Welcome to the second week of the Fifth season of SPL!
As a host, the biggest thing you guys can do for me is just get your matches done on time and keep drama to a minimum. While this tournament is known for high levels of drama and excitement, just keep it between you and the other teams. If there is a problem, take it up with me privately on IRC or through private message and I will do my best to resolve the issue.
This week you have a couple extra hours than usual because all of the matches were completed early. Thank you for getting them done in a timely manner last week, let's keep that up.
As a reminder:
On... Sportsmanship
On... Scheduling Matches
On... Disconnecting and timing out drama
The Ever Grande BIGS (10) vs. The Smog Frogs (2)
XY OU 1: High Impulse vs Lady Bug
XY OU 2: AB2 vs Dekzeh
XY Ubers: Boudouche vs Furai
XY LC: CatcherAndTheRai vs Heysup
XY Doubles: BLINGAS
vs Joim
BW OU: Shoka vs yan[sogeking]
BW UU: SoulChef vs aerialace TM40
BW RU: Alf' vs Texas Cloverleaf
BW NU: Fuzznip vs Reiku
DPP OU: Delta 2777 vs -Frexa-
ADV OU: 6A9 Ace Matador vs reyscarface
GSC OU: Floppy vs Colchonero
The Team Raiders (9) vs. The Wifi Wolfpack (3)
XY OU 1: JabbaTheGriffin vs Yusuke
XY OU 2: PttP vs aim
XY Ubers: Faint vs Donkey
XY LC: Eo Ut Mortus vs prem
XY Doubles: Braverius vs kingofkongs
BW OU: Lavos Spawn vs Marth
BW UU: Nas vs ThunderBlunder
BW RU: Nelson vs SilentVerse
BW NU: Plus vs FLCL
DPP OU: Iconic vs DracoMalfoy
ADV OU: MarceloDK vs Danilo
GSC OU: Veteran In Love vs Jorgen
The Alpha Ruiners (8) vs The Indie Scooters (4)
XY OU 1: Bloo vs PDC
XY OU 2: CrashinBoomBang vs Toxzn
XY Ubers: Manaphy vs Dice
XY LC: dcae vs Ray Jay
XY Doubles: Laga vs Mizuhime
BW OU: Bryce vs Masterclass
BW UU: Ginku vs Ace Emerald
BW RU: Nails vs Bad Ass
BW NU: Annoyer vs Jayde
DPP OU: Marshall.Law vs george182
ADV OU: Ojama vs ]V[ajinTupacZ
GSC OU: Andeby vs Karrot
The Circus Maximus Tigers (6) vs. The Stark Sharks (6)
XY OU 1: C05ta vs Stellar
XY OU 2: kland vs kael
XY Ubers: Sweep vs LUST
XY LC: Raseri vs Al_Alchemist
XY Doubles: Biosci vs TheFourthChaser
BW OU: Thatsjustpeachy vs SoulWind
BW UU: DestinyUnknown vs The Wolf
BW RU: Hot N Cold vs -Tsunami-
BW NU: Zebraiken vs Malekith
DPP OU: TV-Rocka vs Heist
ADV OU: Halloween vs make
GSC OU: Royal Flush vs Conflict
The Congregation of the Classiest (7) vs. The Cryonicles (5)
XY OU 1: Lord Elyis vs dragonuser
XY OU 2: idiotfrommars vs GaryTheGengar
XY Ubers: Problems vs Blim
XY LC: Artemisa vs blarajan
XY Doubles: youngjake93 vs R Inanimate
BW OU: LuckOverSkill vs Aqualouis
BW UU: kokoloko vs Royalty
BW RU: Afro Smash vs atomicllamas
BW NU: Soulgazer vs ßasedVictory
DPP OU: 199 Lives vs Fakes
ADV OU: Golden Sun vs P E J E L A G A R T O
GSC OU: Mr.E vs Picollo
DEADLINE: January 19th at 11:59 PM EST
*If I made a mistake with these matchups (not copying something correctly from the roster you sent me), managers, contact me immediately*
As a host, the biggest thing you guys can do for me is just get your matches done on time and keep drama to a minimum. While this tournament is known for high levels of drama and excitement, just keep it between you and the other teams. If there is a problem, take it up with me privately on IRC or through private message and I will do my best to resolve the issue.
This week you have a couple extra hours than usual because all of the matches were completed early. Thank you for getting them done in a timely manner last week, let's keep that up.
As a reminder:
On... Sportsmanship
Note the sportsmanship infraction may be used liberally this SPL, and any unsportsmanlike conduct on the forums, in #spl / #pokemon / any of the semiofficial tier channels, or in opposing SPL team channels (I won't infract for you being a dick in your own SPL team channel unless the situation is so extreme I feel I absolutely have to make an exception (consider basically any masterclass interaction ever)), will be grounds for an infraction. We encourage you to play semi-aggressively, but don't be a Masterclass.
~ Aldaron
~ Aldaron
On... Scheduling Matches
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, or PO if you're playing an old gen. 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 and your team 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
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, or PO if you're playing an old gen. 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 and your team 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
On... Disconnecting and timing out drama
Ah, the big beefcake. I'm going to go ahead and put this out there: we reserve the right to judge any individual match on a case by case basis, regardless of assumed precedence set. If you don't like that, you are welcome to not play. Be aware of this.
Also, to protect yourself as much as possible from DCs and timer issues, play on Showdown (because it has an at least semi reliable system of rejoining after a DC) and make a gentleman's agreement to not hit timer and not be hour-a-move dicks.
That said, here is the main way we will probably handle DCs / timing out:
To handle all DC cases...you're gonna submit your teams before the match. Oglemi and Aldaron, who are not playing nor affiliated with any team, will manage this team submission form. You don't have to submit, but if you do, you protect yourself from the opponent taking a win. If you do DC (and you can't rejoin the battle) and you haven't submitted your team, your opponent will have the right to take the win. Yes, I'll most likely make a judgment call if he is on his last turn with 1 Pokemon at 5% and paralyzed and with you at 6 100% health Pokemon, because the only way to lose this is to misclick multiple times. However, if you're at 6 100% Pokemon and your opponent is at last Pokemon 10% needing to crit flinch you 6 - 12 times for the win, I'll give him the win if you DC and haven't submitted your team.
I know people like Philip7086 will beg me "to use common sense for a judgment call" for all cases and I would normally agree, but I am giving you all a 100% out by allowing you to submit your team. Basically, submit your team, and protect yourself and your team from any and all DCs. It's a simple procedure that removes almost all subjectivity from a decision regarding a DC. Unlike with the scheduling restrictions, all you have to do is submit the team your are using at anytime before the match takes place, and you'll have 100% protected yourself. Read this rule and understand this now before you join the tournament. Since I'm stating this now, I'm basically going to ignore you if you DC, didn't submit a team, and "had a guaranteed win." Expect it. Also note that I'm going to let the PLAYER (not the team), decide whether he is going to take the win or go another route (replay same moves, replay different teams, etc.).
To further ensure no funny business, if, in the case of a DC replay, there is any concern from either party about funny business, both parties have the right to request a screenshot of the current Pokemon's stats in battle. This is irrelevant for Showdown as you can simply rejoin a battle there, but PO allows you to see the currently out Pokemon's stats if you scroll over it with your mouse. Just hit PrntScrn (windows) while scrolling over it if requested by your opponent, preferably with proof that it is a screenshot of that actual battle (consider including the opponent's request in the battle screen in the screenshot).
Regarding time outs, they are a bit more complex, specifically because some timeouts are due to DCs. The best we can do for this scenario is say that there is some number between 1 minute and 2 minutes (which we will not publicize) that we will set as a limit for timing out, and if you timeout with more than that limit time remaining, we'll assume it is a DC, whereas the opposite is a true timeout. A true timeout defaults to a loss, while the DC timeout is prone to the DC rules (did you submit or not).
~ Aldaron
Also, to protect yourself as much as possible from DCs and timer issues, play on Showdown (because it has an at least semi reliable system of rejoining after a DC) and make a gentleman's agreement to not hit timer and not be hour-a-move dicks.
That said, here is the main way we will probably handle DCs / timing out:
To handle all DC cases...you're gonna submit your teams before the match. Oglemi and Aldaron, who are not playing nor affiliated with any team, will manage this team submission form. You don't have to submit, but if you do, you protect yourself from the opponent taking a win. If you do DC (and you can't rejoin the battle) and you haven't submitted your team, your opponent will have the right to take the win. Yes, I'll most likely make a judgment call if he is on his last turn with 1 Pokemon at 5% and paralyzed and with you at 6 100% health Pokemon, because the only way to lose this is to misclick multiple times. However, if you're at 6 100% Pokemon and your opponent is at last Pokemon 10% needing to crit flinch you 6 - 12 times for the win, I'll give him the win if you DC and haven't submitted your team.
I know people like Philip7086 will beg me "to use common sense for a judgment call" for all cases and I would normally agree, but I am giving you all a 100% out by allowing you to submit your team. Basically, submit your team, and protect yourself and your team from any and all DCs. It's a simple procedure that removes almost all subjectivity from a decision regarding a DC. Unlike with the scheduling restrictions, all you have to do is submit the team your are using at anytime before the match takes place, and you'll have 100% protected yourself. Read this rule and understand this now before you join the tournament. Since I'm stating this now, I'm basically going to ignore you if you DC, didn't submit a team, and "had a guaranteed win." Expect it. Also note that I'm going to let the PLAYER (not the team), decide whether he is going to take the win or go another route (replay same moves, replay different teams, etc.).
To further ensure no funny business, if, in the case of a DC replay, there is any concern from either party about funny business, both parties have the right to request a screenshot of the current Pokemon's stats in battle. This is irrelevant for Showdown as you can simply rejoin a battle there, but PO allows you to see the currently out Pokemon's stats if you scroll over it with your mouse. Just hit PrntScrn (windows) while scrolling over it if requested by your opponent, preferably with proof that it is a screenshot of that actual battle (consider including the opponent's request in the battle screen in the screenshot).
Regarding time outs, they are a bit more complex, specifically because some timeouts are due to DCs. The best we can do for this scenario is say that there is some number between 1 minute and 2 minutes (which we will not publicize) that we will set as a limit for timing out, and if you timeout with more than that limit time remaining, we'll assume it is a DC, whereas the opposite is a true timeout. A true timeout defaults to a loss, while the DC timeout is prone to the DC rules (did you submit or not).
~ Aldaron
The Ever Grande BIGS (10) vs. The Smog Frogs (2)
XY OU 1: High Impulse vs Lady Bug
XY OU 2: AB2 vs Dekzeh
XY Ubers: Boudouche vs Furai
XY LC: CatcherAndTheRai vs Heysup
XY Doubles: BLINGAS
vs JoimBW OU: Shoka vs yan[sogeking]
BW UU: SoulChef vs aerialace TM40
BW RU: Alf' vs Texas Cloverleaf
BW NU: Fuzznip vs Reiku
DPP OU: Delta 2777 vs -Frexa-
ADV OU: 6A9 Ace Matador vs reyscarface
GSC OU: Floppy vs Colchonero
The Team Raiders (9) vs. The Wifi Wolfpack (3)
XY OU 1: JabbaTheGriffin vs Yusuke
XY OU 2: PttP vs aim
XY Ubers: Faint vs Donkey
XY LC: Eo Ut Mortus vs prem
XY Doubles: Braverius vs kingofkongs
BW OU: Lavos Spawn vs Marth
BW UU: Nas vs ThunderBlunder
BW RU: Nelson vs SilentVerse
BW NU: Plus vs FLCL
DPP OU: Iconic vs DracoMalfoy
ADV OU: MarceloDK vs Danilo
GSC OU: Veteran In Love vs Jorgen
The Alpha Ruiners (8) vs The Indie Scooters (4)
XY OU 1: Bloo vs PDC
XY OU 2: CrashinBoomBang vs Toxzn
XY Ubers: Manaphy vs Dice
XY LC: dcae vs Ray Jay
XY Doubles: Laga vs Mizuhime
BW OU: Bryce vs Masterclass
BW UU: Ginku vs Ace Emerald
BW RU: Nails vs Bad Ass
BW NU: Annoyer vs Jayde
DPP OU: Marshall.Law vs george182
ADV OU: Ojama vs ]V[ajinTupacZ
GSC OU: Andeby vs Karrot
The Circus Maximus Tigers (6) vs. The Stark Sharks (6)
XY OU 1: C05ta vs Stellar
XY OU 2: kland vs kael
XY Ubers: Sweep vs LUST
XY LC: Raseri vs Al_Alchemist
XY Doubles: Biosci vs TheFourthChaser
BW OU: Thatsjustpeachy vs SoulWind
BW UU: DestinyUnknown vs The Wolf
BW RU: Hot N Cold vs -Tsunami-
BW NU: Zebraiken vs Malekith
DPP OU: TV-Rocka vs Heist
ADV OU: Halloween vs make
GSC OU: Royal Flush vs Conflict
The Congregation of the Classiest (7) vs. The Cryonicles (5)
XY OU 1: Lord Elyis vs dragonuser
XY OU 2: idiotfrommars vs GaryTheGengar
XY Ubers: Problems vs Blim
XY LC: Artemisa vs blarajan
XY Doubles: youngjake93 vs R Inanimate
BW OU: LuckOverSkill vs Aqualouis
BW UU: kokoloko vs Royalty
BW RU: Afro Smash vs atomicllamas
BW NU: Soulgazer vs ßasedVictory
DPP OU: 199 Lives vs Fakes
ADV OU: Golden Sun vs P E J E L A G A R T O
GSC OU: Mr.E vs Picollo
DEADLINE: January 19th at 11:59 PM EST
*If I made a mistake with these matchups (not copying something correctly from the roster you sent me), managers, contact me immediately*
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