op adapted from scl 1 commencement thread and dpl 7 format discussion thread
In this thread, feel free to discuss anything regarding RBY PL before it begins. This is meant to be a place for players to voice their opinions and help us decide some key things regarding RBY PL. Some points of discussion are:
1. Format
How does RBY PL work?
There will be (likely) 6 teams, each with their own manager and assistant manager. Management duos will do a Snake Draft on Pokemon Showdown!, where they will take turns nominating and bidding in an auction for players who signed up to assemble their teams with limited credits available. The teams will then play one another for 5 weeks, with a new opponent each week. This will culminate with a Playoffs week consisting of the Top 3 teams overall from the 5-week main season.
How does one signup as a player?
Player signups are projected to begin Sunday September 19th and will be open until 24 hours before the auction (see below). You should include your name, timezone, metagames you are willing to play, and any expected inactivity. Do not sign up if you cannot commit to the entire tournament. RBY PL II is expected to run from the beginning of October to the middle of November.
How does one apply to be a manager / assistant manager?
Manager signups are projected to begin Sunday September 12th and will be open until Saturday Sunday 18th 11:59 PM GMT-4. The RBY PL hosting team (myself and likely 1-2 other people) will pick managers.
If I am selected as a captain, can I still play for my team?
Yes, managers and assistant managers will (likely) be given the option to draft themselves for a set price of 15k credits. You do not have to buy yourself if you don't want to.
When is the RBY PL Auction?
The auction date will occur during October 1st / 2nd / 3rd when at least one representative of each team will be available.
When does RBY PL Week 1 start?
Monday October 4th.
There will be (likely) 6 teams, each with their own manager and assistant manager. Management duos will do a Snake Draft on Pokemon Showdown!, where they will take turns nominating and bidding in an auction for players who signed up to assemble their teams with limited credits available. The teams will then play one another for 5 weeks, with a new opponent each week. This will culminate with a Playoffs week consisting of the Top 3 teams overall from the 5-week main season.
How does one signup as a player?
Player signups are projected to begin Sunday September 19th and will be open until 24 hours before the auction (see below). You should include your name, timezone, metagames you are willing to play, and any expected inactivity. Do not sign up if you cannot commit to the entire tournament. RBY PL II is expected to run from the beginning of October to the middle of November.
How does one apply to be a manager / assistant manager?
Manager signups are projected to begin Sunday September 12th and will be open until Saturday Sunday 18th 11:59 PM GMT-4. The RBY PL hosting team (myself and likely 1-2 other people) will pick managers.
If I am selected as a captain, can I still play for my team?
Yes, managers and assistant managers will (likely) be given the option to draft themselves for a set price of 15k credits. You do not have to buy yourself if you don't want to.
When is the RBY PL Auction?
The auction date will occur during October 1st / 2nd / 3rd when at least one representative of each team will be available.
When does RBY PL Week 1 start?
Monday October 4th.
The General Manager of a team is essentially the boss of a team. The GM is the final word in all decisions (barring the hosts) regarding his team. The GM decides which players play on the team, who plays in what position, and even handles the team finances. Managers also make sure that the team keeps running on a day to day basis. If a team fails to complete their matches by the end of the allotted time, the onus is on the manager to inform the hosts as to what happened in order to make sure that proper activity calls are made.
Because of these responsibilities, The General Manager is probably the most important part of the team. As such, the position of GM is not one to be taken lightly.
• General Managers are chosen largely on a subjective opinion of the hosts as well as RBY Moderation Team as to who they believe would be fit for the position. Being fit for the position includes the knowledge of excellent battlers in the community (for fielding a competent team), having above average activity on the forums, Pokémon Showdown and/or Discord (in order to ensure that you don’t abandon your team), as well as possessing a necessary amount of “gravitas” (If you can’t make a player do what you tell them to, such as play an undesirable metagame, you’re not going to make a good manager).
General Managers are required to acquire one Assistant Manager. The General Manager gets full sovereignty in choosing their assistant manager. The assistant manager is essentially the second in command for the team. They have all of the functions and roles as the General Manager does, the GM just trumps them in head-to-head decisions.
Lastly, the General Manager has the following duties:
• They shall choose one Assistant Manager.
• They shall make the hosts aware of any player retentions by the time player signups close.
• They shall be present at the live auction, or appoint someone (the Assistant Manager) to participate in the live auction in their stead.
• They shall send the hosts weekly rosters.
• They shall ensure to the best of their abilities that their battlers complete their matches on time.
• In the event that a match fails to be completed, they shall inform the hosts as to why the match failed to be completed, and what their battler did in order to finish the match.
• They shall communicate any grievances with the hosts.
Because of these responsibilities, The General Manager is probably the most important part of the team. As such, the position of GM is not one to be taken lightly.
• General Managers are chosen largely on a subjective opinion of the hosts as well as RBY Moderation Team as to who they believe would be fit for the position. Being fit for the position includes the knowledge of excellent battlers in the community (for fielding a competent team), having above average activity on the forums, Pokémon Showdown and/or Discord (in order to ensure that you don’t abandon your team), as well as possessing a necessary amount of “gravitas” (If you can’t make a player do what you tell them to, such as play an undesirable metagame, you’re not going to make a good manager).
General Managers are required to acquire one Assistant Manager. The General Manager gets full sovereignty in choosing their assistant manager. The assistant manager is essentially the second in command for the team. They have all of the functions and roles as the General Manager does, the GM just trumps them in head-to-head decisions.
Lastly, the General Manager has the following duties:
• They shall choose one Assistant Manager.
• They shall make the hosts aware of any player retentions by the time player signups close.
• They shall be present at the live auction, or appoint someone (the Assistant Manager) to participate in the live auction in their stead.
• They shall send the hosts weekly rosters.
• They shall ensure to the best of their abilities that their battlers complete their matches on time.
• In the event that a match fails to be completed, they shall inform the hosts as to why the match failed to be completed, and what their battler did in order to finish the match.
• They shall communicate any grievances with the hosts.
Total money for teams is 80,000 credits.
In the weeks preceding the Live Auction, a time will be chosen where at least 1 Manager or Assistant Manager from each team can meet and perform a live auction in order to choose players. The Manager and/or Assistant Manager present will be expected to remain at the auction for the entire duration, which should take approximately 2 hours.
Once a time is set, all attending Managers + Hosts will enter the place where the auction will be held - most likely a group chat for the auction. Spectators are allowed to join in to watch the auction, but will not be able to speak. Discussion on the bidding should be relegated to the RBY PS! Room, RBY Discord, or any other appropriate chat outlet.
The hosts will first ask a team to nominate a player. The order by which teams will nominate players will go in a randomized snaking pattern from the first chosen team to the last chosen team, then the last chosen team to the first chosen team. Details of said player will be displayed and bidding will commence, starting at 3000 credits, with the nominating team automatically placing the first bid. The auction will then be in real time. Managers will simply put in their bids in the chat, raising a minimum of 500 credits. If after 15 seconds there are no new bids, the player is sold to the highest bid in the channel. Updated credit totals will be displayed and then the next manager in the rotation will be prompted to nominate a player.
Managers are asked to please have a predetermined list of players you intend to nominate as well as potential bid caps, in order to make the process go as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
Managers: it is necessary for you to field a roster of 6 starters and a minimum of 2 substitutes. Playing Managers and Assistant Managers are included in the roster number. Therefore, you need to buy at least 6 players if both Managers are playing, 7 if only one is, and 8 if neither are playing. This creates a soft cap of 59,000 credits on any particular bid - that is, the maximum amount of money you can spend on any one player and still have enough money left over to pay at least 3000 credits a piece on 7 more players. In addition, you cannot buy more than 18 players, including playing Managers.
There is no midseason this year. Therefore, it is highly recommended that all teams spend all of their credits in the auction, as there is no use for them afterwards.
In the weeks preceding the Live Auction, a time will be chosen where at least 1 Manager or Assistant Manager from each team can meet and perform a live auction in order to choose players. The Manager and/or Assistant Manager present will be expected to remain at the auction for the entire duration, which should take approximately 2 hours.
Once a time is set, all attending Managers + Hosts will enter the place where the auction will be held - most likely a group chat for the auction. Spectators are allowed to join in to watch the auction, but will not be able to speak. Discussion on the bidding should be relegated to the RBY PS! Room, RBY Discord, or any other appropriate chat outlet.
The hosts will first ask a team to nominate a player. The order by which teams will nominate players will go in a randomized snaking pattern from the first chosen team to the last chosen team, then the last chosen team to the first chosen team. Details of said player will be displayed and bidding will commence, starting at 3000 credits, with the nominating team automatically placing the first bid. The auction will then be in real time. Managers will simply put in their bids in the chat, raising a minimum of 500 credits. If after 15 seconds there are no new bids, the player is sold to the highest bid in the channel. Updated credit totals will be displayed and then the next manager in the rotation will be prompted to nominate a player.
Managers are asked to please have a predetermined list of players you intend to nominate as well as potential bid caps, in order to make the process go as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
Managers: it is necessary for you to field a roster of 6 starters and a minimum of 2 substitutes. Playing Managers and Assistant Managers are included in the roster number. Therefore, you need to buy at least 6 players if both Managers are playing, 7 if only one is, and 8 if neither are playing. This creates a soft cap of 59,000 credits on any particular bid - that is, the maximum amount of money you can spend on any one player and still have enough money left over to pay at least 3000 credits a piece on 7 more players. In addition, you cannot buy more than 18 players, including playing Managers.
There is no midseason this year. Therefore, it is highly recommended that all teams spend all of their credits in the auction, as there is no use for them afterwards.
It is at this time that the tournament will commence. The league stages consist of a Round Robin tournament. Every team will face every other team once through 5 weeks of play. Each manager will submit to the hosts a roster no later than the deadline of the previous week. This roster will list the starting players and what metagames they will play.
When the week starts, teams' players will face off in their respective metagames / tiers. The RBY OU 1 from Team A will face the RBY OU 1 from team B, RBY OU 2 will face RBY OU 2, and so on. Whichever team wins the most battles will be declared the victor for the week. Rather than score based on how many individual battles a team wins, the primary thing that matters is who beat the most teams. As such, points are awarded based only on wins and losses versus teams as a whole, not individual players. Beating a team in a week’s matchups is worth two points, tying with a team is worth one point, and losing is worth none, simple as that. At the end of the round robin, the top three teams in the points proceed to the playoffs. Semifinals will see #2 vs. #3, Finals will be #1 vs. winner of #2 vs. #3.
There are a few regulatory things during the league stages that need to be outlined.
1. Substitutes – At any point in time during the week, a team may make a substitution for a currently slotted player. In order to do this a manager must post in the thread, tagging the hosts, the opposing managers and the opposing player stating which player is substituting out, and which player is substituting in. A player that has substituted out for a week cannot be substituted back in. In addition, in order to catch any attempts at garnering favorable matchups in RBY OU (where the lineup you choose affects pairings), all substitutions are subject to veto by the hosts if the substitution is suspected to be attempting to “game” the system.
2. There will be no trades allowed at any point during RBY PL.
3. Activity decisions – There are inevitably times where two players simply fail to complete a match; however, the nature of the tournament system sometimes makes it advantageous to purposely fail to play (such as when a team is up 3-2 in a week). Because of this, it is necessary to make activity decisions on matches. Hosts are required to make thorough investigations regarding each and every potential failed match during a week. If both parties are deemed to be equally apathetic or enthusiastic about getting the match done, but just have not had the opportunity to make it happen, the match will result in a no contest. However, if it is deemed that one party made significantly more effort than the other in attempting to get the match done, then a win will be awarded to that player. Things that will make it very likely that you will lose via activity include: failing to VM your opponent immediately upon the week’s start, scheduling a match and being documented as missing the match time, failing to provide any concrete times for which you can be reached, failing to respond to an opponent’s VM at all. Note that this is a tournament that requires a very high level of activity and diligence, if you don’t think you can get your matches done, quite simply don’t sign up.
4. Rule Breaking – There is no excuse for breaking any of the predetermined rules. If you are caught breaking a rule, you will lose your match. There is no lenience with regards to this. Break a rule, you lose. Period.
5. Reversing Rulings - No ruling will be retroactively overturned once the week following the week that the ruling has been made has ended. This includes: activity rulings / rulings based on rule breaking / anything else under the sun. I'm not going back in time to reevaluate every single decision I've made throughout the tournament on Week 9 because you think you were gypped 1-2 wins along the way and now they're the difference between you and a playoff spot. Any appeals to a ruling must be made during the week that the ruling is made; beyond that, all rulings are final once the week ends.
When the week starts, teams' players will face off in their respective metagames / tiers. The RBY OU 1 from Team A will face the RBY OU 1 from team B, RBY OU 2 will face RBY OU 2, and so on. Whichever team wins the most battles will be declared the victor for the week. Rather than score based on how many individual battles a team wins, the primary thing that matters is who beat the most teams. As such, points are awarded based only on wins and losses versus teams as a whole, not individual players. Beating a team in a week’s matchups is worth two points, tying with a team is worth one point, and losing is worth none, simple as that. At the end of the round robin, the top three teams in the points proceed to the playoffs. Semifinals will see #2 vs. #3, Finals will be #1 vs. winner of #2 vs. #3.
There are a few regulatory things during the league stages that need to be outlined.
1. Substitutes – At any point in time during the week, a team may make a substitution for a currently slotted player. In order to do this a manager must post in the thread, tagging the hosts, the opposing managers and the opposing player stating which player is substituting out, and which player is substituting in. A player that has substituted out for a week cannot be substituted back in. In addition, in order to catch any attempts at garnering favorable matchups in RBY OU (where the lineup you choose affects pairings), all substitutions are subject to veto by the hosts if the substitution is suspected to be attempting to “game” the system.
2. There will be no trades allowed at any point during RBY PL.
3. Activity decisions – There are inevitably times where two players simply fail to complete a match; however, the nature of the tournament system sometimes makes it advantageous to purposely fail to play (such as when a team is up 3-2 in a week). Because of this, it is necessary to make activity decisions on matches. Hosts are required to make thorough investigations regarding each and every potential failed match during a week. If both parties are deemed to be equally apathetic or enthusiastic about getting the match done, but just have not had the opportunity to make it happen, the match will result in a no contest. However, if it is deemed that one party made significantly more effort than the other in attempting to get the match done, then a win will be awarded to that player. Things that will make it very likely that you will lose via activity include: failing to VM your opponent immediately upon the week’s start, scheduling a match and being documented as missing the match time, failing to provide any concrete times for which you can be reached, failing to respond to an opponent’s VM at all. Note that this is a tournament that requires a very high level of activity and diligence, if you don’t think you can get your matches done, quite simply don’t sign up.
4. Rule Breaking – There is no excuse for breaking any of the predetermined rules. If you are caught breaking a rule, you will lose your match. There is no lenience with regards to this. Break a rule, you lose. Period.
5. Reversing Rulings - No ruling will be retroactively overturned once the week following the week that the ruling has been made has ended. This includes: activity rulings / rulings based on rule breaking / anything else under the sun. I'm not going back in time to reevaluate every single decision I've made throughout the tournament on Week 9 because you think you were gypped 1-2 wins along the way and now they're the difference between you and a playoff spot. Any appeals to a ruling must be made during the week that the ruling is made; beyond that, all rulings are final once the week ends.
Monday August 30th - Format Discussion Thread
Sunday September 12th - Manager Signups
Sunday September 19th - Player Signups
Friday October 1st / Saturday October 2nd / Sunday October 3rd - Live Auction
Monday October 4th - Week 1
Monday October 11th - Week 2
Monday October 18th - Week 3
Monday October 25th - Week 4
Monday November 1st - Week 5
Monday November 8th - Semifinals
Monday November 15th - Finals
Sunday September 12th - Manager Signups
Sunday September 19th - Player Signups
Friday October 1st / Saturday October 2nd / Sunday October 3rd - Live Auction
Monday October 4th - Week 1
Monday October 11th - Week 2
Monday October 18th - Week 3
Monday October 25th - Week 4
Monday November 1st - Week 5
Monday November 8th - Semifinals
Monday November 15th - Finals
1. Format
- Last year's format was 6 teams with 6 slots. This seems very unlikely to change
- Last year's format was 4x RBY OU / 1x RBY UU / 1x RBY Ubers. We will be doing a minimum 3x RBY OU slots, but I am willing to change one RBY OU slot from last year to RBY NU for example. I find it extremely unlikely we double up on any non RBY OU tier due to playerbase sizes.
- My preferred format is 3x RBY OU / 1x RBY UU / 1x RBY NU / 1x RBY Ubers or 4x RBY OU and 1x 2/3 of RBY UU, RBY NU, RBY Ubers.
- One thing I would love to see is projected players for RBY UU, RBY NU, and RBY Ubers (as well as any other formats you propose).
You are allowed only three retainers. You may not retain more than three, though you may retain less or no players at all if you wish.
The cost to retain a player on their first year as a retention will be the HIGHER of the following two scenarios (unchanged from last year):
The cost to retain a player that was already retained in the last RBY PL will be dependent on how many times they have been retained. The fee being raised by +3k with each subsequent retention (ex. if Oglemi was retained for 16k last RBY PL , it would cost 22k to retain him in this one, and 31k to retain him in the next one.
The cost to retain a player on their first year as a retention will be the HIGHER of the following two scenarios (unchanged from last year):
- the amount that the player went for in the last auction + 3k (ex. if Oglemi was bought for 13k, it would cost 16k to retain him)
- 10k, if the previous price + 3k would end up being lower than 10k (ex. if Oglemi was bought for 6k, his retaining cost would be 10k, not 9k)
- Should we introduce retains for RBY PL II?
- If so, for managers that aren't returning, how will we determine which new managers get which set of retains? Generally prospective managers list their preferred team and the host team decides.
- Should managers and assistant mangers be allowed to play again? Since it worked well smoothly, the answer is likely yes.
- If so, should we keep the flat 15k price from last year or go with something else?
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Ubers
UU
NU
