Tournament Manager (TM)

Tournament staff members available to assist with questions, settle disputes, and ensure timely completion of battles.

Game (i.e. Battle)

A single battle between two players, which results in one journal entry in Pokémon GO.

Game Points

Points awarded for a battle win.

Match

A set of five games between two players.

Series

A set of matches between players from two teams.

Series Points

Points awarded based on the results of a series during the Group Stage.

Double Down player

A player nominated by the team captain for each series whose wins are worth double the usual amount of points.

GO Stadium website

https://stadiumgaming.gg

Teammate

A registered member of the team.

Registration

Teams of four people may register for team tournaments. Each player must register for a slot: A, B, C or D. Players will only face players from opposing teams registered under the same slot.

Double Down Scoring

At the start of each round during the Double Down nomination period, team captains will nominate a Double Down player through the GO Stadium website, which will remain hidden until all Double Downs for a series or group have been submitted. Players will typically receive one game point for each battle won, but the Double Down player will receive two game points for each battle won. Team captains must ensure that both teams have submitted their selections prior to any battles being played. During the Elimination Stage, any team matched with a directly prior round bye team will be able to select their Double Down from all players regardless of Double Down selection in the previous round. In the event that a team has less than 4 players, the Double Down player may not be selected for a blank slot by either team.

Scoring

Matches will not be determined in a best-of-five fashion; instead, one game point will be awarded for each battle won. In the event of a battle tie, each player will receive 0.5 game points. Each player will enter their results on the GO Stadium website. The team with the most game points, factoring in Double Downs, wins the series. If both teams have the same number of game points, the series is tied. In the event that a team has less than 4 players at any point in the tournament, the blank slot will receive an automatic 0-5 loss.

The Group Stage

The Team Tournament will be divided into an initial Group Stage followed by an Elimination Stage. Groups will be composed of three or four teams. During the 24-hour Double Down nomination period, teams will nominate a unique Double Down player for each series in group play. Once all Double Downs have been revealed, each series will be played in a round robin-style over a 5-day period. Teams will receive 3 series points for a series win in group play and 1 series point for a tie. The top two teams by series points from each group, regardless of group size, will advance to the Elimination Stage.

Tiebreakers for the Group Stage

After the completion of the Group Stage, should two or more teams within a group be equal on series points, the following tiebreakers will be applied in order to determine the advancement to the Elimination Stage:

1. Highest sum of series points resulting from all series between the teams concerned (i.e. head-to-head series record);
2. Highest game point differential resulting from all series between the teams concerned;
3. Highest game point differential resulting from all series within the group.

Seeding the Elimination Stage

Group winners will be seeded for the elimination stage based on their performance in the group stage. Group second place teams will be separated into two portions (upper half and lower half of the bracket) so that each team is on the opposite half of the bracket from the winner of their group, and then seeded within each portion based on their performance in the group stage. Teams will be seeded according to the following criteria:

1. Group placement;
2. Highest series points (excluding the series with the lowest placing team for groups of four);
3. Game point differential (excluding the series with the lowest placing team for groups of four); and
4. Global rank.

The Elimination Stage

Each round will start with a 24-hour Double Down nomination period. Importantly, teams cannot nominate the same player in consecutive rounds. After the 24-hour Double Down nomination period, teams must complete their matches over a subsequent 48-hour period. The team with the most game points wins the series, and the losing team is eliminated from the competition.

Tiebreakers for the Elimination Stage

In the case of a tie, the two Double Down players, who may or may not have previously battled against each other, will square off in a Sudden Death battle worth 1 game point. In the event that no Double Down was selected, the Sudden Death battle will be completed by the player in Slot A. If Slot A was not eligible as a Double Down that round, it will be deferred to the player in Slot B.

The Silph League Arena

Silph official rules are the standard ruleset to be followed unless specifically stated otherwise below.

Team Composition

All Pokémon with a maximum CP of 1500 are permitted with the exception of Pokémon specifically banned from each competition. Teams will cooperatively build four battle teams, one for each player, consisting of 24 unique Pokémon. Each player will register their battle team of six individual Pokémon along with CP, moveset, & shadow status. While you are locked into your moveset selections for the entire tournament, you may alter them for use in other battle formats between games as you deem necessary.

Unique Species Clause

Pokémon with the same Pokédex entry number that differ in either typing or base stats are considered unique Pokémon (i.e. Alolan Muk and Kanto Muk; Defense Deoxys and Attack Deoxys; Sunny Castform and Rainy Castform).

Bans

Randomized Pokémon bans are determined in advance and apply to all battle teams used during the tournament. The current bans can be reviewed on the GO Stadium website.

Communication

In order to communicate effectively, all team members are required to be in the GO Stadium Discord and self-assign the Team Tournament role. To do so, go to the community-roles channel and select the ⚔ emoji.

Appropriate Coordination

To ensure timely completion of battles, your coordination attempts must meet the following guidelines. 1. Tag your opponent in the appropriate channel AND send them a direct message as soon as possible, including both: a. Your time zone if it is not in your nickname on the server; and b. All of the available time you have during the period of the round. 2. If your opponent responds with both (a) and (b), some attempt must be made at finding a time that works for both of you. 3. If you have not coordinated a time to battle or your coordinated time was missed and unable to be rescheduled, send proof of the above to @Match Disputes where a TM will instruct you on how to proceed. If you do not meet these requirements then your attempt will not be considered sufficient.

Slow Play Penalties

If a Team fails to nominate a Double Down player within the designated period, they will continue that series without a Double Down. If two players have not battled by the end of the round, TMs may grant an extension depending on the circumstances. If an extension is requested, players must include a specific time they have both agreed upon to complete the match. Our goal is always to see wins determined by battles and not TM decisions. However, we cannot extend a round by an unreasonable amount of time for one outstanding match out of respect for all participants. Any incomplete battles at the end of the round or extension period (if granted) will have points awarded at the discretion of the TMs. Matches for the Team Tournament are not done in a best-of-5 fashion, and therefore we choose to allow flexibility in how these points are awarded. Game points can either be awarded solely to one player or split between both parties. Decisions will be made factoring in items such as communication and coordination attempts, availability during both the round and extension period, etc. DO NOT submit the current game points when messaging @Match Disputes as all TMs involved in these determinations will not be aware of the current scores.

Technical Disputes

If two players do not agree on a battle outcome, they must message @Match Disputes with a detailed explanation of the issue. Journal entries showing current battle outcomes and video evidence are required for arbitration. It is highly recommended to enable show all touches in device settings and/or record all matches with internal and external sound being captured in the event that the user interface becomes unresponsive. Without these indicators, the TMs will use their discretion to determine what occurred during the battle. This will be based on the state of the battle at the time that the issue occurred. Any rematch granted through these means will be heavily documented and tracked. Awarded rematches will require players to use the same lead Pokémon; however, the back two can change should they choose to do so. In situations where a victory is assured and lag causes a change in the outcome, we may opt to override the journal entry and assign a win/loss over a rematch. Some examples include a lone 2 shield Skarmory vs. a lone 0 shield Victreebel, a clear knockout charge move that would end the match but does no damage, etc. Please note that these rulings will only be made when the lost victory due to lag cannot be questioned.

Hidden Information

A Team may discuss within their own group any observed movesets or strategies that have been willfully given by an opponent or information obtained by normal tournament play; however, scouting movesets from previous opponents is not allowed. In the result of a tie, you may discuss any observed movesets among your teammates in preparation for the Elimination Stage tiebreaker.

Outside Assistance

As this is a team tournament, discussion amongst teammates about the best approach to an upcoming matchup is allowed and encouraged; however, this must occur only among teammates.. Simulations, while expressly prohibited during both GO Stadium meta tournaments (e.g. Cliffhanger) and Silph ranked tournaments, are allowed during Team Tournaments.

Disqualification

Any participant failing to adhere to the rules of the GO Stadium Discord or the tournament itself, may be disqualified from competition, and their Team may incur additional penalties including disqualification as determined by the Tournament Managers. Any persons formerly removed from the Discord are not permitted entry to this tournament.

Pokémon Registration

It is up to each battler to register their team of 6 Pokémon, including CP and moveset, correctly and accurately. In the event that one or more is incorrect, restrictions and/or penalties may occur:

• Incorrect Pokémon (banned, wrong evolution, incorrect cloak, etc.).
  • A new Pokémon must be selected within 24 hours of the TMs being made aware of the situation.
  • The new Pokémon selection will not be available for use by the battler until the start of the next round.
  • If any battles have occurred, a loss will be issued for the most recent battle completed.

Player Substitutions

We understand that things may happen during a several week tournament that would force a player to no longer compete. In the event that one player from a team needs to drop out, a replacement player may be substituted.

• A substitution may not be a player that is/was registered with another team at any point during the current tournament.

Score Submissions

To verify accuracy of results, it is mandatory that every player submits their match scores within the round timer. Failure to do so will result in a 1 game point penalty applied to the team per late or missing entry. Once a score has been submitted, those will be viewed as finalized games that are not disputable.