Baltimore: sand and Psychic Terrain
Baltimore was the first official event under Reg M-C, in September, with about 1,080 players in the Masters division. Joseph Ugarte won it, beating Billy Helm 2-0 in the final.
His team, according to the published list, ran Mega Tyranitar, Mega Salamence, Excadrill, Indeedee, Corviknight and Sneasler. Tyranitar sets the sandstorm, which doubles Excadrill's Speed, and Indeedee sets Psychic Terrain, which blocks priority moves against grounded Pokémon.
Mega Salamence
Excadrill
Indeedee
Corviknight
SneaslerRecife and Louisville: the same sun twice
In Recife, on October 3 and 4, Argentina's Juan Salerno won with Mega Charizard Y, Venusaur, Garchomp, Incineroar, Sylveon and Toxapex. A week later in Louisville, Joseph Ugarte won his second Regional in a row with a team that shares five of those six Pokémon: only Toxapex is swapped for Farigiraf.
This is the season's sun core: Charizard Y sets sun when it Mega Evolves and Venusaur, with Chlorophyll, moves twice as fast. We break it down in the article about the sun team.
Nice: rain answers back
On October 17 and 18 in Nice, France's Louis Fontvieille won his third Regional with a rain team: Pelipper, Basculegion, Archaludon, Sneasler and two Megas, Golisopod and Raichu X. He beat 2022 World Champion Eduardo Cunha in the final.
What they have in common
Weather rules. All four champions brought something that changes the weather or the terrain the moment it comes in: Tyranitar with sand, Charizard Y with sun and Pelipper with rain. Since only one weather can be active at a time, every team needs a plan for when the opponent sets theirs.
Sneasler is on two of the four winning teams, and in our online tournament data it has been among the most used Pokémon since the regulation started. It is also striking that Ugarte won two Regionals with two teams that share not a single Pokémon: there is more than one way to win in Reg M-C.
What comes next
Still to come are the Puebla Regional (October 24-25), the Gdańsk Regional (October 31 to November 1) and the Latin America International (November 20-22), all under Reg M-C. The regulation ends on December 2.
On infovgc you can follow every tournament's teams on the tournaments page and filter to official events only to see what is played at the big events.
