After sharing his rough experience at the Pokémon North America International Championships (NAIC) in a video posted yesterday, 2016 World Champion and popular content creator Wolfe Glick is now facing backlash from the VGC community—including a specific player at the very center of the drama.
In the video, Glick highlighted where his NAIC run went wrong, saying his unique Perish Trap team had been leaked just days before the tournament, and that it gave other competitors time to figure out how to counter it. He specifically called out Brady Smith, who had brought the same team of six Pokémon to the event after the leak was confirmed.
Related: Pokémon World Champion Wolfe Glick shares ‘incredibly unjust’ truth about the VGC community
Glick referred to his team as “leaked” and “stolen,” but that’s not how other players in the VGC community viewed the situation. One of the most vocal players about the incident, 2018 Senior World Champion James Evans weighed in, saying “everyone steals teams,” and “nobody’s hiding anything.”
Giving fans a glimpse behind the scenes, Evans among others say “team stealing” is just part of the game they signed up to play, while Glick’s video painted the concept in a negative light.
In addition, toxicity quickly flooded into the otherwise quiet community as players had been busy prepping for Worlds and traveling to Japan. Smith began receiving hate messages following the posting of Glick’s video, with many saying he stole the team from Glick on purpose. This did not sit well with fellow VGC players, who rightfully came together to discourage and criticize any hate toward Smith.
After seeing the community response, Glick put out a statement today, urging his viewers to not harass anyone he mentioned in his video. He also acknowledged the video was “emotionally charged” and that the criticism he’s facing for it is fair. Smith later posted his own response to the NAIC incident as a whole, thanking the community for supporting him, criticizing those who sent him hate, and addressing Glick directly.
Smith clarified he had personally battled the same Perish Trap team while practicing on the ladder and heard only rumors that it might have been Glick who built it. He decided to take the team as Perish Trap was a strategy he personally enjoyed playing; much like Glick, who had won Orlando Regionals earlier this year with that same strat.
Glick was also called out for criticizing how Smith had piloted the team during the tournament. The latter said he isn’t one to hold grudges but left the world champ with some advice moving forward: “I know you are very passionate about Pokémon, but be careful to not let that passion burn others.”
Both Glick and Smith are set to compete in the Pokémon World Championships, starting on Aug. 11. We’ll see how many people pull up to Yokohama with the same teams and whether this week’s NAIC drama will boil over any further at the all-important finals in Japan.
