| Event | Victory Road August Challenge #1 (2026) |
|---|---|
| Location | Online |
| Date | 1ā2 August 2026 |
| Attendance | 194 players |
| Videogame | PokƩmon Champions |
| Season | 2026 SeasonĀ āĀ VGC Regulation Set M-B |
| Format | 8+2 Swiss rounds + X-2 top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Victory Road |
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Top cut
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | Replica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-2 |  | Kazuki Ogushi (ććØć) | VRtSFĀ Ph2 $660 |       |  | Ā |
| 2 | 8-2 | | Joji Kaieda (S) | $330 | | | Ā |
| 3 | 8-2 |  | Jonathan Zuniga (Jawnzu) | $165 |      | | Ā |
| 4 | 8-2 |  | Ethan Yang (Ayabe) | $165 |     | | Ā |
| 5 | 9-1 |  | Marcus Koh (Calculus) | $85 | | | Ā |
| 6 | 9-1 |  | Louis Markl (Louis) | $85 |   | | Ā |
| 7 | 8-2 |  | Luca AlarcĆ³n (Luca) | $85 |   | | Ā |
| 8 | 8-2 | | Shuji Endo (ćć) | $85 |      | | Ā |
| 9 | 8-2 |  | Jong One Moon (ģøė¦¬ģ©) | ā | | | Ā |
| 10 | 8-2 |  | Anish Katwal (Code) | ā | | | Ā |
| 11 | 8-2 |  | Gustav Hedegaard Lund (Gustav) | ā | | | Ā |
Phase 2 Swiss rounds
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | OTS | Replica |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 7-3 | | Takuto Notohara (ć®ć£ćØć) | ā |   | | Ā |
| 13 | 7-3 | | Juan Salerno (Juanfi) | ā | | | Ā |
| 14 | 7-3 |  | Alberto Cano (Canovax) | ā |     | | Ā |
| 15 | 7-3 | | Li Yu-Chi (NSWER) | ā |  | | Ā |
| 16 | 7-3 | | William Brown (billy) | ā | | | Ā |
| 17 | 7-3 | | Kevin Han (gyarados) | ā |  | | Ā |
| 18 | 7-3 | | Yuto Kimura (ćć ) | ā | | | Ā |
| 19 | 7-3 |  | Leon MĆ¼ller (Scarlet) | ā | | | Ā |
| 20 | 7-3 | | Ko Tsukide (ć¹ćć¬ćŖćć¢) | ā | | | Ā |
| 21 | 6-4 | | Sho Akiyama (ć”ć¬ć·ćć¢ć³) | ā | | | Ā |
| 22 | 6-4 |  | Lee Jin Yang (Nightwind) | ā | | | Ā |
| 23 | 6-4 | | Junhee Lee (Yuri) | ā |  | | Ā |
| 24 | 6-4 | | Jannik Koch (Jannik) | ā | | | Ā |
| 25 | 6-3 | | Keanu Inosanto (Keanu) | ā | | | Ā |
| 26 | 6-3 | | Kento Sato (ććć”ćć) | ā |  | | Ā |
| 27 | 6-3 |  | Federico Camporesi (Campo) | ā | | | Ā |
Usage stats
General usage
| # | PokƩmon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 58.0% (112) | 70% (19) |
| 2 |  | 46.1% (89) | 44% (12) |
| 3 | | 45.6% (88) | 44% (12) |
| 4 | | 39.9% (77) | 37% (10) |
| 5 | | 36.8% (71) | 44% (12) |
| 6 |  | 30.1% (58) | 33% (9) |
| 7 | | 28.5% (55) | 30% (8) |
| 8 | | 24.4% (47) | 30% (8) |
| 9 | | 20.2% (39) | 15% (4) |
| 10 | | 18.7% (36) | 26% (7) |
| # | PokƩmon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | | 18.7% (36) | 19% (5) |
| 12 | | 18.1% (35) | 19% (5) |
| 13 |  | 15.5% (30) | 19% (5) |
| 14 |  | 14.0% (27) | 15% (4) |
| 15 |  | 10.4% (20) | 7% (2) |
| 16 |  | 9.3% (18) | 19% (5) |
| 17 | | 8.3% (16) | 11% (3) |
| 18 |  | 8.3% (16) | 0% (0) |
| 19 | | 7.8% (15) | 7% (2) |
| 20 | | 7.8% (15) | 7% (2) |
| # | PokƩmon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 |  | 6.7% (13) | 11% (3) |
| 22 | | 6.7% (13) | 7% (2) |
| 23 | | 6.7% (13) | 4% (1) |
| 24 |  | 6.2% (12) | 11% (3) |
| 25 |  | 6.2% (12) | 0% (0) |
| 26 |  | 5.7% (11) | 7% (2) |
| 27 |  | 5.7% (11) | 0% (0) |
| 28 | | 5.2% (10) | 7% (2) |
| 29 |  | 4.7% (9) | 11% (3) |
| 30 |  | 4.7% (9) | 0% (0) |
Mega Evolution usage
| # | PokƩmon | Ph1 Usage | Ph2 Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 46.1% (89) | 44% (12) |
| 2 | | 30.1% (58) | 33% (9) |
| 3 | | 15.0% (29) | 19% (5) |
| 4 | | 14.0% (27) | 15% (4) |
| 5 | | 8.8% (17) | 19% (5) |
| # | PokƩmon | Ph1 Usage | Ph2 Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | | 8.3% (16) | 7% (2) |
| 7 | | 6.7% (13) | 11% (3) |
| 8 | | 6.2% (12) | 11% (3) |
| 9 | | 5.7% (11) | 7% (2) |
| 10 | | 4.1% (8) | 11% (3) |
Streaming
Unfortunately there is no stream by Victory Road for this event. In any case,Ā players that stream their runs are promoted by Victory Road during the tournament.
It is forbidden to share the room ID to outside players, or use another game to enter the room and observe the match in spectator mode.
Platform and schedule
The tournament is held online through Battlefy. All communication between the players must be done through the Battlefy chat enabled in each round.
Official communication from the organizer staff is performed through Discord, in theĀ Victory Road Discord server.
The tournament will use the structure of 2-phase Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut that is in place for all major events in the 2026 season.
- In the rare instances where the end of Phase 2 results in fewer than 8 players or more than 16 players with 2 or fewer losses (X-2), the asymmetrical top cut will only feature those players at X-2 or better.
The schedule of the tournament is as follows:
- 1 August at 14:00 UTC:
- Phase 1 Swiss rounds. All signed up players can play all these rounds. Those with 2 or fewer losses (X-2) at the end of this stage advance to Phase 2, and all others are dropped from the tournament.
- 2 August at 14:00 UTC:
- Phase 2 Swiss rounds: The qualified players continue playing Swiss rounds.Ā At the end of this stage, those players with 2 or fewer losses (X-2) at the end of Phase 2Ā will advance to the next stage.
- The limit of 16 players in top cut present in the official tournaments will not be enforced here. Likewise, if there are fewer than 8 players with X-2 records, players at X-3 will not be part of the top cut.
- Top Cut: the players in top cut will continue playing right after the end of the Phase 2 Swiss rounds, with a bye to the highest-ranked players if the number results in an asymmetrical top cut.
- Phase 2 Swiss rounds: The qualified players continue playing Swiss rounds.Ā At the end of this stage, those players with 2 or fewer losses (X-2) at the end of Phase 2Ā will advance to the next stage.
Prizes
This event is a grassroots tournament and isĀ not a part of anyĀ official circuit. This means thatĀ it does not reward any Championship Points (CPs).
The winner gets an invite to Phase 2 of the Victory Road to San Francisco, and additionally the best-placed players receive the following prizes:
| Placement | Prize money |
|---|---|
| Winner | Invite to Phase 2 of the Victory Road to San Francisco ~40% of the prizepool |
| Runner-up | ~20% of the prizepool |
| Semifinalists | ~10% of the prizepool |
| 5th to 8th | ~5% of the prizepool |
Overview
The Victory Road August Challenge #1Ā is an online event hosted by Victory Road, with the purpose of serving as practice for the upcoming live tournaments, with a special focus on the major events of the 2026 season.
It is played withĀ VGC Regulation Set M-B, using open team lists.
All detailed tournament procedures, including rules and penalties, can be foundĀ here.
A little bit of history
Victory RoadĀ has been consistently holding online grassroots tournaments for years, including standalone events, online invitationals featuring qualifier events, and the yearly biggest online team competition in theĀ World Cup of PokĆ©mon VGC. Victory Road has also provided streams to several official Regional Championships in Europe since 2019.
Our most recent tournament was the VR July Challenge, also played with the VGC Regulation Set M-B the previous weekend. The finals saw Brazilian player Pedro Feitosa defeat Japanese player Yuto Kimura to win $790 and his first VR tournament!
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done throughĀ BattlefyĀ platform. Sign-ups are $11.50Ā (+ $1.15 Battlefy tax) and open upon announcement of the event. $8.5 of the total entry fee money per player is directed towards the prizes, and $2 is used to compensate the staff members, tournament organizers and judges. The remainingĀ $1 is used as part of an accummulated prizepool for the Victory Road to San FranciscoĀ to be held this summer.
All players need to provide a team list in text export format, shared in a link such asĀ VRPastesĀ Open Team List,Ā with all open team list data about the team’s PokĆ©mon (including form, ability, held item, moves andĀ Stat Alignment). In the case of Mega Evolutions, it is important to use the base form of the PokĆ©mon with its ability; the held item will already tell you if it is a Mega Evolution, and VRPastes can show the newly acquired ability upon Mega Evolution.
Additionally, all players need to provide another closed team listĀ (only for TOs) with all previous information and either stat values or Stat Points. This list can also be provided with aĀ VRPastesĀ Closed Team List, with password protection allowed.
Please ask any staff member if you need help registering the team lists!
Sign-ups close right before the event starts. Players that do not show up and get their third loss areĀ dropped from the tournament.
