By Amanda Lundberg, Contributing Writer
The GO Battle League’s latest Season—Timeless Travels—has ended. With that, a new Season has arrived for competitive Pokémon GO: World of Wonders! With the 2024 European International Championships (EUIC) right around the corner on April 5 through 7, 2024, many Trainers are anxious to see what new Pokémon will rise to the top.
World Of Wonders – Pokémon GO Attack Updates
The World of Wonders GO Battle League Season launched on March 1, 2024, and it will run until June 1, 2024. This early March update was, in fact, too early to make the Pokémon with new move sets available for any official European tournament before the International Championships. With not much but raw data, practice scrimmages, and GO Battle League battles to go off of, many eyes have turned to Latin America and North America to see what Trainers are bringing to their Pokémon GO tournaments.
Has Feraligatr been lurking right below the surface this whole time, just waiting for its newly added Fast Attack, Shadow Claw, before clawing its way to competitive glory? And which Dragon-type Pokémon will fight to keep all of the gold? Will it be Dragonair, an already present threat made even more potent with a damage increase to its Charged Attack Aqua Tail? Or will Goodra, a Dragon-type Pokémon that has not seen much play, take the main stage? Now that the Charged Attack Brick Break guarantees a one-stage debuff on your opponent, it could even be Hakamo-o, a Dragon- and Fighting-type Pokémon that can quickly dish out heavy damage. This Season there were many Pokémon that received buffs and new attacks, but in the end, each Trainer can only bring six with them into the arena.
(Check out Sophtoph’s overview of the Pokémon GO World of Wonders Season Trainer Battle Updates to learn more about what’s changed this Season.)
World of Wonders in a Competitive Format
Surprisingly, the regional event in Goiânia, Brazil, looked strangely familiar for Pokémon GO competitors, with not a single Pokémon with an updated attack in the top eight. Instead, many players over-anticipated Feraligatr and chose to rely on their tried-and-tested Charjabug or Lanturn to counter the Water-type Pokémon, making this regional truly electric. There was also a rise of Vigoroth on many teams as a pseudo-fighter—a Normal-type Pokémon running the Fast Attack Counter to hit back at Lickitung, Feraligatr, and any other Pokémon with a Ghost-type attack. But with Annihilape retaining its title as the primary Fighting-type Pokémon for many battlers, trying to maneuver Vigoroth into overthrowing Annihilape was enough to drive many bananas.
Players to Watch
So who are some of these competitors vying to be crowned royalty at EUIC? Well, this is where it gets a bit complicated. Let me break it down for you:
You’re up, Europe!
Since this is an event that is held in Europe, it’s no surprise that a majority of the competitors are from the region. The first person we need to talk about is the reigning champion, the French battler who simply refuses to play meta, TontonBatteuse. TontonBatteuse had an amazing run in the 2023 EUIC, using Dragonair as an anti-meta pick to go up against the many Medicham, Noctowl, Trevenant, and Lanturn other competitors were bringing. He ended up completely sweeping the tournament with a 9-0 record, beating the second-place finisher Nesabethan on the second day and then again in a quick 3-0 sweep to secure the victory on Championship Sunday.
TontonBatteuse went on to tie for ninth place in the 2023 World Championships, and he is already qualified for this season. He secured a majority of the points with his second-place finish in the 2024 regional event in Gdansk, Poland, with a team that included both Arctibax and Seaking!
One player who has not yet qualified for Worlds, but everyone is already dreading facing in Honolulu, is Paulasha97. This Trainer came in and swept the very last event for the European 2023 season, winning the Turin Special Event and then placing 13th at the 2023 Pokémon GO World Championships. Since then, she has not had the opportunity to compete in any local cups or challenges, but she has collected 370 Championship Points from her tournament placements alone.
Deanosky, a British battler who may have a home-turf advantage, is definitely another player to keep an eye on. Deanosky placed 13th at the previous EUIC, and he has distinguished himself for being able to completely predict his opponent’s team of three Pokémon in the 2024 Pokémon GO championship season. Throughout this season, Deanosky’s team compositions have been interesting, his battles have been on point, and it will be interesting to see what he’s got planned for EUIC.
Other players who did exceptionally well at the 2023 EUIC and have also been making waves this season are DanneWWW (seventh at 2023 EUIC and fifth at the 2024 Utrecht Special Event), Scafo99 (fifth at 2023 EUIC, the highest ranked European at the 2023 World Championships, and seventh at the 2024 Utrecht Special Event), and Statastan (third at 2023 EUIC, seventh at 2024 Stuttgart Regionals, fifth at 2024 Liverpool Regionals, and fifth at the Utrecht Special Event). In fact, Statastan’s performance this season has been so consistent that he is currently in fourth place on the European leaderboard, right behind his teammate and fellow Dutch competitor, Colin6ix.
Colin6ix is a name that all competitors have gotten to know over the years. He is the first European to win two regional competitions—2023 in Lille, France, and the 2024 competition in Stuttgart, Germany. He shares the two-time champion title with Australian battler Yacobervitch, Latin American battlers LNDsRargef and Zarddy, and North American battlers 0El1te0, Wdage, LyleJeffsIII, Reis2Occasion, and Doonebug97. And get this: both Reis2Occasion and Doonebug97 are traveling from across the pond to vie for the 2024 EUIC champion title!
They’re Coming from America
These two-time champions are not the only North Americans who are planning to overtake EUIC. Approximately 30 battlers from overseas are looking to make a name for themselves abroad, including the 2023 World Champion himself, ItsAXN. Previously, ItsAXN was quoted as saying that after he had won a regional and an International Championship, his next goal was Worlds. Now that he’s accomplished his goal, it seems this well-established battler has a few more medals he wants to add to his collection.
And, of course, many in the community are anxious to see how Nitetimeclasher will fare. A relative newcomer to the Pokémon GO scene, Nitetimeclasher has taken the 2024 Pokémon GO competitive season by storm. He performed well in many North American regional competitions before coming to Liverpool to claim the first-place finish, becoming not only the first non-native to win a European event, but also the first official Pokémon caster to get the gold medal as well!
Obviously, there are many more talented and competitive battlers attending the 2024 European International Championships who are still waiting for their breakout performances. With a cap of 320 registered competitors, this event will be one of the largest Pokémon GO tournaments to date, and it will definitely host some of the most intense battles. Are you rooting for a European to keep the title? Or are you hoping someone from abroad comes and shakes things up? Regardless of who you are cheering for, this is a show you will not want to miss!
Make sure you are tuned in to Twitch.tv/PokemonGO to catch the action live on April 5 through 7! And good luck and have fun, Trainers!
