We’re just weeks away from the 2016 Pokémon World Championships, the yearly spectacle where fans from around the world gather to celebrate all things Pokémon. This year’s event in San Francisco is sure to be full of excitement for those attending in person, and those who can’t attend will have plenty of coverage to follow, with four different live streams happening August 19–21.

The heart of the World Championships is competition, and more than $500,000 in prizes will be earned over the course of the weekend. This year, in addition to the usual Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game World Championships, the first Pokkén Tournament World Championships will take place. Each event has multiple age divisions, so players of all ages will have an opportunity to fight for the right to be crowned World Champion.

The TCG event has a long history of surprises and breathtaking matches, and this year is sure to be no different. Players in each age division will compete for a top prize of $25,000, and the best players in the world will be at the top of their game, focused on taking home the title. There’s little room for error in this event, and preparation will be key to having an advantage over the field. Let’s take a look at what to expect as we head into this unpredictable tournament.

It’s All About Night March

The 2017 Standard format rotation means players won’t have to deal with Night March decks next season, but the 2016 World Championships are another story. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but throughout the entire 2016 season—from City Championships to National Championships—Joltik and Pumpkaboo have dominated the Standard format with their simple yet devastating Night March attack. Players had hoped that the return of N and the emergence of new strategies could keep this deck at bay, but the results at US Nationals showed that Night March is as strong as ever. In fact, it continues to adapt and improve, with innovations such as Nick Robinson’s addition of Vespiquen.

Heading into the World Championships, it might be as simple as this: use Night March, or use a deck that beats it. Night March has been defined as the most popular and powerful deck in the tournament environment, and it cannot be avoided or ignored. With this in mind, we could see an influx of decks aiming to lock down Item cards—particularly the Battle Compressor that makes the deck run smoothly. The most successful iterations of this concept at US Nationals were Marcos Garcia’s Seismitoad-EX and Giratina-EX deck, Michael Bergerac’s Trevenant deck, and Fred Hoban’s Vileplume and Vespiquen deck. All of these concepts should remain viable choices for the World Championships, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see players gravitate toward them in an attempt to take down the massive number of Night March decks that are sure to be played.

The Impact of XY—Steam Siege

The wild card for the 2016 Pokémon TCG World Championships is the news that XY—Steam Siege will be legal to use at the event. This is the first major event where these new cards will be used, which means there are no tournament results to tell players which new cards will impact the environment. The initial feeling among players is that the Trainer cards will make the biggest difference, and some of them could completely alter what strategies are viable.

Pokémon Ranger stands out as an immediate game changer. Some of the most popular strategies rely on disrupting the opponent with attacks that have additional effects, such as Giratina-EX’s Chaos Wheel, Jolteon-EX’s Flash Ray, and Greninja’s Shadow Stitching. This one Supporter card removes those effects in an instant. Special Charge, another powerful card to watch for, allows players to recover Special Energy cards such as the ever-important Double Colorless Energy. Two popular strategies against Night March players have involved disrupting them with effects of attacks or discarding all of their Special Energy cards, and those options are much less effective with the introduction of these two Trainer cards.

Some trickier Trainer cards also might see some play. Ninja Boy can provide the unique effect of swapping out a Basic Pokémon in play with one from the deck, creating all sorts of odd scenarios. Captivating Poké Puff can completely change a game, pulling Basic Pokémon from the opponent’s hand onto their Bench. It’s important to note that if a Pokémon has an Ability that activates “when you play this Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench,” that Ability won’t happen if the opponent uses a Captivating Poké Puff to lure it into play—so this card is particularly useful against Shaymin-EX. And for players who are looking to take a risk, Greedy Dice has the potential to completely swing a game. The odds aren’t great—you can’t play Greedy Dice at all unless you take it as a face-down Prize card, and if you manage that, you still have to win a coin flip—but the payoff of an extra Prize card is huge.

It’s always hard to tell which Pokémon will be successful in tournament play, but there are a few that seem to have star potential. Volcanion and Volcanion-EX form a ferocious Fire-type team that could ignite some new deck ideas. Volcanion-EX’s Steam Up Ability lets you discard Fire Energy to boost the attacks of any Basic Fire-type Pokémon, and then Volcanion’s Power Heater attack or the Blacksmith Supporter card can attach those discarded Fire Energy to other Pokémon to speed things up. With multiple Volcanion-EX all using the Steam Up Ability in the same turn, the damage can add up very quickly. The Weakness to Water-type Pokémon such as Seismitoad-EX or Greninja might make this a risky choice for Worlds, but it could be powerful in the right environment.

Yanmega is another interesting card that could pop up at the World Championships. It isn’t the most powerful Pokémon out there, but in the right circumstances, its Sonic Vision Ability allows it to attack for free—no Energy cards necessary. Assault Boom doesn’t do much damage unless the opponent’s Pokémon has a Pokémon Tool card attached to it, so attaching Head Ringer or Jamming Net to an opposing Pokémon-EX is an easy way to trigger the extra damage. If you evolve it into Yanmega BREAK, it keeps the Sonic Vision Ability, which means it could use the 100-damage Barrier Break attack for free, too. And with the help of the Forest of Giant Plants Stadium card, these Grass-type Pokémon can come into play in an instant for some immediate pressure. Such flexible Pokémon could show up in any number of decks.

A few other Pokémon could help existing strategies become even stronger. Yveltal BREAK gives yet another option to Darkness-type decks, which always seem to pop up at tournaments. Metal-type strategies gain Magearna-EX’s defensive Mystic Heart Ability and the offensive firepower of Cobalion’s Revenge Blast attack. Hawlucha’s Sudden Cyclone Ability provides an easy way to push the opponent’s Active Pokémon out of the way, which could be useful against Trevenant and its Forest’s Curse Ability. Perhaps we could even see Talonflame using its Gale Wings Ability to swoop into action even before the game begins.

The Pokémon World Championships are always a can’t-miss spectacle, and this year’s event is no different. Epic battles are in store, and champions will be crowned. All of it will be streamed at Twitch.tv/Pokemon so everyone can witness the action. Whether you’re attending in person or watching from home, don’t miss any of the excitement from this three-day tournament! See you in San Francisco!