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Published on December 5th, 2013 | by Havak

16

Nintendo UK Pokémon Winter Event Preview

Nintendo UK’s Pokémon Winter Event Finals take place this weekend, featuring many of the United Kingdom’s best players. I thought it’d be a good idea to write a preview article about the event and mention the players who I think are the ones to watch.

For those unaware, invites to take part were earned at over 20 tournaments around the United Kingdom during the last month, in which you had to reach top 3 to qualify. The main event will take place on December 7th, 2013 from 12:00pm until 18:00pm. You can find the list of prizes for the tournament on our previous article (the event location is secret, only given to qualified players and people on the guest-list). If you’re not attending this event through one of those means, you can still request a ticket via sending an e-mail to the following address: nintendocommunity[at]nintendo.co.uk

Now, this list is obviously going to be a subjective list mainly including the players I know the most about. I’ve tried to use as much information as I can remember about these players at past events, along with their performances in the qualifiers leading up to this tournament. Obviously, pretty much everyone here will have a chance to win! So, if you’re not included as one of my favourites, take that as an incentive to prove me wrong!

Barry Anderson (Baz Anderson)

BazAnderson

So, where do we start? How about with the only player on the European circuit to top-cut every single European National last season? Or, maybe I’m just listing people in alphabetical order? You’ll have to wait and see. Along with his stellar Nationals performances, Barry also managed to finish 9th in the world at the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in August, missing a fourth successive top-cut by one place. He also dominated the Nugget Bridge circuit for most of the season, even though he missed out on winning the eventual season finals. Barry often feels like the game hates him, as while he managed to top-cut three National events, he always fell short of earning paid travel and accommodation and finishing one place off of the Worlds top-cut is obviously heart-breaking despite how good of a result it is. It also took him three attempts to qualify for this event, due to no time for a third place play-off match in Manchester, and facing a good friend in Round One at Nottingham. He did make up for this with top finishes in both Northampton and Derby, the latter of which had a very strong field. Regardless, maybe it’s his own fault for being a member of Team Rocket? Karma, man!

Barry’s Top Picks: Ben Kyrakou, Brandon Ikin, Christopher Arthur, Chris Barton, Daniel Nolan, Lee Provost, Sam Bentham, Barry Anderson

Rachel Annand (SPEevee)

SPEevee

Rachel has been on the competitive scene for a while now, first managing to top-cut the UK Nationals in 2010 and win fan-run event in 2011. Don’t let her picture fool you, though! She’s not just really, really happy to be here, she can play a bit of Pokémon too. At the UK National in 2013, she managed to make it to the Top 8, earning a World Championships Invitation and paid trip in the process. It did take her two attempts to qualify for the finals in London, but that was mainly down to an unlucky draw which saw our two Scottish players face off in the Top 8 at the Gateshead tournament. She won the Elgin tournament outright and will be a threat in London.

Rachel’s Top Picks: Jason Finch, Barry Anderson, Chris Barton, Rina Purdy, Mark McQuillan, Ben Kyriakou, Lee Provost, Christopher Arthur

Christopher Arthur (Koryo)

Koryo

Chris didn’t manage much at his first VGC event, but he managed a semi-final and final appearance in two of the three fan-run Manchester tournaments he attended. 2013 was a much better year for him as the swiss format was brought in, which saw him top-cut two of the three European National events in the season just gone (and he was only one place off cutting at the other). This saw him attend the World Championships as a competitor, which is an experience most players from the United Kingdom don’t have. Chris made it here through winning the Bangor qualifier, defeating rival Daniel Nolan in the final who has generally been the thorn in his side during important tournament play. He’s known for a more direct and offensive approach that is often difficult to combat. He’s not afraid to use moves that some people may class as more risky, but considering he has the courage to wear that UK jester hat, he’s clearly not afraid of anything.

Christopher’s Picks: Christopher Arthur, Lee Provost, Chris Barton, Barry Anderson, Daniel Nolan, Ben Kyriakou, Tamao Cameron, Jason Finch

Sam Bentham (SuperIntegration)

SuperIntegration

“SuperIntegration is now a ting.” Sam recently broke into the spotlight by winning the first Nugget Bridge Live Tournament of the season, though most of the better UK players will tell you he’s been good at the game for a while now. He managed to go 7-2 in the United Kingdom National last season, losing in a close game to Richard Fairbrother meaning both players just missed out on the top-cut. Sam managed to win the Cambridge event which had a few strong players in attendance. He’s known for being the cool cat with his snazzy dress sense. Who comes to VGC in a shirt and suede shoes? Sam Bentham, that’s who. He’s also a very keen chess player and we know how good chess players are at Pokémon…

Sam’s Top Picks: Ben Kyriakou, Chris Barton, Lee Provost, Mark McQuillan, Barry Anderson, Tamao Cameron, Simon He, Christopher Arthur

Tamao Cameron (tamoo)

TamaoCameron

I must admit that I don’t know very much about Tamao, except that he has confessed that he hasn’t been playing competitive Pokémon VG for very long. However, despite this, he’s the only player to have won two qualifier tournaments in this series. What’s more is that he defeated seasoned pro Lee Provost in the Banbury qualifier final and the Liverpool event he also won had the most players out of every qualifier event. Tamao also plays Pokémon TCG, so he may have a lot of experience in big tournaments which could be a factor here. Definitely someone to watch out for.

Jason Finch (Die2Distroy)

Die2Distroy

Some say, he can’t spell “destroy.” Some say, it doesn’t matter what some say. Jason was new to the competitive game in 2012, but he improved very quickly and managed to collect a lot of Championship Points in the Wi-Fi tournaments and made the top-cut in the UK in 2013, finishing in 15th place after the nine swiss rounds. Unfortunately this meant he had to play a very experienced and in-form Lee Provost in the first round of top-cut, which he lost and ultimately missed out on World Championships qualification. He then became more active in the UK battling scene and started to attend StreetPass Manchester meets, the latest of which earned him a spot in this tournament with a second place finish. He managed to defeat Barry Anderson in the semi-finals, but lost to Chris Barton (me!) in the final – although qualification was secured by that point anyway. I think it’s safe to say the pride of Manchester is in some good hands for this event and I’d love someone from there to win the tournament!

Jason’s Top Picks: Ben Kyriakou, Barry Anderson, Chris Barton, Lee Provost, Christopher Arthur, Daniel Nolan, Seb King, Jason Finch

Ben Kyriakou (Kyriakou)

Kyriakou

What do we really need to say about Ben? Two-time UK National champion and ranked 13th in the world this year. His performance in the UK National in June was very scary in particular, going 9-0 in the Swiss Rounds and only dropping one game in the entire top-cut. I managed to watch one of his games up close in that tournament, where he managed to make his opponent forfeit within a few turns, making some exceptional calls. Ben qualified for London via finsihing 2nd in the Nottigham event, losing to what I must say was a well-built team with a big surprise that cost him the match. He first made a name for himself at the 2012 UK National, showing up as a Gary Oak cosplayer with a theme team and managing to make the final! Does he give a damn about finishing the Pokédex? No. He’s Gary Oak. He plays to win. Also, it seems like he eats hotdogs as well as he plays Pokémon, so I wouldn’t challenge him to that either!

Ben’s Top Picks: Chris Barton, Sam Bentham, Barry Anderson, Lee Provost, Daniel Nolan, Christopher Arthur, Rachel Annand, Ben Kyriakou

Mark McQuillan (woopahking123)

Woopahking123

I think I’m probably right in saying that Mark will be the youngest player in this tournament, but that is definitely not going to be a factor in whether he wins or not. The proud young Scotsman managed to top-cut all three tournaments in the Senior division in the season just gone, which included the World Championships. He also won the Gateshead tournament which was one of the larger events, having to take out fellow Scottish player Rachel Annand in the Top 8. His favourite Pokémon is Wooper, and I’m sure he’ll do his fair share of ‘wooping’ in London on Saturday. Oh yeah.

Daniel Nolan (Zog)

Zog

“Don’t eat yellow snow” is something Daniel may not have taken note of. He’ll just build a Lapras out of it and lick it because that’s how he rolls. Daniel’s style is quite unorthordox, but there’s no doubt that he is one of the best players in the game on his day. He was the first player from the UK to ever top-cut the World Championships, a feat that has still only been matched (and inevitably bettered) by Ben Gould at Worlds this year. Along with reaching the Top 4 in 2011 and Top 8 in 2013 at UK Nationals, he also won one of the fan-run Manchester tournaments, defeating Christopher Arthur in the final. As I mentioned above, Chris finally got some revenge on Daniel in the Bangor event finals, though both players had already qualified at that point. Daniel got the wins that mattered so far, with a Manchester title and paid trip to Worlds on the line. I just hope there isn’t a Pokémon themed toilet sign in London or he’s had it…

Daniel’s Top Picks: Chris Barton, Jason Finch, Mark McQuillan, James Launder, Ben Kyriakou, Sam Bentham, Barry Anderson, Lee Provost

Lee Provost (Osirus)

Osirus

Every tournament needs a rock star! Lee Provost has been playing in the Video Game Championships since 2010, managing to finish in the Top 4 that year, losing to the eventual winner Rees Hamilton in the semi-finals. Lee had mixed performances after that, but bounced back this year, with a top-cut finish at the Germany National and a Top 4 finish at the UK National. This earned him a paid trip to the World Championships which gave him even more big tournament experience that will be key in London. Lee is one of only four players to make the Top 4 at UK Nationals on more than one occasion, in good company with Ben Kyriakou, Ruben Puig Lecegui, and Rees Hamilton. He qualified for London through a second place Banbury finish, losing to Tamao Cameron in the final.

Lee’s Top Picks: Chris Barton, Ben Kyriakou, Sam Bentham, Barry Anderson, Christopher Arthur, Daniel Nolan, Jason Finch, Marti Bennett

That rounds off my picks to win, but this is anyone’s game in London! Players such as Worlds 2013 participant Rina Purdy will be in attendance, along with Nugget Bridge members who may fancy their chances such as Andrew Waddell, Tyler Bakhtiari, Brandon Ikin, Adam Dorricott, Jake Birch, and Joe Wilson. There are also a total of 22 players who won tournaments over this series and how can they possibly be counted out? Who are you expecting to win and do you think I’ll be proved wrong by none of my picks winning?

If you still need more information on this event, visit the following links:


About the Author

has competed in the VGC series since 2009 when it was first introduced to Europe, qualifying for the World Championships in 2011. Since 2009, he has also been a big influence in the United Kingdom's competitive scene by helping run local tournaments.



16 Responses to Nintendo UK Pokémon Winter Event Preview

  1. SuperIntegration says:

    is now a “ting”. Apparently.

  2. Firestorm says:

    All-star cast attending. I’m pretty excited for what should be the highest stakes tournament for Pokémon X and Y in 2013! Be sure to get the people at least in the Top 4 and higher to save all their videos and for people to save a highlight match or two so we can have something to watch =)
     
    I think my money is on Baz Anderson. Unlike Kyriakou and Koryo, he didn’t cut his hair and thus destroy the source of his power.

  3. SPEevee says:

    Somehow I knew that was the picture you’d use.

  4. Eiganjo says:

    I insist that I get battlevideos, need more XY stuff on youtube. Of course good luck to all participants as well. Can’t wait to see what people bring to get their victory secured :)

  5. galladeava says:

    I would like to win. ty

  6. Toquill says:

    Can’t wait!

    <3Baz<3

  7. woopahking says:

    Can I make a prediction.

    People who can win: Daniel Nolan, Ben Kiriakou, Barry Anderson, Christopher Arther, Rachel Anannd, Brandon Ikin, Also MEEEEE

    I’m not actually the youngest attendee. Ahren Bundy is still in juniors and he qualified.

  8. Baz Anderson says:

    Haha, great article. A new generation means a new bunch of players breaking through, it’ll be interesting to see who survives the jump to X & Y!

  9. Really excited for this, Shuckle has been sacked and I’m back to using a proper team!
     
    Anything can happen in single elimination, so who knows, with a bit of luck I might do ok

  10. Tbundy says:

    I’ll be placing all my money on woopah to win this.

  11. woopahking says:

    Definately a conservative bet

  12. Havak says:

    Ah yeah, how did I forget Ahren?!

  13. Dozz says:

    In single elimination, best of one, absolutely anything can happen, so I don’t think I can even begin to call a winner on this. I sort of fancy an underdog to take it though, everyone loves the underdog story.
     
    Good luck to all going though, make sure you introduce yourself if I’ve not already met you and such.

  14. Havak says:

    Yeah, Single Elim Bo1 is the reason this article isn’t completely serious :P

  15. Xenoblade Hero says:

    Man this is going to be so good. My money is on Baz or Ben, but hopefully they’ll be some surprises to shake things up (especially the regular players on the Showdown VGC servers). Good luck 🙂

  16. Scott says:

    Excited to see what you guys come up with. A lot of really good players here, hopefully you guys can avoid each other for a while!
     
    Have fun with it. I think we all know best-of-one is what it is, but this is a pretty cool event.

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