The Pokémon Players Cup III results are in and the winners in Pokémon Sword and Shield, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and Pokkén Tournament DX did not have an easy go of things.
Starting off championship Sunday was the Pokkén Tournament DX competition, which culminated in a battle between Jacob “Jukem” Waller and Davon “Shadowcat” Amos-Hall, each utilizing old and new tricks, resulting in Jukem taking the win.
Jukem’s story took him through the loser’s bracket following a loss to Allister Singh’s Suicune, where he battled through with Sceptile to rematch Singh in the loser’s bracket finals—taking the win with a switch to Empoleon. This lead up to a championship rematch between Jukem and Shadowcat, who were also the combatants in the first Pokémon Players Cup Grand Finals.
While Shadowcat won the first time around using their Darkrai main, this time each chose to utilize Pokémon outside their usual wheelhouse, with Shadowcat raining fire onto Jukem’s Empoleon with Braixen. After the first two rounds resulted in Shadowcat wins, Jukem returned to his faithful Sceptile to take the next two rounds, tying up the match and sending it into the final round.
Shadowcat returned to Darkrai, but it just wouldn’t be enough, as Jukem secured the win by timing out Shadowcat based on overall hit points remaining at the timer’s conclusion.
The next competition on the docket was the Pokémon Trading Card Game championship, which again saw a challenger running through the loser’s bracket to eventually earn the title of champion.
Azul Garcia Griego went on a 12-game win streak to force his way back to the championship, defeating David Daritan using his Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX Deck.
After the loss to Lucas Matheus’ Victini deck, Azul started his reign of terror, taking down all the competition in front of him, even sweeping some. David Daritan’s Pikachu and Zekrom-GX/Boltund V deck was undefeated going into the finals, where after a 3-2 victory to get into the championship, he was defeated.
Finally, the night ended with the Pokémon Sword and Shield competition, where Jonathan “Ezrael” Evans eked out a 3-2 victory over Leonardo “Ilbona” Bonanomi to win Players Cup gold.
After being knocked into the loser’s bracket by Ilbona, Ezrael fought all the way back—a trend found in every competition on the night—to defeat Ilbona in the rematch championship fight.
Ezrael was able to win the second time around using a combination of Incineroar’s Fake Out and Parting Shot to gain control over Ilbona’s powerful Umbreon and Venusaur. This lead to changes in strategy on both sides, with wins back and forth, until the final round was at hand.
Coming down to Kyogre and Groudon, Ezrael was able to land a Water Spout on Ilbona’s Groudon to end the match and be crowned tournament champion.
Each of the winners not only won the prize money and accolades that come with the tournament win, but also gains a voucher for travel to any future International Pokémon Championship. Kudos to the winners!
