Incineroar dominated team compositions in the debut tournament for Pokémon Champions on Nintendo Switch, appearing on 53.76% of teams. The online event on April 8 drew over 500 players via the Champions Hub Discord, featuring a $500 prize pool. Winner gamblingvgc92 claimed $120.
The tournament coincided with the game's launch on April 8. Players competed in double battles, with usage statistics mirroring trends from the game's online Battle Data rankings. Incineroar, a fire/dark Pokémon from Sun and Moon, led with its Intimidate ability, Fake Out move, and Parting Shot for pivoting teams. Its versatility allows it to fit diverse compositions while lowering opponents' attack stats and stalling foes. Sneasler ranked second at 36.84% usage but posted a higher win rate of 51.38% compared to Incineroar's 49.89% in the tournament. The top 10 most-used Pokémon included Sinistcha, Garchomp, Basculegion, Kingambit, Pelipper, Whimsicott, Archaludon, and Tyranitar. These align closely with frequent online picks like Charizard and Floette. Pokémon Champions launched with bugs, such as issues transferring Pokémon from the Home app. The Pokémon Company issued an apology and conducted maintenance to address problems.