Catching up on the Pokémon US Nationals.
☆ NintendObs Weekly – Monday, July 11, 2016 – Sunday, July 17, 2016.
Video Game Nationals Day One Wrap-Up
Find out which strategies made fireworks on Friday.
July 01, 2016
The Video Game National Championships kicked off with nine rounds of exhilarating Masters Division play Friday morning in Columbus, Ohio. Over 400 video game players competed for chance to become a National Champion and for their share of a prize pool of over $50,000, and a fresh batch of Senior and Junior Division players will join them on Saturday. After nine rounds of best-of-three play, 35 players finished with a record of at least 7 wins and 2 losses or better, earning the right to move on to the next stage of play on Saturday. Remember, you can watch these battles for yourself tomorrow on Pokemon.com/Live.
Most of the top players in North America have focused on teams using Primal Groudon paired with either Xerneas or Primal Kyogre so far this season. No one knew for sure if that trend would continue in Columbus after the rise of some new team combinations emerged at some other recent National Championships. A team pairing Rayquaza with Primal Groudon won at the National Championship in Japan, while a team combining Rayquaza and Xerneas took home the championships in Italy. With many players predicting a decline in the success of the “Double Primal” teams using Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, including defending champion Toler Webb, Rayquaza seemed poised to finally make a serious mark on competition in North America after its two big victories.
As most players expected, teams featuring Groudon and Xerneas dominated the field on Friday. The two combined to be the most successful pairing of restricted Pokémon by far, managing to take more than half of the spots in top cut. With so many player choosing this duo, there were a variety of different strategies on display. But the most common teammates for Groudon and Xerneas were the same as we’ve seen at most recent tournaments: Kangaskhan, Salamence, Smeargle, and either Bronzong or Cresselia.
Despite some players’ expectations entering the tournament, Double Primal remained the second most common pairing of restricted Pokémon among players who made the top cut. Unlike at Spring Regionals, where it was nearly as common as teams using Groudon and Xerneas, only a handful of players made it to Saturday using Double Primal. Most of these players used similar team compositions, combining their restricted Pokémon with Thundurus, a Bronzong or Cresselia that was taught Trick Room, Mawile or Salamence, and Kangaskhan.
Rayquaza may not have been the most common Pokémon during the first day of competition, but it did perform much better in Columbus than it had at any previous event in North America. Groudon was Rayquaza’s most successful partner, but some players also successfully made it to the top cut by pairing Rayquaza with Kyogre.
Plenty of other combinations of restricted Pokémon made it to Day 2 play. Yveltal with Groudon, Rayquaza with Kyogre, Groudon with Dialga, Mewtwo with Groudon, White Kyurem and Groudon, and Xerneas with Kyogre all proved powerful enough to move on to Saturday. And we saw a huge variety of unrestricted Pokémon on top teams, too: Clefairy, Sableye, Noivern, Hitmontop, Ditto, Mega Venusaur, and even Lunatone will move on and continue battling for a National Championships.
The results from Friday can be seen here. Each player will start Saturday with a fresh record, so everyone will have to win at least four games of their six matches tomorrow in order to make it to the top cut. The top players will then continue on to a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion, with the semifinals and finals taking place on Sunday. Tune into tomorrow at Pokemon.com/Live to see all the action, and check out some of the most interesting teams that didn’t move on to Saturday here.
— Pokémon News
Source: Pokémon.
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