Nugget Bridge Tournament Circuit Season 1 Begins
Nugget Bridge’s First Season utilizing the Nugget Bridge Ranking System is set to begin.
Discover the passion and excitement of our weekly Live Tournaments and Nugget Bridge Major this season while training for the official Organized Play tournaments. Over the next 19 weeks every standard rules tournament you participate in will give you points toward a ranking which will be used to determine seeding for tournaments and a possible invitation to the season ending Nugget Bridge Invitational.
For a long time people playing competitive Pokémon have tried to rank other players and their abilities. The problem is most rankings tend to be highly subjective or based on ladder play. Well here on Nugget Bridge we run on a system similar to how the WTA and ATP Tennis ranking systems work. Tennis awards points for tournament play — not what the Pokémon community is entirely used to. There are tournaments that take tournament play into consideration but unlike those tournaments we will not restrict ourselves to just live tournaments — you can gain ranking from most every tournament across the site.
The Basics
The Nugget Bridge rankings are based on a 19-week, cumulative system. A player’s ranking is determined by their results in standard rules tournaments. Over the 19-week season a player will gain points from their finishes in tournaments. In future seasons the previous season’s points will be lost and the season continues, a rolling system to be concise. You can see the schedule for the next two seasons here.
These ratings will only apply to standard tournamnets aka the current VGC ruleset used for Oragnized Play tournaments also known as VGC Modified. This is not to say you can’t make and join non-standard tournaments, but they will not receive any points for the ladder (this could change if demand is high enough). Team tournaments are also ineligible for rankings points. This could change in the future as I do have ideas to incorporate the ratings in a fair way, but no promises there because I feel the NPA does a good job of recognizing the good teams.
The Tournaments
Over the course of each 19-week season there will be the following tournaments:
- 19 Nugget Bridge Live Tournaments
- 1 Nugget Bridge Major
- X number of player-run Standard Forum Tournaments
And at the end of each season the best players will be invited to participate in the Nugget Bridge Invitational.
You can find point breakdowns for each style of tournament here, that is the possible number of points available for each tournament for each placing.
Because the number of Live Tournaments is disproportionate to the other tournaments and it can be tough for players to participate week in and week out, there will be a best finish limit of 10 placed on Live Tournaments. You can play in any number of Live Tournaments, but only your 10 best will count towards your rating for a maximum of 1000 points to be gained.
Another minor rule to be aware of, if you join a tournament and are subbed out or given an activity loss in Round 1, you will not receive any points for that tournament.
How Do I Run A Non-Live Tournament?
We will generally be pretty lax regarding new tournaments, but only sanctioned tournaments will count towards rankings. The basics for a tournament to be Nugget Bridge Sanctioned are:
1) Utilize the current Organized Play Ruleset or be really close
2) Have a way to determine placings
3) Be seeded by the current Nugget Bridge Rankings
4) Make it clear in sign-ups that your tournament counts for the Nugget Bridge Rankings
Beyond that, the tournament can take place on Pokemon Online or Wi-Fi. Be sure to PM either makiri or Scott to obtain a sanction for your tournament prior to sign-ups.
Where Can I Find My Ranking?
Right now, no where! This will be linked to once we start the season.
Get out there and play hard!
About the Author
makiri started playing VGC in 2008 and has been an advocate for VGC play since then. With three Regional Championship victories and multiple other high placings, makiri is a seasoned competitor ready to impart knowledge of the game to others.
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