Header artwork by Liz (kamihada).
Hi, it’s Luca Ceribelli, aka ceree! It still feels weird to write that I’m the 2024 Pokémon World Champion, but I guess there are worse feelings around. I usually write down reports and tournament runs for fun in my spare time, though I am always too shy to publish them out. Still, I don’t think I can get away with leaving this one in the drafts, so here goes my experience at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii.
About me
I’m a 21-year-old uni student from Bergamo, near Milan in Italy. I have been playing VGC since 2017, where I managed to win the Treviso Special Event in the Senior Division and subsequently the Turin Special Event in the Masters Division at 14 and a bunch of months (to push my delusion, I say to myself that I’m the youngest ever Regional winner in the Masters Division, so even if it’s not true let me believe it).
Since after that I had a long streak of underwhelming results, I will let you believe I took a long break until 2022 (you won’t find me in any tournament standings anyways, I was too low to be noticed), where I managed to make Day 2 at the Pokémon World Championships for the first time in my life. This achievement gave me a huge confidence boost and I was able to capitalize off of that, making Day 2 at every event I attended in the Scarlet & Violet era and getting some nice results such as top cutting the Europe International Championships and placing second at the Bologna Special Event.
Now that the boasting is over we can get to the main part.
Table of Contents
Teambuilding process
Deciding on the Restricted
I wanted to settle on which Restricted to run at least a month before Worlds. Though I think the recent power creep made a lot of non-Restricted mons act as pseudo-ubers (Raging Bolt, Urshifu, etc.), the Restricted of choice usually shapes the team’s composition and playstyle, thus I wanted to have a clear idea on what type of team I wanted to master even if I had not decided yet on the 5 supporting cast.
I will quickly detail the reasoning behind the Restricted I considered going into Worlds:
Koraidon: its ability to power up already strong Pokémon such as Raging Bolt and Flutter Mane was tempting, but its reliance on weather and overall non-optimal match-up against Ice Rider Calyrex made me decide against it. Also, I did not like how its strongest attack, Flare Blitz, required both the usage of Terastallization and consistent recoil with no options for recovery on the Restricted, something I found way too demanding for what it was giving back.
Groudon: I liked the ability to deal spread Ground-type damage a lot better, but it also felt like I had fewer ways to snowball due to having a slower Restricted, let alone its Precipice Blades’ shaky accuracy. Much like Koraidon, I found its drawbacks too heavy to allow myself to run an already sub-par Restricted.
Zacian: I initially found Zacian to be an interesting pick due to the good match-up spread it had on the metagame, but its lack of a spread move made it so that I would have fewer times where I could just button-smash my way out of matches, something I was not ready to accept if it meant learning an entire archetype anew. Side note: I also disliked Zacian’s inability to hit Fire types, which in turn made Rapid Strike Style Urshifu mandatory in a lot of selections.
Zamazenta: I find Zamazenta to be kind of like a Zacian on steroids when it comes to match-up spread. In general, any friend I was talking to had some kind of bad match-up against it. I believe it was the Restricted I was playing better with among the ones I ended up discarding, but a lot of problems made me decide against it: its reliance on forcing out Terastallization, necessity of correctly guessing Protects, using sub-par Pokémon such as Entei, Ditto, etc…
Kyogre: the first Restricted considered to have an actual access to strong spread moves. I discarded it almost immediately since I did not like running Kyogre + Tornadus for its unstable playstyle and necessity of a priority-blocking Pokémon in nearly every game. Assault Vest Kyogre felt way too lackluster, and Calm Mind Kyogre felt like a Calm Mind Terapagos with the added malus of not having a 100% accuracy spread move.
Shadow Rider Calyrex: going into Worlds, the Psychic/Ghost-type Calyrex felt like the strongest Restricted due to its versatility in building (mainly item choice) and gameplay, along with a proper unfair move in Astral Barrage. I discarded it as I felt it had a way too big target on its back, coupled with its extreme limitations on Terastallization and EV spread due to the mirror’s demands.
Ice Rider Calyrex: The Psychic/Ice-type Calyrex has the strongest move of the game in Glacial Lance, and the ability to bulk through the majority of the metagame on its own. I discarded it because: a) its playstyle of getting value out of multiple Glacial Lances was very different to mine, which usually favours fast Pokémon to force out plays rather than playing reactively; b) I thought Calyrex’s success would be decided by the effectiveness of its companions, and I was unsure I could find the call in time for the event.
Terapagos: Terapagos is a weird Pokémon as it functions completely different based on its set. I did not want to run Calm Mind as it was way too slow of an approach for me, but I found Choice Specs way too difficult to use due to the amount of Fake Out users slowing it down. The set I found more appealing to me was Power Herb with Meteor Beam (admittedly, its Stellar-type Meteor Beam animation is so cool that it almost sold me on the idea), but its main problem was that to get the most out of Meteor Beam, you needed to Terastallize it early, usually wasting Tera Shell and the early-game utility of single-target Tera Starstorm. To counteract it, I tried running Calm Mind again as the 4th move to have a way to power yourself without needing to Terastallize early, while still keeping its offensive-paced playstyle, but it ended up working badly in both directions: I had a Calm Mind Terapagos without neither Leftovers or Covert Cloak, and an offensive Terapagos that needed too much time to get into the game.
Miraidon: after all, the choice had to fall onto Miraidon, which already featured in my Bologna Special Event 2nd place team. I had my doubts about Miraidon due to its reliance on getting turns right, the rise of Iron Hands, and in general the increasing number of people preparing for it. The first two problems were partially solved by the introduction of the Fairy Tera Type and Dazzling Gleam on Miraidon. As for the latter, I wasn’t able to find some way to counter the soft-counters, but given how I found myself playing other compositions way worse, I settled on playing what I was most comfortable with and rely on my ability (or rather, hoping the muscle memory of 300 Pokémon Showdown best-of-3 sets would be enough).
The Supporting Cast
Settling on Miraidon, I knew that I was already restricting my choices to 3 slots, as Farigiraf and Iron Hands were mandatory.
Miraidon relies way too much on controlling the tempo to allow your opponent to slow you down with Fake Outs, and passing out on the stat behemoth that is Iron Hands under Electric Terrain is criminal.
My first attempt, using Bologna’s exact squad, was unconvincing, though I don’t know how much of it was due to running Electric Tera Type rather than Fairy on Miraidon. I’ve seen it do pretty good at Worlds, so it probably wasn’t that bad of a call if updated properly.
After witnessing what I believed to be Frederik and Nikolaj Høj Nielsen’s alt on Pokémon Showdown using a composition of Miraidon + Grimmsnarl + Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon + Bloodmoon Ursalununa + Farigiraf + Iron Hands, I wanted to look more into Grimmsnarl: not only was the added Reflect support looking really cool (allowing for more breathing room against Zamazenta, Chien-Pao, Iron Hands and so on…), especially on Iron Hands, the ability to spam Thunder Wave at the slightest inconvenience was very tempting. I tried to run the aforementioned 6, with a peculiar Calm Mind Ursaluna (trying out Zee Costagliola’s NAIC idea), but in the end I found Ursaluna to be useless as I was often skeptical to commit heavy on the Trick Room mode, usually favouring a softer Iron Hands and Farigiraf late-game mode. I did like the quartet of Miraidon, Grimmsnarl, Farigiraf and Iron Hands though, and I wanted to experiment on it.
Taking inspiration by both Frederik’s success at the Victory Road to Honolulu #1 and a similar composition gaining track in Italy, I tried using Entei and bulky Rapid Strike Style Urshifu with Mystic Water and Poison Tera Type. I brought this 6 to a Midseason Showdown (you will never catch me calling them League Cup) in Milan and finished 2nd, dropping only 3 games out of 8 rounds.
Still, I had found a important problem: I was way too easy to read on my team selection, which against strong opponents could equal a death sentence. Granted, you are usually expected to lead Miraidon anyway due to how much pressure it applies from the get-go, but Grimmsnarl is also often lead-bound, with the back usually being easily identifiable in Iron Hands and Farigiraf. I found the problem in the fact that both Entei and Mystic Water Urshifu were very match-up specific, and thus it was very difficult to bring them in a vacuum, rendering my selections predictable.
Honestly, I didn’t really like Entei in the first place (as it felt underwhelming both offensively and defensively), so I didn’t mind dropping it, but I had a harder time doing so with Urshifu (as I found Poison Tera Type to be extremely good against Zamazenta, which I struggled immensely against otherwise).
In the end, I decided to drop Grimmsnarl because its shortcomings in terms of predictabilty were too big for me. Putting Whimsicott back in, I tried out Andrea Olea’s version which featured Choice Scarf Chi-Yu (which I already had a good experience with after Bologna) and Choice Band Rapid Strike Style Urshifu. I initially liked this set as it could overwhelm slower compositions, with the added benefit of KOing Rillaboom with Helping Hand + U-turn, but in the end the same problems began to manifest (i.e. both Urshifu and Chi-Yu needed Farigiraf); and the grand amount of zero Protects made the team way too unstable to my liking.
I continued to scramble around with minor tweaks, but after talking with Simone Sanvito (Sanvy), he convinced me to give a deeper try to Hiroto Hayasaki‘s (Arubega) version, which was doing well both in ladder and Japanese tournaments, featuring Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon.
Admittedly, I am a sucker for Firepon, as it carried me in both Regulation Sets E and F, but I felt like it was past its prime due to the higher firepower both outclassing it and threatening it way too much for my liking, but Sanvy talked me into reconsidering, stating how Incineroar’s drop in usage meant it would be unintimidated for the majority of games, and how it was the most solid Fire type available either way. I tried it out again as the offensive core was very similar to the one I used to top cut EUIC (Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon + Rapid Strike Style Urshifu + a strong Electric/Dragon + a speed-controlling Fairy type).
I can’t say I was completely sold on the idea, but I found myself more comfortable than with other compositions, and my winrate improved too. I settled on Whimsicott + Rapid Strike Style Urshifu for their good defensive synergy with the rest of the team, and I temporarily selected Ogerpon as the designated Fire-type.
While on the plane, I started theorizing about Fire-Tera Type Choice Scarf Chi-Yu, which looked to add a very oppressive lead from the get-go next to Farigiraf, but did not manage to test it out. Talking it with Sanvy and Davide Cognetta, they both agreed it looked good on paper but made the team way too unstable.
After discussing it with my friend Marco Silva while at the Pokémon Center, he jokingly pulled a Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon plush and said “after all she has done for you, are you still leaving her behind?” Dumb as it may seem, I took it as convincing enough and kept Ogerpon as the last slot.
The Team
Get the team’s paste here!
Miraidon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Hadron Engine
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 12 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
– Electro Drift
– Draco Meteor
– Volt Switch
– Dazzling Gleam
I don’t think there is much to say about Miraidon other than it is fast and hits very hard. I really like its simplicity on that aspect.
The Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam set has grown on me, giving it access both to a spammable spread and a way to avoid the type chart trap (where locking into Electro Drift paved the way for Raging Bolt, or using Draco Meteor both dropping firepower and risking running into a Fairy Tera Type). One of my main errors using Miraidon was overplaying Volt Switch, even in situations where I would be required not to, but I feel like I improved on it. Maybe the Fairy Tera Type improving its staying power helped easing up the decisions.
Its main innovation was the “slow” spread: after running Timid for the majority of the time, I started despising its slight decrease on damaging output, especially since Modest allowed to pick up knockouts where it wasn’t supposed to (i.e. it OHKOd mid-bulk Shadow Rider Calyrex with Draco Meteor without the Hadron Engine boost most of the times). After talking it out with Sanvy, I decided that Modest was the right choice. As at this point max Speed Modest wasn’t looking very useful, I invested in a little bulk to ease up some rolls (such as 252 SpA Life Orb-boosted, Helping Hand-boosted Astral Barrage, or 252+ Atk Sword of Ruin-boosted Body Press from Zamazenta), while keeping enough Speed to outpace 252 Spe Impish Zamazenta. Expecting myself to be slower than other Miraidon, I also developed a plan in the mirror involving using Light Screen to easily survive a Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam and safely Volt Switching into what I was mostly comfortable with unscathed.
Funnily enough, multiple people ran a similar spread following a similar train of thought, including Arubega himself and Seongjae Jeong.
Whimsicott @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 236 HP / 164 SpD / 108 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Moonblast
– Tailwind
– Light Screen
– Encore
Despite its lack of firepower, Whimsicott’s ability to support both offensively (Tailwind) and defensively (Light Screen) has been immensely useful, even more if coupled up with its good defensive synergy with Miraidon and Rapid Strike Style Urshifu. Moreover, the access to Encore enabled multiple shenanigans far more threatening than whatever Tornadus were to offer through its attack.
Although usually brought in lead, I sometimes brought it in the back either as a switch-in or as a surprise mixup inbetween games.
The spread allows to survive two Timid Miraidon’s Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleams behind Light Screen and non-Terastallized Choice Specs Calyrex’s Astral Barrages, while outpacing up to Jolly Urshifu.
As it could be of use as a mixup in the Shadow Rider Calyrex + Weezing matchup, and in general I could scare away Encores or faster Prankster Taunts, I used Dark Tera Type: I never ended up using it in the tournament, but on paper it was way more useful than Fire or Water (even though they were better defensive types, the few times I would Terastallize it in testing was just to get rid of its weaknesses, something that Dark was able to do anyway).
Farigiraf @ Electric Seed
Ability: Armor Tail
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 204 HP / 164 Def / 4 SpA / 108 SpD / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 6 Atk
– Psychic Noise
– Foul Play
– Helping Hand
– Trick Room
Disclaimer: not a huge fan of Farigiraf. A most-times do-nothing mediocre-stats Pokémon wasn’t something I ever expected bringing to Worlds, but its selling points were so useful it would have been insane not to use it. Despite its shortcomings, the usual Foul Play / Psychic Noise / Helping Hand / Trick Room set was good enough when I was to bring it.
The spread was made to hit the bump on Defense and have an additional extra point to make it even, and have enough special bulk to survive Draco Meteor from Booster Energy Raging Bolt.
The additional points were dumped in Speed to have a general higher pool of Iron Hands to hit with Psychic Noise before they could Drain Punch.
Water is a general good Tera Type which maximizes its staying power in front of Ice Rider Calyrex, the main Pokémon it is supposed to wall.
6 Attack IVs because it’s the lowest amount I got before having a mental breakdown (can you imagine Arash Ommati managed to get a 0 Atk IV Farigiraf at the first try?).
Iron Hands @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Bug
EVs: 76 HP / 180 Atk / 12 Def / 236 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Drain Punch
– Wild Charge
– Fake Out
– Low Kick
The second Restricted of the team. Iron Hands‘s stats alone make it a great asset even in a Restricted format, but the support of Electric Terrain and Light Screen really push it to the next level, to the point where it can truly win games on its own. I made some calculations and, under those conditions, Iron Hands acts as an item-less, Ability-less Pokémon with 772 BST (keep in mind, one is Special Attack and another is Speed which is deliberately set to lowest). Throw in the fact you can just play it as a reliable Fake Out or damage-sponge support and there is really nothing you can say against using it.
I used Low Kick + Wild Charge as complementary moves because I really liked having a 120 BP no-drawback STAB move against the majority of Restricteds (in particular, it worked wonders against Ice Rider Calyrex) and other Iron Hands, and while not as flashy as a Heavy Slam, Wild Charge allowed to get out of some otherwise uncomfortable situations with a reliable 90 BP STAB move (i.e. Low Kick + Heavy Slam has a hard time beating Fairy-Tera Type Miraidon, which I did not want to happen).
The EV spread allows to keep as much Attack as possible, while getting 3HKOd by non-boosted Surging Strikes and Fairy Tera Type-boosted Dazzling Gleam from a Modest Miraidon behind Light Screen.
I initially wanted to run a Speed in order to underspeed usual Ice Rider Calyrex while outpacing Raging Bolt in Tailwind, but that situation wasn’t ever happening, and being able to underspeed the other Iron Hands and at least speed-tying 0 Spe IV Calyrex (which is very popular in Asia) was more useful, so I ended up using a flat 0 Spe IVs Brave set. Thanks to Mattia Cotoletta for getting me one after I filled a Box with non-0 Spe IVs Area Zero dwellers.
Bug Tera Type was in discussion up until the day of the tournament. In the end, I sacrificed gaining an immunity to Amoonguss (which was important since it couldnt touch it at all without Heavy Slam) and gaining a resistance to Water, in order to have a better matchup against Zamazenta (though I didn’t end up using it against it in the tournament) and to be able to Terastallize against Ursaluna + Ice Rider Calyrex.
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Surging Strikes
– Close Combat
– Aqua Jet
– Protect
There is no way to sugarcoat it: Urshifu is way too strong not to play it. Whereas Single Strike Style Urshifu was more popular due to the lowering amount of Fairy-Tera Type Shadow Rider Calyrex, I decided to run the Rapid Strike Style both for comfort and to have a better defensive synergy, granting me a much needed Glacial Lance switch-in (to be honest, the worse Shadow Rider Calyrex comps had Clefairy, so I didn’t really find Single Strike Style Urshifu that strong anyway…).
Following what I said earlier in the report, I chose Focus Sash because it allows for more flexibility in team choice: it is way harder to take down before it attacks, so you’re way more likely to get value out of it. I was very scared of the popular Rocky Helmet Incineroar, but in the end I was able to deal with it either via Miraidon or with Stellar-Tera Type Close Combat.
A couple days before the tournament, I tried Coaching as a last slot to allow Iron Hands and (had I made it slower) Ogerpon to bulk through some specific matchups, but it ended up being too gimmicky, so I just stuck with Aqua Jet.
Despite not changing much in relevant calculations, I decided against running Jolly out of comfort: I was way too used to Adamant Urshifu and I did not think outpacing other Urshifus would prove to be important.
Stellar Tera Type is incredibly important, because it allows to “sandwich” Fire-Tera Type Ice Rider Calyrex with Farigiraf, while also being able to KO Rillaboom and Raging Bolt with Helping Hand support. In general, Stellar-Tera Type Close Combat does so much damage that a little chip such as Volt Switch usually puts both of them into KO range.
Ogerpon-Hearthflame (F) @ Hearthflame Mask
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 188 HP / 76 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Ivy Cudgel
– Wood Hammer
– Follow Me
– Spiky Shield
What has been my signature Pokémon throughout the season was very close to not making it to Honolulu, but overcame its alternatives and I am glad she did. Whereas not as strong as other candidates (funny, considering she’s like a miniature Zacian), Ogerpon proved to be the most balanced out of all the Fire types, allowing me to play out match-ups that would have been terrible without her.
Ogerpon is most times an Ivy Cudgel bot, aiming to remove Rillaboom and then offer some support with Follow Me. I noticed that I used Wood Hammer very little during the run, and in one game its recoil even cost me the game… had the run ended in Top 8, I would curse myself for not running Power Whip like at EUIC, but all’s well what ends well and Wood Hammer was generally a safer choice, even if sometimes it chipped Ogerpon’s HP down where she would rather not find herself in.
The spread, courtesy of Marco, allows to OHKO Rillaboom with non-Terastallized Ivy Cudgel nearly all times, while surviving Water-Tera Type Urshifu’s Surging Strikes; non max Attack +1 Calyrex’s Glacial Lance; +2 Spell Tag Calyrex’s Astral Barrage behind Light Screen; and Timid Miraidon’s Draco Meteor behind Light Screen. Seeing how many Miraidon opted out of Timid, I would probably change the spread to a bulkier one, but I found the comfort of outpacing Urshifu and Modest Landorus cool at times.
Tournament run
Day 1
I think it’s pretty uncommon, but I like having a long walk to the venue before the tournament, partly because I need something to do to avoid getting to the venue while still braindead.
The 30-something minute walk from our apartment was really cool and I also got to try malasadas on my way.
Once I get to the venue, I can meet up with everyone and cool down my usual tournament anxiety as we wait for the opening ceremony. Except pairings are already out, so we are all stressing about our opponents to properly enjoy it, and the usual Worlds screw-up postponing it as well doesn’t help…
Either way, after a long wait, it’s finally game on as we are all called to the playing tables.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | WW |  Ian McLaughlin (raikoo) |     |  |
I recognize the name as an American player with a knack for hyper offense teams with Smeargle. While we were stuck 40 minutes waiting for the ceremony to finish, I was very scared of facing some kind of Smeargle shenanigans, maybe with Shadow Rider Calyrex, Indeedee, Ursaluna… turns out my fears were exaggerated because, despite my opponent actually running Smeargle and Calyrex, it complemented it with much more common Pokémon.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
The first game of the first round of the World Championships isn’t time to go hard on predictions. I decide to not immediately go for the jackpot of Farigiraf and Draco Meteor and keep it simple with Light Screen and Electro Drift into Calyrex. Rillaboom goes for U-turn as Astral Barrage does little damage to both, whereas Electro Drift puts Calyrex almost down to red, which prompts me to think Draco Meteor would KO from full. With Light Screen support and Calyrex unable to do much damage due to the lack of a boosting item, I am able to send in Ogerpon to further pressure my opponent. After taking a knockout on Incineroar with a double up, I just need to keep Farigiraf and Miraidon healthy enough to win the game. Funnily enough, I end up with only 1 PP left on Electro Drift, something that had never happened before.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
This time, my opponent starts up with a Fake Out onto Miraidon, followed by a Protect + U-turn play into Smeargle. I was about to send Ogerpon in on Miraidon and Moonblast Smeargle for an easy 2HKO, into a boosted Wood Hammer into Calyrex, but unfortunately Smeargle gets a Special Defense boost… With that play out of the picture, I throw Draco Meteor onto Calyrex which OHKOd from full. I was pretty sure I would always make it faint, but the game revealed it was a critical hit so we will never know for sure. Smeargle gets a Spore off onto Miraidon, but Rillaboom and Incineroar are nowhere near enough to even think of pulling it back.
In the end, my Round 1 has been way less threatening than what I expected it to be, either via the match-up being great, a critical hit voiding any doubts of a survival, or me just getting the turns right.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | TLWW |  Ma Chun Yeung (Haymi) | | |
My opponent is running my exact 6 (except for the Single Strike Style Urshifu, which doesn’t come into the match). I know this was something I was bound to face, and luckily I extensively prepared for it.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
The first turn starts as well as I could have: despite Light Screen, Miraidon picks up a knockout onto Ogerpon thanks to the added damage of Modest Nature. I look to be in a optimal position… but the game crashes. It is disputed as a tie and we’re told that if we were to go to an 1-1 score too late into the round, we would resolve it in a sudden death. Not the best of scenarios…
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
My opponent takes what he can and changes lead. I follow my usual gameplan of Light Screen + slow Volt Switch against Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam, but an untimely double Moonblast drop blocks Farigiraf from knocking out low HP Miraidon and my Miraidon from KOing Iron Hands… I lose too much ground and ultimately the game.
Game 3:
- Me:
- Opp:
Knowing now the opposing Miraidon to be Timid, I switch up to Ogerpon + Whimsicott. The early advantage I get from the lead turns fatal for my opponent, and I close out the game with Miraidon and Iron Hands.
Game 4:
- Me:
- Opp:
Luckily the previous games were short enough for us to play a regular set. We repeat our Game 1 plays and Draco Meteor OHKOs Ogerpon yet again, putting me in the driver’s seat. The game gets kinda confusing from there, but I remember correctly using Ogerpon’s typing next to Light Screen Whimsicott to turn the initial advantage into a win.
This Round 2 has been very exhausting, especially after feeling I had that Game 1 pulled from me for an unfortunate disconnection, but I still have enough time to cool down before Round 3 starts.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3 | LL |  Wang Yuxiang (SG★) |  | |
I recognize Yuxiang’s name from Team China’s World Cup roster, but I quite can’t put a finger on who that is specifically. Going into preview, I identify him to be KyogreSG, a very good player who regularly features in NPA (his Top 8 finish is testament enough to his ability…). He’s playing a team very similar to Hyuma Hara’s (Anya) recent build, which I haven’t tested against but works similar to other Terapagos compositions I played.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
The game starts pretty good, with me using Volt Switch and Psychic Noise onto Terapagos, which sets up Substitute but gets hit anyway due to Psychic Noise being a sound move, leaving it very low on health, but I make some mistakes, especially one being setting up Trick Room when I needed to step on the gas with Miraidon, allowing my opponent to turn the tide of the game through clean plays and a couple of mindgames.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
I try to mix up with Ogerpon to try and catch another Rillaboom lead, but my opponent reads me well and starts off with Flutter Mane. After paralyzing and chipping down Ogerpon, Yuxiang manages to juggle in and out with Rillaboom and Incineroar much more efficiently, covering up all my attempts of removing Terapagos before its HP gets too high up with Leftovers and Grassy Terrain. In the end, Yuxiang only needs one late Calm Mind to sweep my Miraidon, Ogerpon and low health Iron Hands.
The Round 3 match was a very humbling experience. Throughout all this year I had never been outplayed this hard, especially considering the match-up wasn’t bad by any means and I even got some reads and luck go my way. I tried to replay the match in my head countless times, but in the end the only thing mattering was that I needed to get back up immediately.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4 | WW |  Luca Paz (0-x in swiss) |    | |
I had played Luca a couple of times before and I got beaten up pretty badly both of them, so the pairings did not look to be ideal. However, after exchanging teamsheets, I recognized my good match-up against his Koraidon composition, especially if I was able to make full use of Low Kick Iron Hands.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
Anticipating some Ditto shenanigans, I inverted the order of Miraidon and Whimsicott based on the team preview, and my supposition was right as Luca led Ditto directly trying to catch Miraidon. Luca tried to go further on read and used Power Whip onto Miraidon, hoping to catch an Iron Hands switch, but I stay in clicking Dazzling Gleam without Terastallizing. Using correctly Iron Hands and Whimsicott’s Encore and Light Screen support, I am able to win the match with relative ease.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
My opponent got as much advantage early game as possible through risky reads, but my match-up was so great that an aggressive Iron Hands switch-in as I use Trick Room, coupled up with the correct read on a Protect/no Protect situation is enough for me to win the game.
Honestly, while beating a good player like Luca to go 3-1 was good, I wasn’t feeling great. The previous round was still running through my head and I knew that last match was more of a match-up carryjob than a genuine outplay. I felt like I needed to up my game.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R5 | LL |  Takehiro Nakata (Grand) |  | |
I recognized the nickname Grand from somewhere, but I don’t remember ever playing against him, so I would play pretty much with no info about my opponent. The team was looking like one of Yosuke Takayanagi‘s (Yanagi), usually aiming to go slow Game 1 and then overwhelm with Flutter Mane Game 2, so I said to myself that my opponent would probably do something similar.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
My intuition was correct as my opponent started out with Ogerpon and Calyrex. After his double protect to scout my Volt Switch, I correctly read through him trying to get a greedy Dragon-type Terastallization off by doubling up and knocking out Ogerpon, not without eating a Power Whip and Glacial Lance with Iron Hands. Then, I sacrifice Iron Hands as I get on some damage onto Flutter Mane. At this point, both Flutter Mane and Calyrex are in range of Dazzling Gleam. I could have used Helping Hand to avoid Moonblast dropping my Special Attack costing me the game, but I was too scared of Protect + Torkoal into Helping Hand-boosted Moonblast which could have KOd my Miraidon, so I tried to cover the bases by switching Ogerpon over Farigiraf instead. To my horror though, my opponent stayed in and Moonblast drops Miraidon’s Special Attack, costing me the game…
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
I am pretty tilted at this point and, despite getting the lead right, I completely panic out of just using Follow Me + Electro Drift onto Flutter Mane in fear of a Protect play, allowing my opponent to get away with Fairy-Tera Type Helping Hand-boosted Moonblast knocking out Fairy-Tera Type Miraidon. I manage to come to a close endgame, but unfortunately Iron Hands loses the decisive speed tie against min Speed Calyrex to end the game and the set.
This match had crushed me. Losing the first game had a weird taste, because even if I got unlucky, I had a way to play around it, but then again I tried to cover for all the possible plays, so I really did not know how to feel about it. Still, I had no excuses for losing Game 2 the way I did, especially because my opponent had made a couple of mistakes that I could not capitalize off to get back into the game. Technically this Round 5 was the turning point of the run, but at the moment I couldn’t find any way to pull myself up other than slap myself a couple of times and hope for the best the following rounds.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R6 | WW | Nick Navarre (Nails) |   | |
This was my first time playing Nails, and it couldn’t have been in a more delicate moment. Looking at the team, I remembered seeing something similar somewhere on the ladder, but I couldn’t find any gameplan better than let Urshifu and Iron Hands punch through.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I start the first game using Whimsicott, as Miraidon and Iron Hands with Light Screen support are very tough for Choice Specs Terapagos. My opponent started out with Iron Hands and Klefki, a lead I did not think of, but I am able to juggle out of the situations through a series of Volt Switches. At some point, I have a position where I would win on the spot with Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam next to Urshifu, but I opt out of doing so fearing Tornadus in the back, which would allow Terapagos to sweep my entire team, and use non-Terastallized Electro Drift instead. Nails reveals Ogerpon however, switching it in on a combination of Electro Drift and Close Combat, losing it immediately. After he entered with Iron Hands, I make an aggressive read on him not using Fake Out predicting my Protect + Iron Hands play, doubling up Terapagos and knocking it out immediately. After that, there was no way for my opponent to come back.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
This time, I switched Whimsicott for Farigiraf, since Nails seemed to rely on Iron Hands to chip down Miraidon, and Psychic Noise would render Miraidon untouchable. The first turn goes as well as it could, as I block Drain Punch while getting free damage onto Klefki. To me, it seemed strange he would let himself be fooled that easily, but the next turn I discover Farigiraf and Iron Hands were actually in speed tie and he was just assuming to be faster… Although I was very far ahead either way, I capitalize on the position by knocking out both Iron Hands and Klefki at the right turns, letting Urshifu and Iron Hands easily take care of the remaining Terapagos and Smeargle.
Although I was still far from being out of the woods, this Round 6 win helped me get my confidence back up. Despite the match-up being very favourable to me, I think I was able to follow a good plan, not shying away from aggressive reads that I knew I would have needed to do in order to succeed in the rest of the tournament.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R7 | WW | Meghan Hyman (PinkSylvie) |  | |
I remember playing Meghan long ago in 2018, but apart from that I really did not have much information about her playstyle or anything. I was delighted, though, to play this unusual Ice Rider Calyrex version, as the lack of Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon was very good to me, and Gholdengo did absolutely nothing to my team whatsoever, so I had a general idea on what she would bring.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I immediately recognized Meghan’s intention of playing passively with Light Screen and Protect, using Volt Switch onto Grimmsnarl and getting some good damages right off the bat. I lost some steam later on due to me mistakenly leaving Grimmsnarl unattended thinking it would just Reflect, letting it throw off a couple Spirit Breaks too many. Still, after heavily damaging Urshifu, Grimmsnarl and Rillaboom, I am able to clean up with Iron Hands + Farigiraf in Trick Room, keeping low HP Urshifu in the back to deal with the Fire-Tera Type Calyrex.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
My opponent switched up approach, but that opened up opportunities for Miraidon to be more aggressive, as Rillaboom wasn’t really threatening anything at all. I use Helping Hand and Draco Meteor on Raging Bolt, unsure if non-boosted Draco Meteor would have OHKOd Electric-Tera Type Raging Bolt, which I did not know the spread of, but it didn’t even Terastallize, resulting in the greatest overkill of the tournament. With a Pokémon advantage, I am able to step even more on the gas, sacrificing Miraidon for Draco Meteor and Foul Play damage onto Calyrex as Urshifu used Coaching, essentialy locking itself onto a useless move as Urshifu’s Surging Strikes and Farigiraf’s Foul Play tear through the rest of the team while ignoring the Defense boosts.
I had a minor setback in the first game, but I was able to pull through, even if it was due to some match-up roulette luck. Just one more win though, I thought.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R8 | WW | Zhang Bowei (observ) |  | |
Another Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon-less Ice Rider Calyrex team between me and Day 2. I was a little afraid of the possible mindgames stemming from a Calyrex + Amoonguss lead with Rillaboom in the back, but I decided to stick through with my original gameplan for at least the first game, as it looked like I would have still needed fewer reads to win the game than my opponent.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
Standard lead match-up means standard play of Helping Hand + Draco Meteor on Calyrex, not that I would really expect it not to Protect but better than let my opponent get Amoonguss and Calyrex in Grassy Terrain against -2 Miraidon, isn’t it? Surprisingly though, my opponent went for Fire-type Terastallization and something with Calyrex, getting knocked out on the spot (he later told me he had a good roll of surviving Timid Miraidon, but turns out with me being Modest it became 87.5% chance to faint). Rillaboom pivots into Raging Bolt and Amoonguss takes the field as well, but after eating another Draco Meteor with Raging Bolt trying to read Miraidon to switch out, my opponent forfeits in the third turn of the game.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
The first game was admittedly very anti-climatic, so I expected a change from my opponent, especially leading Amoonguss to try and stop the onslaught of Miraidon. I come up with a plan on the spot of leading Iron Hands and Ogerpon to force Terastallization early on something (better if Amoonguss) with Ogerpon, while using Fake Out and switching in Miraidon, but my opponent leads with an unexpected Urshifu + Rillaboom, something that however looked even better for me. Ogerpon threatens Ivy Cudgel on every Pokémon, forcing Rillaboom into an early Tera Fire that ends up beneficial for me in the long run, as Miraidon has a better time cleaning up and Ogerpon gets constant pressure onto Calyrex and Amoonguss.
Day 1 summary: 6-2 (12-5) — Advancing to Day 2!
I had made it to Day 2 of the World Championships for the third straight year, but it didn’t feel as good as I thought it would, as I felt like I was blessed by the match-up roulette nearly all day long. I knew that, to go further in the tournament, I would need to up my game to face stronger opponents and harder matchups.
Still, I went home feeling like I was given a second chance at life, an opportunity I did not want to go to waste (despite my usual pessimistic approach).
Day 2 Swiss rounds
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R9 | WW |  Anthony-Christopher Manolache (Astora) | | |
Second Miraidon mirror, this time with Chi-Yu which should mean a slight advantage for me.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
The game starts out as I expected, but I inadvertedly need to get lucky in the first turn as I dodge the opposing Miraidon’s Draco Meteor with my Ogerpon (as I expected it to be Timid I was way too confident on surviving the hit, whereas my opponent disclosed being Modest at the end of the set, which would have meant a higher change of a knockout). Knocking out Whimsicott before it could set up Light Screen at this point made the position unbearable for my opponent, since I am able to Tailwind with a turn offset and clean up with Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
My usual lead switch-up proves to be very effective, as with the advantage I get even by trading Miraidon for Dazzling Gleam chip, I am able to set up Trick Room relatively free and sweep with Iron Hands in Trick Room.
The day looked up to a good start, but after talking with Anthony-Christopher and realising the usage of Modest Miraidon being a lot higher than I though, making my gameplan much more shaky, I understood I had to find a couple more ways to deal with those mirrors, where my opponent could hit as hard as me while still being faster than me. Still, two more to go.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R10 | LWW |  Diego Gutiérrez (Zero) | | |
I already played Diego at EUIC this year, with both of us making Top 8 and me winning in the Swiss rounds, not with a lot of difficulties. I think we are on pretty even grounds in terms of knowing each other, but the real challenge is the absolute nightmare of a match-up that I am about to face: I had previously seen a similar team in the ladder, but I still have no idea on what to do as the combination of Zamazenta + Chi-Yu + Raging Bolt is really tough to face.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I based my gameplan around knocking out Chi-Yu first and then ask questions, but I take Diego’s bait way too easily and send in Farigiraf to try and hit Chi-Yu as fast as possible, only for it to switch out for Raging Bolt and U-turn back in, putting me on the backfoot right from the start. I somehow get back into the game via some necessary sacrifices and I am very close to 1v4 with Bug-Tera Type Iron Hands against all of Diego’s chipped Pokémon, but Rillaboom survives with just a sliver of HP to lose me the game and put me on the brink of elimination.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
I don’t remember really well this game, except that I played more conservatively the first turns and also got pretty lucky with Urshifu avoiding Raging Bolt’s Draco Meteor, which would have brought it down to the Focus Sash, but in the end to win the game I have to make a crazy read on my opponent assuming my low HP Urshifu to Protect in front of Zamazenta, managing to Helping Hand + Close Combat it for a knock out. After that, Miraidon and Iron Hands are still in a good enough shape to beat the rest of the team.
Game 3:
- Me:
- Opp:
In the ultimate do-or-die situation, I decide to completely shift to an offensive Tailwind mode. I am hoping for my opponent to lead Chi-Yu and Rillaboom again, as +1 Wood Hammer under Grassy Terrain would OHKO Chi-Yu, but my opponent opts to start with Chi-Yu and Raging Bolt instead. Still, I am able to pivot into Iron Hands due to Light Screen support and use Ogerpon correctly to get rid of Rillaboom at a crucial time. After reading a Zamazenta Protect and doubling up the other slot, I have gotten way too much advantage and I am able to take home the win on a dramatic fashion.
This win meant a lot for me, since it put me one win away from the top cut just like in 2022, my first ever Worlds Day 2. Doing so against this uncomfortable match-up piloted by a very good player, although with some luck involved, made it even sweeter.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R9 | WW | Yuma Miyamoto (とり。) |   | |
My make-or-break game was against the Japanese player known as Cantfly, who made Day 2 at last year’s World Championships and I already played a couple of times against in Japanese mini tournaments. Going in team preview I was scared of the composition of Rillaboom and Indeedee, which meant that I would never win the Terrain war, and Incineroar as well looked very annoying in slowing down Ogerpon. Still, I noticed that Indeedee’s Tera Type did not allow it to resist Fire, which meant that he always had to play around Ogerpon potentially knocking out everything apart from Incineroar.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
As expected, my opponent starts off with Indeedee + Calyrex, but surprisingly goes for Helping Hand + Expanding Force as I use Light Screen to survive with both my mons, retaliating with Ivy Cudgel knocking out Calyrex. Without its ace, Yuma’s supporting cast is not able to keep up with my remaining mons.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
I correctly call Yuma to lead with Incineroar, switching things up with Miraidon and Farigiraf to apply a lot of pressure straight from the start. I expect a conservative play of Indeedee + Protect or Protect + Parting Shot, so I send in Whimsicott as I Volt Switch onto Incineroar to get back to the Game 1 leads, but my opponent uses Nasty Plot instead, while switching to Indeedee. Now, the situation looks dire: I need to Tailwind, but I also need to predict whether my opponent protects Calyrex and Trick Rooms fishing for the win on the spot, switches in Incineroar over Indeedee to survive Ivy Cudgel (putting itself into Dazzling Gleam KO range however), or just Follow Me and Expanding Force (opening himself to Protect and letting Miraidon come in for free). I decide to attack Calyrex and, to my delight, Yuma went all in on my Spiky Shield play using Expanding Force and Trick Room, allowing me to knock out Calyrex. My opponent forfeits and I’m in Top Cut of the Worlds Championships!
Despite the actual match being only around 10 to 15 minutes, it felt like an eternity. All the turns looked like game-deciding and I’m glad I was able to get them right.
Day 2 Swiss rounds summary: 3-0 (6-1)
Final Swiss result: 9-2 (18-6) — Advancing to Top Cut!
Top Cut
Making it to the Worlds final bracket is the coronation of a player’s season, and as my goal for the tournament I was overwhelmed with joy by this achievement. After the dust was settled, it came to mind that I actually had more to show in the tournament, so I was quick to snap back to reality and started thinking about players I would rather face and which I wouldn’t (as I said, the whole match finished in the blink of an eye as I had a lot of time to spare). After all the matches were finished and the bracket was finalised, I finally stepped back to the playing area for my first game in cut. I was trying to play it cool but I was so nervous that I ended up dropping my Switch and breaking the screen right as I made it to the playing table…
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 32 | WW | Grant Weldon (Velocity) |  | |
I initially freaked out seeing Grant’s name on the bracket, as I knew I would have to face what looked like a nightmare match-up of Ground-Tera Type Tera Blast Zacian, which I already had a hell of a time playing against in the Bologna Special in Andrea Maiellaro‘s team. I was also especially scared of Chi-Yu potentially breaking through my team with Sunny Day support. After the initial impression though, I collected my thoughts and realized how good Ogerpon (which I did not have back in Bologna) was in the match-up, as it could wall all of Zacian’s STAB moves and force out its Terastallization, while still offering Follow Me support. Aside from that, I also knew that late-game Iron Hands was a real pain for his team while in Trick Room.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I immediately switch Miraidon into Farigiraf and Ivy Cudgel on Zacian to force out a Terastallization. Grant read it, but his double up of Ground-type Tera Blast and Moonblast on Ogerpon comes short of a handful of HPs, allowing myself to get about 55% damage off. I sacrifice Ogerpon and try to get cheeky with Foul Play on Zacian to knock it out, but Grant instead switched Ditto in, copying Farigiraf and eating a Foul Play (a couple of HPs more than it should have due to my nonoptimal IVs ☺). From then, my position is fantastic: Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam KOs Ditto as I comfortably set up Trick Room, allowing Miraidon to KO all of Grant’s Pokémon in a handful of turns.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
I expected my opponent to keep Amoonguss in the back, so this time I kept in mind to preserve Ogerpon should the case be in play. I succesfully call my opponent to protect Regidrago, switching in Iron Hands in the first turn and using Fairy-Tera Type Dazzling Gleam. Despite me making a silly mistake of going for Low Kick instead of Wild Charge, anticipating Regidrago switching out instead of Ghost-type Terastallize, leaving it standing with another hit available before fainting from Life Orb recoil, but, without Terastallization available, Ogerpon is too much for my opponent to handle as I close up the game.
To be honest, the match-up was really nowhere as bad as I thought, as I just needed to get some minor calls right and play cleanly the rest of the game, but I felt great at the moment, not only because I just locked in prize money that could come in handy now that I have a broken screen on my console, but also winning in a pretty commanding fashion, taking the lead of the game and never letting it go in such a high-stakes match, was something to be very proud of.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 16 | WW |  Ruben Gianzini (Sedia) |  | |
Bologna Finals rematch at the biggest stage. I was not a fan of playing Ruben due to the high amount of variance the match-up had, considering Life Orb Calyrex’s greater damage output and Clefairy’s annoying antics between Sing and Ground Tera Type shenanigans.
I also had played Ruben in ladder a couple of days prior where I got critted by Astral Barrage on Whimsicott on turn 1 again, so I had a bad sensation as well…
Playing him before I had realized how different his playstyle of Shadow Rider Calyrex was, being very aggressive and favouring using Astral Barrage right from the start, which I think was one of the main reasons why I lost back in Bologna. Due to this, I said to myself I would switch up my approach as well and play very aggressive from turn 1.
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I made Miraidon Modest to specifically OHKO Calyrex with non-boosted Draco Meteor, so I made this lead to bait Ruben into not Protecting and going for Astral Barrage right from the start. My plan worked super well, as Ruben uses Fake Out and Astral Barrage as I switch into Farigiraf and KO Calyrex immediately. Ruben slowly crawls back into the game by using an unexpected bring-in Raging Bolt (when we played on ladder I lost so quickly that I did not even see his 4th Pokémon…) and his Sing game being on point, but, through another aggressive read on him switching out Clefairy while I land a crucial Close Combat into Raging Bolt, I am able to win the game.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
From our previous games in ladder, I assumed his Calyrex would drop to non-boosted Friend Guard-reduced Draco Meteor after a Life Orb recoil, so I decide to use Light Screen and Draco Meteor, calling him to not Protect yet again. Ruben sends in Clefairy over Rillaboom and uses Astral Barrage again, while this time I was the one to crit to an immediate knockout. We calculated afterwards and it turned out that Calyrex would have survived the hit most times, but as I survived with well over half with both my Pokémon I am confident I could have afforded to eat another Astral Barrage for it to faint to its second recoil. Nonetheless, after Calyrex went down I reveal Iron Hands to further wall Raging Bolt, and with the help of Ogerpon and Encore I close out the game in a clean manner.
Getting to the Worlds Top 8 in such a fashion is an incredible sensation. I finally managed to get my revenge from the Bologna Finals, while finally being able to make aggressive reads and deal well with an uncomfortable match-up. I find very fascinating all the thought process that went through the analysis of my opponent’s playstyle and turning it against him, something I very rarely was able to do and never at this level of competition.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 8 | WLW | Zeng Chenyue (Mitsu) |    | |
Playing Dondozo for access to the semifinals is a terrifying thought, regardless of the match-up that looked favourable. Anyways, far better than playing Zamazenta + Flutter Mane + Landorus, my other possible opponent… I knew I had to force out the lock and also be wary of Dragonite running away with the endgame, but I was not able to find a plan that included Farigiraf…
To help out with my (and my opponent’s) anxiety, we went in team preview for the first time only to realize we weren’t provided team sheets… we were told to exit the game, but this also caused another funny thing in that my rental had not been saved by the game and, lost in thoughts on what to do, did not realize I was playing the previous English-language user’s team, which was funnily enough Taran Birdee’s team featuring the same 6 (aside from Urshifu that is not recognizable by sprite), so I realized in turn 1 I was using the wrong team.
📹 Watch my Top 8 match against Chenyue here!
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I think my gameplan was pretty solid, especially after confirming my Miraidon to be faster: after forcing out Terastallization and the lock on Dondozo, I am able to lock it onto Earthquake with Encore and use Ogerpon to remove it, ensuring Miraidon can clean up the remaining three Dragon types with Dazzling Gleam safely.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
Since my opponent was fearing me locking into Volt Switch, I take a gamble of him not Terastallizing Miraidon and use Draco Meteor for a knockout on turn 1. At this point the game is already locked: I just need to Terastallize Iron Hands and avoid knocking out Dondozo with Low Kick and I will be smooth sailing into the semifinals already, but I get complacent (also due to the nerves getting the better of me) and make the stupidest play possible to give my opponent an out. On Ogerpon’s Terastallization: I panicked and thought Tatsugiri would have been next to max Defense and thus I would need to Terastallize in order to knock it out. I also thought that it could entirely have been possible for either Ogerpon to survive regardless or avoid Muddy Water, but looking back it was reasonable to assume Tatsugiri to faint from non-boosted Wood Hammer, so it ended up being another choke…
Game 3:
- Me:
- Opp:
At this point, I am confident I have thrown out my ticket to the semifinals. I am too scared of repeating the same play as Game 2 and opt into a middleground play of Draco Meteor onto Dondozo. I expected my opponent to sack Dragonite, but instead he decided to lock Dondozo again, allowing me to get a double knockout in exchange of a bad positioning. My opponent reads well me staying in with Miraidon and capitalizes off of Aerial Ace, putting me in a terrible position. I think I have lost the game (aside from Iron Hands miracoulously pulling it back against -4 Miraidon), but my opponent unexpectedly uses Dazzling Gleam, resulting in it not KOing either of my Pokémon and allowing me to unbelievably make it out alive…
This was easily the most stressing game of the entire tournament, and a huge lesson of humility: after playing cleanly for the majority of the game I made the error of thinking I already had it under lock and almost paid the maximum price for it. Still with this miraculous pull that my friends later described as the champion aura, I somehow had made it to the semifinals of the World Championships.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4 | WW |  Seongjae Jeong (나연♥︎) | | |
To be able to play at the highest stage of the game, I needed to win the mirror match. I did not know who my opponent was, but later on I discovered him to be Nayeon who I played lots of times on ladder, so I unknowingly already had plenty of prep against him.
I had been advised of my opponent running Modest non-max Speed Miraidon, but could not assess which of the Miraidon would have been faster (in a funny twist of events, we actually were in speed tie! Luckily it never came into play to the point that neither of us could see who was faster), so I could only make it out that Ogerpon would have most likely not lived Draco Meteor behind Light Screen, so I had to improvise.
📹 Watch my Semifinals match against Seongjae here!
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
I succesfully bait my opponent into using Draco Meteor on my Protect, threatening switching Whimsicott + Fairy-type Terastallize to wall his Miraidon. With that, I get aggressive and stay in, using Ivy Cudgel to put his incoming Ogerpon in range of Dazzling Gleam. I get a really low roll on Whimsicott with the second Dazzling Gleam, not KOing it, but I manage to play it correctly as to win the game without risking anything (also due to my opponent having Heavy Slam and not Wild Charge, allowing Fairy-Tera Type Miraidon to comfortably stay in front of it).
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
Despite being taken aback by his unexpected lead, I know that my min Speed Iron Hands is very good into his setup. By the second turn, I get an enormous advantage due to my opponent using Heavy Slam onto Miraidon (predicting Whimsicott to switch in) as I did not Terastallize it, which could look strange: the reason behind it was that I did not want to Terastallize because I thought Terastallized Ogerpon could have been helpful against his own Ogerpon, but also did not want to switch Miraidon to not allow my opponent to get value by targeting Iron Hands with Low Kick. I also assumed Miraidon to not be vital to win anyways. With this much of an advantage, I can at this point Terastallize anyways to let Iron Hands take no prisoners. As a side note, Electro Drift would have been a better move instead of Draco Meteor as I wouldn’t have risked missing and letting Fairy-Tera Type Miraidon wall me, but I was unsure of Wild Charge’s damage and Draco Meteoring a Fairy type kept it stylish as well.
This was the game I am most proud of. I think I managed optimally a mirror match that many people deemed as non-skill by consistently outplaying my opponent and keeping any amount of RNG away from my gameplan (as proof, neither of us ever got to attack with Miraidon vs Miraidon in a situation of speed uncertainty), even if it meant taking some little risks along the way.
Top Cut summary: 4-0 (8-1)
Final Swiss rounds + Top Cut record: 13-2 (26-7) — Advancing to the Finals
Making it to the Finals
After an exhausting set of shooting content for the Finals, I was finally let free to join my friend group. I had made it to the Worlds Finals. That meant that I could become the World Champion the next day. Me. World Champion. That sounded way too strange to be true. I realized that I was in the Worlds Finals. Like, the actual Worlds Finals. I could not believe it.
This could have easily been the time I passed out right on the main streets of Honolulu. I should have practiced for the next day, but I was so anxious that I decided to do all I could to go to sleep without thinking about it.
I am happy that I managed to achieve anyone’s secret desire to be able to afford to treat all your friends to dinner first. We went to a nice Korean BBQ and had an amazing time that I am glad to have immortalized by the goat Justin Cerioni.
Surprisingly, I was so tired from everything that happened that I fell asleep immediately once we finally went back home.
The Actual Finals Behind the Scenes
I set up the alarm to ring at 7 am so I could properly test at once.
One good advantage was that both my friends Arash Ommati and Davide Cauteruccio had tested a variant of Yuta Ishigaki’s team like a month prior to the tournament, so we had some starting ground to work on.
The match-up at first looked very rough, with Landorus putting immediate pressure on my Miraidon to Terastallize and chip it into Calyrex’s range. Despite Pelipper’s rough time staying on the field, the Rain was incredibly annoying as well as it turned Ogerpon, which otherwise looked to be very good, pretty lackluster.
I usually started out with Miraidon + Ogerpon while bringing two of Farigiraf, Iron Hands and Urshifu in the back, each selection yielding major drawbacks:
- Without Urshifu, I was left without a priority to finish off Landorus after Dazzling Gleam, so I had to Draco Meteor on turn 1
- Without Farigiraf, I had a very hard time dealing with late-game Amoonguss
- Without Iron Hands, I had troubles stalling out Trick Room.
The main things I noticed from my part were how good Draco Meteor was, as only Iron Valiant resisted it, and how -2 Draco Meteor still dealt important damages to both Amoonguss and Calyrex.
The first hour was rough, with me losing several times, but as time went on I got a little bit better against it (I think there is no shame in admitting that, had we been made to play the very same day, I would have most likely lost). After replaying it countless of times, I can say that with this much preparation the match-up was at worst even and at best favourable to me.
I want to point out that all of our testing was made against Pelipper + Landorus with Calyrex and Amoonguss in the back, as it seemed the most obvious gameplan, but I was trying to lead Ogerpon every game because I wanted to cover for Iron Valiant.
After around 2.5 hours of testing, I left the apartment, not without many doubts. I must thank Arash for helping me deal with all the stress I was experiencing on our way to the venue, and as I got there, I was promptly brought to the staff area to do a round of interviews (as if the day before weren’t enough…) and be briefed by the judges about the Finals setup (I also had to play on my Switch Lite for the Finals, so I had to request controllers as well ._.). I joined back with my friends by the playing area and got back to testing.
After another round of beatdowns where I Protected Ogerpon and Fairy-type Terastallized only to get deleted by Helping Hand + Sludge Bomb, I started losing faith in Miraidon + Ogerpon. One thing I realized was that keeping Miraidon healthy to throw off more than one Draco Meteor was way more important than any other Pokémon’s HP, but at the same time the only Pokémon aside from Miraidon able to OHKO Landorus was Urshifu, which was easily beaten by an Amoonguss switch-in. I came up with the idea of leading Miraidon + Urshifu to bait my opponent into getting fast damages off into Miraidon to ensure it would stay in and be knocked out by Urshifu. I tested it out and it turned out I could afford eating a Helping Hand-boosted Sandsear Storm with Urshifu and Iron Hands if it meant knocking out Landorus, and I would also have Fake Out support the following turn to ensure Miraidon could come back in safely on the next turn. I texted Marco about it and he actually managed to predict the whole Game 1.
Luca
I tried Miraidon + Urshifu + Hands + Farigiraf
Do you think he is forced to attack if he leads Landorus + Pelipper? I was thinking of switching Iron Hands and using Surging Strikes, if I make Landorus faint I should be good even if I have both Pokémon at 2%Marco
Looks good
If he uses Helping Hand + Sludge Bomb you completely screw him even if it’s unlikely he does that
We talked about on what to do next and we agreed that in case of a successful Game 1, Yuta would have most likely switched out of Landorus + Pelipper, so I could go with Miraidon + Ogerpon to have a more solid composition in a vacuum. I also settled on the fact that Iron Hands and Farigiraf would be the best late-game pick in most scenarios, so I would only switch up the pick next to Miraidon (including Whimsicott who I thought of as a hail mary against Landorus + Pelipper. I was really close to bringing it in Game 3 but luckily decided not to ☺).
I managed to spectate the Junior Finals with my friend (congratulations, Kevin!) before getting yanked into the backstage, where I got to watch the Senior Finals with Yuta and Hyuma Hara (we got a photo as well! Thanks for building my EUIC team!).
Yuta has been a phenomenal sport from the very first time we briefly spoke the previous day and I’m glad we got to share some small talk before the big match.
By the time the Seniors were approaching the end of the match, anxiety skyrocketed, as expected. I took a deep breath and when we were called off, I walked into the stage. The time had finally come.
Finals
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals | WLW | Yuta Ishigaki (パラガス) |    | |
I think I yapped enough about the match-up, so I will only add that the headphones did not connect to the console so I was left without my sweet Kieran 3 soundtrack until Game 3 where I was brought mine…
Game 1:
- Me:
- Opp:
This game turns out exactly how I intended it to be if not even better due to the (accounted for) Sludge Bomb call of Yuta. After that, I just need to not Surging Strikes the Amoonguss like a fool and send Miraidon back in safely to take home an early win.
Game 2:
- Me:
- Opp:
The lead game was kind to me yet again. I decide this time to play it very safe (maybe way too safe) by going for Volt Switch and Follow Me (watching it now, Yuta could have even gone for Amoonguss over Iron Valiant and not even waste the Booster Energy, even if it was an insane commitment) to avoid taking too much damage to Sandsear Storm, trading Ogerpon for Iron Valiant and getting a Fake Out in. Calyrex comes in as Miraidon goes back and I use Fake Out and Draco Meteor to OHKO Landorus (side note: had I not Terastallize before, I could have survived Glacial Lance later on with Miraidon).
Only two Pokémon left between me and the World Championships.
At this point I can say I make the possibly biggest blunder of my career. In testing, I usually found myself in this situation, but with some remaining Pokémon on Yuta’s side that changed how I needed to manage the board in the next turn so that I would double up Amoonguss. Due to Yuta Terastallizing Calyrex the turn before, I would have always won (and by always I mean 90% of the time, but I probably would have had a better time had I missed anyways) by switching Farigiraf and using Draco Meteor, so that I could then comfortably knock out Amoonguss with Farigiraf and cycle Fake Out to reverse Trick Room or whatever. Instead, the nerves get once again the better of me as I try to KO Amoonguss with the double-up (around 71% chance), failing.
I could still win at this point, but I don’t switch Farigiraf fearing Yuta using Clear Smog into Miraidon’s slot, which would chip Farigiraf and remove its Defense boost, making Glacial Lance a 2HKO, resulting in him swiftly calling me onto that by using Clear Smog and High Horsepower, knocking out Iron Hands. Farigiraf can’t do the impossible and I lose the most important game of my career from a winning position.
Game 3:
- Me:
- Opp:
At this point, everything goes haywire. All my planning was relying on soft reading Yuta’s approach, but now that it’s truly the final showdown, I don’t know what to do. I just trust my guts that Yuta won’t lead Landorus + Pelipper and lock in Ogerpon again.
Now, I never tested against this specific lead. There are like 200 ways this turn 1 can go and I don’t have a precise understanding how any one of them is gonna play out. I once again decide to go for Follow Me and Draco Meteor Calyrex, since as long as Draco Meteor knocks out there is no better play. As I see Coaching come out, I pray to whatever Pokémon God there is, Draco Meteor connects… and misses the knockout. That’s it. I relied way too much on Miraidon’s Draco Meteor and incorrectly assumed Calyrex to not have any Special Defense and paid the maximum price for it.
HOWEVER! Yuta tried to read into me using Volt Switch and Ivy Cudgel, and not wanting to be left stranded on the field with a weakened Calyrex, decided to use Trick Room. Game on.
Still, I have to fight for my life against Calyrex. I protect Ogerpon and send in Iron Hands as Calyrex uses Glacial Lance while switching to Pelipper (I probably should have used Ivy Cudgel straight away, as it was confirmed at this point that Calyrex wasn’t max Attack, but now checking all the spread would have opened to a 12.5% roll to faint). With Fake Out active, I have a slight advantage to push while trying to stall Trick Room. I decide that Yuta won’t risk everything on Helping Hand, and I Fake Out Pelipper and use Ivy Cudgel onto Calyrex to slow down, while he sends in Amoonguss and Protects.
Now, there is another whole lot of mind games incentivated by not knowing a very specific calc: I assume that, at +1 in Rain Calyrex would survive Low Kick + non-boosted Ivy Cudgel after being healed with Pollen Puff (which instead was almost a guaranteed knockout), while also fearing Calyrex winning the speed tie as Amoonguss Pollen Puffs Ogerpon to put it into Glacial Lance range as I don’t Terastallize. I decide thus to Terastallize Ogerpon, and luck is by my side as Yuta uses Rage Powder and Glacial Lance, Iron Hands faints but Amoonguss does as well. 3v3. I send in Farigiraf just to sponge the last Trick Room turn (I assumed Pelipper to be slower than Farigiraf, allowing Yuta to knock it out before it could attack), Miraidon and Ogerpon are already enough to win the game on their own. Ogerpon protects itself as Farigiraf surprisingly underspeeds Pelipper, allowing itself to do the only job it was supposed to do for the first time in three games, and sealing the deal for everyone except myself.
I know that I won at this point, but you can understand me that it didn’t feel real. I just needed to use Follow Me and Electro Drift Iron Valiant, really there are probably a billion other plays that win either way as well, but just one is enough. After several blunders, I am terrified of missing something else again, so I take all the time possible to ensure I was not screwing up.
The most obvious play ever finally comes out as I take those 20 seconds of animation to see Miraidon soar through the skies and roll down onto Iron Valiant to give me the game, the set, the World Championships, the dream I never once thought could be possible.
Finals summary: 1-0 (2-1)
Final total record: 14-2 (28-8) — World Champion
After the Finals
The fireworks scattered across the stage that feel way too close to a danger hazard for comfort go off, but I don’t even notice them as I jump into the crowd to get swallowed by the embrace of the friends that accompanied me through my journey till here.
Looking back at the recording, it breaks my heart to see my dumbass, too exhausted to process anything, glide past Yuta before giving him the sendoff he deserved, but he truly is way too much of a sportman to care and we even manage to hug each other and share some confused talk once I come back on the stage.
Finally, we are taken backstage once again for the closing ceremony. I have some time to think about some kind of a big entrance, but I have wasted it all by facetiming those friends that stayed home and watched in voicechat the match at 5 am in the morning, so the best I can come up with is that weird double peace sign again. I think I pulled it back with the trophy kiss though?
Doesn’t matter. I want to say this is the ending scene of the tournament, but apparently the World Champion’s throne is full of duties and one of them is being yanked back again backstage to shoot yet another interview while I’m probably at the lowest IQ of my entire life. Don’t know when that one is coming out, I had one in Bologna as well and it still hasn’t come out either…
I am released from my shackles around 1 hour after the closing ceremony, walk through the now empty venue to retrieve all the Worlds loot and the trophy. The walk outside is pretty comical with me wearing hoodie, cap and two shoulder bags with a cardboard box in my hands as a judge has to help me out with the trophy, but luckily there aren’t enough people to notice.
In the end, I like this one scene to be the final one better. The trophy may be hidden by four layers of cardboard and polystirene, but it’s best to have your friends who got you since you were just a kid playing Thursday locals in Milan after school surround you, isn’t it?
(To Marco: don’t book the flights back for Sunday next time…)
Final Words
Even though I’m a very pessimistic person, I am happy I was able to keep going in face of all the difficulties, ultimately winning 11 straight matches to claim the title. In Bergamo, there’s a popular phrase in “mola mia”, which roughly translates to “never give up”. I was never one to take to heart such a motto, but I’m starting to see the beauty in that now.
Once again, I never thought I would be able to write this report, and as such having to ask “what now?” is an eerie feeling this many weeks after.
You probably noticed from my perspective of the matches, but I am very critical of my abilities, which I think has helped me improve through my journey. I hope that peaking this high at such an unexpected notice won’t change my approach and I will be able to improve my skills further than where I am today. I like to think that, even if I may not be able to top this moment ever again, this won’t be the end of my path through this wonderful world.
I think I gave my shoutouts a hundred times already, but just to be sure:
- Thanks to my family for always supporting me in my passion
- Thanks to the friends of Il Server for all the memories we’ve made and the ones we’ll make from now on
- Thanks to all the people that supported me, even if they were as far away as a 12-hour timezone difference
- Thanks to everyone who took their time to read through this infinite yapping of mine
See you in Anaheim!
