Dropping out of tournaments

[Luigi]

Recently (mainly in OLT and Classic), we've had to deal with various instances of people dropping out of tournaments in the later rounds.

While we understand that sometimes other things take precedence over Pokemon, a participant leaving a tour after a certain point hurts the integrity of the tournament. This problem grows worse the deeper into the tour it occurs.

When you sign up for a tournament we ask that you stay in it for its duration, so from now on we'll be infracting anyone who drops out of a tour (either deliberately or by being completely unresponsive) with a 2 point infraction, starting from:

Grand Slam: Round 4 of the Opens and Playoffs
Classic: Round 4 of the Cups and Playoffs
OLT: Swiss Stage
OST: Round of 32
Smogon Tour: Playoffs

Note that this doesn't mean all activity wins past these points will result in an infraction, this will only be used if we determine one party chose not to continue in the tournament deliberately.

 

[Boat]

As an addition to the list above, dropping out of Circuit Playoffs for official tiers after opting-in will also result in a 2 point infraction. Because these tours are seeded, dropping out often presents irreparable damage to the bracket, as there is no easy way to substitute someone in. Choosing to opt-in and then dropping out causes logistical issues, damages the integrity of the tournament, and usually takes away away a spot that could have been occupied by another player.