Wo-Chien was arguably the weakest Treasure of Ruin in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC, but it had a surprisingly strong presence at the North America International Championships (NAIC) this past weekend. We spoke to regional champ Justin Tang about why he brought Wo-Chien, his teambuilding process, and his first full VGC season.

Throughout the Pokémon NAIC weekend, we saw plenty of niche ‘mons like Ditto and Electabuzz go toe to toe with top meta threats like Incineroar, Urshifu, and Calyrex. One of the biggest surprises of the event was watching Wo-Chien thrive, making it all the way to the top eight thanks to an incredible run by Shiliang Tang.