Young Australian Pokémon VGC talent Kiara Nguyen won the Oceania International Championships in the Juniors Divison over the weekend, placing with a solid 3-1 finish in Swiss to take the crown of 2023 Oceania International Champion in her home field.
This win netted the 11-year-old $1,500 in prize money along with 500 CP to accelerate the young one’s climb to the 2023 Pokémon World Championships a tad bit easier.
Kiara may be young, but she is no stranger to the world stage and high-level competition when it comes to Pokémon VGC. Not only was the young girl the 2022 Pokémon VGC Juniors Worlds Finalist, but she also has an array of other top-tier accomplishments in her name, which include three Regional Championship wins, top four in EUIC ‘22, top eight in NAIC ‘19, and top eight in OCIC ‘20.
With this hefty list of accomplishments, it was no surprise to anybody that Kiara took home the International win, and she pulled off this feat with an infamous core that we have all grown quite familiar with: Dondozo and Tatsugiri.
Kiara filled the rest of her team with strong and dependable picks that could hold their own without the dynamic fishy duo; let’s take a closer look at her composition.
Kiara Nguyen’s Oceania International-winning team
- Tatsugiri @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Commander
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
– Muddy Water
– Draco Meteor
– Icy Wind
– Sleep Talk - Coco4dayz (Roaring Moon) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Flying
– Acrobatics
– Throat Chop
– Dragon Dance
– Protect - Gholdengo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Good as Gold
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
– Make It Rain
– Shadow Ball
– Steel Beam
– Thunderbolt - Dondozo @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
– Order Up
– Wave Crash
– Substitute
– Protect - Desire (Talonflame) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
– Tailwind
– Brave Bird
– Will-O-Wisp
– Taunt - Flutter Mane @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
– Dazzling Gleam
– Shadow Ball
– Imprison
– Trick Room
Kiara’s Dondozo is the pretty standard Substitute set, with Tera Steel also being a meta pick, letting it block Clear Smog from Amoonguss. Tatsugiri is another standard set with Choice Scarf, but Sleep Talk as a tech option to further counter Amoonguss shenanigans with sleep.
Related: These 3 Pokémon destroyed the meta at Scarlet and Violet’s Oceania International Championships
Gholdengo and Roaring Moon formed another core with amazing defensive synergy, while Flutter Mane ran an Imprison-Trick Room set to punish Trick Room-oriented teams. Kiara rounded off her team with Talonflame for immediate Speed control, overall running quite the bulky-offense team that took her all the way to her grand victory.
