Announcing the Summer 2009 Pokecharms UK Pokemon Tournament

[Doctor Oak]

[img]https://www.pokecharms.com/tournament/banner.jpg[/IMG]

While there are normally plenty of tournaments for Pokemon in Japan, and quite a few in America, rarely are ANY set up in the UK. Well, that's gonna start changing.

Organised by us at Pokecharms.com, a new UK Pokemon Tournament is starting up this summer and you can be a part of it!

Being hosted by HMV's Gamerbase, we'll be looking for upwards of 24 competitors from the UK to make their way to Manchester for the first tournament with their DSs and copies of Diamond or Pearl at the start of the summer to take part - with the battles being conducted on large, widescreen HD screens in 3D through Pokemon Battle Revolution.

If the event is a hit, we'll then be aiming for a London tournament either later in the summer or later on in the year.

Costs haven't yet been completely sorted out - so there is a possibility you may have to pay £3 to enter to cover the cost of the event, but we will avoid this if possible and will let you know as soon as possible when the costs have been confirmed.

The event will likely take place at the end of May or early June, but dates have yet to be nailed down. If you have any ideal weekend available around then, now would be a good time to post it so we have a good idea of what would be best for most people.

If you'd like to take part, please post here to show your interest. Similarly, any questions you may have are welcome.

 

[Refgemlin]

I'm certainly in, and able to make whatever weekend you choose - hell, it's worth taking a day or two off just to come and enjoy the event!

The Japanese and American players have so much on offer Pkmn-wise, and it's time we banded together and played in tournaments for prizes and general fun! So - put me down as a yay!

 

[Shiny Motley]

Well, I was wondering if people from other countries could come and participate and not just people who lived in the UK. 'Cause it's the summer, and summer vacation and stuffs start, so people will be able to go to UK.

Not saying I'm interested in it (I am, but I has no DS), though just in case anyone else had the same or similar question.

 

[Arcune]

Okay, don't get all mad at me, I know this is the wrong place to post this, but:
Please fix TCM!

Anyway, about this Pokecharms tournoment, will there be any restrictions or anything like that?

 

[Frozen_Darkness]

aww no
i really wanna go to this. but my parents suck and wudnt let me go to manchester or london damnit
ah well i spose it cant be helped.
never mind ^^
il just have to keep training till the next one.

 

[Nemesis]

Wow, awesome. Didn't see that coming.

You know I would be be interested, work permitting. And of course I'd be available for helping with organising behind the scenes and what not too.

 

[BlastoiseNdUmbreonMaster]

any day for me but im in Ireland but ill get the plane over ;D

 

[Wizwum]

I love this idea, but I do see a problem with the dates. I'm sure a big chunk of people that play towards the competitive side will be around the age of 15-18 (me included,) and this poses an issue in that the May-June period is slap bang in the middle of GCSEs and A levels. So as it stands, I won't be attending, but I just thought I'd throw this into the mix to see if it could change your minds .

 

[Omalley99]

Love the idea, ive waited so long for a U.K. tournament. Unfortunately for one thing you've selected the time period which includes my A level exams, which I'm sure will affect alot of other potential entrants. If you changed the timeframe then I'm certain you'd get alot more interest and attendees.

Also i cant make it Manchester, however London would be perfect so I'm hoping you go for that second one!

 

[Linkachu]

Pretty certain I won't be attending, but I do have a question I'm sure some people are wondering. Would this be a standard 6 on 6 tournament structured around the Pokecharms battling rules?

If so, I think the highest PBR will allow you to force stats to is level 50 all, which can squash higher leveled Pokemon's stats. People might like to know this for the choice of raising their teams exactly to 50 across the board. Alternatively, you could set the bar at level 100 for all and then people would simply have to raise their teams that high. At lot more work, but the stats would be proper.

Just a few thoughts. Like Nem said, I could help you organize this in certain ways if you wanted the extra planning support.

 

[Evangelion]

Hey,
Both me and my older brother have expressed interest in participating, but we were wondering about rules, such as Double or Single, Lv50 or Lv100 (or will all levels be rounded to 50 using PBR?).

Thanks.

 

[Magpie]

While I wouldn't be taking part in the tourney itself, I do live fairly near to Manchester. So if for any reason you'd like some 'Charms members to be there or anything I'd be happy to make my way over. Or help in any other way in fact.

'Tis awesome 'Charms is running a tourney ^^

 

[Doctor Oak]

Thanks for the questions guys, a few points:

1) Rules have yet to be determined, right now we're just looking for a rough headcount. We will probably base them as much as possible around the WiFi Pokecharms Rules, but once we've nailed them down completely we'll let you all know.

One thing that will probably be pretty much set is that we will be using PBR at Level 50 All.

2) For those worried about exams, the tournament will take place on a Saturday and will take place in the afternoon. Should be fairly safe enough even for those of us who are busy in that period. If you are exam heavy around a certain weekend, it would be best to let us know so we could avoid that if possible - but I think even the swottiest amongst us could take a few hours off on a saturday from revising.

For those who can't at all for whatever reason because of exams - please do make your interest known anyway. Your interest will be noted and will help go towards a future event outside of the nasty exam period.

3) The tournament isn't locked out from people outside the UK (that includes the Republic of Ireland, the rest of Europe as well as America etc), but obviously there's not a lot of point in advertising this to them as it's rather unlikely many will make the journey to Manchester just to attend. Anyone from outside the UK who WILL be available at the time is certainly very welcome to attend though.

4) We will be glad to see anyone attend, whether they wish to battle or not. We will be attempting to have an entire event around the Tournament itself and will hopefully have prizes of some description for everyone who shows up.

There may also be sweets.

 

[Doctor Oak]

As I was asked on another forum, I'll put this up here too:

"Will Platinum be allowed or is it just D/P?"

Because the tournament will be centred around the release time of Platinum here, it seems fairest to only allow D/P teams - but I will see what happens. If anyone turns up with a Platinum game, I probably wont turn them away though.

Again, we'll sort this out over the next couple of weeks and come out with a definitive answer.

 

[Linkachu]

There may also be sweets.

What about free pizza?

 

[Doctor Oak]

Dunno about that, but there IS a pizza hut just around the corner. I'm sure people could get their own after the tourney.

Incidentally, if this goes through on the weekend of Platinum's release, it will be on my birthday too. ^^

 

[Magpie]

In that case I'll do my best to make it. I should have left my part time job by then, where I work Saturdays, so I should be free to attend. It'd be nice to meet some other 'Charms members there ^^

 

[Seiryuu]

Found out about this on a different forum, since i only tend to come here for the trainer card maker, but i would come along to the Mcr event, depending on rules, would be much easier for me, and probably a fair few others if it was tailored to singles, because i know from personal experience, people were a bit annoyed at the World Champs being in doubles.

 

[Doctor Oak]

Chances are it will be singles - doubles would likely require a bit too much extra strategy to make it workable in such a short time frame.

Also, whether or not it is a full 6-6 will depend on how much time we have available. The final battle will likely be 6-6, and the opening stages 3-3 (like the anime does it), but we will see how it all goes in booking the time for it.

 

[Evangelion]

Chances are it will be singles - doubles would likely require a bit too much extra strategy to make it workable in such a short time frame.

Also, whether or not it is a full 6-6 will depend on how much time we have available. The final battle will likely be 6-6, and the opening stages 3-3 (like the anime does it), but we will see how it all goes in booking the time for it.

Well I'm thinking, aren't the Official Organized Play Tournaments done in doubles?
But yeah you have a good point, how long a match will be will entirely depend on the time-frame that is available, plus you'd also have to see a rough number of competitors to see roughly how many matches can be done in the time frame available. - That could be another reason to for singles rather than doubles, as double battles can take time.

 

[Wizwum]

I'll do my best to try and make it there, but I can't make any promises at the moment. One thing I must say, though, is that if Platinum cartridges are allowed, I'd suggest preventing the use of Shaymin-S (unless PBR does that automatically,) as it isn't explicitly stated in your battling rules and it is by far one of the best Pokémon available to use.

 

[Omalley99]

Well im still not sure if id be able to attend, but by all means, you have my interest. I hope its a resounding success and you do many more in the future, hopefully one i can get to!

 

[Doctor Oak]

I'll do my best to try and make it there, but I can't make any promises at the moment. One thing I must say, though, is that if Platinum cartridges are allowed, I'd suggest preventing the use of Shaymin-S (unless PBR does that automatically,) as it isn't explicitly stated in your battling rules and it is by far one of the best Pokémon available to use.

We haven't come up with a proper ruleset yet, and thus don't have a full and proper list of banned Pokemon - but it's likely that Shaymin would be in it anyway as a Legendary.

Rotom will probably also be banned for the same reason it's currently banned from the official tournaments.

 

[Evangelion]

We haven't come up with a proper ruleset yet, and thus don't have a full and proper list of banned Pokemon - but it's likely that Shaymin would be in it anyway as a Legendary.

Rotom will probably also be banned for the same reason it's currently banned from the official tournaments.

I'm still confused on that ruling - is it the additional Rotom formes from Platinum that are banned, or all Rotom in general, including the one available in DP?

 

[Doctor Oak]

The official tournaments have Rotom completely banned because of the fact it can have other formes with different stats, we'll probably follow suit with this, just to level out the playing field.

 

[Evangelion]

The official tournaments have Rotom completely banned because of the fact it can have other formes with different stats, we'll probably follow suit with this, just to level out the playing field.

But surely official tournaments are Platinum only, so they can't hide what Rotom form it is?

 

[Doctor Oak]

I don't believe they are, and ours certainly wont be.

 

[RLRL]

Manchester is a bit far, but as I plan to at some point after uni finishes go and see el I can work the two into one most likely which means it won't be so bad. I'll be driving from Kent, so anyone en route that doesn't mind being in a car with a smoker is welcome to come for the ride.

 

[Doctor Oak]

Just a bit of an update about the planning of the event:

1) It's going to have to be a Sunday afternoon, not a Saturday. Hopefully that still works out fine for everyone. The tournament should wrap up fairly early in the afternoon so transport home shouldn't be too much of a problem for anyone.

2) The costs - including the prize/s - indicate that we will probably need at least the £3 entrance fee. The most it will be is £5, we will do what we can to make it the lowest possible, but hopefully £5 is an agreeably small amount for everyone.

 

[ulises87g]

afterwards could we do one in Los Angeles- ive never attended any tournament but i live in southern california

 

[Doctor Oak]

It would be pretty difficult to organise a tournament that's literally on the other side of the world...

 

[electivire66]

can i come?? ??? ???
im new to pokecharms :-[

 

[Prof. Cinders]

Anyone can come, as long as they can actually make it to Manchester in the UK. Whether you're new or not makes no difference.

Also, try not to use so many smilies in your posts.

 

[Evangelion]

I don't believe they are, and ours certainly wont be.

Yeah, having a tournament around Pt's release and demanding everyone use Pt would be too much xD. I can see why it would be banned in D/P/Pt tournaments (Such as this one) as you can hide a Rotom forme. However, I did read that you have to use Platinum in official tournaments

The competition will take place exclusively using Pokémon Platinum Version

. But yeah, for this tournament, I can see why Rotom should be banned.

Also, what restrictions will be put in place to avoid hackers? Will there be volunteers from the site or something to check everyone's game pre-game or something? I know in some gamestop tournaments in America around PBR's release, there were a lot of hackers.

 

[Doctor Oak]

We'll do our best - and we will be asking everyone to register their team on the day so we will get to see everyone's Pokemon at some level anyway. Unfortunately, outside of illegal moves, it's pretty hard to determine whether or not a Pokemon has been hacked and there's really not a lot we can do about it.

PBR can restrict some hacked Pokemon - if it doesn't like them, they'll turn into Bad Eggs - but other than that, it's really just down to trust.

I doubt that the tournament will be completely free of hacked Pokemon - but hopefully it wont be an issue. We'll just have to see what we CAN do about preventing any unfair advantages.

 

[Spamhog]

Hi I registered to this forum just to say I'm really happy about this event and if it does go ahead I will get getting on the train to manchester equipped with my DS and best Pokemon team. Also dragging along my housemates. I'll book the weekend off work, there will be 3 of us maybe more.

I hope there is not an age limit to the event. I'm 23 but have been playing pokemon since the first one came out, I'd be gutted if that stopped me from entering.

WHen the rules are finalised ect where will they be posted? I want to be ready as soon as possible. Also thanks i have been upset by the lack of pokemon events.

 

[Havak]

Hi there.

I'm a moderator from the Smogon Forums, I live in Manchester and I'd be very eager to compete in this tournament. I can most likely make any weekend you decide to choose and have no issues with paying a fee to enter, even upwards of £5 if it comes to it. I'll also likely be able to bring along at least one friend, possibly upwards of five friends if they can get the time off work. I have to commend you for even attempting something like this, and I'm really happy that there will be a somewhat 'official' tournament worth entering in the UK after such a long time since the last one (in 2004..).

I'm hoping for a more solid rule-set in the near future. Personally I'd like it to be 4vs4 Doubles or 6vs6 Singles throughout, I don't think there will be much of an issue with a time frame if you're only looking for something in the region of 16-32 players (Double Battles may require a bit more strategy, but they'll probably finish quicker). If not, you can simply set a time limit of 15 minutes per match-up and judge a winner from an experienced knowledge of how the match has played out and who is most likely to win.

As the above poster mentioned, would there be an age limit? I'm 20 and my friends (if they can make it) would also be of roughly the same age (18-20) so I hope this isn't a problem.

Due to the Pokémon Video Game Championships happening this Summer in Japan, America and Europe, I'd really love to see this tournament emulate that rule-set completely. 4vs4 Doubles, Level 50 limit, Soul Dew banned and the majority of 'Uber' Pokémon banned. I can get you the complete rule-set for this tournament if you need it, but I'm sure you probably know it already.

I wouldn't be happy about us having to reveal teams before the tournament, but since Pokémon Battle Revolution forces you to reveal teams before the battle happens, it wouldn't be much of a problem. However, I'd like to not have to show my team to people (other than the organizers) and I'd like the option of being allowed to switch out Pokémon between rounds, as long as they were all checked by the tournament hosts obviously. I have a lot of well bred Pokémon, but I have no problem with letting someone who isn't competing look through my boxes and confirm that everything I have is legit. I'd just like the freedom of being able to change my team if I think someone is going to have a great match-up vs my team, or if I feel they might change something if I have to face them in a later round. I think it'd be more than fair to allow this as long as everything is checked for legitemacy beforehand.

Thanks for reading this, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be glad to help in any way possible.

 

[Doctor Oak]

There wont be any age limit - this tournament will be open to all.

Rules will be available on their own page for easy viewing once they are ready. At the same time, we will have a page up for people to register for the tournament itself on. The registration will simply be your name, age and details so we can get a firm idea of who will be showing up. Pokemon will be registered on the day of the event.

The reason we may not be able to pull off a full set of matches of 6vs6 for everyone in every round is because we will only have 4 PBR machines available and only about 2 hours or so to play through the tournament. We also think it will be better for all if the initial rounds are quick, so we can get to the meat of the tournament more quickly.

Concerning the rules, the Video Game Championships rules ought to be fairly close to what we will be going with - except we will be doing single battles instead of doubles. Needless to say, if you're training for those, you'll probably be able to use the same team here.

As for revealing your Pokemon, you wont have to reveal what you'll be using before the event itself - but we will be checking teams on the day purely to make sure they don't have any banned Pokemon and - where possible that they're not ridiculously hacked.

To be fair to more casual players and help balance out the playing field, it's probable you will only be allowed the 6 Pokemon you register with initially. This will allow them adequate time to come up with a useful team and strategy and, obviously, would slightly handicap more advanced players to bring them to a fairer level. We don't want to tip the balance too much in the casual player's favour, but this seems like the best way to put some balance in. I also don't expect it would cause much difficulty to most advanced players anyway.

And, obviously, if everyone is restricted in this way, there's no issue with others changing their teams either - which can give you the chance for more focus too.

Overall, we will be aiming to make the rules as accessible to casual players - so they can still stand some chance and enjoy the tournament - while continuing to be as deep as a more competitive battler would expect. Obviously, concessions will be necessary on both sides to balance it out well, but we will be discussing how to do this over the next week or two and will have it sorted and available ASAP.

But, any of this could change after further discussion - so I'll comment more on the rules again when they're more fully developed.

 

[nenya59]

I'm in, haha, easy to get to and very easy to win by the looks of it, simple, woop!! Of course there's bound to be some sweaty pokesavers hanging around, and just so i don't have to say it when i beat you savers, "get banged on"!!!
Maximum love,
Berty!

 

[Quester]

Awesome, I live in Yorkshire so it'll be pretty easy for me to make it.

And I wouldn't worry too much about Pokésav users, a nice bit of EV training should take care of them 

Also, I was wondering, can Pokémon obtained through events and through GTS from other countries be used in this tournament?

I'm a little edgy since I don't know whether my GTS obtained Pokémon are hacks or not.