Pokemon Video Game Championships Mayhem in Melbourne

The Oceania International Championships in Melbourne, Australia, marked the second of four International Championships in the 2017 Pokémon Championship Series. Top players from across the globe flew down under to take on competitors from the Oceania Rating Zone for huge cash prizes—and enough Championship Points to qualify for the 2017 Pokémon World Championships in one fell swoop.

The Oceania International Championships was the largest Pokémon tournament ever held in Australia, and the talented field made it one of the most challenging, too. The strategic acumen on display expanded significantly beyond December's European International Championships, showing how far players have come in a few months. Under the hot sun in Melbourne, we got a clearer view of which Pokémon are truly top performers at this point in the season and which ones fell short as players honed their strategies.

Congratulations to Masters Division Champion Zoe Lou, Senior Division Champion Carson St. Denis, and Junior Division Champion Nicholas Kan. Read on for more about what happened in the Masters Division finals and the impact we expect it to have on strategies in future tournaments.