What is VGC?
Video Game Championships (VGC) is the official competitive Pokémon circuit for the Pokémon video game! Events are held in a wide array of formats and locales, including events you can play in at home (Global Challenges), at Leagues like ours (League Challenges and League Cups), and at the Regional level on up!
VGC tournaments are always Double Battles—that is, both players will have two Pokémon battling at the same time instead of one. In Double Battles, Pokémon can play unique supporting roles and moves that are rarely seen in Single Battles have the opportunity to shine.
What Pokémon are permitted in VGC events?
Much like the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), VGC events adhere to rotating formats known as Regulation Sets. Regulation Sets dictate which Pokémon are eligible for use in any particular format, and if there are any additional rules that must be followed. In recent VGC seasons, a Regulation change occurs approximately every 3-4 months.
Regulation Set: M-B
Full list of Pokémon that are permitted in Regulation Set M-B.
What are Open Team Lists?
Since Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, VGC tournaments are open team list—think open deck list as a TCG equivalent. Before each match, you and your opponent will trade team lists that outline the six Pokémon on your team: Stat Alignment (Nature), Ability, Item, and Moves. (Your opponent does not Stat Point distribution, but this is information that the tournament organizer should have access to.)
While you can handwrite team lists, it is highly recommended that you bring typed team lists to tournaments to avoid handwriting-related difficulties in play. You can use a PokéPaste to generate a team list very easily!
How do I create a PokéPaste?
PokéPastes are used by VGC players to share teams with other players and tournament organizers. (If you’ve ever used a pastebin to share snippets of code or text files, think of PokéPaste as a pastebin for teams!)
While you could manually type out your team, it’s easier to use a team builder and export the team to clipboard. Pokémon Showdown is an online battle simulator with a robust team builder that has been used by the community since Pokémon Black & White! If you’re using Showdown to build your team, these are the attributes you’ll need to enter for each Pokémon:
- Pokémon name (including any applicable form)
- Held Item
- Ability
- Moves
- Stat points
- Optional: gender*, nickname, shininess
When you’ve completed this process for all six of your Pokémon, at the bottom of the Team Builder, you’ll see three options for exporting your team: “Upload to Showdown database (save across devices)”, “Upload to PokePaste”, and “Upload to PokePaste (Open Team Sheet)”. While it may seem ideal to choose the Open Team Sheet option, for our purposes, you’ll want to choose the regular upload option!
When registering for a VGC tournament at Bloomfield Pokémon, you’ll need the URL for your PokéPaste during the sign-in process. This takes the place of providing a “For Organizer” Team List (At Regionals and other Pokémon Leagues, be prepared to provide a For Organizer team list that you can also easily prepare using your paste!)
Last updated: 2026-07-01