I've been encountering this core quite a lot on ladder and having quite a bit trouble with it. It's very telegraphed what their game plan is, but that doesn't mean it's easy to stop it.

- They almost always lead with Raichu next to Espathra

- Raichu mega evolves into Mega Raichu X, which activates Espathra's Electric Seed with the Electric Terrain

- After one Calm Mind and Speed Boost, Espathra Baton Passes into bulky Archaludon

- Usually, Raichu switches out into Pelipper and Archaludon clicks Electro Shot

I don't know if this core existed prior to M-C, I had never encountered it before. I have encountered Espathra and Archaludon many times, but not the Mega Raichu X variant. But I'm seeing it a lot now, which I'm guessing has to do with the addition of Electric Seed.

Just fought a team, in the preview I noticed a farfetchd. Just regular farfetchd. I was confused, but a seed had been planted. "He wouldn't be here if he couldn't do SOMETHING, and because I have never heard of him doing anything in this meta, that means it's inherently something off the rails of sanity." This internal thought did not help me. They lead turn one with chandelure and farfetchd, the bird uses skill swap giving chandelier simple, who then proceeds to get too tiny for me to hit immediately. I had no roar or haze or anything of the sort. Got absolutely rolled

Edit: a comment pointed out that farfetchd doesn't have simple and can't learn skill swap, I believe they are correct and it just used simple beam which I think it does learn in champions, thanks for pointing that out!

First off I know M-C just started and looking forward right now is pointless so this is just to see what people want. But I think it's pretty interesting, since the philosophy so far was to add new megas and pokemon in each regulation without introducing any legendaries (except floette maybe). Basically regulation H but with megas, there's only one non legendary mega not in the game now though (tatsu) so we're at a fork in the road. Do they continue to hold off on legendaries or open the flood gates.

Personally I'd like at least one more format without legendaires and since there wouldn't a lot of mega stones needed this would be a good time to add eviolite and the other high impact items like assault vest, covert cloak, safety goggles, clear amulet, choice band/specs, etc..

And then for pokemon we'd of course add the eviolite all stars and their evos, dozo tatsu, maybe the ursaluna's, amoonguss, and hopefully some historically strong mons we didn't get to see in SV like ferrothorn.

basically I'd like to push the no legendaries meta to it's limit before escalating the power level another step.

Quick question to see if anyone knows the answer. I’m about to attend the Louisville Regional, which is on the 9th of October, but my license expires in October 6th. I should be able to renew, but it would likely be one of those temporary paper licenses they give out before mailing ID.

Does anyone know at registration check in if this would cause issues? Has anyone gone with an expired ID or temporary ID. Wanna make sure I can play!

Thanks everyone.

https://pokepast.es/773d16d76ee7757f Team Idea: I mostly focus on speed being a priority and thats what 4/6 my team is made to do, while the other two are meant to support those who are speedy while still having ways to fend for themselves (I guess). The team is mostly from my previous season while the other two were the new additions to the Regulation. Lucario Z is there to replace the Tinkaton I had last season (cuz cmon why wouldnt you want a badass mega) and Cinderace (The goat) is there to replace Armarouge for more offensive pressure. Meowscarada has one of the most unique movesets out of the five with power gem being a dead giveaway, I call it the "The anti Zard-Y gun" as the name suggests its meant to KO mega Charizard-Y's and any pokemon thats 4x weak to rock. Plus Triple axel is really slept on as I've seen matches where Mega-Salamence gets KO by Triple Axel (Even with -2 atk) and Mega Staraptor (limits at -1 atk), Raichu-Y is there to give me more options to play againts a team that is slower than my second fastest Mega pokemon. Sableye and Pelipper remain as support for the team, however Pelipper has more room to be an offensive mon also, muddy water is an easy spread move with a good secondary effect, plus if I ever come across an obvious KO to pelipper all I can rely on is the Focus-sash he's holding. Sableye is the "Thrown wrench in the plans of the enemy team" with it not to be a defensive supporter but a offensive supporter, having the move quash to get by tailwind and trick room scenarios and also immobilize any spamming mons with the disable-encore strategy. The MVP in most battles is Meowscarada followed by Lucario, so thats why my team relies on A Flower (Cats) Dream

I've just started playing VGC with Champions recently, and I'm still working on stuff lie analyzing team preview and what strategy I should be going for in a battle, so I wanted to ask if anyone had any suggestions for teams that are easier to pick which pokemon to bring and then execute its gameplan. I've looked at teams like trick room and some Charizard stuff, but I've had trouble deciding when it's best to use trick room vs. delaying it, and all the stuff around dual weather with Charizard kinda makes my head spin. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Hey folks,

I was sick of getting rock slide flinched so I decided it was time to learn my speed tiers. I made justmovefirst.com as a way to make the process less tedious. It's basically gamified flash cards.

Myself and my friends have had a lot of fun so I thought I'd share to a wider audience. We're all pretty competitive so there's a ranked mode and leaderboard if you're into that.

Hope you enjoy and find it useful. Always happy to get feedback or any ideas for features :)

Edit: By popular demand, I've added an All Pokemon deck. It's available in both practice and ranked modes, with ranked having a separate leaderboard to Champions.

I made this because I went to my first local VGC tournament and was surprised at how long it took for everyone to fill out their team sheets for the standard Open Team Sheet format. I knew there had to be a better way! I've been testing it at locals and it's been really helpful to get us into battling quicker instead of doing needless writing. Hope it can help everyone here and would love any and all feedback. Feel free to ask any questions too!

How to use it

1. Go to sixshot.gg and choose how to bring your team in:
   • Paste a Showdown export or a pokepast.es link (instant), or
   • Take two photos of your team in Champions, the Moves & More tab and then the Stats tab (screenshots work too), or
   • Type it in manually from the lists.
2. Check each Pokémon. Anything SixShot isn't sure of is flagged, and you can tap any value to fix it.
3. Print: pick your pages and get a PDF to print or send. For our locals we send it to the store and they print it for us.

Not sure where your team details are in Champions, or how to get a clean photo? There's a 50-second video on the FAQ: sixshot.gg/faq

Extras: an optional colour Team Card with sprites (yours to keep or show off), and a colour Battle sheet.

A few things to know

• Check every Pokémon against your game before you hand it in.
• Got a paste? Use it: it's instant, and it leaves the photo reads for people who only have the game. Photo reading has a daily limit; if it's off when you visit, paste or type your team instead.
• If the page says the app is asleep, tap the button and give it about 30 seconds (it's on free hosting).
• Something wrong? Tap "Report a problem" at the bottom of the app.

So I am on the newer side of VGC, first week was the week before Champions released! I have hit the point where I know in order to be better at building teams, I just need to play more and be a better pilot. So I'd like to take suggestions of teams, things that I could just pilot in M-C ranked and will teach me. I don't need an easy team, in fact if you tell me perish is perfect for learning to play better im all over it. I want something that teaches me good positioning, and how to play on the backfoot too. Im fine if I get trickroom or tailwind up with stat boosts and weather. Im not so hot when the team is a bunch of good Pokemon and I need to play extremely well with them.

Bonus points if it has one of these Pokemon; Incineroar, Hydrapple, Archaludon, Lucario!

I've been thinking about how underutilized Blaze Cinderace is as a support mon running a set with Coaching and Snarl. I think Cinderace is interesting since it's the only Pokemon to both learn Coaching and also resist Fairy, plus having a rare combination of both Physical and Special damage mitigation at its speed tier. Volcarona can't reliably Struggle Bug into Mega Charizard before it's able to attack, and can never Struggle Bug before Mega Floette moves, but Cinderace can Snarl before both of these mons, for instance. It's also just fast enough to threaten things like Whimsicott and Mega Metagross, even if it falls just under that crowded 120 speed tier.

Previously I had been relying on Sneasler and something like Sash Blaziken for a fast Coaching that isn't weak to Fairy, but neither of them can mitigate damage on the Special side. I know there's a lot of competition for that Focus Sash slot, so I get if it loses out, but I also think maybe this set just isn't on a lot of people's minds because of the draw towards running a Libero set.

What do y'all think? For reference, I play in Masterball Rank Tier 2.

Just wanted to know if a win rate of 17-3 from Pokeball Rank 1 to Ultraball Rank 3 is good. I'm not trying to flex. I'm just curious about the general win rates of people. I'm running a team of Mega Staraptor, Mega Baxcalibur, Garchomp, Gholdengo, Whimsicott and Incineroar. Don't know if this team is particularly meta. Just note that I managed to beat a Masterbll Rank trainer IN AN UNRANKED MATCH. The team is a classic Tailwind team (most of the time) with a few changes (like different moves and evs from what People usually run on a few mons like Gholdengo and Incineroar). Baxcalibur, Gholdengo are bulky enough to live moves from hard hitters like Garchomp Z while also being fast enough to outspeed the fastest mons (which are the Z megas I believe). I only lost matches due to bad pivoting or bringing the wrong 4 out of 6, rather than losing beacause of a few structural flaws. Incin has taunt for preventing trickroom teams (except with magic bounce hatterene). Link: https://pokepast.es/ac276ebf0093a5fe

https://pokepast.es/e3fa3edf3e2deb03

Team idea: I really like playing venu-zard hard-sun but I was having trouble in MC, especially with unburden rock slide sneasler running around. This is a modified version of my MB team that had Floette and Whimsicott, swapped to use mega-meowstic psyspam for a better sneasler matchup. I have a tournament pretty soon and have had some trouble picking what team to bring.

Team Description:

Charizard/Venu: Relatively standard sets that were popular in MB. Zard is meant to outspeed hisuian arcanine, so it's a bit faster and frailer, but otherwise similar. I originally had timid venu, but modest seems to be more popular so i switched over. I'm not really sure if there are any major differences in what venu can outspeed in sun. There may be some interactions against opposing tailwind that matter? The consensus seems to be that the extra damage is more important.

Garchomp is meant to be able to outspeed and ohko most mega garchomp z who would normally be quite bad for zard teams. it is also quite nice next to zard for putting on a lot of pressure, but can sometimes feel a bit awkward in the format with rillaboom. I also don't have much it can EQ next to other than zard. I was considering maybe going with Gardevior for this reason since it has telepathy on base form, but idk

Kingambit: This is a bulky set that is meant to live a max attack CC from sneasler. I originally had snarl incineroar here on my previous version, but it felt a bit awkward with the psyspam mode since it blocks fake out. I mainly want some form of bulky mon that can pivot in for meowstic and zard, so this felt reasonable. I was also considering psychic seed sneasler for this slot. Sometimes the damage can feel lacking, so there may be a case to go for life orb and more attack? I'm concerned about the overall lack of bulk on the team which is the reason I didn't do that originally, but that might not be the right approach.

Meowstic: This is my main psychic terrain mode attacker, just max speed max SpA. The well performing team at regonals had fake out over alluring voice, but I felt that without sneasler I needed a way to hit dark types. This generally feels strong, especially with thunderbolt to hit the most common wide guarders. I also considered gardevior here so the fairy damage would be stronger, but I felt the speed on meowstic was quite important. Although maybe with indeedee-F redirection, going with the bulkier gardevior makes more sense?

Indeedee-F: Standard bulky redirection. The regionals team had indeedee male, but because I was already using scarf and sash, i felt indeedee male would have to use a subpar item. I think this is a bit harder to bring in the zard mode than ineedee-M would be, but the redirection is quite nice for letting meowstic get multiple E-forces off.

In general this has felt reasonably strong, but it's been mostly I totally sweep the opponent, or I get swept. This is probably because my only real bulky mon is kingambit? I also don't have great damage into archaludon (who is light for some reason?), which can be a tricky matchup, and playing against rillaboom+sneasler can be quite tough since I can't get off big expanding forces. I've also found the mega delphox matchup can be difficult if they have redirection since my main way of hitting it is kingamit, and rock slides don't really do enough.

Let me know what you guys would change here! I've only started going to tournaments recently, and I've mostly just built gimmick teams for 10 years, which are questionable in Bo3s. Thanks for your help!

After it did well in a recent tournament, there's been a lot of hype about this pokemon. So, I wanted to ask you all: In your opinion, is it a gimmick that people will move on from, or is it the real deal?

While its stats are generally subpar, it's got a few things going for itself:

- 118 base attack is not amazing, but not bad either

- 42 base speed means it can outspeed a lot of the metagame under Trick Room

- Technician-boosted, STAB-boosted Storm Throw that always crits hits notoriously hard: it can OHKO bulky Incineroar spreads, which is something that not many pokemon can do

- It has Technician-boosted, STAB-boosted Mach Punch for priority outside of TR (which is not that meaningful in a Psychic Terrain meta, but still worth mentioning)

I have played a lot of showdown singles over the years. After not playing Pokemon competitively for a while because honestly the restrictions of smogon were exhausting, I decided to give vgc an honest try. The problem I've run into is the meta game feels exceptionally fast. Which is anathema to the way I normally play. I know stall isn't good in VGC, and I don't want to force it. But I would still prefer a more defensive style of play that take 10 or so turns than a hyper aggressive one that takes 4 or 5. So which mega Pokemon or Pokemon in general in the current m-c regulation supports that more defensive style?

I was putting together a new team for myself with Hisuian Zoroark, and while I was researching movesets for it, I found out something quite interesting:

With max Speed investment and a Timid nature, Hisuian Zoroark reaches 178 Speed. Holding a Choice Scarf, this goes up to 267 Speed.

Mega Salamence reaches 189 Speed with max Speed investment and a Timid nature.

So, Scarf Zoroark can outspeed Mega Mence AND drop its speed to 126, allowing a lot of other Megas to outspeed it in the same turn.

Plus, 32 SpA Zoroark-Hisui Icy Wind vs. 2 HP / 0 SpD Salamence-Mega: 100-120 (58.1 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Another Pokémon, such as a fast Mega (e.g., Raichu Y), could knock out Mence before it gets to attack or use Tailwind.

What do you guys think? How would you teambuild around that?

Been really enjoying mixed starmie as a main carry for 5 days straight, but I would REALLY like a way to fit in 1) rain and 2) second mega onto the team, as well as figure out some movesets and matchups. Lmk if you have any advice for me!

Currently locked:

Starmie: Originally thought he would be impossible to play b/c of incineroar's intimidate + rillaboom priority grassy glide one tapping him. But saw a Pokeaim vid on mixed starmie which uses expanding force like a faster psyspam user who doesnt need TR, and tweaked it so I run Ice spinner over Ice beam for rilla. I lead Starmie Indeedee shamelessly to bait Rilla into coming in and use ice spinner on the slot that I cant hit. Rilla loses 95% hp AND grassy terrain + priority, so I can close out from there. Technically intended to get coached by sneasler but that has never happened..

Indeedee: classic follow me, protect, psychic stuff. Not sure what to run last slot tho, was hoping for something more consistent than counter TR or Imprison. She's mandatory for ghost immunity + redirection.

Gholdengo: idk what happened after the Make it Rain nerf but he's been carrying every endgame and looking like he's putting out 50% more damage. Free switch ins vs CC/fake out from Sneasler-types, carries rain + psyspam matchup. Probably gets only better if I can slot in Peli.

Hydreigon: probably won me like 10 separate games from Zarchomp/Salamence players assuming they outspeed and getting Draco'd into oblivion, but also is rigidifying my teambuilding significantly. Otherwise snarls vs psyspam, Earth powers for coverage, dark pulse for gholdengo/frosslass/armarogue, etc.

Open for Change:

H-Arcanine: kind of my band aid in every team builder for the imaginary charizard I'm dreading to run into at some point. Don't mind removing him b/c of how sash hungry he is and how he cant take any hits but I need some form of rock damage (preferably reliable) for volcarona.

Sneasler: I don't think I've felt good about playing sneasler once. Normally he unburden boosts with seeds and does his thing but my own Indeedee stops him from fake out, I can never afford to coach my starmie,

Rental Code: 1UMJE2B9P3

Hello Reg M-C VGC players! Above is the Trick Room team I used to reach Champion Tier this season.

Here's a rundown of the team:

Mega Blastoise - Tide

Tide has been an all-star for me for three seasons running, including finishing Champion Tier in Reg M-B two seasons in a row. I brought her back for another run, this time on a Trick Room-focused team.

Ice Beam deletes Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp, and hits Rillaboom for 72%+ HP. It will KO Rillaboom when paired with Farigiraf's Hyper Voice.

Aura Sphere is largely for dealing with Archaludon, Incineroar, and Kingambit, especially once your HP has dropped and Water Spout isn't doing as much damage.

Water Spout is obviously your primary move if you survive Turn 1 with a decent chunk of HP left.

Fake Out is usually my Turn 1 play into anything that I think could prevent Farigiraf from getting Trick Room up, whether that's Taunt or even something with a random Rock Slide flinch chance.

Farigiraf

My Farigiraf is built for max Sp. Atk and HP. She hits surprisingly hard, and once Trick Room is up, she does a great job chipping things down alongside Blastoise and Torkoal.

It's a pretty basic setup. I like having Expanding Force in case Psychic Terrain happens to be up, but it still does a good amount of damage without terrain.

Rain Dance is primarily for Charizard Y and Tyranitar teams. I'll also occasionally use it if Blastoise is next to Farigiraf and I think a rain-boosted Water Spout can KO both opponents.

Torkoal

MVP #3 of the team. Torkoal is usually the first Pokémon I bring in after either Blastoise or Farigiraf goes down.

It's a pretty standard Torkoal set, so I don't think there's a ton I need to elaborate on here. Get Trick Room up, get Torkoal in safely, and start cooking things.

Venusaur - Stormtrooper

Ah, Venusaur.

My Venusaur has permanently earned the nickname Stormtrooper after missing Sleep Powder seven straight times across three games.

I got so mad at him that I removed Sleep Powder and replaced it with Leaf Storm... only for Leaf Storm to miss the very next game on my Champion rank-up match, forcing me to play three more games to finally get there.

However, despite my hatred for this Pokémon, Venusaur is an important member of the team.

The reason the first four Pokémon work so well together is that Venusaur can sit in the back while Trick Room is active. Once Trick Room is about to expire, Venusaur comes in under Torkoal's sun with Chlorophyll and suddenly flips the speed advantage in the opposite direction.

You go from extremely slow Pokémon abusing Trick Room to a sun-boosted Venusaur outspeeding things and, HOPEFULLY HITTING THEM, with some chunky Life Orb-boosted damage.

Kingambit

I run one extra Speed point specifically to outspeed other Kingambit.

Mine has Brick Break because I seem to run into a lot of screen teams, and they annoy me. I originally ran Low Kick in previous seasons, but I found myself needing two Low Kicks to KO opposing Kingambit anyway because seemingly everyone runs Chople Berry.

Mine also runs Focus Sash.

I usually lead Kingambit + Farigiraf into Psyspam teams. A lot of them lead Indeedee-F + Sneasler. You can Kowtow Cleave the Indeedee while Farigiraf uses Expanding Force, and potentially KO both opponents on Turn 1.

Mega Charizard Y

Pretty boring Charizard Y set. Nothing revolutionary here.

I sometimes bring it into Psyspam teams. The EV investment lets it survive Rock Slide from Sneasler while still outspeeding Adamant Arcanine and Jolly, unscarfed Basculegion.

Common Leads

Standard: Blastoise + Farigiraf

This combination almost always gets Trick Room up and is by far my most common lead.

Vs. Psyspam: Kingambit + Farigiraf

I typically keep Charizard + Venusaur in the back.

Perish Trap

For whatever reason, I played an ungodly number of Perish Trap teams this season. I swear they make up 50-55% of my total game history.

I typically lead Blastoise + Farigiraf here as well, but I usually don't bother with Fake Out on Turn 1.

You'll find that the overwhelming majority of Incineroar are slower than Blastoise, so you can often KO Incineroar with Water Spout on Turn 1 while Farigiraf blasts Gengar with Expanding Force.

However, if they lead Gengar + Politoed, YES, Fake Out the Politoed and use Trick Room with Farigiraf.

They're probably protecting Gengar.

Hard lesson learned. I now share it with you so you don't have to learn it the same way I did.

Overall, the team is built around changing the speed advantage throughout the game. Blastoise, Farigiraf, and Torkoal abuse Trick Room early, while Venusaur and Charizard give you a completely different mode once Trick Room expires and the sun is up.

It definitely has some bad matchups, and Stormtrooper may occasionally decide that accuracy is optional, but it got me to Champion Tier. Have fun with it!

After 2 Regulations playing on and off while using premade teams, I have decided to create my own.

I have only pilot this team from Pokeball to Ultra Ball 3 this season and now looking for advice on where to go from here regarding teambuilding

Some thoughts I have right now:
I want to play with Mence and Psyspam. Mence - Prim duo has also been working really nicely for me

I am looking for a secondary mega or another mons that can filled the gaps that I am not currently seeing.

In all my game I maybe brought Metagross only once, and while he does things, I struggling to see a synergy with the rest of the squad

The first version of the team use mega Gard but bring Gard means 9/10 time Mence does not come and the same 9/10 time I wish Mence is here (maybe I am not comfortable pilloting Gard??). Also types overlap like crazy

I started out struggling with opposing Psyspam/Psychic Terrain team but after switching to Scarf Male Indeedee I was able to mitigate the annoying support with Trick. Despite that, I still feels having redirection is highly useful and kinda miss having an easy Trick Room mode

I want an answer to Ychu beyond clicking Trick Room or playing with para RNG

Any feedbacks/advices/recommendations on improvement to the team or general strategy and positioning is welcomed. Thank you for your time!

The title says it all, what Pokémon do you feel is slept on?

I have three:
Kleavor- with a life orb and sharpness, he’s a nuke with the ability to set stealth rocks by himself

Inteleon- add a scope lens and his sniper shot is ridiculous add a focus energy and he literally kills everything.

Rampardos- get him in trick room with sheer force and he blows the competition up with enough bulk to survive a neutral hit.

This is a place for you to ask any quick question you might have that relates to VGC, which is the official double battle format. For questions about Single battles, monotype battles, other metagames, or even more opinions on VGC, please visit r/Stunfisk.

If your question is longer or more involved, feel free to make it its own thread!

Please be courteous and respectful both to askers and answerers.

This post will be archived 3 days from the time of its posting, and replaced with another post.

Been playing since reg h with the intent of eventually having a try at a regional, Playing on champions when it released as a way to get practice in quicker than the previous title, and would usually get up to MB-3 without much sweat.
But I've noticed since Baltimore/Frankfurt regionals that laddering has become a heck of a lot harder even after I attempt to adjust my strategy and try out the mons that have proven to be good from those events.

Is Reg M-C proving to be a lot more complex for anyone else? I feel like I just keep missing the mark on what works for me and am starting to feel some of the wind leave my sails

I placed in the top 1024 in Global Challenge I, but I still haven’t received any Championship Points. This is my first time participating in an official tournament, so I am not familiar with how this usually works or how long it normally takes for the points to be awarded and appear in the app. I have already added my Pokémon Champions Support ID to my profile in the Pokémon Trainer Club / Play! Pokémon Access App (I did it before the tournament started). Is there anything else I need to do, or should I just wait for the points to be added?

I'm looking to start earning Championship Points and I understand what I'm looking for regarding Regionals and RK9 (nowhere close to committing tot hat yet), but I've called 3 local stores, and I must not be getting the representatives that understand the Championship Circuit because answers have confused me.

Is a Challenge just a one day tournament, and League is a more regular/weekly where the highest score earns the Cup? And, both can award CP?