[Competitive] Should the Pokémon VGC include championship battles for Singles as well?

Currently, the Pokémon VGC has a 4v4 double battle format, as it has for a long time. Despite that, the single battle format is still the most popular way to play Pokémon. Before double battles were introduced in Generation III, official championship battles were held using Pokémon Stadium using a 3v3 format. Do you think the VGC should include championships for both the best Singles and Doubles players?

Makes sense to, given 95%+ of the main story being singles battles. Wonders if Stalling strategies are a factor. Implemented turn timers and such, sure. Feels bad if too many games end on the turn timer, though. Imagines that being a poor viewing experience. (Disclaimer: Has no clue how popular Stall is at high levels.)

I think they should have three tiers of equal importance: 6v6 Singles, 4v4 Doubles, and 6v6 Triples.

Triple battles were great but criminally underused in BW. They can be really fast, with the placement of your team members being key.

Doubles are clearly the favourite system for VGC, they're never going away, can be ast fast as triples or a little slower, and I love them.

6v6 Singles would be where you potentially could have stall (which is probably why NSO uses 3v3). It's what has been played on simulators, and is arguably the purest form of battling.

Devalue said:

Makes sense to, given 95%+ of the main story being singles battles. Wonders if Stalling strategies are a factor. Implemented turn timers and such, sure. Feels bad if too many games end on the turn timer, though. Imagines that being a poor viewing experience. (Disclaimer: Has no clue how popular Stall is at high levels.)

Click to expand...

Stall strategies themselves aren't too common at high levels, but players do attempt unscrupulous things with the timer when the situation calls for it at times. As a strategy, stall has been nerfed this gen. Moves like Recover and similar moves had their PP reduced, and they are trying their best to ensure that most non-Poison Pokémon can not learn Toxic. Also, 3v3 single battles don't take long at all. In fact, they are often shorter than 4v4 double battles. Yet, it's possible that some players might attempt to stall with Pokémon like Dondozo, Clodsire, and so on, but I can't imagine them winning the championship like that. Players at the highest level only use what they feel will win.

It's interesting to me that 2v2 is standard and i rarely questioned that story wise it'd be weird to have 2v2 championships instead of 1v1


Yes a separate championship for 1v1 format is a definite+1 from me - it's a completely different ballgame. Many pokémon could find use and many would be out of use
Prediction of switching in or out takes a heavier role in the equation of making the best impact..

It's thrilling.

Singles is the more popularly played format of all and the gameplay is completely different to VGC-styled Doubles. Because of that, I believe it only makes sense for us to know who the best Singles and Doubles players are every year. Singles definitely need love as well.

Actually 6v6 has allways been my favorite battle format. I mean, we normally train a team of six Pokémon, right? so why not having battles in which the six participate?

However, while this format is great for a player vs AI experience, I can see how it might end up being kinda crap for PvP. I tried some 6v6 singles a long time ago in Showdown, and it was pretty much all about Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, and stalling.

4v4 doubles result in much more fast-paced and aggressive battles that don't take ages to finish, while still keeping the strategy element. It's not my favorite format because as I said I prefer full party battles (for either singles or doubles), but it seems to be what works best for PvP.

Corveone said:

Actually 6v6 has allways been my favorite battle format. I mean, we normally train a team of six Pokémon, right? so why not having battles in which the six participate?

However, while this format is great for a player vs AI experience, I can see how it might end up being kinda crap for PvP. I tried some 6v6 singles a long time ago in Showdown, and it was pretty much all about Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes, and stalling.

4v4 doubles result in much more fast-paced and aggressive battles that don't take ages to finish, while still keeping the strategy element. It's not my favorite format because as I said I prefer full party battles (for either singles or doubles), but it seems to be what works best for PvP.

Click to expand...

I enjoy 6v6 Singles more than 3v3 Singles as well. I find them more strategic because its basically "my whole team vs. your whole team" rather than "the three I selected vs. the three you selected." However, the problem is that because the VGC actually performs in front of a live audience and the fact that they don't have all day to host their show, they need to wrap things up at a certain time. 6v6 Singles could potentially last a very long time, especially when you consider players thinking their moves, constantly switching, and the battle animations. Singles, especially 6v6 Singles, require a lot of thinking. Pokémon Showdown moves much faster than the actual games. 3v3 Singles move lightning fast. Stalling does play a significant part in 6v6 Singles too, but if you have good wallbreakers and/or stallbreakers on your team, stalling shouldn't be too much of a problem. That's why it's always good to build your team similar to a sports team, where each Pokémon has a certain "position" or role. Also, stalling has been nerfed a bit this gen. Pretty much every health recovery move has been reduced to 5 PP (8 max) and they're doing their best to ensure that non-Poison Pokémon can't learn Toxic anymore. Stealth Rock is very important as well, but Rapid Spinners and Defoggers can get rid of it.