Official Smogon VGC 17 Tournament Sign-Ups [$$$] [READ OP CAREFULLY]

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Hello everyone! I'm pleased to announce the first official Smogon VGC 17 tournament! Please sign-up below. There are a lot of things to make sure you are aware of prior to the tournament beginning, so please read the OP carefully.

Before participating in this tournament, please take some time to read the following thread: Tournament Rules, Guidelines, and General Information

This tournament will be held using standard VGC 2017 rules, best of three, same teams (you must use the same team for each game of the best of 3). A safe way to do this is to open all three games at the same time so no one can change teams (and not press timer). If there are any changes to the format (PokeBank, ability releases, event moves, etc.) made during the tournament, the change will reflect the following week.
Usable Games: Pokemon Showdown, Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon
Battle Type: Double Battle (Bring 6, pick 4)
Pokémon Restrictions: Alola Pokédex.
Banned Pokémon: Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Magearna, Marshadow, Ash-Greninja, Pokémon not captured or hatched in Sun & Moon
Banned Items: Mega Stones
Clauses: No Pokémon with same Pokedex number, No repeated items
Players may only use Pokémon with items or moves obtained in Pokémon Sun & Moon

This tournament will be in a swiss format (number of rounds depending on sign-ups) with a hard x-2 cut (anyone who gets two or fewer losses will make top-cut, so don't quit after losing once!). The tournament will be hosted on https://battlefy.com/ but we will be posting the pairings each week (along with the link to the battlefy standings).

Each swiss round will last approximately one week. I will not be doing substitutions past the first round of swiss. Prior to match-ups being made each week, there will be a team submission period. The goal of the team submission is to allow players to update their teams throughout the tournament (as it will last a while) but to also prevent counter-teaming / updating your team based on your opponent. You must submit a team prior to week 1. If you do not submit a team for subsequent weeks, the assumption is that you are using your most recently submitted team.

The only person who will be able to access the submission form is Zarel, and he will only be referring to the form in the case of conflict or if there is suspected cheating (changing your team between games or concern that you changed your team based on your opponent). No one else under any circumstances will have access to these teams. Top cut will be team locked throughout.

Each week will then be 2-3 day team submission, 7 days for the swiss round. If a swiss round is not completed, the maximum extension offered will be during the following round's team submission period, up until match-ups for the following week are made. Activity wins will be given in the case of clear activity; coin flips will be conducted otherwise. Coin flips and contested activity calls will be completed by a Smogon Tournament Director not participating in the tournament.

To avoid falling victim to an activity loss against you, please schedule with your opponent via Smogon VM (and please enable your VM walls if they are disabled; default account option is enabled). I do not care if you contact your opponent through other means (Twitter, Skype, Facebook, Discord, whatever) IF YOUR MATCH GETS COMPLETED. However, if your match does not get completed, you are risking an activity loss if records of your communication are not via Smogon VM. I will not be hunting for or accepting records of communication in any other way. If you do talk with someone in a different way, paste it to your vm wall for the record prior to the alleged activity conflict. If logs are posted substantially afterwards, I will not consider them. The following is a guide that can help you in this scheduling. You've been warned.
I'm sure plenty of you have come across activity drama while scheduling matches. I'm here to reduce the arbitrary element associated with some of these decisions. It is entirely your decision to adhere to these STRONG RECOMMENDATIONS, but note that if you choose not to, I'll most likely ignore any pleading from your end.

YOU MUST ACTIVATE YOUR VM WALL IF YOU WISH TO PLAY IN THIS TOURNAMENT. THIS IS HOW ALL OFFICIAL SCHEDULING WILL BE HANDLED.

Once that week's thread is posted, you have up to 48 hours to contact your opponent ON HIS VM WALL and mention your timezone and exactly what dates, what time ranges you are available, and where you will battle. Note that the default accepted sim and server is the official server on Showdown/Smogon Tournament Server. You must provide at least 3 different time ranges at least 48 hours from the timestamp of your message, with at least 2 that are 24-hours apart from each other. The minimum and maximum length for 1 time range is 30 minutes, and the minimum difference between the 3 required time ranges is 3 hours. If you give 3 time ranges that stick with this policy, you can give any additional time ranges at any time you please.

NOTE THAT THIS SCENARIO INVOLVES RESPONSE DYNAMICS; THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL CONTACT FIRST AND SOMEONE WHO RESPOND...THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT FOR BOTH OF YOU TO ASSUME TO YOU CAN BE FIRST CONTACTS...WHOEVER CONTACTS FIRST IS THE FIRST, AND THE OTHER DEFAULTS TO THE RESPONDER. THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS BUT SOME OF YOU ARE DUMB.

Once your opponent has contacted you, you now have up until 72 hours after the week's thread has been posted (NOT after your opponent's message) to respond with times that are good for you. What this means is that if both of you spend the maximum time contacting and responding, you should have back and forth collaboration at a maximum of 72 hours after the round has been posted, with both parties given an additional 24 hours to prepare for the battle should it be scheduled as soon as required. If none of the opponent's proposed time ranges are good for you, you must respond with alternative time ranges.

The first opponent now has X hours to prepare for the battle (if the second opponent agreed to some time) or 24 hours to contact a TD if, for whatever reason, this second set of time ranges does not suit the first opponent. Note this should be an absolute last measure.

Once a time is agreed upon, please make a message on your opponent's VM wall between 10 minutes and 1 second before the agreed upon time and say you are ready to battle and then get to agreed upon location (regardless of whether or not your opponent sends you a response VM). Please protect yourself by making this message, as it makes decisions much easier. You will be required to wait for your opponent for the duration of the time range.

If neither of you contact each other before 48 hours after the thread has been posted, you're both opening yourself up to a potential no contest or substitution. If I look at the situation, I might just determine I'm going to no contest, or whatever based on however I'm feeling at that moment. Don't leave yourself vulnerable to this.

Just because at anytime one of the responders does not respond within the given range does not give you automatic activity win credentials. If they don't contact at all on your VM wall up until 48 hours before the end of the round (note, I'm not going to take irc or sim messages as evidence due to how easily they can be doctored...so if you want to protect yourself, stick to the VM messages), then you obviously have activity win justification. You WILL contact your opponent in a timely manner. However, if they do contact you at all after the suggested response time and before 48 hours before the end of the round, you are required to respond before 24 hours before the end of the round with 2 1-hour time ranges at least 1 hour apart before the end of the round. The opponent, since he did not stick to the proposed response schedule, WILL BE REQUIRED TO PLAY AT ONE OF YOUR NEWLY SUGGESTED TIMES, so you have the advantage here. This obviously puts a bit of an emphasis on the last 48 hours of each round (as is standard operating procedure for most of our official team tournaments anyway), so I will try my best to keep the last 48 hours of the round as close to the majority of the weekend for as much of the world as I can.

If you follow all of these guidelines, you will a.) most likely get your match done with minimal issue or b.) protect yourself and your team from an undue no contest or activity decision. Yes, I hate activity decisions in official tournaments. Yes, I will do my best to prevent activity decisions in the playoffs (the qualifying round is fair game however and I will have no problem issuing an activity call here), but don't push your luck.

Here is an example of how following this would work:

Week 1 thread is posted June 7, 2013 at 12:00 AM. Its deadline is June 14, 2013 at 11:59PM. User A and User B are matched up. User A contacts User B on his VM wall on June 7, at 9:00 PM (47 hours after the thread was posted, so ok), and gives 4 time ranges: June 10, from 7:00-7:30 PM (22 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is only ok so long as at minimum 3 of the other proposed time ranges adhere to the requirements), June 11, from 9:00-9:30 PM (48 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is ok), June 12, from 6:00-6:30 PM (69 hours after timestamp of his message, so ok, but only 21 hours after the earliest time range that is 48 hours after the timestamp), and June 12, from 9:00-9:30 PM (72 hours after the timestamp, so ok, and 24 hours after a legal time range and 3 hours after another legal time range). The June 11 and both June 12 time ranges satisfy the requirements, so User A can propose his first June 10 time range as well. User B responds on June 10, at 8:00 PM (23 hours after User A contacted him, so ok), and picks June 11, at 9:00 PM to battle, which is ok because it is 24 hours after his own response.

You'll note I made most of my response ranges multiples of 24 hours, but also included 24 hours. This means I expect you to be able to check Smogon at least once a day. If that is not feasible, you put yourself at risk.

~ Aldaron

Each round will be played on Pokemon Showdown, unless both players agree to play on cartridge. If mechanics are inaccurately reflected on Showdown, save the replay, and we will resolve the situation on a case-by-case basis.

It would probably be prudent to download your replays regardless, in case of a dispute. I will not ask you to post your replays, but it is easier to regulate problems if you saved them.

Now the part that you've been waiting for...the prizes! The prize allocation will be given as followed*:

1st: $500 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
2nd: $300 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
3rd-4th: $200 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
5th-8th: $50 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt

*Cash awards will only be rewarded for expenses regarding playing real life VGC events. Players that receive a cash award for their placement will receive reimbursement for their VGC-related expenses up until the amount they earned (including but not limited to travel fees, registration fees, food/lodging, or a 3DS/copy of Sun or Moon). If a recipient is unable to attend real life VGC events, an alternate manner of dispensing the reward can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Because we would be dispensing actual cash prizes, offenses that would normally constitute a tourban will also constitute a permaban on Smogon.com. Do not ghost in battle, impersonate anyone, etc. Do not cheat.

Please refer to the VGC Forum Rules and check out the Smogon VGC Discord! Hopefully you enjoy contributing as a result of this tournament and stay part of our community!

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SMOGON ACCOUNT YOU CANNOT PLAY

TYPE IN TO SIGN UP, sign-ups should last about a week with the first team submission period happening 12/26
In
 
Hello everyone! I'm pleased to announce the first official Smogon VGC 17 tournament! Please sign-up below. There are a lot of things to make sure you are aware of prior to the tournament beginning, so please read the OP carefully.

Before participating in this tournament, please take some time to read the following thread: Tournament Rules, Guidelines, and General Information

This tournament will be held using standard VGC 2017 rules, best of three, same teams (you must use the same team for each game of the best of 3). A safe way to do this is to open all three games at the same time so no one can change teams (and not press timer). If there are any changes to the format (PokeBank, ability releases, event moves, etc.) made during the tournament, the change will reflect the following week.
Usable Games: Pokemon Showdown, Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon
Battle Type: Double Battle (Bring 6, pick 4)
Pokémon Restrictions: Alola Pokédex.
Banned Pokémon: Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Magearna, Marshadow, Ash-Greninja, Pokémon not captured or hatched in Sun & Moon
Banned Items: Mega Stones
Clauses: No Pokémon with same Pokedex number, No repeated items
Players may only use Pokémon with items or moves obtained in Pokémon Sun & Moon

This tournament will be in a swiss format (number of rounds depending on sign-ups) with a hard x-2 cut (anyone who gets two or fewer losses will make top-cut, so don't quit after losing once!). The tournament will be hosted on https://battlefy.com/ but we will be posting the pairings each week (along with the link to the battlefy standings).

Each swiss round will last approximately one week. I will not be doing substitutions past the first round of swiss. Prior to match-ups being made each week, there will be a team submission period. The goal of the team submission is to allow players to update their teams throughout the tournament (as it will last a while) but to also prevent counter-teaming / updating your team based on your opponent. You must submit a team prior to week 1. If you do not submit a team for subsequent weeks, the assumption is that you are using your most recently submitted team.

The only person who will be able to access the submission form is Zarel, and he will only be referring to the form in the case of conflict or if there is suspected cheating (changing your team between games or concern that you changed your team based on your opponent). No one else under any circumstances will have access to these teams. Top cut will be team locked throughout.

Each week will then be 2-3 day team submission, 7 days for the swiss round. If a swiss round is not completed, the maximum extension offered will be during the following round's team submission period, up until match-ups for the following week are made. Activity wins will be given in the case of clear activity; coin flips will be conducted otherwise. Coin flips and contested activity calls will be completed by a Smogon Tournament Director not participating in the tournament.

To avoid falling victim to an activity loss against you, please schedule with your opponent via Smogon VM (and please enable your VM walls if they are disabled; default account option is enabled). I do not care if you contact your opponent through other means (Twitter, Skype, Facebook, Discord, whatever) IF YOUR MATCH GETS COMPLETED. However, if your match does not get completed, you are risking an activity loss if records of your communication are not via Smogon VM. I will not be hunting for or accepting records of communication in any other way. If you do talk with someone in a different way, paste it to your vm wall for the record prior to the alleged activity conflict. If logs are posted substantially afterwards, I will not consider them. The following is a guide that can help you in this scheduling. You've been warned.
I'm sure plenty of you have come across activity drama while scheduling matches. I'm here to reduce the arbitrary element associated with some of these decisions. It is entirely your decision to adhere to these STRONG RECOMMENDATIONS, but note that if you choose not to, I'll most likely ignore any pleading from your end.

YOU MUST ACTIVATE YOUR VM WALL IF YOU WISH TO PLAY IN THIS TOURNAMENT. THIS IS HOW ALL OFFICIAL SCHEDULING WILL BE HANDLED.

Once that week's thread is posted, you have up to 48 hours to contact your opponent ON HIS VM WALL and mention your timezone and exactly what dates, what time ranges you are available, and where you will battle. Note that the default accepted sim and server is the official server on Showdown/Smogon Tournament Server. You must provide at least 3 different time ranges at least 48 hours from the timestamp of your message, with at least 2 that are 24-hours apart from each other. The minimum and maximum length for 1 time range is 30 minutes, and the minimum difference between the 3 required time ranges is 3 hours. If you give 3 time ranges that stick with this policy, you can give any additional time ranges at any time you please.

NOTE THAT THIS SCENARIO INVOLVES RESPONSE DYNAMICS; THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL CONTACT FIRST AND SOMEONE WHO RESPOND...THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT FOR BOTH OF YOU TO ASSUME TO YOU CAN BE FIRST CONTACTS...WHOEVER CONTACTS FIRST IS THE FIRST, AND THE OTHER DEFAULTS TO THE RESPONDER. THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS BUT SOME OF YOU ARE DUMB.

Once your opponent has contacted you, you now have up until 72 hours after the week's thread has been posted (NOT after your opponent's message) to respond with times that are good for you. What this means is that if both of you spend the maximum time contacting and responding, you should have back and forth collaboration at a maximum of 72 hours after the round has been posted, with both parties given an additional 24 hours to prepare for the battle should it be scheduled as soon as required. If none of the opponent's proposed time ranges are good for you, you must respond with alternative time ranges.

The first opponent now has X hours to prepare for the battle (if the second opponent agreed to some time) or 24 hours to contact a TD if, for whatever reason, this second set of time ranges does not suit the first opponent. Note this should be an absolute last measure.

Once a time is agreed upon, please make a message on your opponent's VM wall between 10 minutes and 1 second before the agreed upon time and say you are ready to battle and then get to agreed upon location (regardless of whether or not your opponent sends you a response VM). Please protect yourself by making this message, as it makes decisions much easier. You will be required to wait for your opponent for the duration of the time range.

If neither of you contact each other before 48 hours after the thread has been posted, you're both opening yourself up to a potential no contest or substitution. If I look at the situation, I might just determine I'm going to no contest, or whatever based on however I'm feeling at that moment. Don't leave yourself vulnerable to this.

Just because at anytime one of the responders does not respond within the given range does not give you automatic activity win credentials. If they don't contact at all on your VM wall up until 48 hours before the end of the round (note, I'm not going to take irc or sim messages as evidence due to how easily they can be doctored...so if you want to protect yourself, stick to the VM messages), then you obviously have activity win justification. You WILL contact your opponent in a timely manner. However, if they do contact you at all after the suggested response time and before 48 hours before the end of the round, you are required to respond before 24 hours before the end of the round with 2 1-hour time ranges at least 1 hour apart before the end of the round. The opponent, since he did not stick to the proposed response schedule, WILL BE REQUIRED TO PLAY AT ONE OF YOUR NEWLY SUGGESTED TIMES, so you have the advantage here. This obviously puts a bit of an emphasis on the last 48 hours of each round (as is standard operating procedure for most of our official team tournaments anyway), so I will try my best to keep the last 48 hours of the round as close to the majority of the weekend for as much of the world as I can.

If you follow all of these guidelines, you will a.) most likely get your match done with minimal issue or b.) protect yourself and your team from an undue no contest or activity decision. Yes, I hate activity decisions in official tournaments. Yes, I will do my best to prevent activity decisions in the playoffs (the qualifying round is fair game however and I will have no problem issuing an activity call here), but don't push your luck.

Here is an example of how following this would work:

Week 1 thread is posted June 7, 2013 at 12:00 AM. Its deadline is June 14, 2013 at 11:59PM. User A and User B are matched up. User A contacts User B on his VM wall on June 7, at 9:00 PM (47 hours after the thread was posted, so ok), and gives 4 time ranges: June 10, from 7:00-7:30 PM (22 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is only ok so long as at minimum 3 of the other proposed time ranges adhere to the requirements), June 11, from 9:00-9:30 PM (48 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is ok), June 12, from 6:00-6:30 PM (69 hours after timestamp of his message, so ok, but only 21 hours after the earliest time range that is 48 hours after the timestamp), and June 12, from 9:00-9:30 PM (72 hours after the timestamp, so ok, and 24 hours after a legal time range and 3 hours after another legal time range). The June 11 and both June 12 time ranges satisfy the requirements, so User A can propose his first June 10 time range as well. User B responds on June 10, at 8:00 PM (23 hours after User A contacted him, so ok), and picks June 11, at 9:00 PM to battle, which is ok because it is 24 hours after his own response.

You'll note I made most of my response ranges multiples of 24 hours, but also included 24 hours. This means I expect you to be able to check Smogon at least once a day. If that is not feasible, you put yourself at risk.

~ Aldaron

Each round will be played on Pokemon Showdown, unless both players agree to play on cartridge. If mechanics are inaccurately reflected on Showdown, save the replay, and we will resolve the situation on a case-by-case basis.

It would probably be prudent to download your replays regardless, in case of a dispute. I will not ask you to post your replays, but it is easier to regulate problems if you saved them.

Now the part that you've been waiting for...the prizes! The prize allocation will be given as followed*:

1st: $500 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
2nd: $300 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
3rd-4th: $200 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt
5th-8th: $50 (US Dollars) + Smogon Shirt

*Cash awards will only be rewarded for expenses regarding playing real life VGC events. Players that receive a cash award for their placement will receive reimbursement for their VGC-related expenses up until the amount they earned (including but not limited to travel fees, registration fees, food/lodging, or a 3DS/copy of Sun or Moon). If a recipient is unable to attend real life VGC events, an alternate manner of dispensing the reward can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Because we would be dispensing actual cash prizes, offenses that would normally constitute a tourban will also constitute a permaban on Smogon.com. Do not ghost in battle, impersonate anyone, etc. Do not cheat.

Please refer to the VGC Forum Rules and check out the Smogon VGC Discord! Hopefully you enjoy contributing as a result of this tournament and stay part of our community!

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SMOGON ACCOUNT YOU CANNOT PLAY

TYPE IN TO SIGN UP, sign-ups should last about a week with the first team submission period happening 12/26
In
 
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