BW OU Secret Santa 2025
(format definitely not stolen)
Here’s your favorite Santa, bello figo himself!(format definitely not stolen)
Secret Santa is an event in which the members of a community anonymously exchange gifts between themselves. In this particular Secret Santa, which, deep down, will work similarly to a teambuilding workshop, each person who signs up will PM me with a Pokémon or a core (I'll provide more information on this below) they'd like someone else to build a team with. Afterwards, everyone who joined the project will receive one of the aforementioned ideas and will have to build a team with it until the submission deadline. Finally, the teams will be sent to the people who requested them and this thread will be used for further discussion. Easy, isn't it? Let's get to the rules then!
General Rules:- Must be in BW OU only.
- Post In to join, you must also PM me on Smogon or Discord what Pokemon / core you are requesting and specify it's for BW OU Secret Santa.
- Do not sign up unless you are committed to finishing the team in time.
- Avoid telling people what you received. This ruins the purpose of the project; the secret will be unveiled on Christmas.
- Please avoid requesting choices that are completely unviable. Let’s have fun making the teams, so feel free to think outside of the box, but let’s not give someone the impossible task of making Smoochum work in the OU. The goal is to have fun, not revolutionize the meta.
- Each request submission should be sent to me through Smogon PM (or Discord if you are more comfortable, @ bellofigoburger_58644). You don't need to do it right after signing up, but if you fail to do it until the deadline then your sign up will be void.
- Requests will be looked at on a case by case basis, but as long as you submit something semi reasonable, it should be fine.
- Cores are usually preferred over individual Pokemon unless the suggested Pokemon is uncommon or known to be hard to build around. Once again, this will be looked into on a case by case basis, and while I might not directly enforce anything, I could end up suggesting changes. A vague description such as "No-Dragonite Hyper Offense team" or “Sudowoodo Hyper Offense lead” are also acceptable.
- If you want your requested Pokemon or core to have specific sets, you're allowed to mention it.
- After sign ups close, I'll use the same PM each user sent with their request in order to let them know the Pokemon or core that was assigned to them. I will also tell you who you are building for. Once you're done building, bump the PM with the end result.
- Similarly to the Pokemon/core requests, it is preferred that you keep teams semi viable. However, you can try to feature less common elements if you prefer it that way. Just keep in mind that the goal is not to gimp people's creativity, so feel free to go wild if it fits you best!
- A short description is appreciated and highly encouraged, but not required.
- To prevent a situation where some people don't receive a team by Christmas (as occurred last edition in the BW OU 2023 Secret Santa), I will step in to build teams for them, possibly with help from other prominent community members. Furthermore, these replacement teams, along with teams built for participants who failed to submit one, may be shared on this thread.
- Don't be afraid to join just because you feel like your teambuilding skills aren't on par, this is a fun event and it can be used to improve your teambuilding skills!
- You're allowed to change requests until the sign up deadline, but I would prefer if you didn't swap too much!
- In case you are struggling with building or understanding the different team structures of the metagame, I encourage you to ask for help and support, as camaraderie is part of the Christmas spirit.
- Have fun and surprise us!
- Signup in this thread and PM me your core or individual Pokemon of choice alongside saying it's for BW OU Secret Santa through Smogon PM before 11:59 AM GMT+1 on December 17th.
- Once the signup deadline passes (December 17th), I will use the same PM to tell you the core or individual Pokemon you got. I will also tell you who you are building for.
- You have until the building deadline (11:59 AM GMT+1 on December 25th) to build your team and send it back using the same PM.
- On Christmas (December 25th), I will distribute the teams to everyone through the original PM.
Building deadline will be December 25th 12:00 PM GMT+1
Teams will be distributed on December 25th by me personally.
