Introduction / Foundational Concepts

There are many opportunities in VGC to take advice and input from other people. Maybe you’re watching a YouTuber who you think knows their stuff, or you’re listening to a friend’s feedback about a team that you built. You probably regard these resources as highly trustworthy, and it can be tempting to take those opinions as fact. When talking about VGC, many people speak with an authoritative tone. You might have heard phrases like this at some point:

• “X Pokemon is great”

• “X Pokemon is bad”

• “Never use X Pokemon”

• “X Pokemon always needs Y move”

• “X team is the best right now”

And you might start to believe that whatever you’re hearing is wholly correct.

Remember that your opinion matters most when you’re making choices for yourself. You’re going to be the one playing your battles or using your team, so you need to be comfortable with the tools that you’ve given yourself. Other people’s solutions are often what work for them, but you might not like the way that their solutions work out. 

If you’re changing your team, do you feel like the change is necessary? Furthermore, do you feel like you understand and agree with the solution?

And if you’re using a new team entirely, do you know how to use the new team? Do you understand the intent behind it?

Especially leading up to a tournament, it can be comforting to think that someone else has figured out something you haven’t. There is stability in those thoughts. But the truth of the matter is that there are no completely correct answers in VGC. VGC is too complex and subjective to be stable, and there are positives and negatives of every tradeoff. 

Other people’s opinions are always additional information for you to integrate into your own beliefs. If you agree with feedback, or are excited about what someone else is saying, definitely follow their advice! But if you have doubts or hesitations, that’s perfectly valid. At the end of the day, remember that we’re all figuring this game out together, there are no shortcuts, and that you know yourself best.