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.
INTRODUCTION
Alrighty, so it's September. And we had the largest registration group I've seen in the over-a-year I've been in and around these tournaments. Nice to see all the new faces, and nice to see so many familiar faces as well. We always say that it's important to read this post, and in particular to read the "What's changed" section. But this month BIG THINGS CHANGEDso everyone needs to read it. Probably even @PokeMedic
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 Lillie 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. Do not post them here. Post them in the tournament 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!
Registration: Wednesday 8/29/18 to Friday 8/31/18
Round 1: Saturday 9/1/18 to Tuesday 9/4/18
Turn in your deck list to JGB146 by: Tuesday 9/4/18
Round 2: Wednesday 9/5/18 to Saturday 9/8/18
Round 3: Sunday 9/9/18 to Wednesday 9/12/18
Round 4: Thursday 9/13/18 to Sunday 9/16/18
Round 5: Monday 9/17/18 to Thursday 9/20/18
Round 6: Friday 9/21/18 to Monday 9/24/18
Round 7: Tuesday 9/25/18 to Friday 9/28/18
Top 8: Saturday 9/29/18 to Monday 10/1/18*
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 JUNE
JGB returns, and makes big changes to the 15-minute no-show rules:
Beginning this month, we are requiring six hours notice for a match confirmation to be valid for no-show wins. What this means is that if I am slated to play Pokemedic, and on Saturday he messages me suggesting 5pm EDT Sunday as our play time, I cannot claim a no-show win against him unless I replied before 11am EDT on Sunday. Since Pokemedic's offer was made prior to that, I had more than six hours notice. If I reply and confirm at 4pm, he can claim a no-show win against me but I cannot claim a no-show win against him.
Note that we can still play the match. He just is not penalized for missing a reply that occurred too soon before the match. This way, he gets a reasonable amount of time to know whether or not he has a match.
Alongside this change, I highly recommendspecifying your IGN, general availability, and asking for a specific play time in your first message to your opponent.
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 9/4/18, 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'm going to make the formal announcement tomorrow morning, but for anyone who wants to get a jump on things, R2 pairings are up on Challonge. See https://challonge.com/SeptCup2018
However, there are a few matches that are going to be repaired. Specifically, all of the following people should wait until the official announcement tomorrow before scheduling their R2 match:
JAlexanderL
Jacob Marshall
Pizzadone
S1L3NTT4UND3R
SupaKrabby
All of your opponents are (probably) getting dropped. But instead of giving you all byes, I'm giving some of our wait-listers a chance to play in place of the people who didn't play. So I have to make sure whether or not they are actually dropped before I can make the replacements.
We had far fewer issues in round 1 than usual, so props to most of you. But I am still missing lists from a few people. Consider this your official warning. One warning doesn't do anything, but two warnings means you're dropped from the tournament and will be ineligible to play for two months (unless you have a premium membership). So get your lists in: @F4H_Jay @Blinkehyo @mattfofatt01 @xTITAN
We've also replaced a few players who managed to earn two warnings during R1. So we still have a 95 people. The handful of new folks inherited the R1 loss from the people they replaced. I'm doing this today, but it's not always going to happen every month.
With that said, here are the official pairings for round 2. @JAlexanderL your opponent has dropped, so enjoy your bye.
Round 2 will run through 11:59pm PDT on Saturday, September 8.
One reminder: When discussing scheduling with your opponent, OFFER A SPECIFIC TIME along with any general ranges about your availability. Half of the problems we have with scheduling come down to people not narrowing down to a specific time. It's good to say "I can play any day after 4pm EDT" but that's not the best way to make a match happen. WAY BETTER is "I can play any day after 4pm EDT, so how does 6pm EDT Monday work for you?"
Round 3 will run from now until 11:59PM PDT on Wednesday, September 12.
Check your scores. There are a few that I expect to be wrong -- some of which won't be changed due to warnings/penalties and such.
Please remember to follow the proper format when reporting results. If you need a reminder, reread the FAQ in this thread. Don't leave it open to any guesswork as to who won the match or who won how many games. I'm looking at you @Doby and @Charizard=Life
Round 4 will run from now until 11:59pm EDT on Sunday, Septmeber 16.
Check your scores. I'm human, just like @Rukan Shao in his awesome performance but error-filled final at yesterday's regional (CONGRATS RUKAN!). And btw, for those of you on the fence about the premium articles PokeBeach offers, Rukan published a list very close to the one he piloted to 2nd place in his last article. I literally had it sleeved up playing it at league this weekend, with like 2 cards different than the one he did so well with. Anyway...
My only other announcement is that we had a number of no-shows and failures to report during this round. If something comes up and you can't play at the time selected, message your opponent! That might save you from losing, or it might not. But it will definitely save you from getting a warning (which could lead to being unable to play in future events)!
And whether you win, lose, tie, or don't play your match, ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE RESULTS ARE POSTED. Don't assume your opponent posted because they won -- double check. Don't assume that it doesn't matter whether or not you post that the match never happened -- unless we've specifically discussed it, I don't know what is going on. You will get a warning if I don't know what your results are at the end of the round.
Round 5 will run from now until 11:59pm EDT on Thursday 9/20/18.
We're almost done here, everyone. Let's finish strong!
As always, please check your scores. Note that if your score is wrong because you got a tie due to failure to report results, it will not be changed. There were still WAY TOO MANY people who failed to report their results. Don't fall into this trap!
Good luck to each of you in the remaining rounds.
Round 6 will run from now until 11:59pm PDT on Monday 9/24/18.
We had a lot of people getting dropped last round because they failed to respond and thus earned their second warning. I've never seen so many people unable to play for future months.
If you drop, you need to tell me! Otherwise, you miss out on future months of play.
That said, most of you who are still here are doing things right, so... why am I even ranting???
Finish strong! For most of you this will be your final round. For a select few, this will be the next step toward battling out in top cut. Good luck to you regardless of which side of that coin you are on!
Round 7 will run from now until 11:59PM on Friday 9/28/18.
