It’s not hard to see the storylines surrounding the 2024 Latin America VGC International Championships. It’s the first international competition of the season, the first played with the Regulation Set E ruleset—which introduced Pokémon from the land of Kitakami—and the first VGC International competition to be held in the region since 2019. And that’s just to start.

Fortunately, we’ve gathered four amazing experts for an exciting roundtable to discuss what to look for when the matches begin on November 17: Joe Ugarte, Lou Akcos-Cromie, Gabriel Agati, and Aaron Traylor, joined by Chris Shepperd from Pokemon.com. From intriguing Pokémon to top players to surprise strategies, this group has it covered. Read on so you’ll be ready to watch all three days of action on Twitch.tv/Pokemon.

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Chris Shepperd: All right, let’s get rolling! We’ve just concluded our last Regional Championships before LAIC in Toronto and Lille. What are the big takeaways from those events, particularly when it comes to Pokémon usage?

Joe Ugarte: One of the most notable things to me was how Hisuian Arcanine has taken all four Regional Championships in Regulation Set E. It’s been very consistent in this format and has been making lots of high placement appearances throughout every tournament.

Lou Akcos-Cromie: I agree with Joe. Arcanine is a very good puppy right now.

Gabriel Agati: I think Tornadus + Rapid Strike Urshifu has once again proven to be one of the strongest cores in the metagame.

Aaron Traylor: I wonder why players seem to forget to use the strongest Pokémon once formats shift.

Akcos-Cromie: For me it’s the consistency—even in a Terastallization format—of the classic Fire, Water, and Grass core. Rillaboom, Hisuian Arcanine, and Rapid Strike Urshifu are just so strong right now. I feel the teams that have a good balance of offensive power and then these defensive types are starting to really come out on top.

Traylor: At the beginning of Regulation Set E, it was all about Ogerpon and all of its masks, and understandably so—it’s one of the most powerful Pokémon added in the Teal Mask DLC. As the format has matured, however, we’ve seen that and some of the other Pokémon from Kitakami subside, and we’re back to some of the usual suspects from Regulation Set D and before: Rapid Strike Urshifu, Iron Hands, and Flutter Mane.

Akcos-Cromie: They always make a comeback!

Shepperd: Has Hisuian Arcanine always been lurking, or does this feel like a surge?

Agati: I feel like Hisuian Arcanine has always been strong, but now that Rillaboom has access to Grassy Glide via the DLC, the Fire-Water-Grass core got even stronger. Hisuian Arcanine, Rillaboom, and Rapid Strike Urshifu have great synergy both offensively and defensively.

Akcos-Cromie: I think whenever Incineroar is benched and not eligible in a format, Arcanine is always in the spotlight. With Terastallization, Hisuian Arcanine is able to combat its defensive weaknesses to Ground and Water really well, allowing it to apply a lot of offensive pressure. That, and its dual Fire- and Rock-typing give it access to Rock-type moves, and those are hit harder due to a same-type attack bonus.

Traylor: I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hisuian Arcanine to begin with because the first time I used it, I sent it out versus Gholdengo, which was both faster and able to knock it out in one shot, neither of which were problems that I had with Arcanine...

Ugarte: I think it was always good, but Rock coverage is especially good right now as very few Pokémon other than Urshifu and Iron Hands resist it. Double Grass (Rillaboom with Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon) was also very popular early on, which Hisuian Arcanine is a natural check for, along with good coverage to deal with snow teams like Alolan Ninetales with Baxcalibur and Chi-Yu with Flutter Mane.

Agati: I very much agree with Joe. Rock has always been a strong damage-dealing type, but this format doesn’t have many good Rock types. We did see a Tyranitar win in Sacramento though.

Akcos-Cromie: There’s a lot of Flying-type Pokémon at the moment—and Ice types, too—so having Rock-type moves is a nice advantage.

Shepperd: The Rock coverage concern is interesting, but is it also solvable somewhat quickly? After these Regionals, can players pivot to defend against that?

Traylor: It’s tricky because there are already some great tools out there for dealing damage to Rock-type Pokémon, chiefly Urshifu and Landorus, which are already quite present. So if your team has those Pokémon and you still have a problem with Rock-type moves, you could risk unbalancing your team if you try to solve the problem by over-indexing on those moves.

Akcos-Cromie: Gastrodon is a very good counter to all the Rock-type action right now. Just saying...

Ugarte: I think it’s less about countering Rock-type moves directly so much as having answers to big spread move damage that can be doled out faster thanks to Tailwind. Besides Sacramento, Arcanine’s success has largely been tied to Tornadus.

Traylor: Joe, you have some experience using Gastrodon in this format—what do you think?

Ugarte: Gastrodon is definitely a very useful Pokémon due to its Storm Drain Ability. I like the fact that it walls Urshifu right now. The biggest drawback is that the overall usage of Ogerpon forces you to use Tera on it a lot. However, with Rapid Strike Urshifu being #1 in usage and Ogerpon having fallen out of top 12 in Day 2 of Toronto Regionals, it looks more appealing now.

Traylor: Another interesting point given that we’re talking so soon after Toronto. Flutter Mane had one of the worst tournaments it’s had in a while there, despite winning the event. It was the most used Pokémon on 50% of teams in Day 1, but it dropped to 38% usage in Day 2.

Ugarte: It’s always a Pokémon that can make deep runs but has to have a very intentional use on the team and have the right support to deal with its checks.

Akcos-Cromie: Flutter Mane might be losing its spot at #1, but it’s still up there in the usage stats. There just isn’t much that can match its Special Attack presence on the field. We are seeing Trainers opt for more Tera Fairy / Choice Specs variants, so perhaps the full offensive mode is quite working for it right now.

Shepperd: I definitely want to hear from you all why Ogerpon’s usage has been falling off.

Akcos-Cromie: I am surprised how quickly Ogerpon has dropped!

Ugarte: For Ogerpon, I do think there is a bit of new Pokémon syndrome. People do love playing with new tools, but as metas progress, people find more efficient alternatives.

Agati: My issue with Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon is that it is very dependent on Terastallization to do big damage. Without its Attack boost, it feels underwhelming.

Traylor: Yes, and it can’t defend itself by Terastallizing either—Fire typing comes with both benefits and drawbacks defensively...

Ugarte: Definitely agree on Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon being reliant on Terastallizing. It’s a very exploitable weakness.

Shepperd: Has Hearthflame Mask been the predominant choice for Ogerpon?

Akcos-Cromie: It’s been mixed between Wellspring Mask and Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon. But that said, Jamie Boyt got Top 4 in Toronto with Teal Mask Ogerpon!

Agati: Wellspring Mask Ogerpon, on the other hand, feels like a perfect counter for Rapid Strike Urshifu in theory, since it has Water Absorb and can easily KO Urshifu. However, we’ve seen a lot of Choice Scarf Urshifu that can just use U-turn before Ogerpon moves and do a lot of damage while switching out at the same time.

Ugarte: Wellspring Mask has been a slightly more common choice due to Water Absorb. It helps teams have answers to Rapid Strike Urshifu and the Water Tera Type is, in my opinion, a much better defensive type.

Traylor: Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon are the two frontrunner forms, despite Cornerstone Mask and Teal Mask outplacing them in Toronto. Ogerpon suffers from three key issues in my opinion: not being able to hold an item, not being able to choose its Tera Type, and that most trainers are not using it defensively. Given the amount of priority attacks and Tailwind usage in the metagame, this leads to a lot of Ogerpon that take too much damage before they have the chance to really impact the game.

So I think moving forward, Trainers will have to be much more intentional about how they’re getting the most out of their Ogerpon and covering for its weaknesses.

Akcos-Cromie: Not being able to choose a held item does make it hard to expand on them tactically—you can’t really try too many new things with them. So as the meta changes and develops around them, they get left behind.

Ugarte: I definitely think that we also might be seeing Ogerpon usage appearing to drop because people are varying their Ogerpon choices. The Top 8 in Toronto had Teal Mask Ogerpon and Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon.

Shepperd: Does the current metagame feel a little bit like a reversion to the top Pokémon we saw in Regulation Set D?

Agati: I’m pretty sure every Pokémon that was top tier in Regulation Set D is still very good in Regulation Set E.

Akcos-Cromie: In a way, yes! If you look at Shohei’s winning team from Worlds—Flutter Mane, Urshifu, Amoonguss, Iron Hands, Chien Pao, Landorus—it’s very much in line with the current meta.

Ugarte: And there is definitely a bit of a meta shift towards the strong defined tools of Regulation Set D, but Ogerpon and the new Pokémon have undeniably impacted the meta to where it won’t ever be the same as Regulation Set D. However, most consistent Pokémon now were allowed in Regulation Set D and performed well.

Agati: We also saw Pokémon like Clefairy and the new Bloodmoon Ursaluna doing well at recent events, but so far they are not as impactful as Ogerpon.

Traylor: In my opinion yes and no, Chris. For example, among Top 8 teams from the Toronto Regional, only four had a Pokémon from the Kitakami Pokédex.

Akcos-Cromie: I think when new Pokémon like Ogerpon and Okidogi are introduced, people are eager to try them out. But eventually the meta re-forms to prefer more consistent choices.

Traylor: So there is room for new teams, but most of the really consistent options are coming straight from Paldea or Regulation Set D.

Traylor: Consistency high five!

Shepperd: I was just about to say, consistency is always a theme of these roundtables.

Akcos-Cromie: That said, I’m very keen to continue exploring Bloodmoon Ursaluna!

Shepperd: I keep hearing about the potential of Bloodmoon Ursaluna. Is it primed to have its big day?

Ugarte: I think it has a very high potential with the right Pokémon around it. The fact it can throw out powerful Normal-type moves without any immunities is a very nice benefit. Blood Moon and Hyper Voice can put serious pressure on unprepared teams.

Akcos-Cromie: It is a terrifying design! But battle-wise, I think it’s very interesting thanks to its Mind’s Eye Ability—many Trainers run Ghost Tera Type to avoid Normal-type attacks like Fake Out, and there’s also a bunch of Ghost types like Flutter Mane and Gholdengo running around. It’s nice to be able to still hit those! Blood Moon is also a very powerful move, but it does suffer from not being able to be used twice in a row.

If you’re in Trick Room, for example, every turn counts and you don’t want to have to waste a turn not being able to do important damage.

Traylor: It seems pretty committed to Trick Room teams, and its typing gives it some problems that it has to work around. I think it’ll continue to see use, but I don’t know if it will take the metagame by storm—happy to be proven wrong though!

Ugarte: One team that comes to mind when you mention Blood Moon is the team Enzo Reci used in Toronto. It was an interesting utilization of the move since it was used on a fast Tailwind team with a Trick Room option, being able to allow Bloodmoon Ursaluna to thrive in both scenarios based on how it was trained. Applications like that for Bloodmoon Ursaluna are different than the common Trick Room teams we have seen previously, where it’s been mostly locked to only being a Trick Room option.

Akcos-Cromie: I really like that as a concept. It gives the team a lot of flexibility in Best of 3.

Agati: The biggest challenge Bloodmoon Ursaluna players are facing right now are finding the right Trick Room team; most Tailwind teams have Taunt somewhere and can simply deal too much damage before Trick Room is set up.

Traylor: I liked Eric Rios’ Worlds team with Tailwind Tornadus, Trick Room Flutter Mane, and Ursaluna (not Bloodmoon Ursaluna), so if something similar were to show up, I’d love to see it in action.

Ugarte: I don’t think that Bloodmoon Ursaluna is a metagame-defining threat that will be on every team, but I think it requires some respect when building your team in Regulation Set E.

Agati: A team that can work both on Tailwind and Trick Room is always dangerous to face!

Shepperd: Players have been using Regulation Set E for a while now, and there seems to be some “settling into” the current metagame. Should we still anticipate some major surprises or shifts in the next two weeks?

Akcos-Cromie: For the international stage, it’s a good question: do you go with a tried and true team? Or do you try to bring something spicy to catch opponents off guard?

Agati: Since we had no Regionals in LATAM with the Regulation Set E ruleset, it’s hard to predict what players from this region will bring to LAIC.

Traylor: Right, it’s hard to know what the strongest Trainers from the region prefer. I think that accounting for Hisuian Arcanine’s success will be a big part of the metagame changing, and I’m not sure how things will shift there.

Ugarte: I do believe since the overall skill level at Internationals is pretty high, your team choice has to be consistent even if it is creative. I also think that a lot of teams will have respect for Tailwind, since it has been frequently performing well.

Traylor: The competition at LAIC will be very intense and will feature the best players playing both teams with popular Pokémon and new teams with strategies that may catch opponents off guard, so I’d be prepared for a mix. I think our definition of what “standard” is might change a little bit by then.

Akcos-Cromie: Yeah, I agree. I think players who prepare well will have mapped out strategies against the core teams, but I also really wouldn’t be surprised to see Rillaboom advancing and Urshifu in high usage. They just work so well alongside each other, but also against each other in a match!

There will be plenty of Intimidate around too, I am sure—whether it’s Landorus, Arcanine, or even Salamence (which is picking up in places!).

Shepperd: Speaking of which, what is the hype like for LAIC? It hosted only Pokémon TCG and Pokémon GO events last year, so this has to be an exciting moment for VGC players!

Traylor: I am excited to watch LAIC from my couch.

Agati: I’m personally very hyped for LAIC. The biggest LAIC (in 2017) had less than 200 Masters Division participants, while this one already has over 500 people registered. This is also the first LAIC after COVID postponements, and the average talent level of this region got much stronger since then.

Ugarte: It’s always exciting getting to travel and compete in new places! It’s definitely an awesome thing for South American players to have an International Championships to help their qualification to Worlds, along with the huge size of the event compared to previous years.

Akcos-Cromie: I am super excited! I’ve been lucky enough to be at the past two LAIC events and they are always incredibly hype. So I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone and having a front row seat to the action. The registration numbers alone show we’re going to be in for a treat on the international stage!

Agati: Typically the LAIC has been dominated by US players; I’m hoping this year will be different.

Shepperd: I have to imagine that South American players will be extra motivated for this one!

Traylor: LAIC has always been won by a North American player so far, I think? Ashton Cox, Carson Confer, Ashton Cox again, and James Baek.

Akcos-Cromie: I mean, you were in the EUIC Finals, Gabriel—LATAM players are always ones to watch out for and I’m sure there will be some epic matches!

Ugarte: I think this year has a lot of potential to be different. I am sure with LAIC coming back after COVID and no VGC last year, the motivation for South American players to win it will be at an all-time high.

Traylor: There are a lot of differences between a 200-person tournament and a 500-person tournament, and as Gabriel was saying, it sounds like the region has really leveled up.

Shepperd: How important is it for players to have a good tournament at this point in the season, even if they’re not making top cut? There’s a lot of time to rebound, but at the same time, it feels good to get off to a good start.

Akcos-Cromie: It’s super important for the Worlds invite. The top 128 at LAIC will earn you 100 CP. In the EU region that’s 1/4 of your invite already.

Agati: It is definitely the most important tournament of the year for LATAM (except Worlds, of course). There’s just too much CP on the line, which will impact the Travel Awards for EUIC and, of course, the Worlds invitation.

Ugarte: I definitely think how players perform at LAIC will show us a lot about the trajectory of players for the remainder of this regulation set and maybe the next regulation set going forward. There are a lot of players wanting a big Internationals finish and this will also help us identify who is really comfortable and most consistent in the 2024 season thus far.

Akcos-Cromie: I agree, I think this will be a different LAIC to previous years. The general skill level of competitive Pokémon has also elevated itself in the last year or so, therefore you just know the matches will be incredible. For the South American players, it really is a chance to show off their skill and efforts too, so they will really want to keep the title in LATAM. A lot of top players will be there too, and hopefully we’ll see more of the storylines being built around newcomers breaking out—or veterans establishing more dominance. LAIC will feel very prestigious and key in the road to Worlds this year, I think.

Shepperd: Do you feel like there are regional differences in metagame approach right now? As a bloc can we view the European meta as being different from Brazil, for example? Or has information sharing kinda softened those differences?

Traylor: I think with the global state of information sharing it is kind of challenging to really pick those regional-level differences apart.

Ugarte: Absolutely. I believe out of all regions, Europe opts for the most safe/consistent teams. You can also tell gameplay differences based on what region players are from.

Agati: From my experience playing locals, the best players from Brazil are actually playing with teams very similar to those used in Europe and North America.

Akcos-Cromie: Yeah, we can be a bit steady Eddie over in Europe! But you’re right that each region has their own mini meta going on. And things get totally wild when you compare to the teams that Japan is cooking up.

Ugarte: North America has always had an interesting amount of variance to me. It can feel hard to get a grasp on the metagame because it feels like such widely different teams perform at a high level, besides the consistent Tailwind teams we mostly see place high at events. I do think North America is a bit more drawn to archetypes like Psychic spam (i.e., Indeedee + Armarouge), dedicated hard Trick Room teams, and Dondozo...more so in the general field rather than in the Day 2 field.

Shepperd: Is this something that players think about when they sit down across from an opponent, or is that reading into the game a little too much?

Ugarte: I do think there is a certain level of consideration you have to give to the meta of a region, especially if the majority are players from a specific region, which in this case would be South America.

Akcos-Cromie: I often see North America as being the region to bring one Pokémon to the spotlight amongst an otherwise standard looking team. Like, Glimmora was off the radar until it kept popping up in North America. And for example, that region seems to be driving the Arcanine train more than Europe overall.

Ugarte: I definitely think North America can bring some interesting Pokémon to the spotlight.

Akcos-Cromie: For me, it’s more a consideration when facing a player than a region. For example, Alex Soto in Europe is very well-known for hard Trick Room teams, and you’re pretty likely to face that archetype in the match. But you wouldn’t say that about the region or the Spanish community as a whole. There was a time in 2022 where all the French players were running Shedinja, though!

Ugarte: Kommo-o was a Pokémon that pretty much had no consideration until the Sacramento Regional Championships, when Michael Zhang won with it.

Shepperd: We seem to have this interesting tension between the start of our conversation, where there were a clear handful of dominant Pokémon, and now, where we’re acknowledging a lot of potential surprises or regional meta picks.

Ugarte: Absolutely, player preference almost certainly plays a role in the teams selected—above region trends in some cases.

Akcos-Cromie: I guess the question is which teams do we think we will see...and then which teams do we think will do well!

Shepperd: That’s a really good point. We often talk about usage percentage, but that doesn’t always translate into victories.

So, which Pokémon are actually going to make the final table?

Akcos-Cromie: The fact that Simone Sanvito and Chuppa Cross both won the two most recent Regionals with the same six Pokémon means that we can expect to see those six again for sure, but we can also anticipate people planning counters to them.

Traylor: I think Gholdengo has had a really successful last few tournaments and has had a great conversion rate from Day 1 to Day 2 overall. I’m not sure whether Kingambit underperforming in Lille and Toronto is because the metagame has shifted against it, or because Luka Trejgut took a tournament off, but it seems like a natural development as well.

Akcos-Cromie: I think the finals will be a bit like our Worlds finals this year—one standard-looking team and one with a little something different. I think Gholdengo is really making a comeback at the moment, but also Pokémon like Roaring Moon and Farigiraf are on my radar.

Ugarte: Roaring Moon is a Pokémon that has really stuck out to me throughout Regulation Set E, even though it has had mixed results. I do think the meta is in a very good place for it right now. The addition of Knock Off is a HUGE buff and is so relevant in this metagame where items play such a big role. Not to mention the fact it still gets to Terastallize into a Flying type and use a Booster Energy-augmented Acrobatics to pressure Ogerpon, Urshifu, and other meta picks.

Akcos-Cromie: Ooh, Kingambit is also a good shout!

Agati: If someone figures out their Tailwind matchup while also having a good approach vs. other teams in the metagame, I believe this person will make a very deep run in the tournament. Some other cores to respect are Dragonite Chien-Pao, Dondozo + Tatsugiri, Trick Room, and more balanced teams like the one Paul Chua and Marco Silva used recently at Regionals.

Traylor: I agree with this. I believe really strongly in approaches that are more moderate and can handle Tailwind with their own strategy that might rely on sometimes setting up Trick Room. Cresselia comes to mind as a frontrunner.

Akcos-Cromie: Also, in 2017, Ashton Cox won LAIC with Lilligant and Torkoal. With the new and extra-speedy Hisuian Lilligant picking up in places, we might even see this duo make a comeback and try to win the title again!

Traylor: For me, the trouble that I have with Roaring Moon is, as always, how do you deal with Intimidate? When you lead Roaring Moon against a Pokémon with Intimidate, if your Booster Energy would boost your Attack stat, it actually boosts your Speed, leaving your attacks with all the strength of a soggy Fidough. You can get around that by deterring Intimidate or bringing Roaring Moon in the back, but it always has seemed like a core limitation to me.

Ugarte: I definitely think Roaring Moon is a Pokémon that is almost always better saved in the back for a late-game sweep after removing its checks early in the game, or used early with the Breaking Swipe / Tailwind set to enable other partners.

Shepperd: I’d like to hear some predictions on players! Who is in a good place to win the whole thing?

Ugarte: One player who has impressed me this year and has shown an unparalleled level of consistency is Riley Factura. He’s performed really well since the start of the 2024 season, winning the Pittsburgh Regionals, finishing Top 8 in Peoria, and getting to the finals in Sacramento.

Agati: From LATAM, I’m very excited to watch performances by Paul Ruiz and Sebastian Escalante.

Traylor: I’m really interested in Sebastian Escalante, a player from Argentina who recently returned to the scene after five years away. He placed 9th at Worlds in 2016, 5th at Worlds in 2017, and dominated Regionals in South America as well as International Championships all over the world. Also, let’s go Gabriel!

Akcos-Cromie: I can’t wait to see Sebas back in action! I remember him being a standout in 2017. Also, Agati, after your 2nd-place EUIC finish, I’d love to see you take the title on this one!

Traylor: Riley is definitely a frontrunner from North America. He’s had an extremely impressive span of four tournaments—maybe the best start to a format. I think a lot of us are rooting for you, Gabriel!

Shepperd: No pressure, Gabriel!

Akcos-Cromie: After Riley Factura, Alberto Lara is also very consistent but hasn’t quite got those podium finishes lately. Paul Chua is also very strong!

Traylor: We’re also rooting for noted top player Joseph Ugarte, who has a history of performing quite well at International Championships, but has not yet managed to take the title... Could this be his year?

Ugarte: If I do perform well, Aaron, I do hope I can at least get past Top 4 this time.

Traylor: Shout out your fellow roundtable experts when you do.

Ugarte: I also think Marco Silva has been very consistent and is a frontrunner from Europe well-positioned to take a title again, especially since he has already won OCIC in 2020.

Agati: I also think Brazilian players shouldn’t be underestimated. Thiago Lattanzi is the most consistent players across the three Brazilian Regionals we had (Top 16, Top 8, and Top 4), and he’s going to play his first LAIC this year. He’s a very creative team builder as well. People should keep an eye on him.

Akcos-Cromie: From Europe, you have to keep an eye on Eric Rios and Marco Silva, both of which have won an International Championship before!

Shepperd: I forgot to mention, it’s actually a VGC roundtable rule that we have to mention Eric Rios and Marco Silva. (They’re both awesome players, so I’m glad you did.)

Traylor: LOL

Akcos-Cromie: Haha it’s why I’m here right? To talk about Eric, Marco, and Gastrodon. All top-tier topics.

Fortunately, Eric and Marco are doing very well at the moment too. Wait... Also Simone Sanvito and Edu [Eduardo Cunha], again both previous IC champs and now Regionals champs this season too. That is, if they’re all attending—I’m not 100% sure on who will make the journey.

Traylor: I believe Chuppa Cross, our most recent Regional champion, is going to LAIC. He had one of the most impressive performances in North America last year, which was perhaps the most competitive the region has ever been. I would not be surprised to see him continue his streak of dominance.

Akcos-Cromie: I was so happy to see him finally get a Masters Division Regional title!

Agati: Edu, Rios, Simone, and Marco will be safe picks for every tournament they attend. I also played Chuppa at Worlds this year and was very impressed with his level of play.

Shepperd: If we were to expect the unexpected, what would we look for in São Paulo?

Ugarte: In terms of unexpected picks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new player or player without many accomplishments perform and make a deep run... It’s been a theme that has been occurring more and more throughout this season and the previous season.

Agati: Sinistcha! I think it’s an underrated Pokémon with a lot of unexplored potential.

Traylor: +1 for Sinistcha!

Ugarte: Oh, we meant Pokémon...

Shepperd: Any of the above!

Traylor: It can be whatever you want it to be.

Akcos-Cromie: I can’t pronounce that Pokémon’s name! But I think it’s super underrated at the moment. Its Matcha Gotcha move is so good!

Ugarte: Sinistcha wins my personal award of most annoying Pokémon to play in the universe. Strength Sap, Rage Powder, Matcha Gotcha... It can do a lot to throw off a game.

Agati: Yep, it’s just too much utility in for a single Pokémon! It also has Trick Room.

Traylor: I think my hot take is that I believe in Cresselia to take the title. I’m not sure why people stopped looking at it after Riley won Pittsburgh Regionals. I think teams that blend 2012/2015-style Cresselia gameplay with more modern offensive tools have the defensive strength to survive the onslaught of leads such as Chien-Pao + Dragonite or Tornadus + Urshifu. They also have the offensive strength to end games in a reasonable amount of turns and enough control to give a high-level player the tools to lock in a win.

Ugarte: Cresselia is an incredible Pokémon when used in the right context.

Shepperd: It’s hard to believe that using Cresselia, one of the most popular VGC Pokémon ever, can be a hot take—but here we are!

Agati: I agree with Aaron that Cresselia is very underplayed. Eduardo Cunha also won a big Midseason Showdown in Spain using Cresselia. Since we are mentioning Trick Room users, Farigiraf is always an anti-meta pick that you need to respect.

Traylor: Cresselia was one of the most poorly performing Pokémon in Toronto—despite its 7% usage rate, only one just barely squeaked into Top 32. But I think it’s just misunderstood!

Akcos-Cromie: Now bear with me, but I also legitimately think Gastrodon usage will increase. Storm Drain is just so good with all the Surging Strikes and Water Ivy Cudgels running around. Earth Power is also very nice for Heatran and Gholdengo. And you can have a cheeky Ice Beam for those Flying types—especially Landorus. It’s navigated its way successfully in Rillaboom metagames before (World Champ Gastrodon!) so it can, especially with Terastallization, find a way around it. Whether it’s used synergistically with the rest of the team, I think, will be its struggle.

Ugarte: I’m always a fan of Gastrodon usage going up! Hopefully the pink one though.

Akcos-Cromie: #teamgastrodon

Clearly those players were using West Sea Gastrodon...

Traylor: Fixed! Haha!

Agati: If Gastrodon players figure out how to deal with the huge amount of Grass types in the format, it can definitely have a big run. It’s actually one of the most consistent Rapid Strike Urshifu answers, at least in a vacuum.

Akcos-Cromie: I also think little Dusclops might pick up on usage a bit. It’s appeared on some Trick Room teams lately. It’s one I’d like to see do well.

Ugarte: If I had to pick a surprise team to win it all, I’d be looking towards Haze Dusclops + Ursaluna. I really think Ursaluna can take down a lot of current teams in the metagame and people haven’t found the best way to exploit its strengths yet. And I think Haze Dusclops is the closest people have gotten to finding the best version.

Akcos-Cromie: I forgot it got Haze! Dusclops has always been the Pokémon that suffers from only four move slots; there’s just so many great things to run on it!

Traylor: It sounds like in general we’re all in agreement that Trick Room approaches and Pokémon with slower Speed stats might be well-positioned. Given that we come from four pretty different backgrounds as far as teambuilding and preferences go, it might be the case that this is evidence of a broader trend in how players are thinking when digesting the October Regionals results.

Shepperd: I’m going out on a limb a little, but Worlds isn’t that far in the past. Are there lessons to be learned from it since it was the last event of this size?

Traylor: Yes. Sanvito and Chuppa’s team was directly inspired by Hirofumi’s Worlds team.

Ugarte: Always. Respect. Amoonguss.

Akcos-Cromie: Ahahaa!

Agati: Always. Respect. Urshifu. It was on all eight of the top teams at Worlds.

Ugarte: Too often players forget Amoonguss exists, and it always manages to win a big tournament when it’s most disrespected in the metagame.

Traylor: I wonder if there are other concepts from successful Worlds teams that could be applied to Regulation Set E teams that haven’t been yet.

Agati: Yeah, the use of Safety Goggles has fallen off and this feels like a mistake from players. I think people got too excited with the addition of new Grass-types like Ogerpon and forgot Amoonguss is still a top-tier Pokémon that demands respect.

Akcos-Cromie: I’d say to watch out for weather as advice to players. We’ve recently seen Tyranitar for sandstorms, Alolan Ninetales for snow, and classic rain and harsh sun with Tornadus and Torkoal do really well. Players need to prepare for those, too. Be careful—there’s a storm coming, Trainers!

Agati: LOL

Justin Tang also brought a really cool team with Salamence with Hurricane and Pelipper to get Top 8 in the last Regional.

Traylor: That team looked like it was straight out of Regulation Set A.

Ugarte: It was definitely a team that reminded me a lot of early Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet matches. Salamence is an interesting Pokémon that exploits the common usage of Ogerpon to its advantage. I’m not sure how good it will be going forward, though.

Akcos-Cromie: There wasn’t a huge amount of weather dominance at Worlds, but I think that’s a shift we’re starting to see.

Shepperd: I do appreciate that the VGC doesn’t change so drastically along regulation shifts.

Akcos-Cromie: Just wait until Incineroar is released...

Traylor: Also, where the heck did Chi-Yu go?

Akcos-Cromie: I see a bunch of Chi-Yu + Flutter Mane still in Juniors and Seniors, but not so much in Masters.

Shepperd: Before we wrap, is there anything you’d like to make sure gets mentioned?

Agati: Since we spoke about underrated Pokémon, I’ll give my opinion on underrated players that can do well as well! Brazilian players Hugo Nascimento (the first Brazilian to ever make Day 2 Worlds through Day 1 last Worlds!) and Nader el Bacha (won Curitiba Regionals undefeated 10-0) are some names to be respected.

Akcos-Cromie: Don’t sleep on LATAM players at LAIC.

Agati: I’m hoping we will get our first International champion from Latin America!

Ugarte: Watch out for new talent. I believe with the growth of the game, the chances for a new player taking home an International title sooner rather than later is very likely.

Akcos-Cromie: This really is a new era of ICs since Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, and I think both competitors and spectators will learn a lot from watching and analyzing these teams and the plays made. I really think there’s going to be some inspiring moments this event.

Shepperd: The rapid growth of LAIC certainly includes a lot of homegrown players. It’s going to be an exciting tournament for sure.

Traylor: I’m excited to watch some top-tier battles between the world’s best. I agree with Lou that this is a whole-new era of LAIC, and I think it’ll be a blast to tune in.

Akcos-Cromie: Get me to Brazil already!

Shepperd: Is this a nervous time for players since they have several weeks where they’re getting very little new input about the metagame?

Traylor: I think could potentially be the case, but it also could be refreshing to have that period of time after a month of nonstop Regionals.

Ugarte: I think the time in between will be a good break for players to reevaluate teams and strategies and perhaps some time to test new ideas without the pressure of an upcoming tournament happening immediately.

Agati: Local events are having a very important role in LATAM right now both to explore the metagame and for the Championship Point race.

Akcos-Cromie: I think it’s time to connect with your training groups and work together to prepare. Two weeks isn’t a long time, and although we have a decent amount of Regional results to analyze, it can be hard to balance prep work for the event with real life. So teamwork will make the dream work in these two weeks.

Shepperd: All right, I think that does it! I want to thank everyone for what has been another awesome roundtable. Good luck to everyone in their respective roles (including Aaron, once again watching from his couch).