Nov3
Final VGC Standings of the 2025 Pokémon Gdańsk Regional Championships — Federico Camporesi takes top spot over Marco Silva
This event uses the Regulation Set H ruleset. This format bans the use of any Restricted Legendary Pokémon such as Miraidon, as well as banning every other Legendary Pokémon such as Ogerpon and Urshifu, and Paradox Pokémon such as Flutter Mane or Iron Hands. This offers a drastic change from the 2024 Pokémon World Championships!
Notably, as advertised by the official Play Pokemon account on X, this is the final regional championship in the EU region before the 2025 Latin America International Championships later in the month.
Final Standings
Federico Camporesi won the 2025 Gdansk Regionals, taking a victory in a dramatic battle against Marco Silva in the Finals.
# | Player | Team | Record | Teamsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Federico Camporesi | 13-2 | ||
2nd | Marco Silva | 12-3 | ||
Top 4 | Paul Hinta | 12-2 | ||
| Hsuan-Chih Kuo | 11-3 | |||
Top 8 | Michael Kelsch | 12-1 | ||
| Victor Medina | 11-2 | |||
| Bartosz Kuskowski | 10-3 | |||
| Michal Kwiatkowski | 10-3 |
Most Popular Pokemon
With the Poison Touch ability and its signature attack Dire Claw giving a chance to poison, paralyze, or put the opponent to sleep, Sneasler can be a very frustrating opponent. Focus Sash helps with its underwhelming defenses, and Fake Out is a great option for both utility and priority. Some players instead choose to run the Unburden ability, doubling its Speed stat after it loses its item. This allows Sneasler to outspeed almost every Pokemon in the format.
Sneasler is used on teams piloted by powerful trainers like 2023 Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch.
This Pokemon is always incredibly valuable on almost any team. Its ability Grassy Terrain allows it to support its team with healing, Grassy Glide allows for strong priority, and Wood Hammer deals very valuable amounts of damage. Fake Out is also a great utility move, as similarly demonstrated by Incineroar.
Rillaboom is used on teams piloted by high-placing trainers like 2-time International Semifinalist Victor Medina.
Another commonly high-placing Pokemon, Gholdengo is very straight-forward. Its ability Good as Gold blocks strong status moves from Pokemon like Amoonguss, and its base Special Attack stat of 133 paired with a powerful spread move in Make It Rain. Steel and Ghost-type Pokemon also have a terrifying type combination with many resistances and immunities. With terastallization, Gholdengo can block damage from the few types that would otherwise be super-effective.
While very flexible, Gholdengo features prominently on a team used by Toler Webb to place in the Top 4 of the 2025 Baltimore Regionals. This team features itself, Flamigo, Incineroar, Amoonguss, Ursaluna, and Porygon2.
Despite being a new Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, Kingambit has more than proved how powerful it is. Its base Attack stat of 135 paired with a powerful offensive typing in the Dark and Steel-types along with a priority attack in Sucker Punch, not many can stand in its way. Its main weakness is clearly its 4x weakness to Fighting-type attacks, but terastallization can often fix this problem.
Kingambit appears on a popular team composition featuring itself, Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom, Primarina, and either Electabuzz or Magmar.
Dragonite places at a tied 4th place, appearing on 29.0% of teams
With Incineroar being less of a threat, Dragonite has more of an option to use the Multiscale ability to increase its bulk. Some players such as Paul Chua have been running a Tera Flying set to deal surprising amounts of damage with a Flying-type Tera Blast. On the other hand, a few players choose a classic Tera Normal set with Choice Band to deal even more damage with the priority attack Extreme Speed.
Dragonite is a very popular Pokemon on "Double Dragon" teams, which are rather self-explanatory. It is often paired with Garchomp, another powerful and hard-hitting Dragon-type pseudo-legendary Pokemon.
With one of the strongest set-up moves in the entire game in Quiver Dance, Volcarona can raise its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed stats all in one turn and quickly become a huge threat. With Leftovers, it can boost its bulk even further, and uses powerful attacks like Heat Wave to deal with powerful Steel-types in Kingambit and Gholdengo, as well as Grass-types like Rillaboom.
Picking up in usage since Day 1, Volcarona appears on many high-placing teams, such as the team used by 2-time International Semifinalist Victor Medina.
The first battle in Swiss Round 10 takes place between Bartosz Kuskowski and 2019 EUIC Finalist Davide Carrer. With both players at 7 wins and 2 losses, whoever loses this battle is knocked out of the tournament.
Kuskowski uses an intriguing combination of Pokemon in Sinistcha and Klefki. The former is known for their supportive potential, healing their team with its signature ability Hospitality and being able to use Life Dew. Klefki, on the other hand, gets to use a wide variety of status moves given priority by its ability Prankster. This lets it use moves like Light Screen, Reflect, Thunder Wave, and even more before its opponents can move. Instead of the more common Thunder Wave, however, this Klekfi is running Misty Terrain, allowing it to stop the opponents from putting its own Pokemon to sleep. The team also features a common defensive core in Maushold and Annihilape, with the former having the option to use Beat Up on its teammate to boost the base power of its signature move Rage Fist. The final two Pokemon are Alolan Ninetales and an Assault Vest set for Bloodmoon Ursaluna.
Carrer is running a fairly standard team, most notably running an identical Assault Vest set for Bloodmoon Ursaluna that has picked up in popularity recently. Alolan Ninetales appears as well, providing support with the option of going for Aurora Veil, with the team's Magmar notably using its Flame Body ability instead of the more common Vital Spirit. This allows it to better threaten physical attackers, but it removes an option to deal with Amoonguss. Carrer's team also features their own Annihilape, but notably choosing to leave out Maushold. The team is completed by strong attackers in a Dragonite with Loaded Dice and Gholdengo with Leftovers.
Despite losing the first game, Kuskowski effectively turns the battle around by utilising the power and utility of their support Pokemon and wins the game, knocking Davide Carrer out of the tournament.
Camporesi's team features a powerful core of three Pokemon, with Pelipper setting up the rain with its ability Drizzle and making use of its with its attacks Weather Ball and Hurricane, Archaludon who can use Electro Shot in one turn instead of two in the rain, and Basculegion, whose Water-type attacks are boosted by the rain as well as doubling its Speed with its Swift Swim ability. The team is completed by heavy-hitters in Kingambit and Rillaboom, rounded out by a supportive Electabuzz.
Salvetto has chosen a very ambitious team featuring three Dragon-types in Garchomp, Dragonite, and Archaludon. The first two are known for appearing on teams together, in compositions known as Double Dragon, and can deal large amounts of damage thanks to the lack of powerful Fairy-type Pokemon in Regulation Set H. Archaludon operates in a different manner, however, relies on its Power Herb item to activate Electro Shot in one turn, get a boost to its Special Attack, and deal high amounts of damage with Flash Cannon and Draco Meteor. This team also offers speed control in the form of Talonflame having the option of using Tailwind, given priority thanks to its signature ability Gale Wings. The final two Pokemon on the team are Sneasler, a powerful Pokemon that has great utility, and the heavy-hitting Gholdengo.
Camporesi gets a great advantage in the first game, putting their offensive potential on full display by dealing absurd amounts of damage with their Tera Dark Kingambit and Archaludon. They continue this lead in the second game, defeating Kevin Salvetto and winning the round.
Waterman is another player using a very strong core of Pokemon that benefit from the rain weather condition. Pelipper sets up the rain with its ability Drizzle and makes use of it with its attacks Weather Ball and Hurricane, Archaludon can use Electro Shot in one turn instead of two in the rain, and Basculegion's Water-type attacks are boosted by the rain as well as having its Speed doubled with its Swift Swim ability. The team is finished with three popular Pokemon in Gholdengo, using the Life Orb to hit even harder than usual, as well as Incineroar and Amoonguss, with the former being a supportive Pokemon that can hit very hard, and Amoonguss having great utility with redirection in Rage Powder and general disruption in Spore.
Kelsch is using a fairly standard team composition known as "Dragapult Balance", featuring Choice Band Dragapult and Black Glasses Kingambit as powerful attackers, Sneasler, Primarina, and Rillaboom as strong Pokemon with great utility, and Magmar as the team's support.
It's worth noting that with Kelsch's team being incredibly common in Regulation Set H, it's possible that Waterman has had a lot of practice against it, potentially giving him a very strong plan going into the game. Waterman's rain core is fairly common too, but not as common as Dragapult Balance. Kelsch's Rillaboom needs to be respected in this matchup, resisting Water-type attacks from Basculegion and Pelipper, giving their team extra healing with the Grassy Terrain, providing support with Fake Out, and being immune to powder moves from Amoonguss, like Spore and Rage Powder.
The round is ultimately won by Michael Kelsch, demonstrating the power of Dragapult Balance, as well as their experience with the team.
Medina has a slightly modified version of balance teams we've seen throughout this tournament and previous events in Regulation Set H. It features heavy-hitters in Volcarona, which is able to set-up with Quiver Dance, Kingambit, whose Dark-type moves are boosted by its Dark Glasses held item, and a common Dragonite set with the Loaded Dice.
Although Hinta's team features a few Pokemon similar to Medina's, they notably also brought a supportive Maushold and a very powerful Basculegion with a Choice Scarf, not matching Medina's choices of Kingambit and Electabuzz. Other than these two, this team also features Rillaboom, Volcarona, Sneasler, and Dragonite. This team also features a core of Rillaboom, able to set up the Grassy Terrain with its ability Grassy Surge, and Sneasler holding the Grassy Seed item, giving it a boost to its Defense stat and activating its ability Unburden to double its Speed stat.
The first game's opening is characterized by the differences in the choices these players made for their supportive Pokemon. Both open with Volcarona, while Medina supports it with Sneasler compared to Hinta supporting theirs with their Friend Guard Maushold, with a Poison-type Terastallization. With their support Pokemon of choice being knocked out, however, Hinta is eventually defeated in the first game. They do eventually win the game, overpowering Victor Medina. This lets Paul Hinta move on to the Top 4.
As mentioned earlier, Camporesi's team features a powerful core of three Pokemon, with Pelipper setting up the rain with its ability Drizzle and making use of its with its attacks Weather Ball and Hurricane, Archaludon who can use Electro Shot in one turn instead of two in the rain, and Basculegion, whose Water-type attacks are boosted by the rain as well as doubling its Speed with its Swift Swim ability. The team is completed by heavy-hitters in Kingambit and Rillaboom, rounded out by a supportive Electabuzz.
And, to recap, Kelsch is using a fairly standard team composition known as "Dragapult Balance", featuring Choice Band Dragapult and Black Glasses Kingambit as powerful attackers, Sneasler, Primarina, and Rillaboom as strong Pokemon with great utility, and Magmar as the team's support.
Despite a decisive lead from Kelsch in the first turn, immediately knocking out the opposing Basculegion before the speedy Pokemon can even move, Camporesi manages to turn it around in the first game, bringing it to a 1v1 between Archaludon and Dragapult, with the latter fainting to a powerful Draco Meteor. The second game ends in a different manner, however, with Camporesi being brought down to their final Pokemon against all four of Kelsch's, forfeiting the game to bring it to a third and final battle to determine the winner. Federico Camporesi makes a bold play in the first turn, allowing them to win the third game, and the round overall, moving them on to the Top 4.
Kuo uses a fairly standard team composition, very similar to Paul Hinta's team, seen in the first livestreamed Top 8 battle. Volcarona allows for an effective and powerful set-up thanks to Quiver Dance boosting its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed stats, and can be supported with redirection from Maushold, allowing it to set up. Maushold also has a rare ability in Friend Guard, boosting Volcarona's bulk even further. An interesting core is seen in this team with Rillaboom setting up Grassy Terrain with its ability Grassy Surge, which activates Sneasler's Grassy Seed held item, giving it a boost to its Defense stat, but also activating its Unburden ability, doubling its Speed. The team is rounded out with Gholdengo holding a Sitrus Berry, giving it extra bulk and therefore extra opportunities to use Nasty Plot to boost its Special Attack, and a fairly standard Loaded Dice Dragonite set.
As seen in Swiss Round 5 of yesterday's livestream, Silva has a Trick Room core with Porygon2 and Ursaluna, but also features an incredibly interesting pick in Charizard, with its Choice Specs and Solar Power ability allowing it to deal insane amounts of damage with its Fire-type attacks in the sun, set up by either Jumpluff or Torkoal. Alongside Trick Room, this team also has even more speed control with Jumpluff having the option to use Tailwind.
The game is won by 2-time International Champion Marco Silva, allowing them to move on to the finals of the 2025 Gdansk Regionals.
As mentioned earlier, Camporesi's team features a powerful core of three Pokemon, with Pelipper setting up the rain with its ability Drizzle and making use of its with its attacks Weather Ball and Hurricane, Archaludon who can use Electro Shot in one turn instead of two in the rain, and Basculegion, whose Water-type attacks are boosted by the rain as well as doubling its Speed with its Swift Swim ability. The team is completed by heavy-hitters in Kingambit and Rillaboom, rounded out by a supportive Electabuzz.
Similar to Hsuan-Chih Kuo's team seen in the previous battle, Volcarona allows for an effective and powerful set-up thanks to Quiver Dance boosting its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed stats, and can be supported with redirection from Maushold, allowing it to set up. Maushold also has a rare ability in Friend Guard, boosting Volcarona's bulk even further. An interesting core is seen in this team with Rillaboom setting up Grassy Terrain with its ability Grassy Surge, which activates Sneasler's Grassy Seed held item, giving it a boost to its Defense stat, but also activating its Unburden ability, doubling its Speed. The team is rounded out with their own Basculegion, and a fairly standard Loaded Dice Dragonite set.
The game is eventually won by Federico Camporesi, allowing them to move on to the finals of the 2025 Gdansk Regionals.
For one final recap, Silva has a Trick Room core with Porygon2 and Ursaluna, but also features an incredibly interesting pick in Charizard, with its Choice Specs and Solar Power ability allowing it to deal insane amounts of damage with its Fire-type attacks in the sun, set up by either Jumpluff or Torkoal. Alongside Trick Room, this team also has even more speed control with Jumpluff having the option to use Tailwind.
On the other end of the battlefield, Camporesi's team features a powerful core of three Pokemon, with Pelipper setting up the rain with its ability Drizzle and making use of its with its attacks Weather Ball and Hurricane, Archaludon who can use Electro Shot in one turn instead of two in the rain, and Basculegion, whose Water-type attacks are boosted by the rain as well as doubling its Speed with its Swift Swim ability. The team is completed by heavy-hitters in Kingambit and Rillaboom, rounded out by a supportive Electabuzz.
One of the most interesting points of this matchup is the "weather war" aspect, with both players wanting to set up their own weather conditions, harsh sunlight for Silva's team, and rain for Camporesi's team. Silva has the advantage of having both Torkoal and Jumpluff, with the latter having the opportunity to set up the harsh sunlight whenever they want, compared to Pelipper and Torkoal both having to switch out and switch back in. Assuming both teams decide to bring their weather-setters, the results of this tournament may rely on which player can set their weather condition at the most opportune moment. However, Marco Silva's team does have an additional Trick Room core with Porygon2 and Ursaluna, giving them a back-up if they decide that setting up the sun could be detrimental or simply not worth it.
The finals of the 2025 Pokémon Gdansk Regional Championships is won by Federico Camporesi, masterfully piloting his team against Marco Silva. Winning this event not only makes them the 2025 Gdansk Regional Champion, but also secures their invite to the 2025 Pokemon World Championships. For coverage of this event when it rolls around, as well as the 2025 Latin America International Championships happening this month, make sure to keep an eye on Bulbagarden!
Comments