Rules and Tournament Format
General Tournament Rules
- This is a standard GSC OU tournament
- This will be a Ladder Tournament into Best of Three, Top 16 Playoffs
- Ladder Portion Rules
- This tournament will be hosted on the regular Pokemon Showdown! GSC OU ladder. All qualification will be done on this ladder. The Top 16 players (described below) will advanced to a single elimination, best of three playoffs.
- You need to make a new alt account for this tournament. Your alt name must begin with GSCLT1. For example, I may register the alt "GSCLT1 vani" for laddering. To give us a way to identify each account, please include in your sign-up post your alt name in plain text, as well as a picture of your laddering alt. You are not required to make a new alt for each ladder cycle. The alt MUST have been made after the start of the tour. We will check.
- In order to sign up for the GSC Ladder Tournament I, please create a post in this thread listing your alts. You are allowed ONLY ONE ALT; you may replace your current alt with a fresh one by editing your post to include your new alt, and doing so will completely forfeit your old alt's eligibility to qualify for the playoffs. If an alt in the Top 4 at the end of a cycle is not registered in this thread at the time the cycle ends, it will be ignored.
- You must create and register a new alt in this thread before you play any battles on it.
- The ladder portion of the tournament spans 4 cycles lasting 7 days each. The cutoff times for each cycle are listed below; at the cutoff time, one of the moderators will take a screenshot of the ladder. In order to qualify for the playoffs, your alt must be among the top 4 newly made alts in the screenshot. If a player in the top 4 of a given cycle is already qualified, their alt will be ignored when counting the top 4 alts for that cycle. Cycles will have adjusted end times to give players from different regions and timezones a better chance at being on at the end of the cycle.
- In order to break potential ties, the unrounded ELO of each player who qualifies in a given cycle will be recorded in order to break any potential ties. Your unrounded ELO can be found by using the following URL: https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/~~showdown/action.php?act=ladderget&user=[your username here]
- For the playoffs stage, machtups will be randomized via the bracketmaker.
- All ladder games involving a player with a GSCLT1 prefix are forced to be public. If you have the "Don't allow spectators" box checked when you start a GSCLT1 game, your game will be public and you will be met with this message: "This battle is required to be public due to a player having a name starting with 'GSCLT1'."
- Playoffs Portion Rules
- Rounds will be Best of Three. You may switch teams in between battles of the same set.
- Matches are to be played on Pokemon Showdown!. Smogtours is mandatory for the entirety of playoffs.
- Replays are required for all matches.
- Activity calls will be made by me, potentially with neutral assistance from a GSC Moderator or Tournament Director. Coin flips will be done publicly on PS!
- In the event that something is added to or removed from the GSC OU metagame in the middle of a round, that change will be in effect starting the next round.
- General Rules
- Do not cheat. Cheating will result in a disqualification. Additional punishments may be applied as necessary. Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
- Asking your opponent to forfeit on the ladder
- Ghosting or being ghosted by another player (e.g. while playing a set, asking for advice about what plays to make)
- Manipulating match outcomes (e.g. throwing a match in exchange for Smogon likes)
- Do not harass or insult your opponents. I reserve the right to disqualify anyone breaking this rule. Additional punishments may be applied as necessary.
- Do not cheat. Cheating will result in a disqualification. Additional punishments may be applied as necessary. Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
This tournament will award points towards the 2025 GSC OU Circuit, which awards a ribbon to the winner of the entire circuit.
Resources
GSC Discord
GSC Resources
GSC OU Sample Teams
Cycle Start & End Times + Qualifiers
(all times GMT +0)
Cycle 1
START | Monday, August 25th at 4:45 AM
END | Sunday, August 31st at 11:59 PM
Qualifiers
N/A
Cycle 2
START | Sunday, August 31st at 11:59 PM
END | Monday, September 8th at 6:00 AM
Qualifiers
N/A
Cycle 3
START | Monday, September 8th at 6:00 AM
END | Sunday, September 14th at 11:59 AM
Qualifiers
N/A
Cycle 4
START | Sunday, September 14th at 11:59 AM
END | Sunday, September 21st at 6:00 PM
Qualifiers
N/A
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