Reis2Occasion Wins Pokémon GO Vancouver Regional 2025 - Full Recap, Usage Rates and more
- Reis2Occasion wins Vancouver Regional marking his 4th separate season with a major tournament win in Pokémon GO
- Drastic usage rate changes highlight the day 2 competition
The Vancouver Regional marked the start of the second half of the Pokémon GO competitive season and it did not disappoint. Hundreds of competitors brought their teams to battle against the best trainers in North America in a meta that will completely change tomorrow. With upsets, bracket resets and even a Shlundo Necrozma trade, the Vancouver Regional set the stage for the rest of the competitive season.
The GOAT of Pokémon GO Competitive
Sunday was highlighted by the major matchups in the winners bracket. In the Winners Semifinal matchups, Doonebug97 took a win over dapperdiscs while HaydonusActual was able to beat out NiteTimeClasher on a last-second Azumarill faceoff that will be one to remember.
🖐️ 😝 🖐️#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/IRHj4zrM2A
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) March 9, 2025
In the Winners Finals match, HaydonusActual bested Doonebug97 to earn his spot in the grand finals, awaiting the trainer that made it out of the loser's bracket. Unfortunately for HaydonusActual, it was Reis2Occasion he would eventually face.
After being knocked to the loser's bracket early, Reis2Occasion battled his way through the gauntlet of trainers starting with a victory over Zimmykid. He then went on to defeat NiteTimeClasher (who lost in Winner's Semis), and SsThorn (started in Loser's) which gave him a spot in the Loser's Finals against Doonebug97, one of the best trainers in the world who won three Regional Championships in the 2024 season alone. An impressive victory in Loser's Finals gave Reis2Occasion a shot in the grand finals against HaydonusActual where he needed to win two matches to reset the bracket and bring home the championship.
On the broadcast, they called this Grand Finals a David vs. Goliath type of matchup due to Reis2Occasion's success in the previous 3 seasons and the lack of championships from HaydonusActual. In this matchup, Goliath won as Reis2Occasion was able to reset the bracket and win the Grand Finals. While the spotlight will be on Reis2Occasion, HaydonusActual deserves a ton of credit as he defeated multiple legends as a heavy underdog to earn a spot in the Grand Finals. He earned $2000 and 325 Championship Points for placing second at the Vancouver Regional.
After resetting the bracket in the Grand Finals, Reis2Occasion becomes your new Vancouver Regional Champion! 🏆 #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/JBt1BMoTmS
— Play Pokémon (@playpokemon) March 10, 2025
This is Reis2Occasion's first title in this competitive season, which makes him a championship winner in four separate Pokémon GO competitive seasons. He is the only trainer who has won a championship in every season, cementing himself as the current GOAT of North American Pokémon GO competition. Reis2Occasion also secured himself a spot in the Pokémon GO Global Championships, where he will have his work cut out for him as he will face the best trainers from across the globe.
Pokémon GO Usage Rate Comparisons
We saw vastly different usage rates for Pokémon on days 1-2. As the tournament progresses and top trainers are able to watch the team compositions used by their peers, strategies shift. The break in between days allowed those in bracket play to create unique compositions to counter what they may see in the Championship Bracket.
Day 1 Usage Rates
On Day 1, we saw a more balanced variety of Pokémon usage while on Day 2, trainers optimized their teams leading to much higher usage rates for a select few Pokémon. Here are some of the highlights:
- Azumarill has been a popular pick in this meta pick due to its move variety and durability which made it utilized heavily on both days.
- Clodshire, Primeape, Serperior, Mandibuzz, Wigglytuff, and Marowak were in the top 12 in usage on day 1, but fell out on day 2.
- Jumpluff saw much lower usage on day 1 and was used by many top players today.
- Diggersby saw increased usage on day 2, potentially to encounter the rise in Emolgas that were in team comps.
- Emolga emerged as a favorite today and was able to provide a great counter to Pokémon like Jumpluff and Charjabug.
The most used Pokemon at Vancouver Regional 2025 were:
- Dewgong
- Drapion
- Azumaril
- Diggersby
- Emola
- Jumpluff
- Gastrodon
- Golisopod
One of the most surprising additions on day 2 was Reis2Occasion's use of Shadow Steelix and Golisopod to counter HaydonusActual's Marowak-centered composition. Day 2 also saw a heavy increase in usage from Gastrodon, a strong Water/Ground type that played a crucial role in the Grand Finals Matchup.
The change in Dewgong usage was another major shift today. Almost every top player was running Dewgong today due to its ability to counter the many Ground and Flying types that were utilized heavily. This may be the reason Marowak was used significantly less today, as trainers were afraid to have it countered by the Dewgong and Azumarill-heavy teams.
These usage changes are to be expected as players are adjusting their strategies to counter the other top trainers mid-event. It will be interesting to see how different these usage charts will look at the next event in early April as the new Might and Mastery meta will be in full effect. Check out the article below to get a look at how the PvP meta will be changing in the new season.
When is the Next Event?
The Atlanta, Georgia Regional Championship will be taking place from April 11-13 at the Georgia World Congress Center. You can watch the best trainers in North America battle live on Pokémon GO's Twitch Channel. Stay tuned as we will continue to monitor the meta changes in the season of Might and Mastery and what teams the best trainers will be taking to this event.
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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.