It’s been two months since Series 12 officialy started! Let’s take a look at everything that happened in March and what is coming in April!
Table of Contents
Highlights from March
It was back in the International Challege February, the first in-game ladder tour, when Japanese player Rinya Kobayashi got a 6th place with a particular Sun team… And the revolution began!
“Rinya Sun”, as the team of Zacian, Groudon, Incineroar, Charizard, Gastrodon and Grimmsnarl has been popularly named, has defined March’s metagame. American Joseph Ugarte got a second place in the International Challenge March with his approach on the team, and this was followed by back-to-back Regional wins by Chinese Peng Chongjun‘s variant in Salt Lake City and Spaniard Eric Rios‘ in Liverpool, as well as the first place in the March in-game ladder season by Japanese Yuma Kinugawa‘s take.
Even though Rinya Sun has been meta-defining, the most common core is still Zacian + Kyogre. Weather wars are at its peak, and different Rain teams got their own good results with Australian Henry Rich‘s victory in Brisbane and second places by American Aaron Traylor‘s team in Salt Lake City and Frenchman Thomas Gravouille‘s team in Liverpool.
A special mention goes to the core of Ice Rider Calyrex + Palkia. Korean ladder hero Jiseok Lee won with it the International Challenge March, and Australian Meaghan Rattle got the second place in Brisbane with her own approach to the team.
All in all, the summary is that in-person major events are back worldwide and the Road to London is on!
April switches in
Currently, there are several big tournaments announced for this month, with the culmination of the season’s restart in the first International Championships back. Are you planning to attend? Check out our compendium of major events for sign-up instructions to all of them!:
- 9 April:
Taichung Regionals - 9-10 April: Victory Road to Frankfurt
- 15-17 April: 2022 International Challenge April
- 22-24 April:
Europe Internationals (EUIC)
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Joseph Ugarte | 1269 | 2020 Portland Regional Champion |
| 2 | Brady Smith | 1138 | 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 |  Peng Chongjun | 892 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regional Champion |
| 7 | Jeremy Rodrigues | 886 | 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 8 |
| 8 | Xu Yihui | 859 | 2020 San Diego Regionals Top 8 |
| Rank | Player | CPs | Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Eric Rios | 1470 | 2022 Liverpool Regional Champion 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 4 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 2 |  Marco Silva | 1294 | 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 | 1040 | 2020 Melbourne Open Winner |
| 2 | Christopher Kan | 826 | 2020 Perth Regionals Runner-up 2020 Melbourne Open Runner-up |
| 3 | Meaghan Rattle | 814 | 2022 & 2020 Brisbane Regionals Runner-up 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 4 |  Yuya Tada | 780 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Latin America Internationals Top 8 |
| 5 | James Katsaros | 641 | 2020 Oceania Internationals Top 8 2020 Melbourne Open Top 4 |
| 6 | Henry Rich | 572 | 2022 Brisbane Regional Champion |
| 7 | Luke Iuele | 430 | 2022 & 2020 Brisbane Regionals Top 8 |
| 8 |  Christos Giagozoglou | 425 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 16 |
Travel Awards
The Travel Award race is also on for the best players in each TPCI region! Championship Points (CPs) earned in April will count towards the North America Internationals (NAIC) race: there are 4 Travel Award spots and 4 stipend spots in each region from now until the EUIC!
| Rank | Player | CPs | TA Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peng Chongjun | 200 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regional Champion |
| 2 | Aaron Traylor | 160 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regionals Runner-up |
| 3 |  Stefan Mott | 160 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 8 |
| 4 | Ben Grissmer | 130 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 4 |
| 5 | Joseph Ugarte | 130 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regionals Top 4 |
| 6 | Alex Arand | 130 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regionals Top 4 |
| 7 | Zac Emerzian | 100 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regionals Top 8 |
| 8 | Zee Costagliola | 100 | 2022 Salt Lake City Regionals Top 8 |
| Rank | Player | CPs | TA Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eric Rios | 200 | 2022 Liverpool Regional Champion 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 2 | Thomas Gravouille | 160 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Runner-up |
| 3 | Filip Idczak | 130 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 4 |
| 4 |  Taran Birdee | 100 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 8 |
| 5 | Cameron Smith | 100 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 8 |
| 6 | Francisco Esteves | 80 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 16 |
| 7 | Damian Blakey | 80 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 16 |
| 8 | Matt Maynard | 80 | 2022 Liverpool Regionals Top 16 |
| Rank | Player | CPs | TA Season Major Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Rich | 200 | 2022 Brisbane Regional Champion |
| 2 | Meaghan Rattle | 160 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Runner-up 2019 World Championships Quarter-finalist |
| 3 | Lewis Tan | 130 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 4 2019 World Championships Runner-up (SR) |
| 4 | Alfredo Chang-Gonzalez | 130 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 4 |
| 5 | Luke Curtale | 100 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 8 |
| 6 | Caleb Wijesinha | 100 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 8 |
| 7 | Sam Pandelis | 100 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 8 |
| 8 | Luke Iuele | 100 | 2022 Brisbane Regionals Top 8 |
(*) Standings have not been officially confirmed and are based on the results of major events in March. International Challenge March CPs have not been counted. Latin America has had no events apart from International Challenge March.
Teambuilding focus
The rising sun
As mentioned above, the six Pokémon popularised as Rinya Sun have come to power as the most dominant team heading into April.
Groudon in particular is one of the central Pokémon of this archetype. With great bulk, whose weaker side is raised by its STAB-boosted Max Quakes, and physically offensive prowess, some of them hold the White Herb to avoid being affected by Intimidate; however, the most common items now are the Assault Vest and the Sitrus Berry.
Regarding movesets, its signature spread move, Precipice Blades, is a must on this Pokémon, despite its imperfect accuracy; the most common coverage is Rock (either Rock Slide or Stone Edge), although Fire (Fire Punch or Heat Crash) and Steel (Heavy Slam) are also present in some versions, assisted in non-Assault Vest sets by support moves like Protect or Swords Dance.
Groudon’s allies usually take advantage of the Sun weather it sets upon entry with its Ability Drought. Its most common partner is Gigantamax Charizard with Solar Power, and it is not uncommon to see Gigantamax Venusaur with Chlorophyll in other compositions. The addition of Gastrodon to counter Kyogre is very troublesome for Rain-centered teams, which see themselves being Yawned while the Sun is set again.
As for Restricted Pokémon, Zacian is Groudon’s preferred pair, as in the Rinya Sun archetype that won two Regionals in a row. However, Pole Filip Idczak and Briton Cameron Smith found success in Liverpool with original Yveltal and Lunala compositions, respectively; while American Aaron Zheng used it support-oriented in his team alongside Solgaleo.
The Restricted trends
Players headed to Salt Lake City and Liverpool already knowing that Rinya Sun was a very dangerous archetype… and two Rinya Sun teams still cut each and eventually won both. What is the answer against that core that does not lose against other match-ups?
It seems natural to think that Groudon’s eternal enemy, Kyogre, will dethrone it. The core of Zacian + Kyogre is still the most popular one around, although with many different approaches to it. Even other alternatives have made cool appearances in top cuts, such as Australian Caleb Wijesinha‘s Dialga + Kyogre team in Brisbane or American Jeremy Boyd‘s Dusk Mane Necrozma + Kyogre team in Salt Lake City. Are we seeing the renewal of weather wars?
Another core that is worth mentioning is Zacian + Shadow Rider Calyrex, which has seen much usage since the start of the metagame but is still now crawling up to the higher spots. Australian Lewis Tan‘s team with Heat Rotom and Ditto in Brisbane and American Ben Grissmer‘s hyper offensive team with Galarian Darmanitan and Single Strike Style Urshifu in Liverpool have made the best performances with that core.
Watch out for other Restricted pairs, since Palkia, Ice Rider Calyrex, Solgaleo and Yveltal are not gone and are still meta picks!
It's storm season!
Thundurus is a brain breaker Pokémon in team preview, since the first question that comes to any player’s mind is which is its Ability?
This Electric and Flying-type Pokémon is the rising star in the current metagame. In CP-awarding spots, it appeared once in Brisbane, twice in Salt Lake City and eleven times (including three in top 8) in Liverpool, setting a clear trend and being the most used non-Restricted Pokémon in the latter tournament’s higher standings (except for Incineroar).
The most common version has Defiant, a physical Dynamax option usually carrying an Assault Vest or a Life Orb and deterring Intimidate opponents from entering the field while its fellow physical ally gets free Max Airstream or Max Knuckle boosts. However, the most successful version has been the special support Prankster one used in Thomas Gravouille‘s Rain team that reached finals in Liverpool.
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
Incineroar is again the most used Pokémon over Zacian, which is far from surprising given how bad of a match-up other Zacian teams have against Rinya Sun. Will it find its place with other Pokémon to counter it?
And the most fitting question: how much longer will Rinya Sun’s success last? With only a couple of events until EUIC, the quid is to either build a Rinya Sun variant or to find its perfect counter.
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!
