World Cup of Pokémon XI Recap

By False. and Hector Hard Mode. Art by Matryoshkat.

Introduction

The World Cup of Pokémon is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the seven major Pokémon tournaments held on Smogon. One of only two official team tournaments, the other being the Smogon Premier League, WCoP is a tournament in which the best players from each country are divided into 16 teams. These teams must then duke it out, playing every OverUsed tier from ORAS OU to RBY OU, with the ultimate winners being crowned the World Cup of Pokémon champions and awarded a shiny, blue trophy.

The WCoP is played in multiple rounds, with Round 1 pitting each player up against three others players in a divisional format in which they must play each of their opponents once. Once the first round has concluded, each team's record is tallied and the teams are seeded from 1-16 based on their record, with the top 8 teams advancing to the second round. The second, third, and final rounds are all head-to-head team knockout. Each player plays once, with the team requiring 6 collective victories to advance.

Round 1

At the conclusion of Round 1, Germany sat atop the table with an impressive 18-12 record, as the only team to have a positive record in both ORAS and old gens. Newcomers Greece slotted into second, boasting an excellent 11-4 record in old gens in which no single player dropped more than one game. US West finished in third, boasting a tournament-high four undefeated slots, three of which came in ORAS. Afrabs finished in fourth with a strong 11-4 ORAS performance in which every player went positive.

Italy clutched the 5th spot and earned themselves a second round berth for the first time in the team's history. US East finished in 6th, making up for their awful 4-11 ORAS record with a tournament-best 12-3 record in old gens. Spain looked consistent and comfortably took the 7th slot, while a new-look team Asia that retained only six players from the previous year's team rounded out the top 8.

France surprisingly fell out of a seemingly guaranteed playoff position, finishing 9th despite tying in points with the sixth-seeded US East due to a 15-15 record . Europe finished in 10th place, going 14-16 with a mediocre ORAS record of 6-9 but a respectable 8-7 record in old gens. US Central fell behind Europe with the same record but fewer points, having succeeded in ORAS to the tune of 9-6 but flaked in their old gens for a record of 5-10. Brazil also finished 14-16, with their wins mostly coming from their 8-7 old gens record and only one ORAS player finishing with a positive record.

Oceania and UK tied for 13th, with the former sporting an above average 9-6 old gens record but an underwhelming in 5-10 in ORAS. UK, inversely, finished 9-6 in ORAS with 5-10 in OldGens. Canada were second from bottom with a disappointing 13-17 record in which the better of their 2 records was a negative 7-8 ORAS record. US Metro finished last with a poor 9-21 record, and they were the only team not to achieve double-digit wins.

Round 2

(1) Germany vs Asia (8)

World Cup favorites Germany looked to overwhelm 8th seed Asia, but things definitely didn't go as smoothly as they may have planned. xray hoped to open the score for Germany and put himself in a good position to win his ORAS battle against Alkov. However, the tides turned quickly as xray missed not one, but two game-deciding Will-O-Wisps, allowing Alkov to sneak away with a win to open the series in their favor. Asia quickly looked to take advantage of their good luck and continued to put pressure on Germany. blarajan, JohnYiu, and Analytic were the next three players to pick up wins and gave Asia a resounding 4-0 lead, putting Germany on the brink of being unable to avoid a tiebreaker. However, Germany quickly steadied the ship and showed just why they were the #1 seed, with jira, Quaggster, bluri, and Conflict all picking up wins to even the series at 4-4 with just two games remaining.

Cosine180 vs WhiteQueen, which was one of the more highly anticipated games of the round, became the game that broke the deadlock between the two teams. However, it didn't turn out quite as close as expected. Cosine180 easily rendered WhiteQueen's counter-style ineffective with powerful wallbreakers, knocking out WhiteQueen's Chansey and then swiftly taking the victory with Latios.

With the series coming down to the wire, a DPP game between Fakes and ToF was the deciding 10th game. A win for Fakes would give Germany the win and a berth in semifinals, while a win for ToF would let Asia break their losing streak to force a tiebreaker. However, a fair game seemed to be too much to ask for in the decider, as the RNG gods looked favorably upon Fakes, allowing him to take the win in a match that ended in devastating fashion for ToF at no fault of his own.

Germany wins 6-4 and advances to the semifinals.

(2) Greece vs Spain (7)

In a matchup that pitted the tournament-experienced Spain against the brand new team Greece, many people heavily favored Spain, despite their considerably lower seeding. Spain didn't disappoint, coming strong out of the gate to take the early 2-0 lead with wins from Soulwind and Crystal_ in BW and RBY, respectively. Greece took the next game and continued to fight back with Sakis, Laz, and konstantellos all scoring wins, giving Greece a slight 3-2 edge.

However, this was as far as Greece would go, as Spain's tournament experience seemed too much for them. They failed to add another win to their tally, and Spain closed out the series 6-3 with wins from Malekith, Colchonero, [K-12] The Madchine, and reiku, with M Dragon still yet to play.

Spain wins 6-4 and advances to the semifinals.

(3) US West vs US East (6)

The two giants US West and US East went head-to-head in the second round in what proved to be an intriguing matchup. Despite US West's far superior seeding, US East were the clear favorites in this series, with a large majority predicting US East to comfortably take the win.

Philip7086 looked to give underdogs US West the early lead, defeating august in DPP to open the series in their favor. However, US East were quick to respond with idiotfrommars and Tobes taking wins over Lavos Spawn and teal6, making it 2-1. psychicmewtwo was next to step up for West and surprised many people by taking a win over PDC, tying the series at 2-2.

Jayde and Tesung were next to play for US East, quickly giving them the edge and the 4-2 lead after taking wins over rozes and Valentine. Tesung's game ended up being a particular spectacle, as there appeared to be a some bad blood between the two, something that Tesung was not afraid to voice throughout the match. TDK and Stathakis finished the job for US East, and with the help of a little luck they took wins over lysergic and jacob to close out a series in which they dropped only two games.

US East wins 8-2 and advances to the semifinals.

(4) Afrabs vs Italy (5)

In what should theoretically be the closest of the round 1 series, Afrabs vs Italy lived up to the hype and was a highly entertaining second round series. Afrabs were the first team on the scoreboard, with ABR taking the win over Italy's undefeated ORASer, -Snow. However, Tele quickly retaliated for Italy, pulling out a win versus Omfuga in a game that perhaps was a bit of revenge for a previous OLT series in which Omfuga had come out on top. Tele's win seemed a big boost for Italy, who surged ahead with four straight wins from Veni Vidi Vici, smilzo, Cronenberg, and Honor to bring the series to 1-5, pushing Afrabs to the brink of elimination.

The dire circumstances only seemed to get worse for Afrabs, as Italy then sent out who many would argue was their best player, marcoasd, to close out the series against the so far 1-2 Jsaok3. However, in a shocking turn of events Jsaok3 took the series 2-1 against the RBY master, keeping Afrabs afloat at 2-5. High Impulse came through next, and he too kept Afrabs playoff hopes alive with a win over Alexander. Shoka continued the trend, furthering Afrabs' run by taking the win over Pokèmaniac Livio and leaving a tiebreaker within reach. At 4-5, all eyes now shifted to Afrabs' Leftiez, who needed a win over NaCl to bring the series to a tiebreaker. Leftiez made a good team choice with an interesting Will-O-Wisp + Protect Mega Gardevoir that effectively got three KOs, allowing him to clean up with his Keldeo, take the game 4-0, and give Afrabs the tiebreaker.

With one ORAS game being mandatory and each team choosing one other tier, Afrabs decided to lean on their strong ORAS lineup, slecting High Impulse to play a second ORAS game alongside ABR. Italy showed confidence in marcoasd, selecting him to once again play RBY against Jsaok3. ABR opened the tiebreaker for Afrabs in the first of the ORAS matchups and ironically used a very Tele-esque semistall build to outlast Tele's Mega Gyarados balance to give Afrabs the 1-0 advantage. Next up was High Impulse vs Alexander., a rematch of their previous ORAS matchup in which High Impulse had won. This time Alexander. managed to come out on top, taking the win and forcing the tiebreaker to go to a deciding game 3 between Jsaok3 and marcoasd. marcoasd was the hot favorite, despite losing his previous RBY series to Jsaok3 not even a week beforehand. Jsaok3 was not able to repeat, as marcoasd saved the day for Italy, winning 2-0 and giving Italy a pass to the semifinals. (game 1 game 2

Italy wins 5-5 (2-1 tiebreaker) and advances to the semifinals.

Semifinals

(1) Germany vs Italy (5)

Despite how close their win over 8th seed Asia ended up being, Germany was still the tournament favorite, and they were given the edge over an Italian team that needed a tiebreaker to overcome Afrabs. jira opened the semifinals by taking a victory in ADV. Get this Money followed this up with a win against Cronenberg, putting Germany ahead 2-0. marcoasd steadied the ship for Italy, defeating Bedschibaer 2-1 in a tight three-game series to narrow Germany's advantage. xray stepped up next, defeating -Snow after dodging a critical Focus Blast in an RNG-filled game that gave Germany the 3-1 series lead. Honor took down Fakes, again closing Germany's lead to one. However, the Italians would then be pushed to the edge of elimination as Quaggster and Conflict took wins against Alexander. and Bomber to bring the series to 5-2.

On the brink of elimination, Italy bounced back strongly, winning the next three games to force yet another tiebreaker. Team captain Tricking began the Italian comeback with a win over down-on-his-luck Steve Angello, who was still yet to pick up a victory after an 0-3 performance in Round 1. -Lone then beat bluri in a tight BW game, putting the German in a bad spot by trapping his Skarmory with Magnezone and then cleaning up his team with Substitute + Calm Mind Latias. With the series on the line, Tele was sent to play cosine180 in one of the more anticipated matchups of the entire semifinals. Tele kept the pressure on Cosine180's Landorus-T in the early- and mid-game and then easily cleaned out cosine180's team with his Earthquake Mega Charizard X after Dragon Dancing.

Tricking opened the tiebreaker with a tough game against xray, prevailing in a down-to-the-wire game that saw Tricking use Gliscor and Suicune to slowly grind out the victory. Bedschibaer then shockingly upset marcoasd with help from the RNG, tying the series 1-1 and forcing a deciding 3rd game. The series thus came down to Conflict vs Alexander. Conflict defeated Alexander. in an 85-turn match that ended in a 6-0. With that, Italy's finals hopes were ended, and Germany advanced to the finals to face US East.

Germany wins 5-5 (2-1 tiebreaker) to advance to the finals.

(7) Spain vs US East (6)

Both Spain and US East had fought from their lower seed to qualify and were now facing off in what would prove to be a very tight series. US East were slight favorites, and Tobes reinforced this by opening the series in East's favor, defeating Crystal_ in RBY. Tesung extended East's lead by beating Malekith in ADV, seemingly giving East the momentum. However, Spain roared back with four straight wins, taking a 4-2 series lead. Poek97 started by beating TDK in a clean ORAS game. reiku then defeated -Tsunami- in a game of cold water, avoiding Scald and Steam Eruption burns in crucial moments to ensure victory. M Dragon won the GSC game with a defensive team that proved unbreakable for idiotfrommars. Colchonero then won a clean game against BKC, finishing BKC's weakened team with Calm Mind + Aura Sphere Raikou. Jayde took a win against SoulWind to chip Spain's lead down to 4-3, but Axel10 managed to defeat Stathakis in a widely-anticipated rematch, increasing Spain's lead to 5-3.

With the opportunity to eliminate US East, [K-12] The Madchine decided to try to cut off FlamingVictini, bringing a hard stall team in the hopes of getting a good matchup. However, FlamingVictini was ready, pulling out a shocking victory with an innovative Substitute + Calm Mind Cobalion, which left [K-12]'s team weak enough to be cleaned up by his Mega Alakazam. bro fist then came in to defeat Trosko in another tight game, avoiding elimination and winning several crucial predictions to force a tiebreaker.

bro fist kicked off the tiebreaker with a convincing victory against reiku, using Mega Gardevoir to punch holes in reiku's defensive core while chipping away at key threats such as Medicham. After bro fist's victory over reiku, M Dragon tied up the breaker by beating BKC in DPP with timely help of the RNG. BKC will perhaps never use Fire Blast in a tournament game again after this WCoP. IFM then matched up against Colchonero and, contrary to his earlier game against M Dragon, broke through Colchonero's team in a quality GSC game to sway the tiebreaker in favor of US East.

US East wins 5-5 (2-1 tiebreaker) and advances to the finals.

Finals

(1) Germany vs US East (6)

With arguably the strongest rosters of any teams in the tournament, Germany and US East faced off in a finals series that many had expected from the beginning. Tesung opened the finals with a win over jira in ADV, but Bedschibaer quickly evened the series at 1-1 with a win over Tobes in RBY. Steve Angello, who was jokingly quoted saying 'carry me team' in reference to his so far underwhelming 1-4 performance, was quick to forget his struggles, earning a massively important win over TDK to give Germany the 2-1 edge. bro fist stayed hot, recording a win over Get this Money to not only tie the series but also better his WCoP record to an impressive 5-1. -Tsunami- gave US East the lead, using a hyper offense team to net himself a win over xray, a lead that was short lived with bluri soon after taking a win against Jayde to yet again tie the series, this time at 3-3.

Next up was FlamingVictini, who took his third straight World Cup win in a victory over Cosine180 that brought East the lead yet again. Germany's most consistent performer thus far, the 6-0 Conflict, was next to step up to the plate and only continued his fantastic World Cup performance with yet another win, this time over idiotfrommars. With the series tied at 4-4, Stathakis broke the tie and earned US East a worst-case tiebreaker with a win over Quaggster. Fakes vs BKC was the final game to be played, a game that likely felt like dejà vu for BKC, as his Heatran missed the game-winning Fire Blast against Fakes's Breloom, and ended in him taking an unlucky loss.

The tiebreaker was set with ORAS, BW, and GSC being the chosen tiers. -Tsunami- was given the task to overcome the undefeated Conflict, and they began their GSC battle. However, in the time the game was being played, bro fist swiftly netted a victory vs xray in ORAS, meaning that -Tsunami- was now playing for the World Cup trophy. A critical hit at turn 200 shifted the game in -Tsunami-'s favor and allowed him to break Conflict's undefeated streak, netting his team the win and the World Cup trophy.

US East win 5-5 (2-0 tiebreaker) and win the World Cup of Pokémon!

Conclusion

In a tournament that featured four tiebreakers, three of which went to a deciding game three, the 11th WCoP was possibly the closest of all time. Congratulations to the champions, US East!

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