r/pokemonshowdown Apr 11 '26

Mod Post Pokemon Showdown has been Updated with Pokemon Champions Content

115 Upvotes

Hey,

Sorry for the wait, we have out first pass of champions formats out for y'all to play now.

Formats available:

  • [Gen 9 Champions] OU - OU-like format using champions mechanics.
  • [Gen 9 Champions] BSS Reg M-A - BSS format.
  • [Gen 9 Champions] VGC 2026 Reg M-A - VGC format, OTS optional.
  • [Gen 9 Champions] VGC 2026 Reg M-A (Bo3) - Best of 3 VGC format with forced OTS.
  • [Gen 9 Champions] Draft - Draft format with champions mechanics.
  • [Gen 9 Champions] Custom Game - CHALLENGE ONLY format that works like every other custom game format

Massive thank you to the developers who worked on this (I ended up mostly just doing a bunch of PR and code review), its thanks to them that we got it out as fast as we did.

As always, there may be bugs or other issues on this first implementation, especially as mechanics researchers and players continue to find things and as the actual game gets patched. Please report any bugs you find to our bug reports forum: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/introduction-to-the-ps-bug-reports-forum.3733412/

We also have an on-site chat room for champions now: https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/champions

Have fun!


r/pokemonshowdown Sep 08 '21

League/Tourney League/Tournament Advertisement Thread

86 Upvotes

Please use this thread to advertise any league or tournaments you may be hosting.

Advertisements should be as specific as possible (format, Pokemon restrictions, etc.) and include a discord link that does not expire to allow others to join or your comment will be removed.


r/pokemonshowdown 49m ago

Question I need a question answered

Upvotes

I was fighting some bum (im just mad) with a championship team copy and there was a speed duel between my speed boosted Scolipede siting at 330 speed but it got outspeed by a unburdened snealers using dire claw, my question how can that happen from what I know a hasty snealer can get to 156 base but that still won't beat 330 even double


r/pokemonshowdown 9h ago

Random Battle Stupidest game I have played 😭

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0 Upvotes

calm mind or something

im brisketcooper


r/pokemonshowdown 11h ago

Team Building Looking to improve my National Dex Ubers team

0 Upvotes

MudgearTheRecanter (Muk-Alola) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Poison Touch

Tera Type: Flying

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA

Brave Nature

- Poison Jab

- Knock Off

- Acid Spray

- Clear Smog

Amino Fetus (Conkeldurr) @ Flame Orb

Ability: Guts

Tera Type: Normal

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Drain Punch

- Mach Punch

- Facade

- Knock Off

Sick Bird (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club

Ability: Rock Head

Tera Type: Fire

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Shadow Bone

- Flare Blitz

- Bonemerang

- Will-O-Wisp

Hex Butcher (Nidoking) @ Life Orb

Ability: Sheer Force

Shiny: Yes

Tera Type: Ground

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Sludge Wave

- Earth Power

- Ice Beam

- Thunderbolt

Mother Rapture (Gothitelle) @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Shadow Tag

Tera Type: Steel

EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Trick Room

- Psyshock

- Taunt

- Rest

Tarn the Uncaring (Mewtwo-Mega-X) @ Mewtwonite X

Ability: Unnerve

Tera Type: Psychic

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD

Adamant Nature

- Drain Punch

- Zen Headbutt

- Skill Swap

- Bulk Up


r/pokemonshowdown 12h ago

Random Battle This Matchup Felt Imbalanced

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
0 Upvotes

Was gonna just post the teams but here's the replay.

Opponents team: Mew, Tornadus-I, Terrakion, Okidogi, Iron Treads, Grumpig

My team: Gogoat, Vikavolt, Feraligatr, Cinderace, Walking Wake, Electrode-H

I didn't have a bad team by any means, but opponent had 4 legend/mythics + paradox to my one paradox. Don't think I've seen that kind of imbalance before.


r/pokemonshowdown 1d ago

Question New to the game, any tips?

1 Upvotes

I decided to get into doubles battling as it seemed a lot funner and less boring than singles stall, just asking if there are any tips. I'm trying out SV doubles OU with my own team anyone can give some advice? I know it isn't very meta but I want to try out my own team (Meows has 0 defensive EVs as sash was barely short of activation quite a few rounds)

Talonflame @ Focus Sash

Ability: Gale Wings

Tera Type: Stellar

EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Acrobatics

- Upper Hand

- Tailwind

- Temper Flare

Sinistcha @ Leftovers

Ability: Hospitality

Tera Type: Dark

EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 152 SpD / 92 Spe

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Matcha Gotcha

- Rage Powder

- Life Dew

- Trick Room

Pelipper @ Wiki Berry

Ability: Drizzle

Tera Type: Grass

EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 12 SpA / 212 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Hurricane

- Wide Guard

- Protect

- Helping Hand

Meowscarada @ Focus Sash

Ability: Protean

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpD

- Acrobatics

- Flower Trick

- Fake Tears

- Knock Off

Torkoal @ Weakness Policy

Ability: Drought

Tera Type: Grass

EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD

Quiet Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Eruption

- Body Press

- Solar Beam

- Overheat

Walking Wake @ Life Orb

Ability: Protosynthesis

Tera Type: Steel

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 84 SpD / 168 Spe

Modest Nature

- Tera Blast

- Hydro Steam

- Weather Ball

- Protect


r/pokemonshowdown 1d ago

Team Building monotpye natdex rage bait team for ffa i love to troll

0 Upvotes
Mew @ Mental Herb  
Ability: Synchronize  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD  
Serious Nature  
- Trick Room  
- Magic Room  
- Wonder Room  
- Transform  



Gothitelle @ Leftovers  
Ability: Shadow Tag  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD  
Bold Nature  
- Perish Song  
- Protect  
- Fake Out  
- Helping Hand  



Bronzong @ Mental Herb  
Ability: Levitate  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD  
Relaxed Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  
- Trick Room  
- Wonder Room  
- Skill Swap  
- Explosion  



Malamar @ Leftovers  
Ability: Contrary  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  
- Topsy-Turvy  
- Wonder Room  
- Superpower  
- Knock Off  



Hatterene @ Focus Sash  
Ability: Magic Bounce  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD  
Quiet Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  
- Trick Room  
- Healing Wish  
- Nuzzle  
- Dazzling Gleam  



Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots  
Ability: Regenerator  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  
- Magic Room  
- Chilly Reception  
- Yawn  
- Slack Off  







Mew @ Mental Herb  
Ability: Synchronize  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD  
Serious Nature  
- Trick Room  
- Magic Room  
- Wonder Room  
- Transform  









Gothitelle @ Leftovers  
Ability: Shadow Tag  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD  
Bold Nature  
- Perish Song  
- Protect  
- Fake Out  
- Helping Hand  









Bronzong @ Mental Herb  
Ability: Levitate  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD  
Relaxed Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  
- Trick Room  
- Wonder Room  
- Skill Swap  
- Explosion  









Malamar @ Leftovers  
Ability: Contrary  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  
- Topsy-Turvy  
- Wonder Room  
- Superpower  
- Knock Off  









Hatterene @ Focus Sash  
Ability: Magic Bounce  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD  
Quiet Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  
- Trick Room  
- Healing Wish  
- Nuzzle  
- Dazzling Gleam  









Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots  
Ability: Regenerator  
Tera Type: Psychic  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe  
- Magic Room  
- Chilly Reception  
- Yawn  
- Slack Off  

r/pokemonshowdown 2d ago

VGC Got outplayed by an excellent anti trickroom player!

5 Upvotes

https://psim.us/r/gen9championsvgc2026regmb-2673147952

[1287] Yeah I did misplay because I didn't expect sash mamoswine, but damn.


r/pokemonshowdown 1d ago

Fat Monkey Time

0 Upvotes
Rillaboom @ Terrain Extender  
Ability: Grassy Surge  
Tera Type: Grass  
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Swords Dance  
- Grassy Glide  
- High Horsepower  
- U-turn  



Chesnaught @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Bulletproof  
Tera Type: Steel  
EVs: 188 HP / 92 Atk / 228 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Belly Drum  
- Grassy Glide  
- Drain Punch  
- Knock Off  



Heatran @ Leftovers  
Ability: Flash Fire  
Tera Type: Grass  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 212 SpD / 40 Spe  
Calm Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Magma Storm  
- Earth Power  
- Taunt  
- Stealth Rock  



Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay  
Ability: Prankster  
Tera Type: Steel  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Calm Nature  
- Light Screen  
- Reflect  
- Parting Shot  
- Spirit Break  



Zamazenta @ Leftovers  
Ability: Dauntless Shield  
Tera Type: Steel  
EVs: 144 HP / 112 Def / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Iron Defense  
- Body Press  
- Crunch  
- Roar  



Hatterene (F) @ Grassy Seed  
Ability: Magic Bounce  
Tera Type: Water  
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spe  
Bold Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Calm Mind  
- Draining Kiss  
- Stored Power  
- Mystical Fire  

This team was showcased on PokeAim's channel a while back and I've enjoyed playing with it in Gen 9 OU. However, since it's been revealed that rillaboom is coming to champions VGC, and chesnaught having a new mega, I wanted some insight as to how I can revamp this team for VGC while still allowing me to use belly drum grassy glide cheasnaught


r/pokemonshowdown 2d ago

Doubles Ubers new player

3 Upvotes

First time playing Doubles Ubers and was curious what ppl thought about my team (I used a bit of google for some questions and team tips cus I was genuinely getting my ass best with the first version of the team cus I’m not the best at team building also used the recommended iv thing)

Koraidon @ Clear Amulet
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Collision Course
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Protect

Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 84 Def / 156 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Fake Out
- Knock Off

Flutter Mane @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Moonblast
- Protect

Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Fake Out

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stomping Tantrum
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Tera Blast

Chi-Yu @ Life Orb
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Protect


r/pokemonshowdown 2d ago

Anything Goes son v six 😭

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
4 Upvotes

r/pokemonshowdown 2d ago

Question I’m bored what format do you guys recommend?

1 Upvotes

I usually play Gen 9 OU, Gen 8 OU, Gen 4 OU, and the current VGC. Gimme a cool old/niche format I can check out and I’ll try it. I’ve seen some cool videos about RBY and heard some interesting things about Gen 2-3 OU


r/pokemonshowdown 2d ago

Doubles OU This was the most random-ish Doubles match I've ever stepped back into[1224]

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
1 Upvotes

r/pokemonshowdown 3d ago

Random Battle Swept some random in random battles (GEN 9)

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
2 Upvotes

r/pokemonshowdown 3d ago

Overused Chesto-Resto carried the team

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
2 Upvotes

And then Darkrai finished it off.


r/pokemonshowdown 3d ago

Question Does anyone else find it annoying when people forfeit on you the second their lead gets one shotted

0 Upvotes

Seriously it’s fucking annoyong. I’m sorry my shell smash + skill link cloyster obliterated your dragon danced dragonite in one go and I rapid spinner your stealth rock. I’ve had a battle where I taunt their toxapex and they just leave. It’s so fucking agitating like at least try to win


r/pokemonshowdown 3d ago

National Dex Made a stall player forfeit in 18 turns. Is this a flex?

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
1 Upvotes

Just was using a burner team for testing matches.

Yes I know it is inconsistent in many ways.

But then when thus outcome appeared, I was surprised. I never had a stall team forfeit this fast.

Is this actually a flex?


r/pokemonshowdown 3d ago

National Dex Won by inactivity[1046]

Thumbnail replay.pokemonshowdown.com
1 Upvotes

r/pokemonshowdown 4d ago

Question What’s the worst sweep you’ve ever dealt with?

6 Upvotes

r/pokemonshowdown 4d ago

Random Battle Went from ELO 1900 -> 1500 -> 2070 -> 1532 in Randbats in a month! AMA!

5 Upvotes

Cause like everything I do, it doesn’t matter so let’s make this fun. Maybe y’all may learn a thing or two from my suffering.

Okay but seriously though, it’s Randbats. We never play it for the ELO anyway.

Ask away peeps! (related and relevant please)


r/pokemonshowdown 4d ago

Question is there a way to do no restrictions custom triple battles?

3 Upvotes

i wanted to do a dnd style game night via triple battles for three players but i realized that i can only do doubles at most. is there a way to do triple no restriction customs?


r/pokemonshowdown 4d ago

I built a Gen 9 Randbats bot that reached #1 on the ladder

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I am excited to share a new Pokémon bot named Jaxcalibur. It only plays Gen 9 Random Battles, but it plays them extremely well. Over the past three weeks, it has spent time at #1 on the ladder and reached a peak Elo of 2557 and peak GXE of 95.3. As far as I know, it is the first AI to reach the level of top human players at Pokémon battling, albeit in a narrow format. For comparison, the strongest previous bot I'm aware of, FoulPlay, peaked around 2341 Elo and 88 GXE, which is roughly top-50 rather than top-1.

That said, I can't say Jaxcalibur is the world's best random battler because one human outperformed it over this time period! MichaelderBeste2 held #1 on the ladder about 50% of the time compared to Jaxcalibur's 20%, and reached a slightly higher GXE of 95.5. I am really impressed that anyone can play better than a bot trained over millions of games and simulating thousands of possibilities each turn; that is an incredible feat!

How it works
Jaxcalibur uses a neural net trained with self-play reinforcement learning combined with pUCT search, similar to AlphaGo Zero. It is built on poke-env and Jax (which is where the name comes from). There is much more on how it works in the technical write-up here.

Some observations on how it plays: it is fairly conservative, preferring safe lines over hard reads. It is especially good at endgames because it can calculate several turns ahead. I think its clearest weaknesses are an imperfect understanding of PP stalling and a tendency to become predictable in some situations.

Current status
As of August 28, Jaxcalibur has stopped searching for ladder games and will let its rating decay. However, it will still accept randbats challenges if you'd like to play against it. It can only play one battle at a time, so it might not accept your challenge right away. Jaxcalibur currently plays random battles only, but I think it could be extended to other singles formats and, with more work, to doubles battles. It can't build teams itself, but you could use self-play with different teams to evaluate which ones are strongest

The open-sourcing question
When I started this project, I was intending to fully open-source Jaxcalibur, but it's strong enough I'm now a bit worried about how this could affect the community.

The case for releasing it: for me, the biggest benefit is that others could learn from it and build on it. Strong bots could also make single-player Pokémon more challenging, serve as practice partners, and be powerful tools for team building or balancing formats.

The case against: cheating is the big one. Someone could use Jaxcalibur to climb the ladder, obtain suspect reqs, or potentially even win tournaments in a way that's hard to detect. This feels especially relevant given the recent discussion about bots and suspect reqs. I also wonder whether easily accessible information about which teams, leads, and openings perform best would make team building less interesting.

One possible middle ground would be to release the code but not the model weights. However, for now I am holding off releasing either. I'd love to hear what people here think: should Jaxcalibur be open-sourced? If so, what would be a responsible way to release it? Strong, widely available Pokémon bots are probably coming sooner or later. This may be a useful chance to establish some norms around how they should be released and used.

Links

I also posted this on Smogon here, where there’s already a good discussion about the open-sourcing question.


r/pokemonshowdown 4d ago

This Is Why We Pokemon (National Dex OU) [1420]

0 Upvotes

I won the game off of two back-to-back flinches... this is why we Pokémon fellas.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nationaldex-2671945057-yov3vyw8ay27oufgjax9q9wx2e46vtfpw


r/pokemonshowdown 5d ago

Discussion RandBats bad sets (Gen 9)

4 Upvotes

Some pokemons that can be good have trash sets. I think they can(maybe should) remove some widely accepted bad sets, like Sub-Punch Dusknoir. I mean, Dusknoir can be VERY good and annoying and sometimes it just refuses to die with its Wwisp pain split shenanigans, or it has a good priority in Shadow Sneak.

Other examples could be

AV Iron threads: Not only it's a bad AV user, but Rocks or DDance sets are miles better.

Toxic Orb ursaring: Not even with the boost is fast enough, without Eviolite is too frail and it quickly dies to its own poison. Damn, Eviolite can even hit just as hard with Guts boosted Body slam while sleep.

Dark pulse Spectrier: I mean, spectrier can never be bad. But if i had to choose, Dark Pulse+Shadow Ball would be my last pick. It is incredibly redundant, It only works to hit normal types and in that case i prefer a million times Tera fight tera blast.

Also we could mention some weird move/tera choices like Tera Ghost Dugtrio. Just why? It doesn't work as a defensive tera, and it doesn't work offensively either. Once i heard it was to get out of another trapper but... Really? Do you really think it is better to cover the incredibly rare scenario of your Dugtrio getting trapped instead of tera Grass/Water/Dragon to try and resist to pull off a swords dance or a needed hit, or Tera Ground/Rock for offensive power?

Just in case, my Nickname is Idonotanswer. I'm a mid level player (2100~2200) but i have reached high level before, i just don't play as often now.

Also, mention some Set/Moves/Teras that you find to not work as intended, i'll be reading:D