The results of the recent SV OU Kyurem suspect are changing from Ban to Do Not Ban after we uncovered irrefutable evidence of cheating by a plethora of voters! An individual was repeatedly getting voting requirements and distributing qualified aliases to other users, who elected to use them despite this being in direct violation of the rules. I will provide a full account of what I can share as this is an unprecedented situation and the community deserves accountability.
Before I go into the details, I just want to say a personal thank you to everyone who took our suspects seriously, engaged with the process genuinenly, and participated alongside me in our quest to make SV OU the best metagame possible. I love this community and take so much pride in my position, but none of this would be possible without those who act in good faith! On the same note, frustrating posts like this one only are needed due to those who act in bad faith; I hope this serves as a reminder that anyone's actions may come with consequences. Play stupid games and you win stupid prizes!
The initial results can be found here with Kyurem getting banned 84-52, which showed 61.8% support. This was one of the closest suspects in recent history and famously came down to the last few votes. However, 11 votes have been deemed illegitimate after an internal investigation disclosed widespread suspect cheating. We have removed these votes from the pool due to our emphasis on assuring the quality of our suspec process and the recency of the verdict. The new tally is 74-51, which is only 59.2% support. As such, Kyurem is now unbanned from SV OU effective immediately. Marty dhelmise
The suspect cheating that took place does span back further than Kyurem; we have confirmation that the numerous prior tests also had foul play in a similar fashion. Thankfully, we can confirm that despite these efforts, the result was not impacted for any of these tests.
The user who initiated the suspect cheating as well as the beneficiaries, who cheated in claiming requirements and voting illegitimately, are being held accountable by Smogon's staff with punishments that fit their involvement given the undisputable evidence we have on the matter. This type of stratagem being waged against our devoted playerbase is unacceptable. Cheating has no place in our community and it is absolutely shameful that our process was compromised by it. I am heartbroken that such neglect for Smogon's most important institution, tiering, has been displayed by numerous community members, but I am relieved that their misbehavior has been detected.
Further measures are being investigated to prevent something like this from happening again, but as always: if you see something, say something! My PMs are always open and anonymity is guaranteed. On a similar note, to anyone who is confused or frustrated by this ordeal, do not hesitate to reach out to me. This is a disappointing day for the community that will have plenty of consequence, but do not let that take away from the fact that we have had such an exciting generation thus far with plenty more to go!
Thanks so much to the staff members of Pokemon Showdown and Smogon who sacrificed peak hours of a Friday to make this possible. Hours of sacrifice across many skilled and experienced contributors led to this discovery; their efforts allowed for our suspect process to have the best accuracy possible. I am grateful for this.
Before I go into the details, I just want to say a personal thank you to everyone who took our suspects seriously, engaged with the process genuinenly, and participated alongside me in our quest to make SV OU the best metagame possible. I love this community and take so much pride in my position, but none of this would be possible without those who act in good faith! On the same note, frustrating posts like this one only are needed due to those who act in bad faith; I hope this serves as a reminder that anyone's actions may come with consequences. Play stupid games and you win stupid prizes!
The initial results can be found here with Kyurem getting banned 84-52, which showed 61.8% support. This was one of the closest suspects in recent history and famously came down to the last few votes. However, 11 votes have been deemed illegitimate after an internal investigation disclosed widespread suspect cheating. We have removed these votes from the pool due to our emphasis on assuring the quality of our suspec process and the recency of the verdict. The new tally is 74-51, which is only 59.2% support. As such, Kyurem is now unbanned from SV OU effective immediately. Marty dhelmise
The suspect cheating that took place does span back further than Kyurem; we have confirmation that the numerous prior tests also had foul play in a similar fashion. Thankfully, we can confirm that despite these efforts, the result was not impacted for any of these tests.
The user who initiated the suspect cheating as well as the beneficiaries, who cheated in claiming requirements and voting illegitimately, are being held accountable by Smogon's staff with punishments that fit their involvement given the undisputable evidence we have on the matter. This type of stratagem being waged against our devoted playerbase is unacceptable. Cheating has no place in our community and it is absolutely shameful that our process was compromised by it. I am heartbroken that such neglect for Smogon's most important institution, tiering, has been displayed by numerous community members, but I am relieved that their misbehavior has been detected.
Further measures are being investigated to prevent something like this from happening again, but as always: if you see something, say something! My PMs are always open and anonymity is guaranteed. On a similar note, to anyone who is confused or frustrated by this ordeal, do not hesitate to reach out to me. This is a disappointing day for the community that will have plenty of consequence, but do not let that take away from the fact that we have had such an exciting generation thus far with plenty more to go!
Thanks so much to the staff members of Pokemon Showdown and Smogon who sacrificed peak hours of a Friday to make this possible. Hours of sacrifice across many skilled and experienced contributors led to this discovery; their efforts allowed for our suspect process to have the best accuracy possible. I am grateful for this.