Types of VGC Formats
Not all Pokémon formats are created equal.
Some reward creativity. Some reward matchup knowledge. And some… just reward bringing the best team and clicking buttons.
Today, we’re breaking down the three major shapes of Pokémon VGC formats:
Triangle Formats
Two-Team Formats
One-Team Formats
Each one teaches you how to build, how to play, and what to expect in your journey to improve as a player.
Triangle Formats: When the Meta Has Three Queens (or Kings)
Triangle formats are the healthiest, most fun metagames in VGC.
Three dominant archetypes keep each other in check, forcing creativity and adaptability. You can’t just prep for one team - you need a plan for all three.
2014: The Perfect Triangle Format
The 2014 format was defined by:
Mega Kangaskhan Balance (Fake Out, raw damage, balanced cores)
Mega Mawile Trick Room (Intimidate, Fairy STAB)
Mega Charizard-Y Sun (Explosive power, speed control with Tailwind, sun-boosted Heat Waves)
Each beat one and lost to another:
Kangaskhan teams beat Charizard with Rock Slide users like Garchomp and Tyranitar.
Charizard melted Mawile with sun-boosted Fire attacks.
Mawile walled Kangaskhan with Intimidate and Play Rough under Trick Room.
Everyone had a plan, but no one had a guarantee.
By Worlds, Kangaskhan fell out of top cut while Mawile and Charizard surged. The triangle self-regulated the meta. In triangle formats, you don’t just chase power—you chase stability and flexibility.
Two-Team Formats: When One Team Rules, But Another Can Beat It
Two-Team Formats see the meta narrow into a dominant team, but another rises to challenge it.
Example: Series 12 (2022) – Kyogre-Zacian vs. Rinya Sun
Series 12 allowed two restricted Pokémon per team, leading to Kyogre + Zacian dominating early:
Kyogre spammed Origin Pulses and Max Geysers.
Zacian swept with Intrepid Sword.
Teams that didn’t prep for Kyogre-Zacian often couldn’t compete.
But then came Rinya Sun:
Built by Rinya Kobayashi, refined by Eric Rios and Joseph Ugarte.
Charizard punished passive play with G-Max Wildfire chip damage.
Groudon set Sun, shutting down Kyogre.
Gastrodon absorbed Water moves.
Grimmsnarl and Incineroar layered disruption.
Zacian mirrored the opposing Zacian matchup.
Rinya Sun didn’t just beat Kyogre-Zacian; it reshaped the format, forcing everyone to prep for it or play it themselves.
One-Team Formats: When There’s Only One Real Choice
One-Team formats are the rarest—and often the most oppressive. Here, one team dominates everything, and the meta revolves around perfecting the mirror or finding a way to break it.
Example: VGC 2016 – The Year of the Big 6
The Big 6:
Primal Groudon
Xerneas
Mega Kangaskhan
Smeargle
Talonflame
Salamence
This team was everywhere, winning Regionals, Japan Cups, and shaping Worlds prep. Xerneas used Geomancy, Smeargle spammed Dark Void, Kangaskhan cleaned up, and Groudon swept under the Sun.
Then came Wolfe Glick at Worlds 2016.
Instead of playing the mirror, Wolfe countered it:
Primal Kyogre reversed Groudon’s weather.
Mega Rayquaza punished slow setups and removed weather with Air Lock.
Mega Gengar trapped and Taunted key threats while also having valuable Poison-type STAB (Same-Type-Attack-Bonus) for Xerneas.
Raichu provided speed control and Fake Out.
Hitmontop pivoted with Intimidate and Eject Button.
Bronzong set Trick Room to disrupt the Big 6 and used its item and the move Safeguard to prevent Smeargle from putting everything to sleep with Dark Void.
Wolfe didn’t just play the mirror better - he broke it, winning the World Championship by forcing the Big 6 to play his game. Breaking a One-Team format is one of the rarest and most celebrated feats in VGC.
Why This Matters for Your Teambuilding
Triangle Formats
Reward creativity and consistent skill.
You need flexibility to handle all three dominant archetypes.
Two-Team Formats
Force you to choose a side and perfect your counterplay.
Building requires deep matchup knowledge and mirror practice.
One-Team Formats
Demand mirror mastery or a format-breaking innovation.
Here, teambuilding is about exploiting cracks in the most popular team.
Conclusion: The Science of Formats, The Art of Playing Pokémon
Understanding the shape of the meta you are playing in is one of the most important teambuilding skills in VGC.
In Triangle Formats, build the best version of your playstyle.
In Two-Team Formats, pick your side and prepare for the war.
In One-Team Formats, perfect the mirror—or be bold enough to break it.
This is the science of formats. And the art of competitive Pokémon.
Ready to Improve Your Team Preview and Building?
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Until Next Time…
Play Hard or Go Home!
Soup-er Effective! Tournament Champion Team Report
Zuppa di Frutti, the “The Fruit Soup Team”!
Hola! I’m Lorenzo Profeta. I am a 25-year-old from Italy. I started playing Pokémon during the Scarlet and Violet era. This is the team that my friends (Shao, Mava, Ghiso, Francy) and I used for the Bologna Special 2025, where I finished 31st overall! I also have won the Number One Fanatics Pride Tournament in June!
Team Building Process:
For our building process, We’re huge fans of Terapagos, but since the turtle became weaker due to meta and format shifts, we decided to use another Calm Mind user and started building around Lunala.
The 🍇 to our Soup!
Lunala @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Shield
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 92 HP / 204 Def / 124 SpA / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Moongeist Beam
Moonblast
Calm Mind
Protect
If you’re familiar with Terapagos, you know that Calm Mind users benefit greatly from having Grassy Surge.
The 🥝 to our Soup!
Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 76 Def / 172 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
Wood Hammer
Grassy Glide
U-turn
Fake Out
Rillaboom is a fantastic Pokémon for Calm Mind gameplay, providing utility with Fake Out to help set up Calm Mind safely and U-turn for positioning and mid-turn pivoting. Its Grassy Terrain helps Lunala recover HP, restoring its Shadow Shield and allowing Lunala to stick around much longer.
The 🍎 to our Soup!
Incineroar @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 92 Def / 76 SpD / 92 Spe
Careful Nature
Knock Off
Taunt
Parting Shot
Fake Out
The next Pokémon we added was Incineroar. With its great typing and supportive moveset, it helps Lunala set up Calm Minds using Fake Out, and provides Parting Shot to lower the opponent’s Attack and Special Attack. Taunt is excellent for stopping opposing setup-dependent Pokémon like Terapagos and Leech Seed Calyrex-Ice, while Knock Off adds solid damage and utility. Incineroar’s Intimidate further lowers the opponent’s physical damage output, helping Lunala take even less damage.
The 🍋 to our Soup!
Miraidon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Hadron Engine
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 140 HP / 36 Def / 124 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
Electro Drift
Draco Meteor
Volt Switch
Snarl
At this point, we added Miraidon. Its Electric Terrain was useful in many scenarios, and Miraidon itself is a super powerful restricted Pokémon. Since we don’t like gambling on speed ties, we chose to give it Choice Scarf to consistently outspeed opposing Miraidon, while also retaining the ability to OHKO Koraidon. Snarl provided another layer of support by lowering the opponent’s Special Attack, further helping Lunala survive longer.
The 🥥 to our Soup!
Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Fiery Dance
Rage Powder
Will-O-Wisp
Tailwind
During testing, we found that our team struggled against Calyrex-Shadow and Zamazenta compositions. To address this, we added Volcarona, which perfectly walls Zamazenta by resisting both Steel and Fighting-type attacks, while dealing damage with its Rocky Helmet item, whilst having a chance to burn opposing Pokémon from its ability, Flame Body. Rage Powder provides redirection support, helping Lunala set up Calm Mind or allowing other offensive threats to get damage off safely. We included Will-O-Wisp to further reduce the damage output of physical restricted Pokémon like Calyrex-Ice and Zamazenta by burning them, while Tailwind helped us gain speed control in situations where Lunala was slower than the opposing Pokémon.
The 🫐 to our Soup!
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 4 HP / 236 Atk / 84 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
Surging Strikes
Close Combat
Aqua Jet
Detect
In testing, we found the need to add something for the Kyogre matchup. We decided on Urshifu Rapid-Strike, as it’s already one of the strongest Pokémon in the format. Its ability to hit through Protect and its signature move, Surging Strikes, which always lands critical hits AND bypasses Sturdy and Focus Sash, made it too good to leave out. Adding Urshifu also completed the team’s Fire-Water-Grass core, creating excellent offensive and defensive synergy between the team’s support pieces. We rounded out Urshifu’s moveset with Close Combat, its strongest Fighting-type move, and Aqua Jet, which provides priority to finish off weakened targets. The Focus Sash ensured Urshifu could take at least one hit.
Using The Team:
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/37ffa9d06ef67c77
Rental Code: WR73BQ
The team is very strong, and Calm Mind Lunala is effective in almost every matchup. For example, it performs exceptionally well against Miraidon, Calyrex-Shadow, and Zamazenta. In most cases, with double Fake Out support, you can safely set up a Calm Mind and then spam damage with Moonblast and Moongeist Beam. Volcarona is a strong redirector, and with the help of Rocky Helmet and its ability, it completely walls Zamazenta. What about the matchups where you can’t play the Calm Mind mode? No problem! Tera-Stellar Urshifu and Miraidon are here to provide massive damage from turn one whenever you need to play aggressively.
If you want to use the team, the Poképaste and rental code are above. A special shoutout to Ghiso (@Ghiso on X), who posted the full paste on Twitter after the Bologna Special Championships. The team is solid, and if you like Terapagos, you’ll love Calm Mind Lunala. I want to thank my friends again for helping with the team, and a huge shoutout to my team, SAX (@SaxTournaments on X). They’re basically a second family to me.
Essential VGC Resources You Should Bookmark
It all begins with an idea.
Looking to sharpen your VGC skills, find teams, or track the meta? Here’s a quick, no-nonsense list of the best VGC resources to keep your gameplay sharp:
✨ Victory Road – VGC reports, guides, calendar
🔗 victoryroad.pro/resources
✨ VGC Guide – Beginner fundamentals, team roles
🔗 vgcguide.com
✨ Munchstats – Usage stats and trends
🔗 pikalytics.com
✨ Cut Explorer – Recent tournament top cut teams
🔗 cut-explorer.stalruth.dev
✨ Pokémon Showdown – Practice simulator
🔗 play.pokemonshowdown.com
✨ Limitless – Free tournaments
🔗 play.limitlesstcg.com
✨ LabMaus – Find high-quality VGC teams and cores
🔗 labmaus.net/home
These are tools I personally use and recommend to players at any level looking to improve.
If you want structured learning, personalized practice, and a competitive environment to test your growth, consider joining The #1 Fanatics Discord!
Until Next Time…
Play Hard or Go Home!