The Collinsville Regional Championships were full of surprises. Not only did the eighth seed, Jake Magier, triumph over some big names on his way to his first regional win, but Collinsville’s Top Cut displayed some interesting developments for the VGC 2019 metagame. Magier’s team may not have been all that surprising to some, but his take on the Xerneas/Groudon archetype highlighted the emerging trend of Volcarona. Props to Magier for not only winning his first regional championship, but doing it in his first regional Top Cut appearance.
Results & Teams (Top 8)
1. Jake Magier
2. Alex Underhill
3. Allan Martinez
4. Alex Arand
5. Whitney Johnson
6. Ryan Loseto
7. Nick Navarre
8. William Marks
Groudon Outshines The Competition (Again)
Groudon has been a dominant force in Pokemon VGC as of late. Besides Xerneas, it was the most popular restricted Pokemon in Collinsville which is surprising considering Kyogre’s string of dominance up to this point in the 2019 season.
After its win in Dallas and a strong third place finish in Melbourne, Groudon has won yet another Moon Series event. Interestingly enough, there were Groudon then Kyogre in Collinsville’s Top Cut which has been unheard of for most of VGC 2019. As with most popular Pokemon and strategies in a given VGC season, there is a time where players find counters, and thus the once dominant begin to fade. Could Kyogre’s time at the top be nearing its end?
Each of the three Groudon that appeared in the Top Cut had slight variance depending on their respective team, and this is a testament to how versatile Groudon can be. Jake Magier’s Groudon took the more standard approach as a bulky attacker that can boost up with Swords Dance. Many players invest a fair amount into Groudon’s defenses so that it can better take on Kyogre despite its weakness to Kyogre’s attacks. Alex Underhill likely built his Groudon more defensively as it carried the Choice Band item to compensate for the minimal attack investment. The Choice Band allows Groudon to shake off at least one Intimidate and still score the one-hit-KO on most Incineroar. Finally, Nick Navarre placed his Groudon on the opposite side of the spectrum as an all-out attacker holding the Life Orb. An interesting choice for Navarre’s Groudon was Substitute, a move that further sacrifices HP, but can be key in punishing defensive play from the opponent.
Groudon seems to be the hot new thing in VGC 2019’s Moon Series, and Kyogre teams will be looking to rebound over the next two months.
Underrated Restricted Pokemon
In Collinsville you had your typical Groudon, Kyogre, Xerneas, Lunala etc. but some other restricted Pokemon also managed to have success.
The next two restricted Pokemon outside the norm actually appeared on the same team.
Metagame Highlights
The Collinsville Regional Championships might’ve shown us some interesting developments in the VGC metagame, but there was another major tournament that happened over the weekend in Cannes, France. If you thought some of the teams that did well in Collinsville were unique, the teams from Cannes might be on another level. We’ll be back soon to break down an even stranger side of VGC 2019’s metagame.
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Images from Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Ken Sugimori and The Pokemon Company International
Featured Image from Poke-Regionals