Pokémon VGC Team Building: Preparing for Your First Tourname
ملخص
In the Pokémon Champions | VGC Battles & Tournaments server, a member shares their journey preparing for their first real-life Pokémon VGC tournament. The discussion features a competitive team build including Mega Delphox, Incineroar, and Alolan Ninetales, alongside advice on using Pokémon Showdown to practice. This post highlights the importance of laddering and strategic preparation for community members looking to improve their competitive play.
FIRST REAL LIFE EVENT I SUCK AT THIS GAME 😊
Hiii
Okay remind me what you are laddering with now
That's so exciting you'll have fun
Delphox-Mega @ Delphoxite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 23 HP / 32 SpA / 11 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Heat Wave
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Rotom-Wash @ Mystic Water
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 24 HP / 12 Def / 16 SpA / 14 SpD
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 18 HP / 22 Def / 21 SpD / 5 Spe
Serious Nature
- Fake Out
- Throat Chop
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
Sinistcha-Masterpiece @ Leftovers
Ability: Hospitality
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 17 Def / 17 SpD
Bold Nature
- Matcha Gotcha
- Life Dew
- Protect
- Rage Powder
Sneasler @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 Def / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
Ninetales-Alola @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 2 HP / 32 SpA / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Aurora Veil
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
I'm laddering with these guys
Have you been to a tournament for anything before
Nope
this is my first time
i'm anxious but also excited
Okay gimme some time to think over
Currently trying not to drown in the bowels of the earth
careful-
Also tbh I'll most probably add Floette
Gonna spend my night grinding ZA Royale wins
So it's at least an option
It's so bad down here dude
I'm ankle deep almost already
Kane you should focus on your job
You can help me tomorrow
It's on the 19th
Oor
just later today lol
Can't do much until the sumps are unclogged
And the ventilation stops failing in random areas
Yah nerves will get ya just try to have fun yk
Ok muffin here's what I want you to do to start this
Go play as close to 50 matches with your team in showdown
Take all the battle logs (the text portion that says what happened) copy and paste them one at a time into chatgpt then tell it to roast your misplays
Once you have finished as many as you can feasibly do tell it to condense all of the misplays down into the bare bones and tell them to you
Then tell it to inform you on how to fix or change the misplays
And send the message it gives you here for the final answer of misplays and solutions
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regma-2587010207
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regma-2587015282
You led parting shot into protect then let incineroar die for free for starters
You're watching from the wrong perspective
I didn't parting shot into protect
my opponent did
I feel very bad for assuming you were Arianagrandeslop
lmfaaao
Delphox-Mega @ Delphoxite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 32 SpA / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Rotom-Wash @ Magnet
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpA
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 16 Atk / 17 Def / 11 SpD / 2 Spe
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Throat Chop
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
Sinistcha-Masterpiece @ Leftovers
Ability: Hospitality
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 18 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
- Matcha Gotcha
- Life Dew
- Protect
- Rage Powder
Sneasler @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 Def / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 2 Def / 32 SpA / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
So, to keep general chat clean, you said rotom felt clunky?
Why was it added?
What even is this name 😭
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regmabo3-2587626983
Okay I am seeing a decent chunk of problems
First off
You're still so stuck on not swapping out your mons until they die
Noooo
I wanted to let muffin analyze first
https://tenor.com/view/okay-okay-okay-okay-wheezer-skymed-settle-down-chill-gif-18828813493217981
I will watch and wait
Hehe
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regmabo3-2587630673
Okay
Let's go over the first game
I literally do need his advice directly though
Ok
Discord sent us an expired image link.
This is the lead
As we have confirmed gambit cannot kill with sucker punch so you can double down onto sinistcha, fine by me, you as well
Pressure Crabominable immediately
Stall with Protect / King’s Shield
Force Sucker Punch fails
Bring in Delphox safely
Clean with spread damage
Respect the sucker punch and make a read
Defensive swap ins
Defensive swap ins
Defensive swap ins
Defensive swap ins
You play so linear that is why everything feels so clunky to you
Discord sent us an expired image link.
Turn two, wide guard, makes sense with primarina, I fail another sucker punch and you take my mermaid
2 to 4
How do I play non-linear then?
Identify the turns biggest threat to you
Defend yourself
Play more into what will the opponent do
Swap mons for positioning to make him swap his pressure into you
Make a read for protects for you and him
Think about how doha can kill both of your mons this turn then play into that
Every single turn
And adjust
So, in match two, you lose sneasler, cause you didn't keep the protect in mind
You also dont respect kingambits at all
Sucker punch really hurts some mons it does nothing to but some it does a lot
gambit is the one that fears your cc the most, meaning it will most likely protect, instead of going after you sword, as i know it has kingsshield ready to go
if you targeted crab there it would have either died or lived on a slither,
And since you know that he fears cc he's gonna either try to pressure you into swapping and protect or try to ohko it after you get baited
which happened in the end
The proper play is double into the crab
Or cc crab and protect
Or protect protect even to see what his thoughts were
keep track of protect turns
then the turn after we see you bring in delphox, of course it threatens both my mons, but as you have seen i carry sucker punch on gambit, which is a big threat to your delphox. Meaning, an attack will be risky
Which is where foul play would be great odds are you get a free one while he tries to ohko you
And you go into my crab, while protect was down that turn on gambit, meaning you had a clean kill
Knowing the sucker punch bait you get free into gambit with other mon
Yeah
Do that now Delphox is set to sweep and you've removed your threat
Does this all make any sense muffin?
It does
That's how we play good pokemon
I did assess Gambit as a threat though I couldn't remove him properly
You could
It is really just 3D chess
By wasting his protect
And threatening with the Delphox swap
your best shot would have been protect first turn the fox came in
Then you get either a free cc or a free heat wave depending on who he thinks is the biggest threat
At the time I couldn't because I was underskilled that's what I meant by properly
even after sneasler died
And if it were me mega Delphox is the bigger threat
Yes that's why we showdown
So we can help you understand how to think out your turns
I would still have used sucker punch and then aegislash would revenge kill
Make him misplay
With pressure
Swapping is still pressure
Wasting a protect is still pressure
Using protect is pressure
One of, if not the most important parts are:
- What will my opponent *most likely * do
- Do they have protect
At least, that is what I have noticed playing these past two weeks, is the veteran here not me, I am just trying to help with what I have learned these weeks haha
I think I am going about doing the former wrongly tbh
Thinking about my opponent will most likely do is great but then I can't guess it properly because maybe it's not something I'd think they do which would be a great play on their part obviously but if it happens to a consistent degree the issue is on how I logic everything
Is there a way to better process that?
What I would advise, it to first go over the two replays above, turn for turn, write down what happened and what you could have done differently
Well sure I can do that but, I still need to know what I'm bringing tomorrow, the trip is 2-3 hours depending on the traffic when I mean I gotta settle on a team tonight I mean it
Which is why I stated most likely, so what I mean by that is:
If you were your opponent, and fighting yourself, what would be the most optimal play you think of. Now that you have that play in your head, go back to your own side, now what is YOUR best play to counter your opponents best play
How long till you go sleep
Yeah that explains it better
3 hours from now I'm gonna head to bed
Great, there isn't much more you can do tbf
So, you played a few matches against me, meaning you only had TR matchups, of course there are many more teams
The only issue is getting you the trained aegislash
What games do you have
I did well against a rain team playing on ladder on showdown with this team but
That's ladder
Idk about open sheet
SV and ZA
I am frankly broke in SV and after training Dnite I'm also broke in Champions
Open sheet is ladder, but with less surprised, so should be doable, of course your opponent will be less surprised too
I could ladder to grind VP
But idk how time-managing that is and
No, you need to showdown to train
I wanna spend the rest of my night clearing out brain fog
You will have to play showdown for at least another hour probably to get used to the team
Do you have to leave home immediatly after geting up?
Yeah
Also send me your aegislash spread please
Muffin what is your single battle ranking in champions
and what is your double
Delphox-Mega @ Delphoxite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 32 SpA / 2 SpD / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Rotom-Wash @ Magnet
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpA
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 16 Atk / 17 Def / 11 SpD / 2 Spe
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Throat Chop
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
Dragonite-Mega @ Dragoninite
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 SpA / 2 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hurricane
- Tailwind
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Sneasler @ White Herb
Ability: Unburden
Level: 50
EVs: 32 Atk / 2 Def / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
Aegislash @ Focus Band
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 32 Atk / 2 Def
Brave Nature
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
- Sacred Sword
- Poltergeist
Why did it send the whole team
whatevs
Doesnt matter
Ultra ball Rank 2 rn
Are you low ranked in singles?
I played nothing in singles
Oh I could grind there yeah
See, that is where we save time, first matches are free wins ez VP
I will get you a mostly trained aegislash in 30 minutes
Thanks
You will have to finish it in game
Ima just get some VP for the moveset
So now, either grind a bit of VP on singles, bit braindead play to clear your mind
Then, when you have the full set in champions
DONT spend VP yet please
I won't
first go on showdown, play matches, see where you struggle
adjust in showdown, and adjust until happy
THEN copy into champions fully with the earned VP in single battles
Sound good?
Yeah
peachy
Great, I will get you the sword
and shield
I'll tag you when I have it, and then I'll sleep is already after 00:00
What game do you have btw so we can speed up trading
swsh
so I'll move it to home, then dont move it to sv, immediately go to champions, or it will reset moves
ofc
So we'll trade through home got it
lemme give u my friend code
SGNYPBBGGJZG
Got the egg now to hatch and moveset it, with nature
Don't know if I can do full EVs
I can handle them EVs
If I grind enough
Hopefully
singles should give an easy 1600
you will have to learn it poltergeist in champions
it doesnt get it in swsh
ok
I have 180 dusk stones XD
put something up on GTS actually, or are friend trades working again
Wait they aren't working?
idjwidw9dwdiwd
I got like 4k points
I can train up Aegislash when I need to
So don't worry too much about that
I changed the nature and it has 3 out of 4 moves
also it is in a beast ball so that is cool I guess XD
I dont think so, but GTS will do just fine
do you have some trash mon?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regma-2587660489
Opponent quit-
😭
Put it on GTS, and ask for a Aegislash, male, lvl 50
Tell me which mon it is and I'll trade it to you
I do lemme put one in my box
You had a great opening turn
starmie would have died, and his back upds probably sucked into your lead
Sometimes luck is on my side
You are gaining a Grimer from this Doha
True profit
Grimer lvl 20 asking for lvl 50 Aegislash with the ability sticky hold and the nature lonely
You got the Aeglislash :D
I was tempted to fake out Pelipper but then it hit me that
That's too predictable
Did my phone's battery die rn of all times fml
See, you are starting to get the gist of it, protect first turn into two mons sneasler is weak to is the best play
Charge it and play showdown
make some tweaks if needed
By protecting Sneasler and Electrowebbing I get to reduce speed output of a potential Tailwind
And hit for weaknesses while keeping Sneasler alive
Yep, see that is the correct line of thinking :D
The counterplay would tbh be to protect starmie and setup Tailwind anyway but Rotom would one shot anyway or to double protect
Double protecting was the best play they could've done imo cause I would've wasted a protect
They could have went double protect, but what did you have in the back
Aegislash and Delphox 🫠
Wait no
I think it was Dragonite instead of Delphox
That would have made more sense into your opponents team, so lets assume dnite
then the play after double protect would have been?
think about it
Like the play they would've done or the one I would've done?
I'd switch Sneasler into Aegislash tbh
Yeah so they double protect, what do you do next with aegislash and dnite in the back
Aegislash into Sneasler slot and I would've probably either Electrowebbed again or swapped Dnite again and mega evolved to try and take down Pelipper with Hurricane and use Aegislash to take down Starmie with poltergeist
I can set up my own Tailwind as well if I have Dnite on the field
And Aegislash just folds Starmie because its psychic and water moves are weak against Aegislash
So what I personally think would have the play is to go aegislash and electroweb, aeg resisting psychic and hurricane
Then you would either slow current mons, or slow the switched in ones, as the have no ground types
So yh you play makes sense, but don't go to far into switching, as switching rotom too might f up your own tempo
That being said, I am going to sleep, so Muffin, you go get em girl, and lemme know how it went :D
Gn Doha
Thanks for Aegislash
I'm gonna lock in my team soon honestly after a couple games
I can switch out EVs as much as I want so hopefully that'll help
No problem at all, you didn't have the VP and I could do with 15 minutes less sleep haha
Nice, sounds good!
Welp night and glhf!
Thanks for telling me to use Aegislash btw I am sorry for being angry at an inadequate time my issues are not with you, sorry.
I had a feeling you would like him
Sorry my phone's dead and I'm trying to find a way to reliably charge it lmao
But yes get a feel on showdown play as many matches before bed as you can. Write down what you did wrong and how you should have played the matchup also write down what you did right
Send me all replays
Just give me a lot here
I am surprised you don't like dnite with how much you like rotom and hate garchomp
I CANT SLEEP
I’ve been trying to be an interim coach in the mean time hehe
Hmm
Gang how do we feel weakness reduction berry on Incin instead of Sitrus?
From the games I've had Incin seems to suffer a lot from Sneasler
Oooh you want chople?
Yeah
Do you also bring aegislash to those games, lets start with that
Yeah
Is it on the field when struggling against sneasler?
If so what is in the back?
Cause chople will only go into specific use cases, when sitrus is going to be overall utility
Hmm true
My idea is that I'd want to be able to safely reduce Sneasler's attack but
I think I can still use Incin if I can pivot right
To fufill that purpose with clever switches into Aegislash
Yes, and that would allow you to keep sitrus
I wanna show the names I picked for these guys
Also, at tournaments
Do I have to bring my own dock?
We are running sitrus for a reason
Show em
Discord sent us an expired image link.
Peter
Hornet's name will be "BruxaDo71"
Its shiny :O
Hornet was given to me by a friend and Sneasler was given to me by someone in the server
This truly is a
"The friends we made along the way"
Moment
Sitrus is there to ensure when he comes back onto the field he isn't useless
He should not be in a position to take cc lmao
Yes Kane con perish, Doha explained that
Got shiny sneasler haha nice
And if he does he should be built to survive one cc from adamant max attack sneasler is he not?
Adamant sneasler is an outlier tho
It's how I run my sneasler
For the ohkos with sash
Yeah, but you are an outlier too 😂
If you know it can happen you prepare for ut
He is
After he takes one your next move needs to be to remove him
Not parting shot unless you know without a shadow of a doubt you are faster
I think I'll avoid risking that most of the time lol
Just defensive swap
Or try to
I can't be arrogant
Sometimes it is unavoidable
A good exampke
You really need to not be faked out. So you have your incin fake on uut theres since you're faster. That way your other mon can setup tailwind or whatnot
But he takes heavy dmg in the process
True
Your next move if you are the fastest is parting shot
If not you manually make a defensive switch
I should scout out for possible protects so I can guarantee I can parting shot though
Sitrus is better into rain teams
Chople is only good against one thing
Make sense?
Yeah I got that
One will always help one only helps in a niche situation
I think I'm good to lock this in rn, the most I could do rn is keep on practicing through the night and hope I can make it out of at least one set tomorrow
gl :)
I just wanna rant with fellow pokenerds at the end of the day
Im going to sleep… again
Haha I get that
I still wanna know tho
You're getting ahead of yourself
Besides my switch and my charger
Should I bring my dock?
I have no idea
Dont think so?
How?
Kane keeps giving me anxiety all day long 😭
No you dont
It isn't bedtime yet. Play more showdown ask more questions
Lock it in before you go to sleep
Kane and I are two sides on a coin in this 😂
take your time there is no need to rush
It is for me, muffin didnt go to bed yet. She can lock the team and still swap EVs. Moveset dont know
I can't moveset but I can change EVs
which is why you just be patient
Have you played into m. Floette yet?
You could wait a bit longer as Kane says. But I don’t think you are playing that many matches anymore? If you are just wait a bit longer
I want you to wait to lock in until you do something like play shinka or shiny
Ask if either of them will bo3 you
She played against me, I am on the level of Shiny and Shinka, right Kane?!? Right?!? 🚬
Yeah buddy just look at the sunset one last time with me
Shinka is better than me. By far
🤩
Shiny is slightly better than me
Gotta cope somehow right
Though me one speck of light, is that I am ranked just as high as Shiny atm
If there is anyone who will think of something we didn't it's those two
In Champions that is
Both are awake so go after em
Doha is tired and I am at work. It is very easy for us to overlook something
I am as equally tired as you two are
Just double check what a couple more good players think. Outside perspective is always great
Sure
I would trust those two to correct me
Well, shiny. Shinkas style of play really doesn't fit my own
But that is why it is important to get perspective from someone like hkm
Sleep is more important than games probably
After that is done relax
Oh and muffin
Drink some fucking water
And eat some breakfast
Your brains super important for these
It's 8PM what breakfast am I eating chat
When you wake up dummy
Hydrate. And eat.
Ye w advice
Properly. Give your brain fuel or it's gonna fail you in something high stress
Eat oatmeal
There's no oatmeal in my house unfortunately
Diet is different around here
I'll try to eat some brainy food though
Just good carbs will do
Fats too
No matter.
Just have breakfast and make it low sugar
Eggs toast whatever
Sugar makes your brain crash that's why I don't drink soda at tournaments
Trust me. If you to to a bunch you can tell the difference in yourself without those three important things
I once misclicked because I was crashing off sugar and the match was highly stressful costing me an L
Mmm some sugars are good
No complex carbs
Simple
There is a big difference between natural like an apple and a bowl or fruit loops lmao
Or pancakes with a bunch of syrup
Yes this is what I was saying
Fruit good
Bring snack to tournament
Back during sw/sh my dad would take me to a pancake house before in persons lol
I'd be mid match jittery as hell. Best advice I got. Eat light but filling avoid any processed sugars drink tons of water and remember it's a tournament but unless you are having fun, you're gonna get tilted and lose every time
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9championsvgc2026regma-2587719971
Played another game
Dragonite plays very well with the support for tailwind but it's kinda slow admittedly but the bulk is worth it imo
Now she's starting to see the vision
I know it's slow that's what the tailwind is for. Lol
Personally I like scale shot for the dnite mirrors so it breaks multiscale but the way it's currently set up it'll solve your chomp problem for you as well as t-tar
Ok I am comfortable with this team
