The 2023 Europe International Championships is set to be the biggest Pokémon GO competition to date. Taking place in the same venue as last year’s World Championships—ExCel London—EUIC will be the first International Championship with a full bracket of 256 competitors. Play! Pokémon tournaments in Europe consistently showcase some of the highest caliber play for Pokémon GO the world over; in fact, reigning World Champion DancingRob qualified for the World Championships with a third-place finish at last year’s EUIC—a testament to the incredible depth of Europe’s player pool.

For European competitors, there are only three tournaments left in the Play! Pokémon season that will award invitations to the 2023 World Championships slated to take place in Yokohama, Japan this August. Four of the remaining eight invitations from those three tournaments will be awarded this weekend, in addition to thousands of dollars in prizes. You’ll be able to catch all the action at Twitch.tv/PokemonGO on Saturday, April 15, 2023, and Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Let’s walk through some of the top teams this season and analyze what made them successful. While most Trainers you see on stage may not be using these exact lineups, you’ll likely notice patterns of three or four Pokémon that frequently appear together.

MagicMayson - Toronto (December 2022)

MagicMayson’s team includes many of the most used Pokémon since the last major move rebalance in December—and with good reason. Not only is each Pokémon strong individually, but all six have efficient Charged Attacks that provide wide coverage and high bulk (aside from Trevenant), which allows them to power through neutral matchups.

Medicham and Noctowl form a near-unbreakable core, as Noctowl covers the Ghost-type Pokémon that give Medicham trouble, and in turn, Medicham covers Steel-type Pokémon that clip Noctowl’s wings. Galarian Stunfisk curbs Trevenant’s Flying-type weakness. Lanturn is one of the few Pokémon that can counter Noctowl as well as cover a major weakness for both Medicham and Trevenant. In addition, Lanturn has flexibility with its available Fast Attacks, Water Gun and Spark, depending on whether a Trainer wants Ground-type coverage or faster energy generation. Rounding out the team is Umbreon, a solid generalist that reliably deals neutral damage to almost every Pokémon players are likely to face.

This particular combination of six Pokémon has become one of the most commonly seen teams over the last few months, most notably used by MagicMayson and Brownballer10, and by Yacobervitch in his victory at the Oceania International Championship.

HumancatcherBug - Liverpool (January 2023)

Humancatcherbug won Pokémon GO’s first-ever 256-person tournament in Liverpool in January with this team. Notice how similar it is to MagicMayson’s, with Lanturn, Umbreon, Medicham, Galarian Stunfisk, and Trevenant all prominently featured. The only difference is Shadow Charizard. Whereas Charizard was rarely used prior to the energy generation buff Wing Attack received in a recent move update, it’s now featured in nearly every format where it’s eligible. Wing Attack’s ability to quickly generate energy allows Charizard to set up Blast Burn, one of the most efficient Charged Attacks in the game in terms of damage and energy cost.

Reis2Occasion - Knoxville (February 2023)

By late February, Trainers had begun to move away from teams based solely around the ever-prevalent Noctowl-Medicham-Trevenant-Umbreon quartet. One catalyst for this shift was the debut of Shadow Alolan Vulpix in early February, paving the way for Shadow Alolan Ninetales to storm the Great League. Trainers had been searching for a reliable source of Ice-type coverage, using Abomasnow and Froslass to varying degrees of success, but Alolan Ninetales now fills that niche comfortably. Its Ice-type attacks allow it to counter Noctowl and Trevenant, and its Fairy typing means it can menace Umbreon and Medicham as well. Alolan Ninetales is often seen alongside Swampert, which almost perfectly covers Alolan Ninetales’s primary weaknesses to Steel-type Pokémon and Fire-type Pokémon. Other Water-type Pokémon, such as Lanturn with the Fast Attack Water Gun, can also accompany Alolan Ninetales with relative ease.

Reis2Occasion’s team also marked one of the first major successes for a team that didn’t include a Pokémon with Fighting-type attacks. Trainers have increasingly begun to utilize Pokémon such as Swampert or Trevenant as counters to Steel-type Pokémon. Rounding out Reis2Occasion’s team are Noctowl, Galarian Stunfisk, and Trevenant—some of the usual suspects in the Great League—as well as Azumarill, whose Defense and type have made it a long-time staple in the Great League.

23EJB - Bochum (February 2023)

On the same weekend that Reis2Occasion won the Knoxville regional in the United States, 23EJB—who we’ll see at EUIC—earned his ticket to Yokohama by winning the Bochum Regional Championship in Europe. Once again, 23EJB’s team contains the familiar Noctowl-Medicham pair plus Azumarill, Umbreon, and Azumarill. However, 23EJB opts for Registeel as their Steel type of choice. Most Trainers team up with a Steel-type Pokémon to counter Flying-type Pokémon and Ice-type Pokémon. While Galarian Stunfisk is more popular, Registeel is a strong alternative—so strong that some Trainers bring both. Additionally, Registeel’s Zap Cannon Charged Attack can lower the opponent’s Attack stat, which can often mean the difference between victory and defeat against an opponent’s final Pokémon.

Jonyoa - Utrecht (March 2023)

Jonyoa won the recent Utrecht Special Event in Europe using the team above. Once again, the trio of Noctowl, Lanturn, and Medicham reigns supreme. However, they are accompanied by Alolan Ninetales, Sableye, and Registeel. Sableye, like Azumarill and Registeel, has been a solid Pokémon in the Great League for many years. This Pokémon threatens Medicham and Trevenant with its Ghost-type shenanigans and is able to quickly deal damage to most other Pokémon types.

While a small core of popular team picks was established a few months ago, the most successful Trainers at each event tweak that formula to make it their own—just like Jonkus does.

Jonkus - Utrecht (March 2023)

Jonkus, a content creator known for running unconventional GO Battle League teams, placed third at the Utrecht Special Event with the above lineup. He opted not to select the six most-used Pokémon, instead reaching for less conventional picks. Mew’s versatile moves leave opponents guessing what will come next (and when to use their Protect Shields) and can provide virtually any type of coverage to round out a team. Jonkus’s team also features two alternatives to the ever-popular Noctowl: Charizard and Altaria. While Altaria is less flexible than Noctowl, its oppressive Dragon Breath Fast Attack can quickly shred through opponents.

Since EUIC will be the largest International Championship yet for Pokémon GO, there will undoubtedly be incredible players in every group. While the full player pool is too deep to dive into here, let’s highlight a few frontrunners worth keeping an eye on.

• AMindJoke placed third at the first-ever Pokémon GO regional in Liverpool and placed fifth at Liverpool 2023.

• Zzweilous placed in the Top 16 at Liverpool 2023 alongside his signature Pokémon, Ampharos.

• Sandodou is a top player from France who has done exceptionally well on grassroots circuits.

• Fr43ka finished in the Top 12 at the 2022 World Championships after qualifying through a second-place finish at EUIC in 2022.

• PvpDavid07 is the 2022 Lille Senior Champion.

• Paulasha97 topped the GO Battle League leaderboard in the current Great League. She accomplished this with the unconventional picks of Shadow Gliscor and Tapu Fini, which may make an appearance on her EUIC team as well.

• StoneCollection qualified for the 2022 World Championships after winning the 2022 Last Chance Qualifier at the very venue where EUIC will be held.

• Scafo99 topped the GO Battle League leaderboards multiple times.

• lDexxBl made the Top 12 of the 2022 World Championships and has already come extremely close to another World Championships appearance with a third-place finish in Bilbao and a fourth-place finish at Liverpool this season.

• Maxy1000000P placed fourth at Liverpool 2023 and Top 16 at Utrecht 2023.

As if that list of previous Worlds competitors and well-known GO Battle League warriors wasn’t impressive enough, there are also some competitors who have already qualified for this year’s championships in Yokohama, but who will nonetheless compete at EUIC to vie for prizes and the coveted title of EUIC Champion.

• MEweedle is the Senior-division 2022 World Champion. Although this accomplishment automatically qualified him for the 2023 World Championships, this young Trainer won the Stuttgart regional in his Masters division debut. When asked about adjusting to the Masters division, he noted only that “the players are a lot taller.”

• Statastan recently qualified for the 2023 World Championships via a second-place finish at Utrecht and competed at last year’s World Championships.

• Colin6ix won the Lille 2023 regional tournament.

• LurganRocket finished fourth at the 2022 World Championships and will be returning to the 2023 World Championships after placing second in Bochum this season.

• ThoTechtical qualified for the 2023 World Championships with a second-place finish at Lille earlier this season.

• Inadequance qualified for the 2023 World Championships with a third-place finish at Stuttgart and has more recently been participating in regional championships as part of the broadcasting team. Although he played an exhibition match against friend and fellow Dutch content creator ThoTechtical at Utrecht, fans are undoubtedly excited about his return to competition at EUIC.

Reigning World Champion DancingRob will not be competing, but he will be staffing to help the competition run smoothly.

Competitive battling in Pokémon GO is not often a journey that Trainers successfully embark on alone. Most of the high-profile Trainers who top these tournaments frequently compete and train together. In fact, many of the competitors mentioned above are teammates and friends outside of Play! Pokémon tournaments. ThoTechtical, Inadequance, 23EJB, AMindJoke, Scafo99, Maxy1000000P, and lDexxbl are all teammates in GO’s premier grassroots team format, as are Statastan, MEweedle, Colin6ix, and PvpDavid07. So look forward to these battles between besties on April 15 and April 16 at Twitch.tv/PokemonGO—it’s sure to be one of the best GO tournaments yet.