VGC 2015 North American Spring Regional Preview: Week 3 of 3
The third and final week of the North American Spring Regionals is finally upon us. These are the last two US Regionals before US Nationals in July. A lot of players will be traveling in order to scramble for last minute crucial points as stipends are decided for Nationals, and of course qualification for the World Championships.
Wisconsin
Difficulty Rating:
/ 5
(Four Pokemon definitely native to Wisconsin and an Untrained Mamoswine out of Five)
Location: Monona Terrace, One John Nolen Drive, Madison, WI 53703
Registration Time: Saturday 8:00 AM
Last Year’s Winner: Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom)
Team Wisconsin
Starting off the preview strong with last year’s Madison champion, Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom) is 7th in North American CP entering this weekend. Collin already has his Day 1 World Championship invite from his Top 4 Worlds placing last season, but is playing for his spot for the Top 8 stipend for Nationals as well as the Day 2 automatic qualifier. He’s got a Top 16 regional that he can replace at Madison. Fellow Wisconsin resident Zach Droegkamp (Braverius) will also be competing on “home territory” this weekend. Zach’s got two Top 64 finishes already and there is a lot of potential for an increase in Championship Points for him. A lot of players will enter this weekend with their best finish limit reached already of course, and some will have an “easier” time improving on some of their less valuable finishes. Just as an example, if Zach and Collin both get Top 8 at this regional, they’ll earn 60 CP. But Collin replaces a finish worth 40 CP and Zach replaces one worth 20 CP. So Zach would gain 40 CP and Collin would only get 20 CP.
Team Ohio
Ohio will be sending quite a few highly competitive players to Madison this weekend, including two players in the Top 8 of Championship Points. David Mancuso (Mancuso) and Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario) are at 2nd and 4th place respectively in the Championship Point rankings. Both of them have had incredibly impressive seasons to date. David received a majority of his CP from the 2014 format in the Fall, but also earned 2nd place at the Florida regional in the winter. Ashton recently placed second at the Massachusetts regional a couple of weeks ago. Funny enough, both of these guys got the opportunity to lose to Wolfe Glick in the finals of their respective tournaments. As if having two of the top 4 players in North America wasn’t enough, Ohio could be sending Alec Rubin (amr97), Andy Himes (Amarillo), Kyle Timbrook (TM Ruby), and Thomas McCready (Tmac). Alec, Andy, and Kyle are all top 32 in Championship Points right now, with Thomas just outside Top 40. Top 32 is the $1000 stipend cutoff for US Nationals so these guys are looking to at least do well enough to stay in their respective positions, with Thomas having the potential to sneak right in there.
Team Michigan
I expect most of the Michigan players who attended Kansas City last weekend to show up to Madison this week as well. Sam Schweitzer (Sam) managed to impress last week with a Top 8 finish at Kansas City. He hasn’t had many other top finishes, but I’m sure he is more pumped than ever after his Top 8 finish and another strong performance could really get his name out there. Other familiar faces include Andrew Burley (Andykins) at 16th in CP, Jonathan McMillan (MrEobo) at 40th, and Kevin Beach (RandomVGC).
Team Minnesota
I can’t say much about Minnesota, but they’ve got some solid players that could really break out with some great play this weekend. Aaron Liebersbach (Arch), Cody Bernheisel (CodeUmbreon), Steven Burton (PikaPastor), and Matthew Peroutka (MittensAnimator) all sit in the range of 40-64 with the potential to get into the mix.
Team Illinois
Kamaal Harris (Kamaal) and Evan Deligiannis (nave) should be heading up to Madison this weekend after traveling south to Kansas City last weekend. Kamaal’s at 27th in CP which is a pretty solid spot to be at heading into Nationals, but getting higher than that couldn’t do any harm. Evan is at 62nd which is a ways off, but does have two Top 16 finishes this season. Both of these guys actually just barely missed cut last week in Kansas City and could easily get in with a little bit more luck via Opponents Win Percentage the dream.
Team Other Guys
Got a couple stragglers that couldn’t be lopped into the confines of a state group. Chuppa Cross (Chuppa) comes in from New York. He’s finally conquered being able to top cut premiere challenges, but he hasn’t been able to crack regionals this season yet. Whitney Johnson (brokestupidlonely) was able to earn Top 4 at Kansas City last week, playing in home territory. He’s at 55th for CP this year. Matt Coyle (PrettyLittleLiar) and Trista Medine (ryuzaki) made a surprise appearance last week at the Utah regional and also went to Madison last year, so it is definitely in the realm of possibility for both of them to come to Madison again this year. Oliver Valenti (Smith) has got two Top 32s this year but as always is not a player to sleep on.
The Smart Money is On: I know it kind of bit me in the rear last time I did it, but I have to pick Zach Droegkamp (Braverius). He’s at home, which has to count for something at least. He also got second at the last event that TPCI streamed (St. Louis) which doesn’t hurt.
Georgia
Difficulty Rating:
/5
(One T.I. and one Andre 3000 out of Five)
Location: Classic Center Grand Hall 7 300 N. Thomas St Athens, GA. 30601
Registration Time: Sunday 8:30 AM
Last Year’s Winner: Michael Lanzano (Jivetime)
The Georgia regional has always been one of the weird ones. The attendance last year was able to grant them a Top 16 cut (better than last week’s regionals), but the area doesn’t lend itself to the traditional top players of the country.
Absent from Class
Toler Webb (Dimsun) has been pretty quiet this season with some low attendance in comparison with the other top players. He was able to get into the Top 8 in the Fall at Ft. Wayne and also has a Top 32 finish. Toler has been one of the top VGC players since he was in the Senior division and has carried his success into the Masters division as well. DeVon Ingram (dingram) is another player with some attendance issues. He was able to earn second place at Athens last year which helped him qualify for Worlds. With how much Nationals is worth, it is still not out of reach for him, but a good showing at Athens could really help him earn a repeat appearance there. Adib Alam (Adib) earned a 2014 Worlds invite from a strong Nationals performance but has yet to earn any CP this year. It seems we have a pattern of players with attendance issues at Georgia, but jokes aside Adib has had a pretty good track record of doing well at the Midwest tournaments he’s gone to in the past. Rounding out Team Attendance is none other than Harrison Saylor (Crow). The butt of all attendance jokes since Mike Sankey, Harrison really showed up to Seattle with a Top 4 finish. He’s clearly still got it and could scoop up some solid Championship Points from Georgia.
Jackson Hambrick (Hambrick) has really done well at Premiere Challenges this season and also has a Top 64 regional finish. He’s at a total of 182 CP and could really add to that with this regional. William Collins (wiretap) was able to earn 3rd place at the Florida regionals during the winter and has a couple of Premiere Challenge points under his belt too. Nicholas Borghi (LightCore) earned a Top 8 back in the Fall and has just about maximized his Premiere Challenge CP. At a tie for 55th place in CP, this regional is crucial for securing a Worlds invite for Nick. Michael Groshans (Mikewando) comes from California to Georgia and he’s just below Nick in CP. Unlike most players, Mike has gotten most of his CP from regionals and not Premiere Challenges. He has three Top 16 regional finishes so he would really have to step up for Georgia. Kolby Golliher (KolbyJayke) has been solid at his Premiere Challenges as well and looks to add a solid regional finish to give himself a fighting chance at Nationals. I’ve also heard rumblings that veteran Joe Pulkowski (sandman) might make an appearance here and he could really shake things up for the competition. With somehwat of a hiatus, Joe has been doing great recently at Premiere Challenges this season. Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka) has made a full transition into the video game this season and as expected has been a strong force all season long. He’s got consistent PC finishes and a Top 8 regional placing too. A few other Northeastern players might show up too, including Patrick Donegan (Pd0nz), Daniel Stein (Blazikenburner), Justin Carris (Azazel), and Stephen Brown III (pyromaniac720). Daniel finished 11th in Utah last weekend and looks to put his money where his mouth is with the next event.
The Smart Money is On: Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka). Angel puts a lot of work in practicing with his group of friends and thinking about the game in general a ton. Some of the players in the attendance section have great histories, but Angel is showing up this season and this is an event he can take advantage of. It’s a really shallow group of players in comparison to the other 5 regionals this Spring and can definitely make some lesser known players shine.
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47 Responses to VGC 2015 North American Spring Regional Preview: Week 3 of 3
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Can’t believe I wasn’t listed under team Illinois. #hurt
Smart money curse continues
…
almost changed fate
only smart money player i picked that even Cut so not even Upset, good enough
top 4 is a victory for smart money with the bar we’ve set, let’s be honest
You can’t mention someone you don’t know is going to an event. Someday people will realize this
Someday
You most def did make a splash buddy. Sorry for that brutal last rd. In some ways, it felt like you wanted Cut even more than I did. I had fun with friends and did a bit better than I expected anyway. Truly don’t care about no mention in Team Illinois either, I’m not good enough yet to merit one really. Apologies for that boring Top 8 match on stream too.
I got 56th at Athens after starting 4-0.My losses were to Angel,Lucariojr and Crow,but none were complete domination.Guess I’m not that good xD
Top cut this regional again. Lost to a mirror match in top 16. Lots of HAX but that is the game we have chosen to play. Had a lot of fun. Met up with some cool friends!! I will get a brick eventually though!!!!!
5&3 the dream. Lost to some bs (was really salty at the time), Dim and TwiddleDee. Game with Dim was really messy on both sides, and the game with TwiddleDweeb was hard because he helped me teambuild.
(Seniors)
Got 3rd in Athens, undefeated in top cut. Not bad for my first regional.
I understand that you can’t make predictions on people that you don’t know are going to show up. I’m a terrible example of this, because I was dormant all season, but you need to look at past performances and attendance at that venue. I’ve been to Madison for the past 4 years and topcut all times, but I wasn’t even listed POTENTIALLY in team Illinois. A similar example is Jivetime (Michael Lanzano). He’s almost never mentioned in team preview, but he almost always cuts and sometimes even wins the whole thing.
A lot of these predictions and talking up is also unwarranted. You put Zach Droegkamp TWICE under smart money. One for Washington regionals and Madison regionals, neither of which he cut (Ily Zach, I swear). Pookar’s reasoning behind why Zach should win Madison is “He’s at home, which has to count for something at least.” What the yams does that even mean?!?
Again, Biosci is right when he says there’s no way that you guys can make predicts on people that you’re not sure will show up. But I don’t think constantly predicting big names or having biases towards certain people should be the way to make these predictions. I love reading these prediction articles. It hypes everyone up and makes it feel as intense as it really should be. But if you keep calling out only the big names to be the only ones to win, that will deter any confidence rookies or new players have. That is the purpose of nuggetbridge, no? Helping the new players?
#endrant
Mangosol I don’t think you understand what these articles are for. They are not meant to be 100% accurate magical predictions, and if you want content like that then feel free to write it. If you have not stated anywhere that you are going to an event, then there is no reason for you to be in the article. Pookar is not psychic type, and neither are any of the editing staff. He always makes sure to ask around as best he can, and often tweets about new previews he is writing. If you did not appear in the article then it is because he did not know. I have honestly never seen such an entitled post about a fun predictions article before, and it makes me pretty angry that you’re being so critical for basically no reason. We’re lucky we even have articles like this at all since Scott left.
I’m also not sure why you think pookar of all people would be biased towards Zach winning. Zach has won the most regionals out of literally anyone I know, why not predict him again?
If you want to be featured in these articles, then place well in events based on the current format and ACTUALLY TELL SOMEONE YOU’RE GOING?!?!?!? If you don’t openly state that you are going in either the poll or in a public place that the writers will actually check, then of course you aren’t going to be in the article. Get over yourself.
It is solely pookar’s personal opinion. He is limited in the information he has, if you don’t mark that you are going in the Regional thread or no one in the network of people he asks says someone is going how is he supposed to know?
As I said it is entirely pookar’s opinion, if someone else wants to write a prediction then let’s see something from someone, so far only pookar has stepped up to the plate. I am not opposed to hearing other people’s opinions, but at the same time those people have to be unbiased, which pookar has done with extensive research every time he posts an article. If he misses someone not going I fail to see why that is his fault.
The reason predictions are made for known players is because those players are known for a reason. They are successful at tournaments. How is anyone supposed to predict John Hu from Nationals last year? He was a no name, now he is a name worth predicting. Pookar’s reasoning for Zach being the money is fine, historically people playing in their home region have done well and Zach is a dominant regionals competitor. Pookar may not have made a call you agree with, but because it is entirely his opinion he isn’t wrong.
“I love reading these prediction articles. It hypes everyone up and makes it feel as intense as it really should be.” I already said I liked these articles. I’m glad Pookar writes these. In no way am I saying he should STOP writing these. I just don’t like that the predictions are biased, deterring newer players. That’s all. I’m not trying to be entitled. I’m sorry if it came off that way, but you don’t need to antagonize me in that way. Zach historically winning regionals in the past and assuming he’ll win another regionals this season is like saying heatwave always hit in practice so it should hit in tournaments. But I understand why he made that prediction now, and again, am sorry to Pookar.
And thank you makiri.
I know that the football teams that are 13-1 have won a bunch of games, but I think it’s deterring newer teams to predict them over the teams that are 1-13 or the 1973 Dallas Cowboys.
I actually like not being predicted for what that’s worth, in-game or in-article.
“deterring newer players” oh please. Your entire post is about you thinking you’re a big shot who should be mentioned in these articles even though you haven’t been playing this season nor made any indication that you’ll be at this event. You said you understood that people who don’t make it known they’ll be at an event won’t be mentioned yet still came back to that. You even used JiveTime as an excuse even though he’s notorious for not giving a good indication for what’s going on with him. He was supposed to grab a ride with pookar to a regional once and pookar still didn’t know if he was going a few days before the event because he’d apparently disappeared off the face of the earth.
Zach had a good reason for being predicted. It’s actually the same reason people predict a lot of things.
Now as for your “deterring newer players” bullgrimer you’re trying to hide behind, I’ve been looking at responses to these articles on Facebook and I’ve seen a good number of players excited at being mentioned in the article. I think a lot of players like being mentioned and it’s part of the excitement that the articles bring. You know why they were mentioned? Because they’ve been doing well this season and we have these Championship Points that they’ve earned and are tracked on the detailed spreadsheet that Gavin and Zach maintain as well as Pokemon.com. I don’t think there’s much deterring newer players because they know the smart money only gets one person and it’s going to be someone who has put up consistent results in the past. As a newer player or one that doesn’t win events a lot, it’s about being included in the article which is recognition of your season to date.
Saying you’re not being entitled doesn’t change the fact that you’re being entitled.