It’s been one month since Series 12 officialy started!
And for once, we will stay with this ruleset for half a year more. Series 12 is especially significant since with it comes the return of the official Play! Pokémon circuit!
Table of Contents
Highlights from February
For now, players have been testing their teambuilding ideas and trying their teams in online tournaments, the most important of which have been our VR S12 Challenges in January and February, which have given shape to the early metagame with the victories of Spaniard Jesús Jiménez‘s Zacian + Palkia team and American Joseph Ugarte‘s Zacian + Kyogre team, and the Hatterene Series #4 with the victory of French Ariana Palmer and her Zacian + White Kyurem team.
Also, the ladder has been more active than ever, and “ladder heroes” have shown their strengths in the format. The unstoppable Italian Marco Silva used a Zacian + Kyogre team with Barraskewda to win the 2022 International Challenge February over all the Japanese players trying to earn their place in the Japan Nationals, while Korean Jiseok Lee got the 2nd place there and then topped the monthly ladder for the February season.
But the big news is that Championship Points are back. Let’s check at how the top standings are before the circuit returns!
March switches in
The focus now shifts to the return of the circuit and of in-person events! Unfortunately local events will not come back for the remainder of the season. However, larger events will be held following the COVID-19 guidelines released by TPCI.
Currently, there are four big tournaments announced for this month and awarding Championship Points. Are you planning to attend? Check out our compendium of major events for sign-up instructions to all of them!:
- 11-13 March: 2022 International Challenge March
- 12-13 March:
Brisbane Regionals - 19-20 March:
Salt Lake City Regionals - 26-27 March:
Liverpool Regionals
With the return of these events, the Travel Award race also returns! CPs earned in March will count towards the North America Internationals race: there are 4 Travel Award spots and 4 stipend spots in each region from now until 24 April, that is, up to the Europe Internationals!
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph Ugarte | 1139 | 2020 Portland Regional Champion |
| 2 | Brady Smith | 1078 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Daytona Beach Regional Champion |
| 3 | Cedric DeRouchie | 1000 | 2020 Atlantic City Regionals Top 4 |
| 4 | James Baek | 971 | 2020 Latin America International Champion 2019 World Championships Semifinalist |
| 5 | Ashton Cox | 948 | 2020 San Diego Regionals Runner-up |
| 6 | Jeremy Rodrigues | 886 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 8 |
| 7 |  Xu Yihui | 859 | 2020 San Diego Regionals Top 8 |
| 8 | Jeremy Odena | 751 | 2020 DC Open Champion |
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eric Rios | 1270 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 4 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 2 |  Marco Silva | 1234 | 2020 Oceania International Champion |
| 3 |  Eduardo Cunha | 1063 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Runner-up 2019 World Championships Top 16 |
| 4 | Alessio Y. Boschetto | 933 | 2020 Players Cup Kickoff Invit. Winner 2020 Collinsville Regionals Top 4 |
| 5 |  Oliver Eskolin | 888 | 2020 Sheffield Regionals Top 8 |
| 6 |  Szymon Wojdat | 886 | 2020 Cologne Regionals Top 16 |
| 7 |  Nils Dunlop | 772 | 2020 Richmond Regional Champion |
| 8 | Giovanni Piscitelli | 753 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 32 |
| 9 | Roberto Parente | 724 | 2020 Paris Special Event Top 8 |
| 10 | Flavio Del Pidio | 702 | 2020 Cologne Regionals Top 8 |
| 11 | Guillermo Castilla | 700 | 2020 Bochum Regional Champion |
| 12 | Alex Gómez | 697 | 2020 Cologne Regionals Runner-up 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 13 | Davide Carrer | 688 | 2020 Players Cup II Runner-up 2020 Cologne Regionals Top 16 |
| 14 | Andrea Cassinese | 682 | 2020 Cologne Regionals Top 4 |
| 15 |  Lukas Auer | 668 | 2020 Paris Special Event Top 4 |
| 16 |  Hippolyte Bernard | 621 | 2020 Cologne Regional Champion |
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Juan Salerno | 1284 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 4 |
| 2 |  Heriberto Pacaje | 1135 | 2020 Santiago 19U Special Event Winner |
| 3 | Javier Valdés | 1128 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Runner-up 2020 Campinas Special Event Winner |
| 4 | Nicolás del Campo | 1007 | 2020 Santiago S3 Special Event Winner |
| 5 |  Gabriel Agati Madeira | 952 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 16 2019 World Championships Top 16 |
| 6 |  René Alvarenga | 910 | 2020 San José Special Event Winner |
| 7 |  Juan C. Ortiz | 860 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 16 |
| 8 |  Jean P. López | 828 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 8 |
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfredo Chang-Gonzalez | 910 | 2020 Melbourne Open Winner |
| 2 | Christopher Kan | 826 | 2020 Perth Regionals Runner-up 2020 Melbourne Open Runner-up |
| 3 |  Yuya Tada | 780 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 8 |
| 4 | Meaghan Rattle | 654 | 2020 Brisbane Regionals Runner-up 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 5 | James Katsaros | 561 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Melbourne Open Top 4 |
| 6 | Graham Amedee | 404 | 2019 World Championships Top Cut |
| 7 | Damon Murdoch | 380 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 32 |
| 8 | Henry Rich | 372 | N/A |
Teambuilding focus
The dominions of Zacian
It is no surprise that Zacian has proved to be the most used Restricted Pokémon in Series 12, as it previously was on Series 8, 10 and 11. However, it not only achieved that feat: it has also surpassed Incineroar for the most used Pokémon overall!
The reasons about it are clear. Zacian’s Crowned Sword form is very fast, has great offensive stats (reinforced by its Ability, Intrepid Sword) and a decent bulk. It is good against Dynamax Pokémon with its signature Behemoth Blade move, and it usually carries some combination of Play Rough and Secret Sword for coverage; Substitute and Swords Dance for positioning; and Protect to top it all. It is also a fantastic partner for Pokémon that tend to Dynamax, since its offensive pressure makes the opponent have to choose.
Zacian teams have won literally every big tour that has been held in February, alongside a lot of different partners. Apart from the examples mentioned in the previous sections, other compositions have seen success, such as Singaporean Jude Lee‘s Zacian + Yveltal team with Coalossal, which won a big grassroots tour at the beginning of the month, or Chinese Ren Chengfu‘s Zacian + Groudon team, a core that is experiencing a big rise in usage.
However, the most common pair and the one that has found most success is the omnipresent Zacian + Kyogre pair. It is not as present as in the earliest days of the format, but it remains the most standard core to beat, usually alongside Incineroar, a Grass type (Rillaboom, Amoonguss, Ferrothorn…), a Prankster Pokémon (Grimmsnarl, Whimsicott, Tornadus…) and an Electric type (Zapdos, Raichu, Regieleki…).
The Restricted trends
The Restricted Pokémon are observing the first shifts in usage for this early metagame, apart from the fixed spots reserved for Zacian and Kyogre.
Players have been losing some of their confidence in Pokémon like Yveltal or Palkia, which in any case are achieving decent results. However, no Restricted has fallen off as much as Ice Rider Calyrex, whose usage has plummeted in the latter part of the month.
The contrary has happened to its sibling, as Shadow Rider Calyrex has skyrocketed in usage, especially alongside Zacian or the weather duo. For example, Italian Luca Noro used Navjit Joshi & Kyle Geffner’s Calyrex + Groudon team to a top 8 spot in the VR February S12 Challenge. Something of note, however, is its low top cut rate: a lot of players are experimenting with it but not many are achieving remarkable results. Will it also fall off, or will all the pieces click together soon?
Other Restricted Pokémon that have been rising in usage are Groudon, Solgaleo and the rising star White Kyurem!
The new Grass type in town
January saw Venusaur as the best Grass type in the format, but players have been growing suspicious of its dependence on Gigantamaxing and the inaccuracy of Sleep Powder. In many teams, like Joseph Ugarte‘s previously mentioned team, the Galar starter Rillaboom has taken its spot, with its terrain-setting Ability Grassy Surge, its access to priority moves in Fake Out and Grassy Glide, and good Ground-type and Dark-type coverage moves to threaten the most used Restricted Pokémon. It may also function well as an alternative Dynamax (or more commonly, Gigantamax) Pokémon!
But Rillaboom is not the only starter whose usage has spiked towards the end of the month: Charizard (in Groudon teams) and Blastoise (in Shadow Rider Calyrex or Yveltal teams) have taken advantage of the void left by Venusaur as they too use G-Max Moves that deal big damage over time.
Heading into March, players should also take into account Ditto‘s versatility as a potential third “Restricted” and Kartana‘s hyper-offensive style in Rain!
Useful resources
- Check out our Rental Teams hub!
- Find here the results of previous major Series 12 tournaments!
- Find here some team reports of Series 12 successful teams!
Closing words
Will Zacian extend its lead over Incineroar during March or will the starter regain its top seat? Will some Restricted pair dethrone the apparently immovable core of Zacian + Kyogre? What new compositions will get the spotlight in the return of live events? And most importantly: who will take the most advantage in the CP leaderboards?
Follow the competitive scene with us on our Twitter account to get the answer of these questions and to have the latest information about all the upcoming news and events!
