Up-to-date VGC Resources
Whether you know it or not, members of the VGC community have risen to the occasion to provide resources for every player to get their competitive edge sharpened and honed for the latest tournaments.
Unfortunately, providing lists of the latest resources doesn’t always have everything. We have done our absolute best to create a comprehensive up-to-date list to provide you with the tools/content you need for a successful VGC season.
If you feel that we have somehow left off a valuable tool or active VGC content creator that should be added to this list, leave a comment under this post, or DM us and we will add it/them right away and credit whoever told us about it with a mention of their addition to the piece!
An up-to-date guide on the best VGC Resources (updated 4/22/24)
Multi-use tools:
https://labmaus.net/tournaments (What was once a simple Twitter bot is now an ENTIRE website for official and unofficial teams and Pokemon usage stats)
Pikalytics.com (One of the most important modern tools for VGC players. A website with the main function of reading data from Pokemon Showdown/In-Game Battle Ladder and giving consumers an easy way to study the top-rated Pokemon in each format.)
Victory Road VGC (The latest in Pokemon VGC news and tournaments, recent VGC Top Cuts, and more! They’ve grown into the powerhouse they are now alongside the rise of Pikalytics)
Nimbasa City Post (Website primarily run by TempleVGC and Alex Collins, has one of the BEST updated VGC calculators, as well as the latest VGC Top Cut lists. They’ve got some archived content going back to 2017 through today)
NuggetBridge (2012-2016 VGC Website that has inspired any project that exists today to help better the VGC Community. Many of the articles are written by the legendary players of VGC today. The article/blogs have stood the test of time no matter the current format)
Limitless VGC Tours (What started as an innovative TCG platform has changed into a blossoming tournament hosting site. It’s RARE for any site to beat out Challonge and Battlefy, but they have done it! Very open to community feedback, and easy to use, this is the premier way to play grassroots events. Check to see if there’s a tournament today!)
Falinks Teambuilder (A new and innovative way to build with a friend! The site has some other tools like Pikalytics. It’s a bit newer, and will need more time for it to be fully appreciated)
VGC Guide (From their website, “Here, you will find text resources designed to help readers understand the fundamentals of competitive Pokémon. Whether you’re a complete beginner to VGC or you’ve been enjoying it for a while, you’ll find something that helps you build your skills your own way”)
Marriland Teambuilder (A helpful tool that is easy to use/understand and will provide you a breakdown of your team's weaknesses and strengths, down to the type coverage of moves as well!)
https://pokemondb.net/ (From their website, “Welcome to The Pokémon Database! We believe in making Pokémon information as clear and easy to digest as possible. On this page below you'll find the recent Pokémon news and updates to this site. Delve deeper using the menu above to find detailed Pokédex entries, attack stats, evolution chains, and our thriving community of awesome Pokéfans who'll answer your questions. And much more besides!”)
Smogon Forums (Their database on formats beyond VGC is vast, with occasional VGC events running from the forum mods/admins. An undervalued resource that has stood the test of time. It’s a forum, so they’re not as popular as they once were, but it is still VERY relevant and active)
Serebii (All the specific information you could need for anything VGC/Pokemon related. The ultimate Pokemon resource)
Bulbapedia (Need to know ANYTHING about a Pokemon? Bulbapedia is a consumer-friendly website providing details and Wikipedia-like articles for anything in Pokemon. Breakdowns on items and specific Pokemon are especially helpful for VGC players
https://www.stalruth.dev/ (From a Top Cut explorer for Pokemon players looking for open team lists of top cuts from all seasons, and more!)
Single-use tools:
SableyeVGC’s SPAMS Version 2 (SPAMS, a matchup planning tool intended to make mapping out matchups simpler, more organized, and easier on the eyes!)
https://munchstats.com/ (On their About page, they mention this project stems from “Pikalytics is taking a while to update its usage stats.” A website with the main function of reading data from Pokemon Showdown Ladder and giving consumers an easy way to study the top-rated Pokemon in each format.)
https://munchteams.com/ (A tool similar to that of Statsugiri, this tool scans Pokemon Showdown weekly for viewable OPEN games of some of the top teams on the ladder with a replay of that team.)
Bauerdad’s PASRS Tool Version 4.2 (This tool will help you up your game after inputting replay after replay of the same team in testing. This tool will show you what’s working on your team, and what’s not. PASRS 4.0 is now compatible with the new changes to Pokemon Showdown, be aware older versions will not work)
VGC Team Prep Document (Made by Andrew A, “the goal of a prep doc is to clearly present key information such as what spreads do, key calcs, and what to do in common matchups.”)
VGC Pokepaste Repository (Evan and Team) (One of the largest collective resources of teams in an Excel spreadsheet. What started as a one-man job by Evan is now a large team effort!)
Pokemon Showdown (If you don’t know what this is, you will soon enough. THE Pokemon Simulator to play VGC and test your ideas before building a team in-game)
https://vgcmulticalc.com/ (Perform damage calculations with multiple Pokémon at the same time. A calculator focused on Pokémon VGC.)
Nerdofnow Damage Calc (While technically part of Nimbasa City Post, this calc, alongside the DevonCalc, proves to be the most up-to-date VGC calcs that will help determine if a move will knock out another Pokemon or not, or help you survive a move from another Pokemon or not.)
@VGCdata Twitter (A newer Twitter account this season providing data to players. It’s usually a GitHub link with a quick photo showing the most popular Pokemon. This will need time to be fully appreciated as well)
https://dhsufi.github.io/PokemonTeamListCreator/ (Need an open or closed team sheet for a VGC local event? This is the BEST team sheet creator.)
Matching Pokeball Legality Spreadsheet (Looking to style on the competition with matching Pokeballs, but don’t know which ones are legal for use? We got you covered.)
Project Pokemon (NOT FOR OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT USAGE) (Prefacing this by not encouraging the use of this tool for ANY official events at all. Mentioning this website/software is done so for the sake of player knowledge. For many new players, you’ll hear about players genning/hacking Pokemon into the game, and this is the website for the software tool it all stems from. We’ll list some Twitch Channels that utilize this software with their own Twitch bots to give viewers ready-to-use, unofficial Pokemon for their own free time purposes.)
Twitch Bot 1 - berichandev
Twitch Bot 2 - JohnnyCanal
Twitch Bot 3 - RocketsBlackmarket
[NOT FOR OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT USAGE] Once again, Pokemon obtained via these methods are NOT legal for tournament play and can result in disqualification from Play Pokemon events. If you need a Pokemon to try in-game, on your own, not at any official events, this is a method to get those Pokemon)
RK9 Labs (The OFFICIAL tournament sign-up website. When you want to register for a larger event, this is the platform)
VGC Content Creators list
Aaron Zheng (Aaron’s channel is a new players paradise on how to watch, learn, and play the game. Aaron explains everything, and not too much, while also giving great concise depth to any opponent and team he is using. Highly advise putting on his content to give the ol’ “Hey guys, Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng here!” a listen.)
James Baek (Another long-time content creator who is committed to his craft. Long time player of the game and very accomplished, James is a delight to watch and see what the latest teams are that he is experimenting with.)
MoxieBoosted (Newly crowned with a growing 100k+ Subscriber base, along with his amazing editing team, Moxie has been UPPING his content game to create some really interesting and hilarious content around Pokemon and the Pokemon VGC. His teams are not always meta, and for any players looking to go outside the box, he is the perfect fit. I highly recommend supporting Moxie as he has been doing content long enough that you can still get in early before he’s at the ranks of Aaron Zheng and WolfeGlick. )
NinoPokeBros (One of the most entertaining VGC Twitch Streamers around. If they’re live on Twitch, you’re in for a GOOD time. I cannot tell you how much this creator has saved me in the morning when I’m at work. Committed to the craft, and is such a down-to-earth individual. Give him a follow and a sub the next time he goes live.)
VGC Podcasts:
TubTakes (Twitch Stream Video Podcast starring ck49 (adi), Alex Underhill, NailsOU, and a rotating roster of top players discussing the latest events and top teams to consider in the given format. They’ll generally cover the latest VGC Pokemon news from DLC updates and more. Definitely aimed towards established players, maybe a bit harder for new players to understand from the very beginning but will make more sense to you, the more you watch.)
Chilling Neigh (VERY new VGC Podcast starring Tom Hayden, Conkledonk, and SableyeVGC. All established players in their own right, coming together for a good time.)
OHKO (VERY new VGC Podcast starring SierraDawnx3 and Xeminan. These two hosts pack a powerhouse of Pokemon knowledge as they are both regularly featured as official commentators for Pokemon VGC Livestreams during the regular season!)
Tools No Longer Active:
We feel that it is important to continue to list no longer active tools that at once point were an extremely helpful resource. We’ll continue to moniter these for any updates or changes. We’re committed to keeping this article up-to-date on the latest VGC Resources and Tools!
Statsugiri.gg/teams (Scans Pokemon Showdown daily for viewable OPEN games of some of the top teams on the ladder with a replay of that team)
