/pcg/ New Player Guide

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If you need any specific Pokemon, just ask in /pcg/! Click Here to See How to Trade
Click Here to See How to Teambuild
Click Here for team repositories

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Teambuilding

A short introduction to Pokemon VGC skills

This section will simply be a preamble to Teambuilding as well as understanding what does it take to be good at Pokemon VGC. As you can see from the graph above, I have broken down the broad steps to be a good player into four, with the base of the pyramid (Fundamentals) being the most important, and the top (Min-maxing) being the least important. This applies BEFORE you start a match. Why break it down like that? This all serves to explain teambuilding. I swear it will make sense in a bit.

So what exactly are the skills to play competitive Pokemon

Fundamental Pokemon & Knowledge Checks (BASIC)

>How do I improve my team?<Zero elaboration>
>Champions is just clicking Rock Slide and seeing who flinches. Its all 100% RNG
>WHY DONT MY PRIORITY MOVES WORK?

This one needs no introduction. If you have played through any campaign of a mainline Pokemon game then you have at least this level of competency. You know what is the physical special split. You know that Sun boosts Fire moves, you know that Rain boosts Water moves. You know that you need to watch out for Super Effective hits. You know your type matchups.
At this level of competency, you should be able to understand generally how each Pokemon functions independently as well as how the most popular abilities that you will be seeing work. You understand how Intimidate works, and will most likely complain about it. You might be inspired to use it yourself since now you know the value it brings to a team.

If you ever finished a match not understanding why you won or lost, then you are at this level of competency.
Or if you think Pokemon matches is purely rng flinch fests
Or in other words "You dont know what you dont know"

"The meta" (NOVICE)

>Man I really hate seeing Kingambit. How do i counter it?
>How do I improve my team? Basculegion just hard counters it.
The meta, for our discussion, is just the Pokemons that you will most likely see on the ladder in any given season.
If you have enough games on your belt then you would have a pretty reasonable understanding of what the popular Pokemon on the ladder does, and you should have this level of competency. You know which Pokemon gives you a hard time, and why specifically that might be the case. You know generally the most popular teams on the ladder looks like what, and their general gameplan.

If you ever finished a match understanding the opponent's team, but maybe you didnt know exactly how to stop their gameplan using your current team, you are at this level of competency.
Or in other words "You are aware of what you need to learn."

Team Building (INTERMEDIATE)

>I think Ninetales is not a good member for this team. There just isnt a matchup where it comes in safely enough. I think Sinistcha is just better suited for this team.
Once you understood the general flow of your team and how it functions, now you can see each of the member as a functional unit of a team. They arent just Pokemon you slap on together to click Rock Slide and Discharge, they fill in each other's gaps and all of them lead to your team clinching your victory. You can intuit the opponent's next step and start seeing Pokemon more like a game of chess, where you know the opponent will switch this out, and theyll most likely switch this in, etc etc.

If you ever started a match and in team preview you both know 1)exactly what the game plan your opponent is bringing, and 2)see the direction you should take to win, then you are at this level of competency.
Or in other words "Your decisions are quick and intuitive."

Min-Maxing (ADVANCED)

>So this Garchomp is teched to one shot fast Charizard with Rock Slide, and live two Dazzling Gleams from bulky Floettes, and.......
This is where your begin to gain information that is hidden from just intuition. You probably remember all the speed tiers, common movesets for different types of the same Mons. You probably know what 'set' that opposing Pokemon is purely from how it took a hit, or during team preview.

If you use the terms "bulky set", "offensive set", "...will live after a tick of Leftovers", or can estimate damage rolls on opponent's Pokemon down to the percentage, then you are at this level of competency.

How does this have anything to do with Team Building?

The whole exercise of reading above is to understand that you dont actually need to teambuild to play Pokemon at a competitive level. There is no shame in using someone else's team. They have done all the hard part for you, they know what is the best switch in if a common threat is attacking you. They know the synergies that you probably have missed. They know exactly what this calc is doing, and why you dumped 6 points in Def instead of in Spe. A lot of really good players DONT make their own teams, they just know how properly pilot the team which they know is good. Ultimately, mastering battle mechanics and learning how to pilot any team will always serve you better than trying to build one from scratch.
Just to hammer the point home: There is no shame in copying someone else's team.
To repeat a line from VGC Guide : "If teambuilding is daunting: you don't actually have to do it at all, if you don't want to. It's easier than ever to use teams that other people have made!"

But I want to Teambuild anyways

Maybe Glaceon is your favourite Pokemon.
Maybe you want to use all the elemental monkeys in one team.
Maybe you want to test out a brand new Mega.
Maybe you figured out a cool combination; like Bulldozing your partner Pokemon will trigger Lash Out to become a 150 Base Power move before STAB.
Whatever the case is, you want to make your own team. In that case, continue reading.

Step 0: Copy from someone else.

I know, I know, you want to make your super cool OC donut steel team, but consider that it might already have been done before. Someone out there have already figured out your combo, they've done the hard work of making an offensive Weavile team. They have thought of Frost Breath + Anger Point before. They have already thought of the best teammates for Mega Meowstic. You dont need to do the hard work anymore, you dont need to figure out the best switch ins for your specific combo. You just need to look it up.
Youtube.
Tournament results.
Reddit.
Ask around in /pcg/.
Someone must have used it before. Even if you dont outright use their team, its good information to hear from them; what does this team struggle with, what are some interesting combos you can weave into this team. I implore you, just go through what other people have tried before, at least you have some semblance of what it should look like. Link to various team repositories below.

Bonus Step 0: See how teambuilding from scratch actually looks like

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Step 1: A core of two Pokemon

Alright a rain team. The obvious starting point is the Rain setter with Drizzle. The two options we have is Pelipper and Politoed. We choose Pelipper since it it supports our next key piece in Dragonite very well with Tailwind. Focus Sash almost ensures that it will live one hit and set it up. With Weather Ball and Hurricane, it also applies real pressure.
With Rain up, we need a Pokemon to use this to the fullest. Remember, we only have 5 turns in the weather. So, we will be using a hard hitting new Mega, Dragonite. It has great bulk and Multiscale. The two main moves we would want to use in Rain would be Hurricane and Thunder, which gets accuracy increased to 100% under this weather.

Step 2: The supporting casts

Right now our team needs good defensive switch in. Archaludon fits in that slot easily as our defensive anchor. Dragon Pulse, and Flash Cannon gives it good STAB options for things which threatens Dragonite, while Electro Shot makes Archaludon a monster under rain. Basculegion is one of the main sweeper which cleans up whatever Dragonite and Archaludon have weakened. We run Swift Swim since we almost always play under rain which outspeeds just about everything, and between rain boosted Wave Crash and cleaning up the rest with Last Respects, he is the backup plan should things go south. Sneasler gives you a better matchup against M-Floette and Tyranitar, between Dire Claw and Close Combats. Fake out is also very important if we want to setup tailwind for our team. Rotom-Heat is a great wall for sun teams, threatening both Venusaur with Overheat and Charizard with Thunderbolt, while not taking a lot of damage.

Step 3: Refine it

Now you have an idea of how it looks like, try it out. Play a few rounds with it.
Keep note of your wins and losses. Did you actually understand how you won? Did you understand why you lost?
Is there anything you could add which would make your life easier? Is there a team member which isnt pulling their weight?
Just try and refine it until you are happy with

Just ask

One person can only know so much. Ask around. Someone out there always know more than you. They play this game religiously. They know the newest ins and out of the meta. They watch all the youtube videos so you dont have to. You only have so much time in a day to overthink the team. Just ask for help and someone will answer.
Twitter
Discord
/pcg/
Wherever you can find people who is willing, just ask them how do you improve your team.

See this concept in action

This subsection will prove that the bare basics of teambuilding philosophy is repeated in just about every single team building video that you will ever see.

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I speedran the Pokemon Champions Ladder with this INFAMOUS duo, by CybertronVGC

Charizard + Venusaur

Duo Synergy:

"Who should I pair with Charizard....... Venusaur is the most common lead because it is the most oppressive... disrupt with Sleep Powder early and have strong Heat Waves"

Supporting Casts:

"Clean up the game with Choice Scarf Garchomp. Incineroar gets you out of some bad leads matchup...... Allows for defensive pivoting. Sneasler is a Pokemon I bring a lot if I see Incineroar...threaten them with knock-outs. For rain or sand...... Rotom can knock them out for you....."

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I Built a Tricky Mega Chandelure Team, by WolfeyVGC

Chandelure + Whimsicott

Duo Synergy:

"...good in either tailwind or Trick Room. Chandelure itself can set up Trick Room. We need a Tailwind setter, and we decided to go with Whimsicott"

Supporting Casts:

"We need help setting up. Its Scrappy Kangaskhan. We need a pokemon that is good under Trick Room, the fourth Pokemon is Torkoal. This is our answer to Basculegion and Kingambit... To beat Kingambit we are adding Sneasler. We need a fast Pokemon in this team that doesnt rely wholly on trick room or tailwind, and Basculegion is the best choice scarf Pokemon right now."

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EVERYBODY SAID Expanding Force MEGA Alakazam WOULDN'T WORK in Master Rank..., by pokeaimMD

Alakazam + Meowstic

Duo Synergy:

"Prankster Psychic Terrain Meowstic that way Alakazam can click Expanding Force"

Supporting Casts:

"Dragapult's main purpose is to knock out Sneasler. Get enough chip on Incineroar with Dragon Darts, that way Focus Blast from Alakazam can knock it out. Choice Scarf Garchomp. Purpose is to click Rock Slide for the team... Gives us speed control. Next to Garchomp, Rotom is very very solid because of Levitate. Hydro Pump can help with Incineroar. Imprison Farigiraf, stops opponent from using priority moves against us. Stops opponent from using Trick Room "

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Speed & Priority

This section is a very simplistic explanation of Priority. There are basically two rules as to Priority moves:

1. Faster Mons move first
2. Moves in the higher priority bracket moves first

Who moves first?

The most common example which confuses people

Practical Usage & Speed

You dont actually have to remember each Pokemon's speed stats to know who will move first.
Lets take all we know so far and look at some basic examples

Weather, Abilities and Turn Order

Here is the step by step of what will happen with these two leads, assuming no items, no investment in speed in any mons.

1. Tyranitar (the faster weather setter) sets up Sandstorm
2. Pelipper (slower than Tyranitar) sets up Rain

Starting from Turn 1, the Rain will be up, not Sandstorm.
From the moment the game starts, we can basically get the gist of the turn order next round:

1. Basculegion, whos speed is Doubled in Rain due to Swift Swim, will most likely move first
2. Excadrill, whos speed is not affected by the weather, will move second (Important: Know your own team's speed order)
3. Tyranitar, the faster weather setter, will move third
4. Pelipper, the slowest weather setter, will move last.

Mega Evolution, Switching and Turn Order

Here is the step by step of what will happen with these two leads, assuming they both Mega, and click Protect.

1. Aerodactyl will Mega first
2. Charizard will Mega second

Okay now after Mega, lets assume both Pokemon will switch out. Lets see what happens.

1. Mega Aerodactyl will switch out first
2. Mega Charizard will switch out second

Tailwind, Trick Room and Turn Order

Here is the step by step of what will happen with these leads, assuming no items, no investment in speed in any mons (hence the two Aerodactyl would initially speed tie).

1. Whimsicott moves first (Tailwind (+1 from Prankster))
2. Opponent's Aerodactyl moves second (now @ 260 Speed)(Rock Slide)
3. Our Aerodactyl moves third (still @ 130 Speed)(Rock Slide)
4. Oranguru moves last (still @ 60 Speed)(Trick Room -7)

Now under Trick Room

With the Trick Room being up, the Turn Order is reversed. So now Oranguru is the fastest mon on the field, with the opponent's Aerodactyl the slowest.

1. Oranguru moves first (60 Spe)
2. Our Aerodactyl moves second (130 Spe)
3. Whimsicott moves third (232 Spe, after being doubled from Tailwind)
4. Opponent's Aerodactyl moves last (260 Spe, after being doubled from Tailwind)

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Team Preview

Lots of games are won or lost purely on team preview. Knowing who to bring, who to leave behind, what is your best leads, estimating your opponent's leads, and playing to your outs are all skills which the game never tells you. A good selection on preview can turn a bad matchup into a winning one, and vice versa.
This section of the guide will closely follow a video by CybertronVGC 'How to learn from your LOSSES in Pokemon Champions' [Link]. He goes more in depth in the video but this guide serves as the bulletpoints version of it.

TLDR

Knowing Your Team

Before you even begin a match, you need to know what exactly is the purpose of the team, and how does each member carry their weight.

• This is a very simple rain team, with the core members being Pelipper, Archaludon and Basculegion.
• Common threats on the ladder are Sun teams (which reduces our water damage and overrides the rain), hence why we have Mega Aerodactyl which outspeeds and threatens Char Y with Rock Slides.
• Rounding up the team is Sneasler for support, and setup Garchomp which uses the tailwind to great effect.

Knowing Your Opponent

What is the main goal of the opponent?/What are the threats facing you?

While they have two main contenders for Megas (Floette and Delphox), this is most likely a Floette game.
Why?

• most of our team resists Heat Wave, and Psychic isnt that threatening without any boosts
• without a weather setter on their side (to support Delphox's Heat Waves), most likely we will get the rain up
• Scarfed Jolly Basculegion always outspeeds Delphox, even outside of rain

Which Pokemon on my team deals with the threats above?

Since we have established they will most likely plan around Floette, how do we deal with it?

• Obviously Sneasler is great for Dire Claw
• Archaludon is okay with Flash Cannon, though Calm Mind Floette variants can take several hits from it, so you might consider bringing a Tailwind user so you can Flash Cannon before the Calm Mind goes up

Knowing all this, which team member do i bring as a Lead vs as Backup vs dropped?

Here is where mindgames happen. If we expect the opponent to just setup Floette (Leads Floette & Aerodactyl/Sneasler), then Garchomp is an easy drop.

• Without Protect, the Garchomp slot is liable to take any damage from Floette and Chomp itself doesnt threaten Floette with any move
• Remember, the opponent also sees Garchomp as a threat to 4 of the members, so they would prioritize taking out Chomp as fast as possible

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Now we have dropped all the easy options, lets see who do we bring:

• Sneasler is an easy answer, Dire Claw + Fake out threatens both Floette and their support.
• Archaludon is also an easy bring. If we bring Sneasler, the opponent's Aerodactyl sees an easy kill with Dual Wingbeat, but with Archaludon threatening Electro Shot and Flash Cannon, it most likely wont stay.
• Since we are bringing Archaludon, Pelipper is the next obvious choice. With an opposing Sneasler, expect a Close Combat coming your way, so Pelipper is great for setting up the weather and tanking any CCs, firing off Hurricanes in response.
• Continuing from that, since we brought Rain anyways, Basculegion is an easy fit into the team, as it also protects Archaludon from any Sneasler leads, and isnt threatened all that much from the team outside of Kingambit's Sucker Punch. (Though remember, we did bring in Sneasler)

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What about Aerodactyl?

• While Aerodactyl is good, it only hits Sneasler for supereffective, and since we already established they probably are not going to be bringing in Delphox, and three of our Mons already deals with opposing Aerodactyl, he is not that valuable.
• An argument is made in the video that a faster tailwind is more valuable, so there is a discussion to be made in bringing him in, but ultimately thats a choice on what do you value.

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Quickstart

TL;DR QUICKSTART
Q. Which of the starter teams should I choose?

• As of the writing of this guide (Season M-1), we are in a weather wars meta, and as such Tyranitar is by far the best team to choose. The whole team is pretty well rounded overall with Arcanine, Sylveon and Whimsicott. Pikachu is also good due to the inclusion of heavy hitters like Kingambit, Garchomp and Gengar.

Q. How do I use the team?

How to trade?

Q. How do I get more Pokemon in Champions?

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Q. How do I get more Pokemon in Home?

• Either transfer it from your games on the switch, or start playing Pokemon GO. If you have a friend, you can log into your friend's switch and they can directly transfer Pokemon from their console into your Home.

Q. What is a good team to make?

• Check tournament listings, pick whatever looks cool for you

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Using the Starter Teams

Tyranitar (Doubles)

Members

How do you use it

The one question every team have to answer is "How is your speed control? Do you go fast, or do you go slow?". Ive teched this team on the bulkier side, with Tyranitar being the main speedy Mon mainly to be used under Tailwind. The rest is heavily reliant on Arcanine to weaken the opponent with Intimidate and Snarl in order to tank hits before firing off your own damage.
Leads:

• Arcanine and Whimsicott should be your default lead. Arcanine is specifically built so Flare Blitz and Extreme Speed handles Sneasler, so Whimsicott should Protect first if you see it.
• Arcanine and Sylveon is the hyper aggressive lead, since you outright threaten the delete button with Hyper Beam with Intimidate and Snarl to ensure Sylveon doesnt immediately get traded.
• Tyranitar and Arcanine is a decent lead should you see Pelipper or Charizard. Try your best to gain the weather advantage on turn 1 by conserving the Tyranitar Mega, and you should gain advantage and free damage as the opponent switches around to get rain/sun back up.

When should you bring:

• Tyranitar: Good all around into most teams. Notably he struggles against Mega Floette leads, or against Garchomp
• Sylveon: Notably covers Tyranitar's weaknesses. Hyper Beam is the main source of damage, especially in opponent's main damage dealers. Mainly threatened by a Sneasler lead, but Arcanine should pick up the knockout.
• Drampa: Not particularly good against anything, however could have a niche in a hard Trick Room team, which is a team which solely works under a Trick Room. Generally not important.
• Aggron: Excellent against mainly physical teams and can hard carry teams on his own. If you do not see Special Attackers like Charizard, or Frosslass, consider bringing him.

Alternatives/Changes you might consider

• As stated above, Arcanine has 4-Moveslot-Syndrome. Notably Will-O-Wisp, Bulldoze or Protect might be preferred, but I think all four of the moves is justified in the current meta, though you can change it depending on your choice.
• Focus Sash on Whimsicott and sand from Tyranitar is a bit of anti-synergy as the sand might break the focus sash. This can be changed to Occa Berry to reduce fire moves from Charizard or Sitrus Berry, instead giving Arcanine the Leftovers.
• You could play this team as a dedicated Trick Room team instead, giving Whimsicott Trick Room and switching all the main attackers to Quiet (+SpA, - Spe) or Brave (+Atk, -Spe). This does give Drampa a lot more utility, with White Herb allowing it to spam Draco Meteors.

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Miscellaneous

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Type Interactions and immunities

Effects when in the Roster Ranch

Miscellaneous Videos for reference

Mindgames

The Kingambit 50/50 by Blip Exists

In-depth match analysis example

A Comprehensive Match Analysis Featuring Aaron Zheng by TheDelybird and CybertronVGC

TheDelybird Zero to Zero. Youtube Playlists

Some people swear by these playlists explaining common concepts for Pokemon VGC
Zero to Hero. The Basics
Zero to Hero. Intermediate
Zero to Hero. Advanced

Other helpful links

Main Resource: https://pikalytics.com/

• Data from community tournaments (>25 players)
• Tons of info: usage, competitive sets, speed checker, damage calc
• Speed tiers: https://pikalytics.com/speed-tiers
• Lacks Stat spreads

Usage Statistics: https://pokechamdb.com/en (jp website, some things still not translated)

• Data from in-game ladder
• Usage rankings, moves, items, abilities & EV spreads

Dedicated Speed Calculator: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kzr8t-Ix38JO9MW0lTJO8O50HceQyUp_k91Dq_-g7zc/edit?usp=sharing

• More autistic calculator when factoring in Tailwind, Scarf, Unburden, etc
• File > Save a copy > "Check all Pokemon"

JP Damage Calculator: https://poke.terurun.jp/damage-calc

Alternative Damage Calculator:

• https://nerd-of-now.github.io/NCP-VGC-Damage-Calculator/
• https://vgcmulticalc.com/

Official Twitter Account:

• https://nitter.net/Pokemon_Champs
• https://nitter.net/Poke_Champ_jp

List of previous and current gift Pokemon: https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/giftpokemon.shtml

Replica Team Repositories

Replica Team Repositories:

• https://victoryroad.pro/champions-replica/
• https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Champions/archives/594181
• https://play.limitlesstcg.com/tournaments/completed
• https://liberty-note.com/2026/05/13/champions-seasonm1-top100/
  • Ranked Battle Season M-1 Double Battle Final Ranking Top 100 [Japanese]
• https://pokebase.app/pokemon-champions/teams
• http://tinyurl.com/vgcpastes2026
  • VGC PokePaste repository for Champions
• https://yakkun.com/bbs/party/
  • Japanese website, use Google Translate
  • Have a wide variety of user submitted teams that reached Champions or Master rank
• https://standings.reportworm.com/
  • Dedicated VGC Majors website
• https://teamsheet.gg/teams
  • Team reports made which works with Pokepaste
• https://www.pokemon.com/us/features/all/content-products_vg-and-apps-product-names.pokemon-champions
  • Official Pokemon Champions featured teams created by pro players.

Stat Point Optimizer Tool:

• https://pokesynergy.app/
• This App Solves Pokémon Stat Spreads In Seconds, by Scoriox

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Changelog

24/4/26: Created V.1
25/4/26: Added Team Preview section
27/4/26: Added Priority section
5/5/26: Added Tyranitar starter team subsection
23/5/26: Added Type Interactions and immunities subsection. Added Teambuilding section.
26/6/26: Added Effects when in the Roster Ranch
21/7/26: Added Official Pokemon Champion featured teams (Replica Team Repositories)