Who Will Win the 2022 Pokemon World Championships?

The 2022 Pokemon World Championships are just a week away, and this may be one of the most hyped World Championships in recent memory. Sword and Shield has gone its entire lifespan without a World Championships, and 2022 will host its first and last in the wake of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet releasing this Fall.

Trying to predict which player will stand above the rest in London proves to be a difficult task this year. The field is populated by players who qualified over a number of different VGC formats, with some earning their invitation as far back as the 3DS era in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Sure, some of the names you expect to be at the top of the Championship Point standings for each respective region are still there, but a lot of new names rose to prominence in the most recent format, Series 12, which will be the ruleset of choice for this year’s tournament.

Despite how tall a task this may prove to be, let’s make some educated guesses to try and figure out who will win the 2022 Pokemon World Championships.

[Related: 2022 VGC North American International Championships Recap]

North America

Total # of Invites: 68

Current #1: Joseph Ugarte

Highest Individual CP Total: 2179

International Top Cut Appearances: 11

International Championship Titles: 2

North America is always a region to be contended with, and this year is no different. Coming off the momentum of its own International Championships and five regionals since returning from the pandemic hiatus, North America’s stacked roster of talent is looking to make big waves in their first World Championships outside their region since 2013.

Smart Money’s On: Chongjun Peng

When one thinks of consistency and straight up dominance this season, Chongjun Peng should be the player that comes to mind. A regional win at the start 2022 play and a recent Top 8 placing at NAIC put Peng on the map as one of the biggest threats to make a run at Worlds this year. Not to mention he’s put in a ton of practice with (arguably) the best team in the format, and has pretty much demonstrated mastery of it. Look out for him, among the many other talented Chinese players competing in the field, come Day 2 of the tournament.

Other Notables:

Joseph Ugarte: The current leader in Championship Points for NA deserves a mention here. Ugarte has been another paragon of consistency, achieving two Top 4 International Championships placings in the post-pandemic era. Ugarte has travelled across the land, getting CP far and wide, and he’s ready to make his mark on London this year.

Emilio Forbes: The Seacaucus Regional Champion has flown a bit under the radar since his statement regional win, but let’s not forget Forbes was a runner-up at the World Championships just a few years ago (2018). He’s been here before, and has already demonstrated he’s got the skills to compete at the top level in the Series 12 format.

James Evans: The NAIC champion this year also has a fair bit of World Championships experience as he was a World Champion back in 2018 in the Seniors Division. Since aging up, Evans now has a regional and an IC win under his belt, and he sure has one giant momentum advantage heading into the final stretch of the season.

Europe

Total # of Invites: 127

Current #1: Eric Rios

Highest Individual CP Total: 2405

International Top Cut Appearances: 11

2019 International Championship Titles: 2

Europe has a massive advantage as it is the region with the most invites to the World Championships this year at 127. European players have also been dominant in the international field, tying with North America for Top Cut appearances and wins at the International Championships level. Picking a “smart money” for this region is tough, but the name(s) chosen shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Smart Money’s On: Eric Rios

Eric Rios is by far one of the best players in Europe and the world and has put his home region on his back for this season. He comes into London as the EUIC champion and the Liverpool Regional Champion, both taking place in the 2022 Series 12 format. Rios also had an amazing Top 8 run at the last World Championships in 2019 (also a format notably having restricted Pokemon), and certainly has the ability to run it back this year.

Other Notables

Oliver Eskolin: Eskolin is a player that has done nothing but impress at the International level this year. A 2nd place finish at EUIC, a 18th place finish at NAIC, and even a regional Top 4 finish at Milwaukee all in 2022.

Thomas Gravouille: Another top-notch, consistent player that has astounding familiarity and dedication with their team. Gravouille has been appearing in top cuts and Championship Point-earning spots nearly everywhere since play resumed in Series 12 (including a Regional win in Lille), and he boasts proficiency with one of the scariest Pokemon to face going into Worlds: Shedinja.

Markus Stadter: Once upon a time one of Europe’s most dominant players looks to be back in winning form in 2022. Stadter reached the Top 8 of EUIC, had a strong Top 32 placing at NAIC and a solid regional finish to add to his already stacked career résumé. He’s another player that’s done well at Worlds in the past, and if he might be poised to repeat some of that history.

Latin America

Total # of Invites: 39

Current #1: Gabriel Agati

Highest Individual CP Total: 1447

International Top Cut Appearances: 6

2018 International Championship Titles: 0

The player pool from Latin America drops off quite a bit from EU and NA, but there’s still a strong base looking to make themselves known in London.

Smart Money’s On: Gabriel Agati

Another safe pick here, but it’s hard to argue with how good Gabriel Agati is and how much momentum he’s carrying after being the runner-up at NAIC. Agati has the World’s Top Cut experience from his run in 2019 and plenty of solid placings at the International level this season, so he looks to lead Latin America’s delegation in London.

Other Notables

Javier Valdes: Our “Smart Money” from 2019 returns as another one of Latin America’s best to watch at Worlds this year. Valdes has his EUIC Top 8 appearance and some solid results in 2019 to make up his Worlds invitation, so he’s more than deserving to be in the conversation for names you may see in the later stages of the tournament.

Juan Salerno: The current number 4 in Latin America’s Championship Point standings racked up some great results in 2019 (including a Top 4 at LAIC) to get him to this spot. A young and up-and-coming talent that is looking to prove himself even further on the Worlds stage.

Oceania

Total # of Invites: 20

Current #1: Alfredo Chang-Gonzalez

Highest Individual CP Total: 1040

International Top Cut Appearances: 4

2018 International Championship Titles: 0

Oceania has the least amount of invites this year, but they at least got three tournaments in 2022 to showcase some proficiency in the current format. The talent here is concentrated, losing the numbers game, but making up for it by having a strong group that is more than capable of competing with the rest.

Smart Money’s On: Alfredo Chang-Gonzalez

It’s hard to pick against the top player in the region, especially when he’s been putting up some of the best results among his fellow Australian players. Not to mention he was an International Champion in the Seniors Division back in 2018, and now carries a Top 32 finish at the Oceania International Championships back in 2020 and, more recently, a Top 4 finish at Brisbane in 2022. Even though he’s a newer player to the Masters Division, he’s another rising star who’s certainly capable to put Oceania on the map.

Other Notables

Henry Rich: Speaking of Brisbane Regionals, Rich is your champion of that tournament and definitely one of Australia’s best players to look out for.

Meaghan Rattle: Keeping with the Brisbane theme, here’s the runner up from that tournament and a Top 8 finisher from the most recent World Championships in 2019. Doesn’t look like she’s lost her shine, so it’s not a stretch to say another solid result at the World Championships is in her future.

Other National Champions

Japan – Kentaro Matsumodo

Korea – Wonseok Jung

Thailand – Chaiyawat Traiwichcha

Malaysia – Kevin Ngim

Taiwan – Chyr Wei

Philippines – Patrick Elegado

Singapore – Melvin Keh

Hong Kong – Pan Si Ming

Listed are the some of the more prominent names to come out of the lesser-represented regions in the Pokemon VGC world. It’s a shame that some of these events received so little documentation this season, but that’s in no way an indication that any of these players (or regions) should be counted out.

Japan shook up the VGC world with its crazy results from its National Championships (as it does basically every year) and some of the nation’s most prominent names wound up securing their invites to London. Series 12 is a format that’s desperately due for some wild Pokemon and teams to shake it up, and what better region to do it than Japan.

Wonseok Jung is another standout name here being a back-to-back Korea National Champion, however his only notable World Championship placement is 45th at 2019’s tournament. However, the last time a Korean player won back-to-back Nationals in their home country they won the World Championships with a particular fan favorite squirrel. Unfortunately, Sejun Park is busy being amazing at Pokemon Unite (and will be playing said game in London for Worlds) so maybe its time for a new Korean player to stun the world again.

Finally, Melvin Keh should ring some familiar bells for players of years past as Keh was by far one of the most dominant and consistent players in the world in 2018 and 2019. Outside of an impressive nationals win in Singapore, not much is known about his skills in Series 12, but restricted Pokemon are certainly familiar to him, so it may be time for the world to be reminded of this titan of a player.

The 2022 Pokemon World Championships should be an exciting tournament to send off Pokemon Sword and Shield and make way for the next generation of battles. While the affair may be a bit smaller this year, the diversity of both new and old qualifying players should really shake up the field.

These are our picks for who we think could win the whole thing, but something tells us there’s a good chance we could be in for a number of surprises this year in London.

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Images from Play Pokémon & The Pokémon Company International.