Everyone has to start somewhere! Many new or returning players may struggle to find VGC-specific resources. From the basics of strategy to team construction or format information, knowing where to read and who’s knowledge to trust can be a hard task. In an information-based game such as ours, the right resources are critical to both learning to play, elevating your game or staying up to date with changes between formats. In response to these challenges, we at Trainer Tower have compiled a convenient resource index for every player, containing all of the most foundational and essential information in one place!

Starting Out In VGC

These articles are helpful in understanding the essentials and getting involved in the game.

Intro to the Pokemon Video Game Championships – An official Pokemon article that gives a very basic rundown of how VGC works. Even though this article was written for the 2017 format but is applicable to current formats.

– An official Pokemon article that gives a very basic rundown of how VGC works. Even though this article was written for the 2017 format but is applicable to current formats. Play! Pokemon Glossary – A list of definitions for common terms used in VGC.

– A list of definitions for common terms used in VGC. VGC Glossary – Spanish VGC website Victory Road goes more into more common phrases used in VGC and although it’s written in Spanish, it’s still very helpful to read if you understand it.

– Spanish VGC website Victory Road goes more into more common phrases used in VGC and although it’s written in Spanish, it’s still very helpful to read if you understand it. Event Locator – The event locator is the most useful piece of info to find upcoming VGC events all across the globe.

Format-specific Information

These are general resources that are good to bookmark and can be referred to throughout the season.

In-game Team Preparation

If you’re struggling to get a team and/or Pokemon ready in-game, these articles should help.

EV Training Hotspots in Alola – VGC veteran DaWoblefet goes through in-depth on how to efficiently EV Train your Pokemon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

– VGC veteran goes through in-depth on how to efficiently EV Train your Pokemon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. An Intro to Teambuilding – VGC Veteran Smith talks through effective ways of team-building your team and writes it in a way where it’s not specific to anyone VGC format in particular.

– VGC Veteran talks through effective ways of team-building your team and writes it in a way where it’s not specific to anyone VGC format in particular. Gen 7 Mechanic Changes – Serebii goes through all mechanic changes that occured in Sun and Moon. The article does not include how Rocky Helmet, Iron Barbs, and Rough Skin recoil have changed to now, the attacker will always win if both trainer’s final Pokemon are KO’d if the attacker faints due to recoil from these moves.

General Content

Guide to Probability in Pokemon – An article that goes through RNG and probability in Pokemon, how to build a team that favors RNG in your favor, as well as how to minimize bad RNG and probability in your favor.

– An article that goes through RNG and probability in Pokemon, how to build a team that favors RNG in your favor, as well as how to minimize bad RNG and probability in your favor. Pokémes Amis: Getting Involved in Your Local VGC Community – VGC Player and resident Olympian Mindape goes through how to successfully build a strong local community and encourage players to improve their skill.

– VGC Player and resident Olympian Mindape goes through how to successfully build a strong local community and encourage players to improve their skill. Intro to Pokemon VGC 2018 – 4 times Worlds Competitor Jamesspeed1 gives an in-depth introduction to the VGC 2018 format as well as some early thoughts on the metagame.

Improving Battle Skills

These articles and videos are designed to help shed some light on some important topics that are crucial to know in VGC.

Competition

These articles and videos focus on what you can do to improve your game, both in and out of battle, and some habits that are helpful to form.

Making EV Spreads

Check out these guides to learn about EV Spreads, how to make them better, and how to make them fit well into your teams.

VGC Websites

Facebook Groups

Content Creators

International

TrainerTowerPKMN ( Twitch )

) NuggetBridge ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Pokemon VGC_EU ( Twitch )

) Pokemon ( Twitch )

) Pokemon VGC ( Twitch )

) CriticalHit.gg ( Twitch )

) Jt pkmn (Twitch)

United States

Wolfe Glick ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Aaron Zheng ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Alex Ogloza ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) James Baek ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Ray Rizzo ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Joshua Lorcy ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Tommy Cooleen ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Gabby Snyder ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Giovanni Costa ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Ryuzaki ( Twitch )

) MasterMarkVGC ( Twitch )

) Uncle Lou ( YouTube )

) The Hyper Voice Podcast ( YouTube )

) THATSAplusONE ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) MrTalent ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Jack TheBattler ( YouTube )

) PokeaimMD ( YouTube , Twitch )

, ) LugiaVGC ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) DaWoblefet ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) MoxieBoosted ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) PokemonLabs ( Twitch ) – Streams Southern California VGC events

) – Streams Southern California VGC events Summit City Gym ( YouTube | Twitch ) – Streams Midwest VGC events

| ) – Streams Midwest VGC events Liberty Garden ( YouTube | Twitch ) – Streams New York & New Jersey VGC Events

| ) – Streams New York & New Jersey VGC Events Florida VGC (Twitch)

Europe

Hibiki – Austria ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Barry Anderson – UK ( Youtube )

) Markus Stadter – Germany ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Jocario – Germany ( Twitch )

) Jamie Boyt – UK ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Lee Provost – UK ( Youtube | Twitch )

| ) Sekiam – Spain ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Haricot [TV] – France ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) TheSaxlad – UK ( Twitch )

) PokeAlex – Spain ( Twitch )

) LouLou The Pikachu – UK ( YouTube )

) Rykku – Spain ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Koffing Sonriente – Spain ( YouTube )

) Zumbo De Baya – Spain ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Carfer97 – Spain (YouTube)

Rest Of The World

Taroimo – Japan ( YouTube )

) Mirage Island – Singapore ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) eXalpha VGC / Pokémon VGC Malaysia ( YouTube | Twitch )

| ) Sejun Park – South Korea (Twitch)

Credit to Mindape for originally gathering these resources, and to TempleVGC for updating them in 2018!