VGC
Beginners Guide
VGC (Video Game Championship) is the official Pokémon doubles competitive format. This guide starts from the very basics — rules, EV training, speed tiers, Tera types — and builds up to your first competitive team framework.
What is VGC?
Doubles Format: 2v2 Each Turn
Each player selects 4 from 6 Pokémon; both sides send out 2 at once. Doubles is about synergy — your two Pokémon must support each other every single turn.
Level 50 Standard
All Pokémon are brought to Level 50 automatically. This eliminates leveling advantages — pure EV allocation, move selection, and strategy decide outcomes.
Regulation F: Bring 2 Restricted Legendaries
Current Regulation F allows 1 or 2 Restricted Legendaries per team (Kyogre, Koraidon, Zacian, etc.) — but no duplicate restricted Pokémon.
Tera Type: Once Per Battle
Each Pokémon can Terastallize once per battle, replacing its type with the pre-selected Tera type. Timing this correctly is one of the most important skill expressions in VGC.
EV Training Basics
EVs (Effort Values) are hidden stats earned by defeating Pokémon, directly affecting Level 50 stats. Each Pokémon can hold 510 total EVs, max 252 per stat — every 4 EVs adds 1 stat point.
Speed Tiers: Why Speed Matters
Speed determines who moves first. In doubles, a 1-point speed advantage can decide an entire game — moving first means KOing the threat before it can act. Key Regulation F speed benchmarks:
Essential Doubles Mechanics
Almost every competitive Pokémon runs Protect. It lets your partner safely KO a threat, avoids spread move damage, and reveals opponent intentions. Not running Protect is effectively wasting a move slot.
Fake Out has the highest priority and always flinches — the target cannot act that turn. This gives your main attacker a free action. Incineroar is the most common Fake Out user in VGC.
Tailwind lasts 4 turns and doubles the Speed of your entire team. The most common solution to speed disadvantage. Tornadus’s Prankster ability grants Tailwind +1 priority.
Trick Room lasts 5 turns and makes the slowest Pokémon move first. Iron Hands (Speed 63), Calyrex-Ice (Speed 63), and other slow powerhouses become overwhelming under TR.
Spread moves (Earthquake, Rock Slide, Origin Pulse) hit both opponents simultaneously at ×0.75 power. The combined damage output makes spread moves among the most efficient moves in doubles.
Starter Team Framework
When building your first VGC team, assign clear roles to each Pokémon — avoid role overlap across all 6 slots. Once you’ve planned your roles, use the Team Builder to instantly analyze type weaknesses and speed distribution.