Pokemon GO esports is here in the form of the Twitch Rivals Mobile Showdown tournament.
Twitch hosted a unique Pokemon GO competitive event that tasked a group of streamers with catching, raising, and battling Pokemon against one another. Instead of allowing the streamers and content creators to just use their own Pokemon, players utilized fresh accounts pre-loaded with items by Niantic.
From there, they were tasked with catching and training a lineup of Pokemon. Only a handful of Pokemon were available for use, giving the players a relatively shallow pool of options that excluded many of the
seasonally available Pokemon.
“18 creators will compete in a pro-am event…and will form teams of three with one pro and two creators on each “gym” team. These teams will each have one hour to collect a team of Pokemon for each creator to engage in a trainer battle at the end of the preparation phase. Pokemon must be gathered on a fresh account, and can not be traded with other players,” the Twitch Rivals rules state.
The pre-loaded accounts included everything a player would need to optimize the Pokemon they found for the tournament, including 1,500 Rare Candy, 2 million Stardust, and dozens of TMs for both fast and charge moves. After being given 60 minutes to catch whatever they could, the players had a short time to prepare their Pokemon for battle.
DailyDasher, misskyliee, and CalebPeng win Twitch Rivals Pokemon GO
After finalizing their lineups, the teams were divided up into groups of three and played as individuals. Each team managed to get in a decent number of wins, but it was Team DailyDasher that took the top prize of $6,400 with a total of nine wins.
Each member of Team DailyDasher, which included DailyDasher, misskyliee, and CalebPeng, pulled their weight. But it was CalebPeng who had the most exciting battles. Running a squad of Vigoroth, Drifblim, and Ariados, he pulled off a number of wild wins.
There were several different lineups showcased, but this was among the most popular. The other core that found great success was the duo of Skarmory and Swampert.
It’s unclear whether Pokemon GO will be featured in more Twitch Rivals events going forward, or if this might even be the start of a larger competitive circuit for the popular mobile game. At the very least, this was an interesting event for Pokemon GO fans to follow.
Steven Rondina
About Steven Rondina
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
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