| Event | Victory Road January Challenge (2026) |
|---|---|
| Location | Online |
| Date | 17–18 January 2026 |
| Attendance | 213 players |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2026 Season – VGC Regulation Set F |
| Format | 8+2 Swiss rounds + asymmetrical top cut Open team lists |
| Organizer | Victory Road |
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Top cut
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | List | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-2 |  | Théotime Massaut (Didi) | VRtSF Ph2 $720 |       |  | |
| 2 | 9-1 |  | Chen Ruijian (Red) | $360 |    | | |
| 3 | 9-1 |  | Jong One Moon (9세대) | $180 |     | | |
| 4 | 8-2 |  | Jeff Lehmann (Jeff) | $180 |    | | |
| 5 | 9-1 |  | Yuhi Arima (ありま) | $90 |   | | |
| 6 | 8-2 | | Takahiro Ishida (テングマン) | $90 | | | |
| 7 | 8-2 |  | Kiran Singh (mev lad) | $90 |   | | |
| 8 | 8-2 |  | Luca Gesualdo (Luca) | $90 | | | |
| 9 | 8-2 |  | Bernardo Luz (Japacama) | – |     | | |
| 10 | 8-2 | | Francesco Pio Pero (CICCIOTT) | – | | | |
| 11 | 8-2 | | Yosuke Takayanagi (やなぎ) | – |   | |
Phase 2 Swiss rounds
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | List | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 7-3 | | Seongjae Jeong (나연♥︎) | – |      | | |
| 13 | 7-3 | | Sebastiano Trinchitelli (trinki) | – |    | | |
| 14 | 7-3 |  | Tom te Boekhorst (Tom) | – | | | |
| 15 | 7-3 | | Shohei Kimura (ナンス) | – |  | | |
| 16 | 7-3 | | Takaaki Ando (スカーレット) | – | | | |
| 17 | 7-3 |  | Matteo Boschmans (mathew) | – | | | |
| 18 | 7-3 |  | Liam Chatterjee (Liam) | – | | | |
| 19 | 7-3 |  | Wu Yi-Hsun (あめのかみ) | – |  | | |
| 20 | 7-3 | | Dimitri Koziaris (DimtheSim) | – |  | | |
| 21 | 7-3 |  | Wong Chung Yin (Hot me) | – | | | |
| 22 | 7-3 | | Rocco Beckman (Rocks) | – |  | | |
| 23 | 7-3 | | Leland Smith (Leland) | – | | | |
| 24 | 7-3 |  | Nils Schlatter (Darthnius) | – | | | |
| 25 | 6-4 | | Andy Brophy (Andy) | – |   | | |
| 26 | 6-4 | | Mattia Cognetta (Magic_Rana) | – | | | |
| 27 | 6-4 |  | Gustav Bredberg (Gurrasnurra5) | – | | | |
| 28 | 6-4 | | Kiyoshiro Arai (じぇらーる) | – | | | |
| 29 | 6-4 | | Yuki Matsuoka (むらさきいも) | – | | | |
| 30 | 6-4 | | Shunsuke Minami (禍沼アリス) | – |  | |
Usage stats
| # | Pokémon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 50.7% (108) | 43% (13) |
| 2 | (R) | 46.9% (100) | 67% (20) |
| 3 | | 45.1% (96) | 43% (13) |
| 4 | | 39.4% (84) | 33% (10) |
| 5 | | 29.6% (63) | 43% (13) |
| 6 | | 26.3% (56) | 37% (11) |
| 7 | | 26.3% (56) | 30% (9) |
| 8 | | 25.8% (55) | 27% (8) |
| 9 | | 25.8% (55) | 17% (5) |
| 10 | | 24.9% (53) | 17% (5) |
| # | Pokémon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | | 22.1% (47) | 27% (8) |
| 12 | | 14.1% (30) | 17% (5) |
| 13 | | 12.7% (26) | 17% (5) |
| 14 | (S) | 12.2% (26) | 10% (3) |
| 15 | | 11.7% (25) | 23% (7) |
| 16 | | 9.4% (20) | 13% (4) |
| 17 | | 9.4% (20) | 3% (1) |
| 18 | | 8.9% (19) | 7% (2) |
| 19 | | 8.5% (18) | 13% (4) |
| 20 | | 7.0% (15) | 10% (3) |
| # | Pokémon | Ph1 | Ph2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | | 7.0% (15) | 3% (1) |
| 22 | | 6.6% (14) | 7% (2) |
| 23 | | 6.1% (13) | 7% (2) |
| 24 | | 5.6% (12) | 10% (3) |
| 25 | | 5.6% (12) | 7% (2) |
| 26 | | 4.7% (10) | 7% (2) |
| 27 | | 4.7% (10) | 3% (1) |
| 28 | | 4.7% (10) | 3% (1) |
| 29 |  | 4.7% (10) | 0% (0) |
| 30 | | 4.2% (9) | 3% (1) |
Streaming
Unfortunately there is no stream by Victory Road for this event. In any case, players that stream their runs are promoted by Victory Road during the tournament.
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 the 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.
The schedule of the tournament is as follows:
- 17 January at 08:00 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.
- 18 January at 08:00 UTC:
- Phase 2 Swiss rounds: The qualified players continue playing Swiss rounds. At the end of this stage, the top 8 competitors and all others with an equal record as 8th place will advance to the next stage.
- The limit of 16 players in top cut present in the official tournaments will not be enforced here.
- 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. At the end of this stage, the top 8 competitors and all others with an equal record as 8th place will advance to the next stage.
Prizes
This event is a grassroots tournament and is not a part of any official circuit. This means that 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 January Challenge 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 with VGC Regulation Set F, using open team lists.
All detailed tournament procedures, including rules and penalties, can be found here.
A little bit of history
Victory Road 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 the World Cup of Pokémon VGC. Victory Road has also provided streams to several official Regional Championships in Europe since 2019.
Our most recent tournament was the VR December Challenge #3, played with the VGC Regulation Set F the previous month. The finals saw Japanese player Hiroto Hayasaki defeat Spanish player Alberto Noguerol to win $960 and his second VR tournament!
Sign-up instructions
Sign-ups for the event are done through Battlefy platform. Sign-ups are $11.50 (+ $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 remaining $1 is used as part of an accummulated prizepool for the Victory Road to San Francisco to be held next summer.
All players need to provide a team list in text export format, shared in a link such as VRPastes Open Team List, with all open team list data about the team’s Pokémon (including form, Tera Type, ability, held item and moves).
Additionally, all players need to provide another closed team list (only for TOs) with all previous information and either stat values or minted Nature + IVs + EVs. This list can also be provided with a VRPastes Closed Team List, with password protection allowed.
Please ask any staff member if you need help registering the team lists!
Sign-ups close 15 min before the event starts. Players that do not show up and get their third loss are dropped from the tournament.
