One Nation of Gamers Pokémon Invitational tournament is happening this weekend, and the hype has reached its peak. Picking a potential winner from such a small pool of top-level players in a game like Pokémon, is insanely difficult. So, I’ve narrowed down my Top three players that I think will take the tournament, based on overall skill and performance in the 2017 format. In no particular order, here they are:

Sejun Park

While Sejun has remained rather quiet in the last two years, outside of the Trading Card Game, he looks poised to come back strong in this tournament. Since winning Worlds back in 2014, Sejun hasn’t made headlines in VGC until this year. His 2017 accomplishments include a win at a large Korean grassroots tournament and his top placing on the Battle Spot Ladder with Tapu Fini. Sejun was one of the early pioneers of Tapu Fini, which is one of the most popular Pokémon in the format right now. This is why I think Sejun will shine when his opportunity comes.

When Sejun enjoys a format, he is a threat. Not to mention, this format hugely rewards innovation, and innovation might as well be Sejun’s middle name. In his interview with Trainer Tower, Sejun explained he,”like(s) the regulations and there [are] many people who support me. And it is fun! It is fun to play this meta!”

Regardless of what kind of team Sejun brings, standard or weird, I would expect nothing less but a plethora of new tricks from our former World Champion.

Aaron Zheng

Aaron has been in the scene for as long as it has been a thing, and he consistently shows promise to put up a big performance. After starting the season a bit sluggish after missing Day 2 at the London International Championships, Aaron came back in full force with two Top Cut appearances in San Jose and Anaheim. Although he still has yet to win an official tournament this season, he’s coming off of a huge win in the stacked Melbourne Invitational, which also guarantees him an appearance at the Melbourne International Championships in March.

Aaron has high hopes for Pokémon’s growth as a result of this tournament, and I think that will motivate a big performance from Zheng. In his own interview with Trainer Tower, Zheng had this to say about the tournament:

“For this [One Nation of Gamers] tournament, I’m actually really excited because it’s a huge opportunity. I don’t think people realize how huge this really is… Having an organization that does full-time esports come in and help us… is something that is really great… I’ve never seen a grassroots event or tournament organized as well as this, so I have high expectations for this weekend’s competition. And I think it’s really good, because VGC is something where no one really has the time to dedicate to content creation full-time, or writing articles full-time or streaming full time. So being able to get the help of a professional company that has experience in this is really, really big. I think this is honestly a huge step forward.”

Markus Stadter

In traditional fashion, I’m placing my top choice at the end. Markus is one of the top players in Europe, hailing from Germany where he recently claimed his first regional title of the season. Markus’ knowledge of the game (this format especially) is high, and it shows in his play as well as his team building. He was one of the first players to give Mandibuzz a name in VGC 2017, while also helping to popularize Snorlax. On the same team.

After Leipzig Regionals, Markus became very interested in the growth of Pokémon VGC into an esport. In his interview with Trainer Tower, Stadter said, “There’s always been change, and a lot of people still have the goal of ‘getting Pokémon to the next level,’ ‘growing the game’ or ‘becoming esports,’”

“But I want to give it a final try now. I had resigned before and thought Pokémon was ultimately only going to be a fun thing on the side. However, I’m motivated now and want the scene to prosper. There’s still some boundaries we need to cross, but I think it might be possible. I don’t think we’ve ever been this close before.”

Markus’ drive to push Pokémon to the next level serves as powerful motivation for him to do well. Not to mention, he has the capability to make exceptional meta game calls, and capitalize with exceptional skill in best-of-three. The current third best player in the world is my pick to win it all.

Images courtesy of Trainer Tower