Pokémon GO Vancouver Regional 2025: Best Teams, Meta Changes & Winning Strategies
- New Season: Might and Mastery brings significant meta changes that have impacted the GBL rankings
- Find out what team compositions the top trainers in the world could use heading into this major event
The Pokémon GO Regional Championship tournament in Vancouver, Canada is taking place this weekend, March 7-9 and we are here to get you caught up on everything you need to know heading into this event! This tournament marks the start of the second half of the competitive season as competitors will face off at the Vancouver Convention Center for a share of the nearly $9000 prize pool.
For a full event breakdown, check out this article: Pokémon 2025 Vancouver Regionals - VGC, Pokémon Go, Unite, TCG Schedule
Pokémon GO Event Breakdown
The Pokémon Regional Championships are a part of the Pokémon Championship Series where players can compete in Pokémon TCG, the Pokémon Video Game, and Pokémon GO tournaments across the world for the chance to qualify for the Pokémon World Championships. The different regions where these tournaments take place are:
- North America
- Europe
- Latin America
- Australia
Competitors are awarded Championship Points based off of their placement at these Regional Championships which help them work towards their World Championship Qualification. Asia has their own circuit called the Pokémon Asia Championship Series which has a separate qualification system for the global World Championships. Here is a full breakdown of the points needed to qualify for the Pokémon GO World Championships per region:
Region | Points Needed for Qualification |
|---|---|
USA & Canada | 75 |
Europe | 50 |
Latin America | 50 |
Oceania | 10 |
Middle East and South Africa | 5 |
Pokémon GO competitors will battle in The Great League match format (Pokémon under/equal to 1500 CP) with a Swiss style tournament format. This means that competitors will battle against other trainers with similar win/loss records. Once you have played an opponent in the Swiss format, you can not battle them again unless you both make the top cut.
The Top Cut concludes the tournament as the best trainers from the Swiss tournament will matchup against each other in a single-elimination bracket deciding a winner. The winner of the Vancouver Regional, and every regional tournament gets an automatic bid to the Pokémon World Championships, giving an even greater incentive for these players to play at the top of their game.
Meta Changes in Might and Mastery
Impactful Move Adjustments:
- Dazzling Gleam: Power reduced to 90 from 110 and energy cost reduced to 40 from 45. The energy reduction is going to be more impactful than the power reduction which will allow Fairy-types to spam this move more frequently, causing the prominent Dark-types to burn shields. Multiple highly-ranked Pokémon will benefit from this move adjustment including Togetic and Sableye who we will touch on later.
- Dynamic Punch: Energy cost reduced from 50 to 45. This is now one of the best Fighting-type moves available with such a low energy cost and no negative drawbacks. Both Grumpig and Dusknoir are both learning this move for the first time expanding their coverage and making them more viable in this new meta.
- Aqua Jet: Energy cost reduced to 40 from 45 and power increased from 45 to 70. This is a major change and is going to make some niche water-type Pokémon even more viable. Golisopod is ranked 46th in the Great League and will likely see lots of play due to the high volume of viable Dark-type Pokémon.
- Psyshock: Energy cost reduced to 40 from 45. A difference of just 5 energy seems like nothing, but it will make a significant impact in this move's performance and push some Psychic-types higher on the overall rankings. Togetic is one non-Psychic type that can use this move and will benefit greatly from this buff as it is currently ranked 15th overall in the Great League. Mew is ranked 99th in the Great League and will definitely see some play this season following this buff.
Biggest Winners in the New Meta
1. Sableye
With the addition of Dazzling Gleam to its move-set, Shadow Sableye and XL Sableye vault up to rank 5 and 31 respectively which will make them incredibly impactful this season. It will be able to counter top ranked Dark-types at the top of the Great League rankings while simultaneously countering highly ranked Psychic and Ghost type Pokémon that will dominate the meta including Grumpig, Corsola and Dusknoir. Use Shadow Claw as your fast move with Foul Play and Dazzling Gleam as charged moves to optimize your build.
2. Lapras
Jumping up to the number 3 spot in the Great League rankings, Lapras is possibly the biggest winner in the new meta. Receiving Sparkling Aria as a charged move and Psywave as a fast move makes it one of the best in the game for covering a variety of typings. It now wins in matchups against Shadow Feraligatr, Carbink, and Wigglytuff. Use Psywave with Sparkling Aria and the legacy move Ice Beam to properly utilize its versatility.
3. Claydol
Receiving the buff to Rock Tomb (up to 70 damage from 60 while lowering opponent's attack), Claydol has moved to #18 in the Great League. Being able to cover both Ice and Flying-types will give it incredible coverage against top rated Pokémon like Mandibuzz and Lapras which will see heavy usage. Use Mud Slap with Rock Tomb and Scorching sands to optimize your Claydol loadout.
Potential Team Compositions
Looking at data from PvPoke, it is clear that some Pokémon have risen above the others in the new meta. Check out their data-driven GBL rankings and see how your team compositions stack up with the current meta. Earlier this week on X, InadequancePOGO shared 12 suggested teams from various PvP professionals that give insight into the compositions trainers may be using in this tournament.
Two of our biggest seasonal winners, Lapras and Sableye are present in nearly every composition showing how impactful this meta shift has been for the top teams. Many of the top trainers will be using combinations of these teams, constantly making adjustments to alter their coverage. We expect the optimal team compositions to change over the coming weeks as top players get the chance to test these lineups against one another.
Where to Watch
The Regional Championship Tournament will be streamed on the Pokémon GO YouTube and Twitch channels. Matches start at 2:00 PM EST on both Saturday and Sunday. Watch as the best competitors in the world compete for their spot at the Pokémon World Championships.
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Taven is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon's Sports Business program. During his time post-grad, he has developed his own website where he has covered the Call of Duty League as well as college football. He competed semi-professionally in the CDL Challengers Circuit for three years as well as for The University of Oregon's CCL team, which made playoffs and placed T48 each of Taven's three years. Taven still enjoys playing Call of Duty in his spare time, as well as World of Warcraft and any game he is obsessing over at the time.