RU Tiering Philosophy
2 Week Voting block
Under normal circumstances, voting on initial quickbans or new drops will only occur after they’ve been in the tier for a minimum 2 weeks. We have no intention to vote on banning something just to retest it immediately after. This process has proven to be disruptive in the past and leads to hasty tiering decisions. By having time before a voting block occurs, this allows the council to make educated decisions for the tier while efficiently dealing with anything deemed broken or uncompetitive.
The case for a 1 week voting block
Only under extreme situations will we cast votes as early as one week. One of these situations is if a Pokemon is grossly overpowered to the extent that it makes the tier unplayable. Simply being “broken” will not be sufficient to take such measures, but if said Pokemon warps the tier so heavily around itself that it impedes the development of the metagame. Another case to cast votes early is if there is a significant RU tournament going on and the tier leadership chooses to hold a vote so as to not compromise the competitiveness of a large-scale tour.
Retests
We will only consider retests 6 months after a vote has occurred in a normal period (i.e. after a suspect test or voting block post-beta) or 3 months during a beta period or a 1 week voting block. Retests are moot if the metagame hasn’t been given enough time to change. If the community is dissatisfied with a vote, we want to give the tier adequate time to settle to be sure that doing a retest is the right decision rather than acting on knee-jerk reactions. We believe 6 months not only gives plenty of time, but also allows two full tier shift cycles, furthering bolstering the case for a potential retest. As with immediate voting blocks, retesting anything banned during that phase will occur sooner. This will give us a buffer in case any votes cast during beta or a week one period is deemed questionable.
The role of the RU council
The RU council is tasked with casting votes on potential suspects and nominations for voting blocks during the beta period. The tiering council serves as an advisory role to the tier leadership on any and all decisions pertaining to RU tiering. Council members are selected based on two criteria: playing ability demonstrated in tournament success and/or significant forum contributions. All council members, regardless of reasons they are selected, are expected to be consistently active and involved in the tier and to be able to articulate their tiering opinions that shows a clear understanding of the metagame. Council members are added on an as-need basis. Council members will typically include 7 members but will seldom exceed more than 9 members at any given time. Any non-Pokemon bans will exclusively be dealt with by the council. The RU Council will be formed at the start of beta and announced in this thread.
Suspect Tests
Once the tier has moved out of the beta period and has stabilized, suspects tests will occur. The tier leadership will start by holding a vote among the council. If a majority of the council agrees to a suspect (50% + 1), then a suspect test will occur. While the final call rests on the tier leadership, we will only take initiative if there is a clear split among the council with multiple options proposed and with a single decision needing to be made. We especially value community input during this phase and will ask for the public’s opinion (if it’s not already obvious) before moving forward with any decisions. Suspects tests typically last two weeks and with a focus on one Pokemon at a time. This is the chance the public has to take part in the tiering process. A simple 50% + 1 majority is required for a suspect to be sent to RUBL.
The RU council
2 Week Voting block
Under normal circumstances, voting on initial quickbans or new drops will only occur after they’ve been in the tier for a minimum 2 weeks. We have no intention to vote on banning something just to retest it immediately after. This process has proven to be disruptive in the past and leads to hasty tiering decisions. By having time before a voting block occurs, this allows the council to make educated decisions for the tier while efficiently dealing with anything deemed broken or uncompetitive.
The case for a 1 week voting block
Only under extreme situations will we cast votes as early as one week. One of these situations is if a Pokemon is grossly overpowered to the extent that it makes the tier unplayable. Simply being “broken” will not be sufficient to take such measures, but if said Pokemon warps the tier so heavily around itself that it impedes the development of the metagame. Another case to cast votes early is if there is a significant RU tournament going on and the tier leadership chooses to hold a vote so as to not compromise the competitiveness of a large-scale tour.
Retests
We will only consider retests 6 months after a vote has occurred in a normal period (i.e. after a suspect test or voting block post-beta) or 3 months during a beta period or a 1 week voting block. Retests are moot if the metagame hasn’t been given enough time to change. If the community is dissatisfied with a vote, we want to give the tier adequate time to settle to be sure that doing a retest is the right decision rather than acting on knee-jerk reactions. We believe 6 months not only gives plenty of time, but also allows two full tier shift cycles, furthering bolstering the case for a potential retest. As with immediate voting blocks, retesting anything banned during that phase will occur sooner. This will give us a buffer in case any votes cast during beta or a week one period is deemed questionable.
The role of the RU council
The RU council is tasked with casting votes on potential suspects and nominations for voting blocks during the beta period. The tiering council serves as an advisory role to the tier leadership on any and all decisions pertaining to RU tiering. Council members are selected based on two criteria: playing ability demonstrated in tournament success and/or significant forum contributions. All council members, regardless of reasons they are selected, are expected to be consistently active and involved in the tier and to be able to articulate their tiering opinions that shows a clear understanding of the metagame. Council members are added on an as-need basis. Council members will typically include 7 members but will seldom exceed more than 9 members at any given time. Any non-Pokemon bans will exclusively be dealt with by the council. The RU Council will be formed at the start of beta and announced in this thread.
Suspect Tests
Once the tier has moved out of the beta period and has stabilized, suspects tests will occur. The tier leadership will start by holding a vote among the council. If a majority of the council agrees to a suspect (50% + 1), then a suspect test will occur. While the final call rests on the tier leadership, we will only take initiative if there is a clear split among the council with multiple options proposed and with a single decision needing to be made. We especially value community input during this phase and will ask for the public’s opinion (if it’s not already obvious) before moving forward with any decisions. Suspects tests typically last two weeks and with a focus on one Pokemon at a time. This is the chance the public has to take part in the tiering process. A simple 50% + 1 majority is required for a suspect to be sent to RUBL.
The RU council
- Feliburn (TL)
- EviGaro (TL)
- Bebo
- Beraldinho
- eifo
- Floss
- GoldCat
- Mac3
- odr
- Punny
- TheFranklin
- Yourwelcomethanku
- All threads must be approved by one of the forum moderators
- Any tournaments must go through the tier leaders for approval
- No one liners, double posts, or posts lacking content
- All simple questions are designated to the SQSA thread
- No posting of excessively large images
- All other Smogon site-wide rules apply here
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