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The Pokemon LAIC, or Latin American International Championships, have come to a close along with the weekend. With this competition wrapping up, new champions have been crowned and some hype moments have taken place. With this time of year being very important for competitive Pokemon, many fans are still reeling from the excitement.
Though the event has come to pass, many may still want to view it and the matches that took place. Thankfully, the livestreams for all of these matches can be found on the official Pokemon Youtube channel. These archived streams show the entire event, but some players may just want to know the highlights. So here's what happened during the Pokemon LAIC.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's views.
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Top 5 best moments from the Pokemon LAIC
1) Pokemon GO Grand Finals
Starting off strong, the finals for Pokemon GO featured a very intense match between Bastii170 and LNDsRargef, two very skilled players. In the last game of this match, LNDsRargef brought a much more defense-oriented team with Lickitung, Medicham for damage, and Umbreon, compared to his opponent's more stamina-based offensive team of Gligar, Medicham, and Lanturn.
This led to a very beneficial turn of events as Lickitung took down Lanturn, leaving only Gligar. This was great for LNDsRargef as his Medicham was able to quickly get rid of Gligar thanks to its access to the move Ice Punch, securing the win and a championship title. Pair this level of strategy with Pokemon GO's live-action gameplay and it is clear to see how well-deserved this win was.
2) Defensive Terastallization
The big gimmick of the ninth generation of the main series is Terastallization. This ability lets players change the type of their Pokemon whenever they want. While most use this for an offensive boost or immediately when their desired monster is sent out, one play in the finals used Terastallization much more impactfully.
The first game of the Pokemon LAIC seniors finals was coming to a close. Marco's Iron Hands was up against Thiago's Indeedee. Since Iron Hands is a Fighting-type, Indeedee went for the Psychic to end the game. However, Marco saved his Terastallization for this exact moment. Marco Teras his Iron Hands into a Water-type, allowing it to take the Psychic damage and win the game.
3) Juniors Finals match
Even the Juniors division of the Pokemon LAIC can be jam-packed full of close fights and exciting moments. In the finals of the Junior division, the match came down to a close 2v2. One turn could make all the different. Fabian was in trouble against a Terastallized Heatran and an Urshifu on the field. Luckily, the young trainer kept his cool and read his opponent's next move, clutching the championships.
The entire turn rode on Heatran. If it used Protect, Fabian would have spent a turn doing no damage with his Ogerpon, sculpting the perfect opening for Leland. However, Fabian made the risk of predicting that Heatran would not use Protect, giving him a turn to finish the match with his Ogerpon and Chi-Yu combo, with Chi-Yu hitting a critical hit on Urshifu for the knockout.
4) Marco's Tornadus
One of the funnier moments from the Pokemon LAIC, Marco earned his spot in the finals through an ironclad strategy utilizing his Tornadus. Being a creature designated to a more utility-oriented role, not many players anticipate their Tornadus being able to dish out some solid spread damage to carry some games.
Snowballing his early-game, Marco decided to use his Tornadus for the sheer purpose of doling out as much spread damage as possible. This led to him repeatedly selecting Bleakwind Storm until he eventually won the game. Tornadus was able to shrug of a Terastallized Flutter Mane's Dazzling Gleam, securing it the finishing blow and Marco's spot in the finals bracket.
5) Seniors Finals last game
In the finals match of the Pokemon LAIC seniors division, Marco and Thiago went head-to-head. With his first game of the match going so well, Marco was confident. However, upon seeing Thiago's Regieleki and Indeedee, he thought his Arcanine and Tornadus might be in trouble. He took the risk of double-switching his active monsters into Amoongus and his trusty Iron Hands.
Thankfully, this gambit paid off as Amoongus kept damage from Iron Hands well into the late-game, but at that point, it was already too late. Marco had won hard thanks to his Iron Hands' brutal attacking power, winning the bracket with a score of 2-0, and claiming his well-earned title as the Pokemon LAIC champion.
