Pokemon VGC Players Are Hyper-Analysing Final Turns Of Wolfe’s EUIC Win

Besides the World Championship, an international championship is the highest tier of tournament on the Pokémon Video Game Championship (VGC) circuit. There are no residency restrictions on players for international tournaments, meaning hundreds of talented players travel from across the world to seek glory at these events. This past weekend’s European International Championships (EUIC) saw 1,257 competitors (the biggest VGC tournament ever) vie for the title, with the ultimate winner being Wolfe Glick, easily the most recognisable name in the esport, and arguably its greatest ever.

Even before the international championship commenced, Glick was notable for being the only player to include Gothitelle in his team. It wasn’t a painless march to the championships for Wolfe, dropping a set to Josh Bullivant on day one and one to Joji Kaieda on day two. However, Glick would defeat three exceptional trainers in the knockout stages (top cut), securing himself a place on Championship Sunday opposite an unexpected opponent, Dyl Yeomans from the United Kingdom.

Yeomans is a relative newcomer to VGC, having only competed in a single regional before EUIC. More surprising still, Yeomans didn’t qualify for the final rounds of that regional. Suddenly, this up-and-comer found themselves in the Grand Finals of Pokémon’s biggest-ever tournament across from the biggest name in the competition.

Hard Fought Battles

Glick’s team consisted of Koraidon, Amoongus, Incineroar, Scream Tail, Gothitelle and Flutter Mane. Opposite him, Yeomans was running Miraidon, Farigiraf, Incineroar, Urshifu, Iron Treads and Iron Hands. With a shrewdness unexpected for someone so early in their career, Yeomans comprehensively won the first game of the set, using their Trick Room Farigiraf to devastating effect.

As the second game commenced, for a moment, it looked like Yeomans was about to usurp the wily veteran in a dominant fashion. Farigiraf once again set up Trick Room, and a Knock Off from Yeoman’s Incineroar removed the all-important Life Orb from Glick’s Koraidon. Wolfe cut a frustrated figure during this second game as his opponent continuously thwarted his plans and restricted his options. You can’t teach experience, however, and Wolfe’s doubling up of attackers onto Iron Hands during the closing stages of the round forced the set into its third and final match.

As you can imagine, the third game was a nail-biter for both sets of fans. The early trading of Glick’s Koraidon for Yeomans’ Incineroar was illustrative of the whole set, with both competitors going blow for blow. A couple of good reads from Wolfe seemingly had the former world champion in a good position, but a clutch Helping Hand into Flare Blitz combo managed to knock out Glick’s Amoongus despite the Pokémon tera-switching from Grass to Dark type.

The final two-versus-two of the set, Glick’s Incineroar and Flutter Mane against Yeomans’ Miraidon and Farigiraf, has inspired essays on social media, such as this thread from Verroquis on Reddit. The crux of this matchup is that Yeomans needs Miraidon to win, as Farigiraf only has one damaging move that Incineroar is immune to. This means that, if Glick were to remove Miraidon from the field, he would be all but guaranteed a victory. Wolfe can’t play patient because he needs to remove Miraidon before Trick Room expires in two turns. Essentially, if playing correctly, Wolfe will always double-attack Miraidon.

The only way Dyl wins is if they force a one-versus-one between Farigiraf and Flutter Mane, which Dyl should win without any critical shenanigans. We know from previous calculations that an Electro Drift from Miraidon would knock out Incineroar. However, possibly fearing a Protect from Incineroar, Yeomans makes the game-losing mistake of sending their Miraidon into Flutter Mane. You can observe Wolfe pumping his fist and shouting on camera when this play happens, as he knows he’s won the set and consequently the tournament. Wolfe doesn’t Protect, instead using Flare Blitz on Miraidon to eventually secure the knockout with a burn. Without Miraidon, Yeomans can no longer win and concedes the match.

In his post-victory interview, Wolfe revealed that his friends calculated his chances of winning to be approximately 20 per cent based on the data they accumulated while practising both sides of the matchup. In Pokémon VGC, it’s often a single turn that can decide the outcome of a match and occasionally an entire tournament.

Systems

Released

November 18, 2022

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence