Two dramatic tiebreaks later and we have arrived to the semi finals! For the first time in Smogon history, a team other than Asia and Oceania will take the crown as the greatest Pokenation in the world. Fresh off their tiebreak victories, Latin America and USA East seem to have a lot to prove, but Brazil and USA West both look equally ready to fight it out for the World Cup crown. Good luck to the remaining four teams, and may the best win!
After the first round, the teams were seeded and will now play in a knockout style. Let's take a look at the pairings!
The Bracket
Substitutions
Substitutions can be made at any time, but once a player has been subbed out, they cannot be put back in for the duration of the round.
Rulings
Now some notes on a few issues I feel need to be addressed (basically rulings on often disputed topics):
Deadline
The deadline for this round will be ten days from now, Saturday, August 4 at 11:59 EST. Tiebreaker matches will happen after this deadline (if necessary). I will be calling activity wins and monitoring all these battles carefully, so make sure to keep in contact with your opponent and get it done!
To the Final Four: good job making it this far, but there can only be one winner. Prove it should be you...
FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!! (you didn't think I'd forget, did you??)
- The final rosters can be viewed here.
- The format can be found here.
- The rules of the tournament can be found here.
- The standings after the prelims can be found here.
After the first round, the teams were seeded and will now play in a knockout style. Let's take a look at the pairings!
The Bracket
Substitutions
Substitutions can be made at any time, but once a player has been subbed out, they cannot be put back in for the duration of the round.
Rulings
Now some notes on a few issues I feel need to be addressed (basically rulings on often disputed topics):
Identity
I expect many battles to be completed under alts and I expect many battles to be completed on other servers to prevent scouting. These kind of factors are pretty bad for tournament security, and thus I will make this clear: If I hear any whispers of identity theft (battling as someone you are not) or proxy battling (helping someone else battle through pm) I will not be pleased and I will take severe actions.
Scouting
Next, I do not want to hear anything about counterteaming, at all. It is the silliest thing I have ever heard, any battler worth their marbles has more than one team. Do not complain about it. I also don't want to hear about any forceful scouting, whether it be spying on another teams irc channel or following your opponent around on PO. There is a difference between "ipl is known for using stall" and "let me follow ipl around all day to watch all his battles since I am his opponent". I expect a lot of the former and none of the latter.
With that said, I give permission to all battlers to ask any person spectating their battle to leave if they do not want them watching. However, given the fact that this is the big stage, I am sure a lot of people want to watch, so don't be too mean.
Timer Clause
As for taking long between moves, if your opponent asks you to hurry up, please oblige. If you are doing a damage calc for a key turn that is one thing, but prolonging every move is suspicious and annoying. Don't do it. Furthermore, Battle Timeout is a rule for a reason. If you run out of time, you lose, simple as that. It does not matter what your opponent says. Do not battle if you think you will have to leave mid battle, and instead reschedule for a better time. Timing out is still classified as a loss, unless the reason for timing out is a disconnection. If there is any suspicion that a disconnect was carried out deliberately to take advantage of this rule in any way, we reserve the right to exercise a harsh punishment.
Disconnections
If a player disconnects and either player contends that they could still win, the optimal solution is to recreate the exact situation the disconnection occurred at during the battle. If it is agreed between players that this is not feasible due to unreasonable battle length, highly improbable circumstances, or some other reason, the player who did not disconnect may choose to rematch with either the same teams or (the option to use) new teams. Timing out is still classified as a loss, unless the reason for timing out is a disconnection. If there is any suspicion that a disconnect was carried out deliberately to take advantage of this rule in any way, we reserve the right to exercise a harsh punishment. Do not do it.
I know that was a lot to read, but it is all necessary for me to have posted here so everyone can see it in the case of a dispute. I don't want any confusion or any problems.
I expect many battles to be completed under alts and I expect many battles to be completed on other servers to prevent scouting. These kind of factors are pretty bad for tournament security, and thus I will make this clear: If I hear any whispers of identity theft (battling as someone you are not) or proxy battling (helping someone else battle through pm) I will not be pleased and I will take severe actions.
Scouting
Next, I do not want to hear anything about counterteaming, at all. It is the silliest thing I have ever heard, any battler worth their marbles has more than one team. Do not complain about it. I also don't want to hear about any forceful scouting, whether it be spying on another teams irc channel or following your opponent around on PO. There is a difference between "ipl is known for using stall" and "let me follow ipl around all day to watch all his battles since I am his opponent". I expect a lot of the former and none of the latter.
With that said, I give permission to all battlers to ask any person spectating their battle to leave if they do not want them watching. However, given the fact that this is the big stage, I am sure a lot of people want to watch, so don't be too mean.
Timer Clause
As for taking long between moves, if your opponent asks you to hurry up, please oblige. If you are doing a damage calc for a key turn that is one thing, but prolonging every move is suspicious and annoying. Don't do it. Furthermore, Battle Timeout is a rule for a reason. If you run out of time, you lose, simple as that. It does not matter what your opponent says. Do not battle if you think you will have to leave mid battle, and instead reschedule for a better time. Timing out is still classified as a loss, unless the reason for timing out is a disconnection. If there is any suspicion that a disconnect was carried out deliberately to take advantage of this rule in any way, we reserve the right to exercise a harsh punishment.
Disconnections
If a player disconnects and either player contends that they could still win, the optimal solution is to recreate the exact situation the disconnection occurred at during the battle. If it is agreed between players that this is not feasible due to unreasonable battle length, highly improbable circumstances, or some other reason, the player who did not disconnect may choose to rematch with either the same teams or (the option to use) new teams. Timing out is still classified as a loss, unless the reason for timing out is a disconnection. If there is any suspicion that a disconnect was carried out deliberately to take advantage of this rule in any way, we reserve the right to exercise a harsh punishment. Do not do it.
I know that was a lot to read, but it is all necessary for me to have posted here so everyone can see it in the case of a dispute. I don't want any confusion or any problems.
The deadline for this round will be ten days from now, Saturday, August 4 at 11:59 EST. Tiebreaker matches will happen after this deadline (if necessary). I will be calling activity wins and monitoring all these battles carefully, so make sure to keep in contact with your opponent and get it done!
To the Final Four: good job making it this far, but there can only be one winner. Prove it should be you...
FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!! (you didn't think I'd forget, did you??)
