FAQ & Rules

The Trainer Shed is Singapore's only regular community tournament organiser using official Pokémon VGC (Video Game Championships) and TCG (Trading Card Game) rules. We also host Pokkén Tournament DX events in partnership with Pokken Singapore, and fun side formats like Z-A Ranked Battles. We provide a space for aspiring World Champions to practice, compete, and connect.

Everyone. Our tournaments are open to all ages and skill levels — no ranking or qualification needed.

Most of our events are held at *Scape (2 Orchard Link, Singapore 237978), our official partner venue since 2022. Some events may be held at local community gaming and card shops — check the specific tournament details for venue information.

No. Ours are community tournaments, not official Play! Pokémon or Pokémon Asia Championship Series events, so they don't award points or invites. Singapore VGC players qualify for Worlds 2027 by placing at the Premier Ball League or the Master Ball League, and our events are practice for both.How to qualify for Worlds 2027 in Singapore

Pokémon Champions, on whichever Regulation Set is current on the official circuit. When the official ruleset changes, our events change with it. The legal Pokémon, Mega Evolution and item rules for the current set are on our VGC format page.VGC format guide

Bring your device with Pokémon Champions installed and your competitive team ready to go before the tournament starts, plus a charger — batteries don't last forever. Switch and mobile are both fine at our events; see Devices & Equipment below for the details.

An open team sheet (OTS) is a physical sheet you fill in before the tournament. Players swap sheets before their match starts. It lists: • Pokémon species, including forms and regional variants • Abilities • Held items • All known moves • Stat alignment Only your training (Stat Points) stays hidden, so there are no surprise picks — matches come down to your bring decision and clean execution.

Yes, but physical notes only — pen and paper. Note-taking is allowed at our events and at official Play! Pokémon events. Phones and other devices can't be used for notes during a match.

Rental teams no longer exist in Pokémon Champions — they've been replaced by Replica Teams. Replicas let you share a full team setup (Pokémon, ability, nature, Stat Point spread, moves, held item) via a code, but you must already own each Pokémon and item yourself, then spend Victory Points in-game to train them to match the replica's spec. Replica Teams are allowed in our community events by default; check the specific tournament rules for any event-specific restrictions.

Registration is done online through our website. Find the tournament you want to join on the home page, click 'Register Now', fill in your details, and complete the payment. You'll receive a confirmation once your registration is complete.

We accept credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), GrabPay, and PayNow through our secure Stripe payment system.

Refund policies vary by tournament. Generally, refunds are available up to 48 hours before the event. Please note that Stripe transaction fees are non-refundable — the refunded amount will be the registration fee minus any payment processing fees charged by Stripe. Contact us through our social channels for refund requests.

Please let us know as soon as possible so we can adjust the tournament bracket. Contact us through Discord or Telegram.

Both the Nintendo Switch and the mobile version of Pokémon Champions are fine at our tournaments, and you may use wireless controllers or wireless headphones. We enforce the official ruleset for format and Pokémon legality, not the hardware restrictions that apply at Regional Championships and above.

Championship-level events — Regional Championships, International Championships and Worlds — are Nintendo Switch only (Switch, Switch Lite, Switch OLED or Switch 2). The mobile version is limited to store-level events such as Open Play Sessions, VGC Cups and Challenges. The Pokémon Asia Championship Series is run separately by The Pokémon Company under its own rules, so check those for each event. Its VGC events, including the Singapore Premier Ball League, allow a smartphone or a Nintendo Switch.What's known about devices at the Singapore qualifiers

At Championship-level Play! Pokémon events, only officially licensed wired controllers and wired headphones are allowed, connected directly to your system, with Joy-Con controllers kept attached to the Switch — no wireless. Our own events allow wireless, but if you're preparing for a Regional or above, practise with a wired setup.

Swiss pairing is a tournament format where players are matched against opponents with similar records — everyone plays every round, and no one is eliminated during Swiss rounds. After each round, players are grouped into brackets by match points, and pairings are drawn within a bracket where possible; round 1 is a single bracket, so it's a random draw. You won't play the same opponent twice: if a rematch-free pairing exists for the whole field, that's the one used, even if it means pairing a player down into the bracket below.

One player sits out each round and receives a bye — an automatic match win, though it doesn't count toward your win percentage for tiebreakers. The bye goes to a random player in the lowest match-point bracket, and never to someone who's already had one; if everyone in the lowest bracket has already had a bye, it moves up to the next bracket instead.

After Swiss rounds, the top-performing players advance to a single-elimination bracket called 'Top Cut'. This is typically Top 4 or Top 8 depending on the number of participants. Top Cut matches are usually Best-of-3.

The number of Swiss rounds depends on attendance. As a guide: • Up to 8 players — 3 rounds • 9–16 players — 4 rounds • 17–32 players — 5 rounds • 33–64 players — 6 rounds • 65–128 players — 7 rounds The exact number is announced before the tournament begins.

Best-of-3 (Bo3) means players play up to 3 games in a match, and the first player to win 2 games wins the match. This is standard for Top Cut rounds and some Swiss rounds depending on the tournament.

Standings use match points (3 for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss). Ties on points are broken by Opponents' Win % first, then Opponents' Opponents' Win %, as in the official Play! Pokémon rules. If two tied players met, the winner of that match ranks higher; any other tie is settled at random.

Standard, following the current official card legality set by The Pokémon Company. Since the 2026 rotation (10 April 2026 for in-person events, 26 March 2026 on TCG Live), cards with regulation marks H, I and J are legal and the older G mark has rotated out. Legality follows the regulation mark printed on the card, not how recent the set is.TCG format guide

Bring your 60-card deck in sleeves, dice/counters for damage, and a printed or written deck list. Make sure your deck follows the current Standard format card legality.

Yes — proxy cards are allowed by default in our tournaments unless a specific event states otherwise. We believe competitive play should be about deck-building skill and strategy, not the size of your wallet. That said, proxies must be clearly identifiable as the card they represent.

Pokkén Tournament DX is a fighting game featuring Pokémon, available on Nintendo Switch. Players choose a Pokémon and battle in real-time 3D arenas. We host Pokkén events in partnership with Pokken Singapore.

Pokken Singapore is our partner community dedicated to the Pokkén Tournament competitive scene in Singapore. They help organise and run our Pokkén events. Find them on X (Twitter) at @PokkenSingapore.

Bring your Nintendo Switch with Pokkén Tournament DX installed and charged. A Pro Controller is recommended but not required.

Z-A Ranked Battles are a fun side format we occasionally run alongside our main tournaments. These use the in-game Ranked Battle ruleset from Pokémon Legends: Z-A, giving players a chance to compete in a different metagame from the standard VGC format.

No — they're hosted from time to time rather than on a fixed schedule. Keep an eye on the tournament listings for when the next one pops up!

We expect all participants to be respectful, sportsman-like, and follow fair play rules. Cheating, aggressive behaviour, discrimination, and unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated and may result in disqualification and a ban from future events.

Raise your hand and call a tournament organiser (TO). TOs will make rulings based on official Pokémon rules. Their decisions are final.