Tournament PUPL VIII: Format Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.
Chloe

Chloe

is a Top Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Metagame Resource Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Slightly modified art by Zephyri
2114768ee9102914c1844694e55a3c36.png

Hello! PUPL is coming up soon and there's a few things I'd like to run by the community beforehand, in addition to asking for any feedback from the previous tournament. Last year we had this thread bundled in with Manager Signups, but there's several things I want to talk about first.
​
Two Managers / Manager + AssMan
From what I've heard more people want the opportunity to manage in pairs, which makes sense to me, given the process of managing can be tedious and unfulfilling alone. Also, do we allow one or both managers to play?

Team Legacy & Retains
People have mentioned how in some other sections, returning team brands happen every year. For example: Say we introduce a team called the (idk shitty example name) Dogwater Dodrios, every year this team would be included, every year they would have the chance to retain players from the previous year. Say TJ plays for the Dogwater Dodrios one year and goes 7-1, and then the next year whoever's managing the Dodrios wants to draft him, and he wants to play for them, they could retain him. It would allow the tour to feel more cohesive every year, in addition to several other positives, but it does limit creativity with managers not being able to choose their team name every year. In addition to this, we could also return names like the Destructive Dedennes (with HJAD's approval) to appeal to history a little bit more. What do you all think?

Formats Included
I've heard some people want a Bo3 Multigen (SS / SM / ORAS) format over one of the SS slots which would leave us with Bo3 / 3 SS / SM / ORAS / BW / DPP. Alternatively, ADV is a possibility of a format people want to include. Could also go with a "not broke, don't fix it approach" and keep it the same as last year (4 SS / SM / ORAS / BW / DPP). It should go without saying but GSC, RBY and BDSP are off the table completely. Interested what people want though.

Any other suggestions or feedback from last year is also very welcome!!

Please feel free to let your opinions be heard, I look forward to having an ongoing discussion with all of you over what you would like for this iteration of PUPL! Nothing I've suggested here is remotely set in stone, but they've been brought up several times over the last month so it would be a disservice not to include them here. Also sorry if any of my wording is off, I got no sleep :c
 
My personal preference!

2 managers. As someone who solo managed both pupl and puwc it's definitely a lot of work and can be a turn away. If there are solo managers again I'd probably just play. Also only allow one manager to buy themselves so you can't have stacked manager duos with an advantage.

Allow retains. Retains are fun.

3 swsh, 1bo3, sm, oras, bw, dpp.
4 Swsh in both pupl and puwc felt like a lot. Adding the bo3 over the 4th swsh gives it a little bit of a mix up + every other metagame tour has a bo3 slot.
 
there's really no downsides to letting people manage in pairs, if anything it makes it more fun and easier for everyone included. also don't really see an issue with both managers drafting themselves, especially considering that self-buying usually means u have to be more conservative with ur money early on during the auction

returning team names would be cool i think and would add more of a legacy to the tour, but obviously there's the issue of having to pick them, and do this year manager's get to pick theirs? dont know if this makes sense but some people might be unhappy with the options in the following years as they were just chosen randomly. also allow retains!!

talked a bit abt this on discord and i think we should wait until signups are open to decide on the tiers but as of now i'd say 3 swsh, 1 of each oldgen (sm-dpp), and 1 bo3. bo3 is just rly fun to watch imo and it includes swsh anyway, so it doesn't take anything away from that last slot. with this being the last pupl with gen 8 as the current gen, i think this would also be the best possible time to give adv a chance as freeing it next year is going to be much more complicated, so i wouldnt mind freeing it
 
I will bring back the Destructive Dedennes for a summer revenge tour if the people of PU would like.

I'm also not opposed to bringing back the Marxist Marowaks, co-managing with the GIGACHAD Haund.

My only comment on the format is that Bo3 slots SUCK, and should never be used in UPL formats. Having to prepare 3 teams for only 1 slot especially when there is already a lack of people capable of playing all 3 tiers just results in lots of fishing matchups and boring gameplay. Wallahi I would prefer ADV, even if I had to play it myself.
 
co-managers should be a no-brainer -- most other sections allow for them and pupl should too. As mentioned above, its generally fun to manage with a friend and they can be helpful during the auction and relieve stress off of a single manager. They also boost the idea of "team legacy/franchise"if we end up implementing retains and returning teams.

My proposal for the 8 available franchises:
  • The Great Gastlys - (w/ retention rights of Deez Nuts Druddigon)
  • Shoegazing Stoutlands -(w/ retention rights of The Snap Trappers)
  • Unscrupulous Scraggies
  • Destructive Dedennes - (w/ retention rights of Fruity Frosmoths)
  • Happy Huntails
  • M.A.A.D City Magmortars
  • The Vicious Rends
  • Marxist Marowaks - (w/ retention rights of Moo Moo Milkers)
I think the returning teams should be a combination of teams that have either won pupl or made playoffs in the past. The credentials for taking over a PUPL team would be as follows:

Requirements For Taking Over PUPL Teams (stolen here):
- You were the team’s manager last year
- You were part of the team’s legacy in at least one year (manager, player, substitute) and last year’s manager does not object
-You have received explicit permission from last year’s manager and said manager has confirmed with the PUPL host team


Format:
  • SS PU
  • SS PU
  • SS PU
  • SM PU
  • ORAS PU
  • BW PU
  • DPP PU
  • Bo3 (SS/SM/ORAS)
I think we should try out the Bo3 slot this year over a fourth SS. Every other PL has a Bo3 slot and I think it would cause good balance between current gen + our developed oldgens (SM/ORAS), while also leading to some better match ups as well since tour players mostly sign up for this slot.
ADV isn't ready to be added to PUPL and 4 SS is undesirable.
 
+1 to vulpix's tj's post about tiers. +1 to retains. About team names, I think it should be open to bring back any team name from previous years (as long the original team name holder approves) or to come up with entirely new team name. From there the team names are locked for future editions (well, team name changes still occurs and thats fine, but you get what i mean) and will help hosts to follow who has whoms retain pools.

Two managers are fine as long only one can signup for playing. Otherwise X teams can get massive advantage before auction (nor tour) even started. You basically will get 2 top tier players in best case of scenario for price of one eg. for 30k or so.
 
Despite the fact that it has been said BDSP PU is off the table, I'm still going to advocate for its inclusion in this tour.

BDSP PU didn't even make it into its own PL because it didn't exist at the time and seeing how BDSP is going to pretty much lose most of its activity when gen 9 comes, this would be the last and only tournament representation it would get beyond a 32-man forum tour that I myself am running.

In addition to this, the tier is actually stable enough to have high quality games on a big scale. Sure, anyone that has played it decently enough may believe Pinsir is a bit problematic but other than that, let's say that gets dealt with, I don't think anyone afterwards would immediately say "oh this tier still needs fixing/this tier is ass." We've banned all the dumb shit like Raichu and such.

My final reason is simple. The tier isn't particularly hard to learn. PU mains have even likened this tier to be somewhat like ORAS. You can have a competent pool of players actually play this meta. This also allows a small possibility of some BDSP players to actually have a chance to get drafted if they want to play BDSP PU, I think it's fair to give them that chance to make a name for themselves (even if it's from a lower tier OM essentially)


If it doesn't make it at the end of the day, can't do much about that but I think this tier deserves a chance. Even with its short lifespan so far, it deserves a chance over GSC/RBY/ADV I'll be real.
 
very hot take

4 SS PU
4 SM PU

best of 1

I love the old gens but for once lets try not just cherrypicking the playerbase for the top 8 in each old gen. This would encourage managers to branch out more when picking team members as these two are played more then the others and you can't just take the best.

also I don't like the bo3 slot
 
hi! the format we'll be following this time around is:
  • Multi-Gen Bo3 (SS/SM/ORAS)
  • SS PU
  • SS PU
  • SS PU
  • SM PU
  • ORAS PU
  • BW PU
  • DPP PU
managers can sign up with comanagers now! yay! two managers, wooooo

retains are a thing (last year's price +3k); however, going to adjust the initial proposal: you can bring back a returning franchise, or you can start a new team and we can allocate retains from last year for you. i don't really think we have 8 already established franchise names that are good enough to keep around forever anyway so hopefully we can get some cool team names this year!

going to keep the same manager cost as last year: if a manager wants to buy themselves to play it is 10k base + 1.5k for each win last iteration of pupl. both managers can do this if needed but be weary of how much room you have in your cap.

thank you for your patience!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top