World Cup of Pokémon XIII Team Biographies
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Logo by LifeisDANK.
Introduction
It's finally summertime! To some, that may mean finding a summer job or getting out of school. To the people of Smogon, it means that it's time for another World Cup of Pokémon. After US East claimed a fourth trophy to their name in the 2017 edition of WCoP, a lot changed. Between an entirely new USA region divide to the creation of teams such as Austria and Benelux, it's safe to say this World Cup is a lot more unique than the last few. Now, with the tournament starting shortly, we'd like to introduce the participating teams and highlight some of the key players to look forward to in this edition of the WCoP!
Asia
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Team Asia, for those newer to the tournament circuit, was the single strongest team for the first few years of WCoP's existence. However, after losing almost all of their original players due to quitting, eligibility changes, and team changes, Asia has fallen hard from glory. Now, after just barely etching out a win in the WCoP qualifying round, they look to hopefully repeat success that only their ancestors could remember. The team is headed by Analytic, who has been on the team for a few years now, and the lineup is very similar to the one they fielded last year, with just a few new players who we can only hope to see success in. Older players such as ToF and WhiteQueen return again as usual, and they look to carry the team to the best of their ability. The OU lineup is relatively weak compared to that of the other teams, with none of their players finding any recent individual tournament success or impressive team tournament records. Overall, it feels as if Asia will have to rely on these new names to do well if they hope to make it into playoffs, or else they may find themselves just fighting to stay out of next year's qualifiers.
Star Player - WhiteQueen
The man..? woman..? troll who has consistently been doing his best to entertain the community for years returns again to hope to bring wins in for Asia. For the last few WCoPs, WhiteQueen has done fairly well, with a 2-1 score last year and a 3-1 score the year before. Also very much worth mentioning is that he just recently made it to the final 8 of OST XIV and is a former winner of the entire tournament himself. Despite being a big-time memer with his teams, using things such as his trusty Swampert-less rain and random iterations of Chansey offense, the man wins. WhiteQueen wins a lot. If he can bring his A game and teach his newer teammates a thing or two about success, we can expect great things.
Comeback - GGFan
To add another glorious troll to Asia's roster, we simply MUST talk about the legend that is GGFan. After roughly thirteen years of being banned from Smogon, he was finally unbanned last winter and had a good showing in SPL 9. Despite the fact that the man has been playing RBY competitively since before his captain was even born, this is still only his second ever World Cup, his first being as a member of Team East in the first WCoP. GGFan likely has much to learn about what it means to be a good teammate, but if he can recreate the success that he found in SPL and prove that he is no fluke, then Asia should be in good hands for RBY.
Up-and-Coming Player - Analytic
Asia captain and Mr. "You beam you lose momentum" finds himself in the Asian starting lineup again. Despite being relatively new to the tournament scene as a whole, Analytic has a good amount of exposure now, taking part in two WCoPs, two SPLs, and Snake Draft. Across these five tournaments, he has amassed a 5-7 record. Due to Analytic usually starting off as a substitute, he has found himself with games in a decent number of tiers, including OU, UU, RU, ORAS, and RBY. Despite generally average records, he managed to defeat ABR in last year's WCoP and go 2-1 in groups. Asia finds itself with a relatively weak OU lineup this year, so it will be important that Analytic is able to bring in wins and take over as a leader in this department.
Brazil
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Despite being the only team to take a series off of Team East in recent history, Team Brazil has found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in for the past few years. They have always had the talent and starpower, but oftentimes motivation and execution have led to the Brazilians not reaching their full potential. As more time elapses, their window to dominate if they play to their full potential is also slowly closing, so perhaps this will be the year that they get it together once again and prove that they can compete with the best. With a plethora of veterans on their prospective roster such as HANTSUKI, Tamahome, elodin, and Tiba, it should be no surprise that their ceiling is high. However, the activity of these veterans and the consistency of newer stars such as Eternal Spirit and Nintendi will play a large role in determining the fate of Team Brazil.
Star Player - Tamahome
Widely regarded as one of the best all-generation OU players of all time, Tamahome is back for yet another WCoP. He has the most team tour games played of anyone all time and also holds the title for most wins, with a whopping 66. While he can play any generation at a high level, it is likely that Tamahome will find himself slotted in DPP once again, where he is widely regarded as one of the best players in recent years. Despite having a shaky SPL, the expectations for Tamahome are sky high, as everyone knows how dominant he can be. Tamahome is the epitome of a star player, and with all of his experience and expertise taken into consideration, it should be no surprise whatsoever if he goes on a tear and wins all of his games this WCoP.
Comeback - Tiba
Tiba is known for having one of the most ridiculously good track records in Smogon history when it comes to SPL and WCoP performances in both RBY and GSC. However, he had an uncharacteristically poor SPL, going 1-5 to throw a wrench in his nearly perfect history. Given some of his team choices, many may wonder if he still has it or if he has become one of those old dudes who are washed up and use whack teams. With one SPL as the only sample size to attest to the latter, this WCoP will go a long way towards proving if he still has it. Will Tiba shine in the spotlight once more or continue his downward trend from this past SPL?
Dark Horse - elodin
Long-time BW player elodin is back for another season with Brazil, but this time he will be playing ADV instead. With a mixture of fairly good and mediocre results thus far in tournaments, elodin has not necessarily established himself as a top player quite yet, but he surely is a competitor who can keep up with most, so it will be interesting to see how he can compete in a strong ADV field. If elodin can be at his best, expect him to have some respectable results despite the field perhaps being stacked against him with more proven players who also have more tournament experience in the generation. If not, it might be a long tour for the Brazilians in ADV. Given their roster, there is going to be some dependence upon a surprise player or two to really step up and give them a few extra wins, and perhaps dark horse elodin can be the man who takes charge and does just that.
Canada
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Team Canada has been around for quite a long time and has had high points here and there. In the far away past, the team sported greats such as Krack and Atticus, who eventually gave up playing and left Canada as it is now. Team Canada has not done amazingly these last few years, finishing 16th in 2015, 15th in 2016, and 11th in 2017. On the bright side, one trait that the Canadians have that other teams may not is their ability to adapt their team and keep their lineup fresh. Their old gens have been swapped around a bit to end up with YouTube sensation blunder in ORAS, veteran troll and lower tier player soulgazer in DPP, enigma osgoode in GSC, and the retired ORAS main Genesis7 in RBY. On top of that, we see two newer faces in SM, Jytcampbell and Suapah, as well as SPL UU player Bushtush. Not all has changed, however, as longtimers FLCL and Jirachee find themselves in starting positions again. If Canada wants to retain old success and succeed this year, it will be critical that these position changes work in their favor. Otherwise, they may find themselves frozen over.
Star Player - blunder
YouTube star blunder is in many ways the Drake of competitive Pokémon. He has not been around as long as some but has quickly found his way to capture the hearts of many. Despite his lack of trophies being a meme, blunder has certainly achieved accomplishments on this site. For starters, he was an OST finalist in 2015 vs. WhiteQueen. He also has a streak of being a playoff participant in the last five Smogon Tours and is doing well in the ongoing edition. To finish it off, he has played in many team tournaments across the years and currently sits at a 25-25 record. Despite being in ORAS himself, it will be important that blunder uses his experience and teambuilding advice to help support the newer players in SM, on top of doing well himself. If not, we may be seeing a consistent flow of uploads roughly three weeks from now.
Veteran Presence - FLCL
Dooby has had a really rocking spree of tournament success recently. Near the end of 2017, FLCL was a finalist in both Smogon Tour 24 and Smogon Championship. On top of that, he also qualified for Grand Slam as the #1 seed and beat ABR in the Smogon Tour 25 playoffs. It's not all newfound success for FLCL though, as the man has been in the competitive scene for YEARS now, spanning back to SPL 4/WCoP 2013. As stated previously, Canada is one of the teams that change up a lot every year, yet FLCL has always managed to find himself as a starter on their roster. Now, it will be important for FLCL to be the leader his team desperately needs, as they will look to an old presence for guidance. There should be no reason to doubt that FLCL will be both a good leader as well as one who finishes with a strong record.
Dark Horse - Bushtush
Despite not being a more traditional OU player, Bushtush has remote tournament experience. He was a UU starter in the last SPL and ended 5-5, as well as a sub-turned-starter in SSD, where he had poor results in OU. One major accolade to Bushtush's name, however, is that he defeated ABR in OLT playoffs two years in a row. Bushtush has a high skill ceiling, which he is able to reach through his aggressive style of play. Bushtush's main concern should be his lack of comfort in SM OU, as he hasn't played it in a tournament since the last SSD. If Bushtush can overcome this obstacle, then he will easily be able to battle with the best.
Europe
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After an impressive showing last year, making the finals for the first time in recent history, Team Europe is back with some new faces in hopes of making another deep run into the playoffs. Unfortunately, the leader of their run last year, TonyFlygon, is no longer a member of the team, and some other key pieces such as Pearl and choolio are not a part of their roster. However, they have plenty to compensate for some moderate losses, and many believe the Europeans will be making another playoff run this year. With a similar core to that of the prior year, but with a year more of experience, the expectations for the likes of BlackOblivion, Pohjis, Void, and We Three Kings are quite high, and the burden of leading the team back to the promise land is on their shoulders. There are still plenty of others who will contribute to Team Europe's prospective success, of course, including newcomers like Frania and veterans like Isa and the Belgian brothers, ZoroDark and MetalGross. All things considered, Team Europe has the talent to make another run, but they are missing some pieces to the puzzle that they will have to make up for to try and replicate their past success.
Star Player - We Three Kings
We Three Kings, also known as Lasse, is competent in just about every generation and has gained quite the respectable list of accomplishments over the past few years. While he is not necessarily your stereotypical, top-tier dominant star player, We Three Kings easily has the playing ability to keep up with the best of the best in a number of tiers. It looks like he will be suiting up in ADV for the second year straight, which is a tier that he is quite competent in. However, the ADV pool this WCoP is very respectable from top to bottom, so the European star player will need to prove his worth and earn this title throughout his time in ADV this WCoP if Europe wishes to be successful in ADV.
Dark Horse - Pohjis
Pohjis has made himself a household name as of late, having stints in both Ubers and NU with moderate levels of success. While he has never been dominant, Pohjis is now seen as a respectable player in the eyes of many, one who can compete with just about anyone in a number of tiers. However, his track record in OU tiers is not on par with that in the likes of Ubers and NU. While he has had sporadic success, it is not the same, and he is now in a position to prove he can hang with some of the stronger ORAS OU players out there. Will he be able to replicate his success from other formats this WCoP in ORAS OU, or will he fall short again?
Redemption Seeker - TheThorn
After a promising start to his time playing Smogon tournaments with a respectable performance in OST and great showing in SPL 8, TheThorn has been very quiet and has not stood out whatsoever. While many are aware of the fact that he has potential to hang with top players, it is easy to second-guess this after a mediocre Snake and a no-show for SPL 9. TheThorn now has another chance to show what he is made of and that he can still put up good results this WCoP, but he may have his work cut out for him depending on his current form and activity as well as his draw of opponents, specifically in the first round. Hopefully for Team Europe, they can count on TheThorn as a solid addition to their lineup once again, but this is not necessarily a sure thing, and the Monotype-turned-OverUsed player will be under pressure to perform here because of that.
France
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France, often known as the "eternal choke artists", are back with another viciously strong lineup. One thing that France is known for above all other teams is their sheer amount of new and consistent talent. Some recent names that fit this description are Cdumas, Kickasser, Reymedy, and Mounts. This year, we see a few more new players in Sacri' and Raspberry, who hope to leave a lasting impression and become tournament mainstays. To only talk about the new players on France would be a crime, however. Led by the Kingpin and the Moleman (Ojama and McMeghan), France's old gen lineup is as talented as ever. Ojama and McMeghan are two of the most widely regarded greats on all of Smogon and will be supporting ORAS enthusiast Mounts, Smogon Classic winner giara, and RBY all-star Peasounay. All three of these players made appearances in 2017 WCoP and 2018 SPL as well as individual tournaments in 2017 (Smogon Tour, Classic, and RBY Cup semifinals, respectively). The only thing that seems to stand in France's way is the infamous team tournament curse placed on them by -Tsunami-, but with him tournament banned and out of the scene, France should find themselves in a very comfortable playoffs spot.
Veteran Presence - Ojama
The self-proclaimed Kingpin returns as the French leader once again (though not without an overthrow attempt). Ojama has been a frontrunner in the tournaments scene for many years, and he has both a Smogon Tour and a Classic trophy to show for it. Past just individual accomplishments, however, he also holds the second most team tournament victories of anyone on the site. Many believe that he is one of the greatest players to ever touch this game, and those people would be hard to deem wrong. With his talent and knowledge spread between every single generation, there is no question that Ojama will be able to carry France with both his immense support and his own wins. On the more human side, it is well known that associates of the Kingpin always bring up how wonderful it is to work by his side, which shows that he clearly is a capable mentor and teammate. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Ojama will do well and make sure the rest of his team succeeds with him.
Star Player - Cdumas
Cdumas is an absolute genius when it comes to competitive Pokémon. Not only is the man a high-ELO chess prodigy, but he also has been one of the most successful players to shine through in recent times. Sporting an all-time team tournament record of 20-6, Cdumas managed to finish 2017 only dropping two team tournament games out of a total of sixteen played AND make it to the losers bracket semifinals of OLT. On the battlefield, Cdumas is known for playing a very smart game, taking a lot of time to think every play through to its entirety and very rarely making any mistakes. It is notable that he can always be counted on to bring a strong team with no obvious weaknesses and play every matchup to its highest potential. Look for Cdumas to be the unshakeable rook of France's already solid SM OU lineup.
Up-and-Coming Player - Sacri'
To those who follow tournaments regularly, you've probably already heard of this guy before. Sacri' first made a name for himself as a finalist in the most recent UU Open, which helped him get picked as a UU starter in both Snake Draft and SPL. He finished with acceptable results in both, netting a 6-3 in Snake and a 4-5 in SPL. Now, he looks to take over the role of an OU starter for Team France. Sacri' has been doing some training for this spot, taking part in many Smogon tournaments in these past few weeks as well as participating in OST. If he is able to transfer his aggressive style of play into OU and not find himself at a disadvantage due to his lack of meta knowledge, Sacri' should be able to compete at the same level as any OU mainstay. After all, it's a "new talent" player coming from France. Who wouldn't expect good results?
Germany
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Team Germany has been no stranger to the playoffs over the past few years, and they are poised to make another run this year. However, they are short a few big names, and to compensate, they are starting many lesser-proven players, so how the new starters perform may very well determine their fate as a team. Of course, there are still staples such as Pleasure, xray, and Lusch, who will all be reliable old generation starters. With this said, for each one of them, there are even more unproven players, such as Leru, r!n, and Mr. Sweaty Hands, Melle2402. With a strong history behind them, high expectations are a given regardless of players such as Bedschibaer and bluri no longer being on the roster. Will this team have enough firepower to make it through with all of these new names?
Star Player - Pleasure
Pleasure, also known as Conflict, is an integral part of Team Germany's culture at this point. He has been around forever playing GSC, but he also can BW at a high enough level to get by in tournaments such as these. While it is not clear how up to date Conflict is with BW, it is fair to say that he will be a threat in the tier given his respectable run in BW Cup and his general nature as a competitor. Regardless of that, Conflict has been one of the faces of Germany for as long as anyone can remember at this point, and he also is one of the most successful GSC players of all time, so he certainly does fit the bill as a star player here. The question is if he will be able to lead this lesser-proven roster to the promised land or not!
Redemption Seeker - Porengan
Porengan, also known as TV-Rocka, has been pretty dead on Smogon for the past two years. The lone exception to this would be his mediocre showing for the BIGs early in SPL 8, only winning one game total. With this said, Porengan has a successful history in DPP OU, doing well in a number of past SPLs and being widely regarded as one of the tier's more creative minds. Unfortunately for the German DPPer, he has had a swift fall from grace and relevance, so this will be his chance to prove that he is active and capable in the year of 2018. Many believe that he will replicate his SPL 8 results and do poorly, but deep down he has what it takes to succeed, so maybe he will redeem himself this time around after all.
Up-and-Coming Player - pasy_g
The brown man who happens to wear polo shirts is now the Rock Slide dice-roller of Germany. pasy_g is not technically a newcomer, with a 2010 joindate, but he surfaced once again recently after being missing in action for a number of years. Given this, pasy_g earns the up-and-coming title, as he has been pretty dominant in a number of side tours, most notably in RoAPL. While not many may be familiar with pasy_g's level of play, he is an ADV main and is very much competent in the metagame, being a capable pilot who will not shy from a challenge against top players. Doing well in this field is a tall order for someone who was previously out of the game for years, but he has been back for a number of months now and is playing well, so perhaps pasy_g will get Team Germany some surprise wins in ADV!
Greece
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Team Greece returns to play their third WCoP following a disappointing finish of 11th place in 2017. After being accepted into WCoP in the 2016 qualifying round, the team made playoffs in a stunning fashion yet fell short to Spain in round two. However, things are looking up for Greece this year. The inclusion of RBY means that Roudolf13, who had the best RBY record this recent SPL, will be able to start and bring home wins. The old gen power duo of Astamatitos and Fear saw similar consistency to that of the year before, both winning SPL trophies and finishing with positive records. Their ORAS to DPP slots (Laz, Ace-11, and Christos21) may not be the most feared players, but the three of them have all played in two other World Cups now and proven that they are capable of taking down strong opponents, such as SoulWind in BW and Poek in ORAS. Greece's biggest concern should be the lack of big-name starting OU players, with Eternam being the only somewhat recently successful player on their lineup. If Greece can manage to field a strong enough OU core to hold their own, this team should be easily carried through to playoffs by their strong old genners and consistent enough middle genners.
Star Player - roudolf13
roudolf13 is no traditionalist RBYer. The man has a join date of 2016 and is playing in a pool of players who span all the way back to even before the 2010s hit. He is very new to the RBY scene. Despite playing for Greece in 2016, roudolf mostly became known for his insane 95+ ladder GXE and vicious tendencies to win with ridiculous luck on said ladder. His ladder results and WCoP experience allowed him to be picked up for SPL by the Ruiners, where he finished with a 7-2 record, the best in the tournament. Not to mention that this was after being ranked last in the power rankings. Hopefully roudolf will be able to prove that his SPL record is what is most reflective of him as a player and carry his team with some well-played bull wars and full paras.
Veteran Presence - Astamatitos
When there is any discussion about Team Greece, the first two names that pop into everyone's minds should be Fear and Astamatitos. Two legends who have been playing since the NetBattle days and made a full return as of 2016. Astamatitos is the ADVer for Team Greece and is a hugely consistent team carry. Asta finished with an astounding 4-0 in 2016 and a slightly less flashy 2-1 last year. He also made a big splash in SPL 8 and 9, where he finished positively both times and even clutched for his team in the semifinals tiebreaker vs undisputed this year. His creativity in the tier is nearly unmatched, as he still finds ways to innovate the metagame to this day, such as the newly popular AstaRachee (specially defensive with Body Slam / Fire Punch / Wish / Protect). Astamatitos looks to help keep his Greek teammates in the best shape, and if he is able to act like the veteran that his team needs, success is to be expected.
Up-and-Coming Player - Eternam
Looking to be the one ray of light out of Greece's weak SM OU is Eternam, a man molded by The Den's greats such as littlelucario and imsosorrylol. Eternam has only made a single team tour appearance, as a member of Greece's 2017 lineup, where he finished with an acceptable 2-1 record. Most recently, however, Eternam found his way into the top 16 of OST. In a very memorable series, Eternam absolutely obliterated Spanish legend M Dragon and earned the respect of those lucky enough to see it live. If Eternam can have another standout performance, it may just be enough to pave the way for his team's struggling SM core.
Italy
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The cheesy Italian crew is back for another run after establishing a respectable foundation over the past few seasons. While the team is very similar to that of past teams at its core, they finally accepted Smogon Tour semifinalist, Smogon Championship winner, and SPL player Empo onto their roster and into their starting lineup. While they still have a question mark or two, Italy's lineup is predominantly filled with respectable, proven players, including Masquerain wielder Tricking and Pachirisu wielder Snou in SM! Bad pizza puns and unconventional strategies aside, the Italians have been strong playoff contenders each of the past two seasons, and there is very little reason to believe they will not be back once again. The question is if another year of experience and a few new additions will be enough to move the Italians into a position to win the tournament and make an even deeper run into the playoffs or if they will continue to flirt with mediocrity moving forward.
Star Player - Empo
Despite not making any big team tournaments until this past SPL, Empo has quite the respectable list of accomplishments, and it is only growing with time. Empo has now made the semifinals of Smogon Tour, won the one and only Smogon Championship, and made numerous other tournament playoff appearances, including SPL with the Ruiners. At this point, it is fair to consider Empo a mainstay as a current generation OU player in the tournament scene, and he is going to need to lead Italy's SM OU to success if they wish to put up consistent results there. With his recent performances kept in mind, it is certainly possible that he can be the anchor of this group, but team support and team tour experience are still potentially limiting factors to this rising star.
Redemption Seeker - Snou
The master of surprise and unsets, Snou, is back for another starting opportunity in a big tournament. Be it regular Altaria stall or Mega Absol bulky offense, Snou is always ready with another interesting, sometimes effective trick up his sleeve. Unfortunately for the Italian SM player, he went negative in both SPL and Snake, leading us to wonder where he may be at and if he can replicate the success he has had the past two WCoPs. Hopefully for Team Italy, Snou will make a comeback and put up positive results, but there are a lot of question marks here, and many wonder if Snou will live up to his potential as one of the better SMers on Team Italy or not.
Dark Horse - Bomber
Speaking of unconventional approaches, Bomber is full of them. However, his attempts at innovation have been grown infamous over the years in the eyes of some, especially after he brought Typhlosion to a decisive SPL game back in 2017 in GSC, where it is widely regarded as unviable. Fortunately for the quirky Italian old generation player, Bomber has been tearing it up in Smogon Classic's qualification phase, having consistent success across a number of generations and easily qualifying for the playoffs. If he can replicate these results in WCoP, many will be surprised, as he still holds the "lucky and bad" label in the eyes of many. With a lot at stake, ranging from his ability to help his team win to his reputation as a player among the tournament community, Bomber is going to have the platform to prove himself as a legitimate GSC threat this tournament, but if he comes up short, then it could prove costly to his team.
Latin America
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If one were to describe the Latin America team in only two words, the only words that fit that description would be "Roller Coaster". L.A. was once one of the great teams that consistently made playoffs year after year. However, in 2015 the team placed last. This led L.A. to have to fight for their spot in 2016 versus Greece, in which they found themselves defeated in the Bo3 qualifying round. In 2017, the team played in the qualifier again, defeated Bangladesh, and then went on to finish second place in round one. One thing that L.A. has going for them is a strong pool of new players to choose from each year. This year, they dipped in and picked up Vai Lusa, Zden, and Arii Stella to name a few. Most of the players on this team are users who consistently play in tournaments year-round yet never have amazing results or individual tournament performances (Gondra, Lycans, Mandex). Posho is the one standout exception, being a former Smogon Tour winner. The new players on this rendition of Team Latin America could be what determines if this team will sink or swim, both of which would not be new results for L.A.
Redemption Seeker - Posho
"kuk I'm gay" are some of the words one may come upon when dealing with the Spanish enigma that is Posho. The Spaniard returns to play for Latin America for another year with the intent to be the hard carry. Although Posho won a trophy from Smogon Tour in 2017, his ability to perform may still be in question going into this WCoP. After a rough finish of 3-6 in SPL, Posho went on to not end up qualifying for ST25 playoffs despite being an avid player in SM, ORAS, and BW. Latin America is a team that does not have many "star players", so Posho will need to quickly refind his step if he wants to be able to take over the role of star on this team.
Up-and-Coming Player - Vai Lusa
To the regular tournament playing users of Smogon, there is not a great chance you know of Vai Lusa. However, Vai Lusa is a recent winner of the "Luso-Brazilian Tournament" on PokéFrontier (the Brazilian forums' OST) and a finalist of the PokéSpain Official Ladder tournament. On top of these results, he has found fine results in many smaller team tournaments, such as his 6-1 finish in POCL. Latin America is without a doubt one of the teams that consistently bring in new players to the mainstay tournament scene, and Vai Lusa will look to be the next player to fit this bill.
Dark Horse - Arii Stella
Retired Ubers player Arii Stella finds herself shifted into RBY for team L.A. this WCoP. Despite being a newcomer to World Cup, Arii Stella has now played in two official team tournaments and played multiple tiers, including Ubers, SM OU, BW, ADV, and RBY. In the last week of SPL 9, Arii was matched vs marcoasd in RBY and managed to win 2-0 in a very memorable series. Her super aggressive style of play is one not often seen in older generations, but Arii Stella finds a way to make it work. Arii will look to dominate in RBY this World Cup and prove to the any naysayers that she is as serious of a tournament player as anybody else.
Oceania
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Team Oceania was the best team in the tournament for a good span of time. From the years 2009-2011, Oceania won the WCoP and proved that their region was truly great. This time period is when legends were brought to prominence, including Earthworm, The Grand Babido, and Golden Sun. This year, they retain those three players and are also bringing back a couple of old staples in Hipmonlee and The_Chaser. Unfortunately for Oceania, around the end of their era and moving into BW current gen, the team began to fall off, and it has never achieved nearly the same level of success. Oceania's main problem year after year seems to come from a lack of strong current gen OU players. This year, on the bright side, we see the return of Googly, who has had a good year in terms of individual tournament results, and other decent OU players such as Snowy and GypsyKing. If Oceania can overcome the hurdle of a weak OU lineup and their old gen players don't find themselves too rusty, then this team might just be able to snatch a fourth blue ring.
Dark Horse - Googly
No word can better describe Googly than "funky". Googly is most known for his weird variations of stall teams that he terrorizes the ladder with, including his infamous Articuno / Zapdos / Moltres team. However, in just this last year Googly has also been able to make a splash in individual tournaments. Qualifying for the most recent Smogon Tour playoffs, reaching Classic playoffs, and making it about halfway through OLT playoffs, Googly has shown that he is consistent. On top of this, he is also one of the only players to qualify for OLT playoffs every year the tournament has been held. Googly's main flaw would most likely be in his shortage of team tournament experience, yet he has still made an appearance in two WCoPs as of now. It will be very important that Googly can fill the role of leader on this team, as Oceania's OU lineup will certainly look to him for guidance. In the end (and if the spectators are lucky), his notorious funky stall teams may be the saving grace for his team's SM OU.
Veteran Presence - Earthworm
Old man Earthworm has come to be a legendary figure on Smogon. Earthworm has been playing competitive Pokemon since before SPL even existed and made his rise to stardom in the 2009-2011 era of Oceania. Currently he sits at a 54-31 all-time team tours record. Many believe Earthworm to be the greatest GSC player of all time, and luckily enough for his team he will be starting in GSC this WCoP. However, on top of just being a GSC expert, he is very well rounded in all old gens DPP-RBY, even holding a Smogon Tour trophy to his name. His support in these three tiers + his own success in GSC will without a doubt be critical to Oceania's success, as old gens are the one field they can count on to do well in. If there were any vet who could be counted on to carry their team to a blue trophy, Earthworm is without a doubt the man for the job.
Up-and-Coming Player - false
Smogon tryhard and badge hoarder false will return to Oceania for his now third WCoP. Unfortunately for false, he has done poorly two years in a row and sports a 0-5 all-time WCoP record. Some may remember his infamous game vs ABR from round one last year, where he found himself double switching on roughly half of all turns. Despite false's former shortcomings, he enters this year with bright eyes and a desire to turn these numbers around. The Oceania captain has now spent a lot of time attempting to improve himself through more unconventional methods, including being a tutor and running workshop-like threads in the OU forum. Expectations for the Oceania OU crew are already low, but if false is able to show that his past two tournaments are not what should define him, then perhaps he will be able to turn some heads.
Spain
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In recent years, Team Spain has been one of the most consistent teams, making WCoP playoffs and advancing to at least the semifinals every year since 2014. In addition to this, they have even improved with up-and-comers such as Poek, Trosko, and Axel joining over the past couple of years, letting them keep up with strong competition. However, Team Spain has always fallen just short of winning it all, often at the hands of a marginally stronger Team US East. With that team no longer existing due to the US map changes, one wonders if now will be Spain's time to shine or if they will ultimately end up with a similar fate to that of past years, falling short to another powerhouse in the final stages of the tournament. With Malekith making another impressive OST run, M Dragon showing he's still among the best players of all time across a number of tournaments, and SoulWind coming off of another respectable SPL campaign, perhaps the old guard of Team Spain will lead them to the promised land after years of it being within their grasp. With this said, the independence and consistency of Spain's threatening newer generation core consisting of Poek, Axel, Trosko, and co. will be put to the test, and their results could very well dictate Spain's results. All things considered, Team Spain has potential to be one of the best teams in the tournament and is one of the favorites to go far in the playoffs coming in, but they will have to execute where they previously struggled in order to emerge victorious this time around.
Star Player - SoulWind
With years of BW dominance under his belt and a recent OST finals appearance, SoulWind is ready to have yet another strong performance this WCoP. The raging Spaniard is mostly known for his BW play, but somehow the results always stay roughly the same for SoulWind, with him going positive in four consecutive SPLs in BW OU. While some round one antics involving bizarre matchups, timeouts, and a number of other unlikely circumstances arising have held the Spaniard back from being as dominant as he wished to be in some previous WCoPs, SoulWind's track record is still one of the best in the field, and he is commonly agreed to be a top 3 BWer in the tournament. If need be, SoulWind is also no stranger to SM OU, playing it in Smogon Tour, Smogon Snake Draft, and the recent OST, being relatively successful in each. Given his level of play and experience, it should be no surprise that SoulWind is seen as one of Team Spain's star players coming into the tournament. SoulWind's gameplay is second to none and we should expect him to do very well this WCoP.
Veteran Presence - M Dragon
M Dragon is perhaps one of the greatest players of all time, finding success across just about every generation and playing at an exceedingly high level since before a vast majority of people reading this article even picked up competitive Pokémon. In many ways, M Dragon is the epitome of a veteran presence, being competent in every generation and a key contributor to dozens of previously successful teams, including Spain in its aforementioned deep playoff runs in years past. M Dragon has shown in recent months that he is as good as ever, cruising through the early stages of Smogon Classic and dominating a number of side team tournaments, hardly dropping any games at all. M Dragon's presence being beneficial to Team Spain is one of the few things we can be sure of this WCoP, but we wonder if it will be effective enough to turn previously inconsistent, high-ceiling players like Axel back into their old selves.
Redemption Seeker - Axel
Axel at one point, heading into last year, was one of the tournament scene's brightest prospects. In his first SPL season with the Scooters in 2017, the Spanish ORAS player went 8-3, showing everyone that he could hang with the best players out there. Expectations skyrocketed and people began to see him as one of the top newer players to break into the Smogon tournament scene. However, as time elapsed his activity and success both dwindled away, combining for a disappointing 6-12 since the aforementioned breakout SPL despite being picked in the first round of Smogon Snake Draft and going for over 20k in SPL. Axel has since been regarded as a good player, with a high ceiling as demonstrated by his win in the finals of Smogon Snake Draft, but if he does not show activity and motivation to succeed, then he will struggle to compete with other strong players. If he is ever going to have sustained success on Smogon once more, now is the time to get the ball rolling again for the threatening Spanish ORAS main to come back.
United Kingdom
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Unfortunately for the United Kingdom, they have been plagued with mediocre results over the past number of seasons. While their roster does not appear much more promising on the surface this time around, there does seem to be a lot of new pieces to the puzzle, and perhaps this can get things going in the right direction for their 2018 WCoP campaign. Team United Kingdom lacks a plethora of household names, with the only current SPL players on their roster being Teddeh, who played NU and is now in RBY; 6A9 Ace Matador, who did not play a game all season; and Triangles, who is basically an ADV mainstay at this point. Thankfully, all three of these guys have flirted with success in the past, even if you have to go a number of years back to find that point for 6A9 Ace Matador. Additionally, HJAD, 1 True Lycan, and most notably Toxzn all have experience playing in big team tournaments in the past. There may be no true standouts from this group and there certainly are some question marks filling out the remainder of the lineup, especially in SM OU, but this group is determined to shock the world and make a run for the playoffs, so let's see how they do!
Star Player - Triangles
Triangles is predominantly known as the guy who puts up either a top 3 or a bottom 3 record in ADV most SPLs but can typically go for a pretty cheap amount of money in the auction. This year, however, while he stayed true to the latter, he departed from the former, as he went a respectable 4-4, landing him in the middle of the pack. While the above description does not necessarily make him stand out as a star, there are a number of other things of note Triangles has done as of late that really make him stand out in the context of this roster. First and foremost, he made a run at Smogon Tour playoffs, and while he fell just short, it showed that he has some competencies in tiers that we have not previously seen him play, which is vital seeing as he will need to support a number of newer teammates as the captain. All things considered, Triangles has the experience to perform in this challenging ADV pool, and he has the background to now take charge and lead this team by example with his battling prowess.
Veteran Presence - 6A9 Ace Matador
The one and only innovator of Rapid Spinless ADV Claydol is back for another run at WCoP with Team UK, this time playing DPP OU. Ace Matador has been around since well before a vast majority of users who read this article have, and while he did take a hiatus for a few years, it is safe to consider him a veteran. This roster also happens to lack experience beyond a small handful of players, so the veteran presence title fits him quite well here. Despite some unorthodox characteristics and scattered success and activity over the past year and change that he has been back for, Ace Matador is knowledgeable and has potential to have a positive impact on a number of players on the roster, perhaps giving them some surprising prospects moving forward.
Dark Horse - Teddeh
Teddeh is known as one of the best NeverUsed players dating back to the middle of ORAS, with numerous positive records in big team tournaments. With this said, Teddeh has dabbled quite a bit in RBY over the past few years and has gained levels of competency that may surprise some RBY mainstays. Given his general level of play and sense for the game, Teddeh is a known player who can do well and may very well come into a stacked RBY pool and give a lot of top-tier players a surprise run for their money, if not take sets outright off of them. Nobody should take UK's RBYer lightly, and Teddeh should be confident in his playing so long as he feels sufficiently experienced going into this WCoP. There is lots of potential for dark horse Teddeh to make a big splash in RBY this WCoP!
US Midwest
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Perhaps the most up-in-the-air roster situation in the tournament belongs to one of the new US teams, Team Midwest. While a fair portion of this roster will be similar to that of old US Central, they will be without some noteworthy players such as reyscarface, UD, d0nut, and Finchinator. Of course, there will be some moderately high-profile replacements for the likes of ADV's favorite beer enthusiast and Smogon's biggest set of eyebrows and also some new faces that show up to try to make this team a contender like past years' Central teams, but many are unsure as to if this will be enough to push them into the playoffs this year. With veteran leadership working well with the newer players on the roster, perhaps ex-head TD and longtime tournament player Zebraiken and ex-UUTL Sam will be able to gather their troops and lead them to where Central failed to get the past two seasons. However, they have their work cut out for them, as Midwest lacks old generation depth beyond their starters in most tiers and also has no true dominant SM players, with SPL standout Eo Ut Mortus likely to be slotted in DPP OU, where he likely will not be able to spam his beloved Chansey. With this said, they do have considerable SM depth and lots of motivated, fresh faces who want to make their mark on the tournament scene, and many of their older players such as the aforementioned Eo Ut Mortus and Windsong are known for being great veteran presences, so perhaps things will click and Team Midwest will shock the entire Poké-world with a deep run this WCoP!
Star Player - dice
Despite being one of the more controversial figures in the tournament community, dice has proven that he is a respectable old generation player over the past year with a solid WCoP performance in ADV, an impressive Classic run into the finals, and a dominant SPL showing earlier this year in BW. After being a staple on the West roster for the past few years, dice finds himself in an entirely different atmosphere, but also at the top of his game given recent results. Although he has previously been seen as a snake and his record is far from clean, one cannot ignore the success dice has had, most notably in SPL 9, and he stands out as one of the most proven starters in the Midwest lineup. In order for this team to exceed expectations and compete with the best teams in the field, it is likely that dice will need to perform like a true star player.
Veteran Presence - Eo Ut Mortus
Eo Ut Mortus has been going at it for a number of years now, but he has been at what may very well be his best in terms of performance in recent months. Coming off of a dominant SPL, Eo is atop his game as a player and should do well no matter where they slot him, but what is even more important here is the fact that Eo provides his team with much-needed support throughout just about every metagame in the tournament. Eo has played a number of generations throughout his time on Smogon and is likely to be playing DPP this WCoP, but he can easily help out in SM, BW, and ADV. Eo has so much experience that many of his prospective teammates lack, and he also is very willing to work with just about anyone on his teams, so expect Eo to have a significant impact on Team Midwest's performance. If he can help improve the quality of teams used and strengthen the newer players on their roster, then perhaps the veteran presence of Eo will carry Team Midwest into the playoffs.
Redemption Seeker - Mr.378
After being an SPL snub, Mr.378 is back to prove his worth in GSC again. In 2017, Mr.378 broke into the scene with a positive SPL and WCoP, showing that he has what it takes to compete with the best in the tier. However, he surprisingly went undrafted this past SPL despite signing up and maintaining his activity, leaving many of us shocked given his previously solid track record. The self-proclaimed Iron Man of Ubers finally gets his chance to prove his worth in the realm of Snorlax once more, as a GSC mainstay. For Midwest to reach the promised land, they are going to need to get some big wins out of their proven old generation players so that they are not too reliant upon question marks in some newer generations. Mr.378 has a big chance to stand up and establish himself again as a part of that conversation on this roster and help make Midwest successful!
US Northeast
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US "New East" enters the tournament as the unanimously expected favorites to win. Despite 2018 being the first year that US Northeast has existed, it is very well agreed upon that this will be the team to beat. Their lineup is very similar to that of 2017's US East, retaining key players such as ABR, BKC, bro fist, and more. Though the creation of the new US teams may have initially been an attempted nerf towards US East, Northeast does not feel the same burden as South might, due to them gaining all of the prospective players from New York and New Jersey (Updated Kanto, Finchinator, Hiye, and aim). All around, there is no other way to describe Northeast than as a super-team. The only somewhat questionable slots on this team are their ADV and RBY slots, held by PDC and teal6, respectively. However, both of these players have copious amounts of tournament experience, which should hopefully make up for the lack of expertise in these specific tiers. If all ends up going right for this team, and there are no inner conflicts or management issues, then it may be safe to say that the blue trophy will remain on US soil for at least another year.
Star Player - BKC
BKC is often touted as the greatest player of all time, and that is very much a deserved title. Owner of two Smogon Tour trophies, four World Cup trophies, and an all-time team tournaments record of 49-21, there is practically nobody able to stand up to BKC in terms of achievements. Not to mention, the man is a master of all tiers, playing and winning in SM, ORAS, BW, and ADV all in this last SPL alone. On top of all of his playing feats, the main factor that makes BKC one of the greatest teammates any team could have is the teambuilding he brings. Being able to support every old generation is an insane asset. If history is to repeat itself and BKC has the intent to carry his team again, then nothing should stop the man from adding a fifth blue gem to his infinity gauntlet.
Up-and-Coming Player - Updated Kanto
Updated Kiddo went from zero to hero this SPL after a magnificent season ORASing for the Wi-fi Wolfpack. With the help of ABR teams and an aggressive playstyle that fits ORAS perfectly, Updated Kanto blew back the competition and managed to end with a 8-3 record. Before this SPL, he has had middling success, reaching a high round in the last OLT, qualifying for Smogon Tour 24, and going 2-1 in WCoP XII. Now, Updated Kanto finds himself on a team with support master ABR once again. If he can continue to perform to the same magnitude as he did in SPL, then a strong record will be nothing short of expected.
Comeback - PDC
Retired social justice warrior Palkia Dialga Clash will be making his return to tournaments after a hiatus of about one year. Those who followed WCoP XII may vividly remember a certain Z-Stealth Rock play to clutch finals for East, and that was all PDC. PDC has been playing for years and has accomplished quite a lot on Smogon. For starters, he has the highest number of XY / ORAS wins of everybody in Smogon Tour. PDC also is within the top 5 for individual tournament playoff appearances. This season he finds himself slotted in ADV, and while he does have a fair bit of play in it from other smaller team tournaments, he is still relatively new and inexperienced as an ADVer. In the last year, PDC sat out SSD and SPL and did not qualify for either Smogon Tour playoffs. He will have to be able to shake off the newfound rust if he wants to bring in big numbers like the old days.
US South
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Another one of the new US teams and a fraction of the old East stands US South. Not only did they take half of East's land with them, but some of East's strongest players came as benefits as well. Led by longtime US East veteran Stone_Cold, South is coming into the tournament with a fairly ferocious lineup. Headed by former OUTL TDK, the SM core of South is incredibly strong. TDK is known for being one of the best and most consistent OU builders, but he may not even need to be the hardcore team carry this time around. Following him comes FlamingVictini, who had a decent SPL and an outstanding Snake Draft, as well as notorious tryhard Zamrock. South, unlike many other teams, has a very old crew for their old gens, including veterans Stathakis, Stone_Cold himself, and the legendary MoP as a substitute. If this team can mesh well between their still relatively newer OUers and old gen veterans, we can expect the raw skill of each player to blast this team to the moon.
Star Player - TDK
Former OUTL TDK is known around the Smogon tournaments scene as both a great builder and a great player. In just this most recent SPL, he had a great finish to a mediocre start and even ended up clutching his team the tiebreak vs the Wolfpack and playing ABR in the tournament-deciding game. His teams are always extremely popular and known to "spread like wildfire", as seen in any given Smogon Tour tournament. Given the rest of South's projected OU lineup, it doesn't seem too important that he acts as the teambuilding guru once again, which leaves him with more than enough time to focus on his own preparation. If TDK is able to perform like he did in this most recent SPL and continue crafting his amazing teams, then many wins are to be expected.
Comeback - Stathakis
The Greek DPP hyper offense innovator has finally returned from his hiatus and looks to claim another blue trophy to his name. Stathakis is a very old player, dating back to when DPP was the main generation. He became known for practically inventing hyper offense as a playstyle and was quickly a mainstay in the tournaments circuit. Stathakis was an important member of US East in 2015 and 2016, where he had good results to help his team finish with the trophies. However, Stathakis has been almost entirely gone from Smogon since WCoP XI and will certainly have to shake off the rust if he wants to be the carry he is capable of being. Stathakis being able to re-find his footing should be a pivotal point for the success of US South.
Dark Horse - thatsjustpeachy
Another East member returning from a hiatus is thatsjustpeachy. Peachy, back in her prime, made finals of both an OST and a Smogon Tour, though she fell short in both and ended up in second place. After a long break of training in the mountains, she returns to claim a starter spot in BW for Team South. While her name may not carry the same impact and flashiness as Stathakis's, there shouldn't be much doubt that Peachy is great. Being able to make finals of two official tournaments is a grand milestone, and it would be a mistake for anyone to sleep on Peachy should they so be faced with her.
US West
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Upon the changing of the US map, Team US West felt noteworthy consequences from the shift. Unfortunately for the West side, a number of previous members such as dice, ben gay, rozes, and Jacob are not currently able to be on their roster. Given this, there is a lot of room for new faces to take charge and establish themselves as mainstays on the US West roster moving forward. Thankfully for US West, it is also true that the they have some up-and-coming players that have been doing well over the past year or two to solidify their places on the team, thus giving them a proper foundation. With this said, given the ghosting scandal that popped up last season, removing a number of their players from the picture and perhaps hurting their overall team morale, it is going to be interesting to see how Team West regroups and performs. Previously, Team West has consistently made it to the playoffs and even made some deep runs. This year, they are going to need to work even harder and perform even better (without the ghosts of the past!) in order to have similar results.
Star Player - Lavos
THE Lavos Spawn, the original Smogon Tour self-hypeman, has emerged as a standout GSCer, dominating GSC Cup and SPL. With a plethora of crafty strategies and plays at his disposal, the longtime Team West player is back to put on another show in the land of Snorlax and legendary Electric-types this WCoP. After going for 20k in SPL, Lavos may be used to the spotlight and expectations of a top player, but he is going to have to put up with even more of those lofty expectations this time around, as he is the biggest recent name on West's roster. Of course, many believe that Lavos will be up to the challenge after recent performances, but there will be worthy opponents in the field, so only time will tell as to if he can replicate previous results or if he will fall short, much like LavosTour14.
Dark Horse - z0mOG
The crafty CPG goon turned tournament player is back for another tournament after putting up respectable results in both Snake and SPL. While he is not a top player quite yet, z0mOG has shown the ability to compete with most of the competition he faces, and he also isn't afraid to bring out more unconventional strategies in order to gain an edge. Despite a poor showing last WCoP, z0mOG has momentum from recent months and is poised to continue his successful run. If he faces harder opponents, it is going to be a struggle for the West dark horse, but there is no counting him out, and Team West should be confident in z0mOG if he doesn't go too far off the deep end and bring his teammate Lavos's Snorlax to an SM game like he did in SPL.
Veteran Presence - Philip7086
Philip7086 is one of Smogon's finest examples of a veteran in the tournament community; he has been around since "back in the day" and yet is still seen as one of the better DPP players to this day. While his Pokémon competence may not stretch all the way into Generation 7, his attitude is spectacular for a team environment, setting a positive and clear tone for a number of more inexperienced teammates. While he does everything he can in terms of attitude, Philip7086 will also set a stellar example when it comes to playing the game. Many believe he is one of the best DPP players in the field, and he has a number of creative ideas or teams that have caught on over the years and been used frequently to this day. If Philip7086 can set the tone for this new West roster, then they certainly have a good chance to make the playoffs and compete!
Final Thoughts
With the stage now set for another exciting year of the World Cup of Pokémon, we are anxious to see who comes out on top and everything that leads up to it. While US Northeast, Spain, and a few other proven contenders are the likely favorites, teams from all over the world have a chance to surprise everyone and make a run at the 2018 World Cup of Pokémon! What metagame-changing trends will form across multiple generations of OU? Which teams will emerge as the dark horses of the tournament? Which players will have breakout tournaments? And, most importantly, which team will walk away with the blue trophy this year?
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