Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Qualification for this tournament will take place on the Pokemon Showdown VGC Regulation Best of 1 H ladder. The 16 players that qualify for top cut of this tournament will play in a single elimination best-of-3 bracket.
The ladder portion of the tournament spans 2 cycles lasting 7 days each. The cutoff times for each cycle are listed below; at the cutoff time, one of the moderators will take a screenshot of the ladder. In order to qualify for the playoffs, your alt must be among the top 8 newly made alts in this screenshot. If a player in the top 8 of a given cycle is already qualified, their alt will be ignored when counting the top 8 alts for that cycle. Cycles will have adjusted end times to give players from different regions and timezones a better chance at being on at the end of the cycle. In order to break potential ties, the unrounded ELO of each player who qualifies in a given cycle will be recorded in order to break any potential ties. Your unrounded ELO can be found by using the following URL: https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/~~showdown/action.php?act=ladderget&user=yourusernamehere
For the playoffs stage, players will be seeded by their ELO at their respective screenshot time.
Do not show unsportsmanlike behavior on the ladder. If we have a reason to believe you forfeited a game to boost a friend's account, you will be punished. If you try to prevent your opponent from joining the battle again after a disconnection, you will be punished. If you ask someone to forfeit to you, you will be punished. If you try to fish for matchups against yourself on alternate accounts (i.e. boosting), you will be punished. The consequences could range from disqualification for one cycle, the entire tournament, or even a tournament ban in extreme cases. Again, please please use your common sense.
How to Sign Up:
You will need to create a new alt account for this tournament. Your alt name must begin with VGCLTH to make determining the top players for each cycle easier. For example, I might register the alt "VGCLTH adorluigi" for laddering. To give us a way to identify each account, please include in your sign-up post your alt name(s) in plain text, as well as a picture of your laddering alt(s). You are not required to make a new alt for each ladder cycle.
REGISTER YOUR ACCOUNT AFTER CREATING IT.
To sign up for the VGC Regulation H Ladder Tournament, please create a post in this thread listing your alts. You are allowed an unlimited number of alts, so don't worry about starting over with a new one; just remember to follow the name format for each alt you create, and please update your post each time you create a new alt. Include in your post a picture of your "clean" alt before playing any games on it. If an alt in the Top 8 at the end of a cycle is not registered in this thread at the time the cycle ends, it will be ignored.
You must create and register a new alt in this thread before you play any battles on it.
In your sign-up post, please include a line reflecting the fact that you have read and understand the rules. Your alt may not be considered eligible if your post does not contain this line.
Standard Rules and Clauses
Team Lock Clause: During Top Cut, players must use the same team for all games of a given round. You can switch teams in between rounds, however. There is no team lock for the Ladder stage of the tournament.
Item Clause: Players cannot have two of the same items on the same team.
Species Clause: Players cannot have two Pokémon with the same Pokédex number on the same team.
The following Pokemon are banned:
Meloetta, Mew, Arceus, Zarude, Magearna, Volcanion, Hoopa, Jirachi, Deoxys, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Keldeo. In addition, Regulation H prohibits the use of any Restricted Legendary, sub-Legendary, or Paradox Pokemon.
Matches will be played at level 50.
The format used for challenges is VGC 2024 Regulation H
What are we playing for?
Smogon VGC Circuit Points to qualify for Circuit Playoffs