Evo’s Pokkén Tournament competition is shaping up to be hotly contested. It’s the most entered non-SF and non-Smash game with over 1000 entrants registered from across the globe, and the meta is new and flexible enough that anything can happen. It’s incredibly risky to guess or gamble on this game, but let’s look through some data to try and make sense of what we’ll see at Evo.
The Current Character Meta
We now have enough majors under our belts that, even without a proper tier list, we can definitely say which characters are most commonly seen. Burnside has put together some excellent graphs of character usage at Pokkén Nationals and CEO, for example, and we can see some trends.
Regardless of where you are in the brackets, you’re going to see a lot of Mewtwos, Shadow Mewtwos, Chandelures, Sceptiles, and Suicunes. The matchups of these characters tend to really be shaping the tournament landscape right now.
The Two MewTwos
Though nerfed in the most recent patch, Mewtwo and Edgy Mewtwo sit comfortably on the throne of Pokkén character selection. These high-damage, option-heavy characters fear very little and have a tons of representation. Shadow Mewtwo’s numbers may drop off come Evo time, however–not only was this glass cannon hit a lot harder with a nerf than his sturdier brother, but his place at the top has been getting more and more exposed in some recent high-profile tourney matches.
Chandelure and Suicune
These two are the primary zoners in tournaments, and probably the two most common non-Mewtwo(s) selections you will see. If you can’t get around a fireball in Street Fighter, you’re probably not getting around a laser in Pokkén, and that fact alone will shave at least a handful of the 1000+ entrants out of the race for the top. It doesn’t hurt that two of the best players in the business–newly-crowned US Champ Suicune Master and Chandelure expert CatFight–are repping these characters.
Sceptile
Sceptile can be simply explained as a trap character, zipping in and out of battle, playing footsies, and scattering stun-causing, health-sapping plants across the field. Though he’s probably seen less than some of the others from the top overall (mostly bolstered by representation from BIM? And TeeJay), he can easily steamroll over players that still haven’t figured out the way he controls the pace of the match. His skill cap on his techy combos probably prevents him from having the same representation as those listed above, but with a mega-evolution that grants him some of the strongest throws and combos in the game, don’t sleep on him in any matchup.
Wild Cards
Lately, there’s been some heat in the brackets from the fire starters in the game. Blaziken’s simple, safe, matchup-defining Flare Blitz has started to wreak havoc in tournaments recently, as seen with BadIntent’s defeat of TLoc at WNF. Charizard, thanks to representation from Cyberman65 primarily, has started to place better and better as well. Both characters seem to have favorable matchups to the recently-nerfed Shadow Mewtwo, which certainly doesn’t hurt their chances of success.
Japan’s best players also play wildly underrepresented characters here in the states–the space-consuming Braixen and the Gief-style grappler Machamp. Their matches in particular will be exciting to see versus American players.
Though Pokkén is generally seen as being an incredibly balanced game with no weak characters thus far, there is certainly an established character meta. Pay close attention to anyone not playing one of the characters above, and see if they reveal any tricks that shift the paradigm.
A Quick Support Guide
Assists make up a fundamental part of the meta in Pokkén, so it helps to have a brief look at some of what you’ll be seeing.
Croagunk and Sylveon: This set went from rarely seen to meta-defining literally overnight. Croagunk received a massive buff in the latest patch that causes his attack to remove recoverable health on block. Given its versatility and ability to setup a perimeter for its user, Croagunk alone makes the set worth picking. The defense debuff is nice, too. Suicune Master has started repping this set, but he’s certainly not alone. Teejay and BIM? also have been using this set in tourney, and surely, many others will too, if CEO is any indication.
Mismagius and Ninetails: Mismagius’s lingering attack hitbox allows for amazing lockdown and unblockable setups, and the invincibile, attack debuffing Ninetails is arguably the ultimate get-off-me option in Pokkén. This set gives Charizard users nearly broken amounts of unblockables on wakeup with their air-grabbing command grab, and Cat Fight has been known to use Mismagius in Chandelure’s zoning.
Espeon and Umbreon: A different Chandelure, Abadango, reps this set. Espeon is a get-off-me wake up similar to Ninetails, but trades the attack debuff for synergy absorption. More importantly, Espeon cures debuffs, effectively giving Chandelure a semi-free Overheat.
Snivy and Lapras: Snivy hits anti-air and has armor, Lapras is anti-horizontal and absorbs projectiles. DreamHack Summer winner Bolimar has used the latter fairly effectively to chase down zoners.
Emolga and Fennekin: Emolga is the anti-counter attack set with its nearly full-screen armor piercing bolt, and coupled with a speed debuff, it’s a valuable and common anti-zoner set. Fennekin was a popular invincible wake up attack at one point in time, but has dropped somewhat out of the meta since more players have discovered how to effectively bait and punish it. Coach Steve uses Emolga on reaction as a get in method with his rushdown Garchomp.
Reshiram and Cresselia: Prior to their nerfs, this was the best set in the game. Reshiram does tons of guard damage and punishes most full-screen actions on reaction for lots of damage, and Cresselia provides a huge synergy burst. While still used by many players, perhaps most notably Yeah It Do!, Reshiram lost some damage and Cresselia lost some random invincibile frames that it perhaps should have never had in the first place. These nerfs, particularly the Cresselia nerf, almost completely killed its spot in the meta.
Jirachi and Whimsicott: A curious set that’s worth noting purely as the set of choice for JP Machamp star Azazel. Whimsicott gives the player temporary projectile armor against weak projectiles, obviously making it a lot easier for Azazel’s grappler ‘mon to get in. Jirachi is also useful for its ability to make synergy mode stronger.
The Players To Look For
SuicuneMaster, BIM?, Swillo
South Florida could make the claim they are the strongest players in the world, and considering how well-traveled they are, it would be hard to argue. BIM? and Suicune Master are both major tournament winners (DreamHack Austin and Seattle for BIM?, CEO for Suicune Master), Swillo consistently places in the top of any tournament he enters, and Suicune Master himself was just recently crowned the US Champ. Though these are the biggest names from their scene, they didn’t get this good in a bubble–ZERK, Omagma, Kino and many more all play regularly at VSGC, and the competition is always high-level.
CatFight and Coach Steve
These New Yorkers have proven to be among the best not just in the north, but in the world. Apex Champion CatFight is one of Pokkén’s most recognizable faces, seemingly present at every event and working hard continually to improve his cerebal zoning style. By contrast, Street Fighter and Marvel vet Coach Steve has been rushing down the competition with brutal, split second 50/50s, bringing his vortex knowledge from other games into the forefront. Both have served as gatekeepers to Japanese players at CEO, and both have been kept just shy of the gold by South Florida players.
T-Loc and BadIntent
T-Loc and BadIntent, SoCal and NorCal respectively, have been incredibly strong players repping their individual scenes across the country. T-Loc has run and won most Wednesday Night Fight events, until recently when BadIntent’s Blaziken burned him up in a 6-0 comeback in grand finals. There’s been murmurs that Shadow Mewtwo just isn’t the top tier king anymore, but T-Loc seems intent to see him through to Evo… for now.
Obscure
Obscure has been anything but–the man has been placing top 8 at basically every single Pokkén event he’s entered since the game came out, including the day-after-release of Final Round. Given his 3rd place finish at CEO, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be going away anytime soon. Originally a Mewtwo main, he’s recently added Suicune to his roster and comfortably alternates between each in tourney. He was the first person to dominate Abadango at CEO, and given how well-traveled he is, it’s hard to think of many other people more ready for the new playstyles coming over to the states at Evo.
Teejay
An up-and-coming dominating Sceptile, Teejay has also shown a penchant for using a variety of support sets, seemingly ready to adapt to any player or character he may be up against. He won Momocon and got 2nd at CEO, and if his most recent interview at PokkénArena is any indication, he’s hungry for more. Some are making the argument that he’s the best Sceptile around now, post-CEO, but with competition like BIM? and with a prize as handsome as Evo’s, the truest test is still on the horizon.
Japan
Team Japan is slated to come out in full force, and thanks to the publicity of FujiONE’s televised event and the efforts of Shi_Gaming, we don’t have to guess too much on who will be showing up and what their capabilities are. In fact, we really don’t have to guess at all. Thanks to PokkénArena Mod Milin’s efforts in Twitter hunting and communicating with famed Japanese Gengar Sasahune, we have a working list of some exciting names:
殿様 Tonosama: The winner of FujiONE’s televised event and argubly Japan’s premiere talent. He is best known for his highly streamlined and smart Braixen–a character that America has, for whatever reason, largely ignored. Given his reputation and footage, there is a certain air that Evo is his event to lose.
Azazel: If there is a player that is most likely to shred through all of the US’s defenses, it’s Azazel. He is frequently in Japan’s grand finals and he plays Machamp, a Zangeif-style grappler that almost no one in the world has good matchup experience against.
小路KOG: This is the famous SFII T-Hawk player!
あばだんご: Abadango, currently wrecking in Smash 4, has also made a name for himself by recently making top 8 in the states with Chandelure.
こもりきり: Komorikiri, another one of Japan’s Smash 4 Gods–turns out he plays Pokkén too!
GO1: It’s GO1. SFV and Pokkén players know him quite well at this point. He won Final Round, but was kept out of top 16 at CEO. He is likely looking to get revenge versus CatFight and Cyberman65.
And, of course, this is just what’s known. With 1000+ entrants, a developing meta, and a wildly new way of playing fighting games, Pokkén could very well be the most unpredictable game at Evo. Which trainer do you think will take it?
