The LOWEST Point in Pokemon VGC History

[@ac1dfoxdie716]

i love video talks like this about vgc.

[@THATSAplusONE]

Let me know if you have any other topics you want me to cover!

[@CanadianRamen]

Agreed, want more of this

[@teno777]

they're great, the man is a walking encyclopedia

[@alolajonah4465]

Been playing competitively since 2010. Can confirm. we had a 120+ players in seniors at the 2013 Georgia regional and that dwindled to about 20 players in seniors in 2016. It's crazy how much restricted formats drain the game of players.

[@THATSAplusONE]

Yeah those restricted formats just bleed the casual players out.

[@dope1258]

Cool history, I remember playing against my buddies via link cable back in the gen 1-3 days. We would just pin our max level pokemon against each other, with no concept of evs or ivs. Lol

[@IvyVGC]

As someone who started vgc in the ultra sun and moon i really enjoy these videos learning about like the gen 5 history and low points and such

[@THATSAplusONE]

I miss gen 5 so much

[@thegamingmammoth]

So the moral of the story, casuals really hate Restricted formats

[@THATSAplusONE]

Pretty much

[@TheMyriadTruths]

I’ve been following VGC content on and off since 2010. In my opinion the game is at its funnest to watch the more restricted the Dex is. I’d rather see Arcanine over a box legendary.

[@THATSAplusONE]

Thats fair. Im best at limited dex formats as well

[@fr3ak1shh]

I have another perspective on the dips! So I was born in ‘97. Started playing Smogon singles in 5th grade in like 2009. Then switched to VGC in 2014 (I didn’t even know it was a thing, even though I was on Showdown all the time). But then in 2016, I graduated high school and went off to college. I guess the phase of life i was entering is what pulled me from the game. I completely left VGC after 2016 until Jan 2025. I also DID NOT like the hyper-restricted formats and the lack of diversity in strategy, and I agree with all your criticism. So I do think the formats sucking was a big part of why VGC died down in that time period. But I think a lot of people might be in the same boat as me - found VGC because of the viral Pachirisu during high school and left when new things came up in life. So we were losing players and also not gaining as many new players.

[@THATSAplusONE]

Yup! There are a lot of people that share the same story as you im sure! Thanks for the insight!

[@faceisking]

I love these history videos! I enjoy competitive Pokemon and wanna know the history

[@THATSAplusONE]

Let me know if you have any other topics you want to see me cover!

[@faceisking]

@ will do! And I appreciate it!

[@gamersomatic5395]

Goated vgc historian

[@THATSAplusONE]

Let me know if you have any other ideas for topics!

[@Bells-hu6rs]

You should link the video you mentioned at 11:49 in the description so its easier to find

[@THATSAplusONE]

I think it’s called something like “I can’t play VGC 2019 anymore” or something

[@jordanmeadows4115]

Let’s go bro! Love this content

[@THATSAplusONE]

Let me know if you have any ideas on topics you want me to cover!

[@Eroil]

Video idea suggestion- what if Arceus could be your restricted of choice in Reg G? How good would it be, which types would be the best, would it improve the format?

[@marcelwingett9960]

Great history lesson!

[@jeffreyabercrombie8136]

I like seeing these videos pop up.

[@luismiguelverasanchez4856]

@ThastAplusONE Hi, excuse me. Which Eternatus is better, Max speed, balance Power Herb or Toxic and Recover Stall?. Greatings, Luis

[@THATSAplusONE]

It REALLY depends on your team comp. No one set is BEST I think.

[@MrCheeze]

Interesting that he describes 2015 as peak when it probably has the worst public reputation thanks to CHALK.

[@THATSAplusONE]

Nah like. Chalk only existed in the LAST MONTH of that format(Which I mentioned) we had a whole year of cool stuff and then worlds was just chalk city.

[@TheKID415707]

I honestly really enjoyed Reg H yeah it had its cons but i still thought its was the best regulation for scarlet and violet , and I’m not excited for to go back to Reg G , I’ve even turned on my 3ds to play some past games to take a break from Reg G

[@THATSAplusONE]

Its crazy I liked Reg G more haha. I just think it feels more like the tempo mons should be played at.

[@TheKID415707]

@ I still like Reg G but since we had it in the past already and we going back to it , it just doesn’t really excite too much if that makes sense , there’s another content creator I watch as well called Poke Sports and he hasn’t made a new video in over 2 weeks now and he would be dropping videos very frequent before

[@mandalorianhunter1]

I better see Terrakion on another tournament team my dude. Honestly I would like to see a video on which mythicals you think would dominate VGC if they were allowed

[@THATSAplusONE]

I dont think they would. Magearnar is cool but the others are meh

[@mandalorianhunter1]

@THATSAplusONE are you sure? I heard manaphy would be good. Arceus would slam a lot of mons. Darkrai could actually be great when paired with Amoongus. Keldeo is Keldeo

[@THATSAplusONE]

Arceus would NEVER be legal. Like that just wouldnt happen so no point. But mons like Darkrai/Manaphy/Keldeo are leagal in Doubles OU and they are bad. Ursh is better and punishes all 3.

[@bentrinker1937]

00:50 ur making me feel so old hahahah

[@THATSAplusONE]

We are old

[@MoxieBoosted]

Youre def misremembering a lot about 2019. It was double restricted through the whole thing, so if you thought it was single at any point for sun or moon series you're probably not gonna have a perspective that's an accurate representation of the format. And while kyogre did win multiple regionals it was about as strong as groudon and xern were. Id say the reason attendance plummeted was 90% because we were on year 3 of a game on a super old console, not really the format. 2019 def was the lowest point of VGC tho

[@THATSAplusONE]

Its been a while and you are right they were double restricted. Sun and Moon series really werent my jam and I think I only played one event in each before playing more in Ultra series. I just remember scarf kyogre being so freaking oppressive that it was easier to wait till ultra series than to actually roll the 50/50s with it in sun and moon series haha

[@lamberto2392]

Sun series had 2 restricteds per team, didn't It? I remember It to be centralized in kyogre, but not painfully so, for the very reason you had 2 restricteds. For example lunala was a good check thanks to its bulkness and Wide guard and xerneas-groudon was a busted combo too with smeargle. At local midseasons, i remember Solgaleo-Zygarde with tapufini and swagger did well a couple times. Maybe it's just me or maybe it's Italy/Europe, but i feel like we despised way more Moon series.

[@THATSAplusONE]

I think you might be right but I honestly dont remember. It was just the Kyogre show.

[@lamberto2392]

@@THATSAplusONE I remember it too, but i also remember that lunogre, xernogre were viable options and brought completely different teammates and also yveldon and xerndon were really really good. Idk, kyogre was indoubtibly the best uber (with xerneas) but the meta never felt completely dominated by either

[@lamberto2392]

@@THATSAplusONE But again, i'm from italy so maybe that's just my point of view. I remember that crobat was a fancy pick for kyogre teams because it set tailwind, resisted fairy and had haze to check xerneas. I remember smeargle was a great teammate for xerndon and it was so bad to play against it because it could raise its evasion. I really had a lot of fun during sun series. (and during moon series too, but don't tell my friends)

[@teno777]

In retrospect, it's funny how they've been progressively trying to tackle nerfs after the mess that smeargle dark void was. They do nerf but they still play it so safe and it's still chaotic (urshifu?). Still, good thing that this showed that a solved meta is not ideal.

[@lancedu9331]

Do you think we can make a solid new version of chalk in gen 9 based on the mons we have now?

[@THATSAplusONE]

Nah. Honestly the closet thing ive seen is my worlds team. Cress is hard to fit onto teams and honestly ursh just destroys the CHALK playstyle

[@lancedu9331]

@THATSAplusONE or new Rina for duel restriction

[@jamiegetty7011]

A lot of people think the gen 10 games won’t be released this year, unlike the past trend of 3 year release cycle. If that meant we ended up with a fourth gen 9 worlds in 2026, what do you think the format would look like? Triple+ restricted? Double restricted with limitations? Something else entirely?

[@That1GuyKenz]

I personally think 2019 ultra series was where the peak of vgc hit (and I’m not saying this cuz the first time I made top cut with points was with the sturdy shedinja meme team)

[@THATSAplusONE]

Ultra series was a great format. I was getting points with Electrode lol. Tons of stuff was viable

[@That1GuyKenz]

100% agree. This was one of the only few formats that gave most players some creativity in team building while still being a competitive format

[@TheMyriadTruths]

I think there’s a lot that VGC can learn from TCG.

[@THATSAplusONE]

I agree!

[@KCrofty1994]

My chest tightened when I heard “dark void smeargle.” Hands down my least favourite time playing the game

[@THATSAplusONE]

I cant believe I forgot to include moody as another reason why it sucked so much lol

[@kuzan421]

could you elaborate more on why wolfe winning 2016 was important for the game? im not disagreeing, just asking. it seemed like your main reason was hes american. but im pretty sure his finals opponent was also american

[@THATSAplusONE]

Just any American winning. It’s easier to market to western audiences when the world champ goes to your regionals.

[@nathangille4809]

I would say his name helps a lot too. It really stands out and with all his prior success as well people like to root for a name they know. He low key has the tiger woods effect for any one who remembers that era.

[@THATSAplusONE]

This was before he was known though. Back then he was just a pretty good player in a sea of good players. I will say he definitely capitalized the best on it

[@EdgarBoogerman]

Rental teams is when VGC got kinda stale imo

[@THATSAplusONE]

We have had rentals since like 2014

[@klouud2]

You’ve mentioned in previous videos that your biggest issue with VGC was collusion. How has Open team sheet affected collusion and is your passion for the game competitively back because of a reduce of collusion?

[@THATSAplusONE]

So the main issue is still there. No matter what you are playing if somebody has info on your EVs or combos people will be sharing info and flowcharting you in between rounds and ESPECIALLY in between day 1 and 2. Collusion hasnt really reduced at all. Honestly my passion for live events wasnt really all that strong to begin with and after 2017 it never really came back. I like seeing my friends and I got my worlds invites a couple of times but I did those more just for me than out of a love for the game.

[@klouud2]

@ I’m sorry man. That really stinks. It’s also super frustrating. Are there rules against collusion?

[@jakeherr149]

I don't really understand why the the big man Pokémon company doesn't implement tiers for VGC. Singles has tiers, so I feel like competitive can have its own version of this where we have many classes of what is allowed. This would allow multiple world champions per "tier" and truly make the game more enjoyable and bring more eyes to the game and competitive as a whole. Legendaries are great, but I wanna be able to use lil guys like hisuian electrode in peace and be more creative with it 😅

[@THATSAplusONE]

Easier to control with one ruleset per season

[@viviorko]

Technically you can go lower, I haven’t beat you.

[@al_kaufman]

Bring back Reg H!!!!!!!

[@THATSAplusONE]

Dont know about that. Formats over and the next time we will have a non restricted format will probably be VGC 2026

[@al_kaufman]

@@THATSAplusONE Yeah most likely. G is still a cool format!

[@RTG_YTC]

As a random casual, I love Reg G. I get to use Koraidon against other players and not just random Tera raids. And if I lose, then I just lose. It’s cool.