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Published on July 23rd, 2012 | by Scott

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Scouting Report: Players to Watch at the 2012 World Championships

With the VGC World Championships only three weeks away, we’re all eager to see who will come out on top in Pokémon’s most prestigious stage. Making the top cut at Worlds is an achievement that few have accomplished and only two time champion Ray Rizzo has repeated. With the field full of the world’s best players it’s anyone’s tournament to win, but here’s a look at the people I think everyone should have their eyes on as the favorites to win the 2012 Video Game World Championship, Masters division.

This list is subjective and based on my perception of the players listed. As much as possible I supplemented my own opinions with a combination of the players’ past performance at major events and, when applicable, how good they’ve looked in recent events and in recent practice matches. Keep in mind that I can’t include everyone. Everyone who qualified for Worlds is a threat, but it defeats the purpose of the article if I include everyone. If you were a gambler, these players would have the highest odds at the sportsbook in the Game Corner.

Ray Rizzo (Ray)

It’s hard to believe it was only two years ago when it seemed impossible for anyone other than the Japanese to win the Masters division (well, Seniors at the time) at VGC Worlds. The Japanese were an invincible opponent with a playstyle we didn’t fully understand and who used bulk we didn’t seem to be able to counter. In 2010, Ray managed to become the first American Seniors/Masters World champion, overcoming steep odds. He then turned around and became the only repeat world champion the VGC community has ever seen in 2011, cruising through the tournament with more ease than the year before while using some Pokemon that the community had largely overlooked like Escavalier and Gothitelle.

For a two time champion, he’s a pretty humble guy who doesn’t boast about his successes, but it is easy to see why he’s been so successful when watching him play. He’s the epitome of a clutch player in our game. Each and every turn he makes the best move, always seeming to have the end game planned out. He’s proven to be completely unshakable, not losing sight of what he needs to do even when facing adversity outside of his control, evidenced by his quick recovery in Game 3 after his Game 2 loss in the 2011 finals. His play is heightened by excellent preparation. In both of his championship performances, he set himself up for victory by giving himself the pieces he needed to reliably counter common metagame threats, such as Gothitelle and Substitute Hydreigon to more reliably deal with Amoonguss in 2011, as well as anti-metagame set-ups like Bold Thundurus to absorb hits from enemies like Terrakion and Tornadus and spread paralysis or net KOs.

Ray’s accomplishments speak for themselves. No one has the resume he does, and while he’s only had to play in one meaningful event in the past 23 months, he’s proven that Worlds is his event. Threepeating is almost unimaginable in a game where few ever expected to have a repeat World champion, but with what he’s accomplished so far, who would bet against him?

Wolfe Glick (Wolfey)

While I don’t want to take anything away from Mr. Rizzo, I think Wolfe is probably the most intimidating player in the field this year. I don’t think VGC has ever seen someone have a two year span as intimidating in its consistency as Wolfe’s past two years, made even more ridiculous by the fact they are his first two years on the scene. The dominance Wolfe has had over the past two years gets overlooked a little bit because of the overlap with Ray’s repeat championships, but Wolfe has been nearly as unstoppable. Wolfe kind of came out of nowhere before winning his first regional in 2011 in DC. He followed that performance up by winning US Nationals and Top 8ing Worlds, finishing behind only Ray Rizzo, who eliminated him, and Matt Coyle for Americans on the year. Given how impressive Wolfe was in 2011, there wasn’t anywhere for him to go in 2012 but down… except he hasn’t.

Technically he didn’t win a Regional this year, but given that he competed in the Philadelphia Regional, the only VGC Regional ever to have flights, and went undefeated until the finals, losing to JiveTime to finish 9-1, I think we can let it slide. While we probably should have expected it due to his Pokémon Online rating of like 3000 or something, he went on to win US Nationals for the second year in a row, retaining his crown as the only person to win US Masters Nationals since the division was created in 2011.

The only thing left to win for Wolfe is Worlds. While in 2011 he was was almost exclusively a Trick Room player, using it in all three of the year’s major events, he’s proven he can branch out a little more this year and could be running anything. His Nationals team featured common Pokémon using somewhat unconventional stat spreads and movesets, as most of the best teams tend to, such as the Swords Dance Steel Gem Scizor and Substitute Garchomp. His impressive record in tournaments is reflected in his play, which can best be described with one word: consistent. Wolfe is one of those players like Ray Rizzo and Harrison Saylor who you could watch all day and almost never see him make a move that doesn’t make sense. He’s among the best in the game at making high percentage moves every turn without taking unnecessary risks, allowing his well-constructed teams to choke out opponents who often aren’t able to play at the same consistent, near-perfect level Wolfe does for an entire set. With his methodical, high-percentage play, Wolfe will try to become the first VGC player ever to win a Regional, National, and World championship in his career.

Satoru Masukata

Satoru’s performance in the streamed Japanese Nationals matches consisted of some of the most terrifying play I can ever recall seeing. I think it was a foregone conclusion for most of us that the winner from Japan would be one of the biggest threats to win Worlds, in spite of the curse that being a Nationals winner tends to invoke. It is even more impressive, then, that Satoru’s performance greatly exceeded most of our expectations for the eventual Japanese champ. Satoru showed unmatched foresight and game management skills in each of his matches, seeming to be a few turns ahead of his opponents in each game and selecting the best Pokémon for every match. I think what separates the great players from the good ones is the ability to not only make the right move on the micro level of turn by turn and Pokémon by Pokémon, but the best players also quickly and effectively analyze their win conditions and work toward an endgame rather than simply trying to get through every turn with an advantage. Satoru’s willingness to sacrifice Pokémon in his streamed games to maintain offensive momentum shows a level of understanding about that part of the game that few players from the rest of the world have exhibited.

While Satoru’s Nationals team might seem a little gimmicky to some of us from other parts in the world, it would be more accurate to say that what he used was simply foreign. Satoru’s team is actually very similar to what, say, Wolfey did at US Nationals, even though it doesn’t appear so on the surface: Satoru’s team was simply an amalgamation of popular strategies in the Japanese metagame executed in a more effective way than anyone else. He used a combination of Swagger/Berries to improve the damage of his defensively EVed team, Thunder Wave to control speed, and combined Thunder Wave with Swagger to disrupt his opposition. Many people have battled Satoru’s Nationals team since then, as it is now one of the most popular teams on both Wi-Fi and Pokémon Online, but don’t be fooled by how badly most imitators play that team: it was an incredibly well designed team for the event it was used in and Satoru will likely have something similarly well constructed for Worlds. His combination of skill in battling and team building will make him one of the toughest competitors at Worlds as he tries to take the crown back for Japan.

Matteo Gini (Matty)

Matteo has the advantage of being the only player on this list other than Ray Rizzo who has actually made it to the finals of a Worlds tournament. This is an advantage that shouldn’t be underestimated: he’s proven that he can both play well in high pressure situations and has the skills to be one of the best players in the world. The disadvantage for Matteo is that by qualifying for Worlds by being a finalist last year, he hasn’t had to play in many meaningful Pokémon matches in almost a year. He wasn’t even allowed to play in the Italian Nationals, as apparently the tournament organizers there see no need for “official policies” and invent their own rules. He did finish in second in Smogon’s Official VGC tournament last month, and has performed well in other Italian events, so he’s presumably in good form for Worlds in spite of the world’s best efforts.

There’s always been an unfortunate shortage of recorded games from Matteo to draw analysis from, with the obvious exception of the games from the 2011 World and Italian Finals. During the games he played against Ray Rizzo he exhibited strong probability management skills, frustrating though it was for us to watch from the crowd. While they weren’t recorded, on his way to that final battle Matteo knocked out some good players, such as Matt Coyle, as well as some eccentric players, such as Daniel Nolan, giving credibility to his run. I feel like a lot of people are overlooking him going into Worlds, but in spite of the fact no other Italian managed to qualify for Worlds from Masters this year, Europe’s best bet is from Italy.

Joe Pulkowski (sandman)

Joe is a player that has been underappreciated by the community for a long time. He’s one of those guys who’s always been around and has always been respected as one of the “good” players, but he never really took that step to stardom because he tends to keep to himself and hadn’t had that big break out tournament that defines careers. His amazing finish at US Nationals surprised everyone, but it was only a matter of time before he broke out.

Joe has always been an innovative team builder, and while his Nationals team featured several metagame mainstays like Metagross and Tyranitar, it had the customization and quirks that allow for deep runs. While many players opted for Thunder Wave or Trick Room for Speed control, Joe supported his team with Icy Wind Cresselia, a set that had lost favor over the past few months. He also used Salamence rather than one of its more common counterparts like Hydreigon or Latios, a rare choice in the metagames based around Skarmbliss’ Pokémon Online server. The biggest surprise from sandman’s team was definitely his Smack Down Landorus, a move that was viewed positively by many people, but that no one else had the guts to use in a major event.

While Joe’s run to Worlds was a little surprising, he’s a thoughtful, talented player, and there’s no reason to think he can’t follow up his excellent US Nationals finish with a deep Worlds run.

Mike Papagianis (skarm)

Mike is like the pre-evolved, Canadian version of Ray Rizzo, except instead of saving the world from losing to Japan at Pokémon he’s good at entertaining us by losing to Pokémon that should never be used competitively such as Fly Rayquaza and Simisear. While he wasn’t able to win Canadian Nationals, dropping the final set to Tony Cheung (Chinese Dood), who had eliminated Canadian favorite Randy Kwa (R Inanimate) in the top 8 round, Mike’s extensive experience makes him the safer bet of the two strong Canadian qualifiers.

Mike has been a community fixture since generation two and has probably battled in more tournaments than anyone else in the field, a strange quality for a trainer who lives in the outskirts of nowhere. While his exploits in the past have been both great and terrible, he has some notable accomplishments under his belt. He won a Journey Across America regional in 2006, the earliest major accomplishment of a competitor in the field, though he was swiftly disqualified for, you know, not being American. He also managed to qualify for Worlds in 2010, the only Canadian to do so, winding up with a respectable 3-3 record against a tougher field than he’s likely to face in 2012.

Mike has always been one of those trainers that was very good but not quite part of that elite group on top. After a hilariously pathetic 2011 season, he’s worked to put 2011 behind him in 2012 by improving his playstyle and taking the game more seriously again. After travelling with reigning champion Ray Rizzo, Daniel Levinson (dantrain), and fellow Worlds qualifier Danny Zollner (Dan) to Japan to compete in a friendly tournament and watch Japanese nationals, he began to take on more of the Japanese style. Adjusting to play a more reliable, defensive game, Mike had a strong showing at Canadian nationals and should continue to improve heading towards Worlds, where his experience will help him compete with a largely untested field.

 

Junpei Yamamoto

Not much is known about him, except that he is a boy

While he and his team hasn’t gotten the same publicity as Satoru and his winning team, just by virtue of surviving a terrifying field I would expect Junpei to do well at this event. His Nationals team was pretty standard: a slow Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Steel Gem Scizor, Salamence. He played a pretty slow, methodical style in most of his recorded matches at Nationals, winning matches extremely comfortably before his loss in the finals.

I want to draw some attention to that finals match. A lot of people are judging him because of the first turn of that match. For those of you who don’t remember or who haven’t seen it, Junpei led Garchomp and Salamence into Satoru’s Rotom-W and Hydreigon. What happens next is one of those moves that looks really bad in hindsight when you don’t have enough information: Junpei Draco Meteors Hydreigon with Salamence and Earthquakes with Garchomp. Earthquake misses both targets because of the Levitates, and Draco Meteor doesn’t kill Hydreigon because of its Haban Berry. Hydreigon counters with its own Draco Meteor to take Garchomp down to its Focus Sash, while Rotom-W gets a free Thunderbolt on Salamence, doing about 85% and paralyzing it. Worse yet, we know by the end of the match Satoru’s last two Pokémon are Cresselia, another Ground-immune Pokémon, and Conkeldurr. Why would Junpei use Earthquake? He must be a noob!

Let me shed some light on that. Think about Junpei’s team in preview: Two Dragons (one of whom is admittedly Garchomp), Tyranitar, and Cresselia. Tyranitar is countered by Metagross, Cresselia often can’t do any damage to Metagross, and Metagross was Satoru’s only Dragon resist. In addition, Cresselia/Metagross is the core of Satoru’s team and one of the most common duos in Japan. I think it’s fairly obvious now, but Junpei was predicting Metagross would be in the back and would be switched in to absorb the Draco Meteor. Draco Meteor + Garchomp’s Earthquake would have netted the kill on Metagross, giving Junpei a lead he probably wouldn’t have surrendered. Obviously, that’s not what happened, but I actually think it was a pretty intelligent prediction, just one where the risk didn’t justify the potential reward, an interesting contrast from how conservatively Junpei had played his previous matches. I wonder if he and Satoru hadn’t played a few times previously to explain some of the uncharacteristically gutsy predictions.

Junpei’s play, the finals included, indicates he has a good shot of taking Worlds as anyone else. Will he get gutsy at the wrong time again, or will his predictions hit the mark when it matters most?

Look Out For That LCQ

This is a really gutless prediction, but the strength of the ridiculous Last Chance Qualifier field can’t be overlooked. With the typical inane VGC single elimination format*, surviving the grinder will be as much a matter of matchup luck as preparation and the battle RNG as some of the field’s strongest players inevitably end up cannibalizing each other, but unlike Pokémon’s last trip to Kona, this year’s grinder is guaranteed to spew out some amazing players. In spite of the significant expense of travelling to Hawaii, nearly all of the strongest American players will be finding their way to Kona for one last shot at the 2012 season, leading to an LCQ field that will probably be as tough or tougher than the actual Worlds field.

In spite of the fact that this is absurdly the first year in the current format where the top 8 finishers of the United States Nationals weren’t invited to play in Worlds, three of the four players who bubbled out will be present in the grinder: Luke Swenson (theamericadream38), Zach Droegkamp (Zach), and Enosh Shachar (Human). As they were all only a round away from qualifying for Worlds once before it almost goes without saying that they’re all good enough to get into Worlds and they’ll all do some serious damage if they get there. Look out for Enosh in particular, who will be looking to prove he can do it in Masters after nearly going all the way in Seniors last year and after getting knocked out of Nationals only because he played the best player in the field the round before he got an invite.

There are also a variety of other players in the Worlds LCQ field that have proven they have what it takes in past years. Matt Coyle and Huy Ha (Huy) have cut Worlds before, and both are proud players who’d like some vindication after Nationals performances that fell below their expectations. It’s weird to think that after mentioning five players I haven’t even touched on some of some of the most consistent players in the world who will be present, like former national champion Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut), Jason Fisher-Short (Fish), and Trista Medine (ryuzaki). While it’d be a fun event to watch just the eight players mentioned fight it out for four spots, there are at least another ten players in the field who’ve either cut Nationals or won Regionals in the past three years who’ll be fighting for spots. It’s worth noting that all of the people mentioned in this section have experience playing in pressure matches with the best of three format, something that will make them more likely to survive the grinder and make them massive threats in Worlds if they get through to face a field of players who largely do not have that experience.

With a couple massive exceptions like Harrison Saylor (Crow) and Kamaal Harris (FonicFrog), all of the most threatening American players are turning up for another shot. Just recycle your favorite United States National Champion prediction and slot them into Top 8 Worlds. To make things even more competitive: we’ve heard conflicting reports, but there should be at least a few Japanese players in the Last Chance Qualifier. As a country they have an awfully favorable record against the Americans, so assuming the players who come are reasonably experienced they will be tough outs. Bottom line: I expect at least one person who survives the last chance qualifier to cut on Saturday, and wouldn’t be surprised if as many as three people played from Friday to Sunday. If I had to predict only one person to go deep from the LCQ, which I don’t, because this is my article so I am the president of it, I would predict Matt Coyle.

*But we really do appreciate the best-of-three part if you're reading this TPCI

I’m sure you all have your own predictions about who will win Worlds and who I’m unfathomably stupid for not including in my list, so go ahead and tell me who’s really going to win in the comments!


About the Author

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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