The 2017 Pokemon World Championships are just around the corner, from August 18-20. The competition will be so trainers all around the world can tune in to see who is the very best, like no one ever was. With a prize pool of $500,000, expect competition to be fierce and exciting. Watching competitive Pokemon is a bit different than playing with your friends in the living room.

There are special rules that only come into play in tournaments, and different strategies that might look strange if you aren't into the competitive scene yourself. Don't worry though, we've got you covered with our guide to everything you need to know when watching both competitive video game (VGC) and trading card game (TCG) matches. Let's start with the Pokemon VGC. The 2017 Pokemon VGC World Champion will walk away with $10,000 and an automatic invite to next year's World Championships.

The expert commentators do a fantastic job at energetically narrating each players’ thought process during matches, which are broadcast online, but there are a few details you should know going in. Pokemon Team Rules Competitive players must first consider the six Pokemon they’ll bring with them to a tournament above all.

In the Pokemon VGC 2017 format, only Pokemon obtained in the Alola region of Pokemon Sun and Moon can be used. This means a Weavile obtained in Pokemon X or Y, but transferred to Pokemon Sun or Moon, can’t be used even though Weavile are native to Alola. You can tell if a Pokemon originated from Alola by the black clover on its summary screen. This doesn’t sound like it would be a big deal, but Weavile caught or bred in Alola have no way of using one of its best moves in previous generations: Knock-Off, a Dark-type attack that renders an opponent’s held item useless. This may be disappointing for some with Pokemon that were battle-ready prior to the start of the season, but it has encouraged new strategies and the usage of Pokemon never-before-seen in the competitive circuit. There can also be no duplicate Pokemon or duplicate held items on a team, and though Mega Evolutions were a huge part of the 2016 season, you won’t be seeing any at the 2017 Pokemon VGC World Championships.

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Instead, expect Pokemon to hold Z-Crystals, held items which activate incredibly hard-hitting Z-Moves to take down potent threats. Most commonly, you’ll see a Tapu Koko with Gigavolt Havok, or Garchomp with Tectonic Rage. Last but not least, very powerful “uber-tier” Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, like, are not allowed. The Fairy-type Tapus and strange Ultra Beasts, however, are permitted on teams with no limits.

All Pokemon are auto-leveled to 50 to promote an even playing field. At the start of each day at a tournament, every participant must declare each of their six Pokemon on a Team Sheet, complete with what items they will hold, abilities they have, and moves they know. Torrent Scan Xl Professional Software. If any of the declared information is wrong, the player will not be allowed to use that Pokemon. For example, if I declare my Snorlax is holding Leftovers, but is actually holding a Figy Berry, I will not be able to use it in battle that day. Official Battle Format & How to Win Pokemon battles in the video game are pretty simple on the surface: A player wins when all of their opponent’s Pokemon have fainted.

This is far and above the usual resolution of a match. If both players’ last Pokemon faint on the last turn, the player whose Pokemon fainted last wins.

This is to prevent players from using a move like Explosion, which knocks out the user, as a last-ditch effort to win. The user of Explosion will always faint first. Though the single battle format is the most common in the core Pokemon games – and most often used in the Pokemon anime – the official tournament format uses double battles. This is not only because they’re generally faster-paced games, but because it forces players to choose teams with synergy in mind, instead of just the strongest Pokemon out there. Managing To Learn Shook Ebook.