slam already loaded and he
readle one of the few people wondering a shadow flag siren with mud bomb and
actually does a little bit more damage that Licky-Licky no protect shield
used by here tomorrow. The trainers though their damage calculations
inside and out. Second mud bomb going to connect here but gotta be honest I
think Emmy Weedle needs a few more mud shots to get the job done because
this wiki-liki is so bulky. Meanwhile, the second shadow ball is ready to go.
Not fooling around here, going for the big attack. Each time no potential is used by Emmy Weedle,
and this shot at Park Sire is going down.
That's the first knockout of our World Championship finals here in 2026. Outflips the shadow and
bowed on the key Pokemon for Huromaru in his first two days of competition.
This hippo might be hungry, but is not going to be able to take this energy ball very well
at all. He rolled a perfect protection, and there he does it. Last second great protection
they're recognizing how much damage I could do while he continues to sort up extra energy
throwing his first attack now. Such a great call. I think Eni-Wido could have
aided the weather ball fire there, but chooses not to. Miwa, weather ball, rock
firing back the other direction. That would definitely knock out the
Kanto Ninetail so Eni-Wido-Wisey protects it. Here comes another charged
attack. Going and talking about that bait now that bait call has not been
called as a second shield is used in this mid-game matchup. Hiromara has no
protection so a quick pivot up by Eni-Wido into the licky-licky.
Switch timer not yet up for Kiro Maru, who can't go to that trusty Hasuin Electro's.
He's gonna throw the Earth Power Big Shield call for Emile Wiedel.
Let's it! Through! So much damage!
Each time, shout-able, shout-able!
Now the Earth Power going through Emile Wiedel's Pokemon are getting desperately low,
but he's starting to throw back some attacks of his own,
and with no protect shields remaining for Hiromaru,
he's going to have to take the front of it all.
I think that Hiromaru wants to preserve his Switch,
and he thinks he can get speedy one more charge stack.
In comes the Hasuin Electro to start gathering up that energy,
He can definitely absorb a one Shadow Ball and a couple of body slams, but the first charge attack will be energy ball here.
This is all about pacing.
Emile doesn't want protection, but he's using it on the licky-licky here because he's got quite a bit of energy,
and now he's going to go for an attack.
Don't actually swap and help him to his star with Keter Mara, and he's going to be able to take this attack.
This is so critical because Keter Mara throws the wild charge.
This is going to deep up his ensuing electrode, and to get much more susceptible to any charge attacks that Emile will decide to throw,
he needed a healthy hand, and the Keter Mara attack just offered that.
Great timing by Emmy Weedle.
He knew that that tarp deck was thrown
and a suing Electrode would need to build back up energy
before throwing anything else.
Since its attack was lowered, it's essentially
knocked out right there, but the Hapaldon already
has an attack.
One spite of all his heroics, Kudoromaru with the rock
weather ball, able to pick up the KO.
And with that, he takes game number one.
Really relying on that Hapaldon.
He borned Emmy Weedle in the beginning.
He said this Hapaldon is going to take you down
If game one is any reflection of this, I think that Emmy Weedle should have been taking notes.
So creative. I really like how Emmy Weedle forced that Cantonite Tails back into the battle to absorb the wild charge.
It definitely gave him a bit of ground, but it just wasn't enough.
It was a road too far for him to travel because it had out on stored that energy.
Thanks to that weather ball rock, he was able to come right back out and fire it off.
Now, in a typical game for Pokemon Go, we play best of threes.
but here on this big stage in the chase arena,
we are going for a best of five.
So this first game is a good fact finding mission for them.
I know they played yesterday in the winners' finals,
but it's going to be a little bit different
on this main stage with all eyes on them.
Here, Maro has a great lead here with that 1-0 victory.
If he gets two more, we will crown him that champion.
But M.E. Wiedel said that he knew that he played great before.
He just needed to do a little bit of refinement
and it wouldn't surprise me to see him start putting on some quits on the board.
No, exactly. Emmy Weedle has been under the bright lights,
our first senior division world champion.
We're going to jump right into game number two, everybody.
This time, Thor just takes the field for Emmy Weedle leading into that jealousen.
Now, Emmy Weedle said once before that he actually has an attack
where the Thor just came to visit.
Thor together for Mickey Mickey coverage.
And to the peak of your horrors, there's no Mickey Mickey to be found this in.
Alolan have used that trusty Jellison and already thrown his first charge attack.
This Forgeist actually is very close. There goes Disarming Voice and he fired off here.
It's going to need two charge stacks to bring down the Jellison, but the pacing is slightly in the Forgeist's favor as well as Disarming Voice number one connects.
And number two is ready to go.
One hell outpace is here a while soon to see if he wants to put up a potential as this next charge attack will be able to go.
It looks like it's going to connect, knocking that Jellison very down low but still.
has a little more gas in the tank, gonna go for one more, sir.
Yeah, here tomorrow, waiting the turn does not want to get caught on,
so he expects the Jellison to be a floor just to stay,
so he can fire off the surf of the Jellison.
Now he's taking control of switch events,
Alphonse can't deny this.
He's right back up again to go back to the shot of Hapaldon.
Hapaldon did so well for him, gave number one last time,
and he knew to rip for the energy ball.
Will he be able to call to me here?
He calls the bait!
This is huge for him!
Yes, it doesn't cost damage,
but it doesn't threaten the knockout like that energy ball.
And now Hepaldon's gonna start chowing for the way.
Insane call out in the most important battle of his life.
Hepaldon meanwhile throwing back the Earth power.
Glarecorsla protects Shields Up.
No defense fall either.
So Glarecorsla might be able to assigns all the way down.
It's gonna be so close everybody, no, it doesn't get there.
Oh you see how hurt he is by this.
He lived wanting to throw a weather ball
just for a little bit of chip damage
but decided a little too late.
This Corsala is standing strong
and I don't know if this ensuing electric
is afraid of no ghosts.
Galarian Corsola is weighing down on Hiromaru.
He has the Delcent in the back, yes,
but it's got very little HP.
It's nothing more than a sacrificial shield,
a third shield that he can swap into
a Drill-of-Charge attack,
so he's gotta be very careful
how he plays that Pokedmash from here on out.
Already throwing yet another Nightshade
into the Saseu Electrum,
giving the potential up on the Hiromaru side.
He's really been relying on the Saseu Electrum
for these past couple games,
now going for an energy ball.
It's going to be a littlest damage, but it also doesn't lower its own defenses.
And Iwita feels so safe. No protection here on his Ghost-type Pokemon.
Makes it pivot out in the shadow, Kanto Ninetales.
This is a little bit curious, but I think the Kanto Ninetales...
Oh!
Here goes Maru!
And Iwita's hand in his hands, and the really good atropome starts to slide away with this fantastic catch.
And here goes Maru. Tons of energy on the electrode, and he goes for a bait of his own with this energy ball.
Emmy Weedle, no shield, this is huge!
Massive call by Emmy Weedle, he is not stumbling whatsoever
as he's able to call the energy ball, does get the fence dropped,
but the embers and the weather fireballs are coming through.
We're going to see another charge attack next year.
Emmy Weedle stumbles, but does it fall down,
weather ball connects, he takes out his sewer and let go,
then he ties up the series.
What an insane turn of events,
the swap into the jealous that we called that out
as being one of the only win cons there for Q-Termaru,
But calling the energy ball in the Kanto Ninetales
when you were at risk of losing your most important Pokemon,
Emi Rideau is playing so well.
He saw it on his face.
He kind of gave a shrug like, well, if this is it,
this is it, but what a call to make
and what a time to make it.
Starting out strong, Emi Rideau was really
in the driver's seat for most of this game.
But here, a moral, doing everything he possibly
could to get back in that map with a great catch
onto that Jelison to soak up some of that energy.
These trainers are taking mental snapshots
throughout the game.
They're trying to project forward.
What is my win condition?
How do I execute to get another win on the board?
And right now, everybody, we are tied up one to one
in this best of five.
Speaking of the board, take a look at that stage
as we zoom down.
We get to see that whole team up six for each of these.
This agreement is absolutely incredible.
We just took down new 2X.
And one of these trainers is about to take down
the other to be the first San Francisco world champion.
The stage is bigger than ever.
The lights are brighter than ever.
Again, Emmy Weedle with so much experience.
But here tomorrow, the challenger,
we're going to see a Hesuit Electro lead
into the Shadow Kenten Itals for game number three
and a swap into Licky Licky.
Licky Licky was that top-use Pokemon for this whole weekend
and it has this free and a lead.
Also in that safe swap position,
being able to soak up energy will also
be able to deal out energy quite quickly.
Me, now, by Emmy Weedle, into his old Licky Licky.
They're going to be sticking their tongues out at each other for quite a while, Will.
We like to call that the chip and dip, right?
Emmy Weedle knows the mirror matchup is going to be closed,
so he fires that weather ball, connects the damage, and then makes the pivot out.
Now, his Licky Licky has an advantage.
But keep one eye on the switch timers, everybody.
Kido Maru will be able to switch his Pokemon out first.
Now, should they try to do an attack at the same time,
it could be a charge attack priority.
The ones with a higher attack will win that first Emmy Weedle,
go straight for the body slam doesn't want to let your arm out get off any more damage first.
This is not enough to knock out, so we could see a quick pivot out.
That's exactly what's going to happen.
He's on the left of the left hand with the Hapaldon.
Yeah, maybe a little indecisive there.
Reach for the Kanto Ninetales, but decided to divert Hapaldon.
He needs protection of the Shadow Ball, but he doesn't.
That's a lot of damage coming through.
Half of Hapaldon's health is already gone.
This is a dance.
Quick, quick swaps by both of these trainers.
In a minute, that the timer is off.
The Hapaldon is going for an attack.
And look at Ami-Rio, he pulls his eyes, he doesn't put up a shield, and this doesn't do much damage at all!
Absolutely insane, definitely could have been an Earth Power there, and here tomorrow, trying to get to one here, and he fails again!
Unable to get to the charge stack!
Oh, this is the sort of good thing, when you've been in the arena before, when you've been playing on the big stage,
you know that sometimes you can make a mistake, but bounce back.
Does here tomorrow have this in him being the first time the editor here?
Nightshade will connect into Hussuina Electro, but the options are starting to dwindle down for Kiritomaru.
That Kanto Ninetales and Licky Licky in the back for Inuito are still relatively healthy,
and the glaring Horseslaw has been so problematic for him.
This is the big thing with Hussuina Electro.
You have to go for this energy pass a lot of times because you can't slip and swap out.
Those Horseslaw drivers would really lower you on the fence.
It's still enough to knock out the Horseslaw, but there's still two shields to hide behind on the side of Manny Wietel.
I mean, you've got the shields, but you don't have HP, right?
We've got to manage our HP and keep our Pokemon in the battle.
Energy Ball will pull the shield away here,
but Enduido realizes he's applying so much pressure with the Kanto Ninetales.
A little bit of energy on those, and the counter-flop into the mirror.
Huge hoping to land that on the Kanto Ninetales.
Unsuccessful as the Licky Licky pops into the battle to absorb it all on the chin.
Here, Amaro going up just a little bit more,
trying to get off as much energy as possible
before throwing his next body slam right at the last second.
That reaches the double up here. If any Weedle shields, he will get the knockout, but instead Opsa led his Licky Licky go, put it all on the Kanto Ninetales,
and that Pokemon comes out right away, and the Ember will knockout, but the body slam was cut up first.
Go on ahead, using that last Protect Shield here, real question is how much of a good tank for that Nisuu in the Electro would be able to get farmed down to,
and if the flexible is already loaded, doesn't even throw them, goes for that fast attack farmed down taken, game number three.
Three embers was enough.
Emmy Weedle now up to one in this grand finals.
One final reminder everybody, this is a best of five
and if Emmy Weedle wins this next battle,
he will force a bracket reset and a fresh best of five.
Coming in from that loser's side of the bracket,
Emmy Weedle had quite a run in this tournament so far.
In the group stage, day number one,
he two owed everyone except for one player
And then in the final stages of day two,
he took out so many well-known and talented trainers
getting up to this place where he went two, three
to Hiromara to be here on the main stage.
Both of these trainers carrying the torches for their region.
I feel like whenever you beat a trainer from your region,
you have to take their energy, take their skill,
and win it for them, win it for your friends.
And these trainers have so much riding
on this series here at the World Championships.
Kanto Naitales and Glaring Corsair.
Such a problematic duo for Hiromaru.
Let's go into the next game here, everyone,
as soon as our trainers are locked in and we are ready.
This is more of a better leap for Hiromaru at this part
as the energy fall is the only thing
that really just going to start threatening the HP of it
and it paces a little bit slower
and we're actually, I mean,
we're going straight for at the very beginning
part of the matchup and Hiromaru
puts up a protect shield.
Yeah, such a great call out early.
do not want to take a lot of super effective damage from a shadow Pokemon on your first
go around, but the swapping the catch, this is actually fine because you want to throw
serve into the Licky Licky, not the double resisted shadow ball.
I think Hiromaru was saying, okay, you know what, that's why I'll take that Licky Licky
usually has a great matchup against the Jelson. Jelson goes for one more basket before
swapping into his own Licky Licky. We saw this in game number three, going for
a chip and then going ahead and dipping out, absorbing the energy of the Licky
Licky onto the other.
I will say that the weather ball from any Weedows Kenta Nightsails last game did a bit more damage
and made this Miramatch a bit more comfortable for him.
So, he tomorrow has a lot to work through as he fires off yet another body slam.
These two trainers have probably had this Miramatch quite a few times
in the games that they have played against each other.
I wonder if they do know who wins Charged Detector early,
because that does change how you play out these matchups here.
Body slam still coming through.
A lot more energy here throwing the next one.
one on the side of the gear tomorrow. I don't think Emmy Weedle's gonna protect you of his own.
No I don't think so either. He can withstand this body slam plus a couple more rollouts even though
he's even to the rim. These trainers know their Pokemon so well. Another body slam getting fired
off here and we're getting very close to ending this mirror match. Truly welcome to the slam as
we see it over and over again looks like the Emmy Weedle actually throws that body slam and
catches here on the side of the gear tomorrow. This is a not very effective attack against
a ghost type Pokemon going to be able to just get a little bit more angry and
Emmy we watch this is fine I'm coming in with my other
Jellison counter with my Galarian Corsola. In Pokemon go ghost type Pokemon can learn
so many different fast and charge attacks and the difference you're going
to see here is the hex Jellison versus the damage oriented astonished
Galarian Corsola. Look at it just chipping down that HP with every fast
attack. Now going ahead using that first protection on that bait of the
surf and actually using both protect shields now on this glaring force look
correctly should have a shielding up that shadow ball and just continuing the
fast attack completely down this course look is loaded with energy is very nice
we do have that just doing the electrode that is healthy the licky licky
is very weak waiting down that switch timer so he can make this walk out
oh my goodness fires off the nightshade into the electric and brass type he
fires it off immediately takes a look up well hoping that it didn't go into
that licky licky but no this is doing the electrode has to take it has to
start trying to ramp up energy. Quick pivot by both of these traitors.
Blade can you miss it? And this night tails comes back in.
You swap by swap, we swap. Shadow ball into that shadow kit, so Night Tails takes it deep into the Wren,
but it will eventually take this matchup for the Licky Licky.
This is huge coming out with so much energy.
Emmy Wiedel already popping his fist in the air as he gets that last potential with that first fire.
Weather ball.
He's got a second one ready to go. It's super effective damage.
Emi-Wido thinks he's got this game in the bag and with it he will force the bracket reset.
You want a bracket reset? You got a bracket reset! Emi-Wido takes the first get-mast-of-my-matter!
Shaken, but a stumble doesn't have to mean a fall.
Kieromaru and Emi-Wido are now locked in a fresh best of five everybody.
No more resets from here on out.
This is it. Whoever wins the next three battles will be your Pokemon Go World Champion.
It's so great to see these three trainers playing off against each other.
If you take a look at the lines that they brought in this third game, or this fifth game actually,
Jealousy was a Pokemon that Hiromaru really relied on.
But there were two heavy Jealousy counters in the back for any needle with that Galerian Corsola and also that Licky Licky.
So as long as he got the Ninetales off of it,
he was completely fine throughout this matchup.
Exactly, and speaking to the point of alignment,
I think Emilito also found that he was in the right spot
at the right time.
Of so often, his Kanto Ninetales was lined up
against an ensuing electrode,
and I think that really the only way
that Hiromaru can absolutely reign in that glaring Corsola
is to put his Licky Licky on the field against it.
And I don't think Emilito wants that to happen.
Well, Emilito didn't say that he built his floor
specifically to counter Licky Licky so he definitely has a plan to be able to
outmaneuver the top used Pokemon in the world championships. Hiromara is a
trainer that we have not had the opportunity to see play very often. This
is his first Worlds competition he was managed to be able to qualify for Worlds
getting in the top 12 of the Japanese qualifier so I think a lot of trainers
recognize that he's a very good trainer but they haven't got to see
him very often it's so cool to see him on the main stage but a little fun fact
about these trainers is although they've never played against each other in an
official competitive circuit they battle against each other and go
battle league all the time as they fight for that number one spot on the
leaderboard. It's incredible right you can queue up against anyone else in the
world and try your skills you know they picked up on some tendencies and
notice what each other like to do in critical moments but here tomorrow is no
stranger to taking down world champions having beaten BLTBOY in round one of
day two and Emmy Weedle to end the day. He's got to beat a world champion three
times if he wants to win the crown this weekend. He says okay I see that crown
that was on your head. It looks pretty nice up there. I'm trying to take it
for myself. De-throning champions after champions. He's got to be able to take
three games to do so. But even so this is the first time Japan has at
Anyone in the finals absolutely incredible plays by all the region. I believe eight of them were in the top of day 32
I mean, that's absolutely incredible. I think that you tomorrow needs to get more value out of his shadow about on not once
But twice we saw it get astonished down a farmed down by Emmy Weedle and that Pokemon that is so
Instrumental to his success thus far just came up flat
he needs to find a way to get it more involved, to fire off more charge attacks,
maybe even shield it more often, and try to get more value because that is the
Pokemon that he believes is the key for his success.
See both of these trainers taking a moment to mull it over, but now it is time to go to the grand finals.
Reset, we have that Jellison again in the lead by Yurimaru Apokinsen.
Shadow Clash are on the side of Emmy Weedle.
Water Types on both sides, a competitive Pokemon go.
Water Typing has always been very strong, and the Mud Bomb Sphere helps the Shadow Clash side
in the match up so much, it's gonna fire off the first one here and this will connect.
I know that to the Heteromaru is that his Houdon was going to be able to take it all.
He's actually out on the bench for the first game of this bracket recent.
Going through the surf against the Shadow Cragsire, no protect shield by Emmy Weedle.
I think you need two charge stacks regardless if you're playing Jellison like Heteromaru is
and any Weedle is unafraid of either one of them.
Second mudbong will connect.
Heteromaru knows his damage calculations. His Jellison can hang in there.
Knows it no problem going ahead, taking that.
And I think we're gonna try and go for another one.
Now, going for the serve, does Eniwido let this go down?
This is actually the perfect opportunity for a farm down.
Hermos seems to recognize it as well,
as he feels ahead, undercharges the thing and plumps
and to get a couple energy advantage of his own with his nine tails.
Wow, what a great undercharge going into the shadow, Kenta Naites.
This is also good news for him
because that Kenta Naites for Eniwido keeps finding his Asurion Electrode
and right now it's on the field in the mirror match.
Going ahead now, just throwing the fireball.
As you can see, Fire on Fire David's not going to be doing too much overall.
Both of them charging up a little bit.
And so, Emileo actually opts to go for the energy ball.
It hits a little bit harder and has a potential for a defense default on the opponent's Pokemon.
Also very valuable information.
Emileo did win the charge attack priority tie.
So if these Kanto Ninetales pace at the same time again,
he will go first in that exchange every single time.
He looks like he's very far ahead in terms of energy,
so maybe he doesn't need to worry about that yet.
It looks like he didn't even bother to opt for any more.
The woman would go straight for that charge attack here,
hoping maybe to get the farm down at the end.
He would say that didn't do as much damage
as he was hoping for it.
Actually, Hiromaru can take this mid game matchup
if Emileedo doesn't show up.
And that's exactly what happens.
And do you see the trend here?
Emileedo led his flag circuit week.
He led his Kento Ninjas week.
He wants to farm down Hiromaru's Pokemon.
And Hiromaru is not allowing him to do that.
He pivots immediately into his electrode.
This is Corsula against the world.
No protectionals used for the quads.
There are no protectionals used for that canton eye until...
And no protectionals on the first attack from the Sun Electrobe.
Recognizing it is most likely not going to be that wild charge.
That heavier hitting attack, letting the first one go through.
But he's gonna need a shield.
This one doesn't want his Corsula to go down.
And trying to think about win conditions here.
And the Lido might just double shield his Glaring Corsula
and try to fast attack all the way through.
It's gonna be really tough,
because if he throws charge attacks,
he needs to throw two Night Shades plus a third.
Here comes another energy ball, and Emil Vito thinks he won't win the pacing battle.
Well, the big problem is, when you only have one Pokemon left, you don't know what a switch timer is at.
I think Emil Vito is very, like, reluctant.
He doesn't want this.
Any of his attacks get caught on anything else.
Now he's getting a little bit more energy.
He's not gonna throw an attack.
He's coming in.
He's trying to fast attack down everything, but he's not able to do so!
Just by a hair, this Hussuin Electro gets to the energy ball,
and that is the final charge attack that Kuromaru needs to bring down that Galarian Corsa
and win that battle.
Now Will, I think maybe some people at home
or maybe aren't super familiar with our game
are wondering why?
Why did Emmy Weedle not throw any of his charge attacks?
He had so much energy.
He was at the most energy that he could possibly have.
There were three Pokemon left on the field.
What gives?
So every time you use a charge attack in a Pokemon Go PvP,
it takes a turn.
And that allows your opponent to also take that turn.
So if any Weedle's biggest priority
is not allowing that facility in the lecture
to get to another charge stack he's not going to throw a charge stack of his own
because that just means another thunder shock piling on to that energy that's
already accumulating. So these two Ninetales being able to take down each other right at the very end there and I mean at this point he knew exactly what he needed to do.
Hyuromaru knew exactly what he needed to be able to win this matchup and that was
get to enough energy to knock out the Corsola. Exactly this Pokemon has been
so problematic for Hyuromaru personally I'm shocked that he didn't see the
Licky from him, but he still found a way to get past the ghost type Pokemon even without it.
So, going ahead, Garamaru took game number one of the first game of this championship Sunday.
He ended up taking this game as well. Will Emmy Weedle have a repeat of what he did before
being able to take back that series winning the next three games?
It's so hard to say, right? Currently, we are taking a look back at that matchup that
just occurred. Everybody a turn in Pokemon GOPVP is just a half second. Just a half second and if
you miss one of those it can totally derail your plans, your pacing, and your ability to execute on
your win condition. So we have an incredible judging team here. They're taking a closer look at how
that last game went down trying to see if anything was arrived. You did see Emmy Riedel
trying to throw up his hand at the very end. They're recognizing that he believed that he
miss some attacks and that is very big when you have the strategy that you need to be able to get
all of your damage into a certain Pokemon to get it off the field not being able to get even one
of those attacks could be absolutely detrimental to your game. Yeah and just look at how close that
game was right the Glarencorsela almost able to farm down all three of the remaining Pokemon
because the jealousy that a Huda Maru had in the back didn't have any energy and he was deep
deep into the red it might have absorbed maybe one maybe two astonishing and it
would have been over so Glari Corsola came very close to sweeping that game.
Yes so while this matches under the review let's go ahead and review how
Kiro Maro did in the championship series so far keeping in mind that this was his
first ever tournament on the group stage he too won all of his opponents to
be able to make it into day number two where he then took down our former
champion feels a boy also brought any needle down to that lower side of the
bracket and unfortunately for him had to bring a you know knock down another one
of his fellow Japanese trainers and do the book 97 a very very popular trainer
within the North American circuit our third place finisher console over his
shadow Glyce for a shadow poly-toe team it was so much fun to watch yesterday
and we came very close to having a all Japanese grand finals but in the
just would not be denied fought so hard that losers decided bracket and he is
here on the main stage yet again as our judges continue to debate that previous
game so I know we kind of talked about it briefly a lot of people haven't had
the opportunity to see it before but Licky Licky has been the most popular
Pokemon of day one and day two usage it is also on the team of Hiromara and on
on the side of Emmy Weedle so it doesn't surprise me
that we've seen it quite a few games so far.
Little nuance here.
I don't know if you know this is Amanda
but that's Licky Licky from Kudo Maru
is an extra, extra large.
You a big boy.
Yeah, it's a lot taller than Emmy Weedle.
It's not that that makes a big difference
in terms of combat but I just want trainers out there
to know that if you're out catching Pokemon
and you find it extra small or an extra large
when you bring that Pokemon into the battle
it does visually, I just show that in the games.
another Pokemon that has been very popular so far in the series is once that we actually saw a new matchup book in that middle matchup where we learned that any
Needle wins that charger type priority with a shadow kanto nine tails
It's the main reason there's been quite a few different shifts in the meta and it's the main reason that I think that hero model is
Keeping his tinket time on the bench. We talked earlier about how these trainers were running the same teams of three in most of their
matchups yesterday. Enny Lidl had one deviation though. That was a Shadow Black
Sire, Licky Licky and Valerian Corsula team and maybe he said you know what
there's something to that. Maybe that Valerian Corsula is the key and I believe
he's brought it to every single game thus far. To quite well for himself being
able to flip that bracket coming from the losers side of the bracket they're
losing game number one in a huge stadium can do a lot to shake your
but Emmy Weedle looked unshakable there.
He knew from the get-go, he knew from game two
that he was rock solid.
He saw him bumping, he saw him looking around saying,
I know that I have what it takes to be a champion.
He's so dialed in, if you watch his eyes,
he'll look across the stage at his opponent
to finish for any reaction.
He wants to know if you're bothered,
if you're frustrated, if you're feeling confident,
he's trying to feel out the player just as much
as he's feeling his way through the match-ups
on the screen.
Lucky boy here tomorrow he looks unshakable as he plays these matchups and you barely
see him having any sort of doubt in his eyes or any type that he's making any sort of misplay.
Yeah exactly, very confident and he's got a lot of reasons to be, we talked about his
record so far this weekend, I mean when you come to your first world championships
and you not only beat the reigning world champion, the Ulta boy, but you also take
down the first world champion, Emilito, that's a pretty good resume to start
things off, right?
that these trainers have some interesting resumes making a lot of firsts for them here
tomorrow is the first Japanese trainer to be able to make it into the finals of the world
championships and any wheel is this is the first time a previous world champion has been
back up here on this main stage you're exactly right and given how competitive pokemon go pvp
is in the championship series a lot of trainers think that that would never happen right you
never have a repeat world champion because the best trainers are lined up against each other
constantly and eventually one of them will be eliminated so this is definitely a
fascinating story and I don't know if Emmy Weedle was on a lot of trainers
radars coming to this weekend either. I think Emmy Weedle has always been a
very powerful trainer. He has a lot of different assets to his name. People know
that he has a lot of titles but he hasn't really had those top finishes
this season that he's been looking for but I think that he would definitely
take that trade off and be like okay maybe they're regional competitions
Maybe some of the other things I did perform as well as I hope, but now on the big stage, he gets a chance to shine.
As our judges take a closer look at this matchup, we will defer over to the Bragg.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and see where these trainers have come from
and the talented competitors that they have faced over the weekend because, I mean, my goodness, I really feel that metaphor, right?
If you defeat a trainer from your region, you have to carry on that legacy.
that legacy. You know how talented PvP David is. If you're M.E.
Weedle, you have to say, I have to do what he would do in the situation.
I have to fight as hard as possible and try my best to win.
Absolutely. Not even for that. M.E.
Weedle played against Boom 20, who is actually running the same team as PvP
David. So maybe giving him a little bit of a leg up to be able to do so.
Going for a two-one there, playing against Marjo Galday,
one of our most decorated trainers from Latin America before he played off against
Kieromaru started off that top eight by defeating Dunebub from the North America region and then took on and Contano
And that was such a fun series to watch the ground types came out to play in the shadow of Haldon shadow
Gliscor and another nail biter finish that Kieromaru was able to walk away from victorious
So it's really funny because for Pokemon go it's not that there's unnecessarily big rivalry
But of course, people like to cheer for their regions to win.
This would be the first time someone from Japan
has been able to call himself a world champion.
But Emmy Wheel has a completely different story.
There has been EU winners already.
And I was going to say this, but I'm like, he's with him.
He is the EU winner.
It's him.
He's him, literally.
Well, we're going to get back to those games
as soon as our judging team reaches a decision, everybody.
But I just want to thank you all for joining us
in that mega meet you x-ray here in the venue.
That was so much fun.
I hope everyone got shinies and maybe some good stats as well.
But the background, you got that regardless.
Absolutely.
I know that Caleb said that he got the shiny Mewtwo.
I would just offer a lot of no that I also got the shiny Mewtwo.
I also took some really fun photos.
Because if you looked around the arena,
you saw everyone raising their phones at the same time.
Everyone working together to catch that Mewtwo X.
It was such an amazing experience.
I mean, this relates back to what you're saying
about these trainers matching in the Go Battle League.
We have such a tight knit community
and even though you might be an ocean away,
a lot of trainers are familiar with each other.
They have battled against each other.
They kind of have that like second tier of knowing
before they actually meet.
So the world championships are such a great place
for everyone to come together
to put a face to a name, as they say.
You know, that trainer that beat you with Vasidon,
that's them right there.
Okay, yeah.
And not only are they competing for the prestige
Before the crown, these trainers are also competing for some fantastic prizes here.
First place is going to go home with $20,000.
That's a nice chunk of change, but I wouldn't even take that $15,000 a second, if one ever
doesn't want it, they can give it to me.
Are you a settle for that?
I suppose, I suppose.
So much on the line.
Not just the title.
We talk about that quite often, but I mean, this could be life-changing for a lot of
trainers, especially if they travel far to come and compete here.
Look at this gorgeous venue and our gorgeous fans.
Let's hear it everybody in the stadium.
Let's wake up.
Competitive Pokemon World Championship is 2026.
You just gotta be there.
Yeah, we see you pumping your fists.
We're pumping our fists as well.
Thank you for coming out.
See who's gonna be our World Champion.
We are so excited to be crowning one.
These two trainers have performed well all weekend
and they deserve all the praise
that they are getting here on stage.
such talent on the stage right now.
And I mean, we don't make those corrections.
Ran that Galerian course lie,
and it's been so hard for Kudo Maru to weather that storm.
Can't wait to get into the next battle, I wanna be honest.
I hear you, Haru.
While we're still looking through this,
a match under review means that even though one person
may have won that first matchup,
there could have been something within that matchup
that maybe didn't go according to plan.
So the judges will decide if it is going to be favorable for any reedle that first game will essentially be a race from the leaderboard and we are starting over with a fresh new game.
I mean this is literally the biggest competition of these trainers lives.
We want to get everything right.
We want to have an equal and fair playing field for all of our competitors and especially our two finalists here at the World Championships.
Hi everybody.
How's it going?
It's good to see you all.
You're looking good.
Now, real question, we were talking a little bit earlier as casters.
They were asking for some cast or predictions.
And I know that you said that you were really impressed with
Furo Maro's gameplay throughout the weekend.
And you think that he potentially has what it takes to take the series.
Exactly. Just so decisive, especially his assuming electro played
just was outstanding.
And I felt like any needle, you know, fought really hard
in their series yesterday, but kind of ran out of answers.
The moment that sticks in my mind, Amanda, was that game five
when Emmy Weedle was just completely out of shield
and that the Suny Electrode from Kiro Maru
was able to land the energy ball in it to the Shadow Faxi.
You could see Emmy Weedle grimacing on stage.
It was so painful to watch that.
And I think on his mind, right, he's thinking,
I just can't allow that to happen.
I can't allow myself to be out of options,
especially in the biggest series here
at the World Championships.
Well, at the first best of five,
he was put on the back foot there on the side of Emmy Weedle
as Kiro Maru took game number one.
But Emmy Weedle took his foot,
put it forward and won the next three matchups to be here in the Grand Finals
Reset. I had Emmy Weedle as my prediction to be able to take it all
because this man has done quite a bit. Not only has he been a regional champion,
not only has he been an international champion, he has been a previous world
champion. He wants to do it again for our last year of individual world
champions. I mean, and he's adored by the community, right? We remember at
the UIC, the crowd surfing, kind of lifting up to the air.
Emmy Weedle has had such a story career
for such a young trainer.
And the talent doesn't lie.
We see it in every single performance.
And like you pointed out earlier,
might not have had the strongest individual season,
but I think in my mind,
a lot of it comes down to peeking at the right moment.
Right, you can have a great start to your season,
but if there's a meta change
or a new Pokemon comes along
and it doesn't quite click for you,
then I think you wanna be firing on all cylinders
when you get to the end of the season.
A lot of trainers have saying that, you know,
this was quite open meta,
a lot of different Pokemon to choose from,
as we can see from what the trainers have brought.
And we actually can see that the highlight
of what the dispute is going to be here.
We see the enemy going through here.
Now, keep in mind, there's a bunch of shields in play.
Yeah, we're going to take a closer look.
So this is what the judges are reviewing right now,
everybody.
I've been curious to see which moment
is being called into question,
but I think it's got to come down to the fast attacks
and how that damage is applying.
Astonish is coming down.
Again, the thundershock on that Hussain electrode
is two turns, which is one second,
whereas the astonish is 1.5 turns,
or excuse me, 1.5 seconds and three turns.
So in that regard, you know,
it really comes down to the slimmest of margins.
A half second difference really makes a world
of difference in competitive Pokemon Go.
So as a refresher there,
we saw two shields for both opponents.
Emmy Wiedel did not wanna throw that energy
into the Hussain electrode
because he did want to assume Electro to be able to get extra fast attacks through while he threw
because he recognized that soon Electro, if it had enough energy, would be able to knock out his only remaining Pokemon.
Absolutely right. Only two shields to spare. He spent both of them on that glaring course.
We saw just how close that matchup got. He was able to fast attack down one of Kudo Maru's three Pokemon
and the Jealousy was not far behind. So if he would have gotten faster than soon Electro,
game likely would have had a different outcome so as our team continues to look at it. Also thank you production for allowing our fans to see just a bit more closely at what we were taking a look at.
And again like you pointed out well the turns in Pokemon Go are so quick .5 seconds that every literally not even second .5 seconds matters so it does you know I take no fault for them taking a little extra time to figure out exactly what went on in the matchup and make sure that everything was fair before we awarded game win.
Amanda, you mentioned this, but let's put it in writing.
We had some cast of predictions about which trainer we thought would win.
I would love to see everyone in the chat get involved as well.
Who do you think has the momentum in the series right now?
Who do you think is going to become your next Pokemon Go World Champion?
Just like the hardware.
It looks like any widow side of the scale is a little bit heavier.
Well, I will say that I think butters is missing from this.
And two old butters also believe that your moral was going to be winning.
So making it a little bit more even overall,
I truly think it could be anyone's game.
Every single game between these two trainers
have come down to the absolute wire.
Garamaru only winning with a three or two victory.
It wasn't like a solid sweep against Wiedel
in day number one.
And now, I mean Wiedel taking up that second game
in the grand finals and winning three, one,
it's still anyone's game.
Yeah, definitely a dominant series.
I would argue for any Wiedel so far today
and keep those predictions coming in the chat.
And remember as well, this is your last chance
to get all those sweet drops that we've been offering
this weekend during the World Championships.
Oh sweet, sweet drops.
One more thing I wanted to mention Amanda
is that we have our judging team on the floor,
but we also have a head judge that's available.
And this is the World Championships,
the biggest stage for the championship series.
But even if you're at a local car shop
or a regional event, you do have a judging team
that is there to help.
If you feel like something didn't quite go right,
you do have that ability to reach out to them
to ask questions and never feel like you're inconveniencing anyone because, again, the most
important thing is a fair and equal playing field for all of our trainers.
Absolutely. And GO is an extremely fast-paced game. So, sometimes like this, when a match
is actually under review, we actually get a little bit of time to pause and think and
reflect about everything that has happened so far in not only the world championships,
but this competitive season. Well, I know that you've been casting in North America.
We've got a chance to cast together at the European International Championships this season.
Is there anything that's really stood out to you this year, which is a big year for Pokemon Go?
So, this is a big anniversary year, right?
Ten years for Pokemon Go, thirty years for Pokemon and five years for Pokemon Go into the Championship Series.
We have every year, right? We have some trainers that are new, maybe they're a bit younger,
they come on into the onto the scene and they actually crush it.
But one thing that stood out to me for some of the old time are still winning competitions, right?
We had Arrow win in Los Angeles and we had Stone Collection win in Seattle.
Those are trainers that competed over 40 events without a title until this year.
So all of our elderly Pokemon go-players, we can still win.
I'm feeling it. My back's hurting already.
I know that Arrow ended up performing at the World Championship.
These are the top Pokemon views for day one.
This was really what we saw for the bigger field,
the top 32 players for day two.
Licky, Licky in that number one spot,
like we talked about in day one and day two,
but Shadowcounter Ninjails in that top second spot,
Larry Porcelain in the third.
Exactly, such a unique meta.
I know a lot of trainers in the video game
of the training card gamer Pokemon Unite,
they say, what's going on with the Pokemon Go meta?
All you need to know is that Don Dozo was top 10 on day number two, which is pretty cool.
We also have an update for everyone about the action down on the stage.
We did have a rematch ruled.
There was an appeal and the rematch was upheld.
So we're going to start fresh here, everybody, on another series between these two titles.
Zero Morrow on that left-hand side.
Up against Envy Wheel.
This is now officially game number one of the Grand Finals.
We sent both of these trainers that had a little bit of time on stage to think about
and reflect how they played that first game,
hopped immediately into this now,
going up with a suing Electro, it gets of course low.
What happened to that other one is now starting this game.
And in the lead is typically the position
where we see Pokemon like this suing Electro
because that wild charge does double debuff
your Pokemon's defense.
So you can throw a charge stack like that
and fail out, but this time the energy ball
is used by Kido Maro.
Kido Maro going for the energy ball,
could have opted for a wild charge
and immediately popped out,
but energy ball still does a decent chunk of damage
as we see no potential to be moved by any needle either way just gaining up a ton of energy now throwing its first nightshade
in the summer lecture both trainers willing to let those initial charge attacks through now the pivot into the
Likey likey maybe a little bit early not in time quite yet to catch the nightshade
But now we're in the near matchup and obviously man. Oh, this is the closest near match up between these two
Pokemon that we've seen so far
I actually really like that play by any little because it's not the best chance of the likey likey that threatened the player
of course, it's that shout of all potential.
So being able to just go ahead, stay in.
Yes, we're assumptions aren't going to be doing too much,
but now he's got some energy that he paid before he popped out
into his own licky-licky to be able to start soaking up
some of this damage.
Exactly.
We are now in the mid-game, and controlling switch advantage
does matter quite a bit in this game,
number one of our bracket reset.
Another body send getting fired out here by Amy Guido,
but I think that Hitamaru looks like he's
a little bit ahead.
Going ahead, now just keep rolling out here.
And now here I'm all going for another attack.
We know that Emmy Weedle's shadow came to 9-tails
against that charge attack bird.
We still haven't seen it, despite seeing so many
licky, licky mid-game matchups here.
Exactly right. Another charge attack yet again.
As these two Pokemon will down each other's HP,
so many fast charge attacks back and forth,
neither trainer willing to swap out.
Actually, he's going immediately for another attack.
Doesn't he think we're probably going for another rollout first?
We want to make sure he'd be able to get that off.
Should hear him all throw his attack first.
Both of these down, just below.
immediately pop out here by the Hapaldon and we don't respond to time with this shadow, Kento Nantos.
Yeah, and the pacing is just so fast that Weather Ball is only 8 turns, meanwhile the Shadow Hapaldon is a little bit slower to reach the Weather Ball of its own,
although it would tell us to perfect the damage and like the knockout that Kento Nantos.
I mean, these Weather Balls are going to be thrown back and forth here as that first one goes through,
and there we go, puts up a shield because again that energy ball would threaten the knockout,
but even a Weather Ball does quite a bit of damage to the Shadow Pokemon,
Now going out and just charging up, throwing right before the next one is available.
Yeah, I really like to swap out there to get a couple sand attacks in
and try to match the pacing of this Shadow Kento Ninetales.
Another leather ball pulls with a final shield for Emile Needle.
And you gotta remember, there's still a Husserin Electro on the other side
and Emile Needle is now exposed to all 8-Penley charge attacks.
Going ahead, going for the heavy heavy energy ball.
Actually, getting that side-protection from Neuro Myosun as well.
Maybe not the... Emile Needle was hoping for his next...
This is exactly what he wanted. What am I talking about? Catching this weather ball onto the low health.
Licky, Licky. Looks like here, Miro is completely untapping.
Hoping maybe he could get a same type of 2. Unfortunately, unable to do so.
Now out of energy, and now out of shields.
Switch timer is now locked for Emile Weedle for probably another 40 seconds or so.
He cannot swap out, but he does get to the night trade to get set out on.
This is the final healthiest Pokemon for him tomorrow.
This is why Emmy Weedle didn't immediately pivot when that Licky Licky came in.
He went for that one more Scottish first because now it put him ahead on energy and he was able to put that knob on down quite low.
Licky Licky on the side of Hiromaru coming in going for that heavy hit and shadow ball,
trying to knock out the gorse split and again with an underdrived but he was kind of shaking his head no, it was still enough to knock him out.
He's at the body slam.
Yeah, one more roll out and the body slam is there.
Hiromaru is able to KO this Kanto Ninetales and take back Game 1 from Emmy Weedle.
He says, who's this girl from the Pokemon?
They're all going with what we call a three ball flex there.
All three Pokemon remaining in that game number one,
as he takes it away from Emmy Weedle.
There's always upsides and downsides, right?
We saw Emmy Weedle make that inspired catch
of the rock weather ball from that Shadow of Haldon.
And we thought, oh, it was a genius play.
It was so clever, right?
But then he shook his head.
And a lot of trainers were probably wondering why.
The reason was because of that switch timer.
because after he makes that swap out,
that Switch Trimers is going to take down for 45 seconds.
And at that point,
and the needle really was out of options.
He kind of exposed himself there.
It was a good catch.
All the energy had to go somewhere.
If it was anywhere,
he wanted it to be on that low health Pokemon.
But in the end,
hero mode being able to hang on
after knocking out that force load.
One more roll out to knock out that nine tails
with the body. Sam secures him.
Game number one in this grand finals reset,
keeping in mind,
He also won Game Number One of the regular Grand Finals.
So, Emmy Weedle has the opportunity to once again pull it back and win the next three.
Exactly. But it's going to be tough, right?
I feel like Kudo Maru in this Grand Finals Reset has made so many adjustments.
I think he's playing better than ever.
Let that Hissuin Electrode.
He usually likes to keep that Pokemon in the back
and kind of spring it on Emmy Weedle when it finds an opening.
But just throwing it out there in the lead and saying,
you know what, deal with it.
Deal with the wild charges and energy balls.
That's definitely tough for any Lido to contend with.
That's true. We've been also quite often seeing that Hapaldon coming in
when there's just a little bit of health left.
Yes, he seems to fight for switch advantage,
then completely give it up as a Hapaldon comes in,
trying to get a little bit of an energy advantage
because that way he can outpace his opponent's Pokemon.
Well, I think the number one Pokemon that Hugh tomorrow is worried about,
maybe it is a little spooky, that Galerian Horsula,
because that Pokemon almost fast-attack through his entire team
in a previous game, and if he leaves a weekend to Paldon or a weekend Jellison out on the field,
just one or two astonishes and that player of course suddenly not only Kail the Pokémon,
but is now ahead on energy. So these two trainers have been playing against each other quite a while,
not only in this championship series, but also in the Go Battle League. Have to see
how they want to do now that they've had the opportunity to see each other face to face,
battle against each other. One more time we have a match on review for this game number one.
production has it. We would love to take a closer look at the situation that is
currently being looked at. Again, it's the world championship stage. Want to get
everything right? Our competitors, the best, fairest shot at who wins the title.
And this is a big moment for both of these trainers, right? A lot is on the
line. Here, Amaro coming in, his first ever competition, making it all the way
to championship Sunday is absolutely a huge feat. Meanwhile, Emmy Wiedl, someone very decorated
within this circuit, knows what it takes to become a champion. He's done it once before.
He wants to do it again. Both of these trainers deserve their time to shine in the spotlight.
Exactly. I think the argument again has been kind of like, you know, the newcomer versus
the experienced trainer. One of the most inspiring things about Pokemon Go PDP is
is that it is relatively simple to pick up, right?
You've got three Pokemon on each team
and your fast attacks move at the same pace
and you're able to learn your counts
and as much as it seems like a tap-tap game,
there's actually quite a bit of math and calculations
that go into this and knowing your charge attack party
ties and knowing what's super effective
and when you can swap out.
Those are all critical parts.
There's definitely a lot of strategy within the game.
If you've been watching throughout the weekend
and you've been able to get a chance
to win specific Pokemon,
I know sometimes people are like,
Oh, but I don't have a good Tinkerton
or I don't have a good Pokemon that I would like to play with.
Will, they gave away Bielsevoi's actual Tinkerton
that he used last year in Anheim to help him win the series
with the exact same attack spread.
Exactly.
Our team is just always upping the ante
and trying to give our trainers the best rewards.
And I think that adding a strong Pokemon like that
to your roster is very valuable.
You don't want to miss out on that.
Make sure to capture every single Pokemon,
review them later.
It keeps on the strong ones.
Now even if I don't think I'm in a battle with something most Pokemon are just one or two updates away from being meta relevant
That's true. We just had a moveset update that will be viable quite soon
For Pokemon go it's very engaging it changes every couple months
So it's not that you're always using the same Pokemon over and over not only that we've had international championships in
Limited metas with different Pokemon that you've been seeing on this main stage
Our wonderful partners at scopely always keep things exciting move set updates damage adjustments
A lot of Pokemon coming in and out of the meta, but these two trainers have mastered the current format to the T.
There's some shared picks on each side. I think that's definitely something to take away, but the story, as in with most competitive Pokemon, is defined by those outlier picks.
And definitely that one of those outlier picks is one that has been really taking hero Mario far. Shadow of the Paldon was something that a few trainers did bring to Earth.
We saw it on a couple of teams, but it definitely wasn't a top meta pick.
So if I can ask you right in terms of team reading for show 6 pick 3, if Ticketown is
so good and we keep talking about it in the drops, why are we not bringing it against Emmy
Weedle?
Well Emmy Weedle, the other Pokémon that is almost everywhere is that Shadow Canto Ninetales.
Ticketown was in the third spot for day one, you see it's dropped down to the fifth.
It hits so heavy with its charge attack Ticketown Hammer, but it doesn't like
those Fire type Pokémon.
It definitely doesn't like the Ground type Pokémon with that Shadow Climbing Sire or the
that Andy Weedle has on his side and and Andy Weedle had said before he used
him pulling on in every single matchup up until these winners finals. Another
obstacle to take a time before Hidah Maru is that shadow quag sire. This was one
of the more fascinating moveset choices to me. The fact that any Weedle opted
for Aqua Tail Mud Bomb when man team was like what top five top six usage
they were everywhere all over the tournament and if you're shadow
quag sire I think one of the most depressing things is to be paired up
against a man team because there's really no way you can hit it with your
double-resistant mud bomb or your resistant off the tail. Well Emmy Weedle
definitely had a plan to play around that as he is sitting here on the seat on
Championship Sunday wondering if he can do it once again as he did in London.
This is really a test of these trainers of fortitude because maybe you
expected to go out and you felt confident you said maybe three games
I'll win it I'll take the trophy home and audios right but these
These trainers are having to sit through this, figure out the game state situation, and try
to reach an amicable conclusion, and I think we might have just arrived the one based on
the body language we're seeing.
Yeah, we're giving this information, same time you guys are, we're going to let you
know as soon as we know what is going on between these two trainers, but agreeing with you
will look like there was a thumbs up there, so we'll have to see what will be going
on if we're going to keep that game number one, or if we're going once again into
a grand finals reset.
I want everyone at home to take in this arena, close your eyes, imagine yourself on this stage.
So we, sorry, sorry to interrupt you, we're just getting some information here.
There is not going to be a rematch for that game number one, so we're going to keep that score.
Number one game going there for Hiramawa and the Grand Finals, he's got two more to go to become the world champion.
Two games away, but it might as well be miles away because Eniwido is so formidable.
And in particular, his Galarian Corsola has been very difficult for Hidomaru to deal with.
He's not been able to find that alignment he wants.
Hidomaru's Licky Licky, I think, has squared up against the Galarian Corsola maybe once in this entire series so far.
Oh, I'll have to see how they want to play out these matches.
Normally, when trainers start to lock in, you know, you can only pick three Pokemon on this list of six.
So a lot of times, the trainers will run through a bit of a matrix in their head, right?
Okay, so if I lead that Licky Licky, what am I going to do if it's that Corsola lead?
What am I going to do if it's the floor just leave you just do it for every single one of the Pokemon till you have a formula
Let's see. Oh, it looks like we predict that by the way
We got that linky linky up against the course long son here
I'm all and it looks like immediate pivot out to the shadow quack side on the side of every deal to be met
Now that he's doing a lecture. What an insane lead for you tomorrow there
And he swaps immediately to the lecture if a single energy ball connects in my KO a trio of shadow quacks
This is how much damage it actually does. He's got it ready. He can fire it at any moment,
but he wants to overcharge and fire on the charge attack priority time.
Here's the big deal. Yes, wild charge is going to keep up yourself. In no situation would he be throwing the wild charge into the ground
and fire a watertight Pokemon there. So now forcing himself to throw this energy ball.
Emmy Wheel knows that it's not a big deal. He has to protect up no matter what if he wants to keep that
He wants to keep that Quack-Sire around.
Protect-Shield going up on the assuming electrode.
And Scott's got a ton of energy to form it up a little bit more,
threatening that second shield from Eni-Wido.
Eni-Wido is going to scratch claw and fight as hard as he can
to win control switch advantage because he does not
on his glaring force up against the opposing at Licky-Licky.
Meanwhile, Kira-Maru continues to apply the pressure.
But Quack-Sire is just so fast, here comes the knock-the-tail.
Going up for hard counter-city there in the lead.
Getting that second Protect-Shield,
this Glenn-Gaming matchup is going to help decide,
Trying to go for a catch, you see, here in Maro, fighting.
And it actually gives up what he potentially had
with the Galeric Orsel with the Licky Licky.
Coming in with his own Licky Licky.
Kind of making my home again match up.
This might be a catastrophic misplay here,
but he's going to make the best of it.
Here in Maro kind of shook his head.
He said, oh, no, I shouldn't have sent out
my Shadow of the Pound on his stand.
But you can't slow down.
You can't stop.
You have to keep on battling.
You're going to throw the body stand there
and try to keep it up to spear master.
Every single second matters.
Yes, he might have brought in the Pokémon that he didn't want to, but it's too late now.
We'll see how he recovers in this matchup as his Licky Licky is starting to put damage into Emmy Weedles.
He's sticking out stung, throwing the slams, seeing how low that it can go.
Potties slam back and forth as these two normal type Titans whittle down each other's HP.
Switched members are up, but neither trainer wants to risk swapping out and giving away switch advantage, especially Emmy Weedle.
This game got much more dynamic now, but at this point we had a great time now.
He's got a ton of energy on that.
Licky, Licky, he's got two body slams loaded,
but he's going to need two to be able to knock out Emmy Wiedels
as the first one just isn't enough.
That's one throw right away.
We're seeing actually now,
touchdown priority, it's gonna be on the side of Hiromaru.
Absolutely critical to try to wrestle back control and switch advantage,
but Hiromaru, even though he's gonna double resist any type of ghost attacks,
he doesn't have that much HP.
He might lose the Licky Licky regardless.
It's so close.
Get it, get it to the Shadow Ball, no!
It's astonishing as the Glare Encourseless
dashes down the Pokemon,
calling in with a very nice blade
and energy here,
going to throw the Night Shade before the Earth Power is available.
But everyone keep in mind,
the shields are gone.
There is an energy ball loaded on the Hissuin Electro,
and it wins Charge Attack priority
over both of any Weedle's Pokemon.
No, you're exactly right,
but I think Kidovara needs to hang on
to the energy for the quack siren matchup in the back.
It's very critical that he doesn't make another mental mistake here.
Nightshade number two getting fired off,
and this might be a game two win for Emmy Weedle.
This Sassoon Electro is quite low.
It has a ton of energy, but it's got two Pokemon to go through.
It might not have enough,
as he throws his first one to get that Glorzula out of the way.
Energy ball will connect.
Delirium Corsula will faint, but Emmy Weedle looks like he already knows
won this battle, out comes the shadow Quagsire, and that's a farm down,
Eni-Widdle with the equalizer.
Going ahead, taking that mid game, both of those shields knocked down,
Eni-Widdle knew his back was against the wall, that energy ball lurking into
that Quagsire would have been absolutely destroying the Quagsire.
He fails on the swap, but he kept playing, and you know what happened?
Well, a little bit of a fumble on the side of Hiramaru, sending in
that Licky Licky, you see him kind of shaking it off right now,
Recognizing I have that game and maybe have that game. I gotta settle down here
I gotta focus to be at the win game number three gotta shake the nerves gotta zoom in
Don't think about the crowd don't think about the magnitude of this moment focus on what you do best, which is competitive
Pokemon go
PvP these trainers either one I'm serious either one could take this they are about as evenly matched as we have ever seen in a
Pokemon Go Grand Finals and it's just going to see-saw back and forth.
And this is a big thing. Again, I know that we keep saying it, but it deserves to be said.
This is Hero Marl's first time to be playing live in this huge setting with everyone.
He's won the championship Sunday stage. Of course, your nerves are going to be doing a little bit
to you. You're not used to this sort of thing, but I hope that he can shake it.
For this game number three, we'll see as Jelz takes the field up against that Shadow Coincider.
We have seen this matchup before. I do think that two charge stacks on either side is the recipe for success.
But Emileedle's been a lot more willing to give away control of Switch Advantage.
Especially if he doesn't think there's a licky-licky back there, but at this point he might be defeated twice.
Going ahead now, going for that first attack, the Surf does land.
We've seen Emileedle in the past couple of games content to let Pokemon go as soon as they've done their damage, right?
So it's like, okay, quite sorry. You're getting that jealous at low.
I could potentially use the next Pokemon that comes in to farm now throwing the second.
My bomb, as we saw in another game, is not going to be enough to knock out.
And I don't know if we will see a protector who's on the side of that reedle.
Yeah, this is nice. The forcing that charge attack priority is high.
Kido Maru might be able to KO the Shadow Quacks right here.
Goes for an under charge as well. He likes to do this, allowing minimal fire.
Simultaneous swap! Oh my goodness, Shadow Kethernites!
I was trying to say Licky Licky.
What a read, Emmy Wiedel says. I know no matter what he's going to swap.
If this doesn't knock out, I need to be quick here.
Tell me then what that can for Ninetales to get off as much energy and damage as possible, as quickly as possible.
Moving the pieces around and the pieces fell in a place that future Mario might not like in hindsight,
but he's going to fire off the body stand here to try to feel some damage to that Shadow Kento Ninetales.
The shield comes up, Emmy Wiedel. That's the first step back into this game.
going ahead first body slam bait now a shout out for the real deal getting both protect shields in this mid game after
and Guido has a ton of energy on the shadow canton 9 tells it's up to him where he wants to deploy because there's still two protection
clip on the side here more trying to go for a get unsuccessful as horseman comes in to sweep up that jealousy in the back
and the Guido is not shaken here he anticipated the swap he knew he had so much energy on the canton 9 tells and then
Qtomorrow is going to try to waste it.
But again, he switched spots his Calari Corsa.
Qtomorrow went fishing, and he reeled in, of course,
along the other side.
He said, OK, I'll wait.
Even if you don't throw, I'm going to get that Corsola out
of the way with this Licky Licky coming back in.
Emmy Weedle has a choice to throw now.
He definitely wants to throw the not-grossed attack
from Power Jet.
It is enough to knock out the Licky Licky.
But Emmy Weedle has zero shields left.
There's an Asu and Electro.
Come in!
And the hero model has two to hide behind.
Yeah, that Canto Knight has so much energy as well, so I would not be surprised to see
here tomorrow, let this Knight shape through, he's got a big threat, and it's lurking in
the back on the bench, he's got to overcharge a ton of energy, avoid a catch, it's going
to be real, real tough for him here on out.
Now, before you know it, you see them waiting, trying to go ahead and do that blip, the
quacks are going down, but look how low this is to an electrode, is this too shieldless?
But guess what?
They help catch attempt, and any we don't know.
He knows that this is the end for game number three.
The wild charges are not going to slow down.
They're going to plug in and power up.
That's one KO.
Kasuna Lecter looking for another one and there's another.
Kasuna Lecter looks angry once a bit of revenge.
One's game number three.
Wild Charge for you!
Game three for Hiromaru.
Well done.
In spite of the stumble,
Unimaru finds his way in that battle number three and now he stands on the absolute precipice of becoming your Pokemon Go World Champion.
That's a mentality of a champion, right? You recognize, okay, maybe I could have won that previous game.
I can't let that shake me. I have to put that in my past because I need to focus on the future and the future is me winning this game.
I mean, Weedle needs to win two battles here to become your world champion,
but he's no stranger to equalizing things just when it feels like he's out of it.
So in this next battle, he's looking to make some adjustments.
That swap out right there, that's so instrumental to Hugh tomorrow.
He's able to pull that Colari course left back onto the field and get that alignment,
even though he didn't have it earlier on in the game.
He's going to want to do that again, I'm sure, in this next battle.
It's so dangerous, right?
and I think a lot of times trainers opt for
so many different opportunities
while they're playing this game.
Do I want to go for a switch advantage?
Do I want to go for a shield advantage?
If Wilson-Hiramaro is definitely going
for that shield advantage there,
as you saw, he had two shields,
two high behind at the end.
We're hopping into this game.
If Piramaro takes this,
he is our San Francisco World Champion.
A lot is on the line, all of these trainers.
If you look in the lead,
Shadow have caught on to his three to lecture
for Piramaro.
Meanwhile, Shadow, Clack, Slayer again in the lead
For Amy Lido, the Shadowcatcher non-tails and Galeric Horselot kind it.
Shadowball number one connects.
Going through, we've seen quite a few times about Amy Lido,
knowing that neither one of the attacks that are thrown is going to threaten the knockout,
and what he wants to do is get a ton of energy.
This first mudbomb goes to heal when that charge attack is already thrown right before the body slam is available.
If Amy Lido is worried about his Galeric Horselot being trapped,
he's got to feel a huge sense of relief because the Licky-Licky on the field right now
means he can see the problem. He can address it. He can do something about it, and it looks like he's
gonna allow Tisha to absorb another body.
Body Sam went through the first that Shadow of the Moon. Actually, in the media pivot because he recognized that that's exactly what Hiramaru's gonna do.
Time after time, he lets a little bit of health be closer to the hood.
Out on, and Hemingwittle says, okay, big course of the counter, out of the way. It's coming in.
Show me what you've got. Earth Power coming through.
Shadahakadon has been the most valuable Pokémon for Hidur Maru, and that Earth power is unable to trigger the defense drop,
but it does a heap of damage, and if this structure, Hidur Maru, will likely protect Shielded Up, but he decides to it the last second.
Yeah, because if we take a peek at those back rides there, this is actually one of the few times Hidur Maru has put up a shield from the Niki and not saving them,
at least when we look up in the map, but any needle has a pantomime to it, and let me tell you one thing, Wild Grass doesn't really like fire.
No, it does not. Next Night's Shade will connect into the Shadow of Apollodon.
This will likely tail that Pokemon and force you tomorrow to choose his next.
But look at the swamp! I mean, we don't already going for the Kanto Night Tales to enemy's The Electrode!
This is going to be very close. Once you look for both of these trainers, going for that weather ball number one.
You see, I mean, we don't try to shake his head. No, he thinks he really has to concentrate on this moment.
Wild Charge would be enough to do it, and that Trailblazer or Mount Trellis and then people will bait with also be enough to strip that shield.
Wow, doesn't that have an edge?
Amy Weedle touches it up.
He thinks that's the play that he needed to make.
He's doubled up on the weather balls.
Here's the first knockout, and Amy Weedle
is almost at the equalizer for the series.
Not knowing that weather ball was huge for him in middle.
There's just getting more energy.
Yes, he's going to be able to have to use a shield
for the Wild George, but he's got a weather ball
of his own already lined up to go there,
getting that first protect shield.
Weather ball, tell it through.
No protect shield by here tomorrow.
hands shaking. Palms are sweaty. That is a game for win for Emmy Weedle and our grand finals reset.
We'll go the distance everybody. We're heading into a decisive game number five.
Emmy Weedle said I saw that free ball flex you did a little bit earlier on. That looks fun.
Let me go ahead and try it too as all three Pokemon remains on the field to take that game
number four and this is the grand finals reset. We have one more game to decide who will be the
2026 San Francisco world champion. Season of effort, a career of accomplishments,
and it all hinges on the next four minutes. This is the peak. This is the summit that these
These trainers have dreamed up their entire lives and they're standing here feet on the ground eyes to the sky
Game five is on the horizon
But only one of these trainers will be your world champion here tomorrow came in from that winners
Side of the bracket the feeding and we little in a three to victory on day two of championship
However, Emmy Weedle ended up snatching that victory back in the Grand Finals here on the main stage here on
Championship Sunday all eyes are on these two trainers in the next few moments both of them taking a breath taking a moment to realize
This could be me. I could be next. We're hopping in to game number five
Chelsea in the lead versus the shadow flag shot for Amy Wiedel.
It all comes down to this everyone.
The suing electrode and licky licky percutimaru on the bench.
Meanwhile, shadow pins and eye tails and glaring corseless for Amy Wiedel.
We've seen this quite a few times and we've seen a lot of simultaneous
swaps. So we'll have to see if either one of these trainers are going to do
anything a little bit different now that this is truly the moment that
will define their careers.
Surf number one coming through from that judgeship. No protection of use by
to Emmy Weedle, it looks so, you know, by the put so far.
Yeah, exactly.
You've seen a very similar song and dance before,
but will it change up here at the finale?
Mudbomb number two connects,
Jellison hangs on as expected.
It's already got the serve, not waiting a turn,
actually throwing the charge deck here.
Emmy Weedle, his Shadow Plexer would be
the first Pokemon KO.
Going ahead, letting that get knocked out,
keeping the Protections in the back,
keeping in mind what could be coming in,
Just getting a ton of water with this candle and items!
No, that is a crushing KO there as he's unable to get to the certain outcomes of Licky and Licky as well.
And Enny Lido knows this is a bit signed.
His Glaring Corsair, his most valuable Pokemon, is still in the back.
This was huge, even though Kermal ended up having the Pokemon that remained at the end,
Enny Lido got to dictate the Pokemon that are coming in.
If that Licky and Licky was on that Glaring Corsair, it would have been devastating.
If that Kanto Ninjails goes on this, we'll have to have the same story here.
It's going to be a very engaging by the very end of this tournament.
And Iridu just wants all the energy his Shadow Kanto Ninjails can muster.
Weatherball coming through. I gotta be honest, I don't know if this is enough.
Licky Licky does hang on. It's gotta charge that Freddy.
Firing the Shadowball and Iridu forced the shield.
Oh boy, no protection now. My and Iridu the Shadowball would do a ton of damage.
And Iridu wants such an energy advantage at the beginning.
Throwing this first weather ball as you see her, so you will be electrode coming in,
giving the first protect shield up to your immoral side.
That's only the first protect shield, and it looks like you tomorrow might have an advantage,
but there's such a long road still to go, and Emile Weedle takes those shields right back away from his opponent.
Going ahead, just taking them. I have to wonder if you're Emile Weedle, if you're just going to stay in,
or if you're going to make them throw energy. No, swap immediately to that player in force,
so you're here, energy ball number one, coming through here. This is who you're going to let go of.
Try everything again to take out two Pokémon!
Going on good timing, a defense drop here would be absolutely massive.
Just get it! Does that mean the second energy ball is enough?
Doesn't throw the charge at priority.
I think Kudo Maru's trying to double up a charge deck,
but his Assuin Electro needs to hang on!
And to think about his Assuin Electro, if it needs,
it's gonna be able to get out of that red here.
Going for two! Looks like he is almost there!
He's at the Wild Charge!
He's on a sliver of health here!
Going for the attack!
Wild Charge number one, getting fired up,
Galarian parcel of fate,
out comes the final Pokemon,
Santa Cubs are right down,
but the Ember connects!
Going ahead now, look at the Ember went through
before the charge attack went through here,
and Ember, who puts his head in the stands,
he recognizes what a horrible situation it is
to even still win in this type of scenario!
Oh my goodness everyone,
what just happens on stage?
I
Think we all need to take a moment take a breath because this is huge for both of these trainers
This came down to the wire and I think a lot of us recognize that he had two
Wild charge attacks stored first one for the course left to be able to knock out second one for the nineties
Nineties energy went through first not out that ensuing electrode exactly. I mean you've got the double charge tax
Right. It's as simple as just tapping the button and swiping the bubbles
But in a moment like this when the emotions are so high the peak of a career the moment of a lifetime
Sometimes things just don't go your way
Yeah, I mean everything was in the driver's seat ever here in Marvel regardless of how this last game is going down
These trainers have been playing absolutely incredible all week and long on the stage give us such an amazing performance
Such a show. I mean they've given everything
right, the sweat, the tears, the effort, not only this weekend,
but also all season, every single motion, every single
PokéStop spun, every Pokemon captured, every egg hatched,
every friend made along the way.
It all has built up to this very moment as our two worlds
finalists are going to have a discussion with the judges.
Now, this was the best of five match-up,
We've rid it to all the way to game number five here and even so absolutely down to the wire
It was anyone's matchup until the end here. And so I have to believe I don't I don't blame them for taking a moment here
Too to look over what's been happening. Exactly. I mean facing his hands
I don't think any needle has moved from that position. I see tomorrow talks with this translator there
My goodness. I'm gobsmacked. Honestly, I don't I don't think we've ever been in a situation quite like this
this and especially when there's so much online right we have here a motto coming in first championship
First Japanese trainer to be able to make it to the finals here. Emmy Weedle our only ever
Senior World Division champion looking for his second title already breaking so many records being the only other world champion to be able to make it back
The championship Sunday what story lines we have for both of these trainers, but in the end there can only be one
I mean just think of the accolades right being able to bookends competitive Pokemon go first ever senior division world champion and
finishing as the world champion and that's what's really on the line here as these two trainers have given
to the series and given everything to this event and
I'm sure their hearts are so are absolutely beating out of their chest. We're getting some word here
It looks like there will be a rematch for this match up there.
So that means we are getting a brand new mess of five.
We matched rules.
Game five.
Well everyone, that was pretty fun the first time.
Why don't we do it again?
Both these trainers here.
I know that they maybe looked a little bit defeated at this point.
They've been on stage for quite a while.
The nerves are so high between these trainers.
You still see Andy Riedel's head in his hand a little bit.
He knows it's going to be another game.
And I can't imagine.
I can't imagine the whirlwind of feelings
that both these trainers are feeling.
They thought it was over.
They thought that was the end.
But there's one more challenge ahead of both of them.
And this is the real test, right?
Can you put those feelings aside?
Can you return back to baseline?
Can you lock in one last time when it matters the most?
I don't blame.
I mean, there's a lot of emotions going on in this very moment.
If there is something that doesn't play out correctly within the game,
it's automatically warranted as a rematch.
So that means that we are going into a new decisive game number five for this moment.
My goodness, what a photo finish it would have been,
but history will show that this next battle is the true final battle
of the 20-26 competitive season, a lot of discussion on the table there, we don't have any insight
into that, we can't hear what the judges or the trainers are saying, so we trust them
to make the right decision and get this next game on the road.
Yeah, and you know what, I mean, there's a lot of emotions on the field here, but
it just means more Pokemon GO games for us, and as I know a lot of people in the
audience, a lot of people at home love to watch all of these matchups, so while
maybe I played a few of our games and was expected, you know, well, I'm here for it.
I'm here for it too. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. And this is a hard moment,
especially for our competitors, but they have to push through. They have to pull the pieces
together one more time, even though you thought the plan was perfect. You thought the team
was excellent and the execution was immaculate. This is it. There's one more round to go
here in our best of five Grand Finals reset. Here tomorrow winners finals up
against Emmy Weedle. Took it down to the line here. Best of five matchups two two
at the end ended up being able to take game number three to put them in this
seat on the winner side of the bracket championship Sunday. However Emmy Weedle
coming back here lost game number one of the Grand Finals but one of the
next three they've been neck and neck this entire time taking it down to
almost game five every single time.
I said it and I wasn't being hyperbolic.
This is absolutely the closest we've had in terms of our skill levels
for our Grand Finals competitors in the competitive Pokemon Go.
It's been five years, five years of champions.
And this has to be, I mean, I can't even see the dividing line between these two trainers.
Yeah, truthfully, it could be anyone's game at this moment.
It looks like these two trainers are getting ready for their next battle.
So as we will see who will become the 2026 San Francisco world champion.
Tensions are high.
I think a lot of things are on the line for both of these trainers.
Nerves gotta be really, really shaken up at this point, but, my goodness,
they gotta settle it down to see.
Well, maybe we though talking with this opponent, there's so
much shared respect on the stage there between these two young,
talented trainers, so much on the line.
but I cannot wait to see how it plays out.
It's tough, right?
Because, I mean, if you're in the lead-all,
you probably felt like you had the right team
and if you're here tomorrow,
you feel like you made the right plays.
You gotta do it one more time.
When it matters the most
and when your energy is already peaked
and you're trying to calm down,
this is different.
That game, after game here,
these two trainers have proved time and time again
why they are here on Championship Sunday
showing you all what they have.
They've been going back and forth.
They've been bringing unique Pokemon.
They've been having fantastic catches.
Great team calls.
Saving shields till the very end.
And this is getting to the point
where we're going to find out who will be the champion.
Shadow Kento Ninetales, as well as that Shadow Clagsire
and Galarant Borsla have been very valuable
for any Weedle.
Meanwhile, that Shadow Hapaldon
has started to find some light.
It's looked as impressive as it did yesterday
here tomorrow was using it on the main stage. This is a suing electrode has really stolen the show
and almost took the whole thing. Yeah that's what I wanted to say earlier on. I mean I know that he
said his Shadow of Haldon was going to be his MVP but I think that the suing electrode has
really helped pilot his success so far here on Sunday. These games have been so so close.
And then you need to try to focus in. Scan the battle codes. The trainers are going to
to get started here shortly everyone. I see more and more fans piling it to the arena as
well. If you're new here you are in for an absolute treat because this is about to be
cinema.
I see both of these trainers. They've been up here for a while. They've gone through
the gauntlet of trainers. So many different people who could have been named champion.
There have been so many good competitors throughout the weekend. It's boiled down to two.
We are really at the point where we're about to have one more game to see who will be that
champion but it's so stuff wrenching for both of these trainers at this moment.
You can see, I mean, his head is in his hand.
Hiromaru really looking like quite tired and devastated himself.
I'm telling you, I don't know.
I've never been in this situation, right?
I don't know if any of us have but you have to find a way to push those emotions
to the side and do what you came here to do.
Do what you've been doing all weekend long, which is playing incredibly good competitive
Pokemon.
Our two worlds finalists are looking to do exactly that, so much on the line, and they've
already given so much.
But they have to give a little bit more one last time.
Both of them have their phones in their hands, they're looking at the screens.
We're thinking that we might be getting into these battles fairly, fairly soon as
they just take a moment to decide what they're going to lock in for this matchup.
If you're just tuning in now, it's been a nail-biter through this entire series.
We are at the game five of a best of five matchup in the grand finals.
Resuscitate who will be this champion.
Both of these trainers do so incredibly well throughout, but the motions,
the tension, everything is so hot.
Jumping out into game number five.
Gels at lead from here to Maru versus that shadow backside from Amy Weedle.
This is probably the fourth or fifth time we've seen this matchup play out.
We know just about exactly how it goes this time though,
and you need to overcharge to the mud bomb.
I'm drawing that first mud bomb.
If this can anything like the past couple things
that we've seen were not as any projectiles used
on this first Pokemon from either side here,
you're more charged to have a little bit extra.
Throw the Shadow Ball here for System Duo,
those are more hints than that,
so I'll shake it things up a little bit,
no projectiles used by any needle.
I really like the adjustment there.
It brings that Shadow Bikeshark down deep into the red,
and second mud bomb is ready to go.
You tomorrow is actually sticking to the script outside of that Shadow Ball.
He's going to no shield both of the charge attacks from the Shadow Quacksire.
It gets the Jealousy low and he sets up a stay in for a little bit more.
Charging up a little bit more energy and swapping out some energy floating.
And now, swapping in the Swedish Leisure into that Shadow Pantanigel on the side of any reedle.
Got a couple of Thunder Shots off the swap, so he's going to be able to equalize the pacing
just slightly more closely than he would from a dead heat.
But he's going to go ahead and fire the first Wild Charge.
and at this point the canton eye tails will use the first protect shield.
The shield was gone because this is charge attack,
meaning the front with the higher attack will go first.
That was the electrode.
Now the weather ball's been fired up, getting the shield back in time.
There's going to be some more energy being thrown here.
And the weather ball number two goes through this year.
Now one of these cold protect shields in this midgame matchup, absolutely.
Wow, in spite of the slight head start,
he's still not able to beat that shadow canton eye tails
to the punch on the second weather ball.
Wild charge will command the second shield though from any needle.
Coming now through, no protections left for either treatment in the game,
but the switch time is also back up, and we'll actually swap out first,
anticipate the swap here, Marlowe.
Here Marlowe actually stays in a little bit more, gets a ton of energy on his
Asusuri Electro before swapping in to soak that damage on his own giant Licky Licky.
I think that's incredible, right?
You tomorrow saw the swap coming, did not fall for it, didn't even blink.
In comes the near-match of that we've seen several times today,
but this is the last time you'll see it this season, trainers.
So, let's settle in.
We know that here tomorrow's Licky Licky does win that charge check priority if it comes down to it.
So both of these trainers are not only keeping eye on the health and energy of the Licky Licky.
They're also keeping an eye on that switch timer because every time on the path this road,
a little bit of that timer gets eaten up.
If we knew that with Pokemon that it would stick like this, they could take a body slam after body slam.
Look at this, and we need a switch timer already up.
Exactly. And as you called out earlier, the charge check party tie will go to here tomorrow's
Licky Licky each and every time that charge stack connects, Switch Timer is also up for
Emile Riedl and it's likely up for Hidomaru as well. This is when things start to get serious
because either Trader could swap at any half-second. And you don't want the attack
similarly lost on anything else. Actually Emile Riedl opting to go first, there was quite a bit
of energy onto that Licky Licky, swaps into that quad-seller and ends up taking it out,
but there's a little bit of help left on it and there's no potential. It comes in a
to completely arm it down, now no matter what comes in it's going to have to take a charge attack.
I was asked if, I mean, this Sasuni lecturer is almost at the double.
There are two Pokemon remaining.
Emmy Weedle will likely have to send out his Licky.
Licky loses the charge attack priority tie.
Here comes the wild charge.
How much energy is on that Shadow Cantonite Tails?
Hit him already.
He needs to recall now.
There was a blind wild charge there.
And an immediate pivot to swap.
Going in for the serve for this Jellison had saved up all that energy earlier on.
earlier on this is a shadow damage here this serve connects with the nine tails
it came out and that is it you tomorrow let the emotions watch over watch over you
you are a Pokemon go world champion heroes rise and heroes fall but here
tomorrow takes it all so well done so many battles fought in spite of the
rematches in spite of the stumbles both of these trainers gave everything they
could to this grand finals and we thought if he'd been pursuing an
electro show the jealousy came in there to steal the spotlight.
You see him bumping his fist. This is a trainer. It's the first time he's competed at the World Championships.
This is the first time a Japanese trainer has been on the main stage and this is the first time that he is taking it all home.
Tomorrow is going to bring that trophy back home to his region and he could not be more proud.
What a series. What a fracking really good.
Oh my goodness, you see Emmy Weedle's mom there clapping and the crowd proud for her son
who did such an amazing job throughout this tournament, throughout this whole competitive series.
Emmy Weedle, fantastic trainer, but here tomorrow took it all.
What a series. What a time and what a step for a lifetime of memories as we head down
to Fareed on the floor for an interview with your new world champion.
Hiromaru, you are the world champion. Can you share what's going through your mind
right now.
There was a lot going on, but I'm just very happy.
going on, but I'm just very happy. The number of games that you had to play
shows a level of mentality that is amazing. How did you fight through that
entire set after the bracket reset?
There were many rounds and many battles.
I also had a bucket reset.
What kind of control did you use to reset the bucket reset?
Even though I lost, we said that the back-and-garden we see are they able to
restrategize and was able to come back through you are representing Japan in
San Francisco and you have won what does that mean to represent your
I can't believe I'm standing here and I'm lost for a lot of words, but as standing here
as the first Japanese champion for Pokemon Girl.
I'm very proud.
We're all so, so proud of you.
This is your first World Championships.
You are now a World Champion.
We're gonna head over to the desk
where you have something special waiting for you in-game.
This time, I was appointed as the world champion for the first time in the world tournament.
I would like to check out the game from now on, but I have a special gift for you.
So, as world champion you get a special pose, you get a special outfit and these should
now have been added to your account.
So I'd like you to go onto your trainer account, into your style and you can click onto the
outfits just here.
Hiramaru, that is your world champion outfit.
That is your world champion pose.
Jay Center, give it up!
It's Hiramaru!
What an incredible grand final that was for Pokemon Go.
There is so much to digest and we have some brilliant analysts
who've loved to take you through everything that's happened here this weekend in San Francisco.
Thank you for reading and what an incredible grand finals and
performance in Hiromaru throughout the entire week.
He fought so badly and had so much grit throughout in his first ever world championship
and probably not going to be his last.
How do you feel about that one?
I'm not sure if I've seen a Pokemon Go trainer with the belief in his Pokemon as Hiromaru
just demonstrated not only yesterday but today to become your Pokemon Go World Champion. How about
closing it off with back-to-back charges? Acts two times in a row to seal the deal. The anticipation
to call a counter swap after four shields went down. An incredible World Champion.
I really felt like we were doing a dance the whole time between the Corsula and the Licky-Licky
and seeing what that alignment was going to stack up. And then at the same time you had
you had the electrode versus the nine tails as well.
There were just so many components
that were so incremental in this victory.
Honestly, every single second was just spectacular.
And what had mattered the most,
it felt like the defining lead match
above that series was the jealous
versus the quagsire.
So often was jealous of taking the knockout there.
However, the reveal at the end,
the adjustment in game number five
to throw the shadow ball, bank the serve
and almost flip the swing electrodes
worst matchup against it.
Electrode was trying to dodge the Kanto Ninetales all set, but he ends up safe switching it with the bank church attack
Weedle has to try and predict the switch out
But he stays on the field and at the end the surf connects Ninetales fell and hero Maru was crown champion
It's such a great point because the shift from yesterday to today for Amy Weedle was the glaring Corsula, right?
He didn't bring that early on in the winners finals
He brought that in the grand finals and that was the problem Pokemon
I believe he got three or four crucial fast attacks down with the astonish and able to do that and as you see
These are your top three here. Of course
We have two trainers from the Japan region in your top three in the Weedle is your finalists as well
And we got Kanto no in that third place four years ago in London in Pope on Ghost first ever world championship
we had Crescent Angels from Japan get that third in Heisman from Japan and since then they haven't eclipsed that until this year four years later.
Contono getting that third place and we know another grand finals in a world championships and hero mode taking the crown and taking the title to Japan on the 30th anniversary of Pokemon.
And I want to talk about some of these Pokemon as well.
We had so many familiar faces in the form of Licky Licky, the Tinkerton, also Dondozo really making a splash here at the Pokemon World Championships.
But the unsung hero, and I cannot believe I'm actually saying this, is that Hip-Hodon is a world champion.
Not only that, but in that final, we had so many other interesting choices.
Of course, the floor just doing incredibly well. The Electro too.
What I like as we take a look across Hiromaru's team is, if you take a look at the Hip-Hodon and the Electro,
and you take a look across the other seven teams.
You don't see a Hapaldon, you don't see an electrode.
Sometimes to be crowned champion, you have to take a risk.
You have to choose Pokemon you believe in,
even if others don't believe in them as well.
And it pays off as Hiromaru is our new world champion.
We can see so many of our decorated players
in that top eight.
Of course, there's the prize money as well,
the $20,000 in that first place
that will go to Hiromaru as well as the trophy
and all the athletes, but more importantly,
he has etch just named in the history books of Pokemon Go.
And of course, you get a trophy if you're in the top four
and it worked in the previous seasons
where if you got top four at the World Championships,
you do qualify for the next season
Pokemon Go World Championships as well.
So congratulations to all of our trainers
that got in the prize and here
at the Pokemon Go World Championships.
All right, trainers, are you ready?
Let's crown our world champion.
The best of the best delivered a bracket reset and now we must deliver the props our finalists
deserve.
Join me in celebrating our 2026 Pokemon Go World Championship finalists.
First, we have our runner-up, M. E. Weedle!
And our next finalist, first world championship run, first world championship title.
Everybody, get wild for hero Maru!
We'll get things going with the Pokemon trading card game, but for now, let's wrap up Pokemon
Go at the end.
Let's go.
30 years of Pokemon, 10 years of Pokemon Go, and for us in Championship Series, it's
our fifth World Championships, and you cannot talk about Pokemon Go Championship
series history without mentioning the legendary chapters of Emmy Weedle in
Hero Maru. And that is it was such an incredible road getting to the world
championships even qualifying is a feat in itself and your mom has tried three
separate times in his in his third time this year he made it and it just shows
how far you can take it the moment he makes this big station that any trainer
truly could take it all. And I love that we got the bracket reset as well you
You know, at the end of the day, the best of the best qualified to be here at the Pokemon
World Championships, and then we ended up with two trainers remaining.
We wanted to make sure that we had as much action as possible, and to be able to reset
that bracket just meant that every single moment was more instrumental to that victory,
a lot of incredible memories.
And I think as we take a look back across our top 12 Pokemon from day number two,
we're going to see quite a few Pokemon on screen, but also the Pokemon that are
missing are the ones that are just need to be no hip-hound on it, no electrode here
of Maru, forging his own path and he did so incredibly.
And even the Jealousy as well. And we saw in the Winner's Finals, he used that trio in every single
battle for four straight games to get on that Winner's side of the bracket. If he didn't do so,
he could have lost the World Championships by being on that loser's side, but he had that
cushion and it reset and he was able to take the Championships.
and that's something so impressive about Yurimaru and Kanto no Asouken got third place.
They didn't go with the flow of all the other plays.
They went against the meta, they went against the grain, and they did it their way,
and they faded so far into this tournament because of it.
And that's a beautiful part about Pokemon Go and Pokemon in general.
It's like, yes, there are certain Pokemon that a lot of people use, a lot of people love to use,
but you can also make your signature Pokemon, your MEP,
and Picks work in the right moments.
I love that sentiment, you know you can indeed sometimes win with your favorites and then maybe
a pokemon favorite is still yet to be conjured up if you do have great success with it. I know you've
enjoyed top dozos throughout this tournament, have a new home slice. Three gondosos at the top
eight is more than I ever could have hoped for. To see so many trainers go against the grain,
have incredible success has been really fun to see. Even as those top pokemon are revealed,
Pokemon like the Licky Licky and the Kanto Ninetales. The choice to run that
have hout on a sudden clear, hout on to resist the rollout. It has super effective
pressure into that Kanto Ninetales and honestly there's a really tough Pokemon
for any reedle to try and play around because it's the same pressure from that
hout on. And in the end the most meaningful Pokemon was the Hissuin
Electrode. It is 12th on the usage here and it's countered by the Shadow
Kanto Ninetales. That's probably the strongest Pokemon in the entire meta
right now so to be able to do that the belief as we talked about before it
really is the story of Pokemon definitely and you know some of these pics it
takes a brilliant mind to free it was convinced others that these Pokemon can
even be usable can even win it all and we can take a look at some of these cast
predictions too hey I see a couple wait hold on there's a pout on your side
too as well Henry we got all you know winners here on this one a lot of
I appreciate this place from Fareed and maybe those Pokemon didn't necessarily make it to the Grand Finals, but maybe in his hands he would have done it.
Not gonna lie, feeling pretty good with this Asuna.
I guess, there we go.
I think obviously I was going to pick my boy Gastrodong, but there was a lot of great utility from Pokemon like the Fludges and the Thiebel as well that we got to see throughout the competition on the broadcast.
But of course, the superstar really is that Ninetales as well. We saw it time and time again.
time and time again. It was a popular choice amongst those classes. So I do think I was on
something that even if I didn't necessarily have the winning numbers there, I had some
good, good scores I'd say.
I feel pretty okay with mine. Bowed on, the only bowed on on the bracket ends up taking
home the world championship. Three Dandozos in the top eight. We saw quite a few Manteens,
but the Manteens, they kind of fizzled out towards the end of day two. And Annihilate,
it appears, it won back to back regionals. Sorry, back to back the world championships,
but it was unable to get the 3P.
Yeah, on Nyleve of course one of the strongest Pokemon ever. I had that in my predictions as well
But we actually did pretty good, which isn't always the case
It's always the trainers that are doing awesome
But it's nice to see the cast of predictions go kind of well for us as well
And definitely and that's you know, just like really cool part here
Pokemon go because you can just build a team however
You would like to and try to make the sims use word
They might not make sense on their own but paired with certain Pokemon
You got the Hissu, like you're paired with the Shadowhawk out of,
making something no one ever thought of.
And maybe the only team with those specific two Pokemon combinations
is what makes certain Pokemon unleash their true potential.
I think as well throughout this 2020-60s,
and we've seen so many different archetypes rise to the top
as different meta evolutions come through,
and we are in that forever forward meta,
and this is kind of the end point that we've been able to achieve.
We only got a glimpse of the Turin event very at the end of the summer,
and now to be able to be here at Worlds
to see how it has evolved over time has been incredible going into the next season. Things
are completely going to change.
The end of the 2026 season I think was a very special one as we had a lot of trainers being
able to win first time events. We had Arrow winning in Los Angeles, Caspian Pike who had
a great performance at Worlds, winning in Indianapolis and then the crowning jewel
of the 2026 season. Hero Maru in his first ever Worlds able to take home the crown
and be crowned our 2026 World Champion.
I think 2026 the story has been ascension just as it was in the regional championships in some international championships as well
We're won by some dominant trainers
But here in the world championships a trainer that we haven't seen before from a region
We're not as familiar with but these Japanese trainers pulled off two of the top three of the Pokemon world championships
And had eight of the remaining thirty two in day number two as we get Regis
We're not very familiar with that makes it we're including this year's world championships three years in a row that a pack as the whole has taken
You're crying 2024 in Hong Kong and we got feels the boy from India last year in Anaheim
And this year we have your model from Japan. They have way less performance way less chances to qualify
But that means that everyone that comes out of those regions are absolute
monsters at the game and definitely a region that if you didn't respect it for you better respect it
I feel like you've just thrown the challenge Cortland down all of the other regions going into the 2020
Yeah we can't figure it out
Yeah like Cortland I step up your game what you doing over here
I think that's one of the nice things though is at the end of the season
Yes at the end of one era but it's the start of a new one as well
And for a lot of trainers watching that particular game of the tournament all weekend long
They're gonna be inspired whether they're a veteran of the competition or maybe a new viewer tuning in to Perkwon
go for the very first time hopefully we're going to see the game grow and grow.
Well to that point we are ending the era a little bit for Pokemon Go Championship series where
we've had five on the individual world championships but next year we're going to have some team
Pokemon Go World Championships and I believe we are ready to head over to TCG so let's get on to the stage.
more to go. Our next title has challenged our trainers to adapt, innovate, and outplay
the competition. And now, three more names will join the ranks of those imprinted upon
the banners above. Everybody, it is time for our Pokemon trading card game finalists.
of the puzzle. And that is too much.
A punk helmet? Because why not?
That's the KO on that door lock.
We retreat, we guss, we KO, we win.
He's going to take the ball!
That's the ball! He's going to KO with Moltres!
He's going to take the ball!
It seemed like she had no way back.
It is so hard to get to this point.
We headed to a bird and a signing geek.
He's going to extend the hand here.
The third miracle run continues.
It seems the inevitable is coming.
That's it, Boston's orders, chaos.
We are going to a game free.
This is Henry Glossman.
There's the option.
I'm the Angel, Captain Walker is back.
If Peter Hedrick finds Boston's orders,
he will win the game.
Now an opportunity to become a world champion.
Everyone at home, everyone in the chase center, are you ready to meet your TCG Junior finalists?
up. You saw him rocking the pillar at NAIC and now he's come to make his mark on the
world championship stage. Give it up for Luke Giffin.
the
next up, you've seen him as the victor of the Japan
championship series and now looking to take off against a new rival.
give a warm welcome to Araki Utah.
All right, Luke, it wasn't that long ago that we saw you competing at NAIC getting that victory.
How have things changed for you as a competitor from then until now?
Not much. I've just found a new deck and played it a lot.
Reps are very important and a new deck, something to look forward to.
Alright, Utah. You've been playing for about four years now.
You're coming to us after winning the JCS.
How have you been preparing to make your debut on a stage like this?
What kind of training did you prepare for the World Cup?
I trained a lot with friends and friends from the online tournament.
takes to make it here on the world championship stage,
but it is time for you to make your way
to your battle stations and get RTCG finals started.
Two of the world's best competitors
in the Junior's division fighting to see who will be this year's world champion cannot stress enough how big this match is and what is on the line for both of these competitors.
And one thing is for certain, Ethan, it is going to be a good old classic Dragapult mirror match as you can see on your screen.
But of course, with anything about Dragapult, it is always about which variant you are going to bring to the tournament that seems that both of our competitors have decided to go two separate, separate ways.
That is the versatility of course of dragapult ex
Most powerful ex Pokemon many would consider in the format
It's all about that phantom dive attack feeling damage to the active Pokemon while spreading damage counters on to the bench
Welcome in ladies and gentlemen to the TCG portion of tonight's championship Sunday
My name is even hegy Emily Foreman is joining me
What a match and what a plethora of matches we have in store for you all today
If it's one thing that is for certain, you just never know what you're going to sit across from in the Pokemon trading card game.
Over the past season, we've seen plenty of decks take home the gold, and especially across different divisions, we've seen different decks really kind of rise to the top.
So I'm interested to see two of our competitors who are champions in their own right who is going to come out on top of the world.
It is a battle of North America up against Japan.
Two national champions paid their way through the opposite sides of the bracket.
As you see, a lot of Dragonfall in this bracket, Luke advancing into the semifinals,
to hit down Michael in that mirror match.
Utah doing the same against Bo Sen Jang they meet now in the finals.
It's so interesting to see which variants of Dragonfall really come to the top of the meta
at a time because there are so many micro decisions and micro thinking that you can really do.
I mean technically they all kind of counter each other in some sort of way here so I'm excited to
see Luke return to the stage here but of course Utah as well a very well-known junior in Japan.
Both have put a lot of time into this deck. Talk to them a little bit before the match today.
essentially playing Dragapult for the end of the season. Those repetitions are
gonna come in extremely important for this hero match. You can see who is
predicting on each side and it looks like Team USA not the most
representatives but Emily you are one of Luke's supporters here. Well I've got to
tell you why even it's because it's back on Luke's tournament and I did see
that Utah had actually taken a loss to Dragapult to Dunn-Sparse a little
earlier in the round. So I am going off of that knowledge, but I think for you
even you're gonna go based off of the matchup, and Dustcore is going to have
a lot to say about the Dustcars. It's so hard to pick one of these trainers. I
wish I could put that logo right in the middle and say either champion is
fine, and that is definitely the case. That Dustcore's first blast ability,
100% something to keep in mind in this matchup.
players get ready to get down to the table.
You're going to be seeing that drag-of-hold mirror match.
A lot of key factors going into this matchup.
And truly it is champion versus champion.
As you can check out the accomplishments here on the stream,
I mean, LAIC champion and NAIC champion Luke is on a roll
to claim his third champion title within the same season.
Still looking on over to Utah as well, the JCS champion.
The champion of Japan is here. It is a star studded final season.
On a direct collision course to see who will become this year's champion.
As you mentioned, Dragapult EX and both players that are using that the Dunsparce runaway draw
to provide a consistent end, there are some cool combos you can do
by benching that Pokemon repeatedly throughout the course of the game.
the game. One of the Pokemon that I think everybody in the trading card game
really truly loves to see hit the bench is going to be that could do and
starting to use itchy pollen to lock off a lot of these items so it's really
about who wants to go first, who wants to go second, who essentially has the
better setup here because once what do comes into play even a lot of engines
stop running. Definitely an important factor. It leads to termination a
supporter card that since its release has worked the medicaid to be a popular and
heavily relied on inclusion that's another card that either of those players
can consistently evolve into their triclote and cycle through their deck with
that card they're gonna have a lot easier of a time setting up. And while these
players are definitely playing different archetypes of dragapult, I'm not gonna
talk about it just yet but things like ace fed that one of card in the deck
that you can play to really turn the tides has been different for both players.
So I am very excited to see when certain things are going to drop down.
Two similar decks, but two very different backgrounds for these players,
testing in different regions, playing different formats, different ornament structures.
Those differences and the advantages for both players given the circumstance.
So excited to see Luke again here up on the stage. He massively won Grand Finals in NAIC just a couple months ago.
And not to mention even, there's been a whole expansion set that has been released between NAIC and Worlds.
And that is pitch black. And it seems to just not have too much of a meta term at the Sonar Junior's division here.
Talked about the A-Spec as we're setting up, definitely an important thing to mention.
Most of these Dragonbolt B-Expecs, insistently playing that unfair scam part, it's an excellent disruption tool.
Run me through the A-Spec that Luke has decided to play this weekend.
Well, Luke has definitely gotten a little bit tricky with his A-Spec, and it is going to be the Hero's Cave.
Dragapult already has above 300 hit points, but Hero of the Scam is actually going to give an extra 100 HP to this Dragapult.
And especially within the Dragapult here in Eden, where there are damage counters flying left and right,
both players are going to be starting to set up multi-prize knockout turns.
It's really important for Group to protect these multi-prize knockouts from happening.
No tool disruption over on you to side, nothing like a tool scrapper or jamming tower.
So once that hero's cape comes down, it makes things tricky for you to be able to deal with that Pokemon.
There's so much damage that flies back and forth, speaking of which, we cannot go without talking about Monkey Dory's Adrenaline.
Yeah, I've already talked about Buddus. Why not mention Buddus' best friend?
best friend and that is Monkey Dory who has been meta ever since the card has
come into our game essentially can take these damage counters that you receive
from Dragapult's mana doc and send them back not only can you use it a little
bit more defensively but Dragapult DX players tend to use it a little bit more
offensively. Once again we want to see these players set up multi-prize
knockouts and then use something like an unfair scam to try and stick their
hands, they can't draw any more cards.
Did talk about the pitch, black expansion, no, you know, super important archetypes of course.
Some decks emerge, some decks got better.
One big major card that we are seeing in Yuta's list, looking through, it is that special
red card.
In fact, both players playing that extra form of hand disruption, it's going to be even
more important on Luke's side since he does not have that unfair stand.
We did have rotation, as we'd like to call it in the trading part game mid-season.
We did lose a very popular supporter card of Iono, which shuffles your player's hands
in the bottom of the deck, and then you draw as many prize cards remaining.
It's a little bit different with that special credit card here, so I'm excited to see
when those are going to come into play, because once again it is very, very important to find.
Talk about the coin flip. These first couple of turns so crucial for the center. Does the player find out the do on turn one?
How consistently do the energy cards come into play? And one more fact to always think about. How does the energy stick in play?
Neither of these players are playing a card like crushing him. We see how impactful that card can be in the mirror match.
These players are going to be feeling a little bit more comfortable spreading their energy out,
maybe committing to that monkey dory a bit earlier than usual.
On a normal day, tropical players would love to go second.
Even though, while very popular in the Pokemon trading card game,
you want to go first to evolve up,
but just in case your hand doesn't have too many options,
you still want to be able to use a supporter like that early determination that you mentioned
to refresh the hand to try and find those buddy-buddy coffins,
will support me to use that but you to get itchy fallen into play players eager
and anxious to set up other opening cans the basic vocal on to put into play to
start you options for Luke you gotta wait to put those prize cards out we
have a prize can for a reason ladies and gentlemen see those prize cards see
what pieces are unavailable. There is a buddhu in the price, and that's the only copy of the buddhu
for you to end up with your club. Both players struggling right off the beat.
Those are the consistency cards that even I are talking about. But a key to this
Dragon Cult deck, when the ineffable hand of disruption decides to hit, and everyone,
there are Pokemon trainers from all over the world today. And whether you just left the
the professor's lab with your first Parker Pokemon,
or you've taken your first steps onto Victory Road,
you are about to be a part of history.
So, San Francisco, are you ready
to grab your trading card game champion?
She should underway game number one
in our junior's division.
You're definitely starting things off with the Pokepad,
and immediately going to get the bad news
that Itchy Pollen will not be an option for him
in game one.
And that's definitely going to be something
that Link is taking into account right away here.
As that opening prize check is very important here,
you get to see the rest in the hand, Ethan,
but as long as there is at least that energy attachment
of that higher energy, can't be too bad.
Have you reliance in the list for you
to on that Dawn supporter card?
We've seen that in Alakazam as a consistent way
to get Pokemon into play.
It's great in this Dragon Ball deck.
Those three be Yemeter Cloak of Bald,
using Recon Directive to add
some consistency to the plan.
See this PokéPat?
Abdreyby put it into play and start to develop the ball.
Well, Utah has done a great job of grabbing the Dreby.
We have to talk about the secondary engine,
that this deck is technically playing,
and that is going to be this Dusk Noir line,
that's cursed glass.
And Utah not showing it already means
that may not have an opportunity
to go and get these Dusk Goals ready to go.
The energy attachment is key,
but the problem is that is a great sign for Luke
that his done sparse when he puts them into play
are actually gonna be safe for quite some time.
Action on Luke, see that done sparse.
Top deck, four turn, pokey pad, excuse me.
Not yet available, the buddy, buddy puffin'
to kick turn off.
Start to see some treatment come into play
and even considering immediately
the due as a disruptive option.
A lot of the times players really want to conserve
their energy attachments.
Different variations of Dragon Bolt really love
to have that energy acceleration
something like a Blaziken EX, but none of these Pokemon are actually in the deck here.
So these energy attachments are actually very important.
But the thing is for Lukey, the moment that he sees that there's no buddy on Utah's side,
he really just wants to stop the engine before it keeps going.
Item cards, such a heavy reliance for this deck.
Pokey Pat finds Dracloak, Dracloak finds more cards, and once that ball starts rolling,
it's really hard to stop. But if you can get in the way, disrupt the setup,
Even just a little bit, the tides start to turn and the floodgates can easily open.
The only problem with this deck search or loot here is that as a reminder, there are two drag
floats within it with prizes and because of this variation of drag float, there are no
rare candies to get straight into drag float from here.
So it's going to be energy attachment onto the Monkey Dory and the Pokepad as well
to find that one of two copies of drag float in the deck.
itchy pollen as an option wants to play those item cards before potentially shut
off. But no supporter card in hand for Luke. The hand is looking pretty weak
otherwise Byzantipity can't use that until a knockout is taken. We will see
the first itchy pollen of many in this series. It's gonna be a really weird turn
for Luke if he's unable to find the Dundas cards to use that runway draw
and draw a couple of more cards here. Pass back on over to Yuta's turn and
There's that daunt that you were talking about, Ethan.
And I'd finally be able to at least set up
a little bit of a part of the Duskline,
but also grab that key to click here.
And immediately thinking towards the next turn,
no supporter card in the hand, energy, items, stadium,
none of those super impactful
wants to grab that Meowvx,
so you can use that last stitch catch,
ability on the following turn
to find a supporter like Lily's Determination.
And eight cards is definitely what Utah wants to find.
I mean, granted, off of this recon directive,
another energy card like a fire energy so at least Dragapult could potentially get into
play next turn. Feels pretty good with the propels with this Meowth EX. It is a very good
card you are able to go find as a supporter, but the pull is it only has 170 hit points.
It is very susceptible to a Dragapult Phantom Die that is going to stay on the bench for
the rest of the game if he puts it down.
Recon directive. Not a great choice, not very good options. Buddy Buddy Poppin cannot
be played thanks to items being shut off.
See the fire energy attached to your cloak,
so it's almost ready to go for the following turn.
Risky Ruins comes down,
meaning any Pokemon that are put into play from this point
will have two damage counters placed on them.
See what the rest of the hand looks like.
Big recon director for Luke,
can he find some sort of help
and immediately finds Lily's determination,
a huge find off these two cards.
That's exactly what you want to see if you're a Luke,
but let's talk about that Risky Ruins,
even is very important key card here in this matchup. If you have any Pokemon that you place
onto the field, if it is not a Dark-type Pokemon, it gets two damage counters. And the thing is,
we already talked about this in our kind of pre-match conversation. Monkey Dory loves to see
those damage counters already to go to send them back to the other side.
Dark energy already in play means those counters can be moved over to another Pokemon,
kind of get in this weird spot where Monkey Dory moves the damage counters over one turn,
and then the other players, Monkey Dory, moves it back and forth.
There's that to Dunsparse you were talking about, Emily.
Looking for energy cards, which cannot evolve that Treepee since it came into Blavis' turn,
and immediately evolving into the Dunsparse, using that runaway draw, looking for some
help.
The Bim cards are online for Luke.
There was not an itchy paw in play back.
Now we'll see Buddy Buddy puff in, re-grab Dunsparse, and potentially another Treepee.
This is exactly what you want to do if you are leaky.
You have to look on the side of Utah here
and know that there's only going to be one
at Dragapult and play.
So why not get every single engine
that you have in the deck up and running right now here?
But the question is, Ethan, I mean,
Lucas prize two Dragflokes here,
wouldn't he want to find at least one more?
Definitely an option for the following turn.
See energy play down.
See the Monkey Dory use that Adrenal Brink
to start two damage counters from Drippi moved onto the opposing track loak.
Just considering how else to play that turn, preemptively playing Pokipad, preparing for
potential itchy pollen shenanigans for the future, as things stand, Utah will have the
option to strike first with that Dragapult EX and Energy already being in the hand.
What's really unfortunate for Luke here is that there are two damage counters very
on that creepy that came down on this turn so phantom dive not only doesn't do
200 damage to the active but it does six damage counters to the bench as well so
Yuta can very well either take the next creepy or even that draw engine up at
the dunce or the dunce bars excuse me for next turn this is a big decision
with me out the X does Yuta want to set up the board for play something
like the lily's determination or get aggressive use boss's orders KO that
trick cloak as well as the drapey on the bench and immediately you see put to the
top of the deck utah wants to get aggressive in this mirror match part of
the reason why utah is playing this dusk noir line is to get aggressive most of
the time when you have dust balls and dusk moors you use them to spread these
damage counters so you can just destroy your opponent's side of the
board and while yes I mean not much else to go with alongside on Utah side here
taking at least the big draw engine off the board and leaving Luke having to
find a way to get these creepy back it's the only way for him to go and
importantly will not be threatened on the following turn from a phantom dive
Luke is not playing any cards like rare candy to evolve Pokemon up and skip
that stage of evolution here we go playing the bosses orders rings up
the trick. Look, Phantom dive,
taking two prize cards, knocking
out the trick. Look creepy and
leaving Luke with a poor board
has one blood to a dump sparse
and a tree to go. And you can
imagine even that that direct
look might be seeing a boss's
orders next at this point for
Utah can absolutely get
aggressive as well. While
being under item lock for sure,
this turn it might be the fact
that he's already really far ahead.
I was about to say above this done sparse we could potentially see another two prize knockout this start
This is so risky to use itchy pollen on the active
It would bring dragapult EX up to three damage counters on it
If you took a monkey Dory plus dark energy of his own that then strict slope is in a world of hurt
It's not exactly what you want to see if you're moving. Let's go back a couple turns even
I mean Utah was very very far behind had only half of the Pokemon
He wants to see out on the field and now Luke only happy wonder how close to really work with now
We'll play buddy buddy pop and look through the deck. There is one dream you're remaining
So place that down and this risky ruin from Utah is putting in so much work
Exactly what you want to see if you are on Utah side here, but ooh
Okay from the top rope cirrhosis
vaccinations comes down, now forces Utah to only keep three cards in his hand and discard the rest,
does get to choose. Look at this spot. Luke can discard some resources. Now if Utah wanted to
try and play a supporter card to find the Monkey Dory Dark Energy, it may become a little bit
too difficult. And doesn't also very clearly have a draft cloak in play just yet either. So
So that draw engine that Drekloak provides with Reconton Directive
is actually not in play just yet.
So the question is, what is going to be prioritized,
just keeping the consistency cards
or finding a way to get that Drekloak for next turn?
Now Yuta did take two prize cards on the previous turn,
so we'll have access to those cards taken out of the prize cards.
You see a lot of item cards,
and that's what Yuta may be thinking about in this spot.
What cards will I be able to play on the following turn?
Is my opponent going to use itchy pollen on my active?
Are they going to try and play around monkey dory?
But even if you don't use itchy pollen,
there is still two damage counters on that active.
You'd have to use your own monkey dory
to move that counter off.
Like you had said, Ethan, there are a ton of item cards
within this hand for Utah to get those dust goals set up.
The problem is, I feel like Luke is just going
to have to itchy pollen again, unfortunately,
as you pointed out already.
Now the thing is, Monkey Dory with that energy onto it
is now going to finally come into play.
We are going to see some Mind Bend shenanigans.
If Utah wants to attack next turn,
he's just gonna have to flip heads for it.
Needs to buy some time, and this is a great way to do so.
Mind Bend, 60 damage to be active,
but more importantly, confusing this dragon pull EX.
If Utah wants to use Phantom Dive this turn,
we'll have to flip a coin.
If heads, it will go through as normal,
but if he flips tails, not only does the attack fail,
but he'll deal 30 damage to itself.
And Yuta, holding onto the very key card of Poképad here,
is going to be able to get this Drakfolk out from the deck
to use Recon Directive.
I don't believe Yuta kept a supporter in hand,
so ideally this Recon Directive should give him
potentially Abe Lively's determination
to refresh the hand.
But more importantly, Ethan, where are these Dust Goals?
Currently missing in action.
Yuta would love to see those come down.
Now having Duskle in play early on in the game is a huge advantage.
60 HP means a phantom dive can directly take a KO on that Pokemon.
Always got to be careful about how many prize cards you're giving up compared to the threat.
So here we go, two cards and look at that Lily's Determination.
Two options for both players now off of these crucial recon directive abilities.
Got to feel good if you're Utah, especially because Utah is not under item lock anymore at this point.
So, a very fresh six cards, unfortunately, for Yuta, because it has already taken a surprise card.
So, Lily's determination will only give him six instead of eight, but still, I'm sure that is a very welcome six cards.
Just thinking about how to approach the turn, it's going to be an energy attachment to the active.
You are seeing that, correct, ladies and gentlemen.
Dragapult does only need two energy cards to use Phantom Dive.
However, Yuta is very scared of what this confusion could do to Dragapult EX
If he goes for a powerful attack, wants to play safe and maybe retreat this Pokemon to the bench.
Yeah, but what do you retreat into, Ethan? You have your draw engine up and running finally,
but you also have a Pokemon that gives over two prizes, and that would even up the prize race
for Luke. So I'm interested to see what Utah is going to retreat into. Maybe his own monkey Dory,
if he were able to find it.
But who could definitely valuable, but it's in the prize cards. It's unavailable.
We'll have to go into the tank and think a bit about what is the best grab.
Six cards from Lily's determination drawn off of the top of the deck.
We have seen the energy attachment for turn.
Looking potentially for the Duskull, as you mentioned, another Treepee.
Let's take a look at the discard pile, see what resources have been played on Luke's side.
Looks like a knight's structure. That's of course a powerful recovery card.
There are three in Luke's deck, which is slightly above the average, especially without playing Dustler.
And what's really important about Luke and his deck list from what we were talking about a little bit earlier,
Luke has not revealed that Hero's Cape yet. Traditionally in Dragopul, Dragopul's loved to play that unfair stamp as an aspect,
but Luke actually still concealing it here. Maybe once you get into Dragopul first and use something like a christen to accelerate energy
energy before slapping the hero's cape onto his dragapult and having over 400 hip points.
That is the difficulty of both A-Specs in the deck. Super powerful, but also very difficult to find.
You need to get a bit lucky at times, draw into them off Lily's determination,
something like flip the script, or of course, recon directive. There are games that can
happen in the Pokemon TZG where you look through so much of your deck,
but you're unable to find that powerful A-Spec, and it can definitely change the
the Tides of Battle.
Risky Ruins still in play as well.
And this Risky Ruins has been here, essentially.
I believe since turn one or two, Ethan.
So these damage counters are still very much down here.
But finally, a Duskull found for Yuta
can absolutely line up a Cursed Blast turn.
That is now the question at hand.
What does Yuta want to retreat into?
That Duskull does seem like a decent option
of course, Cursed Blast, KO's itself to put damage counters
on the opponent's Pokemon, but it also would be a range
of an easy prize thanks to Mind Bend.
It looks like the Treepee will be promoted.
That also would be KO'd from Mind Bend.
Really just thinking that Dusk Glopscore,
Dusk Nord down the line, could be a key to victory.
This is a massive turn for Luke
if he is able to fire off all of these cards.
Just as a reminder, everybody,
there is still two draft books in the prizes for Luke.
So he's really kind of needing to work with the Dunsparse and the Dunsparse as much as possible.
These are the only two draft looks.
The problem is, if you were to evolve up into Dragopoltex, you're essentially losing one of those draw engines.
But still, see what Lily's determination is going to give Luke, because that's a massive eight cards.
Luke now with a lot of options at his disposal, what is the best approach do you think for him to end this turn?
What attack or Pokemon should be up in that active spot?
just doesn't feel comfortable, right?
Because the supporter for turn was the
literally determination instead of Crispin.
So while, yes, Luke is able to use Mind Bend
to use, to have another knockout, essentially,
onto Utah side, and maybe it's okay
to put the do fun at this point.
It's really hard to say.
That monkey door is just so valuable
once it has a dark energy on it.
See recon directive number one and number two.
Already a dragon pull EX in the hand,
So we'll see that psychic energy crap.
No, just wants to get double Dragapult.
That is an important thing in this matchup.
Recon directive, while so valuable,
Dragklok is so frail compared to that Dragapult EX.
What I am worried about, Ethan,
going into this next turn.
Well, yes, Ichy Pollen is a great attack here.
You have to wonder if Luke is considering evolving up
into the Dragapult EX to try and protect the draw engine,
but still Ichy Pollen here.
Let's see if Yuta's gonna at least have an energy to retreat to start launching the Phantom Dive once more.
The release determination found yet again, in the rest of the hand, very weak.
Just going to use the Recon Directive and that assist from the release determination will draw Yuta another six cards, those cards being shuffled back in, randomized to the deck.
See if there are some key pieces found for Yuta on this turn.
And you want to talk about key pieces that dust goal is now ready to evolve.
I believe Utah showed just a little bit earlier that he does play a rare candy
and does play two in the list here.
So if he were to be evolving up into the dust
gloves could potentially take one of the draft looks onto the bench,
give it a knockout here, then taking two more prizes would be down
to the final two that he would need to win this game.
The scops with 90 HP would require something like monkey
Dory to put it in range, which we do already see in play.
And Dusk Lobb's really wants to get into the fray,
says hello from the shadows onto the top of the deck.
We'll see everything get re-randomized again
and get ourselves back on their way.
Yeah, the flying out of the deck, right?
I mean, Utah did not have that in the beginning
of the game, no Dusk Lobb's down.
And now actually has a full board ready to go
to start sifting through here.
So, recon directive in the rest of the hand,
like you said, even wasn't giving a much before,
but I don't think it's giving him much now either.
They find that dustlops was able to be kept into the hand.
Evolving it up still has those two damage counters on it.
And now the consideration for Utah.
What is the attack of choice?
Is there an energy card in hand?
This Dragon pull EX with 200 HP remaining
is in perfect range of a boss's orders KO
and after a slow start,
Luke has an opportunity to capitalize.
This needs to be a massive turn for Luke, especially because of that one damage counter sitting on the Dragpult, Ethan.
Dust Blobs is currently sitting at 70 hit points, so if Luke is able to get into Dragapult EX, finding psychic energy,
not only can he knock out this active Drippy with Phantom Dive, he can also take that looming threat of Dust Blobs off the board as well.
There's the Crispin. Does also have the Hero's Cape. Is the final piece of Dragapult there?
Crispin definitely an option and this is where the crossroads can feel overwhelming for Dragapult EX.
A knockout always nice onto multiple Pokemon. You've got to be thinking about the energy cards in play.
That Dragapult EX is the immediate threat. What should Luke do in this spot?
Should he go after that Dragapult or should he just take the guaranteed two prize cards?
It might just be you're already a little bit far behind. You mentioned this a little bit earlier, Ethan.
you're Ethan, that desktops technically does give you a prize card here, but the prize mapping is also really important as well.
Double checking that he wants to take that boss's orders. Like you alluded to just a little bit earlier,
could potentially take a drag cloak as well.
There's a lot of Pokemon on the bench with 70 hit points here, but like you said, as long as that Monkey Dory has a dark energy on to it,
you can get anything done. But there's that Crisp in here, finds that missing energy piece here.
Let's see if he's going to be able to get it done two different energy types found from the deck one attached
Directly to a Pokemon that does not count as your energy attachment for turn can only play one from your hand
And this is how the deck is able to fire off
Bantam dive attacks from essentially out of nowhere
I think what Luke has done also really well is keep that draggable DX on Utah side and mine
It does have 200 hit points remaining, but this is the board that you love to see even with that risky ruins in play
There's some automatic damage counters that are already now in play for monkey Dory to send back over onto
Utaside and there it is the big reveal heroes cave. That is a very very brave Dragonfall brings Dragonfall EX up to
essentially
420 hit points Dragonfall EX strikes back with Phantom dive
KO's the trippy, KO's the cursed blast dust globs, and leaves Utah in a spot where he has to work to get himself back in this game.
And what Luke has done extremely well is he set up that dragon pull that's about to come into the active spot and be the attacker.
Already has 200 hit points remaining here and that draft look as well with the 30 hit points on it too.
Both of them actually have some damage onto it, but still I mean Luke has set up double monkey Dory.
This is exactly what you want to see, and thanks to Chris for making it all possible.
So double recon directive at Utah's disposal. These amount of cards in hand from that Lily's
determination on the previous turn. We are seeing the impact of Monkey Dory with Luke having
double Monkey Dory set up and a bit of support from Dunspar's Andrew Cloak. We now get into
the middle to late game where stability is the number one factor.
Let's talk about the prize map here, especially if Yuta were to use Phantom Dive into this active
Dragapult here. Double Monkey Dory means that at least six damage counters are able to be thrown
back to the other side of the board. You got to look at it here, right? Dragapult only has 190
hit points remaining. Then Double Monkey Dory, Adrenaline sends six damage counters already
over to the damage draft cloak, and then those six remaining damage counters that Phantom Dive
has yet to use will go on the final one. That could be a 4 price turn.
Time will tell. As we get into this game immediately, as in Dippity EX placed into play, we'll see that
flip the script ability drawn three cards because one of Yuta's Pokemon were knocked out on the
previous turn. Now just deciding how to sequence this turn. Do you play item cards to
bind Pokemon out of the deck? That would shuffle the deck, meaning those cards placed
on the bottom from previous recon directive abilities would be shuffled back in the order
of the deck would change.
The thing is both players are still also at four prize cards here and I feel like now that
special red card has been brought into our game.
A lot of players are playing very masterfully around it.
Special red card only turns on if your opponent does have three prize cards left.
So honestly Utah just using it as ultra ball fodder at this point because Luke
still sitting at four prizes with a very, very set up board.
Yuta has a solid response on deck.
Monkey Dory from the Ultra Wall put into hand
has yet to attach an energy card for turn.
And I see what is maybe the most powerful card
in the game right now, unfair sniff in the hand.
Will this be the turn that Yuta wants
to play that powerful aspect?
You might have to, but still though,
what I really want to see Yuta target down
is going to be that done sparse on Luke's side here.
We talked about draw engines a little bit earlier,
and while having the Drag Cloak is great, having the Dunsparse and Runaway Draw is even better.
Sift into three more cards here, so Yuta has a very big decision, right?
Can move some of these damage counters over to the Drag Cloak, get that out of a plague,
but even I might think the Dunsparse might be a little bit better.
It's tough that the Dunsparse draws more cards, but you have to reset it up every turn.
And once that your Cloak evolves into Dragofolt EX, it becomes even more difficult to KO.
see the end game for the stack lots of time looks like Monkey Dory as many as
possible and two Dragapul EX to force your opponent to take difficult prize
cards. It does give that your cloak just is a looming threat down the line and
something that needs to be taken care of this turn. It is so hard to see what
Utah should do. There are tons of paths and that is the big thing about the
Pokemon trading card game. We call it sequencing making sure that you're
doing things in the correct order because certain decisions on turn two for example can really affect you even in those final tense tense moments
Looks like everything is back in order recon directive number one
Choose one card one of those was the dawn
It is gonna be the psychic energy
That's not quite the dark energy that Utah is looking for but instead going to commit to a
a Dragapult EX down the line so you does not need to rely off the supporter card like Crispin or
Rosa's encouragement. A little bit worried about these Dragapults sitting on the bench for Yuta as
well does at least have a Dragapult EX in hand so if Yuta wants to get out of Phantom Dive range
with that Dragapult on the bench can at least evolve up into the Dragapult EX giving a little
bit more health to work with. It's a tough spot for Yuta. Luke is threatening game in two turns
with a knockout on Dragapult EX and a knockout on that Meowth or Pheasant Dippity. So Yuta may have
to ask himself what Pokemon assists my opponent the most to getting to that winning board state.
Going to evolve up into Dragapult EX to protect that Pokemon, give it a bit more HP,
And there is the Team Rocket's Watchtower.
Now all Coloss Pokemon in play do not have abilities.
Bosses orders to combo with that.
Truffloke is going to be KO'd and there is a timed unfair stamp.
Pours a loop to just two cards in his hand.
This is exactly what you want to see if you are Utah,
shutting off this engine.
And Ethan, this Team Rocket's Watchtower
has become a very big favorite for a lot of decks.
A lot of the times players are really thinking about
shutting something off like Megakang has gone,
but it actually also not only shut off some of the Alps EX, but it also does shut off that full engine of Dunspar.
So one big thing is Monkey Dory was pulled, but it wasn't actually benched here.
So I'm wondering if Utah is really respecting Double Monkey Dory on Luke's side.
Five cards drawn.
Of course, I've seen the supporter card play for turn in that boss's orders.
There is Monkey Dory for future turns.
does not have a way to accelerate another energy to it this turn since that
Dragonbolt EX was evolved as well as energy attached to it but all things
considered for Utah is setting up a wing that potentially down the line. You can
take two prize cards this turn that Purdue with just 30 HP can be knocked
out from Phantom Dive and on the following turn if you can use an
entrant of your own plus a boss's orders done sparse not evolving could
be the difference maker. And that beautiful line that we talked about a
little bit earlier with Dumple Monkey Dory taking away both drag floats that is
essentially now gone and shut because of the evolution up into Dragapult here
but another two prizes for Utah. And smartly placing all of the damage
counters on the dude does not want to give Luke any option to Adrenal Brain.
Action over Luke. What did he find off of that unfair stamp? Just three
cards at him. Poke pad can find it done sparse a minimum giving it that extra HP
would prevent Utah from winning the game on the following turn. I'm surprised for
you Ethan I think Luke has the answer to that Team Rocket's watch tower and it is
going to be the risky ruins. Usually in the trading card game sometimes we say
unfair stab is a lie and it certainly is right now giving Luke a ton of
options back that he really really needed. Three great cards drawn.
night stretcher, psychic energy, and Lily's determination.
The knockout is lined up immediately,
and it looks like Yuta understands the writing is on the wall.
Luke Giffin is going to take game number one.
Massive play from Luke setting up not only the Dragapult EX,
but what can't Double Monkey Dory do?
Even if Yuta were to attack back into Luke next turn,
Yuta still has those six damage counters to throw around,
and traditionally they tend to go on Pokemon like Besendipity EX
and all Luke would have to do is find boss's orders to take the game home.
So why not for Utah to give himself a little bit more time to really work with here
and I believe he'll probably be wanting to go second this time.
We saw in game number one these two different Dragapult EX decks clash
in their own unique style for Utah.
Going into game number two, what does he need to do differently
or what cards may he need to have access to to fight back and force a game three?
Maybe a dust goal, Ethan. I mean, let's talk about it. I mean, Utah had access to,
I mean, the attacking part of the deck, but truly did not have access to the other parts.
But here's some of those key moments from our game. Number one, I mean, that unfair Sam
did its job. I mean, it stopped Luke for just one turn. But still, when you're able to just
find the Poke pad that you have in your hand and the risky ruins, everything back online.
a perfect board for Luke at the end of the game.
Dragapult EX guaranteed to not be knocked out in two attacks.
Thanks to that Monkey Dory healing damage off,
that was just too much for Yuta to handle.
As we get into game number two,
you see the starting Pokemon for both players.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages
for going first or second in the mirror match.
A lot of it comes down to what resources you have at your disposal.
Well, Utah is giving us a show of what a Mulligan is
when you don't have a basic Pokemon to start in your hand.
You do get to refresh the hand, shuffle it back into the deck,
but you have to give your opponent a card or, you know, one card,
and, you know, sometimes a Mulligan four or five times.
You've got to give your opponent four or five cards,
but now I'm sure Luke loves to see another card in his hand
for that early setup.
That is the big factor in this match.
matchup cannot stress it enough.
We saw itchy pollen do its job in that first game,
Yuta not having access to it.
And it feels like there were a couple moments
where a good timed itchy pollen
could have gotten Yuta back in that game.
Yeah, absolutely.
The problem is, it's just that Luke was way too far ahead.
In fact, just have the freedom to continue
to set up Monkey Dory.
See if Yuta's going to have a basic Pokemon to show.
And he will, but even the rest of the hand
Also looking exactly too good.
There is a supporter card in the hand, so it does seem manageable.
A lot will come down to who goes first in this second game.
Looks like Yuta will, oh, looks like Luke is starting.
So Yuta opting to go second in game number two,
and look at that start for Luke.
Puddle in the active spot, and a buddy, buddy puff
and define these three and put them into play.
We got to get fired up here, everyone, in San Fran.
If you are cheering for Utah, give him your energy now.
But if you're cheering for Luke, what are these prize cars,
Emily, all of the energy acceleration,
and double Drippy in the prizes?
Are you kidding me?
Not exactly what you want to see.
I mean, I'm sure Luke was really
happy to open that Buddy League offense, saying, OK,
I can freely get my two Drippy out.
Little does he know, or maybe he just had that wake up
call now.
Those three only two Drippy he's going to have access to.
So Yuta is going to realize when these monkey dory starts coming down.
That might be the way to go here, but you gotta look at the rest of Luke's hand, Ethan.
Already has the two draft cloak in hand.
So even if Yuta were to retreat into Badu and use Ichi-Pollen,
Luke's still at least has an energy and an engine online.
Big turn for Yuta.
Item cards certainly going to be shut off on the following turn.
Lots to find those powerful Pokémon searching cards.
Not as bad as Luke's prizes.
Let's make sure we get that straight.
But unfair stamp in the prizes.
Definitely a big deal, especially towards the top.
And this is the only copy of risky ruins in the list,
as in the prizes, like you had mentioned.
But you called me out really good.
There is at least a Lilly's determination in the hand.
And hopefully, Utah's going to be able to either find
those 3B or find a buddy-buddy coffin
to start filling up the bench.
Not only with 3B, but hopefully with Duskell this time.
really looking for those item cards and Pokemon,
more importantly as well,
to recloak for the following turn.
Just to look through the deck more,
draw more cards,
and put together these combo turns on the following turns.
Without energy acceleration,
Fort Luke is going to have to play
very, very carefully here too.
Might have to be the one that's attacking early this time
to try and sift out those Crispin from the prizes
or at least get something going
so that he can find Double Monkey Dory again.
Nothing's a great eight cards for you to almost as good as it gets.
Maybe missing a tri-cloak guaranteed for the following turn,
but we will see the full bench build up,
double buddy buddy pop in, double treat B coming into play.
And now the question, Emily,
how do you want to fill these last two bench spots?
Might have to be at least one for Duskall or going double Duskall.
I mean, your opponent only showed to treat B.
So there is a very strong possibility because Utah does play rare candy
that Rare Candy Dragapult EX and Rare Candy Dusk Noir could even wipe the board.
Would have to be on a future turn that Ichi Palad, shutting off those options.
The whole squad is here for you to coming into play.
Ichi Palad will strike first,
and now Luke the first player to be unable to play item cards in this match.
As we mentioned though a little bit earlier, Ethan,
Luke does at least have double dry cloaking fans,
so that tends to help you quite a lot here,
but see those recon directives going through.
Fessendipity is usually the one that you want to take off.
That's a Dumpstar CX is actually a really great card
for those big basic boxes,
but in the mirror you want to have at least all of the access
to the card draw you can find.
Looking at the hand, it's not super strong.
No fire energy, no other Pokemon put into play,
and more importantly, no supporter card.
It's just going to be an itchy pollen,
now Yuta allowing himself to start powering up Trepey,
and we'll see another Lily's determination.
No ability to use Poke Pad or cards like Ultra Ball
needs to directly draw into these Draklok on this turn.
This is exactly why so many players play four copies
of this Lily's determination within their list,
because it's really the main supporter that you want to see
between turns one and three, right?
A fresh eight cards, especially because Dragapul really can
take its time setting up all of these damage counters
for itself here.
So, Yuta, can you find Drakloak with no item access?
Big 8 cards even.
Making sure everything is clear, let's take a look at the hand.
And I see one immediately using that Recon Directive right away.
No other Drakloak in the hand.
See Ultra Ball go to the bottom of the deck.
Another Lily's determination for the following turn.
We'll just be another itchy pollen, but do slowly making work on the opposing, but do, and here we go.
Luke needs to help find fire energy.
That means the option is available to use Phantom Dive.
We'll decide to keep it monkey Dory to the bottom of the deck.
Two more cards from recon directive.
It's just a buddy buddy pop and that cannot be played on this turn.
And now Emily, do you stay disruptive or go aggressive?
It looks like the disruption is preferred in the spot.
You just can't and the problem is while Luke is playing heroes Cape which does at least buff the hit points for the dragon bolt the eggs
You never want your dragon ball to be taking the first
Phantom dive damage to itself. We saw how Luke utilized that a little bit earlier to set up those combo turns
So now Utah is going to be able to find another Lily's determination
That's three out of the four in the deck to find another fresh eight cards
Still looking for Tricloak as well as those dust glocks to evolve and threaten Dusknor on the following turns.
When the position to be able to wipe your opponent's attackers off the board is present, the game can get scary very quickly.
You'll see of course the recon directive available for you to find huge recloak and a dust glock,
an incredible draw for you to as well as a boss's orders for the following turn.
turn. Not just that, I mean you have the whole suite available to you as you so
choose to and while granted yes you're under item lock you can't imagine that
Luke is going to keep him under item lock for much longer now that Yuta is
essentially going to get all three drag cloak online this turn and a dust
blocks as well. Finds Dragapult EX as well can evolve the rightmost drag
cloak into that dragapult EX to protect it from being KOed from bosses
orders and like you mentioned there is going to be no ability to item lock on
Luke's side since Night Stricter cannot recover the only Betue available.
That is going to be forcing Luke into a position where he has to get aggressive
but as we talked about this entire set Ethan the target is sometimes a little
bit more difficult to say there's the boss's orders just enough to talk
about it. You definitely want to get those dust globs and the dust goal out
of there but still that dragapult is going to be the first one taking some
damage. No more basic Pokemon found all of the Lily's determination being summoned
to the hand. Bosses orders and decides to target down the dust blocks and this
dust goal on the bench to wipe out Curse Blast as a potential option. Yeah I
mean this is what Curse Blast does that essentially weakens down the hit
points and allows for Dragapult to be taken out essentially in one turn.
Granted that hero's cape is now on the Dragapult yet but you have to be
wondering Ethan, what is Luke going to do about this damage? I see a Monkey Dory in
hand, but where's the energy to go along? Time will tell on the following turn as
Yuta kicks things off with a Recon Directive. Ken, now play those item cards
previously shut off. See Monkey Dory brought to the hand? There's a Pokey
Bad boss's orders kept instead. Do we see a Psychic Energy and Dragapult EX?
There's the Psychic Energy, Rosa's encouragement as well. Banned into the
this card while I'm not quite enough energy to get full value from that
supporter. So now with it being to the point in the game where Dragapult EX is
powered up, Duskull just becomes a lot less attractive of a Pokemon to put in
play. Yeah, definitely don't want to at this point here, but as Utah did in
game one, maybe it's worth just evolving all of these draft plugs up to avoid
those multi combo turns. The thing is what I'm very curious about is I'm
I'm wondering if Yuta's going to try and get Monkey Dory into play.
He doesn't play one copy of it, but at least he knows that there's going to be some damage counters sent back.
And that festantivity is always a target for that one damage counter for bosses orders down the line and a free two prize.
It has to be in a future turn. We've seen the supporter card being played and no energy card attached just yet.
Looks like Padoe has done its job, Yuta, planning out a phantom dive on this turn.
Now the question becomes hit points.
How much is Luke able to protect this Dragapult EX?
Essentially his boss, Pokemon, from being KOed
over the least amount of turns.
And what's unfortunate for Luke is that
all of that energy acceleration that we had talked about
even is all prized.
So it's unable to get double monkey Dory completely in play
unless he were to find that Crisken
off of a prize in a future turn.
So he, at most, will only be able to send
one or three damage counters back, excuse me.
That's not gonna be enough to protect this dragon pool
for more than one turn.
You see protecting these Pokemon from easy KO's,
shutting off that recon directive ability
at the advantage of giving your Pokemon more HP.
But do, doing its job, retreating to the bench,
Phantom die being used.
Now the question is, where do you put
these damage counters?
And I like this choice here from Utah
to put six damage counters on this Drakloak.
Yeah, this lines up perfectly to have Monkey Dory take that track look down at the line with Adrenaline as well here.
Luke gonna draw at least into the risky ruins.
So now the question is what was off of the recon directive?
He's still grabbing the Meowthi eggs.
So too late to put it down.
I'm not sure if Luke knows that both Crispin are a prize that would be an ideal supporter card this turn.
Just to power up Monkey Dory, we'll check the deck with PokiBad and see the bad news that those cards are prize.
Sector cloak will be the choice.
The supporter card played yet no energy attached.
With this aggressive feeling, I wonder what the supporter of choice will be.
The only issue is Ethan, because Luke has prized both Chris then,
this draft cloak on the bench is going to be in range of a Phantom dive knockout.
No matter which way you put it, can only move three damage counters back over onto Utah side here.
So it's unfortunate for Luke, but this is kind of what he has to do here.
He has to set up the Duns Fars to try to get things going.
Now granted, he's at least guaranteed a prize card if he were to attack the Bidu here,
but then it goes back to, does Luke want to use that combo turn?
Believe no dark energy in the discard pile.
That would be an easy way to access that card for Adrenal Brain.
So let's see this Monkey Door come down, 3P number 3 hitting the board.
It looks like just considering pinning as many cards out of the hand and relying off of a lily's determination for six cards to find this dark energy
It's just so unfortunate not exactly what you want to see from Luke
But to be fair both competitors have been back against the wall because of prize cards at some point here
So Luke forced to evolve this track look into a dragapult again playing a little bit more defensive and here we go
Ethan, Lily's Determination. Can Dark Energy be found?
Takes that Dragapult EX out of range thanks to the evolution.
The bigger question becomes this active Dragapult EX. As it stands,
would not be KO'd from a Phantom Dive. However, a Monkey Dory on Utaside puts it in range.
That Dark Energy is so important.
Yeah, and the question is, does Luke even retreat into something like the Dunsparse
and let it go? But still, you absolutely want to use these damage counters to your
advantage when you're throwing them with Phantom Dive. That's a big miss, Ethan!
No energy, not even a fire energy to power up that bench.
Dragapult EX and the doors are wide open for Yuta to take care of this powerful EX Pokémon.
The only thing that Luke can really do is send the deck for next turn, and like you had mentioned,
I mean, there's already two damage counters on that budu, so Yuta is going to be able to
to take the knockout onto the active Dragonbolt with that hero's cape, the ace
spec going down, you just don't want to see it.
Luke needs to announce Phantom Dive this turn, it's the only way he can stay in this match,
present a threat, deal damage to this Pokemon, and maybe down the line try and
provide some disruption. So there we go, Phantom Dive onto the opposing
Dragonbolt EX, six damage counters on the Dracloak, taking a little bit of a
page out of Utah's book on the previous turn to try and get back in this game.
I'm wondering if there's going to be a line down a couple more turns from now where that
but who is going to at least get one and or one damage counter excuse me to take the knockout
still woman gives up one prize card but look at checkmate last game with a four prize knockout
here so I'm wondering if Utah is going to try and find monkey Dory this turn to try and start
sending these damage counters back monkey Dory already in the hand all triple found from
From the Recon Directive, there is the Pokey Pad to search out another non-woolbox Pokemon,
just finding Pokemon that can be taken out of the Debtra Cloak, most likely not going to come
into play. In this game, we've seen how beneficial it's been early on that will be shuffled.
So that does signal that Yuta may be reliant off of a different supporter outside of Crispin
or Lily's Determination, which almost all of them are gone at this point.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing with Lily's determination is that it's great in those opening turns when you can't really find your Pokemon off of items because you're under item lock here.
Considering pitching the dark energy, Ethan, I know that's kind of key for Monkey Dory here.
The question is, what is Utah looking for? It's just going to have to be the Dragonbolt EX to try and protect the Dragonbolt on the bench.
There is a world where they're not in a rush to take the KO on this Dragonfall EX.
By taking a KO, you do activate a couple of cards that could be scary,
a lot of them being hand-disruption cards.
Special red card, as we talked about it just a little bit earlier.
It would bring Luke down, or Utah down to three prizes, excuse me.
So still, both players really trying to play around these crazy turns
of just trying to set up these multi-prize knockouts here.
Both players checking the discard resource management is a very key skill you learned in the Pokemon trading very game
So that darkness energy being discarded doesn't signal you to they want to attach a different energy card
Stragopul EX on the bench if six damage counters are placed onto it
Thanks to phantom dive would spell disaster, but there we go
We're gonna see Paus's orders on to the opposing
Dragapult EX, bringing it into the active spot, dealing damage with Phantom Dive and
this presents an issue for Luke.
If he wants to attack this turn, he'll either need to retreat or commit a fire energy, both
of which is not a darkness energy on Monkey Dory.
Now Yuta essentially setting up Checkmate once again here on both Dragapult EX's in play,
putting them in Phantom Dive range and Monkey Dory range as well here.
and Dipity always can receive one damage counter as well,
so that could even equal a six prize turn for Utah.
What does Luke have access to?
You'll of course check the damage,
make sure everything is correct.
There is of course all of the energy acceleration,
so that is off the table.
Starts off evolving 3B integer cloak,
recon directive keeps the knight structure in the hand.
There is the Dunsparse as well, Lily's determination,
So at minimum Luke can see nine cards from his deck.
Six off the Lily's determination
and another three from that runaway draw ability.
What's just so unfortunate is that that monkey Dory
on the bench just doesn't have a dark energy.
We saw in game number one,
how double monkey Dory essentially set up Checkmate for Luke
and it was so useful in those moments here.
But now both Dragapult can be knocked out essentially
next turn, the one in the active from
just a very quick adrenaline over here.
Will Luke use runaway draw to keep seeing cards?
I mean, you have to take Pokemon off your bench at this point.
It's Rosic making an appearance yet again.
No energy cards.
So big three from runaway draw.
Is there a way to get energy?
I believe there's none in the discard pile for Luke.
No energy cards immediately.
Just going to check and see how many cards are in the hand.
I believe there were...
How many cards were drawn?
Just have to double check.
We did see six cards in the hand plus the recon, excuse me, plus the dunce barcibility
Here we go. Night stretcher now. Is there an option to bring an energy back?
Of course, you can retreat the dragonpole EX if you'd like to then get that energy back into play
But it does seem like Luke is really up against the wall and doesn't have a play
That seems great at the end of the day. Well, here's the problem
You think you retreat this dragonpole with 30 hit points remaining that goes to the bench and
And that Dragapult is going to get knocked out from a Monkey Dory Adrenaline with 3 damage counters already on the Bench Dragapult on Yuta's side.
So it's really if Luke wants to just keep trying to find ways to stay in this game.
So close to a 5 prize turn, just a couple of damage counters short.
A Dragapult EX on the bench with no energy and so many damage counters on it.
You may even wonder if you're Yuta, do you ignore that Pokemon and just go after the energy cards?
You might as well. I mean, you've seen Luke struggle to find energy this entire game here.
Launching all six damage counters, I believe the signal was over to Monkey Dory, but I could be wrong.
Monkey Dory taking six damage counters from Phantom Dive, but do promote it into the active spot.
Now, Yuta does not have access to that
Recondirective ability, really relying off of the cards in his hand
or with the assist of a Fezzendipity EX.
To draw the Crispin for a turn, unfortunately for Yuta's list,
he doesn't play two Monkey Dory, he does only play one.
So wasn't going to find double Adrenaline action here,
but there is the line to get the Dragapult on the bench
and the Dragapult in the active here.
But what do you do about the track cloak on the bench that can evolve next turn to go back up into a dragapult?
This is scary. It may get scarier for Luke as the special red card comes into play,
forcing Luke to shovel his hand, place it on the bottom of the deck, and draw just three cards.
There are so many factors at play, mainly those energy cards left.
If your cloak goes down from an Adrenal Brain plus Phantom Dive damage,
That Dragapult EX is hanging on with just 30 HP remaining, and we know for Luke his energy acceleration is so limited.
The problem is too, I mean while Luke, yes, is going to lose a couple of Pokemon this turn,
if that Dragapult stays up, which I don't think it will for much longer,
that Fissin' Dipity will be able to draw him some more cards.
There's the Phantom Dive, but still launching one onto Bess here.
Here comes Dragapult, bosses orders.
Seeds to find something off of these four cards.
Is there an energy?
Flip the script.
Drawing three cards.
There's a fire energy.
Needs some way to disrupt Yuta,
and it feels like no matter where Luke is able to retreat,
his Pokemon will be knocked out.
Yuta ties things up at one game apiece.
It is so unfortunate for Luke to have fries.
Every single energy acceleration within the deck,
so Yuta had free range to get completely set up
in the way he knows how.
Now granted, Luke did such a good job of targeting down the Dust Gloves and the Dust Gloves to prevent those combination turns.
But the problem is, when you leave it up to chance to find your energy, not a suburb which automatically grabs it for you,
you can with it. And unfortunately for Luke, not finding Monkey Dory Adrenal Brain led to an unfortunate loss game too.
As we look back on that second game, like you mentioned, going after Dust Clops was a piece that Yuto was able to establish in this second game.
But at the end of the day, Luke just was not able to deal with the constant onslaught of pressure thanks to Phantom Dive, thanks to Monkey Dory.
That piece, just so valuable, really put on display in this second game.
And here we are. Yuta able to fire back here.
I mean, Ethan, these players are champions
within their own right.
We just saw Luke not too long ago win NAIC.
And Yuta as well, the Japan national champion,
as well here, both of these players
are so ready to take home game three.
Tensions building just under 30 minutes left
in this round.
These players shuffle up, find those seven cards
to start the game off.
and your heart has to be beating in this spot.
These may be the most important opening seven cards
of your Pokemon TCG career up to this point.
Many players kind of dread the dragapult mirror here,
but as we have shown you,
there are many intricacies of this matchup,
many things that are so important here.
But you know what else is really important, Ethan?
The people that have supported these players along the way,
as we're gonna resolve some mulligans,
I think somebody's on the floor
with some friends and family.
of our competitors to ask them a couple of questions about how they're feeling right now.
So Luke up there on the big stage, how does it feel to be in this situation?
We're going to a game of three and you've supported him all of this way.
Oh yeah, I mean he's my young and so like whatever he wants to do so like we're just
going to do it.
But Game 3, this last game as a junior, here it comes.
That's pretty big.
How are you feeling?
In my opinion, in my opinion, in my opinion, in my opinion, now that he's here battling
like this. I wanted to do his best to win. Well you've heard it here from the
fathers of our competitors. Let's jump right back into the action with the boys
to see who will be our champion. Well into game number three, Pokepad to start
things off. Usually a sign on your opponent plays that first item, search
and card, and it's not buddy-buddy popping that they struggle to get a lot
of those basic Pokemon into play. And well us we are looking at the prizes
even that special red card that always seems to be looming in the background is
going to be at the top of the prices but for Utah still going to have full access
to the entire deck but look at what Utah is doing already saying you know what
I'm going first so that means Luke is going to put me under item lock next
turn might as well burn all these items right now but the problem is
look at what he's burning he's burning a night stretcher here doesn't play
at least three in the deck but when it comes down to finding those energies
back especially when you retreat really want to make sure you're keeping track of
what you're thrown away. Could have grabbed many different Pokemon off the
ultra ball. What do you think is the thought process behind grabbing Monkey Dory
as opposed to a Duskull or a Treepie? Well while Badoo is in the active you know
that these 10 damage counters are going to and from your Badoo here so this
is actually Utah taking a very aggressive line going to be sending
these damage counters back. But speaking of items here, it is going to be the
ultra ball going into play. Hey crowd, how we feel about this game number three?
I think everyone's hyped up to crown their champion, but while yes, Luke is going
to have access to that energy acceleration he sorely missed that
heroes cape is now offline.
Powerful aspect unavailable, especially due to it being at the top of the
prize cards that Meowth EX also unavailable. You've seen how crucial a well-time
Crispin or Rosa's encouragement can be, as well as of course the boss himself coming
into play. So here we go, eight cards off the list of termination. The Budu already
in play, guaranteeing itchy pollen is an attack and option. Now just looking to
find more Pokemon, some energy cards, and more importantly, to cloak for the
following turn. As we said, these eight cards in this opening turn are
so important here even eight to go. Ideally an energy as you mentioned does
also find not only just an energy but I believe that's also another buddy-buddy
poppin as well here so at least three 3p are online so Luke definitely finding
what he needs here does also have a Lily's determination for next turn as
well. Excellent setup in a crucial game number three just has to now make the
decision of which two basic Pokemon to grab really valuing Dunce bars in
in this matchup along with a second copy of Tree Pea.
So that's the energy attachment for turn two here.
So now it is going to be the budu, the itchy pollen here.
And now the thing is, I mean, with Monkey Dory
already with an energy on it, Ethan,
it's gonna time soon for you to use
those damage counters against Luke,
forcing Luke to promote Pokemon
that don't exactly want to take damage
or even just one here would set it up
for a Phantom Dive down the line.
And more importantly, being strong in the Budu War,
if this Budu takes another itchy pollen head on,
Monkey Dory can move those two damage counters
to take a KO on Budu and force Luke to make a decision
on which Pokemon to promote on that same turn.
Last stitch catch with Meowth here,
finds that Lily's determination.
As we've seen now for all three games,
it really depends on what you find
off of this Lily's determination.
ideally another energy. The Monkey Dory already has the energy on it, but
unless you're using Mindbend, you really want to start getting at least a couple
of more Jiriki into play as well. That's the only one on Yuta's bench.
For Cloak of Dire, important for Yuta, opening up so many doors. The support, of course,
from the Recon Directive, but also Dragapult EX down the line with Phantom Dice.
So here we go, the tension building, just under 20 minutes left in this game.
Looks like we are just getting a little bit of confirmation on what's going on down at the table.
There's a high stakes match, there is a lot of pressure, and things do happen in the Pokemon TCG.
People make mistakes, and especially when you are surrounded by this beautiful crowd you are playing on a stage that is lighting up below you.
you. There is a ton of pressure. So Luke, going to give Yuta's deck a shuffle before eight cards here.
Like you had mentioned, Ethan, this buddy war now coming into play is very important.
Looking for energy. Looking for a trick cloak. That's just a couple of trick cloaks. You know,
nice three to find on that. But no, no energy. See if this recon directive can assist Yuta in
Anyway, there is a dust goal.
Ultima, of course, cannot be played.
So, can at least threaten something.
And here we go, risky ruins.
Monkey Dory to move those two damage counters.
And the two goes down on the first turn,
or rather, the second turn of the game,
not going to allow Luke to use that itchy pollen
on the following turn.
And the thing is, the difference between Utah's list
and Luke's list is that there's no automatic acceleration
to get into Dragapult's EX.
So now Luke is just going to have to sift through the deck once more to find these Dracloaks here.
He's severely far behind. I'm really granted the Dracloak doesn't have the energy on the bench,
but there is still Crispin available to Yuta. And now that there is a Duskall in play,
Luke could see both of these three be gone next turn if he doesn't evolve.
Going to see a ton of cards this turn, despite being under item lock.
Eight from the Lily's Determination, and I guaranteed three cards from the Dunsparse.
looking for Dr. Cloak to evolve.
The imminent threat of that Phantom Dive on the following turn,
definitely an option we see one Dr. Cloak found.
There's another Dunsparse, not a lot of energy cards, it seems,
so two cards from Recondirective.
Let's find Boss's orders for down the line.
Trying to take a look at this hand.
No energy cards, so here we go.
Benching that Dunsparse, three cards from the Dunsparse,
Psychic energy buddy buddy poppin does not find a secondary cloak, but at least getting that energy attachment for the future turns
It just feels unfortunate for Luke because I feel like he's forced to promote this done sparse here up into the active
I mean, there's only one drako and one drapey to essentially protect here
I don't believe there's anything else that he can really do at this point
He is still technically under item lock even though Badood were to take the knockout here
But maybe committing this energy, of course, over to the Drako to try and find an attack for next turn.
But still, I mean, Ethan, the threat of Dusk Noir and Dusk Lops is coming.
This is a huge opportunity for Yuta. If he can find a Dusk Lops or Dusk Noir, he can take out your cloak.
Who needs Phantom Dive? Rare Candy, a card that has not come into play in this matchup.
Now Yuta finds an opportune time to skip that stage of Evolution.
trade one through one but it's had a great advantage for Yuta taking out the main attacker
looming on the board for Luke on the following turn.
Does also have the buddy buddy Poffin as well to get another Drapey set up as well.
Does also still have the monkey Dory with the energy attachment so those two damage counters
can be sent over as well.
There's the curse blasts on the drake lobe.
Will this Drapey survive until next turn?
so close, Yuta can win the game this turn.
There is a combination of cards.
Crispin plus Dragapult EX plus, then that's actually just it.
You can use the Crispin to power up Dragapult EX
and then use Monkey Dory.
All the pieces are there.
Yuta has absolutely popped off in this third game.
Two energies accelerated.
Monkey Dory, Adrenal Brains to move the two
damage counters from Duskull onto the Ben Stripie.
And as long as there's a Dragapult EX in the hand,
Yuta can knock out the only two remaining Pokemon in play.
We'll see him go through the motions, energy attacks,
drag-a-pull EX in the hand,
a dredda brain to put the damage counters
onto the drake cloak, the drapey on the bench,
and there it is.
Yuta Araki emerges victorious
and becomes your Junior's Division 2026 World Champion.
A smile to the camera, a champion already of Japan, but why not take the world to Utah
masterfully playing around, not having access to Duskell in game number one and bringing
all the way back and thanks to a very early attachment Ethan onto this monkey Dory made
this explosive game of number three possible. But Lou, his father said it is his final year
in the juniors division but he is still leaving a worlds finalist and NAIC champion. Both of
these players so accomplished in their right. So young and so talented. We rarely see matchups like
this played to perfection as almost from these two young competitors, absolutely a treat to watch.
We had an incredible three game set. Emily, that is just a glimpse of what today will bring us
here in for a treat on Championship Sunday. It wouldn't be the trading card game without
a dragapult mirror to start us off for the day. And like you had said, Ethan, we are just at the
junior's division. There are still plenty of games to be played. I cannot be more excited to see
what our seniors and what our masters division is going to give us. Taking it all in, I'm sure
Utah is a world champion. He has done everything this season, winning a champions
the Japan championships and now what many would consider the most prestigious event of the year,
the world championships for the trading card game. One of the things that Utah had mentioned that I
think really kind of drives it home is the fact that he is always playing with his friends and I
always have to say it. The best way to play the Pokemon trading card game is at your locals
with your friends in person. Those are your future best friends, your future training partners
and the people that you are going to travel around the world with.
Congratulations to both of these competitors.
One thing's for certain, you can see how powerful
Traggable EX is.
And with the many different ways to build the deck
is why it has done so well this weekend
across multiple age divisions.
I mean, it has been dominant since the day it was printed.
It was used as an attacker in one deck.
And now the way that you can actually build it
is so creative.
We've seen lists with Dragapult EX without a Dragapult EX using just Dragloc in that
Recon Directive to really keep sitting through the deck.
I mean, it has it all, right?
It has a built-in draw engine.
You can spread damage counters.
And it feels like every single deck in the Pokemon Trading Card game has one
question to answer.
Can it beat Dragapult EX and maybe not.
Maybe not.
Maybe so.
Of course, building up to our Master's Division finals where
Diego Castoraga sees if he can become the Dragapult's sire to take down one of the best representatives.
So much more Pokemon TZG action to come today on Championship Sunday.
And of course that Masters Finals not only with Diego who is gunning to be a two-time world champion,
Andrew Hedrick, kind of the who feels realistically even the king of Dragapult's EX himself looking to take home
his first world title, I mean, the action for the Masters Division was absolutely explosive
over the past couple days. We've seen a variety of decks to make it through, but for Diego to pilot
a very, I would say, you know, a secret Alakazam deck. We don't want to give it all away.
We just want to hear from our champion himself.
Hello, everyone. I am beyond honor to be here on the stage with our first official TCG champion.
What a match that was. Utah, first, I want to know, what was it like competing on this stage? How did that impact your performance?
How do you feel about the final match against the WCS team?
I'm very happy.
I can imagine. I can imagine.
Now you did start this series in a deficit with that initial loss.
Can you walk me through game 2 and how you were able to turn things around?
I lost the first game, but I lost the second game. What did you think?
I lost the first match, but I was able to win the second match beyond the second match.
And it paid off, that's for sure.
Before we let you go and enjoy your celebration, who would you like to shout out when it
comes to this victory?
So I want to thank all the friends and people that practice with me and most of all my parents.
a deserved victory here today. Everyone in the arena, give it up one more time for your TCG
Junior World Champion. We have Yuta Anaki.
We'll let you go and bask in the glory of your victory. Like I said, that was just one of our
TCG world champions we have dubbed today and now we have two more to go are you
ready to find out how the finalists in the senior division are gonna show out
on this stage
it sounds like it all right it is time for your seniors first we're gonna
welcome out nice and loud give it up for coffee
Next up, keep it going for J. F. Kennedy!
You are no stranger to competition, but this is a very unique venue.
Can you walk me through what the experience has been like for your first couple of days
of competition to get here?
It feels amazing to be here and just to get an opportunity to win or final.
The opportunity has arrived, but not just for you.
You're looking to make a name for yourself on this stage.
What has it been like these past couple of days as you have prepared yourself for
a stage like this?
To be honest, I haven't really synced in yet, but I'm sure I'll go once I win.
Okay, I think we need a letting simmer on this stage of it.
Players, please go to your battle stations. Caster has taken away.
Thank you, Gabby, and congratulations to these two finalists on getting to this point.
to this point. What a journey it has been for the pair of them.
Toby Huff from the United States, Jake NG from Australia.
Quite the journey, quite the season, and they have one final match to play.
Absolutely, Chip. What an exciting moment here at the Chase Center.
We're in the big arena here at the 2026 Pokemon World Championship.
So we're here to crown a senior division world champion.
We have an interesting matchup.
We'll say we'll get into that as we go along.
But what an opportunity, what a moment for both these players.
A chance to be etched into Pokemon trading card game history.
There comes but one opportunity every single year to become the world champion.
And these opportunities do not come easily.
Such a tough deal to get through for both of the trainers up to this point.
And it's one more match to see who will come away the champion.
Absolutely.
I mean, it's amazing to see how we got here.
But let's take a quick second to check in with some friends
and family that may have helped these players on their journey
to get here.
Hello, everybody.
Of course, we're back on the stage
with the fathers of our senior competitors.
How does it feel for your sons to have
got into the finals in these anticipation?
Sorry, I couldn't even hear because of the noise.
Very excited though, very nervous, very anxious.
Yeah, how about yourself?
Yeah, very excited.
Thankful for all our friends and family back home from Australia.
Supporting us here, thanks.
Incredible.
Who do you think is more nervous?
The boys or you guys?
Probably me.
Yeah.
You think yourself amazing.
What really inspired their competitive streak?
I'm sorry, what was it?
What inspired their competitive streak?
I think he's just competitive in nature.
Anything we play, whether it's basketball or golf,
or any four games at home, he never wants to lose.
A competitor through and through, how about?
I slot Pokemon from a little key,
and I think that just drives him the whole way
just to love the game.
Honestly, the love of the game is a lot of the reason
that most of us are here.
Now, if you had any final words that you could say to them
them before they draw that very first card of this finals of the world championship. What would
that last thing you want to say to them be? I think he just put in the work and he deserves to win
and I just hope he does the best he can because this was a celebration on his own.
Very well said. Likewise I just smile and have fun that's why we're here. True words
through and through but I shall hold you no longer as we have a riveting game to get to.
So let's jump straight into the action.
The boys are ready on the stage.
Great to hear from those who have supported these two
young trainers the most on their journey
to get to this point.
And speaking of that journey, we've
got to take a look at the bracket
to see what this fight looked like to get through top eight
up to this point.
Yeah, Kobe did have to go through Prince Williams
in the top four, a close friend,
and even testing partner in the past.
So maybe a bittersweet moment there,
taking down Prince to advance to the finals.
Jake did have to go up against Jones Diaz in the top four.
I believe it was like a mega Lucario deck
tends to be very favorable for this Alec Kazam deck
that Jake is bringing to this tournament.
But it's always the difficult road
to make it to the finals of the world championships.
Both these players have fought hard,
practiced so long to get here.
And now it's just one more match to go.
And let's take a look at that matchup
that we will be featuring.
It will be Kobe with that big basics deck
featuring Mega, Kengisgani X, and the Lilliescliff area
X up against Jake and his Alakazam, the Dunsparce.
And you can see our predictions here.
I think very emblematic of what we
tend to see in this matchup.
Alakazam is very strong against this kind of deck
with big, basic Pokemon EX to give up multiple prize cards,
but we'll see Chip.
Anything can happen in the Pokemon TCG.
We've seen it time and time again.
Even bad magips can be won.
Anything can happen indeed.
And if there is a time for some sort of miracle,
perhaps it would be this stage,
this moment inside the Chase Center
with this incredible crowd cheering these two trainers
on shuffling up the decks,
Getting ready to draw those opening hands.
This matchup is an interesting one,
very much so favored by the Alakazam player,
but Kobe's got some tricks.
There are some things he could potentially do
to give himself a fighting chance.
Absolutely, and both these players very accomplished.
Kobe is no stranger to the world stage,
made top four in Honolulu in the junior division.
So maybe more comfortable in this kind of a situation
where Jake, you know, has made the finals
a special championship, some top four regional events, but this is such a huge moment for
both these players.
Now, Kobe's dad did mention loves basketball and I think very fitting to be playing a world's
finals match in the arena like this.
Just getting things all squared away for these opening hands to be drawn.
I want to hear from our crowd out there supporting these players.
If you're excited for this senior finals match, make some noise.
We're getting fired up here in San Francisco.
These two players, they've been waiting all day for this moment.
Probably running all different simulations, thoughts, situations
through their heads on how this could play out.
Will one of them be able to manifest their dream of being a world champion?
And what they are playing for, so much glory, so much recognition, respect from their peers and fans alike.
That incredible Pikachu trophy, that first place trophy card.
Words cannot describe what must be going through these young men's minds as we see those opening hands being drawn.
Just getting everything squared away.
And we'll get right into the action here shortly.
Yep, absolutely.
And again, you got to imagine the nerves running through you at this point.
This is a huge crowd here in the Chase Center,
and so many people here to watch the finals.
Plus, I mean, I think you got a no going into this on both sides.
Alakazam tends to be very favored into this matchup, so I think if you're Jake
Pretty simple. You just want to execute your game plan get that Alakazam up and running
You get those big one-hit knockouts if you're Kobe trying to find ways to
You know find a way some sort of opening to get an advantage
In this matchup. It's gonna be tough not impossible though
So, looking perhaps for spots where Jake has stumbled, maybe a slower setup, chances for
Kobe to pounce, attack, that draw engine of the D'dun Sparse, the Alakazam, whichever
piece seems most suitable at any given time.
Of course, Wellspring Mask, Ogre Pawn, that's a potential, of course, worth noting these
players, you know, have had an opportunity to review one another's deck lists.
We are at this top cut phase of the tournament, so both players have a chance to see the
other players list get very familiar with their unique tech counts their different inclusions and
sometimes more importantly exclusions for a given tournament weekend. Sure both players are well
aware of what the other is playing at this stage. Sure no both players probably have support group
testing group helping them theorize the right way to approach this matchup.
And we're gonna throw this poll up here scan this if you're in the arena right now to participate
take a little scan and see what we are asking here figure out which of these competitors
is gonna come out on top who do you think will win this grand finals cast your vote now here
Here we go, chip a live poll.
That's pretty close here, Fuka.
50-50, perhaps a little bit of a hometown favoritism
being here from the US.
I do believe Koby has the support of the tabletop village,
that big group of players who travels all across the country
as well.
Big following here.
I'm sure big support groups for both of these players.
We have to call out, this is a big moment for both of them,
but just reaching the finals of the World Championships
is such an incredible accomplishment,
a lifetime memory being formed here.
This is just what you dream of.
You play an entire season to qualify
for the World Championships.
Your hope, how many players went into this
thinking this is how I'm gonna do it.
This is how I'm gonna make it to the finals.
I'm gonna play on that stage.
He's the two players that made it happen.
And look at this poll dead on about 50-50.
Pretty split here in the audience
on who they are going to be rooting for,
who they believe to be.
Our soon to crown world champion, Jake NG versus Kobe
He, will get this match sorted and get underway very soon.
Once again, Alakazam from Jake up
against the mega-kangaskan, big, basic toolbox
deck of Kobe, which one of them will claim their glory to become the world champion.
Celebrating 30 years of Pokemon chip and over 20 years at the World Championship since
brought us here to the arena as we take a look at these prize cards.
Players setting out those six cards off to the side, four energy cards in the prize
cards for Kobe.
That is potentially awkward.
So Ladiaskietz, he does play two copies.
That is a very important card for this archetype.
And over on Jake's side, he's prized that Fezendipity.
And it looks like our players are ready.
Our judges are ready.
Production is ready.
I hope our crowd is ready here in the Chase Center.
And there is the fifth bump.
We're getting in to the senior division final match.
It's going to be an opening of the mega Kangaskan
EX on the side of Koby Huck kicks it off right away with that run air and ability drawing two cars from the top of his deck attaching a
Lightning energy for turn and it is the relor in the active spot for Jake
But not much working for Kobe on his opening turn just that attachment and now a pass over to Jake a little bit of a
David vs.
Goliath situation to start off here chip the 300 HP mega Kangaskhan EX staring down to the 50 HP
Of course, Jake's deck is Alakazam.
You're trying to start off small and work your way up big.
Start with Abra.
Evolve up into Kadabra Alakazam and build up cards in your hand to use that powerful
hand attack.
Does more damage for each card in your hand.
So the whole strategy here is draw as many cards as you can.
We see Jake taking a moment to check his prize cards making note of what Pokemon he does and does not have available in a key one
That he's just found out was that genocide looks like he's brought that to the front to make sure that is available
Of course, Kobe's aspect of choice is the unfair scam something you do not see very often from these big basic decks
It's what Kobe's chosen to run
So Jake wants to make sure genocide is potentially available and here is that telepathic psychic energy bringing out a pair of psychic Pokémon
and two more Abra join the party.
Crucial opening telepathic psychic energy there.
Your big goal on the first turn of the game,
just get a lot of basic Pokemon into play.
In the Pokemon TCG, your Pokemon need to be in play
for a full turn before you can evolve
to the next stage of evolution.
So the sooner you get down these Abra and Dunsparse,
the sooner you can evolve them up
and sooner you can start attack.
And there is one of those Dunsparse
joining the party on the bench,
played down by Jake before passing over to Kobe
who does have a Tilt Mask Ogre Pony X
and attaches a grass energy through the use
of that excellent teal dance ability,
accelerating an energy into play
and also drawing himself one card,
of course, Run Air and still available,
but not before the use of the Meowthi X
and that excellent last-ditch catch.
And now Kobe's deck all about basic Pokemon.
No evolutions at all in this deck.
It's kind of what we call a toolbox that lots of different types of Pokemon for different situations
and one
That could come up early on in the game is wellspring mask over upon EX
It has an attack that allows you to hit a benched Pokemon it as well as the active Pokemon and take multiple prize cards
In a turn if Kobe's able to do this early in the game
He could establish enough of a lead to put pressure on Jake and that's really going to be necessary
Because once Jake's Alec is am is fully set up the prize trade is fully in his favor
Alec is amic is up one prize card whereas things like me out ex or mega Kangas got ex give up two or three prize cards
And it's a race to see who can get all six first Kobe may be going
aggressive here with the grab of Crispin from this Meowth EX. He'll be able to
set search out two basic energies of differing types and accelerate one into
play, put the other one into his hand, a psychic and a grass energy offered up
for him off of this search. And is he just gonna go in with this mega
Kangaskhan, get aggressive? Sure seems like it's, I think this is a valid
strategy at the start of the game. I got mega Kangaskhan EX as 300 HP. That
That means 15 cards in hand for Alakazam to knock it out.
That's not easy to do on the second turn of the game.
One of the ways you can maybe throw the prize trade back
in your favorite is finding spots
where your opponent can't knock you out in one attack
and then you have some tricks to take advantage of that later.
And there's the attachment of the basic water energy
to the mega kengaskan and a rapid fire combo.
Kobe Huss strikes first,
taking the opening prize card in this final match.
Jake will promote his dumb sparse and immediately goes into the Katabra using Psychic Draw Number 1.
And here comes Psychic Draw Number 2.
This is how this deck operates. Katabra and Alakazam both have abilities that when you play them,
from your hand to evolve one of your Pokemon, you get to draw cards.
Katabra gives you 2, Alakazam gives 3.
The one card we want to find in this situation if you're Jake is the rare candy
to skip a stage of evolution and go right into Alakazam.
But we also see an A-Spec card here, Chip.
There it is, that enriching energy
grabbed off of the Hilda alongside the Dunsparse.
Such a powerful card just for your energy attachment.
You get to draw four additional cards,
and he can cycle this card back into the deck
thanks to the run away draw ability.
Now Puka, if Jake can piece together a rare candy
and an Alcazam, and managed to get up to 15 cards in his hand,
he could take down this Kangaskhan
on the second turn of the game.
And if that happens, that means three prize cards are taken.
That's halfway to taking all six of your prize cards.
Rare candy is the thing that still needs to be found here.
There is the runaway.
Draw three cards and to his hand and no, Puka,
I do not see that rare candy just yet,
so it does look like he has missed out
on an Alakazam attack this turn.
He's expended all of his potential draw power.
Doesn't dip it to EX once again,
not available in the prize cards.
So just a push of this Abra in the pocket pad
to find out one more piece grabbing a Cadabra.
And for Kobe, that's exactly what you were hoping to see.
The opponent unable to get an Alakazam out
this turn your mega kangaskan ex makes it through the turn without getting knocked out. You need
every possible turn you can get in this matchup to do attacks without seeing a response from your
opponent. And here is a unique inclusion from Jake this weekend that Forest of Vitality alongside
Rabska evolving relore up as soon as it comes into play and then protecting the bench with
with that Spherical Shield ability.
Yeah, Forest of Vitality, a stadium card
that allows you to break that rule of evolution
and evolve your Grassdike Pokemon immediately.
We see Shaman a lot in these sorts of decks.
Jake opted to go for the Rapsca,
since it provides a bit more protection
compared to the Shaman.
Run air in for Kobe on his turn,
draws a couple of cards.
Ladias getting a little bit of mobility
into the makes that excellent skyliner ability,
allowing him to move his Pokemon around freely.
And here comes the Crispin.
Once again, two turns in a row,
Kobe will get an extra energy card into play.
This is what this deck aims to do.
Absolutely, but one of the reasons this Rapsca
is so important in this situation is, again,
Kobe can only take one prize card at a time.
All of these Pokemon on Jake's side
only give up a single prize card when knocked out.
One way you can swing that is with the Wellspring Mask,
Pogre Pond, EX, Torential Pump.
Rapsca blocks that play from happening
since it protects your benched Pokemon
from being damaged by attacks.
Fighting energy attached from that Crispin
onto a second mega Kangaskhan.
And that's a bit of a risky Pokemon to power up, Puka.
You called it out.
If one mega Kangaskhan gets KOed,
that's half of the game.
So in theory, Jake could close out this game
only attacking two times.
That's true, but for now we see another rapid fire combo.
Kobe putting on the pressure.
And here comes Alakazam.
Psychic draw, three cards from the top.
If Jake NG can increase his hand size up to 15,
he'll be able to topple the mighty mega Kangaskhan EX
and Dawn, an excellent supporter to see
in a position like this, searching the deck
for a basic Pokemon, a stage one Pokemon
and a stage two Pokemon, adding them all to hand.
I think it's almost a foregone conclusion.
Jake's gonna get the 15 cards on this turn, Chip,
but one thing he needs to find as well is Genesect.
Need to find that Pokemon that can use
this ace nullifier ability.
One weakness of Alakazam is the popular
ace spec card, Unfair Stamp.
It makes you shuffle your hand in and draw two cards,
which of course resets your whole strategy for Alakazam.
Genesect is the main way of counterplay
for that big A-Spect card.
An energy attached to Kadabra,
preparing for a second attacker in the future of this game.
And he did not grab the Genesect off the dawn,
perhaps already waiting in the hand.
That certainly will be a big piece, but no, Puka.
He misses the Genesect, he takes this KO.
Half of the prize cards, he'll jump ahead,
but this is a huge opening for Kobe.
If he can find his A-Spec card on fair stamp,
he will be able to reset Jake's hand
and leave him with only two cards.
Big opportunity for Kobe, but a huge knockoff for Jake.
That's three prize cards on this third turn for Jake.
Can Kobe respond if he doesn't find the unfair stamp?
I mean, there's so many cards in Jake's hand.
It's really got to be on fair stamp this turn.
It's all about finding that pink card.
If he can see unfair stamp here, he's got a real chance.
He's got the second mega King of Skawne EX,
ready to go and energy attached.
And look at that in the hand.
It is there, Puka.
He's got that unfair stamp.
Gonna play Serino first,
searching the deck for three Pokemon EX,
adding them into his hand.
You see the Serino as well finding three Pokemon EX, putting them into the hand.
We see the area zero under-depths come into play as well, potentially.
There is that Fezzendipity hitting the board with that flip to the script ability.
Since Jake did take a KO on the previous turn, Coby would be able to use that to
draw three more cards, perhaps saving it for the other side of his A-Spec use.
Not seeing the Genesect is perhaps curious from the perspective of Kobe.
Could he ever key in on maybe that Pokemon being prized and try to save his unfair stamp for next turn Puka?
He may not get another turn. Exactly, you're not going to get another turn
if you don't use that this turn. Your opponent can just boss his orders up
your mega tango scout EX and win the game. What is he digging for here?
Flip the script once again using this before the use of his A-Spec.
Don't see a stadium card in that massive hand for Kobe may have been looking for that but there it is chip unfair stamp both players
Sending their hands into the deck Kobe will get five still solid bit to work with and Jake will be left with only two
This is a huge moment for Kobe in this game
This is the one opening that he has to disrupt Jake's strategy
putting his opponent down to just two cards in hand intentionally going with
the mega Kangaskan EX once again it's gonna be really challenging to get up to
15 cards again after being reset down to two we have spoken about the difficulty
of this matchup from the perspective of Kobe but if there is an opening for him
this perhaps is it he'll take this KO with rapid fire combo and leave Jake
with just a couple of cards.
Jake could win this coming turn.
Should he get to 15, that seems so, so difficult.
There is the KO.
Kobe will tie this game back up.
Three prize cards apiece, Jake promoting that,
the Dunsparce, and draws for his turn.
Alakazam right away.
Psychic draw three cards from the top.
Let's see what he can chain together here.
It's a long road ahead
and those aren't actually very good cards, Chip.
and not much help off of this the dumb sparse either
Three more cards available, but he is going to miss this ko
He cannot win the game this term any longer
I don't think he has any additional dig and he's going to just promote this rapsca
The unfair stamp might have worked
There's just not a whole lot going on in jake's hands
I found the alakazam at first to draw a couple cards, but I don't think there's any supporter cards
wasn't able to redraw the enriching energy.
I wasn't able to find another way to get an Alakazam.
Seems like there's so many ways
that Jake could have found to draw more cards,
but somehow didn't get any other ones.
Telepathic psychic energy is well-being used
and not finding any abras,
so that will be no future psychic draws
on cadaveras this turn.
This opening for Kobe here
seems to be piecing together both abras there
There in the discard pile for Jake so no viable targets from that telepathic psychic energy in just a pass
Let's see what Kobe can do with this opening as he draws for turn mega Kanga scone in the active position
Yeah, Kobe's gonna have to make some big decisions does finally find
Area zero under depths if that's something he wants to go with this turn teal dance attaches a grass energy
Drawing him one more card perhaps if he could find that chin pal
He would be able to put that area zero into play and then get rid of mega Kangaskhan as a liability
Think if you're Kobe, you're kind of hoping that mega Kangaskhan can tank the hit this turn
Ideally, you may be finding up bosses orders to go after either Alakazam or maybe even Kedabra
Honestly the way to draw more cards that is an interesting choice here
Alakazam obviously the threats the Pokemon that can attack you but if you take Kadabra away that
Removes some of Jake's Alts to draw more cards
So the last ditch catch does find bosses orders
Which Pokemon will Kobe go after is it Alakazam or Kadabra? Clearly you need to go after one of these knocking out rapska
not gonna be enough here. It is not a clear-cut choice and Kobe is still
thinking through what the best option will be. He'll bench another mega
kengis on and use this glass trumpet. Item card allowing him to put some energy
cards into play onto his colorless Pokemon thanks to their being that
Tara Tealmasco Grapan EX on the bench. Looks like the Meowth gets a water
energy kengis kind of psychic in there as bosses orders and he is going to
chase after this cadavera take away the draw engine and this is huge jinks really
go only gonna have one turn to try to respond to this there's only gonna be
one out gizam left after this a lot of the abra are in the discard pile at
this stage as well looks like Kobe's gonna switch it up and go into the
teal mask over pun understanding my point might be out of abra using that
Myriad Leafs shower, Koby will jump back ahead here,
just two more prize cards,
and he will win game one of this final match.
Jake here with a question of what to promote
and is going to concede the fact with this promotion
that if it's going to be very difficult for him
to get a knockout this turn,
and Juga, I think that hand is completely dead.
He has absolutely nothing to work with.
Unbelievable, the unfair stamp really giving Kobe an opportunity in this game.
Jake does have the sacred ash able to shuffle in five Pokemon from the discard pile back into the deck.
Would have loved to play that before using a telepathic psychic energy on a previous turn to find another Abra.
One of the issues is there's just not any of those support Pokemon in play to help Jake draw cards.
Five Pokemon going back in, but another boss's orders from Kobe on his next turn would basically spell Checkmate.
Jake would be left with just a Rapsca. He has no way to put an Abra into play this turn.
And that would mean he would be unable to attack on the following turn.
Kobe has just two turns away from winning game one.
Some brilliant tactics from Kobe.
Can he find the boss's orders to essentially close out this first game?
It wouldn't win him the game on the spot, but it would spell checkmate if he can find boss's orders here.
Only one in the discard pile.
There are three me out in his list.
He's got two in play, so still the potential of the last ditch catch.
See some energy being moved around with these energy switch.
Powering up the Latias EX, not a very common attacker.
I gotta think at this point, though, even if Kobe just, oh, and is able to clear out all
of the mega King is gone and make it so that Jake has no three prize card targets.
Puka, I think this is it.
I think this is checkmate.
Kobe can take a knockout on this Rapskut.
Jake has no way to take three prize cards on the next turn.
And then Kobe can attack with the Lyos KO anything in Jake's deck.
And that will mean Coby will win this game one, I don't know if Jake has a response to
this play.
What a masterful setup in this very challenging matchup.
It seems like Coby has figured out a way to attack some of the weak points of this Alakazam
deck just using these big basic Pokemon EX and Mega Evolution Pokemon EX.
Sometimes simply attacking with big Pokemon gets the job done.
T-Reno played to thin the deck a bit.
Getting a few of those Pokemon EX out
and taking a KO now is Koby-Huh.
With that Teal Mask Ogre Pawn EX,
Jake will draw to kick off his turn.
It is just a done sparse.
I don't even think he's doing enough damage
to knock out Ogre Pawn,
and Jake's gonna pack it up.
Koby wins game one.
A stunner to kick things off here
in our senior division finals.
Really, all about that unfair stamp.
That was the game changer here.
Jake got off to a big lead with that Alakazam knocking out the MegaKangaskan EX, but...
Unfair stamp.
It's got unfair in the nameship. Sometimes that happens.
That's what it feels like coming out of this game, and Jake just did nothing after that unfair stamp happened.
And the slip was so good for Jake.
I mean, look at this board, free Kadapera, Dunsparse, Ravska.
He's prepared for all of Kobe's tricks,
and it just wasn't enough.
Yeah, one area that we may look back on here
is, yes, the Ravska was nice.
Makes you feel safe, not having that potential
at the wellspring mask, overpond, EX,
to target your bench, put one down.
But the bench was a little bit constrained,
not a lot of Dunsparse.
And so when it came time for that unfair stamp,
there wasn't a lot of draw support there readily available
and crucially did not have the Genesect either.
We'll see if there's any adjustments here
from Jake in game two.
Yeah, of course you need both the Genesect and a tool card.
We know he had access to Genesect.
Could have grabbed it off the dawn,
but I'm assuming he did have it in his hand.
And he just missed out on one of his four tool cards
to activate that ace nullifier ability.
Crazy, and that's sometimes what can happen when you take a knockout that appears in front of you without fully
Setting up yourself for the remainder of the game that is where unfair stamp can come in and cut off all of your momentum
Think Kobe we've seen here has practiced this matchup quite a bit has a clear plan of attack
And we'll see if Jake can figure out a way to play around it now and make
some crucial adjustments. Jake was exuding confidence walking up to that final
table. Said he's gonna win. He did indeed claim himself the champion but Kobe has
put a wrench in that plan winning game number one and now just one more game
separates Kobe from becoming the world champion. Now in this situation feels
It's like you may have to recompose yourself, right?
That was maybe a shocking way to lose the first game
if you're Jake.
I think Kobe has to be feeling great
about how that all played out.
But again, this is a big stage.
There's a lot going on.
There's a lot of pressure here.
Will these players be able to stay focused here
with so much online?
Kobe is gonna get an extra card to work with here.
Jake did not find a basic Pokemon
his first attempt at an opening hand of course when setting up for the Pokemon TCG you do draw seven
cards and one of those seven must be a basic Pokemon for the game to begin since Jake did not
find one he's forced to take what we call a mulligan shuffle and draw again and Kobi is awarded
with an additional card for that looks like a basic Pokemon was found off of this one
we'll set out those six prize cards those ones you set to the side at the beginning of the
the game. Don't have access to until your opponent's Pokemon is knocked off a
game to getting started. Here we go. Jake is going to kick things off with the draw
for turn. Benching up an Abra and a telepathic psychic energy right away.
And similarly to game one in the active spot, Puka, mega Kangaskhan facing off
against Rellore. Have a deja vu chip. Rellore and Abra with the telepathic
psychic energy. I think this is just the first game again. And look at
these prize cards as Jake is doing his opening search.
A couple of cadavera, it's like you draw very important
for fueling his engine.
And crucially that Erie is in the prize cards as well.
That's one of your defenses against unfair stamp.
You can just discard it from your opponent's hand
before they get an opportunity to use it.
This might be tough for Jake now.
It doesn't have all the resources
at his disposal that he may want.
Still searching off this telepathic psychic, it will be a couple more Abra brought down
and it is a Buddy Buddy Pothin as well, searching the deck for two Pokemon with 70 HP or less,
putting them into play.
It looks like two Dunsparse brought to the front of the deck immediately.
You mentioned the clogging of the bench in game one.
Not really a problem when you're putting out Dunsparse as he can clear those spots
up.
Yeah, it's one of the great parts about this support line.
Of course great combo with that enriching energy draws you more cards
But yeah need to have those in play later on in the game
Kobe is gonna open up with the use of a run errand to draw a couple of cards from
The top of the deck it looks like he's got Cyrano and Crispin in his hand
No teal mask ogre pawn though
So I don't think we're gonna see the potential of a turn one attack
Cyrano will be his choice here to search his deck for three Pokemon EX reveal them and put them into his hands
Trying to see if there are any energy cards in that hand could be an issue if not really want to get an energy
In play on the first turn so you can set up for an attack on the second turn
You can see the prize cards for Kobe here again a lot of different types of energy
I think not overly relevant, but the water energy will make it so he cannot use
The wellspring mask over on EX in this game
It does cut him out of that potential play.
Of course, Jake does have that Ravska,
which also cuts Kobe out of that play.
It seemed like Kobe wasn't even keeping that line open very much in game number one,
as he attached the water very, very early,
recognizing that Ravska is very easy to establish for his opponents.
And one of those just two bosses orders in the prize cards as well.
We saw that was a crucial card in the first game,
being able to target down some Pokemon at the right moments.
Overall, I think should have a clean game here.
Let's see what Kobe decides to go with on this first turn.
And you really do want to establish some sort of offense in the first couple turns.
And a part of that offense is finding an energy attachment.
And if he's going to miss an energy attachment here,
that is going to put him effectively a turn behind.
He can make it up a little bit through the use of Crispin in the future
and some teal dances so it's not necessarily the end of this game.
but it is definitely a big miss. He's going to use the CERNO to find out Ladiasi X, give that
chunky Megacangus down a little bit of movement. Of course, the HEPI-3 retreat cost brought down
to zero thanks to Skyliner, Tio Masco-Grapani-X, and Lillies Clefairy also a part of this equation.
So as Coby looks through the deck, does see that the unfair stamp is in there, that'll be a
crucial part of this equation as well.
All big basic Pokemon EX coming down onto the bench, including a second mega Kangaskhan.
But where is the energy?
It's the same thing we saw from Kobe in game number one.
Getting that second Kangaskhan established.
Respecting the potential of a big play from his opponent of taking out this Pokemon.
He wants to be able to promote it should his active go down.
down and here it is Jake's second turn.
Pokipata immediately fetches out the done sparse,
ready to go with a runaway draw.
In the first game we saw Jake miss finding rare candy
on the second turn of the game.
That's going to be even more important in game number two
with those two Kadabra and the prize cards.
You want to see that rare candy so that you can skip from
2 Alakazam right away. Will Jake be able to find it in this second game?
Yeah, again possible here for this mega kengaskan to go down.
Jake needs to get into an Alakazam and get 15 cards and there is the Alakazam rare candy bringing it out.
Drawing himself three cards, he does also have that enriching energy so he can attach and draw some more.
So he would lose out on his relor unless he
Retreating it off the relor unless he was to find an air balloon here comes a cadabra from this pocket pad
Be able to draw himself a couple of more cards
You know this situation I think it's always very tempting to take three prize cards right
It's again halfway to getting to all six. So it's
You know always when you have that knockout in front of you
could just do it, but this may be a situation where Jake wants to be a little more patient,
you know, wasting that enriching energy could backfire later and doesn't seem to be under
a lot of pressure from Kobe after the missed energy attachment on the first turn. So we
could see a situation where Jake is just content to pass the turn, evolve up some
of these Pokemon and set himself up for a longer game.
We'll see if he chooses to remain patient and he is going to attach this enriching
to his active. Drawing four more cards. Does have that the done sparse he fetched off of
the poker pad. Getting a count looks like ten cards in his hand currently. Still a long
way to go to get to fifteen. There is the done sparse coming out. The second done
Sparse hits the board as well. Seems so unlikely for him to reach to a one hit KO. He is going
to retreat into this Alakazam and not take a one hit knockout, still lay a bunch of damage
into this mega Kangaskhan, but so often we are used to seeing just knockout after knockout
after knockout when piloting Alakazam. And do you see the runaway draw? So Dunsparse
Going into the deck, and you have to see that the air balloon was drawn off of that.
That could have potentially been used to retreat the Riller without having to use that enriching energy.
Gotta wonder if that's gonna come back later for Jake not having access to that powerful A-Spec card.
You only get to play one A-Spec in your deck.
There are so many powerful ones to choose from.
And for Jake this weekend, it has been the enriching energy, but for him now it is in his discard pile.
He has no access to it, but he's got boss's orders to bring up the lobbyos ex and if he has enough cards in hand
He can still take a two prize KO this turn
Sure seems like he was in that
Awkward middle ground having enough to knock out a regular Pokemon ex but not enough to knock out mega Kangaskhan
So still a huge turn here
It's a
Tragile feeling here Chip you get a knockout, but once again, don't have the Genesect
This is another opening for Kobe if he can find that unfair stamp
He could leave Jake susceptible to being stuck with a low hand size
Kobe does play a couple copies of the cipher maniacs code breaking
That's a way he could guarantee himself this card draw
We'd love to pair the unfair stamp with an attack, though, and right now, you'd probably
play Crispin to get an attack unless you can find multiple energy switch in combination
with a TLMass overpaw and EX.
You could potentially attack with something like Lily's Clefairy EX instead if you wanted
to go that route.
Another card Kobe does play as well is the one Lily's Pearl, so he could make
the Clefairy worth just one prize card. Here comes that Meowthie X using that last-ditch-catch.
Of course, that Lily's Pearl, only when knocked out by damage from an attack, powerful hands,
is an effective in attack. So he's going to look through here and search out any supporter
from this last-ditch-catch. And it does look like it is Cypher Maniac's code breaking,
being lined up. Any two cards placed on top of the deck in whatever order he pleases.
Are we going to see the unfair stamp once again?
Of course, you can put unfair stamp plus one more card on top of your deck.
You'll draw them both with the run errand.
So you could both draw the unfair stamp and set up a combo for an attack here.
It does look like that Cyber Maniacs will be the choice.
And we know unfair stamp will be one piece of this equation.
Question now, what will his second card grab be?
Well, one's pretty easy.
Sure enough, needs the unfair stamp for this play.
Could get that energy switch to guarantee an energy over to the
Clefairy. Looks like he landed on a basic psychic energy hookah.
That signals an attack with Lily's Clefairy EX.
I believe there's an energy switch in hand already.
Kobe gonna try the energy once more.
Unfair stamp knock out your alakazam and let's see what happens
Run errand drawing the two cards that Kobe just placed on top of the deck
It's gonna use an ultra ball to discard a couple more cards from the hand fetching out any Pokemon
He would like
Adding that to his hand and also thinning some cards out of his deck that he doesn't want to draw anymore
Well spring mask over pond one of those cards going to the discard pile
He's going to thin just one more Pokémon out of his deck.
If he's got Area 0, he could put more Pokémon into play, of course, if he would like to.
Or just discard them, Raging Bolt.
Not super necessary whenever you're dealing with Alakazam, which only has 140 hit points.
Really nice to knock out high HP Pokémon, perhaps some of those Mega Pokémon we've
seen in the format.
opposing mega kengaskans like mega exka drill ex but not useful in this matchup at all
That's exactly what you can do here discard those cards with ultra ball so that you don't draw into them off of this unfair stamp
There's the basic psychic onto the cliff fairy and an energy switch off of the teal mask ogre pawn and unfair stamp
We'll give him five cards refreshed
and lead Jake with just two cards.
He's already got the attack lined up.
Kobe will take down this Alakazam,
and these two cards here for Jake and Ji
are massive to keep him and his hopes
of becoming world champion alive.
Chip, there's just one problem.
There's no Latias EX in play currently,
and the bench is full.
Kobe needs to find area zero under depths
and Latias EX to even retreat.
We're so used to seeing those cards just automatically being in play
That is not the case in this game and in this situation and off these five cards
It does not look like he has been able to draw into them
That's why he was debating so long on that cyber maniacs Puka. He just has to pass now
And it's over to Jake on his turn and he's got Alakazam a
Crucial miss for Kobe on that turn when you can't combine the unfair stamp
With a knockout, your opponent gets more time and time is not something you can afford to give to Alakazam in this situation.
And Jake draws a wonderful hand off of that unfair stamp. He's going to be drawing all sorts of cards.
Alakazam into the dawn, dawn into Alakazam, the Dunsparse and Fezzendipity EX, runaway draw.
Three more cards from the top, Buddy Buddy Poffin to replenish the board.
If Jake can get to 15, he'll be able to take this knockout.
He'll go down to just one prize card remaining.
Let's see if he can piece it all together.
Even with no knockout here, I think the damage has been done.
Jake has so many cards in hand now, has the opportunity to set up those Dunsparse
for future Dunsparse and a rare candy.
Alakazam all three Alakazam into play now for Jake and I don't think he's gonna get to 15
But like you said puka the damage has been done Kobe's one trick his one chance in this matchup
Is the use of that unfair stamp? He's already expended that resource and it was for not enough of a payoff
Yeah, let's not forget Jake is ahead on prize cards. He's already taken the first two
Koby still has to take six knockouts to win this game and there's no other way for Koby
to disrupt that hand.
If we keep seeing those runaway draws with the Dunsparce filling up the hand every turn,
there's no way to set it back down to a low enough number where Alchizeim won't be able
to knock out these Pokemon EX.
Jake can just feel free to replenish this board with the Dunsparce over and over
and over again, there's no reason to worry about getting the Genesect established now.
Unfair Stamped has been utilized. No way to recover that A-Spec.
Kobe's gonna continue to draw here and see what else he could possibly do,
but if he doesn't get off an attack here, I fail to see a real path.
There's an attachment to his active. Looks like an energy switch,
So he's going to attack with this heavily damaged mega Kangaskhan EX
Not a good feeling if you're Kobe. Oh, is he gonna retreat it?
That's not a good feeling either. He is going to manually retreat that hefty mega Kangaskhan
Into the lilies Clefairy EX it will be able to attack it will take the KO on Alec Azzam
Toby's gonna put a couple energy cards into play with this glass trumpet
But Jake is just two attacks away from closing this out.
He's already got the two Alakazam on his board,
and his hand is no longer in danger.
There is the KO.
Lily's Clefairy takes down Alakazam,
that handheld fan on Jake's end
will bounce the psychic energy over to
Tealmasco Grapan on the bench.
Kobe finally taking a prize card in game two.
And let's just see if Jake can stream together a couple of attacks in a row.
We did see in the first game, Jake got to a spot where he kind of ran out of steam.
And let's remember, there's no enriching energy anymore.
That was discarded early on in this game.
So it might be a little more difficult to build up the hand than it would be normally.
But there's still a pretty healthy number of cards in that hand.
Elakazam did 180 damage and there's the flip of the script to add more.
As in Deputy EX using its powerful ability as a KO was taken on the previous turn by Kobe.
Jake, should he have an energy card which is attached now?
He'll be able to KO this Lily's Clefairy, a couple of the Dunsparse put into play as well.
I don't think he even has to use these runaway draws to get this KO.
There is the powerful hand jaked down to just two prize cards remaining
And you can see how powerful that hand really is
Knocking out that Pokemon EX for just a single energy card
And what can Kobe do from here?
Pressure is on and you can see why this Alakazam deck is so difficult for Kobe to deal with
Here is flip the script of the Fezendipity EX to draw himself three more cards
If nothing else, he'll be able to draw through quite a bit more of his deck this game.
You see that teal dance of Teal Mask Ogre Pawn EX to get an extra energy out.
And here is that run errand ability to draw himself two more cards.
Not much else here for Kobe. The options feeling so limited.
There's no one prize Pokemon he can really efficiently attack with.
And Jake's already got so many cards in hand.
Perhaps the one hope here for Kobe would just be
if some energies were prized for Jake,
but no, Kobe's gonna concede this one and send us to gain three.
An unfair stamp, not enough.
That time, Koby's setup was not as robust as it was in the first game, and Jake was able to draw out of it this time.
See why this single prize, Alec Kazam, for just a single energy, favors the trade so favorably with these Pokemon EX.
Even just knocking out something like a Latias EX, like we saw here, that's two prize cards.
What do you mean you just have to knock out two more Pokemon to win the game?
I mean in that knockout was huge. It's what prevented Kobe from getting in to his attacker on the following turn getting rid of that pivot ability
Was a really heads-up move from Jake and it ensured that he would cruise to a game to win
All right
Everyone here. Let's hear from Pablo
Pablo, what are you seeing in this match and what can we expect to see as we go into this crucial game 3?
I mean, obviously, defense against the on-church down is going to be the key thing.
Having that Genesect down, and we saw that very smart play taking out Latias in order to remove the mobility, right?
So, we'll have to see what they can do, but Genesect, I think, is going to be key in game 3 and could be defining.
Yeah, waiting for knockouts, 100% huge.
Not playing a way to take a KO
until you can establish that ace nullifier ability.
That is the main way in this matchup
that Alakazam struggles,
just not building up a large hand
that it can keep later on in the game.
I think what's so interesting about this list
is the force of vitality
and the Rapska actually coming into the fray
at this point to use that spherical shield
to actually prevent the bench from being damaged here.
It's unfortunate that the Sacred Ash was prized
But that's the thing, when the unfair stamp gives you so many cards to draw back into that opening beautiful hand, anything is possible.
Thank you so much, Pablo, Ethan and Emily, appreciate your insight and thoughts as always as these players are setting up for game number three.
And Koby will have the opportunity here to choose Puka first or second.
Give himself a chance to get established and here it is game three of the senior division final match
Let's hear it for these trainers
Coby is gonna kick off this opening turn lobby off
He acts in the after spot of the was very an energy attached in just a past no mega Kanga scorn and Jake
NG has started that crucial genus acts
We're off to the races here in the third game a world champion will be crowned after this one
OK, pad, the first card being played for Jake needs to set up those Abra once again, and
we heard our analysts talking about that.
Genesect, finally hitting the board in the third game.
We thought this was going to be a crucial part of this matchup.
There's actually some tricky stuff that can happen on Kobe's side as well.
Will we finally see this ace nullifier come into play?
It's going to almost be forced at this point since Jake has had to start it.
He'll most likely be able to move it with an air balloon, which will just naturally get
a tool card onto this Pokémon.
Jake's opening play here is just that Poképad to get out the Abra and a Dawn to search
the deck for three different Pokémon, a basic Stage 1 and Stage 2.
And it looks like right away Fezendipity being potentially eyed up is his hand that
week that Fezendipity was considered Puka? I don't love that unless there's a lot
more good stuff in that hand that is a bad signal oh my goodness Fezendipity
EX being taken off the dawn right away unless there's more like Buddy Buddy
Poffins things like that this could be some trouble. It does look like it was
a Fezendipity ultimately as the choice because Abra can be fetched with
that poke a pad and that will be put onto the board in just a past note energy
on the side of Jake and as we see this hand here for Kobe there's also not much
going on his holy bailout being I think this cipher maniacs code-breaking I don't
think he has anything else I don't think there's enough Pokemon in play
for Full Moon Run, it would even knock out this Genesect. What does Kobe have here?
It's gonna search through the deck and of course check those prize cards.
Kangaskhan, Klaffari, a couple Pokemon there, a couple supporters also prized away.
I'll have a think about what to stack up on top of his deck. And he has the
mobility with Laodias in play right now, so he could retreat into Klaffari
and attack, but yes, Puka, there's nowhere near enough Pokemon in play
here. We're so used to this full moon rondo being almost automatic to KO whatever you want,
especially when that Pokemon only has 110 hit points, but it's not going to happen here this turn.
Things are getting weird in the third game here to decide our world champion.
Not optimal starts for either player who can adapt and figure out a strategy on the fly
When things don't go completely according to plan,
let's see, these are the adjustments you have to make
when you're playing at a high level like this.
Teal Mask, go for Pony X, and Cyrano played on top of the deck,
and it makes a lot of sense when you look at the hand here for Kobe.
He'll be able to teal dance into that Cyrano on the next turn
and fill his board with a bunch of powerful Pokemon EX.
He will retreat, and he's going to deal
just 80 damage with this full moon rondo.
to hit KOing a Genesect. I don't think that's how you draw it up, Pocah.
Definitely not. Big two cards off the psychic draw here, though.
Does find an energy card. It is that enriching energy, his A-spec of choice.
He's going to attach, draw himself four cards, and continue to fuel forward this position.
It's not going to be possible now to attack. There's no wondrous patch in this list from
Jake, so no KO potential, but a second Dawn played. We'll search out a bunch of
Pokemon and continue to help him get his board established. It was seeming a little
scary at first for Jake, but I think he's begun to stabilize. Yeah, the key was
just kind of survival in this situation. Only two cards found off the
Dawn. No Stage 2 Pokemon found. Yeah, that means no Alakazam remaining in the
deck there, hiding out between the hand and the prize cards.
We're going to see another psychic draw here of the cadavera.
Two more cards, and there is a basic psychic.
Dunsparse will hit the board.
And it does look like just one, no, two Alecas am in the hand,
so one is hiding out in the prizes.
He's got a battle cage in his hand,
thinking about just playing that card out,
and he will do just that and passes now over to Kobe.
And we see Jake once again,
not valuing the Genesect in this matchup,
could have retreated it to try to protect it
and save that ace nullifier for later,
but deciding no, this is the least important Pokemon
I have in play right now.
And this is the play Kobe set up last turn
with his cipher maniac.
He uses his deal dance, draws that one other card
put on top and it is going to be the Sereno. Searching the deck for three powerful Pokemon
EX, adding them into his hand. Bezendipity, mega-Kangaskan EX, and the Meowth EX as well.
One of the things I love about this Sereno, being able to chain supporters thanks to Meowth EX.
Kobe will certainly get a knockout on this turn.
turn. The question is will he be able to set up for a big follow-up after that? The opening
turn has been fairly weak at this point. Not a lot of acceleration. I really feel like
he's got to be gearing up for that unfair stamp in the next couple turns. What's going
on here? Looks like just the full moon rondo. There could have been an awkward situation
there with a cruel arrow from Fezendipity with the right mix of cards, but now Jake has a golden opportunity.
Let's see if he's able to capitalize. He'll lead off with that telepathic psychic energy,
searching out two basic psychic Pokemon, putting two more Abra into play on his bench. We know
he has Alakazam waiting in hand and he already has so many cards available.
Well, the only ways to get back that Genesecta just got knocked out, there's one Sacred Ash
and one Alana's Aide, and those are both kind of difficult to find early on in the game.
So once again, we might be headed for a situation where Genesecta is just not a factor.
Came into the thinking that was going to be one of the main interactions in this
matchup that just hasn't come up yet but Jake has still been able to find a way to get this Alakazam
up and running. Certainly has enough cards to get a knockout here. And he's going to use the eerie
trying to perhaps catch that unfair stamp unable to do that but does get two energy switch.
Wow! Two energy switch that will definitely limit Kobe's options on the following turn.
Flip the script, Fezzendipity EX drawing a few more cards.
Here is that Forest of Vitality.
Getting rid of that battle cage,
putting this stadium into play now.
As long as he's got 10 cards in his hand,
powerful hand will take the KO.
Jake NG strikes.
Two prizes down, four more to go.
How will Kobe respond here?
The pressure is mounting.
The hand is built up for Jake.
Alec Kazam is up and running.
Is this the time to find unfair stamp?
Starts off with just three cards off of this.
Flip the script to draw those first three.
Kobe's used one Cypher Maniacs code breaking.
He does play two copies.
So he could piece it all together with
his Meowth, that he grabbed the last turn off of the Cyrano.
Gonna draw with a few of his other abilities first
to see if he can perhaps find it naturally.
Of course, not only does he want to play the unfair stamp,
he wants to pair it with an attack, with a KO,
which is what he missed out on in game number two,
and here comes that Meowth.
So one major difference in this third game
is Jake was able to put down Fezendipity EX
before this unfair stamp is potentially coming.
It's going to weaken the effectiveness of that.
You have to wonder if there's even an opportunity for Kobe
to take advantage of the fact that Pheasantifity is down,
could potentially use things like Saab
with the wellspring mask over on EX to trap it
for a little bit so you can set up a bigger play later.
But no, Cypher Maniac is the choice here.
And he's going to grab a grass energy
and the unfair stamp here.
He's lined up this KO.
He's going to play a few more cards out of his hands
to thin as much as possible.
And there it is, unfair stamp.
Kobe will get five cards, leaving Jake with just two.
But Jake has prepared his board well for this situation.
Not only that, Fezendipity, but there's also
a done sparse already in play.
Will the third time be the charm
for Kobe's unfair stamp?
It worked the first time, wasn't as effective the second time.
He needs it to stick one more time to have a chance to become World Champion here.
This A-Spec card is the game changer that could decide this tournament for these two players.
Here are the cards being drawn.
Kobe's already expended everything.
He really needs to this turn.
He's used all of his draw abilities.
He's got that Teal Mask Ogre Pawn EX set up and ready to fire off a myriad
leaf shower taking down the Alakazam, tying this game up.
Two prize parts taken a piece.
Let's see what Jake has off of this draw,
promoting his done sparse, ready to use that runaway draw ability.
He's going to kick it off with a festivity X and flip the script.
Do you see a Hilda and a Dawn in the hand
that's going to represent so many additional cards on this turn?
a Cadabra and Alakazam, that's gonna end up drawing
five additional cards.
You have the runaway draw with D'Dunsparse available as well.
Things are looking great for our Australian player, Jake,
lining up all these cards for this Alakazam.
Plenty of cards still to draw this turn.
D'Dunsparse available in the active spot
needs to make sure he can find an energy card.
There are so many cards for him to draw to see one.
There are two found from the psychic draw of Kadabra.
There are three coming in from this Alakazam.
And still three more to draw with the Dunsparse available.
He only needs 11 in his hand to get this KO.
Yeah, crucial difference between this
and the first game as well.
Megacangaskhan was the one following up
after the unfair stamp.
Now, a much smaller Pokemon,
that's much easier to knock out.
much easier to get to 11 cards compared to the 15 required to KO a mega Kanga scone and should Jake have an energy card
Which he does this powerful hands will take down this teal mask ogre prawn EX
Taking Kobe's only Tara Pokemon out of play taking all of Kobe's energy cards out of play and leaving him with a board
Simply full of Pokemon
Jake's setting things up to just secure a victory if possible, improve the odds where
you can, put more Kadabra and Alakazam for you to draw on your future turns.
There is that KO.
And just one more knockout separates Jake NG and this champion title, Kobe will promote
his mega Kangaskan EX.
see what he can piece together.
So much card draw available,
Fezendipity EX and the use of flip the script.
Three cards right here,
giving him one at a time.
Still more to find with the mega kengaskan
and it's run air and ability.
What could Kobe possibly attack with here
to give him a chance to get reestablished?
That's the question and that's the question.
Kobe's gonna be asking himself as well.
a couple different options here. Obviously you can't just leave things the way they are.
You'll lose immediately if nothing changes on this board, whether that means attacking
the active Pokémon, knocking it out, or trying to get a little crafty, maybe using
something like boss's orders to bring out Fesendipity EX and try to trap it. I don't
know if that'll even be enough at this stage, but you gotta try something.
This is the last game of this Seniors Division Tournament.
The last couple of turns, Coby's gonna see it out and try to find some path here, perhaps
through the use of a Meowth EX, which is found off of the Ultra Ball.
Gonna put down a Lily's Clefairy, gonna, oh, he cannot bench that Meowth Puka there.
There are no Terra Pokemon in play.
He put down that Lily's Clefairy first.
Of course, Area Zero Under Depths expands your bench to eight Pokemon, but only if you
have a Terra Pokemon in play.
Something we've probably all done at some point, just assuming you have a Terra Pokemon
in play in that Area Zero Under Depths is always expanding your bench to eight Pokemon,
but the Teal Mask Ogre on the X was knocked out on the previous turn.
You can't fulfill that condition for the Area 0 under-depth,
and the first card that Kobe played down was the Lily's Puff Ferry.
Now won't be able to bench the Meowthie X or anything else in this situation.
What can he do here?
He has to find Crispin if he wants to attack this turn.
That's now his only path with no Teal Mask Ogre Pawn in play,
no opportunity to get extra energies out through the use of a Teal Dance.
So if he does not find a Crispin here, he's going to miss an attack.
Psychic Energy will come down onto the Lily's Clefairy EX.
Going to take stock of the discard pile on Jake's end,
looking for any way out of this situation.
He will use a boss's orders to bring something into the active spot,
Banking perhaps on lack of energy cards available for his opponent, hoping that maybe a couple
of energy cards are prized.
It is entirely possible.
If that were the case, Jake may have a hard time moving this Pheasantipity.
He will draw for turn.
There is that air balloon.
There is the boss disorders and Jake.
is the 2026 Pokemon PCG World Champion.
Congratulations to Jake taking it all with Alec Kazan,
Kazan and that powerful hand was able to draw enough cards to become our champion well-played
by both players such an amazing match to watch at the end of the day. Jake will be taking home
the crown congratulations. Congratulations to of course to Koby as well to get to this point
to be able to play on this stage what an incredible memory what is something we'll be
be able to cherish for the rest of his life.
It feels unfortunate to come up just short,
but whatever it has been for both of our players,
congratulations, Jake NG, the world champion
in the C-class.
He said at the beginning, he was going to be in the champion,
and he followed through on his promise.
Congratulations to Jake on getting the job done.
Very confident player, and the kind of things.
There was some moment he may have been questioning
himself after that first game and how that match started off.
But Alakazam just too powerful against this big basic stretch.
And we are standing by with Jake for an interview.
We've got to see how he's feeling fresh off of his win.
Oh, my goodness, what a match we just witnessed and we officially
have our world champion for the TCG senior division.
All right.
JNG. Many were talking about the fact that the Alakazam deck was favored in this matchup,
but this did go the distance. Can you give me the breakdown of this match from your perspective?
So, game one, I just drew nothing off the stand, which like just lost me the game pretty much.
I think I might have made a slight misplay. I didn't like sacred ash backhabras into my deck,
which probably lost me the game, but in game two and three, they were pretty clean. I just
I just drew a supporter off stamp and I won.
The senior division offers a unique opportunity to start building your reputation as a player nice and early.
As you continue down your competitive career, how would you like for people to describe you as a player?
I hope they view me as a top player.
Ultimately that's just my goal to feel like I'm good.
I don't really care that much about winning as long as I feel I'm at the top of the current player base.
I mean there's nothing like world championship title to prove to people that you're good.
Before I let you go, who would you like to give any shout outs to?
I'd like to shout out my dad first for bringing me to all the events I go to.
It takes a lot of time off work just to come with me.
I'd also like to thank out Yuichi and Addison for playing the same list as me to the worlds
and as well as everyone who's tested with me and helped me build my dad.
Truly is a team effort. Well thank you so much Jake for joining me right here
And everyone here in the Chase Center, give it up one more time for your TCG Senior World Champion, Jack G!
We have had some very interesting matches so far today.
But I do think we have one more matchup when it comes to TCG, am I right?
There's something else you have to do.
That's right.
The TCG Masters division is on the way, so let's get you set up for our final match-up.
For nearly 30 years, the Pokemon Trading Card game has continued to evolve.
New cards, new strategies, and new generations of trainers.
But the dream of becoming world champion has remained all the same.
The best trainers of the 2026 season earned their place in San Francisco and after countless
hard fought battles, clutch plays, and crucial top decks, only two remain.
One final match will decide the next Pokemon Trading Cart Game World Champion.
Diego Casiraga is one of the most storied players in the game's history, having three
prior top cut finishes, including his World Champion title in 2017.
His run this year has been fueled by the powerful hands of Alakazam.
I'm Diego Cácero Aguirre, and I will see him in the case of tomorrow.
After defeating Henry Chao in top four, Diego pruned that he is still one of this game's
top competitors as he battles for a chance to become a two-time champion.
He will be facing off against Andrew Hedrick, who has dominated the Pokemon TCG for the
last few seasons.
Andrew is playing draggable TX with crushing hammers.
This is an archetype that he popularized
after winning the Los Angeles regional championships
earlier this season.
Patrick Funtz bought this order, he will win the game.
He defeated former number one ranked player
Brent Tonneson in top four to punch his ticket
into championship Sunday.
This finals match is a story of the experienced veteran
versus the young superstar.
Only one of them can leave this stage as our champion.
This time, it's my turn.
One of our trainers is looking to become the first two-time World Champion in the TCG Masters division.
The other has already rocked his debt towards victory in a regional this very season.
Everybody, it is time to meet our TCG Masters finalists.
First up, we have Andrew Hedwig.
And on the opposite side give it up for Diego Casier-Laca!
I know I'm still for this matchup. I know everyone in the audience is. Andrew, five regional victories, an NAIC title. This would mean the trifecta. What is he going to take to actually achieve that?
Yeah, I don't know. I guess I'm gonna try to treat this mask like you would any other right now.
Try to play the best you can, do what you can with the cord through your horn to see if it works out.
And Diego, the last time we saw you on this stage, your wife was seven months pregnant with your first child.
Now you have returned as a father of two. Walking through the journey back in 2017 till now.
I'm really proud to have them here with me, supporting me here in the sidelines.
We appreciate the support of everyone that is in the audience right now.
Keep it cheered while we send our trainers off to your battle stations.
Alright, pastors, what do you have to say about that?
We've got a lot to say about that Gabby, but we're hopefully going to have time to say it all.
We've got Andrew Hedrick, Diego Casaraga.
We have Crown, our Junior Division World Champion.
We have Crown, our Senior Division World Champion.
Now just a massive division left.
I'm Ross Gilbert and I'm here with the lovely Joe Bernard.
Joe, how good is this final going to be?
Oh, this is Goliath versus Goliath.
That's with you Ross.
This is a combination of modern era versus veteran.
We have the mastermind of the bottom era in Andrew Hedrick looking to complete the Pokemon gauntlet
He's already a regional champion. He's already an international champion
The world championships is just one that sets away
But he faces down a veteran of over 20 years of experience at the very highest level
Diego Casaraga, he has a resume better than anyone
He's already got two top 8 finishes. His dream came true in 2017 of GDGX and he's hoping to do it again today.
Well back in 2013 we saw Jason Kuzinski won the world championships for the third time.
But since then the playmates have grown immeasurably.
All of us have gone infinitely harder when we ask that question.
Will we ever see another player repeat as the Masters Division world champion?
Well, Diego's coming here and said, look, I want it in 2017.
It's nine years later, I'm back, and he has got an excellent chance.
Just one more hurdle to get over, but he's proven he can navigate this.
He's been in Dragapult along the way, just one more game to go,
and he can do what people thought might no longer be possible.
If anyone can, it could be Diego.
And we've got the Friends and Family standing by.
So let's hear from them.
Thank you so much, guys.
of course I'm here with the friends and family of our competitors and I've got a
couple of posting questions to ask them. How does it feel having supported them
towards this point and now they're on the world stage? I mean to me it's no
surprise I think Andrew Hedrick is on a different level from every other play
in the world and it's pretty rare that the best players get to actually make
it to the finals of Worlds so I really wanted to bring this one home
because you've such a great friend of mine.
Sorry.
That's okay.
I mean, really, I've been seeing him playing all my life
and being here is really crazy.
I'm so proud of him.
I love hearing that.
I think we're all so proud as well.
It feels like we've all become family,
watching both players grow
and now get to this point.
How much preparation goes into events?
into events like this that people just might not understand from home.
I mean, I have spent countless hours just sitting in call with Andrew,
playing, sharing screens, playing, you know, the PCCG live ladder.
He gets to the highest elotes I've ever seen. It's incredible.
He's put in so much work and he really deserves this.
I mean, it's in him practicing and practicing and being with his family. It's really nice.
I love that. That's so good. Still makes plenty of time for the family.
And if you could give just one final breath of support, what would you say to them right now if you were over there?
He can do his best and we will support him no matter what.
Use Phantom Dive to knock out all his Abra's in the game.
Good advice! Well let's go see if that's going to be what unfolds.
Good luck to our players as we embark on this journey together.
Well it's hard to argue with that advice. Use Phantom Dive, not Abra.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have met the players. Give me a cheer if you're cheering for Andrew!
And on the other side, if you want to see Diego Capuaga take a home, make some noise!
I think that's a pretty popular joke.
And who can blame them? They've had such historic placements. Andrew, more recent success, but
Diego with many years, such a strong competitor. As we see how they made it to this finals.
Actually quite similar runs from both players. You'll notice that both Andrew and Diego
were able to take out the Crostal in their top 8 matches. And then, with both able
to defeat Dragapult in their top four matches was really amazing to see Diego
up against Henry Chow in that previous game. Coming up against Dragapult again in
these finals so you know that he's got a lot of experience in this matchup
actually throughout the tournament he has four wins and one loss. His only loss
of the entire tournament so far has been Dragapult. That is a little bit
awkward but there are a lot of Dragapult out there. He has beaten a lot of them.
Let's see what the casters think about this particular matchup.
Where did we come down in terms of our predictions?
Who do we think is going to take this home?
I know, Joe, we ended up on different sides of this bracket.
I'm in Team Diego, but you think Andrew's bringing it home?
Well, it's a dead heat between the casters, and you can see why.
It's hard to back against a previous world champion.
I'm feeling that from what I've seen from Andrew,
he's just such a phenomenal competitor,
and I do happen to think that his build of Dragon Faulty X
will have enough answers to this single prize Alec-Azam archetype. Diego does have a lot of
defensive cards that can help out against the dangerous Spant and Diver attacks against the
Adrenal Brain from Monkey Dory, but I think that Andrew just about has the edge here with his list.
I've been looking at recent tournaments and Dragapult has been the best text for a while.
No one's arguing that, but it didn't win the last European regional this season,
and it didn't win the last North American regional this season, and it didn't win
win North American internationals and it didn't win Japan championships and it
was the best deck in all of those tournaments going in and I just think
sooner or later Dragapult gets got and I think this is the game where Dragapult
gets got but I do think it's gonna be close I think it could go either way and
I do think might be a pretty good matchup we're gonna watch well if the
casters can't decide who's gonna win it's gonna come down to these players
let's have a look and remind ourselves at some of the accomplishments from
both sides here. Andrew Hedrick, a five-time regional champion, NAIC champion, his best
world finish to date has only been top 32. He's absolutely equipped to that right now.
But another great stat for Andrew is that he's only come second in the seven finals
that he's attended in. He is so locked in for these finals. He has lost one final
out of seven. That is a pretty good record. As you go in and Diego, a whole bunch
results there, but the one that really stands above all of them is that world
championships final that was title over in 2017 with that Gardevoir GX. Let's take
a look at some prizes. Anything coming down that terrifies you Joe? Not too much
and Richie Energy's not great. Night stretcher and the A-Spectre Diego not ideal either
so both players gonna have to navigate their prizes in this situation.
Okay, looks like we are getting ready to start people in the chase center. It's time to get loud
Players have the fist bump we are off in the Masters division
This is game one out of the best of three and it looks like we're starting off with Andrew Hedrick
We're able to in the active Diego has got an opera. It is a buddy buddy popping for Andrew
That is gonna allow him to go and grab to
Basic Pokemon Joe give us a quick rundown in his dragapult deck while he searches
Well, it may not be the first time you've seen it this weekend
We even saw it in the Juniors division, but this archetype is built all around the stage to dragapult ex
Meaning that Andrew's priority will be finding first of all early Dreepee and then working his way into Drakloak
having that recon directive ability
grants you so much access to the deck
that you'll be able to string together all sorts of combos.
And it's no bad thing with the Dragapult itself.
It has a phenomenal attack in Phantom Dive,
dishing out 200 damage to the active,
but also crucially,
placing six counters on your opponent's benched Pokemon
in any way that you like.
And it's how creative Andrew can be
where he's going to find his edges in this set.
Yeah, you're looking to take multiple KO, set up Pokemon,
three, four turns down the road.
You need to be able to see the future
if you're playing this dragon pulp deck.
Well, the buddy-buddy-puffin is going to go out and get Andrew a couple of
drippy down onto the bench.
That is going to evolve into dragon pulp.
And a second buddy-buddy-puffin, turn one, double puffin.
That is a dream of many a Pokemon player,
so we can start seeing even more basics here.
If you want to get an army of drippy down on the bench,
this is a good way to start.
But we are weaving in a Dunsparse there,
which of course evolves into Dunsparse
there is going to be your draw engine.
Both of our players here are utilizing this as a sort of secondary engine
within their main evolution line.
So it's an amazing start for Andrew here to have access to 3db
in addition to the Duns boss,
opening up all sorts of opportunities for him to draw
on that second turn of the game as he evolves up into his Pokemon.
So all things considered, this is a phenomenal turn one for him.
It's everything you're looking for.
Turn one going first, you're not allowed to attack,
you're not allowed to play as a supporter.
What you really want to do is establish a whole bunch of basic Pokemon.
You'd like an energy does not look like we're gonna see that Andrew that is he well you see one in the hand there Joe
All I can see is draklok for next turn and the alphex possibly for next turn as well
That's all I'm seeing here right now. Well, at least you got your basic Pokemon
You don't get your energy, but you can pass over to Diego knowing you're in a pretty good position
And we do pass over Diego's first turn of these finals Aberrindy active decent start
What do we have? We'll look for Pokemon search and it's only one buddy buddy puff in yeah
We do have a buddy buddy puff in one seems to be enough
I think there's also a poker pad in this hand as well
So Diego will start to sift through his cards once again his evolution line not only a great attacking threat
But also he can draw cards throughout the game as he evolves up
The cadaver allows you to draw two when it comes into play with that psychic draw ability
Alakazam gets you one additional card, a great bonus, and that powerful hand attack as well,
dishing out more damage counters for the number of cards in your hand.
So throughout this set, we're going to be looking at Diego's hand,
not just for what it contains, but also the raw size of the hand
is what's required to reach knockouts.
And that's something we're going to be tracking throughout the game.
We're going to be looking at Andrew's opportunities to disrupt the hand.
We're going to be looking for things like the special red card,
things like the Unfest, at least cards that can lower Diego's hand size,
trying to make it as difficult as possible to rebuild it.
You need 16 cards in hand to get a KO on a clean DragonPult EX.
It's absolutely possible. We've seen it plenty of times this weekend,
but Andrew's job is to make it as difficult as possible for Diego to pull that off.
It had done spots off his own for Diego, and just having a little bit of a look.
Now, it is worth noting we have six cards that go down as your prizes
to begin the game. Those cards are inaccessible until you draw the most prized cards by taking knockouts.
So the reason you see these players doing long searches in the early game, they are just looking for which cards are missing
so that they know what they don't have access to. Diego right now is thinking, oh, by enriching energy, hope I'll draw that soon.
Yeah, absolutely. Especially important as Hilda is one of the crucial supporter cards he will look towards throughout this game.
game, the enriching energy would be a way to unlock some draw out of this supporter,
but instead he's just going to have to rely on the telepathic psychic energy
to not only attack, but also to get additional Abra into play because it can search out basic
psychic Pokemon. Part of the reason why this archetype is so consistent is the four copies of
this telepathic energy. Yeah, perfect order coming in with that. Really did give a power spike
to this deck. We've gone and grabbed a Gadabra for next turn. Of course, we know that
that Padu with that itchie pollen attack is going to be turning off the use of item cards.
So it is in your best interest when you're playing against Padu to proactively play your
items that maybe even a turn early because you can poke a pad now and get your Kadabra.
Next turn that poke a pad will not be available, but you will have the Kadabra ready to
evolve draw two cards and hopefully work towards your main attacker.
A battle cage goes down.
That's going to be big in this match up, right Joe?
This is going to be a crucial war that we have during the entire series where the stadiums
land because Diego wants to keep this battle cage in play for as long as possible, preventing
the damage counters from being placed on benched Pokemon by effects of attacks or abilities
which is essentially everything Andrew is trying to construct.
So whenever you can find those stadium bumps, that's really important.
But look at this, Recon Directive into Recon Directive, Andrew is flowing right now.
All three, Drag Glok, come down nice and easily.
You had free turn 1, 3, 3, turn 2, drag cloak.
Absolutely what you're looking for.
Each of those, let's look at the top two cars on your deck.
One to your hand, one to the bottom of your deck,
and that gives you your draw engine as you keep rolling.
This is what you want to do.
So the game down with the do,
build up your dragon army on the bench,
and it is going beautifully for Andrew.
The Crispin is the supporter for the turn here,
so Andrew can begin to power up multiple drag cloak.
He could likely put two energy onto one bench poke
or spread out his attachments, just to save him the headache later on in the game.
But no, we are seeing two energy onto Wundra Cloak here.
It may not indicate that we could get aggressive this turn with the Dragon Headbutt,
but he's certainly eyeing up on attack on the next turn.
He absolutely is.
One of the things you've got to watch for Dragon Bolt, it is a two-energy attack.
So cards like Crispin and cards like Rose's Encouragement,
they are played in the deck, so you can cheat sheet just a tiny bit
by getting two energy attachments in your turn rather than one,
so that you can get this Pokemon up and rolling a little bit faster,
especially if you say Miss Energy Attachment on turn 1.
There is a tiny chance that Diego could potentially go
Rekhand, Alakazam, Energy, Bosses, Orders, KO, Drag-Loke.
Is that something Andrew's worried about?
Not so much, especially if you're going to use the itchy pollen here.
I feel like that has to be the line of play this turn.
Yeah. You're just going to go for itchy pollen
and hope that this item destruction can really slow down.
No, it is not.
Not active, Joey's going for it.
It is a draw.
It's a headbutt.
Headbutt onto the Abra.
First KO goes to Andrew Hedrick.
No more Badoom, no more Item Lock.
It is a proactive first KO here,
and it's not what most people would have been expecting.
Things get really odd already.
In this finalist, there's a dawn top deck
from Diego Casaraga.
Perhaps the only reason Andrew went for this line of play
was there was no supporter from Diego on his first turn of the game.
But now we're going to see the runaway draw.
If you can find a rare candy from these three cards, Ross,
things would get explosive.
Not quite, but we do find the Fezantipity EX.
That's going to be three more cards.
It's got the ability, flip the script.
If you had a Pokemon code last turn,
you get to draw three more cards.
So you're going to have access to more cards.
And now you don't even need to use something like a boss's orders.
If you just get rare candy, Alexander's energy,
You not only knock out the track look but more importantly you remove all the energy from the board
There's your telepathic psychic energy
That's gonna go and get a couple more abra if you want to if they're available
Yeah, absolutely. This is already disa our choice from Diego
Make sure you pull these Pokemon out of the deck before you use your flip the script from Vesendipity EX
Possibly might even think to use the dawn supporter as well
Before committing to this draw three because you can continue to pull Pokemon out
We are going to see the Dawn supporter.
So the Alcazam will be a crucial, the Stage 2 is a no-brainer.
What else is he going to cherry-pick here?
Already has access to the Genesect in hand.
There's a Cadabra.
That's going to be able to evolve next turn, draw a couple of cards.
And then you get to get a basic as well, presumably, I think a Dunsparse
to evolve into the Dunsparse.
There we go.
So that's going to essentially reset your draw range into Dunsparse.
Draws three cards, because back into your deck.
So one of the things you need to do is to just keep resetting it.
Try and make sure you always end your term of a dance pass on the bench
so that next turn you can evolve your runaway draw, and then round and round we go.
You don't need many cards in hand. You only need five to KO a Drakloak.
So I'm not worried about hand size. It's just where I can be. Now that's all we need.
And there are three copies within Diego's list, and here we go.
Three cards from Fesendiptee. Show me the reaction.
No, no, no. Oh, that's a bit sad. That would have been great.
That would have been such a huge turn, because you'd get rid of all the energy,
you get rid of the Cloak, you even up the prizes.
Instead, you just don't really have a great response.
And that's gonna allow Andrew to really go as the aggressor,
draw two cards here, and we've got a buddy buddy Poffin
and a Dedenne.
We're gonna bench that Dunsparse
to potentially evolve and draw cards next term.
But a real missed opportunity here,
the lack of rare candy, not through lack of trying,
I might add, but the lack of rare candy
means no evolution here, no real attack.
You can super Cybolt for 30, but that's the same joke.
I don't think we're going to see that.
It looks like Diego is in prevention,
Dedenne or Genesect here, because he wants
to retreat out of this cadavera.
Could also use this body body pop in,
while he has the opportunity to possibly even put
another Dunspassing to play here.
That would be a decent sacrificial Pokemon.
Expecting a Phantom Dive to come back
your way next turn.
And hoping that that battle cage sticks,
that battle cage will stop the residual damage
from Phantom Dive, KO-ing and Abrac.
Abrac's only got like 50 HP.
It's very, very, very low HP for an evolving basic.
So that will just be cleanly taken out by a Dragapult.
But Battle Cage is stopping it right now.
It means there's a single KO coming from the...
Well, from what we assume is going to be a Dragapult next turn.
Rather than a double, if you're Diego,
you are hoping that Battle Cage stays in play.
And you've just have two copies of Risky Ruins.
That is going to be target number one next turn.
Well, after a Dragapult. No doubt it's going to be the retreat from Diego
so that he doesn't have to find a Rekhandi on the next turn.
It's a big sigh of relief. Andrew took a gamble in this game number one with the Dragon Headbutt,
but it's really worked out. It really did.
That could have absolutely been punished by a Rekhandi Alakazam.
It wasn't, and now Andrew gets potential to just keep taking prizes.
We've got an ult of all in hand, so the Dragapult isn't going to be an issue.
It is a stadium we're really looking for at this point.
this point. We've got a poker pad. That's going to go and get a non-Ruobox Pokémon,
generally a non-EX nowadays, and it is going to be that the Dunsparse to go and draw more
cards. This could go really, really well for Andrew on turn two.
It's been three cards already from Rodolay Draw. We also have a seven card dig in
total if we're looking with our recon directors for key pieces. There's already bosses orders
in the hand for Andrew as well, that he might look to use either on the Kadabra, once again
forcing Rare Candy, or even trying to bring that Fezzinthipiti EX candy such a nuisance
for Diego. It's a Pokemon that he would rather not put into play, but you can see why he
opted for it. Trying to find that Rare Candy would have been massive. The fact that it's
whiffed and now that there's this liability EX in play, things could get even more awkward
for him. So one of these huge swing turns, have Diego hit the Rare Candy, you get
to take all the energy off the board, get rid of it to Cloak, but by missing it, you give your opponent the opportunity to potentially have a huge swing turn of their own.
It's the stadium guard, Risky Ruins, that's what we're really looking for here, remove the battlecade, allow a double KO, second Recon directive comes down.
And it is the Risky Ruins that he's drawn off the top, that is going to allow a double KO here with that Dragapult, absolutely huge hit off of that Recon directive for Andrew.
This game is already looking so incredible for Andrew.
With the Ultimaul already in hand, he can find a Dragapult EX.
And now that he finds the stadium, it's a no-brainer to bring up that Kadabra.
Being able to knock out both a Kadabra and Abra,
leading Diego with just one of those vulnerable basic Pokemon,
and forcing him to find more throughout the game
will also open up even more opportunities for Andrew to take those cheap prize cards.
Absolutely. We see an Ultimaul as guarding two, crushing Hammer,
because why get rid of energy? You're doing very well and there is no energy.
The Dragapok comes down, so all we need now is to replace the stadium.
The double KO is there, but I agree with you, Joe.
We're looking to see if Bosses orders.
That is what Andrew is probably going to be playing here.
Bring up that Kadabra, and then go and get the double KO.
Get the Kadabra, get one of the Abra, and really put Diego in a really bad position.
Not just Darrel free prizes, but Darrel free prizes with just one of that evolution line,
One Abra and nothing else on the board.
Andrew even gets to stay topped up on attachments.
Everything is going flawlessly for him in this game number one.
You have to see the bosses' orders coming into play.
No, it is going to be the Fezzendipity EX coming out.
And this is not too shabby now, just 200 damage.
Absolutely. And the thing here is, you then leave it with 10 HP remaining.
At some point there's going to be a Phantom Dive
drop a damage counter on there. Interestingly chose not to play the
risky ruins. Didn't go for the double KO. Now one thing that is worth noting now
if there is an Abra left, and that's a big if, five damage counters on an Abra,
one damage counter on a Pheasant Dipty, we could get a triple KO next turn but
now we're over to Diego drawing a whole bunch of cards. We've already got
the Alakazam. Do we have... Is there any way we could get this Dragon
We absolutely can. There's already the air balloon in hands, so Diego could retreat the active Pokemon and still have a manual attachment to the Alakazam that he's just evolved into.
And with a flurry of more psychic draws and potential runaway draw, there's no doubt that we can reach here with Diego. Already has a lot of cards in the hand.
We just drew two more with Kadabra, that psychic draw. We're now drawing three more with the runaway draw of the Dunsparse.
You get two cards when you evolve with Kadabra, three when you evolve into Alakazam.
Now it is worth noting that Andrew didn't take a KO last turn, so Thesedipty will not be able to flip the script and draw free cards.
That was probably part of his thinking when he chose not to take the KO.
And Diego here, the magic number is 16.
16 cards in hand. You need to play Diablo. You need to play in energy.
And you need 16 cards in hand to pull this off.
I counted 17 in the hand. You have to play two from here, but you still have your supporter that can plus you cards.
But, crucially, it means he can't play very this turn.
And there's currently the special red card in Andrew Hedricks' hand from early on in this game.
Oh, it's a double air balloon, but the second one comes down onto a Genesect,
which means the ace nullifier is active, which means Andrew is not allowed to play his ace spec,
which in this case will be the unfair stamp, which would put the egg at the top of the two-card hand,
which is very, very bad. But now we play Dawn.
You get one card out of your hand, you search free Pokemon.
Come on, that is a plus two in hand in total.
And I think if I knowledge of maths,
that might put us onto 16, Joe.
I'm hoping so.
If not, there is still the final runaway draw
that's available to Diego,
who would much rather hold off of this
if he can to have some sort of springboard back
on potential disruption.
We're gonna have to wait and see in a moment.
We unfortunately do not have a live count of cards in hand.
If nothing else, we know that Diego is very close
having 16 cards in hand and getting this KO. This one is 15 and you can rare candy into
Alakazam. That would minus two, but you're getting the plus one back from the psychic
draw. So Diego would be able to really bolster up the hit points of lots of his Pokemon here.
You can see he's eyeing up that rare candy in hand. I just got a note of my ear. We've
got 15 cards in hand. That's what we're seeing right now. So we'll be rare candy Alakazam.
That goes down to 13, but the psychic draw draws three, puts you up to 16 and that
would be the magic number and that would be an absolutely gigantic KO from Diego.
That would be a huge point in the... It feels like every turn so far Joe.
There's been a huge turning point in the game but I'm sorry we're not exaggerating that's just
what's happening. And Diego is going to have one final check but he has already counted a couple
of times. I count with him it is 16, it is definitely 16 cars. We retreat the pheasant
The Alakazam goes into the active and we are going to see a powerful hand dropping 32 damage counters
and getting a fresh one hit KO on an undamaged dragapult.
There's three, six, nine, 12, 15, 16. That's the KO.
Diego Gatharaga takes his first KO of the game and it is a gigantic one.
Even clocking the enriching energy from those prizes might end up being influential as well.
It wasn't just that we were able to take the knockout,
but Diego was also able to do it with the ace nullifier Genesect
coming into play with a tool attached as well.
So Diego is thinking, from this position,
he can't be hand-stripped at this turn.
Diego is going to be able to sit on this large hand size.
Special red card only comes in if you've taken free prizes,
which you haven't.
Unfair stamp can't be played if there's a Genesect with a tool,
which there is, and there's no judge in Andrew's list
like we've seen on other games this weekend on the screen.
So right now Diego's hand is safe with an enriching energy as well for next turn,
and now Andrew's in a really awkward position because it now feels a little bit like your prize
racing, but after that giant KO. Well, he still has a decent amount of draw to help him get there
and he does already have a drakloak powered up with one psychic energy, so I feel like he's
going to be still working towards at least the Phantom Dive and we've seen the risky
ruins come down as well so Andrew had the opportunity on the previous turn to take out a cadavera and an abra
He's been holding off on this stadium cards
There's no doubt that he has a plan in mind because from where I was standing
It seemed like an obvious play
But Andrew has something else cooked up and Andrew knew that that was a possibility when he took that chance last turn
Where he hit the first dip tippa didn't KO it. He knew that this could have been the plan
He is planning for this. Let's see what he's got. I can see why he's holding the brosers encouragement supporter cards
You need to have a Stage 2 Pokémon in play, but crucially you also need to be behind on
prize cards to gain access to the Acceleration effect here.
As you can see, a Psychic Energy and Fire Energy that was just removed from play, instantly
back into the equation, so Andrew is being able to chain these Phantom Dives.
No problem.
Now he has a really strong opportunity here.
Can he even weave in a Monkey Dory attachment from this position?
So take advantage of his own risky ruins, doesn't look like it, so he's just going
have to come into the active with his Dragapult EX. This is going to be free prizes. KO on the
Alakazam is easy. One damage counter on the Pheasant Dipty for a two-price KO is easy,
and there it's just where does the other five go? You could put five on a Genesect to leave
it six damage counts away from being KOed, or you could spread it around some of the Pokémon
on the bench if you prefer. Here comes the KO, and it is one onto the Pheasant Dipty,
five onto the Genesect, and that means that Genesect is now a sitting duck at any point,
and you can just go six damage counters, yay extra KO.
Andrew has put himself in a position where
as long as he's able to bounce a battle cage
that we've just seen Anka Diego draw into
and will certainly re-establish,
it will just be one phantom dive to close the game on the next turn.
What can Diego do to respond in that instance?
We know his hand size is colossal,
but he should be a KO on the dragapult
and he needs to get this battle cage back down.
There is the battle cage, there is the energy.
So the attack is here.
You've got the free retreat with the air balloon on the Genesect. You've got your Alex out with an energy. That's fine
Cards in hand. I mean he's just counting it here just to make sure there are 16 cards
Because they're about the same size right now. I keep seeing our exam players
They pick up their hand in their deck and it's a pretty even ripple shuffle. I actually think Diego has more cards in the hand
four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen
by my count that is going to be enough to get a KO on that dragapult and then
you're just asking questions of Andrew at that point that's what Diego is going to
be doing asking these questions do you have a fire energy do you have a dragapult
you have a risky ruins the answer to all three is yes it might not matter what
Diego does and here we have a look at the hand what do we get all special red
card is being selected and a night stretcher as well big hits honestly
That night stretcher might be even more impactful because all Andrew has to construct next turn is a knockout with fan can dive
As long as you can find a stadium and Diego has already now got the information
There's no draw supporter in Andrew's hand and there's also not that second stadium yet
It would need to be a meowth search for a supporter and then try and hit everything you need
Yeah, but you don't you know look at Andrew's hand. There's no energy. There's no dragapult
There's no risky ruins. There's free things Andrew needs right now. We have none of Diego knows he doesn't have any of them
So here we are going to this retreat the Genesect Alakazam is going to go into the active and it is going to be
I mean this literally and figuratively a powerful hand, which is going to take a KO
But first it is just going to be that runaway draw drawing free cards from the the Duns boss
Yeah, forcing that eerie meant that we had to use runaway draw here to still have a critical mass of cards in hand
So dear was gonna shuffle up
The dunce bars that was just back into the deck
Looks like we are now topped up back into the critical mass for a care with powerful hand here
The good news for Andrew is after this drag-a-pot is knocked out. It's only a single prize board
So he may have a couple of turns he may not even go for me out the X next turn
He may just try and go for a few turns trying to recon direct and use the dunce bus over multiple turns to close out this victory
That could be a plan. We have a couple of dunce bus hitting the bench there for Diego and it is just going to be a powerful hand
There's a big KO on Dragonpole Diego goes down to just two price cards remaining one more Dragonpole KO
And Diego will take this first game
But Andrew has something to say about it but do goes into the active. It's got free retreat
it can pivot really easily. That's why we see that.
And now the question is, what does Andrew have? Big top deck here.
It's an unfair staff which isn't allowed to be played,
but we've got a runaway draw and that is going to be used immediately.
Fire energy gets hit. That's right up already.
That means we're just a stadium away from closing the game here.
Genesect on the bench has 60 hit points remaining.
That's perfect for Bantam dive.
It could all be over here after a couple of recon directive.
I'd want to go back a couple of turns
When Andrew hit that pheasant dipty for 200 which meant he only needed to put one damage counter on pheasant dipty
Which meant he could put five on Genesect which means he can now put six on Genesect and take the game
That is what drag-a-pot players like Andrew do. They are setting up these three, you know, three turns ahead
So there we see a second recon directive. We're looking for risky ruins if we see that
Andrew should be taking this first game. It's a psychic energy. It's not risky ruins Joe
That's not what you're looking for, but it might be enough.
Now you can attach psychic energy to your other trochloak.
And even just a different itchy pollen this turn.
This gives you another chance at it,
because Diego is still has two prize cards left.
Yep, that's what we're going to see,
the safe line of play from Andrew Hedrick,
just having two threats online.
And it's worth noting that Genesect isn't going anywhere.
It can't evolve out of it. Nothing is moving.
We do see Apostles' orders played by Andrew.
That is going to grab a Dunce pass into the active.
really just trying to make things a little bit more awkward.
There is an itchy poll and there will be no item cards for Diego next turn.
And Andrew just says, look, I don't have it this turn.
Give me a minute. I'll find it.
Just one stadium and still a very sizeable deck for Andrew to sift through on the next turn.
As for Diego, it's really easy to get this single prize knockout.
We can already move our active D'odon's barse whilst drawing additional cards here.
He's used his only destruction, the Erie supporter is all Diego has.
Otherwise, he tries to be an aggressive deck in every situation.
One cool play Diego could look for is the knockout with Kadabra here, rather than Alakazam.
Seeing as though it's just a 30 hit point budu, alternatively, Diego could go through bosses
or orders play to limit the recon directive or the potential of runaway draw from Andrew.
That's probably his highest impact support at this turn.
I would think so. I think you really need to try and do this if you have the option,
which absolutely Diego does. Dragler comes into the active, and this is going to be one fewer
a recon directive. Because obviously Diego is winning this next turn. That is not an issue.
Diego is going to get the victory next turn. The issue is, can Andrew get it one turn earlier?
Can he get the dragapult, the fire energy, the risky ruins and get this double KO? Diego
has to make it as difficult as possible while keeping up with this prize race. There is
a KO on the drag slope. Easily enough cars in hand. He needed a 5B hand on there,
like 15, 16, something like that. I'm not even counting. There's too many. Now,
This really is the turn. Andrew has to have it this turn. Diego is one knockout, one prize
away from winning game one. Andrew has to piece it together right now or it will be
too late. We need Dragapult, we need Fire Energy, we need a rescue ruins.
Two of those pieces already in the hand. Andrew already has access to Meowthiax and
Ultralill as well so it could be a flip the script. Getting involved could also
be a Dunds pass once again helping him out here. The Fire Energy is always going
to be committed as we are getting down to the final turn of the game, and we are always
evolving up into our Dragonbolt EX as well, where we simply, well, we're going to try and
thin the deck with Buddy Buddy Poppin if there is anything. Is there that final buddhu
even in the deck? Yes, there is. This is something we see a lot of players do. You
take cards you don't need out of the deck so that when you're blind drawing, like
just to draw free, your chance of hitting what you want is slightly higher because there
are fewer cards that you don't want to hit in the deck. We're going to see
an ultra will get played here. Andrew is going to be searching for something. You think Fersen
Dipty Joe? I think you might be right. It draws three cards and Andrew is thinning the
deck beautifully while we see this. Now we are going to see them. We have come down first
because we need to take the supporter out before we draw with Fersen Dipty. It is going
to be a Lily's determination, which the question is, are you going to hit it better
when you Lily and then Fersen or Fersen then Lily?
absolutely Lily first in this instance there we go we're gonna be shuffling up
and Andrew is trying to give himself potentially 12 draws out of this deck
he's actually doing a full count of his deck right now there's 13 I just think 13
13 the reason to go for Fesson Dippity in this instance before getting the
Dunspars is that now he also has out to the poker pad that remain in his
deck so he will be able to see six cards from this Lily's determination
in addition to potentially six more from his abilities and it is all down to
risky ruins. Right now, Dragapop is KOing that active Alec-Alan. That is not an issue,
but you need to be able to drop six damage counters on that bench, Genesect, to get the
KO, take your sixth prize, and win the game. Right now, Battle Cage is stopping those damage
counters being placed, because it is an effective and attack. So, Andrew is searching for the
risky ruin stadium card. That will get rid of the Battle Cage, and that will allow the
damage to go through. Show me, risky ruin. There it is! It's a hat! And Andrew is going to
We're gonna get rid of the battle game.
Dragobolt comes active, K.O. on the Alec-Avab, K.O. on the Vents Genesis,
and Andrew Hedrick is gonna take game number one.
Just one game away now for Mean Crowd World Champion.
What a thrilling game number one here in the Masters Division finals.
Andrew Hedrick taking things slow on those final double turns.
so well identified to take a turn off while he had a single rise forward state.
But Ross, I'm most interested in that turn number two,
when we got aggressive with the dragon head cut.
Absolutely. Well, let's go back to the whole of game one.
Let's have a little bit of a look how we got there.
We see the retreat from the Purdue here, the Drupal.
This was that turn number two, the aggressive KO on the Abra,
starting the prize trade, saying, I don't need to do right now.
Diego, Diego's deck did what Diego's deck does.
Roaring a whole bunch of cards, but it was the grip of the rare candy on that second turn
So you didn't get the Alakazam attack that put Diego one turn behind for turn absolutely crucial
Here we see the dragon ball putting one damage on the feather dipped people the KO
Five on the Genus X setting it up for what would be the turn later
Diego takes a second KO on the dragon ball, but it's irrelevant in the end and who hits the risky ruins
The Dragobog gets a double KO on the Alakazam and on the Genesect,
and that was enough for Andrew today.
A victory.
Diego was one prize away.
One turn away. It didn't matter.
Andrew got to six prize cards first,
and is one game up in our World Championship Final.
What an impressive display from both players so far
in this Masters Final.
They both put themselves in the best position possible.
Diego was almost certainly winning on the next turn.
Andrew was able to find those pieces
and really picked together a nice combination.
Diego has been in these tough positions before.
He's been on this stage before nine years ago.
He's not going to be put under too much pressure.
He's seen it all in the Pokemon TCG.
And you can see that he's not even sweating out there, Ross,
despite having that beanie on his head.
I think he's already got the one of these trophies at home.
He's just trying to add to his trophy cabinet.
Andrew might have to make one, although to be fair,
he's got a few victories on his own.
Now what we see happening here is a Mulligan. When you start the Pokemon TCG, you need to have a basic Pokemon to begin the game.
If you don't have a basic Pokemon, you shuffle your hand into your deck, you draw a new opening hand,
and then if you've got a basic Pokemon you carry on, if not, you repeat.
For every time you Mulligan, your opponent has the opportunity to draw one extra card, almost like an apology.
Sorry you had to wait for me to go and get a basic. Have an extra card, and then we go.
So, getting into this game number two then, will it be Hedrix, Hammers, or Kassaraga's cutlery, the fist bump from our players?
And one big advantage for Diego in this game number two, he should have the advantage of going first.
As we saw, Andrew took full advantage of his Evolution Pokemon early in that game number one.
In this case, Diego could be the aggressor.
Absolutely could. We see the first Buddy Buddy Pop in Ladies and Gentlemen and Chase Center.
We've been a bit quiet. We are in the Masters final. Make some noise!
They make noise while they ask him to. It makes me very happy.
Having a look at Diego's prizes here, there is an Abra, Anacadabra and a Genesect.
He plays two, but that enriching energy is somehow there again, Joe.
The only good news is that it's towards the top of those prize cards,
so in theory Diego could access them once again.
Move one spot over to the right.
Oh, look at that!
two Baudou and the Risky Ruins and the only copy of the Dunsparse for Andrew.
That's bad prizes!
The early game is for two Risky Ruins and you're out to the battle cage, and like you say,
there's only one Dunsparse in the deck.
That is genuinely horrible prizes!
That's one of the worst we've seen all weekend.
That is far from ideal.
So often the Dragapult EX archetype relies on itchy pollen in the opening turns
to sort of stem the setup of other decks
so that you can pick up our lower hit point Pokemon
that won't be available to Andrew.
But also, we know that the stadium is such a key card
in this instance that Diego will try and lock
that battle cage in play for as long as possible.
Game of One was decided exactly
because of the risky ruins.
So, Andrew, without having immediate access to that card
may have far less options.
Absolutely.
And the thing is, Diego's playing four battle gates
so you don't think, when do I play it?
You just play it. It just hits the board. You don't worry about it
And it's then down to when your opponent can bump it and how often they can and then when you can re-establish
It's our risky ruins takes a while to come out the prize cards and Diego could just get rid of the first risky ruins
That is going to be absolutely huge
So we see we do see Diego doing this first tech search here trying to figure out which of those six cards are in the prizes
So far we've got an Abra in the active
We've got an Abra on the bench and a Guns Fast on the bench.
Decent start and it's worth noting
that because Diego has a single prize attacker,
this Turmunt energy attachment
so much less important than it is for Andrew.
Now, all things considered,
this is already a very decent start for Diego.
We'll also get to peek his hand at this stage.
Looks like he's holding on to a decent chunk of supporters
there as well for the next turn.
So action over to Andrew then.
Let's see how Elise's opening hand has treated him.
I see an Ultra Ball.
You might be trying to find a Meowth EX to save us here.
And otherwise it's pretty poor.
Yeah, that is not a great opening.
Having what I'm up at, Drakloak and Adripi to be discarded with Ultribul.
You can't really get rid of your special red card
because that's one of only two hand disruption cards you've got.
And they're absolutely crucial in this matchup.
But you see Andrew changing his mind a little bit.
It's a really horrible decision here.
It is Drakloak and it's like Adripi or Darkness Energy.
That's the decision he's making right now.
And he has changed in his mind.
It's so unorthodox.
So think about getting rid of your key evolution line,
Andrew's engine.
Andrew is playing three copies of Nightstretcher in his deck.
That might be part of the reason why we're seeing him
be so liberal discarding these Pokemon.
In many ways, it actually gives you more outs towards
your trochloak during the game.
So Andrew might be doing the unorthodox play
that may pay off.
And the reason why he was valuing that darkness energy
so much was to try and get an early buddy.
But it's not there, Ross.
It's not there, unfortunately.
Both Purdue are in the prizes and that energy was going to give a nice way to
retrieve your active dreamy, put Purdue active, he's got a zero energy attack and
just just figured out his prizes are absolutely horrible. His opening hand is to
put it lightly far from ideal so that when he out comes down, searches out a
supporter card that is going to be Lily's determination. You shuffle your hand
into your deck and draw six cards but if you haven't taken a prize yet, if
If you've got exactly six remaining, you get to draw eight cards instead.
And hopefully, this lot of eight cards is going to be better than the seven
with which Andrew began the game.
But I really hear is that Andrew may still just use this night stretcher
and get back to Reaper before using this Lee's determination.
Yeah, I think now that the Darkness Energy is just far less useful,
he may just grab back this basic.
Yeah, it's coming back into play.
That was always an option from the hand, and now he will see eight fresh cards.
Choosing, of course, not to attach to the Darkness Energy,
That would have been so handy with access to Budu.
That's what he already had in mind.
That's not available to him in this position.
So instead, he's going to look to try and find
the psychic or fire energy,
possibly to stash on the bench somewhere.
And the difference here is, essentially,
you're setting up like you would normally,
but you don't have it to your ball
and you're still setting up your drake cloak.
You're still trying to get your energy down.
You're just not able to turn off items while you do so.
But Andrew does have three Dreepee out turn one,
which is not too shabby.
We're going to be looking for a bunch of the cloak next turn.
Let's see how these eight cards from Lily's Determination treat him.
There is another 3V, so we can go up to 4 if we wish.
There is a Duns Pass, although by now Andrew knows the only Duns Pass is prized.
Look at that case and point. He's drawn into a Night Stretcher.
That's his only way to cloak next turn.
So that discard from Ultra Ball is really saving him right now.
Absolutely. You can draw into it. You can draw into an Ultra Ball
or you can draw into a Night Stretcher.
There is a night stretcher, and it is just going to be straight for that reclok.
That will be evolving up next turn.
All things considered, you've got 4-3-3, you've got your energy attachment not too shabby.
We pass on over to Diego. We get the evolution into Cadabra.
Psychic draw gets two cards.
It's a psychic energy and a telepathic energy,
which is lovely for getting more Abra if you need them.
And we've got some options in hand if we're Diego.
Already the telepathic energy in hand so some more African flood onto this board and
With a dawn supporter, there's still the opportunity to run away draw and see a rare candy if that could come together
Once again, Diego could be in such a powerful position a reminder three copies within the deck for Diego
Currently not in the hand
They would have three draws to help him get there and he's already thinning the deck quite nicely of these basic Pokemon
That is the goal early doors get your basic Pokemon fin your deck and then draw as many cards as you can afterwards
When you evolve into Gdavra, you get cards.
When you evolve into Alakazam, you get cards.
When you evolve into the Dunspass, you get cards.
As in, dipty goes down, what does that do?
It gets cards. That is most of what the deck does.
Genesect is the outlier, but we like him.
He turns off A-spec, so he can stay.
Yeah, he keeps your hand large,
especially against the unfair stamp A-spec from Andrew Hedrick.
So far, Andrew's just discarded his A-spec in game number one
because of the safety net of that Genesect.
In this instance, we're seeing Diego grab that runaway draw to Dunsparce
and will end this search on an Alakazam, no doubt.
But will he opt to draw these three cards?
There's opportunities for Rare Candy,
even finding that air balloon could be so vital for him.
Oftentimes, we've seen Diego opt to not take prize cards
until he has the ace nullifier developed.
That is sometimes what we are going to see.
Well, it is going to be an Alakazam, a Dunsparce
and a Geneset coming out from dorm.
That is your stage one, your basic, and your stage two.
Such a good supporter in a deck like this,
where you are playing a stage two line.
Here is your first runaway draw of this game, too.
Drawing three cards with the Duns.
Hopping it back into the deck.
What were you and Joe?
A candy action.
Oh, I like the red candy.
Who'd be getting into an early attack?
Now, there is the threat of the unfair snap
that can sometimes be scary, but you've not been item locked.
So you give yourself a huge amount of outs
Even after going down to a two-card hand, and that's even if in the hypothetical situation, Andrew has access to it.
So I feel like getting the pressure in early could be amazing for Diego here.
Any chance Diego might have a tool to attach to a Genesek turn-off, you know, turn on ace nullifier, turn off unfair stab.
I've not seen one myself.
No, I don't think it was there in the hand.
I think that's the only thing holding us back from an obvious play.
But I still feel like we're going to use rare candy.
And of course, Alakazam can also help us see more cards.
So there's still a chance for one of Diego's three tools to make their way into the hand. It does feel like stop me if I'm wrong here, Joe
It feels like unfair stamp is way better when you're established when you've got four 3p and no evolutions
It does feel like unfair stamp isn't as good
It's a lot of Pokemon draw to poke a bad and a buddy buddy poffing. Yeah, I don't see a tool in there
You can at least try and establish maybe another done sparse with this final buddy buddy poffing that's come into the hand
And having the board of two Duns Pass already feels pretty reasonable to get aggressive.
I feel like Diego's going to do it here.
I mean, I would, but you know I always do, Joe.
I'm one of the KO, you know I'm going for it.
Diego's not one of a more careful player than I,
but I do agree with your reasoning there.
You've got three Duns Pass on the bench.
You are set up as well as you can.
So if you draw a Kanabra, you evolve and draw.
You draw an Alakazam, you evolve and draw.
If he draws the Duns Pass, he evolves and draws.
He's got so many outs next turn if an unfair stamp does come down
But it feels like he's protected as well as he can
Without playing a Genesect and in the best-case scenario Andrew would want to use unfair stamp alongside chaos
And right now his board is just basic Pokemon and he does not play rare candy of his own in the deck
So I think that's also something playing on Diego's mind that he would quite welcome an unfair stamp
If he could still just announce an attack on the next turn and still do some reasonable damage
Yeah, that sounds like it might be pretty gosh darn nice. We have two to done sparse in hand for Diego here
That means that potential drawer of six more cards next turn
We need four in hand. I feel confident. There is at least four in hand. It's not gonna be a KO
It is just a pass does not want to run into the fret of unfair stamp
So a cautious start here from Diego see if it pays off in the end
But we're seeing some unexpected plays here in the final Joe.
That's why they're there and we're here Ross.
Let's see the second Dracloak now come on to the board for Andrew.
Already holding on to a couple Crispin, does have his one stadium card
that he has available to him in hand right now.
Of course this will be a building turn, there's not much else going on
so it will be a Crispin coming into play to start accelerating these energy.
He can stash a fire energy to hand this turn.
Maybe even attach the dance energy to the active position
Could be an option for him being who's gonna keep waiting until he can find his tool
You may still want to attach to the three P just in case
We're gonna be having a little bit of a search here with our Crispin and you know whenever you play these cars like Crispin
It is another opportunity to just look through your deck. Yes, you did your first-hand search
It's always nice to have a quick look again. Just double-check the deck is private information
and no one's allowed to look, not even yourself.
But any time you get a chance to look in your deck,
you can have a good look and just remind yourself
what's there, especially when you're in a high pressure
situation like a world championship final.
So we do see a psychic energy coming down
onto that Dracloak, two Dracloak,
each with psychic energy.
It's a decent setup for Andrew,
but it does feel like Diego has had a great start.
Do you think you might regret not taking that KO last time?
The more I justify it, I can see exactly why Diego's gone for this approach.
You naturally play around the special red card much better by not taking a single prize
KO, but also, crucially, unlike in that game number one, as we do see it crashing hammer
heads, the first of the set, the big difference from game number one is that there is also
a Meowth EX in play, so actually, you can't do that sort of slow single prize board
that you attempted to do in game number one.
Diego knows that if he's firing on all cylinders, he should be able to find
a position to take three two prize knockouts.
Well, there we go. If you can take 3-2 prize knockout, who worries about a little single prize knockout here or there?
It is an evolution into a Kitabra, drawing a couple of cards.
We see an evolution into the Duns pass, going back into the deck and drawing three more cards.
So, you tell it me, Joe, we might see your boss' orders coming and bringing that Meow Popper, or is that something for later in the game?
You can certainly use the boss' orders now if you would like to.
If you have access to that option, I think his priority really is getting this battle gauge into play, but also trying to find a tool desperately.
desperately I imagine that there will be no knockout unless there's the ace nullified developed
Well, we just saw three cars drawn from that runaway draw run to dunce pass and I had a good look
I did not see a Pokemon tool coming out in there. So right now that ace nullifier is not online
We know Jenna sex in hand without a tool. It doesn't do very much
I like his arm comes down. That's three more cars drawn off of that psychic draw still
No tool card being drawn. Diego's got a monster hand of cards, but I am not seeing any Pokemon
tools in there whatsoever. Almost everything else has got energy actually. Yes, sorry, there's
a telepathic. That crushing hammer heads is actually pretty impactful because we can't
even use enriching energy to draw any additional cards because you have to attach a psychic
energy this turn to attack. Well, that's something we didn't hear earlier and it
worth pointing out. Generally speaking, single prize deck, a single energy deck. I don't mind too
much about crushing hammer, but if you've got crushing hammer down, still no tool! But if you've
got an energy already on the board, that means that you can weave in that enriching energy to draw
four more cards. If you don't have an energy down, then you really can't use it on the same
turn. But seriously, how has he not hit a Pokémon tool yet? So unfortunate for Diego.
You've just seen three runaway draws and some psychic draw.
Doesn't that change the complexion of this game?
Diego now thinking that there is a genuine threat of Phantom Dive once again sort of taking over the board if he's not careful.
He's not been the aggressor so far because he thought he was a shoo-in for, most likely a two-pice knockout this turn,
whilst developing Genesect, but you can see him shift through the deck.
There's the three tools all still there.
The board here is, it's fine. You've got two Dunns passed down, you've got a Kadabra down, you don't have an Abra, so Kadabra turns not into an out right now.
But there's still, if you get an unfair stamp hit the board, Diego's still in a decent position to potentially draw and draw out of it, but you're absolutely right.
We wanted to see that Genesek Diego especially. We see an energy coming down onto the Alakazam.
Are we going to see a boss's order? Yes, Diego's put it right to the front of his hand, the cards there.
I think you said this out Joe, we need to see a KO this turn, there comes a battle cage.
It's actually onto the two energy drake cloak instead, so hunting energy rather than prizes here.
Yeah, he really wanted to not be forced into this position, but you felt like he sort of had to.
In this case, you know that Andrew is only on a four card hand.
You've limited one of those recon directive.
On the previous turn, Andrew just used a Crispin, so in this case Diogo trying to attack Andrew's hand
and his draw options.
So it is just one Recon Directive.
Andrew doesn't have much right now.
Well, let's see what the Recon Directive gives him
an option for which.
I can't like a Pult EX.
OK, so that does give a Dragapult.
Is there a fire energy in hand?
Because you're going to need a fire energy if you're Andrew,
if you're going to be attacking him.
But this is the worry.
Again, with no Recon in the list,
for Andrew, having to attack for this Dragapult
feels so awkward, because then it
can easily get knocked out with no hand disruptors
for Andrew in his hand.
And in game one, every time Andrew phantom dives,
the damage characters had a really nice place to go.
Onto the first and dipty, onto the Genesect,
then KOing the Genesect.
Look at this board, Joe.
Where did the damage characters go?
Where's the best place?
It's tough right now.
I feel like even attacking phantom dive
is just such a trap.
I feel like we have to get out of here.
But again, it's so intimidating
when Diego's sat on a catalog of cards.
I have to expect there's more bosses' orders in there,
even though there's only two copies within his deck list.
Absolutely. And that could punish.
Well, we do see a Drogloak in the active.
There are two energy on, so Dragon Headbutt's going to be there.
There's a darkness energy to retreat.
Andrew doesn't want to leave it in harm's way.
Puts the Meowth EX into the active.
Oh, is he?
He's just giving Diego the opportunity to KO this Meowth
for two prizes.
That cannot be Andrew's plan A.
But unfortunately, the draws are put in there.
Here comes Enriching Energy for four more cards, and we've got Boss's orders as well.
It could be the Declote with all the energy, but we don't have it. It's in the prizes!
This retreat from Andrew is going to work out.
Again, such a situation where Diego normally connects us so much to the deck,
it would never even be a consideration.
Finally, a tool note for Diego, so that's a good break for him.
That's going to be awesome. That means that Diego could put down that Genesect,
Attacks a tool, the next nullifier is turned on, so there will be no unfair stamp coming down.
That's a bit of a win.
Of course, if you care the Meowth, that does potentially open up special red cards.
It does.
Because Diego will have three prize cards remaining,
which is probably another thing that Andrew was thinking when he put the Meowth into the active.
That's 100% what he's trying to go for here.
I need to force more,
force out of Diego at the very least.
Is there any chance Diego has Erie?
Ready?
No.
I don't see it in this hand either.
And that's really the only draw that we have outside of other supporter cards to grant us access to Hilda or Dawn
Well, there is one psychic draw, Eerie here would be kind of awesome
No, there's a dawn but no other supporter scene off of that Alakazam psychic draw for free
There's a buddy buddy poppin, Diego's gonna be able to search for some more low HP base cards
Oh, it was literally the last card in the deck and you would much prefer to put a
an air balloon onto a genocide than a lucky helmet because of those crushing hammers that Andrew still has access to.
Yes. In random situations, if Andrew can bring up a one retreat cost Pokemon,
then get a hammer head on the Alakazam. That could be another potential turn of reprieve
for Andrew, especially on a Pokemon that has a tool other than air balloon already committed to it.
We do see an evolution into the dunce bus. That's another...
There it is.
...drawn.
Finally, an air balloon comes into the hand and there is another dunce bus.
I feel like in this position you'd want to just evolve into a Dundz boss, finally establish
that Genesect crucially with Air Balloon, and then you will launch this attack.
You have to be still so scared though of that special red card.
The only good news for Diego is that Andrew hasn't really drawn many cards, hasn't
played a vital supporter over the last couple of turns, just a couple of Crispin.
So Diego knows that Andrew's basically sat on nothing and he's really just banking
on a recon directive.
That airy does like sticking to the bottom of the deck twice. We saw twice it was there
Now we're going to see that dunce bus coming ahead the dunce pass. It is more draw
Could he be searching for that airy? It does come in the hands
But we want to go hunting for that special red card
It is going to be in there and if you can put down the the Genesect the Diego does that with the
It is a balloon. Yeah, it's a miss just the buddy buddy poppin
But there's no there's no draw in that as one recon directive and that is it if you look at the special red card
He already knew that really from the last couple of turns
Yeah, it has definitely been keeping track of these things
But no doubt dear has done his best to discard that special red card didn't quite come off for him
So there's still an option for Andrew now. We've seen the edge nullifier come down. So there's no opportunity
for Andrew
Just thinking about that lucky. He's the draw too many cards if he is getting hit by certain attacks
But we're seeing a big counter inevitably this is going to be enough to deal with this Meowth EX
So Diego will be going down to three prize cards remaining
There's absolutely he will meowth goes down Diego takes two prizes free away from evening up this set
Reminded that if it's your beginning of all what have we always read car that the special red card
Yeah, I mean everything he could he played the area so if it was that you could get rid of it
Andrew Totzette, they're not even needing Rekon Directive to go and get it.
This could be absolutely devastating for Diego.
Andrew Hedrick in the Masters Division Finals.
I think he's just picked up. Was that a Lili in the hand?
Yes, it is. Those two Rekon Directives were crazy.
They were absolutely what you need there,
and that means that Andrew is going to be in a great position.
Look at Diego's hand. He's got four cards left in deck.
He literally counted his deck to make sure he wasn't going to deck out for the lucky helmet draw
Andrew thinking about not launching phantom dive at all here
Not using a special red card either
What are we missing Ross who is an awful lot plays in game one?
Absolutely work chooses not to play special red card to reset Diego's hand chooses not to evolve up into dragapult
Just plays a lilies determination
getting a new hand of eight cards no prizes having been taken this is an
unusual line of play Joe tell me I'm not I'm not seeing things here this is
unusual Andrew is up for something it might involve that lucky helmet but
Diego is just attached to his Pokemon forcing draw when you get damaged
Andrew may be trying to deck out Diego in this game number two that's gonna
to be an interesting thing to see. Special red card is in hand. If Andrew's changed his
mind, he is going to be able to tell ahead and use it. I don't think he's changed his
mind. No. Dunspots comes down, Dreepe goes up into your cloak and that is going to give
an option for another recon directive here to maybe see a few more cards. Lucky helmet,
by the way, if you attack into it, draws two cards. But it's worth noting that
But when you use the dumpspot, it goes back into your deck, so Diego can use that to essentially
reset.
That is something to consider.
Of course, you need to have cards remaining in the deck to be able to use the runaway draw.
You do indeed.
There we go.
It's going to be 70 damage.
Crocking the lucky helmet in this instance brings Diego down to just two cards remaining
in the deck, and he will have to crawl for the turn here, Ross.
And I think he might...
I'm trying to work through how these next couple of turns go.
I think Andrew might have done the maths here and gone,
even when you run away draw,
I think I'm gonna be able to deck you out
using your own lucky helmet.
Here we go, you draw a card, two go down.
Now, if you can't use any more runaway draw
to put any more cards in there,
if you've got two cards, if Andrew attacks,
you draw two, it goes to your turn, you draw for turn,
there's no card there and you deck out.
Is that what we might be seeing here?
Andrew Hedrick going to be using Dunsvast to ram his way to a World Championship title.
Have you seen anything like this folks?
And Andrew's already won game up.
If he wins this second game, he will be your Pokemon training card game 2026 Masters Division
World Champion.
Diego's just having a little bit of a look.
He's counting.
He's realized what Andrew is doing at this point.
And now Diego's thinking, how is this going to work?
the next few turns in his head trying to figure out if he's going to deck out or if he's got
away around it. This is absolutely incredible scenes. Andrew Hedrick has not taken a prize
card in the second game. There are no Pokemon in the discard pile for Diego to use any of
his Pokemon recovery to increase the size of his deck. Diego just figuring things
out here. I'm going to see the retreat on Alakazam. He can't allow this lucky
helmet to proc again. But that just means all Andrew needs to do is gust it into the active and attack
and deck Diego out. He's got a Boston orders already in hand Joe and that might be all that we need.
Any attack. Andrew has been around for a long time at this point. He's been a regional champion
five times. He is a North American champion. He won the North American international championships
in 2024. He got a top 32 finish at the World Championships in the same year. Now he's trying
to add the World Championships. He's got the, he's got Dunce Boss at the Boston
He impact, Diego's act out, and Andrew Hedrick is your 20-26 possible training target, world champion!
Can you believe it? A Dunn's fast round just concluded the Masters Division finals.
Andrew Hedrick, take a bow. You have just entered the Hall of Fame! The bastard
behind the Dragapult's havers archetype takes it all the way. This man eats
Pokemon, he sleeps Pokemon, he dreams Pokemon. Already a five-time regional
champion, already an international champion and now a world champion. Well
Let's hear from our world champion. Let's go down to the stage and talk to Andrew Hendrick, your world champion.
Hey everybody, we just finished our TCG Masters Division Grand Finals, and I am now joined by your world champion, Andrew Hendrick.
We spoke before your match about your existing accolades, and now you can add world championship
to your NAIC and regional titles.
Tell me what it means to actually achieve the Tri-Vecta.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's pretty unbelievable.
I mean, I never imagined I would actually be up here winning World Cup.
I mean, I'm not responsible, but it's just insane to actually get that opportunity
to do this.
It is not like this is the first time this year
that you've won with this deck.
How have you been prepping and just continuing to commit
to your strategy that you approve in time and time again?
Yeah, I don't know if you're out in the last couple of months.
I tried some different decks, but I really
found that this draggable deck is just like too good.
It's just too consistent.
And I can kind of have so many options with it.
So in the last few weeks, I just
played as many games as I could with it
to get ready for the tournament, and it worked out.
I don't know if you know this,
but the hat that Diego was wearing
is older than you are.
He wore it on the stage when he won the previous world championship in 2017.
While you have your own experience, were you ever intimidated by the veterans on the opposite side?
Yeah, I know. Playing against a great player in the finals, obviously it's pretty scary,
but all you can do is focus on the game in front of you and that's what I try to do
and try not to think too much about my opponent or how good they were.
And to give you the opportunity to think of some loved ones,
go ahead and give a shout out to whoever you'd like to address.
Yeah, I mean shout out to all my friends who, you know, I talk to every day I test with.
There's so many getting in the mall. Shout out to my parents, my mom and my dad for always supporting me.
And my dad was the one who actually forced me to play in the CCG at first.
I just, I just wanted to collect when I was in LLXL school, but you know, it kind of made me want to play the game.
And I would say it worked out. And shout out to PokeyColor for the support too.
A family affair indeed. Congratulations once again on your victory.
and everyone here in the stadium and at home.
Give it up one more time for your world champion, Andrew!
All right, well, I know you've put a quite a job,
and our analysts have something to say about it.
So let's hear it.
Thank you, Gaby, and congratulations once again to the 2026 World Champion, Andrew Hedrick.
What an iconic moment decking out his opponent with Don Spars thanks to the Lucky Helmet that Diego put into play.
An incredible moment and an incredible player. I can't think of anyone more deserving than Andrew Hedrick at this moment.
Absolutely. That Lucky Helmet turned into an unlucky helmet for Diego.
crossing him but you have to admire the ability to just be flexible and adapt to situations.
Andrew's showing why he's worthy of being world champion this weekend. Honestly an amazing play
by Andrew finding that line. Diego trying to prevent every possibility of being able to
recover his hand and all of a sudden the lucky helmet ends up working out against him.
Yeah absolutely well deserved from Andrew. He eats, sleeps and breathes Pokemon, always
practicing always thinking about the game. It's great to see that effort paid off.
We have now crowned three world champions in the trading card game. Let's take a look at that junior
division bracket as Yuta Araki became our world champion, winning a close three game set against
Luke Giffen. Yeah, absolute pleasure to see two young players do so well in the Tragapult
Miramatch, a matchup that is still being explored, still being played. Congratulations to you to
completely well-deserved. And in the seniors division, we of course saw Jake in G defeating Koby Ha,
that incredible Alakazam, able to take the win. Yeah, Koby came in with a clear game plan of
how to attack this very challenging matchup, was able to take the first game of the series,
But at the end of the day, Jake's advantage with that Alakazam was just too much for Kobe to overcome.
And in the Masters division, after an entire season spent with Tragapult EX,
after a regional championship win, after defining the metagame with Crushing Hammer,
a 2-0 victory, Andrew Hedrick over Diego Casiraga.
Amazing final. We had a very exciting game team down to that draw off the stadium
And then the lucky helmet, nobody could have seen that coming, Chip.
Incredible foresight from Andrew Hedrick to recognize that line.
Once that lucky helmet came into play, immediately checking through
what Diego had still available, knowing that he went this route,
he would have the safe deck out option.
And it makes him the world champion, a player who has had so much success
the last few years of the game. Five-time regional champion, an international champion and he will now add that iconic Pikachu trophy to his extensive trophy collection.
And another shout out to this incredible top eight, specifically the top four. This may be the most stacked top four we have ever had at a World Championship.
We have international champions. We have world champions. We have players who have won multiple regionals in the same season, so much talent this year at Worlds.
It was certainly a global affair with players from across the world competing
But it is a new through-hedric from the United States taking home that
$50,000 price
Got to feel good to take home that prize I'm sure this will sink in later for Andrew
But do you want to take a moment to acknowledge Diego's accomplishment as well Pablo?
I know you've been friends with Diego for a very long time. What does it mean to see him?
So many years later they get back to the finals of the World Championships and have another great accomplishment.
Generally extra special. I mean, he defeated me on his run to the comic world champion in 2017.
Watching him in the finals, seeing him be the closest person to get to a potential two-time world championship
since Jason Klasinski. Really, really amazing. It means a lot to me. I'm sure it means a lot to him as well.
And he was really pumped to make it all the way.
And of course with his family here supporting him as well, you know, when he won the 2017 World Championships
partners still pregnant with their eldest son and now their eldest son here to see dad up on the big stage
I mean, what a special memory for that family
Yeah, and Pablo you did mention Jason Zlitzki
Of course only three time world champions in the football TCG
I do see a lot of similarities between him and Andrew Hedrick, you know both very
calculated players tend to go for very consistent streamlined strategies and just
trying to outplay out work their opponents in order to get victories. Could
this be the start of the reign of a new legacy with Andrew Hetron? And I do believe
we are ready to crown all three champions out on the stage. Gabby, take it away.
and all of this pillars in competitive Pokemon.
Yet our trainers continue to innovate,
keep the competition fresh,
and awe-inspiring across every single age division.
Today, we have six more names to the proper books
as we celebrate our finalists
and crown our World War Champions.
Let's get into it.
Starting our two-year division in the running position,
We have Luke Giffen.
And your champion, Yuta Haraki.
On seniors, the rubber position, Kofi Ha.
And your senior division TCG World Champion, Jake N. G.
What about this in our Masters division?
In the runner position, we have Diego Castillaga.
I'm your one-time TCG World Champion in the Masters Division.
Give it up for Andrew Henry.
Six fantastic trainers.
One last time.
Give it up for your TCG Violet.
It's fantastic to have new names to speak of and I know our panelists have something to say about that.
So I think that you have to say.
Thanks a bunch Gabby.
Yes, congratulations again to these finalists and our newest world champions.
We're not done, we of course have our video game competitions still to come.
to come while we get set up.
We're going to just talk a little bit about this whole event,
how we got to this point, and continue
to congratulate all of these champions.
Yeah, it's such an amazing moment
to be here in the Chase Center to experience this.
Pablo, you and I have both been attending the World
Championship since 2004, over 20 years at this point.
And to see where it started, to where it's grown to today,
it's just amazing to be a part of this with you,
All of us here at the desk and everyone here in the arena,
thanks so much for making this such a special moment
all these years for Pokemon TCG leading up to this.
Over two decades of world championships from a hotel,
underground, a Philippine ballroom,
until the Chase Center.
It really is a pleasure to be here with you guys
and with everyone here right now.
And the competition just continues to get more intense
every year, players get better.
That's become innovated at a higher level.
It just shows that the future of the game is so, so bright.
The talking back to that Masters Division finals,
I don't know if there's anyone more experienced
in Dragapult than Andrew Hedrick.
I mean, even back to before the rotation
when all the talk was about Guardiwara,
Goldingo, Charizard EX.
Andrew remained true to this Dragapult EX archetype.
He of course popularized this crushing hammer build
after the rotation it became the standard way to play this deck.
And all that led to his title.
I mean, you have to imagine that that experience is really
what backed this moment.
I experienced practice putting in the time.
And there's something to be said for just continuing
to use the same thing, identifying
what the most powerful strategies are.
And if you can, on your craft, perfect your skills,
you can find yourself overcoming even disadvantageous
situations by simply identifying things that other players maybe couldn't do.
I mean we all knew Dragapult had a very very big target on its back heading into
Zovac. Maybe the biggest attack has ever had I would say and to still come out on
top to still remain faithful to the archetype even what before rotation
Garamori X was dominating Dragapult and who was still faithful and found a lot
of success. And you know that was like kind of a point of contention
coming into the world championships, right?
A lot of people said, DragonFolkX can't win.
It's going to have too big of a target on its back.
Sure, you could make top cut with it,
but surely when you get into top cut,
you'll run into one of those counter decks,
and it just won't be able to close it out.
But Andrew proved everybody wrong.
And he did not have an easy path
to this championship title.
In top eight, he played against Crustle,
and if you saw his list,
he does not have any countercards
besides crushing Hammer still played
through every single option.
That's what he does so well.
You can clearly see it in that top match in our finals match.
He found a way through.
Lots of heartfelt matches and well deserved.
If there's going to be a line to find,
Andrew Hedrick is going to take it.
And that is proven by the lucky element play
that we just saw upon that big stage.
I don't know if I'm going to get over that anytime soon.
Yeah, and that's going to be one for the ages.
Of course, we had so many amazing, memorable matches
this weekend, but that's one we're not going to forget.
And I do want to mention, I believe
team sweep for Andrew Hedrick in the top cut winning 2-0 over and over and over
against such high quality opponents as well so he came prepared for this weekend
and you know there's a lot to be said for preparation but also staying focused
throughout as the pressure keeps building through all these matches as well.
I mean why don't we relive the moment of the lucky hell that we have it
right here let's jump into it that lucky hell that the crucial
and Patrick, even Diego had doubts, right?
And probably, in his mind, he was thinking about the special red card,
which coincidentally was Andrew's top deck next turn,
but turns out that ultimately was his device.
Yeah, as soon as Andrew didn't play the special red card,
we knew something was up.
He had other plans, and he wasn't wanting to KO this Alakazam,
something that seems so counterintuitive to your general Pokemon TCG strategy.
What a pivot to see this line.
Yeah, absolutely. You know, seeing the line, playing as safe as possible, drawing that dark energy and putting it onto the Dunsparse to make sure he could claim the World Championship title in as much style as you can.
The Dunsparse is not a Pokemon known for really getting in there and dealing a lot of damage. It assisted his opponent in drawing the cards that eventually led to Andrew's victory.
And I think Diego may have thought this through a little bit and thought, oh, even if I get hit by Dragapult EX, my Alakazam will get knocked out.
I have to gun sparse to go ahead and make sure I don't deck out.
But didn't account for the fact that Andrew does not have to knock out Alakazam.
Can just attack it multiple times without doing enough damage, and that slight oversight may have costs from the world championships.
I think we were definitely all perplexed about Andrew's line of choosing not to evolve into Dragapult.
Even the whole crowd were like, oh my gosh, and then he didn't draw Dragapult again out of the lily.
It wasn't that clear line, right? It's a very unexpected decision or unlikely decision,
but ultimately these four cards is what led to this amazing, amazing play.
I don't think we're ever going to see something like this again in a finals.
Also, Andrew had not taken a knockout this entire game, and that is why this play works.
Diego plays Sacred Ash in his deck, but he doesn't have Ultra Ball.
There's no way to put the discard pile for him to shuffle these Pokémon back into the deck to replint-ish.
And since Andrew had not taken a single KO, there were no live targets for Sacred Ash to refuel his deck.
Yeah, not the line you typically see to end the game off.
off and you could see immediately take Diego just trying to figure out a way out thinking can
I shuffle in one to Dunsparce maybe multiple to Dunsparce to change things up but just slowly
realize that the writing was on the wall and that is how one small decision can snowfall so
quickly against somebody who could identify alternate win conditions. Now the Dunsparce
does of course shuffle attached cards back in. Do you have a lot of cards in hand was there
Perhaps an opportunity to put an energy onto a Dunsparce,
but a tool card on to it to put even more cards back
into his deck.
Now, we did have that option, right?
I do believe we had to run our whole deck.
There was an Herbalune.
There definitely were energies that we retreated
trying to prevent this play.
And ultimately, I mean, with the pressure, the movement,
everything on the line, I feel like it's not an easy thing
to realize.
I think that Andrew's play caught Diego off guard.
I think that's pretty safe for a show.
Yeah, and I think it goes to show you even the best of the best sometimes can get caught off guard
and have a hard time adapting and seeing every single possible play.
Sometimes, you know, it's not your day. Sometimes you're really locked in and you can find those things,
but Diego is so focused on other things he may not have seen that in front of him.
Now who's to say how this game would have ended anyway, but that wasn't an immediate way to perhaps not duck out.
What an epic moment. The Doddspar is coming up. They're rammed for a game with the buzzers, orders. That was not in anyone's game.
That one was not a part of the script. Not a part of the script. Sure.
As a DPT, you could not have flipped this.
Incredible foresight from Andrew Hedrick, and he becomes the 2026 World Champion.
He is a five-time regional champion.
He is a singular-time international champion.
He got top 32 at Worlds a couple of seasons ago.
He's had tons of other great international
and regional successes.
You know, we spend so much time at these events
talking about the greatest Pokemon players.
Of course, Jason Klazinski,
his three world champion titles toward Recliff,
his five international titles,
two incredible runs of world championships for him.
Andrew Hedrick does not have the time in the game that those two players have, he's still very, very young.
But I think it's time he starts making his way into those conversations.
It's definitely making a case at this point.
And he keeps this up like you said, Jim, it's only been a few years of racking up all of those accomplishments, the future is pretty bright for him.
Yeah, I mean, even the fact that he has accomplished so much in so little time, I think he just speaks volumes of he should be in this conversation
because the other players, right,
how long did it take Diego to get that World Championship
event, how many years did he try?
So, yeah, Andrew definitely on another level at this moment.
Yeah, and he and his friends who prepare and play,
consistently finishing at the top level this season,
whether it be championship points or regional wins
or international placements.
And that is scary when the top minds are together
and working towards every event.
You know that when you show up,
there is a group that is prepared and ready
to take down an event.
I also feel fair to the rest trying to play right all of the best players working together. How are we supposed to compete?
They're dominating up at the top of the game, and then he's a really fun thing to be able to watch
Yeah, and I do think we've seen a trend in the last several years
So how do these young up-and-coming players being the ones to dominate at this level?
I think it is inspirational though for some of our older folks that Diego was able to make a run as well
Well, proving that, you know, it doesn't matter what your age is when you're playing the
Pokemon TCG, skill players are skilled players, the best are the best, and anybody can compete
and it's always a great time to jump in and learn how to play the game.
Forty-three years old, the oldest player to grace this world championship stage, and
I wouldn't be surprised if he improved that in future years as well.
Best line I heard a little weekend is Diego could have been the oldest player to have
won the World Championship since Diego won the World Championship.
I believe 35 whenever he won the 2017 world championships and still doing it now nine years later
Well, it's been an excellent journey the trading card game Pokemon go and Pokemon unite so many world champions already crowned
But we are not done yet
It is time to kick off Pokemon champions where we will crown three first time Pokemon champions world champions
We are in San Francisco, the land of the Golden Gate Bridge, and now this bridge is
angry.
Basketball region with the Aquajet to take the final KO, and it's going to be Hiroshi
Onishi to take the set.
Two is zero.
And with the last respect connecting up to Whimsical, freeze it down to focus ice,
but that is it.
Joel, the lead legion is moving on to our top eight.
We're gonna get one shot onto this Knee's blood.
It's the fourth!
Please!
Joao is gonna be moving on to the top four.
The damage is done.
Knee's was at 33%.
And for it to come through, that's we who's onto the top four of the World Championships.
He wave following up in the sun into both targets is enough for Roshi to get the double KO.
Two turns and with that, Hiroshi Otsi, she moves on to Championship Sunday.
You're just watching a boxing match between these two and they are truly trading blow-for-blow.
Garchomp Earthquake is going to deliver the finishing blow.
And Takamaw will be moving on to the finals here at the Pokemon World Championships.
Shader trainers are you ready to get started with Pokemon PGZ here on Championship Sunday starting with your junior's finals. Kazuki Kage going up against Kazutaka Hadaori.
is that moment the combination of all that hard work, the determination and the talent
that these trainers have put on the line this season. It all comes to a close here. One more
match to go for both of our trainers but one of them will be walking away a world champion.
Here to take you through the action of kicking off BDC, Sierra Dawn, the provost. It is
an honor to be here at such an incredible stage, an incredible arena to be crowning
your first Pokemon champion, World Champion.
That is the most exciting thing.
Champions has just come around.
It's been the first World Champion of the Champions era.
What a title to take away with you.
And yeah, it's been an incredible weekend so far.
But starting off with the juniors, it's always so exciting.
It gives us hope in a bright future ahead for the VG scene.
And we know we can get to see these talents rise up
and become these new heroes all fast.
This is the next generation of Pokemon trainers
and the opportunity to earn a world championship title
today, to be sent to minting their spot as one of the best
so early on in their journey.
And for it to start in an arena like this,
a stage like this is truly incredible.
Two trainers had a battle without all weekend
and have shown that they are amongst the best.
Now, one more battle for our world champion.
Yeah, just soaking in to take up the moment.
The trainers are going to get themselves ready.
The teams are very interesting going into this match.
We can take a look at Zuki's team here.
The Frostlass, which has that megastone.
So, megafrostlass, megastone village.
We've got the Masque Legion, the King Gabbard,
the Lycanroc, and the Sneasler.
Very familiar set of Pokemon.
We've seen you extremely well.
So this we're making till the finals, can it get, because you get over the line.
This Lycanroc team, this variant, has been so popular and so strong with how dominant Charizard has been.
And we've seen this team, this variation take down those big bad Charizard teams over and over.
But of course, having the other powerful options here with the Sneasler and the Vaspillusion,
and the King Gambit, one of the most powerful Pokemon we have in this current regulation,
No matter what other team is on the opposing end, you have options.
The fact that you have the setup King Gambit as well,
and options to really be able to pivot around to allow this King Gambit to try and set up,
if you can get a sword stance, that could be momentum completely shifted in your favor.
Yeah, you've got the sneeze letter help out of that fake out there to get that King Gambit set up,
whether it comes in the early game to soften things up for that past religion or in the late game to close out,
it is a formidable threat and something that has to consider when approaching their game plan.
Of course, you've got that Charizard wide, the Swampert, the Archaladon, the Grimsnall,
Pellifer and the Venusaur. The common trend here is that double weather. The options,
you've got the Charizard bringing the sun to speed boost the chlorofill ability on that Venusaur.
You've got the Pellifer bringing the rain that powers up the speed on that Swampert,
giving it that swift swine ability when it does remember evolve and becomes a formidable
threat that reveals a handle along those issues on the opposite side of the field, a lichen rock
that might come to check the Charizard, the Sneasler, the King Amid as well, and that wave
crash under the rain. It's so, so powerful. This is the Charizard team with the mention, having
this dual weather mode, which gives Hazataka so many options in how he wants to approach this
matchup. You can try and just go all in on one of your weather modes, or you can bring
a couple of options that you think would fare really well into Kanzuki's team, and I would
I would be so interested to see how he wants to play this because if you leave your rather right
That could be everything for you
But as well having the dual weather going up against the single weather mode of Suzuki gives you
Twice as much potential to get ahead. Yeah, it makes it very difficult to
Bring that frost last to get that Aurora veil set up that you want to support the rest of your team
The Grim snarl makes things even more difficult because it's got a prankster parting shot
So you can lead it next to maybe one of those Pokemon like the Swampert, other being a sort of taking advantage of the weather
And especially in the Swampert scenario
You can hit it out first before anything moves after a mega evolution and overwrite that weather get in your favor and get that Swampert in that
Yeah, the swamp is in a nice position. It does have to worry about the data from the
Sleezer. Of course I could slow it down. You know, I'll chal it on pretty free here to
just getting a tack off but is it pressuring and knockout that's the
question probably not on this stage of the game. You probably don't want to fake
that out because it will activate that stamina ability and give it a free
defense boost but the king gamut does feel like it's in a great position to
get that soul stance off. If the sneezer goes for the fake out into the
swamp, stop it and it tracks this turn, there's not much being able to stop that.
We've already talked about how impactful that soul stance could be
once that is set up. It's already boosted by that life hold that will be
starting to re-take Pokemon on the opposite side of the field.
A swap out, our Taladon is out, Helper joins the fray and with it setting up the rain.
This is going to enable the swamper with this mega evolution. It's going to be oh so speedy and dealing oh so much damage.
Looking right away to start dealing out powerful attacks onto the two Pokemon on the opposing end.
Potentially, but will this be a protect on this turn?
with potential other fake vote on the opposing end you do have to make sure the
Pokemon stays safe and correctly calling that protect is safe but when you
have to protect there's always the opportunity to set up already a sword
stance for the King Gambit to deal so much attack on this next turn. Yeah that's a
huge bit, has an attacker he's got that King Gambit in the perfect position now
it offers support with that sucker punch. It's going to be able to not
before anything can attack on the offensive side of the field. It's a big
damage to that scum, but the question is, can it take a plus two suffer punch? That is what we're
going to find out probably very soon. The question is though, is it going to be enough to soften
this scum, but maybe a basket agent to come in later in this game. Take advantage of that rain
and then pick up the knockout with that. I forget how it's just protected, so it's a sitting target
now. But the other thing, the Pelipper as well, is threatening that hurricane damage onto the
This is Angela, it does right knock out there, she perfected damage and also the weather falls into that King Gambit.
If a double up comes out with the Earthquake, it could be detrimental, take that Pokemon down.
Plus two sucker bunches, swap the King Gambit, got it, stop!
For a KOG into the swamp, we're holding on 7% HP, can go ahead and attack and return.
These are no damage done, but Earthquake into the King Gambit is gonna deal a lot.
Tiana doesn't know if he's reaching these hits and will be brought down to 26%.
Follow up here from the caliper, no attack, but make sure you're set up for success going on-board.
Tailwind for the speed.
Yeah, the tailwind's really useful because once that swamp hurt does leave the field and the swim swim goes with it,
you need to support the remaining Pokemon in the back when they do come onto the field,
especially because it's needs a lot of threaten at our Caledon with those big fighting type attacks.
Now, what can you here do, attack with the swamp hurt?
in a great position to go for another earthquake. It would be enough to get that king gambler,
but it is threatened by that sucker punch. Do you maybe switch it out, David? For later
in use, that helipad levered that into the king gambler. That is the biggest threat here.
You need to go out flat holding the king gambler closing target in the helipad.
A little squawk around. A double squawk around, actually, as Grimtaro and Artaladon
come back out. Artaladon's flogging in the rain, and of course, double squawking
to won't take any damage if there was a potential suck a bunch on the opposing end and the switch
with our Chaladon catches that term out of Gunshot. Fantastic switch here from Kazuki,
putting themselves in a great position now. Got that crimskull on the field and one thing
that you want to set up next to your Pokemon if that source has been activated on the
King of Yarmouth is a Reflect. You've got the Prancer Reflect you can set up now. It's
going to give you perfect protection and put that on Chaladon. It's in its perfect
environment the rain set up it's got access to electric shock you go after
that King Gambit now get a plus one through special attack of stars getting
some momentum back and get them back into the game because right now this
King Gambit is still a big threat with that plus two through its attack.
Going into this next turn room's normal joining in if you're worried about what
is the damage from this King Gambit or even this user give it go ahead and
set up some screens for what is the mitigate want of that expensive
pressure from here on out. It's like a bunch in the artillery, I don't know, plus two, but
after he's showing how big this reflect was in defense to help it later on,
Lightworks slowly chipping away at the Nambit's own telepathy. Follow up from
Sneasler. Nice, but right now it's a lecture shot. Of course, in the rain,
this will be a one crucial up move. You get the special attack, you don't have to wait
Wait for next turn. Go ahead and fire off a powerful attack.
Sneasler down to a felt-in turn.
Dump shot going into this Grim Snarl instead.
Such a powerful attack, but again, we've got paint on huge.
Yeah, that reflects so, so valuable.
Yeah, hold the poison as well.
Let's look at Grim Snarl on a timer.
There's a matter of time before we'll hold that.
Lepid was coming in really handy for the Torch.
Alizon keeps cutting it out of all his reach,
especially when you've got that reflect kind of force
for in those defenses.
Now, you've got that electric shot off.
as your target is going. You can't be careless with it. You can't target shot out. If you
go on with the Grimstone, maybe lower the attack on that's easier. Remember you can't
go for it against the King Gambit. There is also the option of going for a spirit break
maybe protecting the Arch Alidon. Just getting a little bit extra health, getting into
a better scenario, walking the following turn to hopefully get a big swing with
it going into the latter turns of this game.
Grimstone on its primer went at poison, already such low health. Setting up the
the screens was certainly nice, but how can you make the most of this Grimmsnarl while it's still sticking around?
And of course with King Gambit, you have those boosts, but you gotta make sure these attacks count.
The Life Orb is revealing so much damage to yourself.
Our Taladon, with Protect, won't be hitting it by a Sucker Punch, as it will fail.
Now, close combat. Already such low health on the Grimmsnarl will take it down.
Yeah, it's a really nice play to get that close combat into the Grimmsnarl.
It's quite risky, it's not the best accuracy here, but the main thing is that it aggravates that white herb.
That is doubling the speed on the Sleezer, so even in a tailwind, even if the rain set up to support that,
Swamper, if you come back onto the field, you're going to match speed, you're going to be actually at the speed indoors.
If you get the damage that the Swamper's already taken, the Sleezer is going to be in that position where it can pick that up.
Now, the pillar has up, good timing to bring it back onto the field.
It is going to set that rain up again for another five turns, so that an electric shot is now enabled.
enable it is going to be able to stop powering up that archalagon a little bit more each and every turn
and the big threat now is the pelletgrade alongside it that does offer a little bit more offense than
that Grimmsnarl was the previous turn. The perfect timing with the Grimmsnarl going down to pelletgrade
setting the rain up perfectly and offering so much offensive pressure within itself too.
You get that full five turns of the rain going on board but you still have to be
also careful. If you eye up an attacking group with this pellether, this pink gamut still
put so much pressure on the board.
There's been a lot done to really being able to mitigate
what this King Amateur is able to do with these squats.
With these well timed protacts.
But, we'll have to see if it can make a little bit more use of it.
No such a punch though.
These are first act close combat for those drops.
And another fence boost on the opposing end.
Now a lack of shock, in retaliation.
Boosting up a special attack once again.
It's either one of these Pokemon that already take your place a bit.
Special attack boost, now going for the attack into this measler, we'll take it down.
Yeah, now for us to now, on the board, our telegons can be hit extremely hard, each of you turning those past its ease, acquiring a little bit more health.
Now the follow-up from the pellet for that weather ball, finally taking that king gambit down, but this would be got a lot of value out of that Pokemon after getting that full chance up and free punching holes, softening up the opposite side of the field.
This rain mode has put in so much work.
When in battle, though, we have highlighted Lighten off 10 strong blasts.
There's two really big key pieces to this.
Lighten off, though, not necessarily in this theme level,
because you have one to see, but with strong blasts,
who would have read that weather?
Yeah, this is the perfect scenario.
If you now use the mega of all overwrite the rain,
take away the electric shock from a one-turn attack to a two-turn attack.
On top of that, you put your Lighten off on the field.
Yes, it might be threatened by the pellet,
but you are taking away the rain,
rain so that weather will become an ice type attack, not something that Black Rock has to worry about too much.
The more important thing is that offensive strike that it's gotten, it's got access to close combat,
you can go after that or tell it on its own or help at the minute as well as it does land
even through a reflective thought, I would say, simply because it's been up and about
if it's doubled into with a potential shadowball of lizard.
First on the turn though, if you want to override the weather, you have to go ahead
and mega evolved frost blast, I mean with this no warning.
You can't rely on those one turn electric shots anymore
and if you do want to get that weather back,
Pelopon has to swap out.
Protect from our Charlodon,
as they'll rock into Pelopon.
This is going to be great for dealing a little bit of damage here
which could add up going on forward.
To protect our Charlodon though, won't be any damage,
but looking to keep going and pushing on forward
with that tailwind.
Yeah, it's a really smart play from Kazur Paka just to protect that Archaladon this turn.
I think it's very important that special attacks, because of the defense boost this is required.
But now, with that tailwind activated, everything that Archaladon is going to be ahead of the Fuzzlass, and the Like Rock.
The Like Rock does have a little bit of security about the Opposite, so it can go after either of these targets, but we've seen the damage already.
You sell Rock, but there'll be enough to get the Pelipper.
Or choose to lock us all your attention down into the Archaladon, but now it's a swap that is going to be run with all the pastures depicted.
not likely to go for it again and it is in a position where it will attack which target to go on hold on the light
drop break the sash about crosslash if you can get the protect right on the sticky side of the field you can breathe in yourself back into this game
If you want to look at overriding the way there to get your own out as well you need to swap out the Pelt Surfer
Obviously only the last opportunity to do so so Mega Swamper comes out with a well-con protect on the opposing end
But it's like rock the target of
Like rock rock all the way down to its focus that
We'll see that it's like you know close enough the pepper again or is it the clothes come back?
It looks like it is in see our gel it on is it enough?
It's not it's on
There's a bit
Four percent and another one it's gonna stick around for one more turn and get a little bit of great
recovery, back, and now Swampert out on the field, both of the Pellepermons have such low health,
but you can spitch in the Pellepur and have the Swampert really be able to push her.
Yeah, that's the degree, that's how well Kavitaka is controlling this board right now.
Yes, you might have to pull for all the Archaladon, Houston thing, but is it putting the Swampert
in a really advantageous position? Gotta be careful about that, Acceleron,
both of them are very low health, the Archaladon will definitely be able to take one,
So maybe the preferred switch here is a Swamper out Pellipurian and then utilize the Archalagon plus to the Swamper though
It's got that spread attack so it can go for an earthquake so
Pothos has just protected it is gonna be vulnerable now to a flash cannon now
So the choice is what would be better to keep that Archalagon
Maybe Swamper go out but it is sticking around
No Swamper and a priority move from this Lightning Rock Swamper already at such low HP
No chance of sticking around. Follow-up class can is so much better than that!
And a broadcast that has absolutely no chance of treating Kailin on this turn.
But now, Fukazuki, it's only a life and a half with one HP!
Yeah, and I mean, a fantastic player there saying,
Okay, well, I can utilize the tailwind, it's still in effect.
I don't need to risk my Pelopon coming in on that.
I sell it off, and that's exactly what we saw there.
Now coming in, getting weather control, and we talked about how important this weather control was.
was. As a tack I do extremely well in this match to keep control of that for me
during given time. One turn at tailwind, let's take it back to go, that's what I've seen
at the take on the Lightning Rock. It might get one more turn, but on a double attack
it looks like it's getting closer and closer to being wrapped up.
Well if you're eyeing up trying to go for something like the proc slide,
Halibut on recording and has the wide guard to be able to stop it to
Lightning Rock, you stay safe for now. You can run out the tailwind, but
beyond that if you go ahead and click the rock slide there is the white guard on me
closing in, that is still just a walk. Yeah and that's the problem against two
spread attacks, two and pathos on the field, or as in there is always a fold
and it's the mind game that it pays their force here upon them to do any
alternative options. The first combat does feel like a preferred option
if you're on a challenge, but again it's going to be enough, it is the rock slide that will go on through those mind games, no white guard, going to connect.
It's going to connect into both no KO's but if you can go for a flinch instead it could
be your way to try and make something happen here.
Two Pokemon remaining, it's single attack will be enough to take you down if you only
have one HP and no flinch is going to spell your DMR Chowan on another electro shot for
the road.
One HP is all you have to do and Kazutaka take the first game in the set.
Wow, what a first game, so explosive and great game plans from both players coming into this game, but
HazardTak are really taking advantage of the weather on their side of the field and some of the tools
are really leaning into that archaladon in particular,
linking so well to just get damage, stuff and things up on the opposite side of the field
while setting up that special attack would be overall in the end with that timed tailwind
you saw perfectly to just overcome all those threats on a certain set of fields.
Even looking at earlier on in the match, this King Gambit with the sword stance boost
becomes so scary.
But there was a great job done by switching around Pokemon well, time protect,
to really make sure this King Gambit never got out of control.
And once you take that threat down, get your Pelfer in,
easily later on you can tailwind, you can out this feed,
and you just do so much damage to these remaining Pokemon.
And I mean, the game started so pivotal there, it didn't really do much offensively, but what it did provide the team was that defensive support that reflected.
We haven't seen that, I think the Lycanroc would have easily been able to take down the arch-hunter on that spot in the game.
It turned out a little bit different maybe, but the Zutaka just using those tools so perfectly at the right time,
and not panicking too much either when that King Gamma got that sword stand set up.
I think controlling the game and keeping calm and composed was such a great thing to see,
but all for Kazooia Peter do coming into this next game. It's a tie-up,
does have options, did we see maybe the Basque Legion coming.
Kazooia's thinking that the rain is going to be the optimal mode. I feel like that is going
to give a lot of problems to things like that Swampert. It will get the boost in the rain to
wave pressures and it can be an endgame Pokemon with that last respects as well
it can really cut through and get the damage you require on those remaining
Pokemon. Kazutaka having so many ways to pilot this team but now Kazuki knows
that rain was the answer for game number one giving you so much information on
how you want to handle this game number two maybe like a rocket slaps at
home try and switch up the Pokemon just a little bit or override that
weather just a little bit sooner. So many questions in mind down again in the
set with the world championship title on the line.
Yeah, it's really difficult to set up against this sun rain team as well
because you think you're going down one route has a type of mighty conditioning
their opponent as well in a lot of ways where they might switch it up to
bring a charizard instead of the rain.
Getting into game number two. It's time to see if there could be a bounce
Back with a big switch from the get-go!
Rainbow's left at home!
Cazza's not going to bring out the Sun instead!
Villasort and Charizard going up against the Seizuring King Gambit!
Yeah, now there's Charizard and Prime Physicians and Mega Evolve.
Of course, both Pokemon here are going to be susceptible to that big card.
But can you risk being passive here?
I think, although you don't want to be this little Sashgene broken,
yet, can you protect in front of a King Gambit that can potentially set up a Soul Stance
and then become that big threat once again?
because Charizard and Venus are on as good defensively as the Pokemon we saw here morning,
not anything like the Otelladon on that spot, but then if I'm able to take those priority
sub-touches as well, so do you just go for two attacking options here, you got that?
And he may have been making the seatbelt, I think, so that's the other to slow it down.
Mega Evolution with the Charizard from Auzutwaka.
And it was not a problem in game number one, the Electric King Gambit set up.
As long as you have an answer later down the road, Charizard doesn't protect, we'll just eat that fake out instead.
As it's actually just a double up fake out, Charizard doesn't move, but was still eyeing up in attack, which means King Amit can still get the Sunker Punch off.
Sleep powder though, in return. King Amit does your one move, you bring the Charizard down low, but on the next turn, you have to take that mandatory turn of sleep.
Yeah, that's the advantage of actually the Sunker Punch coming out to see how they're going after it.
Now there is a guaranteed turn, the King Alec is going to move this turn and now that Sleezer is susceptible to his sweep powder as well.
This Charizard is pretty free now to go for a new wave or a weather ball.
It's either one of these targets, and now you can start building that momentum.
The being a sort of big part of why this is working has...
Because if you've got a way to get around this, is maybe the skull filling in the back.
If it is, you could maybe switch it in against half the immunity to that Sleezer,
But it won't cost even it takes you to prevent that charge on the ring and use the planet's sun as well
No swap seems really too strong at this point so Sneezler stays in and will protect so being a storm will still fill the sleep powder for that reason
And King Gambit will take that first turn of sleep. He waves from the charge or so
You have the sun on your side
It's super effective hit and King Gambit has no chance at waking up the first tail taken in this match
Yeah, what a way to handle that threat in King Gambit without taking any damage really on the outside the charge
I've has been softened up so open susceptible to damage later on
But with this be in a store on the side of you feel in the sun
You are in a great spot to keep that pressure on the problem now is the cross-lash convince the bill
It will be a little bit over right that sun limits
No, I'm the biggest one lose that force. Oh, please. It will become susceptible
Also, two guns, Liz, that threaten from the Fogs last at the same time.
If you want to get the Weatherback for a Cows of Taki, you have to swap the Charizard back out and in again as snow with the Mega Evolution.
Charizard will protect on this turn. You've already taken a lot of damage.
And if you want that Weatherback, you can't afford to get KOed. Double protect on the board.
Now we get an opportunity to see what, what you're seeing.
And Blizzard is going to do nothing and same with Sneasler's attack.
Yeah, now the double protector's got all your problems trying to do, so we'll call back Lonnie into that Venusaur, maybe expecting a switch there, but it's not too bad, because all you need to do is shit the Venusaur slightly if it stays on the field.
Break that Polter Sash, and the Blizzard will be enough to get that, and that long-awaited Targoth as well.
So, Kazuki in a really commanded position now, it's all on his attack, and to respond in this scenario, they need to get that Targoth off the field if they want to take weather control again.
The problem is, we should protect them from being a stall, so are we going to see maybe a double switch?
The question is, it's an elephant in fact, it is a great Pokemon to bring in.
Now, I get rid of all that snow, and it really starts to stop.
I think it's good.
Charizard needing to swap out our Chaladon to join the field and said, as it will be that double swap,
isn't it too much of weather? It is!
Caliper comes out and whips it the rain, bringing both weather modes to this match,
to contend up against this note.
Not the most accurate, but real connected
both target Halper and our Caledon taking some damage.
That's a lot of damage!
That's a great tree!
The longest in the Halper!
That could strip so much Valensis in this match.
It won't be a close combat as well, they'll follow us.
But on this next turn, Halper,
I don't have the opportunity to just not move.
And with that close combat,
you've earned so much damage
and they're gonna be so fast on this next turn
with the unburdened.
Yeah, now there is a scenario where you go Blizzard and in forced combat into your channel
and that combination of probably enough to get your channel out of here.
There's no reflect helping it out this time, that white herb activating as well as the Sneezler
and really, really difficult scenario.
Can the Pelopon go out?
Can it take another Blizzard?
It might be a roll, so it allows us to just have to connect up.
The accuracy isn't the most reliable when there is on the field.
It's not a preferred environment.
But, you could maybe switch it up to get three game control of that.
But, are you just better staying on the field,
in a big stir in that offensive pressure that you've got right now?
For Frostback, if you stick around, going for those inaccurate attacks,
and knowing that there's an archaladon that could go for that flash damage into you,
to start making sure that Tuzz Attacker has all the momentum in the match,
you need to swap like a drop, yet again brought into this match.
follow up close combat and see our childhood on it already have one of those defense
boosts so it will take this hit even though it's getting so so low on damage the pelican though
frozen is it going to stop coming up next it's going to be a very good thing because our childhood
on still looking to get those boosts and really be able to kind of get more momentum into this
match but if pelican keeps staying frozen for the turn after you can really get slowed down
as Caesar will hold on. Frozen Skulls, so you can't double up and take it down.
Now you're really good at gold now. The pellet of gold there, you would think maybe it's going
good. Hell, there's an attacker in to a more demanding position. Now you've got a cross-lock
to bring it in at any point and overwrite the weather, but I think you've got to
plan it and time it so well, because you know the charge-out's in the back. It has
attacker. Now you can utilize your cross-combat, although the charge-out has a defense
is going to be susceptible to going down to that powerful attack and I like to be off
the perfect Pokemon here the Acceleron into that heliport there is no reflect we talked
about that already so the Acceleron probably will be enough to pick up the knockout there
of course one of those remaining Pokemon in the backpack out onto the field.
And with your Caledon already having taken so much damage it's forced into a protect
as Heliport goes down with that Acceleron so now one of your most of the weather
is gone.
You still do have the Charizard to be able to contend, but again, if you bring it out here,
Kazuki can go ahead and bring the Fraffa back in. So maybe you just have to go for the Venusaur,
swap the Charizard into each other spot, but again, if you get that turn wrong,
you might never get control of the weather again.
No, and that's a big problem. The only plus that Kazutaga has right now is the Venusaur
does have a 12% so it does have a little bit of room to maneuver. It is going to threaten
in part of the close of that, but it does greatly
cigarette the damage into that light and romp as well.
Pretty much any of those options, even the resisted one,
romp is just easy, they're probably enough to take it down,
so you have to be careful not to lose the slot
and then really use a resource as well.
Close combat, yet again, into our Chaladon.
Turn after turn has really stacked up
and another KO taken in Kazuki's favor.
Now just down to the two rock slides,
break this focus flash onto Venusaur
and deal a lot of damage and play
There will be a myth like that. Stay the way, stick around, and Charizard will be forced out onto the field. Some would appreciate that at all.
It's a huge miss now, and now in a position. It doesn't matter what the sun's coming onto the field, because you've got that spritz, which, from Sneasley, you would imagine, into the frost last override.
That sun and then the life and rock is enabled, and four affiliabilities taken away. The rock slide can come out if it does connect.
Would it be enough to get the Charizard? Would it be enough to get the Venus all though? That is the question.
Sneasler swaps out, and I think he has won the weather war at snow set up once again.
Venusaur is going back to being slow, and stars are so pressured by this lake and rock.
Rocks 5, again, not being tricked into going for the single target, so you can get some damage into the Venusaur,
take the KO, and only one Pokemon remaining in your quest to get this to a game number 3.
Yeah, it doesn't miss its target, it takes down the Venusole and that Charizard just waiting in the wings.
We all go into the game three-zero, like you say, and a well-played match is actually to get them to come back into this game,
the adjustments here, and doing it in such a great fashion.
We assail her off into the Charizard, the target that it's at that all this time, right at the end of the game,
to lock it up, take us to a game three.
A series of going-de-dictin, so expertly played coming out from Suzuki, contending up against
not one but two weather modes.
You have to be so careful with that cross-lap and those pieces and the perfect preservation
of that lichen rock to make sure you can force the charlotte out onto the field, put
so much pressure onto it to really be able to clean up that match.
Something like the sweet powder is quite important, but at the same time, when
When you look at the Snazler allowed to keep doing all the damage turn after turn, you
were able to get so much pressure from the get go to force that.
Yeah, and the freeze we take here did prevent maybe a tailwind being set up, but I don't
really know if it really changed the outcome overall.
I think the big thing we've got to point out here is that because we people wasn't
really conditioned to not bringing the lycanok, it would have been easy to say, I expect
the rain mode again, so I'm not going to bring the lycanok, I'm going to replace
it with that Vasco Legion.
done that there then the Venus would have been a problem in this game I think
bringing it to this game was a huge huge play and it really paid off and now
they're back in contention to let the Trolls be one game is gonna decide this
year which trainer will be able to overcome the other two very deserving
trainers both with a win under their belt with one more match to determine
who our world champion is going to be whether it's going to be Kazuki
Kage or Kazutaka, how to hurry.
One more match for who is going to be starting off their Pokemon journey in the junior
division with the highest title of them all.
Only one more match and so much pressure.
Pressure that no trainers really get to face on a stage like this.
They can always see who's going to come out on top.
Trainers everyone here at the chase center gotta make some noise for these two young trainers. Let's give them that energy
Determine our future we're all the champion
What it just fits that we're gonna see from both trainers coming into this game three that is the question on everyone's mind
Are we gonna see the rain mark has attacked that we're so successful in that round one game one
We're going to see the Charizard again. The Venusaur was very potent.
In land those sleep powders and it's in the right position and you can keep control of your weather,
it's going to be hard for Kazuki to control and keep that contained.
Or we're going to see the Vast Legion finally come to the game.
Is that going to be the Pokemon that could be used to soften up some of these targets on the opposite side of the field?
If you're expecting the rain, it makes a lot of sense for that Pokemon to come.
It can cause a lot of issues for that swamp though, but if you're expecting that Venusaur,
So this is what makes this matchup so beautiful.
And I think why the intricacies of it
are all dependent on the leads.
Getting into the game, it's time to see
where the trainer's minds are as what
substance will be made at Swamper.
Join the break next to our child on the opposing end,
King Gambit and Sneasler.
If we set out this fake out and this set of swords
and once again, King Gambit could put on so much pressure.
But do we get to see a swap and just a Swamper
that supplies it to go on the offensive and do we see a switch up from that
bake out sword stance play from Kuzushi? Yeah, I love the lead here from the
tagging point of the option where they can take advantage of the range of the
leader of their leads. He's got the Archaladon with an electron shot. It's not
likely to get baked out because that stamina activation comes with that slog.
But you've got this one here, blow your fake out into that and the Archaladon
switches out to the pellet and then you've got the instant ability to
mega-haul, get access to script to win. You get to jump on those and your
target to help reach to that plant by earthquake attack and that is going to be a huge huge
detriment even if you get a full set up. But that is the key. You do have your perfect
partner next to you, you have that backup, it was left. Soul Stance is required to get
the damage you need on the opponent's side of the field.
And you I have a swapper on the field of course, we're going to see a mega evolution
and a power burst coming out to bring that brain. The question is, will it be
We have to go from the Sneezer to make sure no damage is there. Sure enough, bumper will
flinch and no Earthquake. Now towards that plus two for this King Gambit. It digs up the
punch next turn. What happened?
Yeah, I mean, the chip damage really can take off plus one, but now plus two, so it's
going to be... There is the question where is it enough with that chip damage to get
this one driven?
Might be just out of range so that one, but if it is out of range, it will be
in the scenario where it can get dead quick and you've got to think,
Telepath is going to be able to follow up but not want to keep it in on the way.
They're going to get a reflex that we saw in that game one to protect everything
and that's exactly what we're seeing.
How's it going? Game number one had no fear of letting that King Gambit set up
with well timed switches and another one there.
Drimm's got it coming on out. No damage from King Gambit.
Now, teaser, early on, will get that white grub activation.
That brought back to normal and speed, so important with Tailwind from the Telepher.
You want to make sure that this Sneezer can continue to pressure with potentially a Dung Shot onto this Grim Snarl.
Yeah, and either into that Telepher as well, that simply hasn't been activated.
This is such a pity enough to get the Telepher before you can attack.
This is in a great position even despite the skills it's going up.
But the problem is that Grim Snarl now on the field is going to have that fine spirit that it's taking.
She said that my match better reflected the source of vital in that first game to get around the threat of that King Gambit.
The difference in this game is that King Gambit hasn't taken any damage so far, so it's all health.
It's sitting in the perfect scenario just to constantly find pressure, but you start going to that counter clean rather than that sucker punch.
Least after punch, but it will be enough.
Rims off, making the damage, but the plus you can gamb it without play for,
still is so significant.
These are with the follow up.
Dumshaw will connect.
Rims off is at full health.
It will survive the hit, but it's brought real love.
Yeah, real love.
Probably in range of even a resisted, suck up at the next turn.
Just decide to go for an attack.
It's like a towards the target.
I just get my options and party crush it.
It seems like we can backslot.
We've still got the scenario here, the scuffle comes in and a bit of a better place now and can't earthquake, but it will be hitting the Grimstone which isn't ideal, you've not got your preferred partner, Helipa has been taken down so Grimstone is going to be susceptible, you've not got the option to switch either because you can't bring your own taliban into your earthquake.
So anyway, do you rely then on the wave fraction?
If that can be enough to get the king down,
but that has to be your target.
You've got to be careful going over the opponent's
side into that small field, because if there's a protector,
they all have to go to school.
Let's get some more damage on the board.
A light stream set up for later on.
Flash a bunch in this swamper.
Not enough for the KO.
But again, if we see this wave fraction,
we're going to do so much free throw potential to yourself.
We're going to put it all into line though.
First wave, it's everything on the field.
Two KO's.
What if the zoo gets home on going down, but also you're all grim snarls?
Yeah, it's a really big play here. You'll make the correct call, as Sierra saying,
but wait for it, probably not the most optimal, because you're hurting yourself and taking the sucker print,
but you're in a really awful position where the swan print now is not going to be able to really take it,
but fire you out of this drain as you would like it to, but at least getting the sneezer off the field,
but with one print, now you can take full advantage of the tail wing turns that are still in effect.
What's really scary though is earlier on in game number one, you're able to take care of the tank to infect this King Gambit so much sooner.
Now it is still sticking around. The Swamper's taking so much damage and there's only two Pokemon left for Kazutaka.
You have to get the most well timed protect to make sure this King Gambit doesn't get it fell onto the Swamper or deal so much in to this Artaladon.
But if you get that call wrong, that could be being losing.
You can really hurt, I think, because one put in a push here where it needs to protect, I think.
It's the obvious public to go after the second punch.
Even despite you're filming, that's what we're seeing.
What does?
Because if you see that, you go after that Archaladon instead.
And they do!
Dude, butterscotch is to the Archaladon, bringing it down to less than half of its health.
You gambit is on its liver, but it's just a follow-up.
Archaladon's taking so much flash-canning into the light.
Focus Dash still intact means it does hold on for at least one more turn to fire off the powerful attack of its own.
So it's gone back, but we split the difference. It did target into the small bird instead.
Ah, you were hoping there that the close combat might be into the hoteladon, but a really small protect there,
but the one thing that doesn't have a hazard being able to do is remove that threatened King Amid.
Now it's still threatening another second punch.
We will go down to the life of Reef Vol'Darmic here, but it's done so much work already in this game.
And our Traladon now is not in the rain, not in the preferred environment, the same with the Swampers as well.
We do have a kill in it in effect, but that's really gonna help you against the priority attacks from the King Gambit.
Those were the double, but the fail means that Spudgerbunch still isn't going to do anything, so no damage.
If Leipzigat follows up there, it could be the fail that came to the Arte Traladon instead.
while we're fixed around, our child monster fights the hit with that defense boost
and now you still have two Pokemon from Kazotaka, they can 10-wish,
Flash Fan is into like rock on 1, 8 feet, isn't enough to claim the KDO.
It's while we're... it's still a rare one.
You still have to worry about King Gambit on the next turn,
but you can go for it once again as our child monster does so much work.
The problem is, for Kazuki, there is still another Pokemon to join the field
And with it being the frog lab, you can go and get this mega evolution. You are at full health.
Yeah, this is a great time for the frogs lab to join the party. It is going to be able to get the snow on the field.
And it is going to be able to pressure our talent on with those Shadow Balls.
A single target that will be into that slot. It doesn't care about that reflect on the field.
There's only a one turn remaining as well. But like you say, the Swampirk is going to be susceptible to a sudden quench.
But should you go for a Protect again?
Pat is actually calling it maybe.
Is it worth going for it now?
So I would probably argue not.
I could just keep it checked with that simple point.
Remember the light screen is still in effect.
But I don't think it's going to be enough to allow that.
I'll tell it on the roof to get a little bit off.
That's the problem.
The health bar of course.
The Pact of Pokemon are so low.
And for us left with the Mega Evolution,
with the Snow, it can offer so much damage.
damage. Our Taladon with the protect and if there is a sucker punch into that
card it wouldn't be much. Which does get him right, a failed sucker punch.
Swampert on the other side unfortunately with the V&A Blizzard a dual target attack.
Swampert is not safe and it's enough to take another kill. Only one Pokemon left
in Kazuki's journey to becoming a champion with only our Taladon remaining on the
both in ends. Yeah, at the frost last and the king gamut have this in now, the sucker punch,
but the arch-eliron cannot attack without taking that sucker punch damage first. Maybe if that's
not enough, the frost last dead to be able to follow up and cross the inside. Can the arch-eliron
do it? It's lucky it's slimmer and slimmer each tip of the clock. Attempt of the double
protect but it will fail. Sucker punch does no damage, but the strong left has this
opportunity to attract and with the liver it is enough congratulations to your junior world champion Kazuki Taki!
The nominal, phenomenal player there from Zuki. How well they got that pink carpet in the
right positions at the right time. They've got the maximum value out of that Pokemon.
Incredible trainer. The talent showing through the testament. The dedication. It's all
come to a culmination here and they are a junior world champion. Absolutely fantastic.
To be a trainer so young and achieve a feat unlike any other Someday Pokemon world
that champion is incredible and being down a game in the set but never wavering
bouncing back in game number two and of course that incredible game three I'm so
excited for his football journey going on forward because he has a very very
bright future. Yeah I mean the way that they manage the ball position throughout
those games. The luck to a little bit shaky after the game won, where you saw this
one kind of dominating the better control of the text. But I think keeping the cross
The pause last so clean till the last moment, but right time to get it on to the field.
And they've been leading with that King Gamma, with the snooze or it's perfect partner, right?
The pay cut didn't room for that solid stance and you think, well, it's there to soften things up.
We talked about that, so something like the pause last can come in late game,
and then do the damage, get the knockouts that are required to pause things up.
But it turned out, if Zippy just played that King Gamma, it's so, so well.
And it's stuck around longer and longer and longer, and that pressure applied with openings.
and it meant that if you get into those positions,
swing that momentum, and then clinch those wins,
it was all important then taking his crap as we get,
just phenomenal, phenomenal play.
That's what makes him such a strong trainer
and what makes this team so incredible,
because if you don't target down to King Gambit,
there's other options on the team
to be able to just reap the entire thing.
It's not so expertly played, such a well done job,
but it's time to go here for our newest World Champion.
Thank you so much.
Lift here and for our first ever
Pokemon Champion, World Champion,
Kazuki, come on!
Come on!
Kazuki, congratulations.
How does it feel to be the first ever
Pokemon Champion's World Champion.
Congratulations.
How do you feel being a champion for the first time?
Saigame!
It's the first day in a row.
Who was the most valuable Pokemon on your team throughout this competition?
Who was the most important Pokemon in the team?
It's definitely Frostlust.
Of course, there were many family and friends who helped you throughout your journey to become our first ever world champion here today.
Do you have any shout-outs or any messages you want to give to anybody watching at home?
Thank you for my family for bringing me here.
Let's hear it one more time for our junior 2026 world champion,
Let's turn our attention to the Senior Division World Championship Finals between Carlos Verasequi
and Vikram Sinha Karajan.
My name is Rosemary Kelly, and I'm so honored and excited
to be here next to Aaron Zayn
to bring you through this next Grand Finals.
San Francisco, let's do this!
It is so exciting to be here with you Rosemary.
My name is Aaron Cybertron Zayn,
and I have been waiting a long, long time to be here.
The 30th anniversary of Pokemon,
Pokemon Champions first ever World Championships,
And we are here in the legendary arena in Chase Center.
We're about to crown a brand new world champion as well.
It's already off to such a great start
on this championship Sunday that we got to crown
our world champion in the Junior division,
but now we move our way up to the seniors.
And these are two competitors that are so ready
to take the stage, both regional champions,
but they still miss out on that elusive title.
Can they claim that final crown,
World Championship to add to that trophy case.
I want to hear you all scream right now!
Let's go!
I'm gonna tell you guys to hear the crowd come to the room because it's an extremely
vast and electric experience here.
You all have been amazing once!
Don't you catch us yet?
The music is loud!
As we get ready to work at this stage,
out of the final and the whole of the Senior Division,
I actually feel the crowd under my feet, Erin,
that comes out the stadium is getting.
It is unbelievable you all are here
as a part of Pokemon history.
The Senior Division in particular is an age group
that many of the game's best players
initially started their careers in.
I think about 2014 World Champion, Sajom Park.
He finished second at the World Championships
in the seniors division a few years before that.
There are so many of the game's greats
who start their Pokemon journey here
and of course evolve to become the Pokemon master
that they eventually turn into.
And it's a big opportunity for our two players here.
Especially because you don't get too many years either
to be able to try to grab this crown
and it's an amazing proving ground
before you do age up into the masters division
and see if you can continue the legacy that way.
But for both of these competitors,
One comes from Europe, one comes from Latin America.
It's very exciting to see them both be able to clash here
on this global stage, and we're gonna get a chance
to see them do it for the first time
in this world championships.
What's also exciting is we just saw
this full weather team win, right?
Hell of a hour, our child on Charizard Dinosaur.
That is one of the two teams
that will be represented in the finals here.
Staring down, actually, the very first team
left was Crown Champion, Info-Point Champions
over the Indianapolis Regionals
with Charizard and online Mega Float.
So it is a tale of a brand new team
that has popped up leading into the World Championships
versus one of the strongest teams coming out
right when we started this game.
As we take a look at our players' accomplishments.
Both regional champions, Carlos getting that title
at the special championships in Lima just this year
as Vikron took home that accomplishment in Lille in 2025.
But for both of them,
this is one of their greatest achievements
to be able to be here and the final two
at the World Championships,
what an incredible experience to have.
And it's gonna be a potential battle
between the Charizard here.
Of course, one of the most crucial Pokemon in this format.
This Pokemon has been dominant
ever since we started in Pokemon Champions,
only fitting to see it here, B-Crown World Champion.
But, Rosemary, the question is,
which partner, Mega Evolution,
will B-Crown World Champion alongside it?
Is it gonna be that FloVet,
or is it going to be Swampert?
Both of them very powerful mega evolutions
in their own right.
Floette looked at as we started out our journey
in Pokemon Champions because of the immense offense
that it can dish out with those very type of chats.
But with a Pokemon like Swampert,
when you do have this tool of weather option
that gives you another mega evolution
just to keep your opponent guessing.
Let's take a deeper look at Carlos Verasigui's team
as you do see that charged out of Floette
at the top that can both mega-evolve.
Dual team here with the evolutions,
and the Charizard is the ancient power.
So that means that it can have a big edge
against the opposing Charizard.
And one of the things that I wanna stress in this matchup
is which Charizard is going to be faster,
because both of these Charizards can actually hit each other
for super effective damage, right?
And so ancient power being a really powerful attack,
four times super effective.
The Venusaur is a really big blue on the team
that is able to be the super disruptive,
can thread it with sweet powder to be led with that Charizard.
A big question I have for you, Rosemary, in this matchup
is which mega evolution you want to commit to
if you're Carlos.
Bringing Charizard in a matchup
when you seed out rain on the opposing side
often can feel really tricky.
So you might want to think about going
with a calm mind, Floette, try to get a boost up.
Once it gets calm mind, you get that special attack
and special defense boost.
It's difficult to knock out.
If you pair it with the Incineroar Cinnation Venusort
and protect it well,
Floette often can just overwhelm the opposing side.
But, what is airing down a very big visible threat
on the opposing team, which is going to be the Mega Swamper.
Mega Swamper can do a lot to every piece
on Carlos's team, and that damage can add up very quickly.
That's one of the key differences
between these two team compositions
is that Carlos may take a couple of turns
to actually get that engine started
and then be able to press the go button.
But for Vikram, there's damage all over the place.
Whether or not you wanted to come from this Mega Swamper
that's evolving immediately,
getting that Swift Swim activated with the Pelopter to run through the rain, or you can
just go on the offense to something like the Charizard, or even the Archialodon in the rain.
Exactly.
For the viewers, I think that Pelopter, Archialodon, and Venusaur is going to be a trio that
we will see a lot of throughout the course of this set.
Now what really makes Vikram's team unique is your ability to flex your mega evolution.
You can pick Charizard, go with the Sun, you can also bring Swamper, and Venusaur
outside of the Sun is still really threatening.
That is one of the key Pokemon I'm looking at for Vikram in this matchup.
And it can be really disrupted with sleep powder, but also don't discount it defensively into
that Floette.
Floette can take a lot of damage from sludge bomb, and Venusaur can be used to slow down
at offensive pressure.
The main question though is, how comfortable do you feel bringing Swamper in a matchup
when you're staring down not one, with two different grass type Pokemon on the opposing
team?
Right.
You've got the super effective damage from Machigacha and Sinistra, and then the
The Venusaur from Carlos can threaten with a one-hit knockout with the least storm.
And so there's a lot of different threats that you have to think about when choosing
your Pokemon to bring to this first game.
And is that actually going to be something where you have to think a couple steps ahead
and try to bring some counterpicks?
I expect this to be a Venusaur heavy set.
I think Venusaur can be led on either ends.
For example, Incineroar on Venusaur on Carlos' end is a defensive lead.
You get an Intimidate off, which can neuter the opposing swamper.
Venusaur can also immediately go for sleep powder.
And for Vigram, you have a lot of different options.
For example, you can leave a Charizard Venusaur,
set up the sun, immediately start going for sleep powder.
You can consider something like Venusaur and Swamper,
where the Swamper exerts a lot of offensive pressure.
Well, Venusaur says, hey, you have to respect my sleep powder.
So it is a big decision on which mega evolution
to commit to.
And I think there's also maybe a world where you see Charizard
and Swamper in the same battle with Swamper,
not mega evolving, although I think that is probably
the less likely path for Vigram to take.
And I think Grimmsnarl is a really difficult Pokemon for him to bring into this matchup
because you're staring down fake Alchemist's inner-roar and a set-up Pokemon in calm mind
flow-ed.
Something to call out on both of these team sheets is going to be the stat alignments
of both of these Venusaur.
One, for Carlos, it is going to be Timid.
So that's going to be a stat increase to its speed.
On the other hand, for Vikram's Venusaur, that is a modest stat alignment.
That's going to be more power and special attack.
That's a really good point and another thing to pay attention to is going to be how these Charizard interact with each other
Should we see Charizard come out as a mega evolution pick and this is because you have ancient power on one side
You have weather ball on the other side a weather ball in rain is one of the ways that this
Charizard can deal with threats like opposing Charizard and opposing Incineroar
And so whoever has the faster Charizard with a big advantage and here we go folks game one of the senior division world championship
It's going to be the Grim Snarl, not a pick I actually expected to see here, and so the Grim Snarl is immensely helpful in setting up those screens, but right now, Venusaur is starting so much offensive pressure into Swamper.
You are Vikram. You know that the Swamper can just get knocked out by a leaf storm immediately.
So, Swamper may consider going for a protect. You may consider switching out into your own Archialan on, for example.
But right now, Carlos is all of the offense with this duo.
And if you switch out and Carlos calls you and goes for a Sleep Powder, it can get disastrous.
Sleep Powder would put a Pokemon to sleep and stop them from moving on this turn.
But it's walking on the leather but also be able to stop something but the mega evolution on the Charizard.
Charizard. First up though, it is going to be the mega evolution of the Swampert and Charizard just protects itself
Hoping to scout out whether or not a sneaky Pellover in the back can be as weathered as it overrides later
But Swampert also willing to protect itself in the face of a leaf storm from this opposing dinosaur as Grimstrong gets up a light screen
That's gonna be great against both of these special attackers. Oh
And the first three counter comes out and it will miss like I said folks
expect to see a lot of Venusaur in this set. That means Barles is not able to
accomplish anything this turn. However, of course, Venusaur still bred into that
Venusaur onto the opposing swamper. So, if you are a big bro, Prince Meryl here
could go for a parting shot, right? And of course, mutualized damage up, but if
Charizard mega falls, Charizard will set up the Sun,
parting shot will come out, Peloprk will come in, immediately chasing the
Leather pack into rain. So, it's a big miss to start off. Charizard just
not want to get risk knocked out immediately so we'll switch into the
Incineroar but really they can intimidate you. Intimidate is going to
neuter the damage output of this Swapper who likes to be a physical attacker but
that Swapper is going to shed that drop immediately as it switches out or their
Chaladon. A Pokemon that would handle the... that was going to say the Leesaur a little bit better.
We are going to see that party stop fail because as Reissaur is a
breaks for Pokemon and the Incineroar is a Darkseid you cannot use those
to pour it through into it. Our Chalodon switches into that Leastar, take the Stamina boost,
and that's going to help increase the defense.
Really nice defensive play there. If Swamper just gets one hit killed by Leastar, it's a
disaster. Swamper is such an important pro-con to thread in one hit knockouts on some things
like the Samurai Charizard. For Vikram right now, his goal is to start getting
a little bit of damage onto the Venusaur. Then ideally, you put in an Ice Punch
Day Arrange from the Swamper. For Carlos, your goal is, right now, it don't have
a lot of damage on the board. We also saw the commitment to Charizard. It's not going to be that
setup to a wet, right? And so, Grim's barrel right now is going to pivot out. This does leave it
vulnerable to a sweep counter for the switch to Peliper. But the Peliper is at least going to set
the rain. So you can, oh, it does hit. It's going to hit set the rain. And before the Archialodon
that is sitting next to it, you're going to have those one-turn electric shots now. But
as we see this in center, we're still waiting with Theta France. It has not gone for a fake
out on this turn there's likely some type of attack going to come out in a moment.
But first the special attack boosts our lecture shot gets unleashed and you're going to start
to stack up damage against the considerable. Not enough to put it in range of being able to consume
its citrus fairy but then our chaladon is immediately going to get that special attack
increased taken away with the parting shot as Carlos gets a nice pivot out.
I think those are really big defensive turn by Carlos. While he has not done any damage there
Putting Peloper to sleep and Peloper not taking any sleep turns means that it's incredibly vulnerable right now.
And the question is, would you really want to switch out, right?
Swamper obviously an incredibly powerful both-bomb, but if you switch it in and he eats up something like the Sleep Otter and Leaf Swarm while you're throwing away, what might be your biggest playing condition?
Parting shot into our child on also neutralizes his damage output, so I think Carlos has found a really good position for Charizard and Venus to do a lot of damage right now.
Peloper's going to switch out, Rift Star I think being the safest defense to switch here.
Charizard's going to find a mega-vault and virtually, now a different charge to the section.
Party shot out once again, bringing the rain.
But, where is part of those partying right now with the Venusaur?
Could it be a sleep powder into our Charizard, or even the Grim Snarl switch in?
You gotta get through this next turn first, and it's going to be a leaf storm.
Venusaur is already taking in a special attack drop, and with the light screen up,
that's going to be even less damage to this Grim Snarl.
A great defensive switch, but will be the weather ball also targeted towards that slot.
So our Charizard gets out of these first couple of attacks, spot three.
It means it can go for dragon pulse into the fetus or start to win a little way
And that's going to be 56% left you can see big from celebrating there knew that there was a potential sleep powder
Like to go in for a child on or a key waiver weather ball sleep outer neutralizing our child on key waiver weather ball
There's so much damage right now though big room does not have the heavy damage dealer
Which is swamper right the lightsaber is also slowly inspiring. I think if you're Carlos
It's so important to try to serve this beat a sword for the end game against wamper
And Stimulus is going to come back in for yet another defensive gimmick here, saying
I don't want to base a party shot with Pelikor coming out.
Grimstar actually says, look, I saw you switching to the earlier, party shot doesn't work against
dark types, so you're just going to manually switch to the Pelikor instead.
Oh, it connects with our Chaladon!
That's going to be two sleepy Pokemon on Vikram's side with the Pelikor, so I think
it's still asleep our Chaladon now going to take a nap on the field and feel like
a moment of Niswaga to Carlos' favor.
Yeah, it's really back and forth because the main thing is for Carlos how are you going to deal the damage into our channel?
The answer is Charizard you have the position about but you also want to conserve the Venusaur right because Venusaur of course
It's going to be such an important tool to deal with Swamper
So Carlos played really nice defensively. It's got an okay damage obviously got into sleeves off won't pressure with too much
Damage right now. So looking to pivot into something a little bit stronger and Charizard can be the closest dancer.
Very safe to get this in because you do see the telephone and our talent aren't asleep on the other side
As our child is going to take its first turn parting shot from this incident or it's going to drop the special attack again and
Let Carlos get this incident out to keep it with these intimidating drops for a later when that swap up makes a reappearance
But now we actually get some valuable information
Maybe we see this fourth Pokemon that Carlos has brought to the game or Venus word comes back out
Yeah, you know what's interesting is I think both sinister and garchamp provide a lot of options, right?
It is gonna be the garchamp here
Okay, and you can see Vikram actually maybe a little bit surprised to see the scarf guard chomp
Heliper takes a turn to sleep here
And so now you have basically what is your strongest offensive duo on the team, right?
You have a lot of damage pressure
Heliper though, of course, would potentially wake up has that wide garden
So you have to be cautious of quickier spread moves like earthquake or T-wave
I think if you're Carlos might expect make them to make a switch with that Heliper right now
So you anticipate a switch it's an opportunity to do a lot of damage
I think for Vikram, Prince Charles of Hohklot is not super important at this point in the game,
but the Swamper is so important to try to get to the endgame, right?
So Pelibor is going to switch out right now, but this is Barlow's opportunity to first down and switch the damage.
Swamper has to switch into these attacks, and the first Dragon Claw is going to do a good chunk,
and Heat Wave now connects onto both.
Our Chaladon is also going to take a considerable amount of damage,
But these stamina boosts can start to stack up against this Garchomp.
Our Chalonon wakes up though and gets that stupor and then just drag and bolt into the Garchomp on the other side.
But this Garchomp will still be around for the next turn.
This has been a really defensive game back and forth.
You can see the screams, the parting shots, they just really add up.
And so both players are slowly doing damage, 20 to 30% here and there, but no big knockout yet.
Right now though, of course, Vikram is currently a big play.
You're challenged on all the Swampers and switching to Pelopter and then the other Pokemon can just target down the Charizard, right?
Swampers, they keep up a lot of damage on that switch in.
Charizard on Carlos' end feels like you kind of need to conserve it, right?
And so, of course, if Big Room predicts that and targets the Garchomp then you can just get it immediate knockout onto the Garchomp.
And so, now, it grew up once again.
Going with this Weathermore, being able to pressure and set up the Reigns, got it?
His main ace in Swampers ain't on the field, but it's taken a lot of damage.
And so key dynamic this turn is do we see a Pelliper switch in either spot?
And yeah, the Charizard switch just make them call it and knock out the Garchoff.
Charizard has the ability to protect itself, but Garchoff does not with that choice scarf.
As the farewell comes in, it's hoping to get that intimidated drop down onto the Swamper
so that maybe Garchoff or a partner can come in on the next one.
The Pelliper decides to switch in for the Swamper to shut that intimidated drop.
Also, 7th Array now for that partner are Chaladon.
And Pellipers also can be able to take that Dragon Claw.
As our Chaladon get set up, another electro shot to boost back up its special attack that can only go in one direction and that is going to be the end sooner or on the receiving end of great defensive switch by both parties here.
For Carlos recognizing, I think if I lose Charizard, I actually cannot beat the Archaladon. This is what makes Archaladon feel like the final raid boss.
And so, Carlos recognizes, I need to get to an endgame where I can basically have Charizard in the sun against Archaladon. I'm going to switch out.
Bardswam's Dragonclaws are doing okay damage, but that Dragonclaw to Pelipper did under 50%.
So, another one is likely not going to knock it out, can activate that Citrus Fairy as well.
Incinerator on the field right now, of course, does pressure with Faith out.
Normally, you don't really want to give Stamina a boost over to our child up,
but you might be okay with that saying, look, my goal to deal with this is going to be Charizard anyway.
Another defensive switch here, it's just constant rotation throughout the battle.
Charizard's going to hit the field once again in a battle versus Sun and Rain.
It feels like just a matter of time before we're going to see the first knockout of both
competitors being methodical about how they get there.
Our Chaladon free to go for another Dragon Pulse.
We'd have wanted to be able to see the Garchomp there, but you'll still take some good damage
onto the Charizard.
As in, another parting shot helps reduce the damage output of our Chaladon and get
another switch.
Really beautiful defensive play by both here.
You can see how much both players are looking to have weather control.
We've seen the sun, we've seen the rain, we've seen the sun, we've seen the rain.
And this tension is so crucible about it because if you lose your weather center,
it will just be a huge advantage to get into your opponent.
However, Charizard and Venus are now out on the field.
Fresh green sleep powder once again.
You can go for something like sleep powder into our child on in a key wave.
The Grimstar, of course, could go for a parting shot, bring that Pelopor in.
And of course, the rain is up.
Tarzan and Venusaur just don't have offense really to deal with your child on so for Vikram likely makes sense to try to have Pelagor back in on the field once again
But Rose how many times have we seen the weather change at this point in the game?
Too many to count right now as the pressure cooker has continued it to mount and intensify
Venusaur is going to swap out again
For another defensive pivot into this Incideror
We know it will take one of the attacks from these Pokemon a little bit better
But our challenge on this option to protect itself instead knows that the threat of the Charizard in the opposition is just a little bit too scary
Waiting for the Primstar to set up the light screen so that the special attacks are not going to be as powerful
Charizard though still can connect all into the Primstar
And if it a lot of damage stacked up onto it that that would be the first KO of this game number one
Primstar goes down and a fresh switching with this light screen that was just set up for Bikram
I want to explain that dynamic because I think that being a store obviously for many
Deterting a lot of offensive where I should say sleep powder pressure there the insinware switch in there was hoping to see a parting shot
Going to be in store potentially blocked if I being dark fighting and say now I just get a knockout onto you
Still accomplishes a tail and now it's in our ease out on the field with a cop pressure
But once again, you've got our challenge on in rain
So it feels like the Charizard needs to give it back out
And so I do think like getting that first tail is a big deal
Carlos is inching this advantage just a little bit more, but I feel like the ties could turn so quickly
Once again though conserving the Shars are saying look, Barchoff here can switch into an electric shock
Barchoff's ground type you were making a view to the electric shock
But there's also no threat of that if you just bake out the archal and stop it from moving on this turn
The Compeller finally wake up. It's been asleep this entire game after that first sleep powder
Bruce Lee does stay asleep there so that heliport had it open up could have gone
through something like a weather ball to knock out either he spoke on the tailwind
as well now we'll be able to wake up on the following turn.
Garchup is not actually exerting that much offensive pressure.
They are channeling past these defense goose.
You go through a dragon claw into the heliport slot and maybe swap that
down into Charizard once again. It is this dual leather going fast and
forward and I think Garchup has gotten decent damage on a heliport for
Carlos you really want to just get one more knockout and just win the weather one right? If Pelipper falls that's it
It's gonna be really difficult for Swamper and we're channeling on to be your Charizard in Sun
So in similar blood he's again pivots out using his fake out and it's gonna be Charizard coming back in
But this might open the door for Vipram to finally get some type of knockout
If Garchomp goes for it, Pelipper is going to survive with just a sliver of HP
and the Secret Spirit is going to help him recover Sun, but if Chalon is, let's lose a Dragon Pulse of Peo now
secure here for Vikram as Garchomp falls. Garchomp will fall, but I think that it actually did a
decent job in this game. Pelipper wakes up now, gets that tail end up as well, so speed over in
Vikram's favor. However, there now is a three switching, and Venusaur is a very strong book
I have on the field. Another thing to consider, Pelipper cannot protect Rose, and so as a result,
that means that you can always party that slot. For example, a leaf storm into that slot
with knockout heliport or the incoming swamper so even though tailwind is up on the opposing end
parlos does have a venus sword in the sun which of course doubles his speed
and the archaola has eaten so many party shots where it don't think it'll get a knockout onto
either of these football with the damage right now. You would like if you were the swamper to
have the rain to activate the swiftsome ability but at least you have the tailwind to try to
make up some of that deficit you're not going to be able to have Q-Papus without the heliport.
Either way though, to get the rain back it's going to require two turns.
You're going to manually switch out this pelliper,
but then you don't want to give up too much damage from this slumpert either.
Right now, Carlos has a great position in this game.
Letting the sleepstone loose isn't the pelliper is going to get knocked out,
and weather control is fire-free in Carlos's hands.
And this is what I was saying, pellipers can't protect.
If you stay in, you get knocked out, if you switch on a slumpert, you get knocked out.
Dragon Pulse doesn't do enough either, and now it feels like Carlos has full control of this game.
Even though Kaelin is up on the opposing end, look how much damage that lever ball does.
Like I said, this Charizard is for win condition into our challenge on,
and Carlos has concerned it perfectly throughout the course of this game.
So, make room now. We'll be able to bring in that Swampert.
Kaelin is up, but it is going to expire soon, and like you said,
Rose, that's whether it's just completely gone in Carlos' favor.
Right now, you're Carlos, you are probably looking to stall out this Kaelin.
when there's only two turns left.
You can consider something like protecting one hook one,
switching it in center for the other slot.
Then you have fake out pressure the following turn
and so Harlow's is getting very, very close
to winning this first game.
Dillson's speed control turns that Vikram can use
to try to get fast into this one
and Swampert protects himself for the first one.
Doesn't want to give up too much damage
over to the Venusaur.
Maybe he's hoping that it will switch out here
so that Swampert can have something to do
on the next one.
Our child on those hoping to make up the difference
that Dragonforce does knock out a big threat on the field to this Swamper, and so we are
down to a 2v2 in this first game.
But based on a 2v1, as Charm's Art lets reach the weather ball, another knockout's secured,
and Swamper is going to have to do the work of three more Pokemon.
And Carlos saying, you know what, I'm okay actually just staying in because I have
that 4v1.
My team is sort of basically with this boosted speed, we'll neutralize the tailwind
on the opposing end.
And because Swamper's actually already taken a lot of damage,
I can close out this game with the Incineroar and the Charizard combination.
And so now you can go for something, of course, like a faith out.
Virtually the Charizard does not have Solar Beam, right?
So we'll have to go for Weather Ball.
It goes for the Double Protect.
That's actually a big fail because it needs now
because there's a lot of free damage coming out of Swamper.
Swamper, with three of his allies fallen, has a lot of work cut out for it.
But the Weather Ball is going to do enough that
even if you get one big wave crash down into Incineroar or Charizard,
you are going to end up falling to the recoil damage.
And that should be game over.
Carlos should take this first game.
Have a double protect come out.
You don't take the fake out chip.
You don't take that first web of the ball.
And then you can retouch it back with a wave crash.
That being said, Intimidate was already activated.
Swamper is going to go for a protect now,
but this is Carlos's game.
And I think both players are already probably thinking
about their game plan for the second match.
In the second match, then, what do you consider?
You brought your rain mode if you're
a victim to this battle.
So do you actually consider bringing Charizard instead?
It's a really good question, yeah.
I think the dinosaur is actually a Pokémon I'm looking at.
Brincero is something that I mentioned coming into this game
where it was nice defensively, right?
It was able to set up screens, but I think the problems
that fit for him did not have any opportunities to get big swings.
Archalodon, when he does not have any special attack boosts,
which won't do very much damage.
And so, Webberball, Milfine, they come out,
and Carlos has perfect pivoting of Charizard.
Woo!
Welcome to the survive!
So it'll take itself out and actually knock out the Charizard as well showcasing how powerful it can't be but still not enough obviously if it'll take the three points.
You've got to give Swampert the effort though for not going down without a fight.
But it's too low to fight a Pokemon left standing in his first game.
Things that Carlos wins. Game number one.
So if we head into the second game I think part of what makes this game so scary and flexible is how many different modes that you can lead into, right?
If you are in big room shoes, you can center like you said Rose going into the sun mode instead maybe going for Charizard and Venusaur
I think that the Venusaur in particular is a really valuable pick for big room because you can use it to sleep powder the opposing threats
Right, landing a sleep powder into the Charizard big deal
We take a look at this first game big sleep powder missed right away
But the Venusaur otherwise is quite clutch hitting basically all of its other sleep powders and also getting some two turn sleeves along the way
Now that Pelopur spent the majority of that first game asleep with all of the
methodical pivots that were made, you have to make sure the positioning and the
timing was just right for this Charizard for Carlos to finally start dishing out
damage. But once the damage was melted it was impossible to melt the comeback as
Vikram watched one by one his Pokemon falling to the heavens of these
Venusaur and Charizard duo. Yeah I think if you are now in Vikram's shoes
and you're thinking about adaptations. You can run it back with the same 4 Pokemon, but it felt like
Carlos just was one step ahead in terms of the pivoting, right? So Charizard, Venusaur is one
adaptation. You can match the opposing Charizard, Venusaur. Like I said, Venusaur's Swamper coming
into this game is also an interesting one where you do pressure with Sleep Powder while kind of
protecting the Swamper. I think the goal, ideally, if you're going to bring the Swamper
is you have to knock out that Venusaur on the opposing side. Swamper, as you saw at the
end of that first game, is a big damage dealer, but it only basically got one big attack in
that entire game. The reason for it is it never found the opportunity to hit the
field very safely. It's just very difficult to pile it. So I do think like
you said Rose that Charizard might be the adaptation. Maybe you bring it and the
Venusaur together. Sometimes I wonder if you can't beat or maybe join them try to
dish out those sleep powders and since it was such an effective strategy for
Carlos you might want to consider doing it but as you have called out to just
the offense on the Charizard you don't want your Venusaur to be on the
opposing end of that and so it's also still a tricky positioning game no matter how you slice it.
Could it be a Charizard Venusaur versus Charizard Venusaur Mirror? I think when I was looking at this
matchup coming into today I thought that the Sleep Powder and the Venusaur is just so strong on
both teams. It is a very scary move to click. We saw the finals start with that miss of course
25% chance to miss but it can swing things so heavily in your favor especially when both players
are looking to switch so frequently, right? We saw Peloper switch in to immediately get put to
sleep. Well, if you take a look, of course, on Carlos's team, there's also no protect on Incineroar,
so landing a sleep powder into that or whatever switches in would be a big deal. And so I wouldn't
be shocked to see Charizard Venus or now come out from both leads. And I think if you are
Carlos, you can also consider maybe saying, now I actually reveal the Charizard strategy,
I'm going to go with Floette and try to go with a calm mind-based strategy, right? If
you want to go with Floette, you can lead something like Incineroar and the Floette
immediately which of course allows you to pressure with Bakeout into calm mind.
You can also play more defensively leading something like Incinera and Venusaur
which allows you to go for something like Bakeout sleep powder early, neutralize the
big threats, then bring in the flowlet and start setting up. And so the options are endless for
both players here but Carlos has that game advantage. And I wonder how much more
Vibram will lead on this Archaldon. That was a Pokemon that I feel like had a lot of
potential in that first game, but you saw the stamina boost not mounting to anything particularly
effective. There's a lot of the damage from Carlos's team actually was coming from special attackers.
I really like that point because if our Chalonon is able to be in the rain, well it can keep
clicking Electroshot, right? But the problem for Bikram in that last game was the rain was
not up for half the battle because Charizard was just swapping out and in and out and in.
And so as a result, if our Chalonon can only click Electroshot every other turn in
and Sam at child foot is just way lower.
You saw I was able to chip away, right?
Maybe do 30%, 40%, but it's just not enough.
And here we go, folks.
Game two.
Carlos one game away from becoming world champion.
The difference is still going up.
And like I said, Charizard unisor.
There it is, folks.
And they're coming.
Betsy's on the field, and a mirror.
Really pointing at each other right now
as the Charizard unisor stare down
across you from each other.
Rose, I'm scared.
I'm scared for both players right now,
because both players have the pressure of sleep powder, right?
This first turn already is really interesting
because you can protect your Charizard.
Hopefully sleep powder goes into that slot
and goes for something like slunk bomb and key wave
to try to knock out the opposing Venusaur, right?
So mega evolution is going to come out.
And of course, this allows Venusaur to now improve
on basically both players' end.
I have to worry though again and keep in mind
that Carlos's Venusaur is Tennis
so it is likely to be a faster between the two
even though we haven't seen them
up against each other in this match just yet,
but it's a mega evolution for both,
as they have hit the field.
So now what pops next?
Which phyto-saur will move first,
and they are going to be car-holding against the sleeper
into Vickricks Charizard
to stop in his tracks for this first turn.
But Vickricks Vsaur can respond as well,
quickly power up the stone,
and so both of these Charizard will make it evolve
and be asleep at the job.
Well, like, you can see Vickricks Charizard,
by the way, mega-volving first,
and also taking the sleeper first.
So, unless there's E-tying, Mike just E-indication that the victim's Charizard is faster.
Like I said, coming into this battle, whoever Charizard is faster will have a pretty big advantage there.
And so, now, lots of things like can happen, right? Pelophora can switch in on the opposing side.
Then you can go for a Leather Ball into Charizard, but as you pointed out, Rhodes, it is going to be timid Venusaur here.
A lot of Charizard on the opposing side as well.
And so, Venusaur is going to pivot out.
If it is, that would be a great call-out.
Of course, you cannot put the opposing dinosaur to sleep, but you could put either the Pelipur
or the Archalodon to sleep, but it's just a sludge bomb, so that's steal time Archalodon
coming in and not taking any damage.
Okay, so turn 2 of sleep, now gone.
Archalodon has now been positioned in the rain.
If you aren't Marlowe's you're probably looking to get a sleep powder off maybe put the our child on a sleep and pivot that Charizard out
It's the same dynamic that we saw from the first game, but I do like the adaptation from Vikram
I think Charizard also disposes decent damage from the force of this game and so
Big question I have right now is what is the Unisor able to accomplish?
It likely wants to go for sleep powder into either slot, but if this would be absolutely devastating
It is too bad that this Unisor doesn't have earth power in this particular case
because you would love to get some damage down onto the opposing Archalodon,
but you will take another sleep powder connecting onto the opposing Telepher.
Archalodon, though, now has this opportunity to get the Electroshot,
get that special attack increase. Maybe it will be useful for these subsequent turns,
but is this going to be an Electroshot into the Barton that's reaching, or is the Venusaur?
Venusaur is the one on the receiving end, and that's just going to be some chip.
It's a fantastic call there, and unlike last time where Insider was able to neutralize the Archalodon early,
this time there is no card in shot. And so a darchalonon at plus one is so much
stronger than a neutral darchalonon, right? You're pressuring that dragon close to Inzula
darchon. Venusaur now maybe wants to angle for a sweet counter for darchononon, but
Carlos does not have that much damage, and that's the thing with this choice card darchononon.
Like we saw earlier, our dragon called this under 50% propelloper. You can go for a
downside attack, but the darchalonon she's going to stack up those stamina boosts. So
darchonon once again kind of in an awkward position, which is why I was thinking Sinistre
makes sense in this matchup and okay you know who needs damage you can go for
Rockside that gives you a glimpse chance actually still doesn't need some
amount of Peloponor as well but of course we'll start stacking up that
stamina. Let's take it 7-3 hit knockout from the Rockside onto the Peloponor
but we're not going to find out whether or not this or Chalmanoff will
glitch because the Rockside because Venusaur has said you're just going to
go to sleep. But Pelopon leads up so that is a damage.
It's definitely got to that pergale,
to be able to get a super effective knockout.
And that is going to be a huge Pokemon out of the way.
An absolutely huge trade there.
Now he just wants no longer sleep powder.
And I think this is what's really awkward about choice card bar chop
is that taking this matchup, right?
Yes, it's fast.
It's not necessarily threatening what he's knocked out.
And once you commit to a move,
now you're just locked into that rock stack, right?
Charizard, of course, over does hit the field.
And so you pressure a lever ball into the opposing our child on that obviously do a lot of damage
And so I think they forgot a really great turn there a limited in the store meaning no more sleep powder is big
But Charizard now regains what they control the victim says okay?
I want to reset for rain country on being a sport
But this is so risky because what if it is a just going to be a weather ball into that slide
You also have to worry about the block line switching their Venus or that focused out just now
No longer going to be able to keep this minisaur in this if it does take a super effective attack
So intense right now our child on this man is to hang on
To babe offense the term for Carlos
But now big room once again has the ability to either pivot in power
Or I actually don't think you want to do it right now because you've got the Venus or out in the field
So you might want to angle for something like a sleep powder into Charizard and it is going to be that and it does connect
Viprum inching closer and closer to taking us to game three
Garchon can still do the rock slide though
Which could stop this or Chaladon from moving if it does manage it to wake up on this turn
But the stamina boosts are starting to really add up here against the physical
simple offense of this Star Chomp.
But if Chalos waits up, Dwight pulls down
and then I don't know what to do with this Star Chomp.
And so two Pokemon left here for Carlos
as we enter into the latter parts of the second game.
And that is the difference between getting
that special attack who's on our channel
and having to be at neutral or even minus one.
Huge knock out there.
That's two KO's and now that is weather control
over in big room favor.
Carlos, the Force still does have Charizard and it is sleeping, it is just so, so scary.
I think the Incider right now obviously has make out pressure, it's either both of them.
You can make out the Incider, Charizard, hope to wake up, hope to heatwave, right?
I think that's basically the best bet.
But it is still so tough because Vikram of course can pivot in at the Telepter,
and of course change the weather.
Wonder if you can go for an Inch of Power though with this Charizard.
It's the one attack that I'm thinking up.
Can Carlos keep himself in this game if he gets a big call?
Back, I think it's a really great point.
The Enisor is going to swap out here.
It's going to be the Pelopter.
So the weather now is burning once again back into rain.
Rain active is Archalodon protecting itself.
Just doesn't want to be on the receiving end of a fake out
and double up.
Because even if this is going to end up
being a water type weather ball from this Charizard,
that could be enough to knock out
the Archalodon on the other side.
You also afford yourself some time to get some leftovers or covering.
For Vifram there, maybe there was an opportunity to actually get some attack with the Archalina,
knowing that the Charizard wasn't guaranteed to wake up there, one and three chance.
It was a throat shot, but it wasn't a fake-out.
A lecture shot there actually would have probably knocked out Charizard and just won the game.
But Vifram saying, look, I thought it was guaranteed to lack, I guess, the Archelibur in safely.
Of course, different stage and power.
Charizard now guaranteed to wake up, does wake up.
It's going to be the weapon that's not going to archalina, but that means the pelibur will be able to get a Wendervoll or a Tailwind up right now.
Tailwind for speed control, but a mother ball would be super effective
and to either of these fire-type locomots is Incineroar
goes for the parting shot to limit some of this Pelopter's special attack output
so it might not save itself from the partner coming in
and trying to get some damage down. Tailwind is set up at speed control
and lets you what Vikram brings in next.
So it's going to be a detail and as you saw,
it's actually crucially Carlos is Incineroar faster than that Pelopter
so being able to drop that special attack immediately
It's going to be Venusaur and Vikram put it all together.
The Pelipers offense right now is quite good.
As you mentioned, Rosler, is that ancient power on Charizard.
That is super effective damage into the Pelipers right now.
Incineroar on Carlos is then cannot protect itself.
And so it is very vulnerable to a weather ball.
Sleep Otter targets the Charizard
and is going to find his mark there at the big connect.
Will Pelipers follow up with a double up to the weather ball?
So ancient power is off the board from the weather ball.
I'm hoping to secure some big damage into the Charizard
at my is one special attack though it is not going to be enough to get to knock out now but you
should be able to follow that up on the next turn as Road Chop will not knock out this pellet for
here. You can see the strength of the rain right of course Harlow's has that flare blitz put a
bomber potentially on to the Venusaur slot but he doesn't want to take that much recoil either
maybe predicting Venusaur's potential to go for a protect either way though right now Vintrum just
is in the driver's seat. Charizard however has taken turn to sleep so he can go for something
like they protect Calvary. Even if you protect, what are you going to accomplish right in center?
You may be parting shot in the Pelopter. Maybe you flared, but it's the greatest one, but there's no
one turn of tail and laughter. So, Carlos right now, back against the wall, and this Pelopter
showing how to get a huge offensive tool in this matchup. The damage is going to start to add
up, and Charizard stays asleep. So now, really nothing that it can do in this turn.
As Bloodball comes out, that's going to be damaged down up to the instator,
As Weatherball finishes off this Charizard and now it's Shotzi and Thiruhr, the last Pokémon standing in Game Number One,
has to make up for its allies here.
Another parting shot to drop this Pelophora Special Attack down to minus two, but a 3v1 is too much for this cat to handle.
Yeah, and there's just no way to close out the game in terms of damage for Carlos.
So, Vikram decides I'm going to drop Swamper, I'm going to bring Charizard,
both players see Charizard and Minasaur, but it is Vikram that strikes back here in the second game.
And I think now both players are likely are ready to look towards game three, of course,
still not over yet in the sense that the Incideros standing on the field,
but there is no way for it truly to deal with all of Vikram's remaining Pokemon.
If you are Carlos then, you've got to start thinking about maybe that card drop slot.
I'm going to come out, continue switch up the way of the Incideros,
Scott that sister's buried, but it is just slowly going to fade and of course the weather ball knock comes out in the rain
Has even a couple special tack drops, but we'll still stay and we're going to get game three folks
What an exciting series so far between these two incredible trainers Carlos and Vickra even off the game count
And it will be the decisive game three that determines the world champion in seniors division
So tense here. What do you do if you are Carlos? You went with the same Pokemon
and I think the Garchomp is something like who doesn't like a liability. The
question though is well what do you replace the Garchomp with? It's not like
Siena Shen necessarily feels better, right? And so is there a mode where you
potentially consider going into Flowette? We haven't seen Flowette hit the
field once throughout the course of this battle so far. Thing about Flowette though
that's very awkward is obviously into Charizard and Venusaur. Those are
two Pokemon I resist very tight damage. So it might feel tricky to weave in, but if you're
able to get a free combine boost with it and have sinister healing in the back, it's a
Pokemon that can be very difficult to deal with. Carlos might also just say, look, I'm
going to run it back and I'm just going to change how I play those opening turns. We're
both going to go Charizard and Venusaur. But I think for Carlos now seeing what the
Charizard is likely slower than Vikram is a really big deal.
The speed interaction super important.
We confirmed that Carlos's Venusaur is faster and Vikras Charizard is faster.
So now do you think about going back maybe hoping that maybe some of the sleep turns
are a little bit luckier for you?
Is it one sleep powder?
The difference that might make you a world champion?
Thousands of fans here in the crowd as we get into game three here, the senior division
world championships. It has been a back and forth battle. Honestly incredible
play by both players here and I'm really excited to see what the mix-ups are
for game three. I think there's a world where Vikram also could maybe say I'm
actually gonna go back to Swampert. Two things that feels more unlikely but
Venusaur Swampert is one of the mix-ups that you can go with on that side of
the field. Otherwise I think the Charizard Venusaur lead with
Calibra or Choudon is very scary and knowing that you are faster with
Charizard is a big deal. If you're Carlos though and you say you want to bring the choice about Garchomp
You can consider leading it immediately because of course the Garchomp is actually quite nice defensively into most of the moves
You pressure with Rock slide if the Venus were just miss the sleep powder on Garchomp on turn 1 well Garchomp's like okay
Cool, I'm just gonna rock side. I'm gonna break your focus hash gonna do a lot of damage
Maybe even potentially knock out the Charizard depending on how it is trained
And so if Carlos says I don't want to go with the flow at mode
I am looking at Garchomp as a lead potentially
You have fake out as well to guarantee that you could potentially get a rock slide off on that first turn.
But the dual weather mode has definitely made this a more exciting match up between these two trainers.
Pelipper and Charizard both available to try to command the weather from each other.
But I do wonder whether or not we will see either of the other mega evolutions in this game.
One way is for sure though, it's going to be an exciting game three finish
to crown our world champion in the seniors division.
Everybody get ready, Carlos, Barastequi, and Zicro,
and Zicro and Raja are almost going to get into this final game.
And for our competitors, you can see their play on this grand, grand stage,
the largest stage that we've ever had in competitive Pokemon Game 3.
Everything on the line, a world championship title on the line.
Let's see what the mix-ups are.
Well, for now, it's going to be a run-back for Vikram of the Venusaur and the Charizard.
So we do see Kargo switch things up.
Venusaur hitting, Charizard hitting the field and Garchomp with that choice card.
There's that Garchomp I was talking about.
If you were expecting Charizard, Venusaur, now you say, look, I'm going to put the
odds a little bit more in my favor.
The way that the Charizard, Venusaur, normally wants to deal with this is I'm
going to mega-ball, I'm going to sweep-powder your Garchomp, I'm going to go for something
like a Heat Wave or a Weather Ball.
And first, because it's Leafstorm on Venusaur, you can angle for a knockout immediately
the other Garchomp the following turn. However, if Sleephunter misses Garchomp, it's an absolute disaster.
I think that we're going to see heroes where we want to start the game.
Mega Evolution first though, as we wait with beta practice to see what will happen next.
As Charizard for Vikram Megatevolts. Oh! Not a mega evolution for Carlos.
It's just going to be a protect of Vikram's Venusaur as a double protect here.
Scouts out what this Garchomp is going to lock into with this toy scarf.
to get confirmation it will be the rock slide so that makes this next turn even more important.
And virtually Carlos and Charizard do not mega-vulff there, right? That's for two potential reasons.
One, if you think Vikram's not going to mega-vulff Charizard, you don't want to set up the
sun allowing Venus or the now, peace the smart car, Trump. The other thing that I think is
unlikely, but I do want to bring up this, is there ever a world in which it's, well,
wet there in the back? I think unlikely. Vikram says, look, I do not want to play
with the potential speed counter miss. Let me switch our child on and Charizard now is going to mega
loss. It's not going to be the flow in the back. Carlos to say I don't want to give you the speed
advantage early on for a while. What's interesting here is Venuswork could actually speed counter to
Charizard and say, yeah, don't throw rocks like give me a defense boost. It would be quite nice
and that's exactly what's going to happen. So, Bidra doesn't get that first part correct.
A sleeping Charizard and that Garchel across the way to the proc slide is going to get that
We set up on your child on and buy this our child on some valuable time if that helper is leading in the week
Charizard will partially take its first turn of sleep here
Now if you're a big group you have to play to switch Venus or out into Pelopon set up that rain and of media
You launch electroshot into a charizard slot regardless of his lock into rocks by two would not really feel any damage to our child
I'm gonna do around 40% to tell a bird
But that's not the most you see how good this defensive heliport is and I think Carlos feels forced to switch out the Charizard
right because you don't want to just take a lot of damage or be able to not go
shot. It's going to be a scenario coming in here. So the intimidate not really making
any big difference. It actually just needs going here not to the switch in. And
the guard chop takes so much damage. Big room saying look I'm gonna prioritize
knocking at your guard chop which clears the path where my car is on.
There's no way to stop their talent on from attacking on this turret unless
you're able to get the rock slide flicks. There's a 30% chance to do so.
So is it going to be this time that gives Carlos a favorable turn?
Knock this one, Dragon Pulse is going to knock out the Garchop here as we get that second attack into that Pokemon.
And I think it is a perfect opening here for Vikram.
Really well done. I think, you know, one approach to knocking out Garchop is like I said, Sweet powder and then peace form it, right?
But with that, you know that you might miss the Sweet powder, so basically Vikram says, I'm gonna make your choice cards work against you.
You're locked in the rocks right now, my Archaladon basically completely walls you. Finds an amazing position for your Archaladon.
And not so Garchomp without getting a raw side into Charizard.
I think a whole point of bringing Garchomp in a matchup like this is ideally to get that Charizard.
And so I would say the advantage now heavily goes in Vikram's favor,
but of course there is a Sleep Outer on both sides right now.
Carlos' Sleep Outer would be able to connect first onto the opposing Archaladon
since this Unisor has been confirmed to be faster.
But there's also a big out in play since that Incinamore partially switched in.
So there's a waiver you to be able to stop the opposing unisor from doing something on this current that's like we're going to end up seeing a protect here
Zork could also just fire off some office
So we see a double protect from this unisor and there's our child on to make sure there's no funny business on this turn
Sleep powder not going to do anything but it was also not going to do anything
The main question for Carlos is how are you gonna deal enough damage?
The, our child on the opposing side right now still sitting fully healthy.
The answer of course is going to be the Charizard in the back, but that is still a sleep.
It's only taken one turn of sleep as well.
It's over mid-frame now.
Okay, sleep better comes out and it's going to be a miss on our child on!
That's buying the valuable time here for a big room, Spina Sword,
to actually get some damage out with that Blood Bomb.
Dragon Pulse as well is just going to help to win away the Spina Sword's HP.
But it leaves just our child on.
It has to eat a parting shot to drop its special attack.
But with all three Pokemon remaining,
Carlos has to bring back out the sleeping Charizard.
Charizard comes out, but it is such a difficult position
right now.
Sunlight also fades, and so that means
that you don't even necessarily have
to switch in Elipor, right?
The risk of switching in Elipor is it comes out,
and then it gets hit by a sleep powder,
and then you just can't wake up with it
with the following, or have to take that one for a guaranteed
sleep.
Right now, though, of course, if you're Carlos,
you still want to shut down that arch-ilder.
You can go for a sneak out or onto it once again.
Charizard here, maybe he just says, you know what?
I'm going to stay in, and I'm happy to just click he-wave.
I want to try to knock out your Venusaur.
Vikram, of course, can pivot it that fellow first.
He's got the full-point advantage right now.
The momentum is definitely on his side,
and no switch is here.
You can see Vikram saying, I don't know about this one.
Charizard stays asleep, though,
so maybe we do get to see some damage go in that direction.
But right now, it is a slug bomb fell by the protect,
I think it was a doggalop as well, with that Dragon Pulse.
It's not much accomplished that turn, but Charizard does stay asleep.
Have that woken up, it might have just been a D-Wave.
Knocked out the opposing Venusaur, make one decide, I don't want to switch in Heliport there.
Maybe out of respect for a Sleephunter or a Leap-Storved into that slot.
Now it is going to be Carlos' Venusaur, let it switch out into a Finderaur.
Scan Carlos' retaliation back and get a knockout right now.
Are we going to see Venusaur potentially switch out into Heliport?
There's the swap.
Right, so we do have one under view of Pokemon in the back, and now we know it is the Pelipur.
Coming just at the rain here, and that's gonna be weather control for Vikram.
Charizard and Sigurd all have the same idea, but it does get the Double Connect the Heat Wave on to both Pokemon.
But look at how little damage that's going to do with the rain and neutralizing that fire type damage.
And it's the Electro Shot coming out from our Chaladon.
No sleep powder. Being a sword pivoting out.
This is such a powerful attack you have to imagine it walks the party down that charge art and it's gonna land
It's hard in the charge art
It's not gonna get the knockout, but it gets big from one inch closer to becoming world champion
This game was already difficult for Carlos, but now it feels nearly impossible to win
It's really tough when that Charizard doesn't have a lot of HP left to play with and you have to rely on your opponent
to set back up this side with their own Charizard so that your Venusaur can come back out with
that speed advantage.
For right now, Pelipper and Archalodon really looking top here for Carlos to take down.
It is so tricky, especially with Sleephounder missing.
The first thing you have to do with your Carlos is you need to find a way to get Venusaur
back out onto a field, get a Sleephounder off, and so Charizard is going to protect
you.
You would think it wants to switch up, but if you switch up, the Venusaur is just
Electroshot comes out once again and folks this is our chaladon. A Pokemon that often feels like it is as strong and stronger than Mega Evolution in both my champions.
Will's target Charizard here is considered won't be able to pivot out so this is what I was saying. Number one for Carlos is get Nemisor out on the field.
And also reducing the special attack. That face our chaladon has been getting from those Electroshots.
So you didn't get the damage down in the Charizard but you did make that Archile on a lot more threatening by adding plus one to its special attack.
So the party shot coming in very handy there from that Incineroar.
But now that the dinosaur is on the field, you don't really have a lot of HP to play with for either of these Pokemon on Carlos' side.
So what's tricky is, well you have Sleep Powder but what is the Charizard slot going to do?
It does not have the sun for it, it feels like it wants to switch out.
All of its moves basically will just dent the Archile on a Pelopyr.
And so, I think Carlos probably wants to look for a sleep powder.
Maybe you go for something like a protect and switch it in Cineros.
The problem is then you just get doubled up into, it's just going to be staying in.
So it's going to be sleep powder, it does land on our child.
But this means Peloport can get a lot of damage.
You will get a knockout onto either of these Pokemon.
The ancient power though, super effective damage does not do that much.
It will Peloport retaliate back if you just knock out Charizard.
It's so, that just feels like it's game over.
Our Chalonon's gonna take its first mandatory turn of sleep though and it'll defyers off the hurricane.
That is going to be a knockout onto the Venusaur. Just two Pokemon remaining here for Chalos.
As it's the Incidivore and the Mega Charsaur that has to go up against the world.
There's going to still have four Pokemon to play with.
And with Venusaur going down, I mean this Charsaur now cannot be our Chalonon.
Our Chalonon in itself is such a strong wing condition.
ancient power, just okay damage to the Telepter, but now that the rain is up,
Vikram basically just has to say, look I'm just gonna keep our child on in rain,
you are not going to be able to handle it. And I think we're gonna see our child
on claim another world championship here Rosemary. I think you're right where you
feel like we're just moments away from being able to see that and Vikram
being the world champion, but you can't give up here Carlos, you still have to
fight left and focus on all the board. As we play out the rest of this
positioning game with Stephen Colbert leads the field towards Venusaur of the other side.
So that is going to be the Pokemon that takes that ancient power. Our child all wakes up though,
so Electroshot is ready to get fired off. And if that's into these Charizard, that's
going to be a knockout and leaving Incineroar on an island.
Vikram has come so close on this stage before. Top four Asawera championship.
Charizard is going to faint and he has wanded off on a way.
Consider what is the most classic iconic Pokemon staring down our childhood on it's not going to have enough damage
Vikram now
Heals it. He knows that the title is his
What an incredible season here for Vikram, but top four at the turn a special event earlier this year
Hasn't been able to make it past that in this season
Don't imagine being able to get to the finals of the World Championship and take home the World Championship title
just to look at an incredible season.
Venusaur lets loose a sludge bomb,
poisons this Incineroar to put it even four on a timer,
but is our chalon.
Get this electro shot ready to go,
and to fire off into this Incineroar,
this could just be the final attack
to get this from the World Championships.
But we're gonna have to wait one more turn
as if Incineroar does not fall to that one electro shot.
So go through a player's lift into the Venusaur, get one more knockout on the world stage.
You have to give so much credit to Carlos here. Such a phenomenal player.
And the Smasher, I think, was quite tricky, right? When you are a team that only has sun,
the rain is so tough to be opposed inside the ability to flex between cool weather.
There's a reason why this is one of the top teams coming into the world championships.
We saw Alumin in the Junior Division.
I think we're about to see it win in the Senior Division.
Pelipper coming back out and it's going to be the final turn of the battle now.
Instead of where it cannot help but look across at this Pelipper and our
childhood I wonder how we could even stand tall to this offense. As we do see the
forfeit come through that's going to confirm.
Vikram, the entourage on as your world champion in the seniors division.
An absolute treat to watch both of these players. You can see the sportsmanship there.
absolutely amazing for these incredible incredible senior division players to be able to play on this stage that first game I think was a masterclass by both so much constant pivoting and switching take a look at that crowd victim that is your world championship winning crowd you can see the fans celebrating there in the space and wow the Charizard and Venusaur plushy that was the adjustment that
and I love how we baited out the Garchomp in game-free,
switching in our child on.
What a treat it was to watch these two players
go up against each other.
It was just an incredible positioning battle.
Even going back all the way to that first game
where Carlos was able to take that style,
so methodical, thinking several turns ahead about
how am I going to get my Charizard into a position
to really put this Wumper into a bad spot.
And so Carlos really setting the pace
and the mental for how the rest of the series
how the rest of the series was going to go.
And that was a marathon.
Like that first game, it was just constant switching back
and forth, the mental fortitude,
that you need to have to be able to play this game
at the highest level, not through just one game,
but through three games.
It was incredibly taxing.
And I think that Carlos put up an amazing fight.
Of course, Sleephounder would be in his turn.
Coming into the match, we're saying,
we expect to see a lot of Sleephounders.
It's going to hit, it's also going to miss.
And I think that the positioning battle
in that third game, Biffram,
just knock out Gertrump so quickly giving him a huge huge advantage and just absolutely amazing by both of these players and once again
They're playing at the freaking chase center
That is the memory that they were for the rest of their lives
and what a great display and
We can really see why both of these competitors came into this world championship as regional champions
But only one gets to walk away at the world champion. So let's hear from our newest world champion
Let's hear it one more time for your Senior World Champion, Vikram Thiengurajan!
Vikram, you just said you can't believe it, but I have to ask you, if you have to describe it, how does it feel?
It's absolutely amazing. I've been treating this for about three, four years after the start of playing the game of Pokemon.
So, to finally get to treatment, it feels absolutely amazing.
I mean tell me about that team dual weather. That was such an innovation coming into the world championships
How did you pilot it throughout the weekend?
so just most games used to char it like being sore and then
Well, yeah, switch belly in arch. Yeah, I'm being a sore was not very good in the tournament
But in this game it will have to be amazing. So fuck a plane
Should have counted for sure, right? Yeah
I understand.
And I'm sure you have a lot of friends and family
who helped you make it to this incredible moment.
Do you have any shout-outs you want to give to them?
I want to shout out my whole family to bring me here,
take to all the tournaments across the world.
I want to thank all the UK community, the Indian community.
I start waiting maybe with the thanks.
So thank you everyone for helping along the way.
Let's hear it one more time for your 2020
Senior World Champion, Nick Reffy.
We have crowned two of our video game world champions.
We have one more title to go.
Let's go ahead and take it to our casters for our master's division title match.
Wow, that was an incredible set.
We have had two incredible finals already here in the J center to kick off our champions era of the video game championship
My name is Evan latin. I have the distinct privilege of being joined by my good friend Scott glase here to take you through the masters division finals coming up
It's going to be an incredible match here to really impressive players and two players very different stories right at one hand
We have the champion for the PJCS, I think, considered by most trainers to be the most difficult tournament other than the world championships to win.
On the other side, we have a player with fewer accomplishments that is really surprising from getting this point and proving that he's just as equal of a threat.
Absolutely. This is going to be an incredible matchup between two highly skilled players from Japan.
Like you mentioned, Hiroshi Onishi is our current PJCS champion out of Japan.
And that is a title that comes with a lot of pressure behind it and a lot of history.
In fact, two of our former PJCS champions have gone on
to then win the world championships in the very same year that they won that tournament.
And now, Hiroshi Onishi is going to try to put his name right next to those legends.
Yeah, I think it's worth noting, too.
There have also been two champions who have made it to the finals and fallen just short at this final step
So don't count his opponent out either may not have that decorated resume yet
But hey, you know having world championships there really changes how it looks and he's just a few games away
Absolutely his opponent Haku no Yamazaki is also a very strong trainer who has gotten hot at exactly the right moment
This is a competitor who has been competing since 2009 and finally has a big finish to put on his resume
I know this is something that he has worked so hard for even when the results weren't there
He kept at it. He kept going forward and that persistence
Dedication and hard work have landed him a spot here in the fight. Yeah, I think that's really impressive
Yeah, it's gonna be a very frustrating game when things aren't going your way
You know some format just kind of don't use a trainer. Maybe you know kind of just doesn't play to your strengths
Maybe it's more offensive than you want. Maybe it's more defensive than you want
You know, maybe your favorite strategy is to start good. Maybe just for unlucky, right?
It happens to all trainers sometimes and they can be really hard to push through those situations this game
We're just doesn't seem like anything that you do works and I think to stick with it for so long
It's a really deserved achievement to do so well at this tournament
Absolutely, and I am so excited to be getting into this match
Let's go ahead and take a quick preview of this finals
Over a season of furious competition which saw the introduction of Pokemon champions to the competitive scene
over
390 of the best trainers in the world
Battled their way through the year to make it to the games premiere event
The culmination of their effort brought them to San Francisco each trainer chasing the same dream
becoming the first ever Pokemon Champions World Champion.
Now, after days of unforgettable battles, only two trainers remain.
One match, one champion, history begins here.
Hiroshi Onishi came into the 2026 World Championships
as the reigning Japan Championship Series Champion,
winning after making an incredibly bold play.
This could be disastrous!
Earthquake first, Kiwi following up for Roshi to get the double KO!
Throughout his run at the World Champs, Roshi continued making these bold plays,
and for catching his opponents off-guard and earning him the opportunity to compete for the biggest title of his career.
Sakuma Yamazaki, on the other hand, is competing for the first time at the World Championships,
making it through Phase 1 of Swiss with a strong 7-in-1 record.
record. But after losing in the first round of phase two, he had to win every single match
from then on to find his way into the first ever finals matchup of his career. Their paths
couldn't have been more different, but on this stage, they now collide with a world
championship title on the line. And while they both enter as competitors, only one
trainer can leave as the first world champion of BGC and Pokemon champions.
Oh man I am so ready for this matchup!
Hiroshi Onishi versus Takumi Yamazaki.
Scott, are you ready for this matchup?
I'm so ready, Evan.
Chase Center, are you ready for this matchup?
That's right. In just a few moments,
we will know who our first Master's World Champion
is going to be of this Pokémon Champion's era.
And I could not be more excited to have these two strong competitors on stage.
we're going to see some incredible action out of both of them.
I think it should be a lot of fun here.
A little bit different sort of a matchup than maybe we saw in the Junder and the Senior Divisions
where the teams we saw in those divisions maybe a little bit built more on the chemistry of the
Pokemon right kind of how the abilities interact with one another. These teams are much more
about power. On one side with Rosh we have the big six team that's kind of been dominating
this format so far built around the strongest attackers in the format. You know Charizard
of Mega Flow at largely considered to be the strongest Mega of all Pokemon this format.
You know, Guard Shop, King Gambit, Vascular Legion, so scary.
And both trainers have those Pokemon in common.
On the other side of the field, we have just six, right?
Critically missing that Charizard that's been the most used Mega of all Pokemon throughout the entirety of this Pokemon Champion's era.
Instead of that Dragonite that we saw hanging out with Takuma during the video.
A really cool adjustment here.
So two fun approaches to trying to make the strongest team you can in order to defeat the strongest trainers in the world.
Absolutely, that is exactly what you need to defeat the strongest trainers in the world.
You need the strongest Pokemon, and Hiroshi Onishi knows exactly what it takes to do that.
Of course, he is our defending PJCS champion, and like you mentioned, this is a classic
VGC team here in the Champions Era with that dual mega Charizard Y and the Flowette Eternal Flower.
It's a little bit different coming from Hiroshi though. I think it was incredibly
impressive watching him play his matches earlier in this tournament on
stream. I think a lot of the players maybe thought hey you know I have to deal
with this team but I can still my way around. I'm experienced against this
composition and it just felt so different coming from him. Particularly that
semifinals match we made a really aggressive read to pick up a big double
knockout. It's just not a move that most other trainers would have been
willing to go for and you see why he's probably the favorite in this
match. Absolutely and you have to take note of these small little
adjustments here. I'm looking specifically at this King Gambit. King Gambit has been one of the most
dominant Pokemon in the in the regulation here and you can see Hiroshi has opted for the four
attack variants. So not sword stance, no protect here and also critically using the Acavary instead
of the Chapelberry to reduce fire instead of fighting. Now the other Pokemon that team to
keep in mind too is that Wimsacot would be very important as a difference between those teams.
You're one of the two Pokemon that's unique on his team. That Tailwind could be very
important. The Pokemon on his team would naturally be a little bit slower perhaps
than his opponent's Pokemon because he doesn't have that speed control option so
it's able to get tailwind active. Going to have a pretty big advantage with that moving first
to kind of have more stat points because his Pokemon are trained a little bit
differently. It'd be very important this matchup to keep. Once it got mine, if his
opponent's able to stop a second tailwind from going up they could be very
important for him. But we see on his side of the field there's some fun
tricks as well. Absolutely and the big difference of course is that
Dragonite over the Charizard. This is a Pokemon that was added to this team
specifically for opposing Charizard and Venusaur matchups, so no Venusaur on the
other side but the Charizard does not like looking at this, probably enough to
scare that Pokemon away. Yeah I think it's very likely it said we could see
Mega Flow out, which then makes things a little bit tricky here right where
the Mega Dragonite, the choice of Garchomp that was so impactful to the Swiss
stage and in the top cut round 8, makes it more a little bit more
difficult of a matchup here. Again, very important for that rooms that got to
to get the tailwind active so that the devastating rock slide is weakened a little bit, but hey,
you know, if there's a flowette-centric strategy, that Sneasler is also a Pokemon that's different
between these two teams.
I think very likely that Sneasler is going to be an important Pokemon to this matchup.
I think how much Sneasler can get done is going to be very important.
While I can do a lot of game issue, any of the Pokemon on his opponent's team,
you can't attack both Pokemon at the same time.
It's a bunch of single target attacks, so I think targeting wisely is going to be
very important for Takama.
We're on the other side of the field, trying not to let Sneasler get too much, punishing at any time of attacks,
making sure that it doesn't get three or four super effective attacks off, which would be devastating.
Absolutely. Keep your eyes on that Sneasler. If you were cheering for Takuma out in the crowd,
you were going to want to see that Pokemon go to work.
Our trainers now have exchanged team sheets. That means that they are in a team preview and getting ready to hop into game one.
Let's hear it for both of our finalists here as they head into their first game of our finals!
While Darchov hasn't even hit the field and already the ground is shaking up here at our desk
because we are headed right into game one Hiroshi Onishi rocking his PJCS champion title
up against Hakama Yamazaki and just the competitor title.
But that's going to be Floette and King Gambit led from Hakama alongside the Vasculi
Legion and Floette from Hiroshi.
So as expected that's Floette, a central Pokemon for both of these competitors.
Yeah, I think folks like likely choosing as their mega full Pokemon, that we don't
know that for a certain, certainly you can choose to bring one of these other
the back and hold the mega-evolution on Floette.
I think Dragonite is much more likely to appear as regular Dragonite
than your Charizard, who in this matchup is going to just want you to struggle a little bit more.
Initially, you next to the Floette, the Pokemon are important.
King Gamin at the type advantage against the Vascovillusion is threatening a very powerful sucker,
but you can do it, or an iron head into the Floette.
So, what will happen here?
A double target for these Pokemon to still pick the King Gamin up as well.
So, and if Floette is on three,
he wants to see what Pokemon trade we're starting to do on this first turn.
Well, let's see if they've been studying their opponents.
Takaba will be the first to mega-evolve his Floette.
Now, Mega Floette on the field for Takaba,
immediately matched by Hiroshima and Nishi as well.
So both of these competitors have opted
to activate their FIGS power modes.
Floette both on the field next to two strong partners.
Vasquez Ligin gets the Aqua Jet out to avoid
any sucker punch coming out from that King Gambit.
That's some important chip and does catch the sucker punch.
King Gambit is not able to use his priority attack and instead just takes some chip.
However, Pacmo is able to fire back with a dazzling gleam but here comes the light of druid
just blasting into that King Gambit and eliminating, erasing it off the field.
King Gambit, the number one threat of this meta is down,
but Floette taking an immense amount of recoil in return.
Yeah, a lot of damage going down both directions there.
They first knockout going to Hiroshi,
and that's a very important Pokemon to deal with in this matchup.
You know, if you can't get the tail end up,
another option with these slower Pokemon is trying to use moose,
is to increase priority instead, such as these sucker punch,
such as the extreme speed,
kind of the way this team gets around to having speed control.
And that's now one powerful means of dodging being slower taken out.
Yeah, and what a smart line there from Hiroshi
with the Aqua Jet and the Light of Ruin
Guaranteeing the KO on that King Gambit in turn one.
However, Takuma now is able to match Vaskaligeum
bringing out his own.
And of course, what we know and love about Vaskaligeum
is it just loves when it's partner spanks.
Yeah, there's even more damage that last respects him,
but you might even need the last effects here, right?
I think he's kind of using it
if you're calling a switcher.
Officially a big advantage here in the board state
even though there's an advantage in the KO count.
Both these codes might leak in.
Flow it easily in range of an Aqua Jet here,
So you can't do whatever you want. Maybe that's like Vascular Legion being threatened by a knockout from either of the opposing Pokemon now
And again, we gotta assume the Pokemon and talk to us that are likely quicker because there is no speed control here
So these Pokemon are probably both pinned. Okay
Well just trying to use that Vascular Legion to pressure the pin on Floette and Vascular Legion
And Octoma gets the protect out of the Floette does not get it out of awkward
Vascular Legion which fires an aqua jet into Floette dealing just over 40% of its health
takes a little bit of recoil back which will allow Pokemon to clean up the
Vasculians with this dazzling gleam and critically that Pokemon that you
shouted out from the very jump, Sneasler gets in for breathe. Yeah, loving that situation
especially the opposing flow-out is just won't it protects a very vulnerable
on this turn. Also Vasculian escaping the battlefield safely is a big deal too
but loves to be the last Pokemon remaining. After three Pokemon I see
has been back to Elastus Prec's one-trap almost every hook from the full net easily every hook
buttons a particular matchup other than King Gambit so a great thing to have in the back here and
you'll look very good for Hiroshi's this battle start up and I was talking about it looks like he
has a big advantage. Well Hiroshi has now been able to bring in the Whimsicott with that major
priority for a King Gambit off the field. So there is the opportunity for Hiroshi to go for
Tailwind however like you mentioned Floette just whipped it's protect. Yeah so it was really
It's complicated and it's great that the ones that got in the back, you get the tailwind.
This put a likely last for the remainder of the game, but how do you have enough Pokemon
remaining for it to matter?
Eventually both these Pokemon being threatened by damage or a potential fakeout, so can I
have to guess what slot a potential fakeout's going in or maybe just a double up to knock
it out of this Pokemon?
Do you risk sacrificing this Float that's already been weakened very much and trust
that final Pokemon?
Or do you try to get the Float out of dodge here and maybe try to use it to
deal some damage into the tailwind?
I think it's going to be difficult to move this Float from here because there
still is that Vasco Lige in the back who could check it with Aqua Jet later so
maybe that unrevealed hook would have to win this one.
Okay Whimzacot here is now forced to protect a fake out into the Whimzacot
and a Dazzling Gleam would have been devastating and Hiroshi knows he's on
the back foot, tries to go for a double protect on the Floette but does not
get it. Instead, Akuma will be able to clean up the Floette on Hiroshi's
side with another Dazzling Gleam and now all of a sudden Hiroshi is
on the back foot. Two Pokemon remain.
Yeah, of course he's gonna have to do a lot here now.
There's a lot of action that's still gonna be taken.
The Focus Sash and Sneasler hasn't been broken.
It's going to have to be attacked at least twice.
Boy, threatening a lot of damage,
so it's gonna be very difficult to throw a double pocket.
Then you still have to worry about the escalation in the back.
You know, even if Whimsicott's able to use a Tailwind here,
I'm sure Sneasler's going to survive the turn with that Focus Sash.
And that's necessarily enough of an advantage.
And that final Pokemon is King Gambit.
A Pokemon that's often a little bit slower even in the tailwind.
Yeah, and this is really rough for Hiroshi staring down the Sneasler with that King Gambit.
This is again the four attack barrier, and it has the Aqua Berry, not the Chapel Berry,
so it cannot take a close combat from that Sneasler.
Yeah, so how do you deal with the situation?
Like, you're gonna have to hit the Sneasler twice first,
and you'll get that sucker punch and a moon blast might not be enough, right?
So, is there a path out of this game one for Hiroshi?
Well, Hiroshi has to hope there is, or come up with something else in game two,
because right now it is Takuma Yamazaki who is in complete control of this finals.
The Sneasler and the Flowette exerted so much pressure on the both of these Pokemon.
I would have been the place to go for a tailwind and try to Iron Head
flinch the Sneasler that might be the only out here.
Yeah, if you can get the Iron Head flinch here that could be helpful there as the King
Gambit going for the Iron Head this time into just the Flowette.
So getting that Pokemon off the field and trusting in Whimsicott with the Focus
to maybe be able to close this out but like I mentioned no truffleberry king
gambit is knocked out in a one hit from that sneasler which still has its focus
that they're likely able to close the game on its own but it won't need to the
vasculationally able to come in and help out it's not really anything
rooms that can do here but the combination of you're not which any
close comment I guess you could try and onboard the stuff fix a little bit but
I don't think there's a path to erosion this first game these guys
to think about it. How he's going to recover and win game 2 and game 3 in order to keep this chance of becoming world champion alive.
Yep. Time to start planning for game 2 if you are Hiroshi Onishi. If you are out there cheering for him, he is going to need your energy.
Because Takuma Yamazaki, despite not having a finish to his name, his resume is blank, except for this finals appearance here at the World Championships.
And he is about to be one game away from being the world champion.
That's right. Time to get hot. Nobody cares about a tournament win more than this one.
This is the one everyone plays all year to try to win the greatest prizes and I think
critically finished trainers the greatest prestige everyone wants people to call
themselves a world champion. All right and Wim's about will just protect that is
Hiroshi stalling out for a little bit more time. You can see it on his face
trying to think through these lines trying to understand where things went
wrong for him in this game one and time to go back to the drawing board
Yeah, I think one thing important to keep in mind here as the training is prepared for the next game is that if it's too preview of the subsequent game, right?
We're not going to come down here and not be nearly enough from the Basque Legion.
You know, what do you lead? It's so difficult to spawn that you pivot out of that lead matchup, as we saw in this game where there's not a whole lot you can do.
It's difficult as it is to make good defensive switches. It looks like a focus actually to be activated here, but boys in touch going to finish it off as if it had any chance, unfortunately, either way.
it'll either way. Oh that's okay. Vasky legion sends its last respects and
Whimsicott will go down. Hakama Yamazaki with the game win. One win away from
becoming a world champion from nowhere to the top. And that's just how this set
is going to go. A little bit different pace than we saw the senior division
finals right? No pivoting here, no parting shots. It's gonna be all about
these big blows and because of that I get the lead matchup is so important
where there's just no pivoting.
There was that huge trade on the first turn here
where there was a big knockout
picked up that light of ruin,
but the damage in return was a huge problem.
And thinking critically,
there was no speed control puller in the game,
but at times, Limsikot was able to come in
and set up a kill when it was just too late.
The game had already been lost,
and Isaac got to the second game,
where he was just gonna have to be careful
about making that sort of trade.
His poke line are naturally slower.
All of these poke lines do
a huge amount of damage to one another.
You can't afford to take a trade,
especially picking up a knockout,
which can be really dangerous in this situation, right?
Where you have one Pokemon, your points team is running yours,
and the other one isn't so threatened, and you pick up a knockout.
If you just bring the perfect Pokemon in there to continue to push that advantage,
you'll get to careful.
You take knockouts at the right time.
You need to win by knocking out four Pokemon,
not by getting the first knockout.
Absolutely, and while that was a very cool line,
like you mentioned, just so much damage taken in return.
You have to wonder, of course,
these players do not know everything about each other's teams.
I think Hiroshi probably got some very important information about the speeds of his Pokemon relative to Takuma and recognizing
Okay, maybe I definitely need that tailwind and speed control much earlier on
Yeah, I'm gonna be really interested to see how Roshi adjusts as well
I think one of the advantage I was kind of expecting in behalf of the more established players
You think hey, you know these players have had 24 hours to prepare for this event
But probably is a bigger network of players to help them prepare
I think the biggest advantage of that is in game one when you know both sides are kind of playing blind
they don't know how their opponent is going to approach this matchup.
However, game one went to the underdog here,
and from that point, you kind of think that,
hey, things are more even, so Roshi may be in trouble here,
but I'm sure he has a plan for this second game,
and he's been very good in the clutch,
throughout this tournament and throughout the PGACS,
so definitely don't count him out yet.
Absolutely, and as our players are getting ready to hop into game two,
let me hear you if you are out there cheering for Hiroshi Onishi,
because he needs your support right now.
He needs this second game in order to force a third game, decisive game here at the finals.
But of course, Takamayamazaki is so close, he can taste it, I am sure.
He has stuck with it, he has worked so hard year after year after year to be ready for
this championship.
Yeah, such a tense moment for these trainers again.
The lead matchup is so important in these matchups.
I think we often speak about, you know, turn zero,
team preview being the most important turn of most games,
but it's so true in this regulation,
and B, where there's so few Pokemon who are great at pivoting,
and neither of these teams are especially good at it, right?
They're really strong because of their offensive power,
because once you get this adventiation port position,
it's so good at pushing those advantages.
You kind of can't afford to get on the back foot
in this matchup because it's so difficult to recover.
Here it is, Game 2 and Dragonite out on the field for Takuma Yamazaki.
This crowd is going crazy for Dragonite.
But back, this would be Dragonite's first-ever World Championship.
Should it win here, but up against Floette and Vasky Legion.
Two devastating Pokemon.
Dragonite appropriately trying to claim the trophy with its own hands.
But that's not what Master Peer was.
Most of that kind of has some advantages.
I think it's important to keep this Dragonite's options in mind as well.
It is holding that mega so it can't become Mega Dragonite, but it's much stronger than some of the other poke that can mega evolve in this regular form.
It doesn't pass to Mega Evolve, so while Floent being shown on one side of the field is a good indication that Charizard isn't coming,
I think especially because there's a difficult matchup here anyway.
Dragonite isn't nearly as strong as I tell. It may Mega Evolve here, but there may also still be that Floent in the back,
so Barosh and Floent have to try to solve the puzzle here, figure out the way Takamo is opted to approach this matchup.
Okay, Akuma again just trying to show a damage threat and then retreat it, but also like you're going to see
Mega Dragonite on the field at the finals of the world
Championship and Floette will respond by Mega Evolving as well
So Mega Dragonite on the popular side next to that Vascular Legion that has switched in for the Sneasler next to the Floette and
and Vascular Legion for Hiroshi.
That's just going to be a protect, a mega protect,
if you will, from that Floette, afraid of the scissor.
Dragonite makes the tall dragon falls into Vascular Legion
over 50% health.
That is going to be a two hit KO,
but Hiroshi catches the Vascular Legion on the switch.
Vascular Legion does nothing.
One hit KO for Hiroshi.
Oh, it's a huge knockout.
I was gonna wonder if maybe he was gonna get caught there
with Floette protecting in front of that dragon type
Pokemon, but I think you'll be very happy with that trade
to end the Baskile Legion for the rest of the game.
It's still winding up in a fairly good position here.
Dragonite's multi-scale is a task,
but it's going to be a tricky turn to play.
You're as committed to mega-evolutions
of providing the information that probably
we're not going to see Tachemos helpful like this game.
And you just look for something like an Aqua Jet
to break the multi-scale on top of a fairy-type attack
to try to pick up the Dragonite.
So it's going to need some help from its partner here
and maybe to end up in a safer position.
We have seen these skis already.
It is going to come back in to try to dissuade a double-target of its line.
Did you really want to ignore me while I'm sitting in front of a cloette that's just protected, much like you saw in the previous game?
Yeah, I'm going to say if Dragonite wants to rely on one of its partners,
I think they're a pretty good partner to have in this moment right now.
Not only threatening fake-out pressure into cloette, but also big damage from Direclaw.
An interesting spot here for the basketball region as well.
You already see it's slower than the Dragonite.
It would be knocked up by a dragon pulse, but I'll see if I can't deal with it quite so well.
I'm absolutely immune to a close combat as a Ghost-type Pokémon, and that Direclaw is not for me to do enough to pick it up,
so Dragonite would need to deal with it itself if it could knock out this turn, but I think it's also relatively likely to rush like,
hey, your BasculiGy you've done good enough, you've knocked out your opposite number, maybe I'll save you for later in the battle,
but instead it's Float who's going to switch out for now.
Well, Takuma's Sneasler has been exerting so much pressure on this Chloe, forcing me to protect,
now forcing a switch and huge damage coming out from that life orb basket legion onto
Sneasler with Aqua Jet. Direclaw will whip into the king Damage, but the Dragon Fault
will follow it up to deal pretty decent damage for a resisted hit. Yeah, and it didn't seem
that resisted there, but kind of an interesting call because the combination was attacking,
hey, you know, if you leave Floent and get in, I will pick up the knockout with Direclaw,
and then, you know, the Dragon Faults would move over to basket legion,
If you make a switch to something else, the combination of those two attacks is difficult for most of the Pokemon the team to resist.
But 10-gammon is the best possible option to switch in their immune to one attack for this or the other.
It takes some pretty important damage there, but pretty quickly it's taking a ton of damage now.
So we've mentioned before it's a very important Pokemon to smash up, especially because maybe you don't have to deal with Dragonite just yet, right?
It's a big of all Pokemon, it's very powerful, I get it, but we'll level easily with that one V1 if the two Pokemon are left together at the end.
at the end, so poke is down, the Sneasler makes a lot of sense.
If you can back that out at the final poke, but Floor can finish the game and send us to a game three.
Yeah, we were talking about four attack King Gambit.
We also have to talk about four attack Sneasler.
No protect available for cocky-move against Sneasler will retreat for King Gambit.
The Vascular Legion fires off another Aqua Jet, dealing good damage into the King Gambit on the Switch,
and running out of time to deal damage though with that life orb.
Here comes the heat wave, Octavary proving itself to be extremely useful here, allowing it to not take super effective damage and vasculage in one hit point and a dream.
Critical survival there!
There's the Kautau sleep from King Damage, that's going to connect onto the Mega Dragonite, dealing a decent amount of damage, but even more importantly, multiscale has been broken.
Yeah, that could be very critical later in the game, but that multiscale active, the float would have to use something like a light of Rune to pick up the knockout.
Now any of the fairy type attacks would easily get out, and this pork can get into weakened pretty significantly at the opposing time as well.
It's far from being in the gasoline lane range, but that could be kind of the winch edition now, right?
You could somehow keep Vascular Legion alive to check these skis, like everything else weakened enough to pick up the gasoline lane.
That could be a way to win too.
Now there's still an unrevealed Pokemon on the ocean side of the deal.
He has a huge advantage here, both in terms of the health of the Pokemon and also information work.
And of course, this is more for talking about you.
Plan his endgame, not knowing what that final Pokemon is.
Absolutely. I was just noticing that at the same time not all Pokemon are revealed from Hiroshi still has plenty of options
While octopus is trying to find a way back in
Sneasler in for the mega dragonite in another aqua jet from Vasculation on its way out
Like what will take damage that Vasculation needs to think here and a sucker punch from the king dammit on Hiroshi side
will also connect on to Akuma's King Gambit,
and you have to go for that because the low kick
is plenty to pick up that little bit of hit points remaining.
Things getting much closer now,
where two knock-ups getting picked up in that turn,
potentially Akuma's now only two knock-outs away
for becoming a world champion.
But not so simple, where Void's going to be able
to re-enter the battle as well as the unrevealed
final poke point lap to see if they can do enough
to keep this in this game, send us to a game three.
that we are still missing a Pokemon on Hiroshi's side that has not come out.
Who's that Pokemon if it's Whimsicott tailwind plus Dazzling Gleam goes crazy right now?
Absolutely, and a very interesting spot here as well where Hiroshi-Kat is thinking through his turn.
Hey, I know what my last Pokemon is. You don't know I can think of what we're doing in the next turn with full information.
You can't use that Whimsicott. So we wind up in a very interesting situation here.
The fairy aura for Megaflight going to boost the damage of both these Pokemon, as you say.
You know, a Tailwing would be very critical here, allowing the Float to speed up and knock out the Sneasler before it would give you a big direct wall hop.
You know, a sucker puncher can't get it, it would be great and all, but just not nearly enough, especially because we know that final Pokemon in the back is a Dragonite.
We're certainly not going to be able to deal with these two fairy-type Pokemon in Tailwing.
Absolutely, Whimsacott and Flo at best friends forever ready to help Hiroshi force a game 3 here in our Masters Division Finals.
Both of these players, you can feel how important this game is to them as they are taking their time to figure out what to do.
Hale went from Wimzacot, allowing Hiroshi's Pokemon to be the fastest on the field.
Sucker Punch will whip.
Here's that dazzling lead connects onto both Sneasler and King Gambit.
That's a double KO.
And with just Dragonite in the back, Hiroshi Onishi is about to force our third game three of our championships.
What incredible play.
And this time you see how the strategy is meant to work.
Able to make a much better trade program in the game.
picking up that big knockout on Takuma's basketball legend
and then get the late tailwind in order to ensure
this game-state where there's not really anything
Takuma can do.
No way Dragonite can be able to beat these two
fairy-type poke-abots.
With the kind of the back isn't something we often see,
I think it makes a lot of sense to the Spatia.
Imagine during team preview, hey, you know,
you get a second tailwind up,
you're gonna win for sure,
but I think it's very difficult to realistically do
that Spatia instead of trying to trade
a little bit early in order to get that
the late tailwind where you don't need
a second tailwind to win.
Well, talk about just checking his couch there to make sure he knows exactly how much damage that ExtremeSki could do into Floette
as Winsacott cleans up Game 2 for Hiroshi Onishi, and now all comes down to this one game for all the Marvels.
Yeah, I mean, it's the right way for this to end, right? Who would have wanted any other way, these first Pokémon Champions, Pokémon Video Game Championships, World Championship,
Going to come down to this final game here up to see what both trainers up to do
We've seen both trainers after winning this game right where there's a way that they can do it
I think the switch up for Pokemon is very interesting to talk about there
I believe the looking at the match with it. Oh, it's really difficult to bring mega dragonite here, right?
I look pretty good early in the game. I don't think it's impossible by any means to win a mega dragonite game
I think that switch into Vasco Legion was really the problem there
Not necessarily Magna Dragonite itself, but Lowette was hugely impactful in that battle,
and I think the opposing Lowette to check it maybe would have been a little bit easier there.
I'll be very excited to see what Harkaway does there.
It was possible he was expecting a difference, which approached you, ultimately tried to do the same sort of thing in the second game.
Well, here it is, game three of your Masters Division finals. Get loud for our two finalists!
Yeah, Garchomp has to come to any of these camps, but he is in the arena for sure.
I can't imagine what's going through these trainers' minds right now. It's such a critical decision.
Again, this is not a format where you can do a whole lot of defensive switching, right?
You saw what happened in that second game where one bad switch really made things difficult for Takamon.
And that makes this position so important. You have to get your lead Pokémon correct.
And you have to select the best mega-evolving Pokémon as well.
as well. Neither side forced to do it in the previous game, but they both shown some of their hands now.
They both trainers have a good idea of how their opponent would like to approach this matchup,
and now you have to make that read, right? Well, my opponent did the same thing. As they got in my
head, they figured out what I'm going to do, and, you know, they've also had 24 hours of preparation.
They spent a lot of time thinking what they believed the best path through this matchup was.
You know, how is this working in real life? You know, I'm still thinking that, hey,
the way that I looked at the matchup before was right, or are you making a last minute
adjustment here, trying to improvise your win to get the world championships in this final game of the season.
Gosh, it's such a spooky position to be in in this game three scenario, potentially having to improvise a solution to this matchup.
But these are two players who have proven time and time again throughout the course of this tournament.
They are more than capable of doing so. The Roshi Onishi, of course, as the JCS champion, has excelled at this highest level throughout the entire season.
Takuma Yamazaki has been dreaming of this day where he could become a world
champion hasn't gotten there in the past and now finally won game away from
pulling it off. I can't imagine how nervous these trainers must be one game
away either from the biggest accomplishment they'll probably ever
have in their Pokemon careers or a loss that they'll consider for the rest of
their lives what could have been. Game 3 it all comes down to the SP
The Floette and Charizard team versus the Floette and Mega Dragonite.
I am so thrilled to be seeing this third game here.
I really want to see how these two players are going to adapt because it looked like
I was so shocked at how good Mega Dragonite looked at the end until Floette had full health
the whole time.
What was it that was going to continue to be that staggered poke on the back?
I think it's really difficult for Dragonite to handle it, right?
Where maybe not the rest of the last couple of days, but hey, talk to him as
not afraid to bring the charge on the other side of the field the whole
point of bringing dressed in this team rather than charged us helped you against
opposing charge on it here it is in this third game perhaps dragonites caught
charge up right where it wants it what a call out from Takuma Yamazaki I showed
mega dragonite didn't work in game to so you must think that I am you're
free to bring the charge but no Takuma believes in that mega dragonite
It catches the Garchomp and Charizard a classic lead.
Still a lot of potential trading back and forth.
You know, that's something we see so often.
One side, maybe the most iconic lead combination
of a bunch of it so far.
On the other side, Mega Dragon,
anything's a little bit weird, but particularly this.
Keep in mind that Garchomp is going to be pretty bulky
and that's it's very probably going to be able
to take a single attack pretty well here.
So, I'm most certain so that's a big degree.
I want to see what they do.
Yeah, that's going to be the Mega Evolution
right away from the Charizard.
That means that Floette is most likely left at home here,
which is exactly what you want
if you are Mega-Dragonite.
There it is out on the field now,
both Charizard and Dragonite Mega-Evolving.
Fun fact, this would be their first World Champion
for either Charizard or Dragonite.
That's just gonna be a protect coming out from Dragonite
as King Ganda fires off a sucker punch into the Charizard.
Feels a decent amount of damage.
Karchomp goes for the Rockslight, tries to break that bulky skin, and deals super effective damage onto Dragonite.
It's a little bit of chip onto King Gambit, and it's going to come down to this Charizard.
He gets the Heat Wave off, and will miss into the protect of Dragonite, but connects onto King Gambit.
No Okcaberry, but 1% health remaining!
King Gambit gets the threaten on another sucker punch at whatever it wants!
Yeah, no Akabari no problem and that creates a really fun situation in this turn.
I may not want to go for a sucker punch on that Kar-Chomp where you knock yourself out and let's get damaged,
but now Charizard's the one being threatened.
I can't be sure these sucker punch in extreme speed would knock it out,
so do you want to risk losing your mega of all Pokemon so early in the game?
Yeah, and this mega Dragonite is so happy to be facing down Kar-Chomp in Charizard.
With its multi-scale still intact, it can easily survive a Rock Slide and a Heatwave double up from Charizard.
And another ocular thing to keep in mind, Mega Charger at the same speed.
So lots of speed to help these Pokemon on their train, but we may have even though
Hunky's purpose was to play out, you could have both that Pokemon up to attack.
Oh, Rock Slide from Garchomp connects on to Vasculigian and Dragonite.
Super effective damage, breaks the multi-scale heat wave from Charizard.
We'll connect on to both the Dragonite and Vasculigian.
Does Dragonite get to move on this turn? It does!
Dragonfall connects off the guard shelf.
One hit, 40, oh, and Mega Dragonite.
And then you see why he makes a Dragonite so powerful.
It gets lead against that combination of both,
but it is so iconic, and it shows the agangia has
picked up a dragon, a guard chop, and one knockout.
It's a little great spot against his Chargers, all right.
What is Chargers really going to do in return?
Now these fighter type attacks look like quite so dominant
as they normally do, like two Pokemon that resist them.
Yeah, absolutely devastating for Hiroshi Onishi.
Not being able to pick up the KO onto the King Gambit means that Takuma still has that resource in the back.
It got the Basque Legion in without getting burnt by the Heat Waves, threatening big damage onto that Charizard Pie itself.
Yeah, I think it's one of the fun spots here, Gio.
Within the ancient power of these Charizard Pieces, it's still impactful in the past, but, you know, I had to grab a nice type of matchup a little bit differently.
It's very fun here. We get the Basque Legion facing off against its opposite Numbaring.
We've seen this interaction before, but actually there's so much of them attacking in the same turn, right?
In the second game, we saw the Basculage and catch the opposing Basculage on a switch, so we're going to see this, these people on the faceoff.
But again, you'd expect in a team matchup like this one, the team with Crimson Cat usually has less speed training in the Basculage.
So perhaps the Basculage, and I'm talking to my side going faster here, could be very critical for a Roshi, just to turn it right.
Already a little bit down in resources, can't afford to lose Basculage for nothing.
but an awkward position for Takuma to be in with that King Gambit sitting on one hit point.
We would have loved that additional hit point to be gone so King Gambit could paint and boost the
power of last respects, instead just base power on that attack, which means that Takuma is going
to double protect to see what Hiroshi is thinking into this matchup.
You see that ancient power, Dragonite going to take it a lot better than a Charizard,
But finding out what his opponent is doing and yes, so we see the last respects targeted to his unmasked
Legion agent power which would have been super effective into the Dragonite and now we see an interesting position
Okay, well we see what one player wants to do attack beside the field
How do you adjust to the right view try to sacrifice begin it maybe as you said
I think it's going to be difficult to do now with both these Pokemon having to use their protects
They're both vulnerable tough to make the sacrifice in order to want to double switch
So how will you try to target these Pokemon down often when you're going for a double protector try to fish for a
protect on the other side of the field to allow you to double-tark especially if
you believe your basket legion is faster but doesn't find it there and now Roach
to predict either of these Pokemon potentially baiting Takamaki to a
game-losing mistake. Oh it is so tense right now these players are on a razor's
edge. Charizard gets the ancient power connects on to Dragonite not enough
to pick up the KO. Dragonite is holding on no boost for Charizard either
and the dragon pulls into Basque Allegiance dealing just over 50%.
That means that Takamaki gets to fire off the last respect
and pick up the KO on Basque Allegiance before it can move.
And now Hiroshi Onishi, the JCS champion, is down to his final two Pokémon.
Charizard stuck out in the field as well.
That drought's gonna go on to last forever,
but greatly reduced Charizard's ability to have the impact in this game.
We'll have to see what this final Pokémon is.
But where is similar position in the previous game where she was able to turn things around to see again
What that final Pokemon is hasn't really done as much damage in this 30 is a second is there still some way you can break this one back?
Well, if there is her as she is going to need to find it out of whimsicott
Bocasash intact has the ability to set tailwind but vasculation has priorities
So does dragonite tailwind doesn't matter as much to these Pokemon
Yeah, but it's still all going to be about making it read it again. There's still that King Gambit in the back
You know what HP and a dream but it's still a sucker punch off regardless of the speed condition and then once again
There's still another Pokemon. We aren't sure what is a grocery probably going to what good some point get a tail
It's up. Maybe not to help for here. We're here ready has the speed advantage
Both of these players are making their decision
They know that each in every turn right now could spell victory could spell defeat
and they have to make their moves exactly correct.
Fast-filers, you can get out of dodge.
You're going to get some problems later.
You can output jet, so just check the charge arc
for the remainder of the game.
Well, there's the extreme speed coming out from Dragonite
into Wimsicott, making sure that Wimsicott no longer
has its focus at.
And here is the power of one hit point King Gambit,
able to switch in towards the Vascular Legion,
protect that Pokemon, and allow Takuma to have
a new switch in next to Dragonite.
Of course, really, Dragonite will go down to a single target heatwave, critical hit.
But that means that it's now down to 2v2.
What the secret to the depth of the harsh sunlight does fade, if Ascilligian could love that one.
At some point in the game now, an Aqua Jet would cause those two Pokemon remaining to be a world champ, you should be talking about.
All he has to do now is find a way to knock out this Winsicott and Sneaselord.
It's a fantastic Pokemon to do it with.
However, will I knock out this Winsicott with my Sneasler?
Yeah, well, it could be a big advantage there still to protect, but Takuma is so close now
he hit exactly the right final Pokemon and he can case the world championships.
Takuma Yamazaki has worked so hard.
He has grinded at this year after year after year to just have an opportunity
to compete at the world championships and he has taken the most out of it possible
Getting here to eat decisive finals.
Wimsoncock will protect itself.
Charizard will protect itself.
Trying to catch something from Takuma here.
That's going to be the fate of Steedler.
Takuma showing his past.
Charizard falls for the fate.
Breaks through protect.
And the Oslo jet bleeds it up.
And Takuma calling the out of the double for that.
What a huge knockup.
We almost never see fate in this level of play.
It's so difficult to get in situations where it makes
difference, but there's nothing you can do. We have the perfect wimsikop. There's no counterpoint to that.
I don't think there's anything wimsikop can do.
There's nothing remaining for Wimsikop but to go back home and try again next year.
Takuma Yamazaki with the Diagram knocked out Wimsikop. And with that, Takuma Yamazaki is your World Champion!
What an incredible moment.
Takuma Yamazaki has worked so hard, so many thankless years, grinding away, competing
in this game that he loves.
And after all of that work, all of that dedication, he gets to stand tall in the center of the
Chase Center as our world champion.
I think he should be an inspiration for all trainers.
He shows that if you stick to it, if you're dedicated, if you keep battling through those
those are worth something he has earned that world championship he has worked so
hard for for so many years and impressive styles to flashy faint play to win
that decisive backup such a flashy way to become a world champion we almost
never get to see faint work but when it does oh boy it feels so good and all
man Scott I'm tearing up a little bit back here because seeing someone like
Takuma out there competing still after all these years competing at the highest
level and becoming now the world champion if you haven't won a regional it's
fine if you haven't won a international championship it's fine you can still come
to the world championships and be a world champion yeah if he hasn't started
playing yet start now now he proves the dedication is what matters he did
everything he had to do he put all that work in it just so awesome to see
a trainer with that work ethic. Definitely the underdog at court at
two most trainers come into this matchup and hey, it doesn't matter if people
don't believe in you, you have to believe in yourself and you did. What an
impressive way to play it. Again, I just love how things worked out, probably
just how he drew them up right. The combination of fakes and all these
put both but all these increased priority moves. You're dreaming of
situations like that one where there's nothing your opponent can do,
you've set up this perfect pin. Usually trying practice doesn't
work out that way, but he had such a great plan for this one. I think it
which is such a cool way to win.
Absolutely, and incredibly well-deserved from Takuma
to be our world champion.
And of course, congratulations to Hiroshi Onishi,
our finalist here at the World Championships.
No small feat to go all the way at the JCS
and now make it to the finals,
but it was Takuma Yamazaki who just had
a little bit of a better plan there in the end
and came out on top.
And you know what?
Congratulations to Dragonite
on your first world championship.
It's the best favorite Pokemon there. Great that it could pull off.
And great that it earned it, too. I was kind of wondering if we were going to see Drakonite this match up.
But I wound up being pretty pivotal there since the stage where it spreads to finish it off.
Alright, well it is time to go back down to stage.
Gabby, introduce our new world champion to the world.
Let's hear it for the top tier first world champion in the Masters Division.
Takuma Champion Takuma Yadazaki!
Takuma, you are our first world champion in the Masters Division for Pokemon Champions. How do you feel?
I'm the world champion of Pokemon Champions Masters. How do you feel now?
I absolutely cannot believe this. I am over the moon right now.
The casters were talking about how you started competing in 2009 and you never gave up to make it to this stage today.
Do you have any advice for anybody who is on their own Pokemon journey and who dreams of becoming a world champion?
What advice do you have for other players who want to be the world champion?
Yes, I have been training for more than 15 years.
I haven't been able to do it since the beginning.
Even if I didn't win, I think I won't give up and continue to continue.
So, let's enjoy the game together.
playing don't worry if you lose that's why I was able to make this far so just
don't give up keep going
and of course do you have any shout outs you want to give to anybody who might be
watching
I'm very grateful to have been able to help my family
who helped me and my friends and friends in America.
Thank you very much.
Yes, so many people practiced with me
for me to be able to make it this far.
People in America, that's why I was able to come
all the way here, people who practiced along with me.
Thank you all so, so much.
Let's hear it one more time for a 2026 Master's
World Champion Takuma Yamazaki!
Alright analysts, take it away.
Fifteen years of playing the Pokemon video game, culminating to this moment.
I know you've all cheated once, but let's cheer one more time for our world champion, Takuma Yamazaki!
What an amazing grand final that we have had here for all three of our video game divisions.
It has been just so inspiring to watch everybody to take the stage and to claim that title.
Fifteen years.
I was there at the very first Pokemon video game showdown when VGC officially became
a part of the competitive Pokemon circuit.
We were playing Diamond and Pearl, there were 32 players, we were in a small ballroom in
a hotel and here we are in 2026, so many years later making Pokemon history.
I cannot tell you guys what it feels like to be a part of this and you all are all a
part of history as well.
Give yourself a round of applause.
the finalists here showed us
such an incredible match. We
were watching here backstage
along with all of you in the
crowd. And I said just then if
you hadn't told me that these
were our juniors, I would not
have had any clue. I'm going
to be honest. I'm going to
be honest. I'm going to be
honest. I'm going to be
had any clue that they weren't our master's division players. Such a bright future for these two
champion competitors and I cannot wait to see what else we have in store for them.
It was just such a fun matchup as well featuring four different mega evolutions
and both of them playing their hearts out. It was such a thrilling three game set.
And to see two of the most popular team compositions go up against each other this
the game. It was just so
intense. It was just a good
setting. The fact that all
three five went to three
games. Yeah, much more
intense. Now I'm going to
have to have a little bit of
personal bias here because
Vikram is coming from the U.
K. As as do I and I could
not be proud to see just
how far our community has
come and Vikram just showed
us all the way through that
game. That was back and
forth all the way. Can't
all the way. Carlos played it so so well but they were just toe-to-toe in the end in that
game three. I couldn't believe how well Vickron positioned his archeradon just to take it to
that final placing. And both of them were on the precipice of history for their perspective
regions. Right. Vickron being the second world champion from the UK but of course Carlos had
a chance to do something amazing for Latin America as well. Coming in as the top points
leader, it was very impressive. No holds bar for all. And what a master's final
fight was. I think coming into this tournament the big question is, are we
going to see Charizard dethroned by another Pokemon for Mega Dragonite to
come out in game two and game three? I cannot tell you. The cheers in this stadium,
the roars when it mega evolved. Every time it got a knockout, every time it
took a survival just unbelievable and to stick with Dragonite right this classic
gambit of Dragonite's really good into Charizard it's not that great in a
flowette and to stick with it in games to even up losing to it and then bring
it in game three just absolutely phenomenal and you couldn't have asked
for a better picture finish. For all three of our champions here at the
World Championships let's throw it over to the stage we're gonna be
crowning our champions here in San Francisco.
Championship Sunday, baby.
Once again, living up to our expectations shaped by an entire year of
in anticipation, granting us the brand year this community deserves.
Thank you again to everyone here in the Chase Center and all of you
watching at home from all around the world for supporting these
extraordinary titles and these tenacious trainers who showed everything they have to offer on this stage.
As amazing as today was, we're not done yet. Let's go ahead and crown our final world champion
of the 2026 competitive season.
Let's celebrate our finalists for the Pokemon video game championships.
Starting off with the junior division, your runner up, Kazutaga Haudetory.
and the world champion in the
Junior Division.
Kazuki Kage.
Moving on to the Senior Division.
We have in the runner-up position
And your final world champion of the 2026 Pokemon World Championships,
Wee Crab, Tacoma, Yamazaki!
And with that, the 2026 competitive season has come to a close.
With everything that our trainers have showed us and all of you watching from home,
What work did we really ask for?
Well, there is one thing.
Soon enough, our closing ceremony will begin.
But as we prepare for what's to come,
let's head back to our analyst as they recap these matches
and all of the tremendous fun we have had
throughout this weekend.
Hello, everybody, what's up?
Of course, we've had a good opportunity.
so much action and honestly that finals in VGC just about the icing on the cake was beyond
phenomenal. I wasn't expecting Mega Dragonite, I don't know about you guys at home.
My heart's still racing honestly.
I'm a big fan of VGC, Mega Dragonite pulling through with this first champion. Amazing to see.
I mean, you know, it wasn't on really any of our radars coming in. The question was, is which which Dragon S Pokemon was going to be making it all the way, right? We thought it was going to be Charizard. The question was, is it going to be deprone?
Well, Tsukuba just showed that actually there was a different path to victory here. And not only that, another Dragonite made it through top eight as well. So it's not even just like this was a one off. This was a miracle run.
It happened twice in this world championship.
And not only that, they didn't even work together on that team.
Like, two people independently decided that Dragonite was the call for this tournament, which is super exciting.
So, Mega Dragonite fans, I know there's a lot of you out here in the arena.
Make some noise, yeah? Yeah? Yeah!
I had to do that once. Forgive me.
Alright, I'll let you off this time.
But let's jump back in time just a smidge and let's celebrate those Pokemon go finalists
once more and take a look at how the day wrapped out with Pokemon go because really it was something
special.
We had so much fun and honestly there were plays that I had never expected to see before
on Pokemon go either.
I've been playing a little bit myself this season and the better has changed so much in such a short span of time
And what's really cool, too, is that we've been getting new meta games for each of the international championships
So coming into the world championships
I also wasn't sure what we were gonna see but it was really exciting. I'm always looking forward to those brackets
Watching someone's journey from the losers bracket all the way to the grand finals be able to take that set away
have to just bring everything down to fortitude. They have closed up game three
everything on the line and it's very exciting to watch. Exactly that. I mean
it's just that those close finishes that exactly what you want on
Championship Sunday you you want to be thinking about like hey how can I do
everything that I can in that moment. I wasn't just Pokemon Go of course
Pokemon TCG. I've had such a roaring finals. We were watching backstage in
the green room and even though those games were so tight, our players showed so much
skill.
I mean, I was watching these juniors play and their sequencing was absolutely incredible.
Like, Pablo, you're our like TCG analyst.
I mean, surely you must have been like taking notes and just breaking the game down mentally.
Like, they were playing what looked to me flawlessly.
Absolutely.
I mean, master's level play for sure for both of them.
players are always very hard
to navigate correctly. And
both players like different
list, having different options
at their disposal, knowing
when to go aggressive, what not
to both players played
absolutely amazing this weekend.
It really goes to show that we
truly are at the world
championships when players of
this level just shine and that
really showed in our TCG
seniors bracket as well where
I think that's a good point.
One might have thought it might
have been a one sided affair.
If I gave you an on paper analysis
of both of these decks, you would
say, Oh, easy peasy, Levin's
greasies. I know who's going to
win. However, Kobe put up such
a fantastic fight, even winning
game one of the set by a land
side. And that's the point.
Isn't it when you win game one,
you get that leg up. And if
you've got a disadvantage in
I'm not sure if I'm going to
be able to get a game off of
my opponent and then maybe just
maybe in the next two games, I
can take stuff, take it all
the way, maybe find some
opportunity, but I mean, it
came back the other way. The
one side of matchup reared its
head in the end in that
series finals. And honestly,
the TCG Masters Finals was
the pleasure of witnessing Andrew Hedrick versus Diego was phenomenal. I could watch that again
and again. Honestly, that ending of the match, the lucky helmet finding that incredible line
by Andrew Hedrick, still having the option to possibly revivicate from that moment, but not
seeing the way out of that situation. Just amazing play between a veteran of the game and a
brand new name that is. Well, not brand new anymore, but really someone who's been in the
game for a bit less, but making a big name for himself.
Absolutely. Andrew has had so many fantastic finishes, winning regional after regional,
and now finally converting that into a world championship title.
Such a great way to do it as well. And what a great way to also crown some more young
players in VGC that have been able to show us an absolute masterclass. Like, looking at
this matchup, looking at all the matchups we had over the finals, this was one of the
most technical between all three of our sets of finalists. To see it in juniors is not only
a credit to the way that they're approaching it. They're using the same sort of teams
that we're used to seeing in the Masters division with all of their quirks, all of
their game plans, all of their flowcharts and seeing the way that both of these trainers
piloted those teams, it was honestly unbelievable.
I think it was Scott who said backstage that he thought this was honestly like a master's
finals if you just didn't show the player cameras.
It was so well played by both Kazuki and Kazutaka.
I really can't wait to see more from these trainers as they continue to grow in the
video game championship series.
Our seniors finals as well. I mean again another technical match between both Vikram and Carlos
It just felt neck and neck the entire time. They were trading blow-for-flow all the way through that game one
I don't think there was a KO until turn eight or nine. Yeah
Which is almost unheard of in this meta game where players are making trades
They're trying to get in the right position
And especially when you've got a team like Vikram's where you're using the sun and using the rain and you've got to try to get in the right position in this case, it was about getting that rain up against the sun that Carlos was bringing.
And he was able to do that so, so masterfully. And then in game three, I mean, just, both with game one and two, they were so close. They were so tight. They were neck and neck all the way.
the way then game three, Vikram just turned something on and was able to just take it by
storm and become our world champion. I was watching down here with Ben and we were both just in awe
as the players and then I learned a little bit about these two from Ben as well and my goodness
I was flawed with some of the information. You know what Ben why don't you go over what you
You know, this is crazy, I really did think looking at this matchup, no way, no way, no
way are we going to see that dragonite coming out, right?
And through it comes out, Takuma doesn't win that game, Hiroshi finds a way through using
the double fairy, the whimzacott, the flowette, boosted by the fairy aura, it's putting
so much pressure on. You had the Basque Legions battling up against each other. The two Lyphobes
battling it down as well. The two King Gambits facing off the ground with different sets.
So many things in common, but so many things different between these two teams. And then
game three, Charizard Dragonite. And I feel like this is the ultimate way to dethrone
a Charizard in the world finals, right?
In the 30th year of Pokemon as well, the two OGs from red and green and blue.
We've been waiting 30 years to see whether or not it's Charizard or Dragonite and we've
got at least some evidence as to the answer.
And of course we have to save the best for last, at least for this year.
We have to talk about Pokemon Unite as they were able to finally, our final crown, their
final world champion here this year.
Let's talk about some usage stats first and what I find really interesting about United is just how different their
Medi came up compared to some of the other titles present here
I mean if you would have told me that there would have been 86% usage on for alligator only
Next to 85% usage on Bosch and throughout the weekend. I mean, this is this is yeah
This is also like picks and bands, right exactly. Yeah comes up in the draft
How many times has that happened all the way through the tournament?
I mean, I'm sure VGC is a little jealous that they get to use you because we have that physicals available
I'm looking at the side-up
I'm looking at the side-up, looking pretty juicy right now
I mean, mega for a legator as well
Probably a little jealous of it, not a mega counter for a tier 4
We'll get Mio eventually, we just gotta, you know, find it first
Maybe go on an adventure to some range of course
I saw a trope outside, I don't know if
Yeah, oh, that's a good shout, that's a good shout.
I'll tell you where else Raleigh tends to come up.
It's actually in Pokemon Go, but it's dropped off the meta recently.
And actually, we've seen a higher percentage of Don Dozo kind of taking that top spot.
And I was really pleased to see history in Electrode
because that's a Pokemon that I haven't managed to get on my team yet,
but I'm really anticipating that it's going to continue to do well.
But you did just finish using your golden bottle cap on your course a lot of weekend. There it is number three in usage
Pretty cool to see all the variety. I love
Licky leaky tikka talk
Empolia that story that doesn't usually feature in other games. I mean, I love the variety all the games that
The gameplay allows. I mean some of the exciting thing about the different formats
Yeah, and games like you talk to
players from TCG versus VGC versus Go and the different Pokemon that are available, the different Pokemon that we're like,
hey, that's the strongest thing in our game, right?
It always varies across the board and seeing Pokemon go playing in the Great League, of course,
it has to bring some creativity, the stronger the Pokemon overall, the kind of weaker that it is in the competition.
You have to balance that between using some Pokemon that aren't necessarily as strong on paper,
but actually become a lot stronger.
Licky-licky at 62.5% usage is absolutely crazy to see.
You'd never see it in the video game, right?
Well, not yet, but maybe someday.
Maybe someday.
So, I can't surprise these two with this question,
but I can surprise you.
Who do you think is number one in usage in TCG this weekend?
I mean, I would go for Dragapult.
Okay, well, let's roll that graphic.
And Survey says you were right by a significant margin.
But I mean when we're talking about scary Pokemon, have you read what Vodiu does?
Everyone's got this big fat mega evolution Pokemon, Vodiu stops half of your opponent's deck from being new.
Oh, that's the itchy pollen! That's the itchy pollen!
I've completed words in TT2.
That's probably eyes have actually been itching off.
There you go.
Now I'll tell you what, although it says obviously we have 29.4% Dragonpole,
That's actually quite a low conversion rate from our initial pool of Dragapult where it was much larger
So the players really did some great innovating to be able to bring these other decks really far much further up on the graphic
Especially crustal, but we were seeing really dominate those top tables
I feel like
Slo-king as well was a subjective conversation going into some of our
Like NAIC and some of the regional competitions as well as like hey
Maybe this is a little bit more technical like you've got to solve a puzzle every
turns. But actually seeing it come in and the favorite coming into the world
championships is something I'd really like to see, like players looking and saying,
hey, right, I'm meant to be at the top of my game, I want to use something that
can express that skill. That slogan definitely brought like a shame and conundrum
to the whole meta game in terms of whether you run shame into counter-slowing,
you're a spectre or not. So many things that play out like you said, but a lot of
puzzles to be solved each and every turn but I mean DGC has its own puzzles every
turn so many possibilities such a variety in the metagame as well King Gambit at
the very top that's very surprising to me. It is and it isn't I mean if you've
been paying attention to the metagames MA and MB as we've been calling him in
Pokemon champions I think King Gambit up at the top is it too too surprising
what jumps out at me the most honestly is Megastar after down at number
are presumably Megasco after at least and Megasco villain at number 12. I mean I was expecting to see
Star after maybe a little bit higher for a day to conversion our face to conversion and I wasn't
expecting to see Megasco villain make the graphic at all to be quite frank. Yeah there was a lot of
conversion for Megasco villain mega frost last the team that won in the juniors division but only
two of them made it into top cut but those two scovilla and frost last also made it to top
so they converted so well across the tournament almost the perfect position for that sort of
position. That's what's been happening in our grassroots tournaments right. But now we've
got a little bit of fun that we can have with everyone in the audience. We've got a
little QR code that we're going to be able to show you. You can scan it, you can get
up here on the graphic, see if you can be up here on the big stage and join us here
on camera so get out your cameras scan that QR code there we go that's it show
us all of your plushy magic there I want to see your be do flush please
Oh wow, oh look at this, come on, they're togabey hats!
Shuffle! Shuffle! Hello!
Hello!
Oh! Hello!
I love you.
What a beautiful, what a beautiful close-up, what a beautiful close-up.
I love it when arenas have that little bit of interactive elements to it.
Technology is incredible!
Alright, well, I mean, what a world championship this has been, right?
Top to tail, it's been such an amazing event across all of our games.
We've had so much action Friday, we've had so much action Saturday,
coming into here on Championship Sunday.
I don't think anyone could be disappointed
at what we've seen at all.
This has been such an amazing championship.
And I just want to thank everyone here, our players,
everyone that's turned up to support
all of our champions this weekend.
But not only that, support Pokemon XP,
support all of the competitors
that maybe you've traveled with as well.
This has just been the perfect storm.
This has been the biggest world championship
We couldn't have done it without you.
But that's enough for a month. Let's go ahead and kick it to closing ceremonies!
There's a spark in our hands
All night, it's no sleep
Just a shot at the plan
Hey
This is our time right now
Hell no fear, no doubt
Now we walk back down
We could be champions
Side by side, we're the main star of the world
We can go up and down, up and down
Never come down
We could be champions
Yes, one more thing, we have the best
This could be happiness
We can play it all
Oh, we could be
Instead of a return where we're daring in the way
Oh, I'm gonna run
I'm just gonna smoke out
And move and release
This is our time
Right now
And I don't feel no doubt
No, we won't back down
We could be champions
Side by side, we're the medium of trouble
We can go up under, down under, down under
Down under, down under
We could be champions
It's for nothing, we're only there like the rest
We'll be the champions
Champions
Oh
Oh, oh, oh
Champions
about the other hundred shadows in the bright sunlight.
And I know how to put my mind to the test.
I love to spin and I'll make it last without a reason.
Show up every season and maybe I'll win this time.
Sometimes I rise and the horizon when return I stumble shy, I don't want to shine on you
You know I'm not even my own
Cause even when we should be the only ones that should call me
No check, they don't even let me turn
I don't have any stronger
I put it all on the line
You'll never give up on me
Don't you ask me what I'm gonna do
For the love of the game
What you do for me
You'll never give up on me
No one gonna give a name
I do it for the love of the game
You can make room for me
Room for me
I'm standing next to you, close to the ocean, yeah
I didn't know that speed was gonna get away
And I'm gonna, I'm gonna be alright
I'm turning all your life, I'm never gonna look back
It's only that's why I do what I'll never forget
Never put out the flames, no more here and there
My two and one lovers, they are my lovers
Never put out the flames, no more here and there
My two and one lovers again
Never put out the flames, no more here and there
I want to be the very best I know whatever was
To catch them is my little test To train them is my goal
I will travel across the land of space and get it all in one
This Pokemon to understand how it does inside
Pokemon got attention on me
And now the time has ended
Oh, you've never spent in a world where you've lost your faith
It won't matter everyday, to make my life more great
Come with me in the times, there's no time
I'm not a fool, I'm not a fool
It's always been my dream
I'm not a fool
You know it's my destiny
Oh, you might have spent
You don't move me much, you can't move me
I'm so drunk, the courage won't pass through
You don't teach me, I'll teach you
Fuck it, I'm not gonna catch you
I'm not gonna catch you
I'm gonna catch you
I'm not gonna catch you
I'm gonna catch you
I gotta catch up more!
In the world, they've got to be me
I'm gonna get you in my heart
So true
I'm very far from you
I'm reaching out to you
I'm gonna get you in my heart
Turn it up.
Woo!
Now that's what I'm talking about!
Give it up one more time for our dancers, orchestra,
Arquire, Pokemon, and Lauren Allred.
You are so wonderful.
I'm not thinking we are any way along or so.
Thank you so much for the opportunity!
This is how a community comes together and if anyone knows how to do it, it's the Pokemon community.
As we continue with our celebration, it is important for us to take a moment to recognize what brought us all here.
No matter where you journeyed from, at some point in our lives, we all fell in love with
Pokemon.
And that shared affection brought us here under one roof to celebrate, compete, and support
one another in the way only trainers can.
And that is something we should truly cherish.
This community is truly remarkable and I love it if you could join me in thanking all of
the people that make an event like this possible.
So please give a wonderful thank you to our judges, developers, production crew partners.
And of course, the trainers that would ask for a team they had on the biggest stage Pokemon
has to offer.
We've witnessed breathtaking competition.
We've soaked in a captivating performance.
Now, friends, let's get loud.
Stop your feet, put your hands together,
make some noise, and give your warmest welcome
of the weekend to the president
and CEO of the Pokemon Company, Mr. Sunidazu Ishihara.
Hara!
Congratulations to the new world champion.
Congratulations to all of our new Pokemon world champions.
The final matches were incredible to watch.
And of course I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of the staff
to help make this incredible event possible.
And now, I would like to share the latest Pokemon news with you all.
The number of Pokemon or functions has been added,
but it will continue to be added.
Please take a look at this.
Pokemon Go is the first Pokemon to be used in the Go Battle League.
Now it's just all for the first time in Pokemon Go.
A mega of all Pokemon will be eligible to compete in the Go Battle League.
So I'm really excited to see what new strategies will emerge, as trainers battle with their thrungs and rivals alike, and I hope you'll discover your own unique team combinations and battle strategies.
So make a vault Pokemon will become available in the go battle beginning with the go fest mega finale.
So please jump in and experience these new features for you to enjoy yourselves.
And next, anything spent will also mark the return of Armored Mewtwo for the first time in six years.
Please look forward to that as well.
And to all the trainers joining us here in San Francisco, following this closing ceremony,
Special Mega Wraiths will be taking place throughout the city.
We hope to continue to enjoy Wraiths after the show,
and look forward to the special encounters that await you
with the new Mega Bad Pokémon.
Next, I'd like to share news about the Pokemon trading card game.
Pokemon cards are supported by everyone around the world, and this year is the 30th anniversary.
Today, I have prepared a video that can help you understand the future of Pokemon cards.
Thanks to the support of fans around the world, the Pokemon trading card game has also reached its 30th anniversary.
And today, we prepared a video which offers a sneak peek into its future.
Let's take a look.
What did you think?
A long-glass Z Mega Evolution will soon be appearing in the Pokemon trading card game as well.
You will also see the addition of a new Mega Attack Rare card, and the launch of what's
next following the Pokemon T-Shirt Mega Evolution series, so please stay tuned for future
announcements.
Next, we have a very special video that we'd like to share with everyone around the world.
This is a project revealing to the world for the very first time.
For the first time in seven years, the new Pokemon movie is on its way.
And the protagonist of this new story is a Pokemon TCG player who is battling and striving
to become a champion, like many of you here today.
And this film aims to showcase its competitive spirit for battles shared by trainers around
the world.
We're hard at work on production, and we're really looking forward to bringing it to audiences
everywhere soon.
Pokemon Life is a card that will be released in 2027, and we'll be waiting for the future
information.
For the film, Pokemon Wild Card will be released starting in 2027.
Please look forward to future updates.
This year also marks the first time that Pokemon Champions has joined the World Championship
We're really excited that so many of you fans have enjoyed the game so far and the evolution of the iconic battle systems.
So now I'd like to share some of the latest news about Pokemon Champion.
As you can see, a variety of new Pokemon, including Z Mega Votions, will be coming to Pokemon
champions starting September 9th in Japan standard time.
And we hope you also enjoy the more thrilling that they bring to the battles.
Thank you.
Okay.
So while our time together here in San Francisco is drawing to close, we can already look forward
to more adventures together next week. But where will the destination be?
Let's get over to them at that point. Let's take a look.
TAKAZUKI ASEAN
In 2020, the World Champion Six will be held in Japan
in Japan for the first time.
TAKAZUKI ASEAN
So the 2027 Pokemon World Championships will return to Asia for the first time since 2023
when we had the event in Japan.
We look forward to welcoming all of you to the beautiful city of Singapore.
Congratulations on your new world champion.
And to all the fans who supported me this week,
I would like to thank them.
Congratulations once again to our newly crowned world champions.
And thanks to all the Pokemon community
for showing up in full force this weekend to cheer them on.
And to all the people who have been supporting me
since the last time I was here.
And to all of you watching us online from around the world, thank you for joining us.
And now, that brings us to the end of our broadcast.
We'll see you again in 2027.
Thank you for watching!
You
I
Oh!
you