Team CGC Cards Places Top 4 in the Yokohama Pokémon World Championships!

Team CGC Cards had an impressive Semi-Finals finish at the 2023 Pokémon World Championships! Competing August 11-13 with 170 Master level players in Yokohama, Japan, under a Swiss-system and a Top 8 knockout, Azul Garcia Griego finished the competition in 4th place. In the 2022 London Pokémon World Championships, he placed 26th.

This was the 18th Pokémon World Championships, and the first time the competition was held consecutively outside of North America and the first time it was hosted in Asia.

Azul Garcia Griego with his 2023 World Championship trophy card.

Team CGC Cards was represented at the Pokémon World Championships by Azul Garcia Griego, Caleb Gedemer, Grant Manley, Kidd Starck and Remi Lorenz. They earned their invitations to compete throughout the season by obtaining enough Championship Points. However, Azul’s placing in the 2023 Yokohama World Championships has already earned him an invitation to the 2024 Honolulu World Championships next summer.

Left to right: Azul Garcia Griego, Kidd Starck, Caleb Gedemer and Grant Manley.

The World Championships also served as an introduction to the newest official team member, Remi Lorenz! Remi has made a huge splash in the competitive Pokémon scene over the past two years, competing at the Junior level. Some of his greatest accomplishments include 1st place at both the 2023 Europe International Championships and 2023 Oceania International Championships, Top 8 at the 2023 Latin America International Championships and Top 32 at the 2022 London World Championships. The Yokohama World Championships was his final competition at the Junior level, but he will move to Senior level at the first regional competition of the 2024 season in a few weeks.

Remi Lorenz

Throughout the majority of the 2023 competitive season, the team utilized variations of the Lost Zone Box deck in gameplay. However, with the World Championships on the line, the team returned to a previously used deck — the Fusion Strike Mew VMAX. Mew VMAX has been a strong obstacle in competitions for the team, but this time it was their choice to pursue it. The deck also relied on Mew V, Genesect V and Meloetta for support. When asked for comment on their strategy, Caleb Gedemer had this to say:

“The team went with Fusion Strike Mew for Worlds, calling back to the early regional days where we played Mew far too many times than was wise; it was great to finish that arc with an excellent placement. Mew was positioned extremely well for this tournament, taking favorable matchups against most of the top decks in the metagame. While Spiritomb’s Fettered in Misfortune complicated matters, the team made the call that Spiritomb stocks would stay bearish, and it paid off.”

Team CGC Cards was assembled by Danny Oesterreich in 2022, and is comprised of seasoned players Azul Garcia Griego, Caleb Gedemer, Kidd Starck, Grant Manley and Remi Lorenz. The team will compete next at the Pittsburgh Regional Championships, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 8-10. This will be the first competition of the 2024 season.

Please join us in wishing the team the best of luck throughout the upcoming season and keep an eye out for new updates on the team’s performance by following their Instagram @teamCGCcards and the CGC Cards social channels, @CGCcards. You can also watch the events live on the Pokémon YouTube and Twitch channels to see players do battle.