(yea this isnt gonna have art, sorry!)
The Draft League subforum is launching its next tournament, Almost Any Ability Draft I! This is a Unofficial Tour for the 2025 Draft League Circuit and will NOT provide points toward this year's Draft League Championship. Games will take place in the [Gen 9] Almost Any Ability tier on Pokémon Showdown! and there will be battle pools followed by a single elimination bracket. The tournament's hosts are aeth, goldmason, and Avacodoh.:
- All games must be played in the [Gen 9] Almost Any Ability tier on smogtours.psim.us or psim.us. Be aware that each game on smogtours starts a timer automatically and cannot be turned off.
- General tournament rules and regulations can be found here.
- SV cartridge win conditions are in place; there are no ties.
- Each set is a best-of-one set.
- The following clauses apply:
- Species Clause: A player cannot have two Pokémon with the same National Pokédex number on a team.
- Sleep Moves Clause: Bans all moves that induce sleep as a primary effect, such as Hypnosis, this includes Yawn.
- Evasion Clause: A Pokémon may not hold an item, use a move or possess an ability that can increase their evasion stat. This includes the move Acupressure.
- OHKO Clause: A Pokémon may not have the moves Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, or Sheer Cold in its moveset.
- Moody Clause: A team cannot have a Pokémon with the ability Moody.
- Endless Battle Clause: Players cannot intentionally prevent an opponent from being able to end the game without forfeiting.
- Baton Pass Clause: A Pokémon may not have Baton Pass in its moveset.
- Terastal Clause: Players may not Terastallize.
- Ability Clause = 1: A player cannot have two Pokemon with the same Ability on a team. - Quick Claw, King's Rock and Razor Fang are banned.
- Abilities not allowed to be used: Arena Trap, Comatose, Contrary, Fur Coat, Good as Gold, Gorilla Tactics, Huge Power, Ice Scales, Illusion, Imposter, Innards Out, Magic Bounce, Magnet Pull, Moody, Neutralizing Gas, Orichalcum Pulse, Parental Bond, Poison Heal, Pure Power, Shadow Tag, Simple, Speed Boost, Stakeout, Triage, Toxic Debris, Unburden, Water Bubble, Wonder Guard.
- Moves not allowed to be used: Revival Blessing.
- Rankings within pools may not be 100% accurate as the spreadsheet does not track head-to-head results. Players will advance based on scoring, where a 3-0 and 2-1 record will advance.
- Replays must be posted to the pool/round thread, please mention the result, your opponent's name and your pool number.
About Activity Decisions
Activity Decisions / Coin Flips: In the event that there is an uncompleted match at the deadline, and an extension has not been requested, it will be coin flipped unless one or both of the players involved in the match specifically request an activity win and explain sufficiently why they deserve to win over their opponent. Attempting to schedule a battle is required in order to receive the win by activity. To make it clear that you are requesting an activity win when you post, you must open your post with "Activity Win Request" in bold.
For example, if you believe your opponent is making an unfair request and that they don't deserve the activity win over you, you can either make your own request or quote their post and explain why they don't deserve it. You should try to make your activity win request posts at least 24 hours before the deadline to give your opponent a reasonable opportunity to contest it with their own activity win request.
Please note that all extension requests and activity claims must be posted to the thread, and that all of these will be judged on a case by case basis.
[Credit to the Official Smogon Tournament hosting team for the base form of this rule.]
Activity Decisions / Coin Flips: In the event that there is an uncompleted match at the deadline, and an extension has not been requested, it will be coin flipped unless one or both of the players involved in the match specifically request an activity win and explain sufficiently why they deserve to win over their opponent. Attempting to schedule a battle is required in order to receive the win by activity. To make it clear that you are requesting an activity win when you post, you must open your post with "Activity Win Request" in bold.
For example, if you believe your opponent is making an unfair request and that they don't deserve the activity win over you, you can either make your own request or quote their post and explain why they don't deserve it. You should try to make your activity win request posts at least 24 hours before the deadline to give your opponent a reasonable opportunity to contest it with their own activity win request.
Please note that all extension requests and activity claims must be posted to the thread, and that all of these will be judged on a case by case basis.
[Credit to the Official Smogon Tournament hosting team for the base form of this rule.]
Contact your opponent as soon as possible upon the round going up. Activity cases are going to be handled in a very strict manner.
When scheduling, offer as wide a swathe of time when you are available to play. 1 hour of activity on one or two weeknights is unlikely to be considered acceptable.
Schedule specifically - do not schedule for "Friday afternoon" or "Sunday morning", pick a date, a time and note the time zone, ideally as GMT offset.
If either host catches news of ghosting or some other sort of nefarious play, we reserve the right to investigate to the full limits of our ability.
When scheduling, offer as wide a swathe of time when you are available to play. 1 hour of activity on one or two weeknights is unlikely to be considered acceptable.
Schedule specifically - do not schedule for "Friday afternoon" or "Sunday morning", pick a date, a time and note the time zone, ideally as GMT offset.
If either host catches news of ghosting or some other sort of nefarious play, we reserve the right to investigate to the full limits of our ability.
Pool #1: DenyInDenial (deny06), TheRedSceptile (theredsceptile), scarletRoyal (droomish), Sanskiller55 (sanskiller55)
Pool #2: HyperTM (mrtimb88), impersonxtor (thekillerof_impersonators_alt2), Poosh_i (poosh_i), thajester (_thejester)
Pool #3: Portrait or Ruin (liarssmile), vmnunes (vmnunes), Ringmaster Uta (ringmasteruta), XDill-V (dill_pickle96)
Pool #4: not mishmesh (mishmeshseph), Ghoul in PJs (ghoul_in_pjs), ElysianSoul (elysiansoul222), ConquestGanda (conquestganda)
Pool #5: Guille (guille14), Dddddsf (braybray_49), Chairman Rose (wbneel), urban (theurbandear)
Pool #6: SOM/05 (som_05), Clem (claquettesgucci), Jurassicpig44 (jpig44), Fish and Chips (sturgeonstories)
Pool #7: hida (.hida.), Chastiful (chastiful), @Tranquility (tranquility_flower), ShadowStricker911 (major.payne911)
Pool #8: Doncon123 (doncon123), LeaoGhost (leaoghost), TheRam7 (theram7), hitmontop_girl (hg_hitmontop)
Pool #9: FSF Iceik (iceik), omegamark64 (omegamark64), cicepece11 (cicepece69), jadeskarlettdragon (jadeskarlettdragon)
Pool #10: OrnLatios (ornlatias), jparks (jparks0779), fayetssf (fayetssf), GlalieGoesBoom (glaliegoesboom)
Pool #11: Bezrukiy_noob (finpre), Mok3s (mok3s), cactusway (cactusway), Brain Laggs (aggs)
Pool #12: @cat (katsunorichan), Cherry786 (cherri786), 20twelvibes (twenty12), aeth (badelineceleste)
Pool #13: DJS (djs3850), VALCON (valcon1204), Nozzermat (nozzermat), ttv min3craftrocks (min3craftrocks)
Pool #14: MachJacob (machjacob), desi (dessieee), CNCorsolas (gamintwo), Amstan (amstan_)
Pool #15: MightyAbsol84 (mightyabsol), AceTrainrRyan (acetrainerryan), EviGaro (evigaro), @April (leafeonisms)
Pool #16: Idyll (idyllanth), EmperorAry (emperorary), Iride (goniochromismm), watashi (wata.shi)
Pool #17: Xfjdht (jackprobably_32026_97091), FlutterFliss (._veee), Finalcrusader15 (.finalcrusader15), Firecracker (firecracker1195)
Pool #18: laffon (laffon), Animepedia (iktasolork), Shengineer (shengineer), Lux2821 (lux2821)
Pool #19: Senkusu (senkusu), Greybaum (greybaum), AlephSubZero (alephsubzero), Crysite (crysite)
Pool #20: obamaprism1234 (obamaprism0478), shadowkirbydeluxe (n1rvaan.), The Diabolic Gift (thedamngoat.), LeBomboclats (cygnus2428)
Pool #21: SIrKill (sirkill), Atha (atha__), 100percentpureheat (1004064), Sizzlipede & Snom (anobodydraft)
Pool #22: OhioGengar (lucarioman20), jaymens_ (lolgamez), Goatles (goatles), neumann2 (alphrod)
Pool #23: Steven Stone 007 (xhiku.69), ACExDiscostu93 (acexdiscostu93), xSuko (ali131), SavCat (savtothecat)
Pool #24: Shadow079 (shadow079), MizuriKip (mizurikip), H00M4N (ahoomanbeing.), Deadpurp (deadpurp)
Pool #25: Teriso179 (teriso_179), BigBadKii (bigbadkii), kerbecs (k3rb3cs), BadassFroslass (badassfroslass)
Pool #26: OminousPotato00 (ominouspotato0), HRCassetteTape (hrcassettetape), Slackerx (slackerx), BaconUltimate (baconultimate)
Pool #27: Ninjasker (roseraiders), Supreme Omega (supremeomega), Avacodoh (ava.lb), Hiusi guy (badhacker)
Pool #28: carrilero (carrilero), l3ssth4n3 (l3ssth4n3), Vazquez 2.0 (tomatoroth), Gwanian (gwenyon)
Pool #29: powergo1 (powergo1), Kimius64 (kimius_64), Wheaty (wheaty13), ParmesanBruh (parmesanbruh)
Pool #30: Crystal Methyd (rafarou), KibeemS (kibeems), divine.lathe (divine.lathe), PaperRuby (paperruby)
Pool #31: porcupine21 (ejectbuttonphydefamoonguss), potato_enigma (potato_enigma), TheREALRivalSilver (sharpedorider319), AndreBenito (tpcu1_39880)
Pool #32: ZyroBerk (zyroberk), MrNeptoon (mrneptoon), DiamondScyther (diamond_bradyb), Big Pharma (wonderfire)
Pool #33: Coconut | 椰果 (coconut_tail), Gamelord 427 (gamelord427), UT (unnerftalonflame), DMONDThrice (dazey)
Pool #34: Zylvani (zylvani), Lupsss (lupss), Concept (concepteverything), elchicopr (jacksonguy_)
Pool #35: Elgino (elgino10), Arcaninebr 2.0 (feny0269_25331), qtfox (qtfox), Izzy_Q (_izzy_q)
Pool #36: Mokratha (mokratha), @Msousa (msousa), rarh2 (schibli), sqoiche (cbmarcus)
Pool #2: HyperTM (mrtimb88), impersonxtor (thekillerof_impersonators_alt2), Poosh_i (poosh_i), thajester (_thejester)
Pool #3: Portrait or Ruin (liarssmile), vmnunes (vmnunes), Ringmaster Uta (ringmasteruta), XDill-V (dill_pickle96)
Pool #4: not mishmesh (mishmeshseph), Ghoul in PJs (ghoul_in_pjs), ElysianSoul (elysiansoul222), ConquestGanda (conquestganda)
Pool #5: Guille (guille14), Dddddsf (braybray_49), Chairman Rose (wbneel), urban (theurbandear)
Pool #6: SOM/05 (som_05), Clem (claquettesgucci), Jurassicpig44 (jpig44), Fish and Chips (sturgeonstories)
Pool #7: hida (.hida.), Chastiful (chastiful), @Tranquility (tranquility_flower), ShadowStricker911 (major.payne911)
Pool #8: Doncon123 (doncon123), LeaoGhost (leaoghost), TheRam7 (theram7), hitmontop_girl (hg_hitmontop)
Pool #9: FSF Iceik (iceik), omegamark64 (omegamark64), cicepece11 (cicepece69), jadeskarlettdragon (jadeskarlettdragon)
Pool #10: OrnLatios (ornlatias), jparks (jparks0779), fayetssf (fayetssf), GlalieGoesBoom (glaliegoesboom)
Pool #11: Bezrukiy_noob (finpre), Mok3s (mok3s), cactusway (cactusway), Brain Laggs (aggs)
Pool #12: @cat (katsunorichan), Cherry786 (cherri786), 20twelvibes (twenty12), aeth (badelineceleste)
Pool #13: DJS (djs3850), VALCON (valcon1204), Nozzermat (nozzermat), ttv min3craftrocks (min3craftrocks)
Pool #14: MachJacob (machjacob), desi (dessieee), CNCorsolas (gamintwo), Amstan (amstan_)
Pool #15: MightyAbsol84 (mightyabsol), AceTrainrRyan (acetrainerryan), EviGaro (evigaro), @April (leafeonisms)
Pool #16: Idyll (idyllanth), EmperorAry (emperorary), Iride (goniochromismm), watashi (wata.shi)
Pool #17: Xfjdht (jackprobably_32026_97091), FlutterFliss (._veee), Finalcrusader15 (.finalcrusader15), Firecracker (firecracker1195)
Pool #18: laffon (laffon), Animepedia (iktasolork), Shengineer (shengineer), Lux2821 (lux2821)
Pool #19: Senkusu (senkusu), Greybaum (greybaum), AlephSubZero (alephsubzero), Crysite (crysite)
Pool #20: obamaprism1234 (obamaprism0478), shadowkirbydeluxe (n1rvaan.), The Diabolic Gift (thedamngoat.), LeBomboclats (cygnus2428)
Pool #21: SIrKill (sirkill), Atha (atha__), 100percentpureheat (1004064), Sizzlipede & Snom (anobodydraft)
Pool #22: OhioGengar (lucarioman20), jaymens_ (lolgamez), Goatles (goatles), neumann2 (alphrod)
Pool #23: Steven Stone 007 (xhiku.69), ACExDiscostu93 (acexdiscostu93), xSuko (ali131), SavCat (savtothecat)
Pool #24: Shadow079 (shadow079), MizuriKip (mizurikip), H00M4N (ahoomanbeing.), Deadpurp (deadpurp)
Pool #25: Teriso179 (teriso_179), BigBadKii (bigbadkii), kerbecs (k3rb3cs), BadassFroslass (badassfroslass)
Pool #26: OminousPotato00 (ominouspotato0), HRCassetteTape (hrcassettetape), Slackerx (slackerx), BaconUltimate (baconultimate)
Pool #27: Ninjasker (roseraiders), Supreme Omega (supremeomega), Avacodoh (ava.lb), Hiusi guy (badhacker)
Pool #28: carrilero (carrilero), l3ssth4n3 (l3ssth4n3), Vazquez 2.0 (tomatoroth), Gwanian (gwenyon)
Pool #29: powergo1 (powergo1), Kimius64 (kimius_64), Wheaty (wheaty13), ParmesanBruh (parmesanbruh)
Pool #30: Crystal Methyd (rafarou), KibeemS (kibeems), divine.lathe (divine.lathe), PaperRuby (paperruby)
Pool #31: porcupine21 (ejectbuttonphydefamoonguss), potato_enigma (potato_enigma), TheREALRivalSilver (sharpedorider319), AndreBenito (tpcu1_39880)
Pool #32: ZyroBerk (zyroberk), MrNeptoon (mrneptoon), DiamondScyther (diamond_bradyb), Big Pharma (wonderfire)
Pool #33: Coconut | 椰果 (coconut_tail), Gamelord 427 (gamelord427), UT (unnerftalonflame), DMONDThrice (dazey)
Pool #34: Zylvani (zylvani), Lupsss (lupss), Concept (concepteverything), elchicopr (jacksonguy_)
Pool #35: Elgino (elgino10), Arcaninebr 2.0 (feny0269_25331), qtfox (qtfox), Izzy_Q (_izzy_q)
Pool #36: Mokratha (mokratha), @Msousa (msousa), rarh2 (schibli), sqoiche (cbmarcus)
All Pool Battles are due 9:00PM GMT-5 on Sunday 28th December. Round 1 will be posted shortly after, whenever the hosts are available. All players with 2 wins will advance while 2 losses will eliminate you. There will be no extensions for pool games.
Challenge code: /challenge gen9almostanyability @@@ +volcarona, -snow cloak, -sand veil, -revival blessing
