Published on August 13th, 2014 | by Scott

2014 Pokémon Video Game World Championships Masters Division Preview

Each of the participating country’s National tournaments have concluded. The best players in the world have defeated their local rivals. This weekend, the 2014 World Championships are upon us, and players will compete not to be just the best player in their country, but the best player in the entire world. If you can’t make it out to the event to see a champion crowned yourself, or if you’re leaving some friends at home who’d like to see the show, the stream starts bright and early around 9 AM EDT on Saturday.

In 2013, we saw Italy’s Arash Ommati defeat Japan’s Ryosuke Kosuge to become the first European world champion. Before that, Ray Rizzo had an unprecedented three-year reign as world champion spanning from 2010 to 2012. Prior to Ray, some of us expected there might never be a world champion from any country other than Japan, as the Japanese players dominated the field in 2008, 2009, and frankly even in 2010.

Which players will add their names to the pantheon of Pokemon greats? Which countries have the best shot at coming out on top? When is registration? Who is plaid? Find out the answers to these questions and more as we overview the Masters Division of the 2014 Pokémon Video Game World Championships!

Schedule and Tournament Format

Friday

World Championships Player Check-in: 5:00-7:00 PM Bring ID!

World Championships Player Meeting: 7:00-8:00 P.M.

Saturday

Opening Ceremony: 9 A.M.
Pokémon World Championships: 9:30 A.M.

Swiss

• Six (probably) Swiss rounds.
• All matches are best-of-three.
• The top 8 players move on to the elimination segment of the tournament.

Top Cut

• Three rounds of single-elimination seeded from the Swiss stage of the tournament.
• All matches are best-of-three.
• The top 8 and top 4 matches will take place on Saturday, while the finals will take place on Sunday.

As far as I know, 56 players are confirmed to be attending right now. The LCQ will add four more. As a result, if none of the players we’re unsure about attend (there are three total), the distribution of records will be as follows:

Record –  Expected Amount of Players With Record

• 6-0 – 0.94
• 5-1 – 5.63
• 4-2 – 14.06
• 3-3 – 18.75
• 2-4 – 14.06
• 1-5 – 5.63
• 0-6 – 0.94

One or two of the 13 or 14 players with 4-2 records will make it to top cut. Additionally, several of the 4-2 players will bubble out of the top 16, which is relevant for the prizes below.

Prizes

1st Place

• A Pokémon World Champion Trophy
• An invitation to the 2015 World Championships
• A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered minors) to the 2015 World Championships
• A scholarship award worth $3,500
• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

2nd Place

• A Pokémon World Championships Second-Place Trophy
• An invitation to the 2015 World Championships
• A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered minors) to the 2015 World Championships
• A scholarship award worth $1,500
• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

3rd Place

• A Pokémon World Championships Third-Place Trophy
• An invitation to the 2015 World Championships
• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

4th Place

• A Pokémon World Championships Fourth-Place Trophy
• An invitation to the 2015 World Championships
• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

5th through 8th Place

• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

9th through 16th Place

• Two boxes of Pokémon TCG: XY—Flashfire expansion booster packs

The Metagame

As the tournament concluding the 2014 VGC season, the metagame before the World Championships is very well-established. There are a few key trends within the 2014 format’s metagame that spectators and players should keep an eye on.

It is no secret to anyone that Kangaskhan is the de facto best Pokemon in the format. It may well be stronger in this format than any other Pokemon has ever been in any season. Will more players choose to use Kangaskhan, or will more players try to focus on countering it using teams built around other Mega Pokémon like Mawile, Lucario, and Tyranitar? There will likely be no shortage of the non-Mega Pokemon that work well against Kangaskhan like Ferrothorn, Aegislash, Amoonguss, Garchomp, and Salamence, but the choice of Megas by top players will define these World Championships.

Rain has been a shockingly effective fad throughout the National tournaments. The Korean, American, and UK National tournaments were all won by Rain teams. In the case of US Nationals, there were also several other Rain teams near the top. I feel like this is one archetype where the secret is out and players will likely choose to be more prepared against at Worlds as opposed to running it themselves. However, I not would be surprised if a few people don’t try it. In the right hands, it could still be effective.

The World Championships tend to be defined by a handful of brilliant ideas that are much better solutions to popular team compositions in the format than what anyone else came up with. We’ve had most of a year to play this format, and players understand what their opponents are likely to use. Now is the time to find the holes in those patterns.

In 2011, Ray Rizzo won through the use of some spreads and Pokemon that endured attacks much more effectively than his opponents’ did, like Bold Thundurus and his surprising use of Gothitelle. In 2012, the standout team was Wolfe Glick’s Exeggutor/Heatran team, which was very difficult for teams in that format to break due to the short time limit. There were more than a few interesting solutions to 2013, with Sejun Park’s Magmar/Jellicent team standing out as the most remembered, but Arash Ommati’s Mamoswine ended up being the Pokemon that carved through enough of the metagame to win him the World Championship. Someone, or more likely several players, will have genius solutions to this format that vault them to the top of the standings. Who will it be, and what will they be using?

The Last Chance Qualifier

On Friday, players from all over the world will get one last chance to qualify for the World Championships. The format of the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) is listed below:

Check-in: 10 a.m.–11 a.m.

Players’ Meeting: 1 p.m.

• Battle Boxes will be locked at check-in. All players who advance from the LCQ to the World Championships will have the opportunity to change their teams.
• Players who aren’t in their assigned seats for the Players’ Meeting will be dropped from the event.
• Players who aren’t in line for check-in by 11 a.m. will be denied entry into the event.

Tournament Format

• Single-Elimination
• All matches are best-of-three.
• The players remaining at the end of the tournament receive invitations to compete the next day in the 2014 World Championships.

While not technically part of the World Championships, the LCQ is an exciting way to kick-off the event. Everyone attending the event gets one last shot to make it into Worlds. What happened in the rest of the season no longer matters. Winning enough matches in a row will get players directly into the World Championships. The qualified players tend to gather around the LCQ and watch intently to see who will be joining their ranks and what players are using on the eve of the big event.

The question on everyone’s mind for now: who will be the final players to make it through? The Last Chance Qualifier is as global of an event as the World Championships themselves, and many countries will be represented by some impressive players trying to claim the remaining spots. While with over 400 preregistrations and the always interesting single-elimination format it’s difficult to predict who will actually make it through reliably, there are definitely some interesting storylines from all over the world.

One of the more interesting aspirant players is Barry Anderson (Baz Anderson) of the UK, who finished 9th in the 2013 World Championships. He had a rougher season this year and missed out on an invitation to Worlds, but after winning the Nugget Bridge Invitational recently he’s shown that he’s back on his game . Considering how well he did in the actual World Championships last year, he’s proven he’s capable of making it through the grinder.

Perhaps the most interesting story of Italy’s pre-Worlds season is one that is still being told. Matteo Gini (Matty) is (presumably) coming to Worlds without an invitation for the first time since he became the first European player to make it to the finals of the VGC World Championships in 2011. He qualified for all of the Generation 5-era World Championships. After he dominated the European circuit last year, it was quite shocking to see him fall short of an invitation in 2014. Matteo will be one of the most interesting players to watch in the Last Chance Qualifier.

Germany has surprisingly few players going for the LCQ this year, but one interesting name that will be competing is Luca Breitling-Pause (sewadle). He qualified for the 2012 and 2013 World Championships as a Senior, finishing in the middle of the pack both years, but is worth watching given his previous success and how well some of the graduated Seniors have done all over the world. One other interesting European representatives is Alexander Kuhn (Hibiki) from Austria, who is one of VGC’s more promising recent entrants.

The country that might make the biggest splash in the LCQ this year is Japan. While Japan never has a great number of players playing in the LCQ, the players they do have typically do very well, much like in the actual World Championships. This year, Japan will apparently be sending over 40 players, something that should definitely intimidate the rest of the field a little. The two highest profile players are probably Jimon Togekiss and Viera, both of whom participated in the 2014 Japanese National Championships. I can’t remember too many times we’ve even had someone from Japanese Nationals play in LCQ other than Aita in 2012. While that LCQ run didn’t end up working so well, I’d have to figure these two probably have the best shots of making it through of anyone in the field. Certainly, with so many Japanese players and how well Japan has done in the past, it’s hard to imagine Japan doesn’t take at least one of the LCQ invitations. The pressure is sure on for everyone else!

While we didn’t end up getting to see them invade Australian Nationals after all, Singapore got its first Worlds Invitation through the 2013 LCQ and several players will be trying to repeat the act this year. Australia will be getting involved early on Friday with Phil Nguyen (Boomguy), who was featured on the first round of the Nugget Bridge Invitational stream. Even Taiwan is apparently sending a few players!

While the days of the LCQ just being four more spots for North America are long behind us, as usual the lion’s share of competitors in the LCQ will be Americans. Most of the country’s top players who don’t live in the western part of the country will be in attendance, which leads to a list of potential threats so long it’s hard to make much sense of it. Standout players of days gone by include Wolfe Glick (Wolfey), who is in a similar spot to Matteo as a former Worlds finalist without an invite after three years of qualification. Simon Yip (Simon) just barely missed Worlds for a second year in a row after finishing top 8 at US Nationals, but as the only player from that top 8 competing in LCQ, he has to be a favorite here. Some other players who just missed Worlds in North America like Blake Hopper (Mrbopper) and Ben Irons (benjitheGREAT) look to be big threats as well. Canada’s best bet at getting a second competitor will be in former National champion Tony Cheung (Chinese Dood), who does have a Regional win under his belt this year. Some other long-time Worlds veterans looking for big runs here include Trista Medine (ryuzaki), Matt Coyle (PrettyLittleLiar), and Huy Ha (Huy). Finally, Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka) made it to the top four of the Nugget Bridge Invitational, showing his time in the TCG hasn’t dulled his skills.

The Qualified Players

From here on, the preview will list all of the countries who currently have players qualified for and attending the Masters VGC World Championship and the players who will be representing them. I’ll also provide some information about the players themselves, the 2014 VGC season before Worlds in each country, and the history each country has in VGC.

 Australia

1. Dayne O’Meara (Umberiffic) — 1st Australia
2. Michael W.  — 2nd Australia
3. Tony Nguyen (Competny) — Top 4 Australia
4. Chris Kan — 9th Australia

Australia saw more expansion than any other region this year. Last year it was a surprise to have Australia involved at all, and a National tournament late in the season that caught the local players off-guard just as much as the players in the rest of the world sent Ben Kilby and Hugh Ronzani to the 2013 World Championships in Vancouver. Both players finished 1-5, an underwhelming but understandable start for Australia.

This year, Australia had information announced much sooner, leaving players much more time to prepare. Australia also expanded to a much larger circuit with Regional events in a variety of locations, enabling a great deal more players to participate than in 2013. Australia’s representatives should be more prepared than in 2013 as a result of their improved circuit, and twice as many players will be attending, as well. Australia functions a little differently than other regions as its unpaid invitations pass down to the highest finishing player who makes it to DC, so Australia will be showing off three of the players from its National top four and a fourth player who lost in the round of 16.

I’m going to be honest here: I think it would be absolutely shocking to the rest of the world if one of the Australian players finished higher than 2-4. It’s exciting to see another region getting enough support that there’s real growth within the region, but it’s going to be an uphill battle for the Australian players to catch up to the best players in the rest of the world. The World Championship will provide some valuable experience for the Australian players at worst, and the Australian community seems to have much higher expectations for their players than the rest of the world does at best.

 Canada 

1. Randy Kwa (R Inanimate)

After hosting the World Championship last year, Canada has been demoted to extra this year, getting no events in VGC above the level of Premier Challenge. Perhaps this contributed to Canada only having a sole representative this year in Randy Kwa, who just barely made it in on the CP from his US Nationals finish. While Canada is shorthanded once again after an unfavorable circuit, it could have done much worse than Randy. Randy started out last year with a big 3-0 start in Worlds before falling to 3-3. Considering the hot start and a loss to the tournament’s 6-0, Sejun Park, if he’d gotten that fourth win in the fifth round he had a solid shot at being the first Canadian player to make it to Masters VGC’s top cut. This year, Randy looks to take the step he couldn’t last year.

 Germany 

1. Markus Stadter (13Yoshi37) — 1st EU
2. Florian Wurdack (DaFlo) — 2nd EU
3. Baris Ackos (Billa) — 7th EU
4. Matthias Suchodolski (Lega) — 9th EU
5. Eloy Hahn (Dragoran5) — 11th EU
6. Nemanja Sandic (Porengan) — 13th EU
7. Matthias Hellmoldt (Tyvyr) — 15th EU
8. Timo Koppetsch (37TimoK1) — 17th EU
9. Jan Michelberger (Lati) — 23rd EU
10. Markus Liu (Henrique) — 24th EU

One of the nations that typically manage to send the most players to Worlds, Germany had typically been cursed with middling finishes when the big day came. That changed last year, when  Matthias Hellmoldt’s 4-1-1 record made him the first German player to make it to the top cut of Masters VGC. This year the German players look to repeat and improve upon that performance, and they certainly have the roster of players to do it. Germany will have the most players representing it of any of the European countries. The numbers are backed by quality, as it also boasts six players in the top eleven of Europe. The results so far show pretty clearly that the Germans were kings in Europe this year. Expect them to solidify their spot as one of VGC’s stronger nations at Worlds.

The German roster is full of players with Worlds experience, with most of the roster returning from last year. While Matthias will be back in action this year, the player most of Germany, and perhaps all of the Europe, are expecting to put up the biggest finish is Markus Stadter. Markus went undefeated at German Nationals, the first National tournament of the European circuit. His decisive victory was an impressive statement to show he was as skilled as the hype around him going into the tournament indicated. Many fans seem to be putting him in that top group of players with Sejun Park, Ray Rizzo, and the Japanese representatives in the group of players with the highest expectations. He’ll have a lot to live up to, but he’s come a long way since his 3-3 finish in 2012.

There are plenty of other German players who have above average shots at big runs here. Florian Wurdack is the second National champion from the German group, taking the crown from a bizarre tournament in Italy. Like Markus, he missed Worlds in 2013 and finished 3-3 in 2012, but he’ll be coming into this tournament with much higher expectations. Baris Ackos and the aforementioned Matthias Hellmoldt both put up four wins at Worlds last year. While there’s less hype around them this year, having put 4 wins up at Worlds puts them in a small group of players and they should always be considered big threats because of it. Matthias Suchodolski is also returning from last year’s Worlds roster, and with a solid 9th place finish in the European circuit he seems poised to repeat or improve.

Ireland

1. Kelly Mercier-White (Kellster Cartier)

People play VGC in Ireland? That’s pretty cool. I believe Kelly is the first player to represent Ireland in Masters VGC, so Kelly will have a chance to set a bar here and tread some new ground! Typically the field is hard on first year players, so Kelly may need the luck of the Irish for this one, which seems like it would be really powerful in this game. Arash did win the World Championship in his first year last year, so it’s not unheard of.

 Italy 

1. Arash Ommati (Mean) — 2013 Masters World Champion
2. Umberto Palini (Terrakhaos) — 15th EU
3. Alberto Gini (Alby) — 30th EU

Italy has a storied history in VGC. In spite of never seeming to send the quantity of players other countries have, Italy has always had the quality. In 2011, Italy sent two of the first four players from Europe to the Masters top cut in Francesco Pardini and Matteo Gini. Matteo went on to become the first European player to make it to the finals in VGC, coming within a game of defeating eventual champion Ray Rizzo. Last year, Arash Ommati was able to finish what Matteo started, defeating Ryosuke Kosuge to become the 2013 Masters VGC World Champion.

It will be an uphill battle for the Italian players to keep up with the high standard they’ve set for themselves. It seems only three players from Italy will be attending this year, with a noticeable hole in the roster from Matteo surprisingly failing to qualify. Arash, at least, will be back to defend his crown. He has been almost criminally underestimated by most players coming into this event. While I certainly wasn’t expecting him to win last year, I expected Arash to finish at least 4-2 last year, so I don’t think his skill level should have surprised anyone much. Keeping that in mind and after seeing how cleanly he dominated the top cut of the 2013 World Championships, it is a little strange to me that people seem so quick to forget about Arash. He’s had some troubles adjusting to this format, but he’s had a year to do it and he’s one of the fastest studies VGC has ever had. I would be shocked if he isn’t at least sniffing at top cut.

Alberto is also worth noting. He just barely made it into Worlds this year, but he does have experience from making it to the World Championships last year after a 2013 season that was much more convincing. I think having had that exposure to Worlds does wonders for most players, so perhaps Alberto will be able to help carry Italy this time.

 Japan 

1. Ryosuke Kosuge (gebebo) — 2nd 2013 Masters World Championship
2. Yosuke Isagi (Tony) — 1st Japan
3. Ryouta Otsubo (Barudoru) — 2nd Japan
4. Daichi Kumabe (Scar) — Top 4 Japan
5. Yuuya Katou (Kenji) — Top 4 Japan

As would be expected of the birthplace of Pokemon, Japan has always been one of the most dominant nations in VGC. After taking home the championship in 2009 and 2010, Japan didn’t compete in 2011 and saw a great reduction in invites after that. Only two competitors from Japan made it to the 2012 World Championships, though in spite of that Jumpei Yamato still finished 8th. Jumpei was inches from beating eventual champion Ray Rizzo in top cut, who had much more convincing wins over his other adversaries. Last year Japan ended up with three competitors, with Osamu Shinomoto making it in through LCQ and finishing 3-3, Yuki Matsumoto (haruto) finishing 10th, and Ryosuke Kosuge finishing in 2nd place. Ryosuke was the first Japanese player to make it to the finals since 2010, and 2014 should be Japan’s best shot at winning it all again since 2010.

Japan’s invite structure finally expanded to four paid trips and four unpaid invites this year, which is at least a more reasonable amount of invites for such a strong country. The champion representing Japan this year is Yosuke Isagi, who looked awfully good in Japan’s Masters finals. I’ve been told he’s been very studious about his preparation for Worlds, and frankly if he plays half as well as it seemed he did in Japan’s Nationals I’d expect to see him in top cut. I haven’t seen many games from any of the other players here other than Scar, who is also very good, but I think all of these players’ accomplishments speak for themselves. Japan is by far the most difficult country in the world to qualify for the World Championships from, so by virtue of having done so I would expect them all to be finishing near the top of the field.

One interesting case here is Ryosuke Kosuge, who qualified by making it to last year’s finals. I know a lot of spectators only remember him for his use of Swagger, but he played to his win conditions extremely well last year and had a very clever team. I have heard he has preferred formats other than VGC ’14 this year, so I’m not sure how practiced he will be. However, he definitely earned my respect as a player last year regardless of getting some fortunate bounces. I think Ryosuke’s is another name no one should want to see against them on the pairings board.

It should be noted that the players who lost in the round of 8 during Japan’s National tournament also received unpaid invitations. I know one of them isn’t going, but the other three are the only players who we couldn’t get information on one way or the other. Japan may end up starting with as many as eight competitors, but will definitely have at least five.

South Africa

1. Gavin Jones (Jayhonas)
2. ??? (dotNinja)

South Africa was one of the countries VGC expanded to in a big way for the first time this year. 2014 was the first year for South African Nationals, and with it, our first South African National finalists will be attending the World Championships. I’m very excited to see these guys were able to make the trip because South Africa’s finalists received only an invitation, rather than a trip or stipend. It should be a great experience for them moving forward to get to play against the best players from the rest of the world, and perhaps after having to pay for the trip they’ll take it seriously enough to surprise some people.

 South Korea 

1. Sejun Park (pokemontcg) — 1st South Korea
2. Wonseok Jang (KrelCROC) — Top 4 South Korea

The story of South Korea in VGC so far has very much been the story of Sejun Park. In spite of Korea only getting a couple invites spread across all age divisions most years, Sejun has qualified for the World Championships every year it has been possible for a Korean player to do so. In his (and Korea’s) first year, he finished 2nd in the Senior division in 2011. He didn’t slow down at all when aging up as a Master, finishing 5th in 2012 and 2013. While he surprised some people in 2012, I think he was definitely the favorite to win in 2013 and his defeat at the hands of Ryosuke Kosuge one of the big surprises of the tournament. To most people who follow VGC, Sejun is the favorite to win the tournament once again in 2014.

Unlike in 2013, Sejun won’t be the only Master playing for South Korea this year, as Wonseok Jang will be joining him. Wonseok is also a veteran of the World Championships, having qualified in 2012 for the Senior division, where he finished at 3-3. Wonseok is one of the players I’m most excited to see in the World Championships this year. With South Korea playing in friendly show matches with Japan and the United States last year, it became very obvious that there were more good players in Korea than just Sejun. Wonseok was the player I would say stood out the most during the show matches. I remember last year a lot of us were disappointed to see Korea get so few invites because it seemed like they had several players who could do well in Worlds. If I could add paid trips anywhere in the world, Korea is certainly where I’d like to have them, but at least this year Korea has two excellent players representing it. I would certainly expect they’ll put up the best average record of any country, and both of them could make it to the top cut.

 Spain 

1. Albert Baneres (Arbol Deku) — 3rd EU
2. Miguel Marti De La Torre (Sekiam) — 4th EU

Once one of the European powerhouses of VGC, Spain has really fallen off in recent years. Spain’s best finish was a top 4 in 2011 and 2012, both of which were accompanied by top 8 finishes by other players. Last year the Spanish players regressed some, as of the four Spanish players only Jaime Maritinez was able to put up a winning record at 4-2 and 15th place. With only two representatives this year, the Spanish players are going to have a struggle in front of them to get back to where they were in 2011 and 2012.

Both of the Spanish players have played in the World Championships before, so they’re familiar with the task in front of them. Miguel Marti De La Torre finished 3-3 in 2012 Worlds and Albert Baneres did the same in 2013, so it’d only take each of them being a win better to at least improve upon what Spain did in 2013. At 3rd and 4th in the EU circuit this season they both put up impressive seasons, perhaps indicating that they’re ready to make that jump.

 United Kingdom

1. Christopher Arthur (Koryo) — 6th EU
2. Simon Stanford (Falco) — 8th EU
3. Ben Kyriakou (Kyriakou) — 10th EU
4. Steve Edgson (SirSmoke) — 12th EU
5. Lee Provost (Osirus) — 25th EU
6. Niall Crallan (The Last Shiekah) — 26th EU
7. Jamie Miller (Blaze_King7) — 27th EU

The UK has always been a country full of fan favorites, but their track record has been a little weaker than their European rivals. Daniel Nolan was the only player who had ever made it to top cut from the UK, which he did in 2011, before Ben Gould took fourth last year in Vancouver. Barry Anderson was only a spot away last year as well with an impressive 9th place finish.

The group the UK is bringing this year could really go either way. The top two players on CP, Christopher Arthur and Simon Stanford, both made it to the finals of National level tournaments, indicating that they’re strong players. However, Italy’s top cut ended up being a little strange and Simon kind of came out of nowhere in Germany, so neither of them have been getting the hype their opponents have thus far. One player who has been getting a notable amount of hype is Steve Edgson, who many see as the most probable player in this group to bring the UK a big finish.

While he’s been quiet since 2013 Nationals, I’m a little surprise more of that hype isn’t going to former National Champion Ben Kyriakou, especially after his 4-2 finish last year. While I haven’t played against him at all this year, he’s one of those players who always felt like a top level player to me, and I don’t think players ever lose that. Many people expected Lee to have a similar run to what Ben had at Worlds last year, but unfortunately he put the 4 and the 2 in the wrong order in his record. He’ll have a good shot at improving this year. The UK roster is rounded out by two players making their first Worlds appearance.

 United States

1. Alex Ogloza (Evan Falco) — 1st NA
2. Ray Rizzo (Ray) — 2nd NA
3. Adib Alam (honchkro13) — 3rd NA
4. Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) — 4th NA
5. Omari Travis (BadIntent) — 5th NA
6. Michael Lanzano (JiveTime) — 6th NA
7. Jon Hu (JHufself) — 7th NA
8. Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario) — 8th NA
9. Logan Castro (Yellowbox) — 9th NA
10. Enosh Shachar (Human) — 10th NA
11. Tiffany Stanley (Shiloh) — 11th NA
12. Toler Webb (Dim) — 13th NA
13. Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom) — 14th NA
14. Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSur) — 15th NA
15. DeVon Ingram (dingram) — 16th NA
16. Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut) — 17th NA
17. Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) — Top 4 2013 Masters World Championship
18. Hayden McTavish (Enigne) — 1st 2013 Senior World Championship
19. Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67) — 2nd 2013 Senior World Championship

When talking about VGC in the United States, the discussion starts with three-time World Champion Ray Rizzo, who showed it was possible to beat Japan after all in 2010. He was joined in the top cut that year by three other American players in Huy Ha and the Schambers brothers. In 2011, Ray won again, this time with the only other American players in top cut being Wolfe Glick and Matt Coyle. During Ray’s final championship run in 2012, he was joined by three other American players, with Joe Pulkowski making top cut to finish off an amazing Cinderella season and Wolfe and Matt making it to the top cut for the second year in a row. Last year seemed to be a bit of a transition year in the United States as none of those players made it to top cut, with the only two Americans in the top 8 in 2013 being former Seniors Aaron Zheng and Enosh Shachar.

Ray, Aaron, and Enosh are back this year, but none of the other players mentioned previously have invitations in 2014, creating a void that needs filling for the US. The top players in the US seem to be getting younger and younger, and as former Seniors continue to rise up players like former National Champion Gavin Michaels and former Senior World Champion Toler Webb seem like the most probable players to make the jump for the US. Both players went 3-3 in Masters Worlds last year, but that experience should help them prepare better for 2014. Most people seem to see Enosh as someone primed to repeat his 2013 performance, but he failed to cut his last Regional and didn’t play in US Nationals, so it’s been a while since he’s gotten it done in a tournament. His fellow American in the 2013 top cut, Aaron Zheng, has had a very weak season and Ray, for all his success, seems to be doing everything outside playing Pokemon. This group could either dominate the tournament or just as easily be total non-factors.

Hayden and Ben had excellent tournaments as Seniors in Vancouver, but both had weak runs at US Nationals, so it’s hard to feel confident they’ll have big runs here. Alex, Adib, Jon, Jeudy, and Logan joined Ray and Gavin in the US Nationals top cut, giving them the best recent track record in 2014 best-of-three play. I think of all the Americans who haven’t cut Worlds before, Jeudy, DeVon, and Michael Lanzano really stand out as players who may not be getting a lot of attention before Worlds but who are very capable of making top cut.

One of the most interesting players to watch will be Ashton Cox, who has been a fan favorite so far this season due to his original Pokemon choices. Worlds is a big task to rise to your first year, especially when you play as open of a style as Ashton does, so it will be impressive if he can rise to the challenge and put out a solid run. Mike Suleski and Omari Travis are among the surprisingly few players in the US group who have played in Masters Worlds before, and as veteran players they may have some insight on what to bring to match up with the Worlds metagame the other players do not. Collin and Tiffany round out the US roster, both participating in their first World Championship.

The Tournament Looms

It’ll only be a few days before we see who the king of the 2014 format is. It seems like most people are favoring Germany’s Markus Stadler, Korea’s Sejun Park, America’s Ray Rizzo, and all the Japanese players, but there are plenty of other players with a good shot. The European guys also seem to have a lot of faith in their other two National Champions, Florian Wurdack and Albert Baneres, as well as in Steve Edgson. In North America, if not Ray, a lot of faith is being placed in the region’s young guns like Enosh Shachar and Gavin Michaels. That list of names is before even looking at defending champion Arash Ommati and the other Korean player Wonseok Jang, both of whom might be flying a little too far under the community’s radar. There are always a few big surprises to make the top cut as well. Anyone in this field could be your next champion in just a few days!

As far who actually wins, you’ll just have to tune in on Twitch starting at 9 AM EDT on Saturday to find out for yourself!

About the Author

Scott started playing VGC in 2011. He finished 17th at US Nationals, then lost in the final round of 2011 Worlds LCQ. He finished 10th in the 2012 World Championships and qualified for Worlds again in 2013 after going into US Nationals second in CP. Instead of playing, he commentated at US Nationals and the World Championships in 2013 and 2014. Follow him on Twitter @NBNostrom!

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