This thread will have the pairings for each round, as well as important notes for all players. All players are responsible for checking this thread at the start of every round; ignorance of the contents of this thread is not an excuse for not following any instructions found herein.
You can "Watch" this thread in order to receive notifications whenever a post is made here, but failing to receive a notification is no excuse for knowing when the round begins or ends. The calendar is posted in several places, including in the first round pairings post.
Do not post in this thread. Any results posted in this thread will not be honored, and all questions ignored.
Welcome, friends, both old and new. I am PMJ. I am the organizer of this tournament. If you have any questions, your first course of action should be to help yourself by reading this thread, because I promise you most of what you want to know can be found here. If the answer isn't here, it's in the news story. If it's not there, then you may ask me; be warned, however, that if the answer to your question can be found in one of the aforementioned locations, I will direct you there rather than answer your question directly. I may also choose to ask you a question in reply to help you find the answer yourself.
Basically, don't be lazy.
Again - read this entire post, especially if you're new. You'd be surprised what you can learn by taking the time to help yourself.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Every month I get questions that could be answered by reading the news story. Since no one listens to me, I've compiled a tl;dr version in this post. You should still read the news story, since this FAQ does not aim to answer every question, but it should answer the more common ones. If you ask me a question that is found in the FAQ, I will get upset, and you won't like my response.
To ensure you are apprised of all relevant updates, please make sure to "Watch" this thread. You will (should) receive notifications every time a post is made. Alternatively, you can "Follow" me personally so you can be notified every time I post (I think that's how it works?).
That said, not receiving a notification is no excuse for not manually checking this thread at the start of every round.
1. When and where can I submit my list?
When: I accept submissions any time after the first round starts. Where: in a new private message to me.
2. Is a private message the same thing as a conversation?
Yes.
3. Am I allowed to re-submit my list once I send it to you?
As long as you haven't done your match, yes. If you tell me you want to change your mind, I will ignore your submitted list and it will be as if you sent me nothing, so please don't forget to re-submit.
4. Am I allowed to switch card art (i.e. switching to a full art Professor Sycamore instead of a regular art)?
Yes.
5. I sent you my deck, but you didn't approve it.
Give it time. As long as you have submitted before the end of the round, you will be approved with no penalty, even if I approve it after the round is over. That said, if you submit incorrectly, you will get a warning if the deadline has passed, so read the rest of this post to figure out how to submit properly so this does not happen. Please do not post on my wall or send me additional PMs saying that you sent me your list in. I know you sent it. I got your PM. Just be patient, please.
6. Where do I post results?
Do not submit your results privately. Post them in this thread, nowhere else. Posting results anywhere else will not count, so please pay attention where you're posting.
7. Do I still need to post in the thread if my opponent doesn't show up?
If your match is decided by me, you do not need to post the results.
8. How long do I need to be a premium member in order to be eligible for premium-level prizes?
Your subscription must be active for the duration of the entire tournament.
9. My opponent dropped/forfeited the round. What do I do?
If they tell you they drop in your conversation with them, add me to the conversation -or- post in the thread saying they dropped. If they post in the thread saying they dropped, you do not have to do anything. You will get a round loss if your opponent drops in a private PM to me and you don't say anything, because that means you either didn't try to contact them or didn't contact me when you did and they didn't get back to you. Either way, you weren't on the ball, so you get a round loss.
10. What does "overflow" mean? Do I need to send you my list?
Overflow means you submitted a proper registration post, but were unable to play due to the player limit being reached. If you are on this list, you will have priority access in next month's tournament as long as either you mention it in your signup post, or I happen to notice you were on the list. You will not be playing in this month's tournament, so you do not need to send me your list.
11. I don't see myself on the pairings list. Why not?
There is an odd number of players. If you aren't dropped and aren't on the current round's pairing list, you have a bye and do not need to do anything for this round. Enjoy your break.
12. I won prizes! What do I need to do?
You wait. I will contact you at some point after your role in the tournament has ended with more information.
Got any suggestions for new questions? Drop me a line (don't post in this thread).
Bookmark this link. I typically enter scores after a round has ended in order to minimize attempts at influencing decisions to ID, since standings are updated in real time as I enter them into Challonge and gives players information they wouldn't otherwise have at an actual tournament. When you check your scores, please make sure the standings are correct; let me know immediately if they are not.
TOURNAMENT TIMETABLE
Here are all the deadlines for every round. I will post each round's deadline in the main thread as well as in each individual round's post in the pairings thread. If you aren't sure when the round ends, check! It's right here!
Round 1: Wednesday 5/2/18 to Saturday 5/5/18
Turn in your deck list to PMJ by: Saturday 5/5/18
Round 2: Sunday 5/6/18 to Wednesday 5/9/18
Round 3: Thursday 5/10/18 to Sunday 5/13/18
Round 4: Monday 5/14/18 to Thursday 5/17/18
Round 5: Friday 5/18/18 to Monday 5/21/18
Round 6: Tuesday 5/22/18 to Friday 5/25/18
Round 7: Saturday 5/26/18 to Tuesday 5/29/18
Top 8: Wednesday 5/30/18 to Saturday 6/2/18*
Top 4: Within 3 days of Top 8 completing*
Finals: Within 3 days of Top 4 completing*
*Top 4 matches and the finals may be completed as soon as the previous top cut matches are reported.
You can submit your list to me any time before the deadline. You do not have to do your match first. If the deadline approaches and you and your opponent still haven't fought yet, I would suggest sending me your list so you can get it approved. If I don't approve your list by the deadline, it's okay as long as I receive it before the deadline. Outlined below is the very simple way that I accept lists. This is the only way I will accept your list. It's not hard to do, so the only way you can muck it up is if you haven't read this post.
TOURNAMENT CHANGES FOR MAY
No ruling or QOL changes, but check out the cool updated image of winners in the news story! Begone, Evolutions! Sully these tourneys no longer!
HOW TO PROPERLY SUBMIT YOUR DECK LIST
Have PTCGO copy your deck list to the clipboard, paste it in a new conversation to me (even if you competed last month), and hit send.
This is the only way I will accept your deck list, so pay attention. Here's an image to help you out if you don't know what I'm talking about:
In the deck manager, clicking dis will copy your deck list to the clipboard. The program will even tell you it's done.
Now, in the conversation to me, right click and Paste, or hit CTRL + V to paste the contents. Make sure PTCGO approves of your list before you send it - if it's legal for them, that's a good sign.
If your client is not in English, you can translate your cards if you want, but you don't have to.
PAIRINGS
Below is the image that contains the pairings for round one. All names on this image are PokeBeach usernames; look for your PokeBeach username on this image and contact your opponent immediately. Tell them exactly when you can play; this saves both of you time and makes you look good in case I need to hand down an activity ruling.
Round 1 ends Saturday, May 5, at 11:59 PM PDT. You have until that time to send me your list and get it approved. Do not assume that just because you sent it means it was approved. Be sure to get confirmation before you relax.
Don't forget you all promised to make 3 posts! We love to see people contributing to our community and doing their part to help it grow. Three posts is easily doable. Please do it. Or else.
Do not post match results in this thread. They won't count. Post them in the main thread only. They will count there.
I need your list by the end of round 2. Otherwise you will get another warning, and guess what happens then? :O
You guys have no idea how refreshing it is to see all these new people joining the tournaments and actually play out their matches and be on the ball and get shit done. I remember when the norm was having to drop at least half a dozen ghosts due to inactivity and this month there were zero. In terms of match results, all of them were accounted for. That is good news and I appreciate everyone's contribution towards that end.
I know who my replacement is and I've been talking to him for a few days so far and training him on how to run the tournaments. He has a fairly extensive background as a real-life TO, so this is gonna fit him like a glove.
I'm not telling you who it is yet. A nonzero amount of you seemed to question whether or not I am still the TO of this tournament, even though it says that in the news story. And the pairings thread. And I never said who was replacing me (largely in part because I didn't know who that was going to be yet), so it would have been pretty impressive for you guys to start sending lists and stuff to the guy replacing me before I knew who it was.
So, to be clear, yes, I am still the TO for this tournament. Nothing else is different. Next month is when my replacement takes over and you will be sending everything through him and not me. We cool? Aight. Now that that's settled...
Reminder that it's important to actually tell your opponent when you are available (with times) so you're not left guessing.
Also, sending your initial PM to your opponent with a day or less in the round is a great way to not get a free win if it comes to that. It takes ten minutes tops to check the forums and get the ball rolling.
Also now that it's pretty late in the tournament and I feel comfortable that no one is going to screw up, I can let you guys know that I will have two friends helping take over the tournaments in my stead - PokeMedic and JGB146 (intentionally not tagged). PokeMedic will be handling June's tournament, and the plan is to have JGB helm July. I'll still be around behind the scenes helping them get acclimated.
I am still the organizer for this tournament. Continue contacting me with your problems, the same you have always done. There is no need to include either of them in your PMs. Anyone who does will be ridiculed and then dropped. :^)
Round 5 ends Monday, May 21, at 11:59 PM PDT. Make sure you check your scores.
Reminders: posting your scores is required. Both players are responsible for making sure this has been done correctly. Both players will receive a warning if the score is missing. The winning player will default to 2-0.
Posting to trigger notifications for anyone relying on that (protip: don't do that, the calendar is in the news story and the second post of this thread)
Three cheers (and no posts, remember, don't post in this thread) for PokeMedic who didn't completely suck for his first time posting a round!
