Preview By: Zzweilous

 

The 2022 Milwaukee Regional Championship was easily one of the most spectacular (and controversial) yet: The meteoric rise of birdpower13, the now infamous Doonebug97 Registeel dispute, hometown kid Reis2Occasion’s first Play! Pokémon tournament win – this tournament had it all.

One year later, the Play! Pokémon circuit returns to Wisconsin, and all the protagonists from back in the day have qualified for Worlds in Yokohama, with their travel package already secured: birdpower13 winning the Salt Lake City regional, Doonebug97 triumphant in Arlington, and Reis picking up his second gold medal in Knoxville. If that doesn’t speak to the high level of competition in Milwaukee, what does?

While Stadium Elite’s serial winner Reis is looking to defend his title, the other two make room for new faces to take the stage. And there’s no shortage of promising battlers in this year’s bracket – quite the opposite.

Fan favorites 

If you have been around... Well, probably not the official Pokémon Go Twitch channel, but at least the various watch parties, you will undoubtedly have come across someone hoping “Crimson wins xD”. Protagonist of copypastas and 4th place finalist at the Indianapolis regional in 2022, PvP entertainer CrimsonK19 has made the drive up from Indiana to throw his bandana in the ring once again.

Other streamers with a sizeable following include JEngels21, who made his first day two appearance at the most recent NA regional in Hartford, and BattleBillPvP, who should arrive just in time after missing his original flight to Milwaukee. 

In group B, we will see a PvP power couple collide: ValorAsh and mamaclimbs are both battlers and content creators in their own right, with the former reaching celebrity status in the early phase of PvP and the latter coming off a strong Hartford run, knocking down worlds qualified bosoxguy7 and giving the eventual finalist Ilqm a run for his money.

And that’s not all: KakunaMattata42, better known as the man behind PvPoke, will be looking to put his wealth of theoretical knowledge into practice. The same goes for IV guru RyanSwag, whose signature Pokémon Dedenne might carry some promise in a meta where Sableye is likely to take Trevenant’s position as the premier ghost type.

Hungry for more

With Worlds invites cascading down, a bunch of pre-qualified battlers are competing merely for the fun of it – and maybe a little bit of prize money or the coveted travel award. KimiSui227 ran Deoxys Defense to victory in Fort Wayne, a potential increase in Alolan Sandslash usage might see the unlikely Counter user thrive once again.

Another top player’s signature Pokémon even received a direct buff: With Cradily gaining access to Rock Slide, DijonTheDjinn might feel tempted to rethink his grass type of choice and drop his Shadow Venusaur for the fossil Pokémon. And while BuckeyeFitzy will be looking to add some further wins to another PvP themed family trip, NHoff might hope that the likely absence of Trevenant will help her Tapu Fini find an opening.

A stable of dark horses

But don’t be too surprised if the Milwaukee winner turns out to be neither a celebrity nor an established Play! Pokémon great. Even though it would be unfair to not class players like TrentSzcz or NNNNino468 as that – both have made day two more than once and will be looking to repeat that feat.

Balk88, beeeach7 and KeenBart have made waves in the grass roots scene as members of the Chicago Stars, while HildeClash and GottaKarchEmAll are known for having topped the GBL leaderboards in the past.

Two surprises guaranteed

Maybe most interestingly, none of all these names mentioned are to be found in Group A of the tournament. With no big name contenders to steal the spotlight, we can expect some newcomers to showcase their skills and make a surprise day two appearance. But make no mistake: Just because someone hasn’t made a splash on the big stage yet, that does not mean the skills aren’t there.

 

 

MILWAUKEE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

JUNE 3 - 4

82 Players

 

FULL BRACKET HERE