The World Cup of Pokémon 2017 - Signups

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One year ago, US East successfully defended their World Cup title by defeating Germany 7-5 (after tiebreak) in the final. Now it's time to see if they can repeat their feat, or if they will be replaced as champions by one of the many regions hoping to establish themselves as the top dogs in the World Cup of Pokemon.

Previous World Cups:


To sign up for this tournament, use the following format:

Pokémon Showdown Username(s):
Country / State of Residence:
Other Eligibility (if applicable):
Pokémon Showdown Username(s): The nickname you use in Pokemon Showdown.

Tiers: The tiers you want to play (SM, ORAS, BW2, DPP, ADV, GSC).

Country / State of Residence: You are currently living in that country/region.

Other Eligibility: If you are eligible for any other region (look at eligibility rules).

Team Captains:

Team Captains will be responsible for assembling the roster, promoting the tournament through their team through Discord or other means, ensuring their team is completing battles and subbing battlers in and out as necessary. If there is an issue with a team we will approach the captain to resolve it.

The captains for confirmed/expected teams are as follows:
Africa and Middle East (Afrabs) - Jsaok3 - Withdraw
Asia - Analytic
Bangladesh - Asim12
Canada - Jirachee
Europe - Tony
France - Ojama
Germany - xray
Greece - roudolf13
India - parivard
Italy - Tricking
Latin America - Femen
Oceania - Snowy
Spain - Malekith
UK - 6A9 Ace Matador and p2
US Central - Finchinator
US East - Tobes
US Metro - Star
US West - Mithril


This year's World Cup sees the introduction of SM and the departure of RBY to continue the theme of five current gen OU + five old gen OU. This format best combines the individual and team aspect of the World Cup.

5 SM OU, 1 ORAS OU, 1 BW2 OU, 1 DPP OU, 1 ADV OU, 1 GSC OU
1 Captain, 1 Co-Captain maximum, 5 Substitutes
(equals to maximum 17 players/team, including 10 starters + 5 subs + 1 captain + 1 co-captain)
Note that captains and co-captain cannot play unless they are also included as a starter or as a sub, so only 15 players can play.

Team Formation:

This signup thread will be open for two weeks. In this time, captains are expected to be at their most active, whether it be holding tryout battles, scouting potential additions, or whatever it is they deem to be optimal for the growth of their team.

Final rosters are to be submitted on or before June 10th, 2017. All rosters should include the team name, captain name, starting 10 players and 5 subs as well as the team flag. The captain does not have to be on the playing roster at all. We understand that two weeks is a long time to wait before the start of Round 1, but please make use of this time. It is to be used to form the roster, make teams together, test those teams, etc. By the start of Round 1, all teams should be at the top of their game. Don't just sit around until the first round starts and then start training.

Note: If a team does not have 15 or more eligible signups by the time of the pre-tournament qualifier (June 3rd, 2017), they will be deemed unable to field a team and will therefore be removed from the tournament.

You are allowed up to 1 non playing assistant captain.


Pokemon Showdown is the main simulator for this tournament, and Smogtours is the main server.

About New Teams:

New teams seeking entry into World Cup have to send a full roster via PM to me and TDs on or before June 3rd, 2017. If accepted, the team(s) will be put into a pre-tournament qualifier along with the 16th placed team from last year (who will also be expected to submit their roster by then). The winning team from the qualifier will advance to the main tournament.

The format for the qualifier is dependant on the number of new teams participating. If the qualifier is contested by just two teams, the format will be 9v9 with one SM OU slot dropped to prevent the possibility of a tie. If several teams are in the qualifier, the format will reduced to 5v5 (two SM OU and three old gen OU [each team striking one]) in order to keep in line with the schedule.


This year will see little to no change in the eligibility rules. If you have any questions that cannot be answered by the rules below, feel free to PM me or a TD and we'll do our best to clarify.

A.) Players who have not participated in a previous edition of World Cup can only play for the region associated with their forum IP.
  • If a player has IPs to prove they spent an extended period of time in a region different to that of their current IP, they may apply to join the team associated with the old IPs.
  • Players who live in two regions (e.g. one for college and one as standard residence) can apply to join either team, but the eligibility for the rejected team will be forfeited.
  • Players who are eligible for a continental team by virtue of being from a country already represented in World Cup may only play for the continental team IF the country-based team rejects them. This includes the relationship between US East (continent) and US Metro (country).
  • The "cultural eligibility" rule (e.g. Belgium -> France and Austria -> Germany) from last year is no longer in effect. This does not affect players who used this eligibility in the past, though.
B.) Players who participated in last year's World Cup will be locked onto their teams for this year.
  • If a player played under strong eligibility (location at the time of sign-up) and that strong eligibility changes, the player can apply to switch to the team that represents their new strong eligibility. However, this is a one-time choice and the rejected eligibility will be forfeited EVEN if they return to their previous location.
  • If a player's previous team ceases to exist, the player can apply to join a different team under weak eligibility OR join the team most closely related to their previous one. The player will then be locked to that team so long as they have no strong eligibility to represent.
  • Similarly, if a new team better fitting of a player's eligibility participates in the tournament (including in the play-off), the player may apply to switch to the new team. For example, if China were to qualify for World Cup, any player from China who is locked onto Asia will be allowed to switch.
  • If a player is locked on a country-based team and gets rejected this year, their lock will prevent them from applying to join a continental team.
C.) Players who participated in earlier editions of World Cup but did not participate in the most recent edition will get to choose between their most recent team and the team that matches their current IP.
  • Players who choose the old eligibility will forfeit their eligibility for the team matching their current IP.
  • Players who choose the current eligibility will forfeit their eligibility for their previous team.
Note #1: As Caribbean regions are not represented by any currently existing teams, players from these regions will default to the closest region geographically (Latin America). However, if the region is an area officially recognised as a part of a represented country/region, that country/region will become the player's strong eligibility, and Latin America will be treated as a continental eligibility (e.g. A player from Aruba will have Europe as their main eligibility, but can play for LA if rejected by Europe).

In the case of the country/region being the United States, the area of the US that is closest geographically will be the player's strong eligibility (e.g. A player from Puerto Rico will have US East as their main eligibility, but can play for LA if rejected by East).

Note #2: Since Africa and Middle East (Afrabs) are no longer competing, Africa-based players should refer to this post to see which team they are now eligible for.

Note #3: US-based players should refer to this list by Jirachee to see which team they are eligible for:

New Jersey
New York


New Hampshire
North Carolina
Rhode Island
South Carolina
West Virginia


New Mexico
North Dakota
South Dakota


Alternatively, you can use this map by rozes:

(Orange = US West; Green = US Central; Blue = US East; Purple = US Metro)

Note #4: Hosts and TDs reserve the right to reject any player they deem to be insufficiently eligible. An example of this would be a player whose IP drastically changes merely days before the start of the tournament.

Tournament Rules: (by Aldaron)
On... Sportsmanship

Note the sportsmanship infraction may be used liberally this WCoP, and any unsportsmanlike conduct on the forums, in #wcop / #pokemon / any of the semiofficial tier channels, or in opposing wcop team channels (I won't infract for you being a dick in your own wcop 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

On... Scheduling Matches

I'm sure plenty of you have come across coin flipping / who to 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 and default you to a coin flip, regardless of what you claim is your irc or forum activity. By signing up for this tournament, you are agreeing to this condition, that adhering to what I outline will protect you from coinflips / activity and that not adhering to it will subject you to coinflips / activity regardless of your proposed justification.

Once that round'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. 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.


Once your opponent has contacted you, you now have up until 72 hours after the round'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 and that more often than not, the TDs will likely force one (or both) sides to sub out.

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 be 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 coin flip. If I look at the situation, I might just determine I'm going to sub both of you out, coin flip you, 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 if you want to protect yourself, stick to the vm messages), then you obviously have activity win justification. Note to team captains, if one of your players does not contact all his opponents before 48 hours before the end of the round, I will FORCE a sub, no questions asked. 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 coin flip 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:

Round 1 thread is posted June 7, 2015 at 10:00PM. Its deadline is June 14, 2015 at 11:59PM. User A and User B are matched up. User A contacts User B on his vm wall on June 9, 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




To handle all DC're gonna submit your teams before the match. @TeamSubmission is an account made for the purpose of submitting teams to it. 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.




~ Aldaron

^ Note: When submitting teams, use and submit it to the dedicated team submit account, TeamSubmissions


On a closing note, I advise all players to join the main tournament server on Discord, as well as the server of your potential team. And with all that out of the way, let the World Cup of Pokémon XII begin!
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