First Look: Baltimore Regional Preview

Hey trainers!

The 2025 Play! Pokemon Championship series is about to start off, and what better time is there to preview the championships upcoming with some articles!

My name is Martijn – you may know me as Inadequance. I am the 2024 Worlds finalist, and I’ll be writing most of these articles! The goal is to write the many tournaments that will be held globally as one big storyline.

In this article we’ll be taking a look at the very first regional championship coming up, in Baltimore. The first championship of the 2023 season also took place here, and now it will be in a completely new meta from what we have seen before. Even the switch timer in Pokémon GO PvP is reduced from 60 to 50 seconds in the new season!

So, what will this mean for the Play! Pokemon season? Players will be experimenting with newly buffed Pokémon, and that is what we will be mostly taking a look at in this article.

The Baltimore regional championships are held during the weekend of 14th and 15th September. You can find a link to the official broadcast and bracket here:

https://www.dracoviz.com/2025-baltimore

The new meta looks vastly different from what we’ve seen in the previous season, and I think these are some of the top meta picks that we could expect to see in Baltimore:

• Clodsire

Clodsire and its incredible bulk already was very viable in PvP, but now with Poison Sting buffed it looks even stronger. Trainers may also opt for Mud Shot to have a slight better mirror matchup, but Poison Sting will be performing better in general due to its equal damage output but higher energy generation. I expect this Pokémon to be in the top 2 usage.

• Feraligatr

This Pokémon already was good, but now it’s even looking better. Feraligatr is one of the few Pokémon that avoided a nerf, and with some of its counters such as Vigoroth and Lickitung being nerfed, it may come to its full potential now. Even when resisted, the combination of Shadow Claw and Hydro Cannon put pressure on pretty much any Pokémon it can face and it will act as one of the prime counters to Clodsire. I expect this Pokémon to join Clodsire in the top 2 usage.

• Mandibuzz

So now that we have figured out which 2 Pokémon are likely to rise to the top of the meta – which Pokémon can deal with that the best? Mandibuzz puts up a good fight into both Clodsire and Feraligatr, although it does struggle a bit into Clodsire with Stone Edge. Regardless, Mandibuzz has an immense stat product which allows it to put up a fight into any Pokémon that is not a Fairy-type. For those who are not entirely sure what to use, Mandibuzz looks like a great neutral pick.

With a new meta, there will of course also be new anti-meta; the Pokémon that do very well into the most common picks you’ll see. I expect to see these anti-meta picks:

• Dunsparce

Rollout received a huge buff, and Dunsparce is one of the Pokémon profiting. While Rock Slide did receive a nerf, this attack will still be very viable for Dunsparce to counter Flying-type Pokémon such as Mandibuzz, Jumpluff and Talonflame. Being able to do well into all of Clodsire, Feraligatr and Mandibuzz, Dunsparce is likely to have at least 2 or 3 targets on every team. It doesn’t do well against Fighting- and Ground-type Pokémon and bulky, neutral matchups such as Azumarill however so be careful of some polarizing matchups.

• Azumarill

Yes, I did it. I am classifying Azumarill – the Pokémon that has been around in pretty much every single meta – as anti-meta. While I do think Azumarill may make it to the top 6 usage right from the start, I prefer to see Azumarill in two different ways: the Pokémon that can deal well with the strongest meta picks, and also being the prime Fairy-type Pokémon that doesn’t lose hard to Clodsire. Fairy-type Pokémon have been buffed, but Clodsire becoming the top of the meta makes it difficult to utilize any other Fairy-type Pokémon. On top of that, the other viable Water- and Fairy-type Pokémon Tapu Fini has received a nerf in its charged attack Surf, making it much more inferior against a top pick like Feraligatr.

• Goodra

With Fairy-types being held in jail by Clodsire, I would not be surprised if Dragon-type Pokémon make a return to most of the teams in the championships. We’ve seen some Altaria and Goodra at the World Championships, but with the Sky Attack nerf, I think there is no question about it that Goodra is the best Dragon-type Pokémon to bring. The charged attacks Thunder Punch and Aqua Tail are great coverage into the top meta, and allows Goodra to fight back against Azumarill as well. If there is no Azumarill on the opposing team, it is very possible that the Dragon-type Pokémon may be unchecked and entirely free to use.

These Pokémon have been buffed, but I’m not sure if we’re going to see a lot of these.

• Gastrodon

Gastrodon received an immense buff in Mud-Slap, but I doubt it will see much use other than countering Clodsire. Body Slam received a nerf and Ground-type coverage doesn’t seem to be super effective on a whole lot in the meta. Besides that, it is incredibly easy to wall Gastrodon using a Flying-type or Grass-type Pokémon, making it a scary Pokémon to bring in a meta that may be packed with Mandibuzz. The Mud-Slap buff does allow Gastrodon to pick up some matchups such as Azumarill in all even shields, so the high risk may pay off. It will very likely make it to the top 12 usage.

• Pangoro

Pangoro now ranks as a top pick in the new season with the addition of Karate Chop, but we’ll have to see if competitors will have the guts to bring this Pokémon. It is a fragile Dark- and Fighting-type Pokémon and the definition of a glass cannon. On top of that, it is also entirely walled by Fairy-type Pokémon and will struggle into Clodsire and Mandibuzz. Close Combat comes out fast and hits extremely hard, but this looks like a tough Pokémon to utilize.

• Clefable & Galarian Weezing

As said before, Fairy-type Pokémon are being kept in check by the new king or queen of the meta, Clodsire. It’s almost like bringing Giratina into a Lickitung meta. Both Clefable and Galarian Weezing have received a notable buff in their fast attack Fairy Wind, Clefable may now also opt for Swift as a cheaper charged attack and Brutal Swing now costs less energy for Galarian Weezing. But none of that will be even remotely enough to put a dent in Clodsire. Both buffed Pokémon lose the 2-0 shield scenario to Clodsire and it just looks like Azumarill is the obvious Fairy-type Pokémon to use. The only person to bring Clefable is probably SsThorn nowadays, but I don’t think he’s competing in Baltimore.

To close the meta-analysis and what to expect in the new meta for the Baltimore regional championships, I’ve also been looking at some picks that may be niche or overlooked. Well, maybe not overlooked anymore after I wrote about them.

• Jumpluff

This extremely bulky Grass- and Flying-type has access to Fairy Wind – which has been buffed! In fact, it may be the sole Pokémon to actually make use of this in the Open Great League meta. It won’t do as well into Clodsire with Poison Sting, but it’s bulk and heavy-hitting charged attacks will allow Jumpluff to fight back. On top of that, it does quite well into Feraligatr, Azumarill, Mandibuzz, Gastrodon, and Dragon- and Fighting-type Pokémon. Jumpluff may not be the anti-meta Pokémon to win it all but could be a safe sleeper pick considering the main threat Skarmory is no longer in the meta.

• Chesnaught

Chesnaught has a unique typing of Grass- and Fighting. This typing allows it to resist the charged attacks of most Clodsire! On top of that, it has good matchups into Feraligatr, Azumarill, Gastrodon and it absolutely destroys Dunsparce! While it does have access to Thunder Punch since last season, it won’t be enough to actually defeat the Flying-type Pokémon that it’s double weak to so it’ll need proper body guards from Flying-type Pokémon.

• Diggersby

Similar to Dunsparce, Diggersby is a bulky Normal-type Pokémon and has a very high stat distribution. With the fast attack Quick Attack, it can even put up a fight against Mandibuzz. It has decent matchups against Feraligatr, Clodsire and Dunsparce. While it doesn’t hard check many matchups the same way Dunsparce does, it may be a safer option for players that prefer bulk over hard wins and hard losses.

Besides Clodsire and Feraligatr, the meta looks quite open, and there are many more very viable Pokémon that we may see, such as Machamp, Talonflame, Kanto Marowak and Serperior.

The Baltimore 2023 regional championship counted 127 competitors, and at this moment of writing there are just over 150 competitors signed up. I expect to see a slight increase compared to the 2023 season and estimate we’ll see around the 170 sign ups.

Amongst them of course, are some household names. Let’s take a look at 3 well known names that will be competing here:

OutOfPoket

We obviously start off with the best performing North American player at the 2024 World championships and also one of the premier Feraligatr players, OutOfPoket.

Baltimore in the state of Maryland is the hometurf of the 2024 NAIC Champion. After his accomplished friend wdage retired from competing, OutOfPoket followed up on his legacy with incredibly strong finishes over the entire 2024 season:

I personally was never a fan of the non-shadow Feraligatr, but OutOfPoket had incredible results with it and considering his experience with the Pokémon, it would be no surprise to see him utilize this Pokémon again. OutOfPoket and a Feraligatr meta.. it almost seems to be a sign.

HouseStark93

HouseStark93 is the reigning champion of Baltimore ever since it first hosted a championship for Pokémon GO in the 2023 season. HouseStark hasn’t played as many Play! Pokemon championships as some other contenders, but tends to have a strong finish most of the time.

After losing his first round, he won 4 consecutive rounds with a Shadow Typhlosion(!) and almost made it to day 2! Showing the world that the veteran can still hang with the global competition of today.

Other strong tournament runs of HouseStark93 that show he is a force to be reckoned with are:

It’s always exciting to see what a new meta will look like. Last time in Baltimore, HouseStark93 won the championship with Noctowl (before the Wing Attack buff!) and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of anti-meta pick he can come up with this time.

CrimsonK19

A fan favourite and well known Twitch streamer within the Pokémon GO community, and the father of the infamous 4th place regional champion finalist. CrimsonK19 will be competing in the first regional championship of the season!

If you have watched his content before, it can often be hard to tell how good and serious he is at the game. But do not sleep on this player! CrimsonK19 on a good day can perform extremely well, as he has reached the following accolades:

While he’s not the most consistent trainer, he seems to have at least 1 very good tournament run a season. And he’s not afraid to use some spice too; he reached the top 10 at NAIC 2023 with Dunsparce, Whimsicott and Shadow Charizard on his team. If CrimsonK19 can contain his focus and keep the inner memelord at bay, we may see great results again from this beloved content creator. I am sure that the community will be excited to see him battle on the stream again, and a good start of the season could be motivation for CrimsonK19 to qualify for his first World championships!

The first Regional Championship of the 2025 season will be a showcase of what the meta is going to look like globally for months to come. I can’t wait to see what everyone will bring and if we see any innovations that may spice up the meta!