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Pokémon VGC: Chongjun Peng Wins Salt Lake City Regional

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Pokémon VGC: Chongjun Peng Wins Salt Lake City Regional

The new generation of VGC has begun.

Chongjun wins his very first Regional in Salt Lake City in the Number 1 Seed position. Check out our full Pokémon VGC Salt Lake City recap below.

Day 1

Chongjun Peng is your now reigning Regional champion, and he's done it in spectacular fashion. He began his run on a winning streak, showing off against Brock Honda on stream with a dominant win. It was clear to everybody after that match that he would be a strong force in the Regional. Following the streamed match, he didn't drop a single match, finishing the Swiss round at a perfect 8-0-0. His Day 1 put him on everybody's map for the 2022 Season. Still, though, he wasn't satisfied.

Day 2

Day 2 was built to be a proving ground for the Chinese-Canadian player. His first match was set for him to face off with Pokémon VGC legend Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng. As a National, and two-time Regional champion in his own right, Zheng had one of the biggest names at the event. So it was quite a statement for Peng to defeat him 2-0, with the second game-ending quickly in a one-sided fashion. When Alex Arand took his shot, it ended quite the same. Peng went into the Regional finals without dropping a game in the bracket, and he had only one player left to defeat.

Aaron Traylor was Peng's final opponent. Traylor's semifinal game ended it what some call a fluke, and others call Pokémon VGC. Traylor defeated Joseph Ugarte with a 1v1 Kyogre double Protect, followed by Ugarte's Zacian missing its Play Rough attack, allowing Kyogre to hit the finishing blow. Altogether, this result had a 5% chance of happening. Ugarte had a 95% chance to win but ended in a Top 4 finish instead. This being said, Traylor did not take those chances lightly.

Traylor was able to take a game off of Peng in the finals, but of course, the other two games went to Chongjun. In a display of Groudon vs. Kyogre, we saw Groudon's counter ability in the way it sets the Harsh Sunlight weather to weaken Kyogre's Water attacks. The weather wars and Intimidate switches between the Incineroar on either side resulted in a long and drawn-out match. It was the perfect way to end this Season's kickoff Regional.

The New Regional Champion

After winning Salt Lake City, Chongjun Peng will likely be seen in other Regionals this year, as well as the International and World Championship. As legends such as Wolfe “Wolfey” Glick (27th) fall short at the early events, it will open an opportunity for us to watch the new generation of players rise. Once those former champions rise back into their element, we'll likely see a World Championships like no other, with old school and new school clashing for the gold.