Thinking about the state of the tournament from the changes to the conditions for Japanese competitor of (Pokémon) World Tournament

Note: This article is about Pokémon tournaments, but the content is applicable to all game tournaments. This article is about Pokémon tournaments.
Even people who don't know anything about Pokémon battles can understand it, so I hope all people who love game tournaments will read it and use it to deepen your thinking.

1.Introduction

There has been an uproar among players/fans regarding the granting of World Championship rights for the game "Pokémon Sword and Shield".

On July 2, 2021, after the Pokémon Japan Championships (PJCS) 2021 Main Round, which was held on May 9, 2021, players were given the right to compete in the Pokémon World Championships (WCS) 2022, which is scheduled to be held in 2022 for the ranking bands that were not announced before the tournament at May 9.

In order to think about this issue of expanding the number of rights acquirers after the tournament, we first need to understand the structure of the Japanese official Pokémon Game (hereinafter referred to as Pokémon VGC*) tournaments.
*VGC=Video Game Championships

2.Pokémon VGC Official Tournament and the right to participate in WCS

This is an official Japanese competition and consists of the following steps for 2021.
Depending on the year, there are several qualifying rounds, and some years there are several chances to advance to the main tournament, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, both the main tournament and the finals were held in a live tournament (offline). This is the pattern every year.

(The above image is taken from the official website of Pokémon Co. and translated)
As WCS2021 will not be held this year, the right to participate in WCS2022 will be obtained.
And here is a diagram that explains the above in more detail.

The PJCS2021 qualifiers will be held via the Internet, and will consist of up to 45 matches of BO1(Best of 1) in random matches based on ratings, with rankings determined in order of final rating.

The PJCS2021 main tournament was held via the Internet, and will consist of up to 20 matches of BO1 in random matches based on ratings, with rankings determined in order of final rating.

In addition, there was a rule that each player had to play at least 10 games to be included in the rankings. ->This is a so-called "friends tournament" format.

The PJCS2021 finals will be divided into the main qualifying round and the final tournament.
The qualifying round will be played in a Swiss draw format with BO1.
There will be a maximum of five matches in each category. After the maximum of five matches, the top eight players will advance to the final tournament.
A win is worth 3 points, a loss or a draw is worth 0 points. In case of a tie, the ranking will be determined by an independent calculation.
The final tournament is a single-elimination format (if you lose, you're finish) with BO3 (Best of 3 = 2 games first / max 3 games).

3.Time line of the announcement of the right to participate in the WCS in 2021

When PJCS2021 was first announced, it was unclear if it would be a WCS qualifying tournament. That's because the announcement of PJCS2021 came after the announcement of the cancellation of WCS2021. As time went by, it was announced that PJCS2021 would be a tournament that would grant the right to participate in WCS2022 the following year.

Date	Event
4/30/2021	“The official website for the Pokémon Japan Championships 2021 is now open!” *1 PJCS2021 official website is opened to the public. In the contents, it is announced that the top finishers will have the right to participate in WCS2022.
4/30/2021	"About the invitation-only Internet tournament 'PJCS2021 Main Round'" *2 Only the top 20 players will be allowed to participate in the live final tornament.
5/9/2021	PJCS2021 Main Round Held -> So, all we know at this point is that the top 20 may be granted some rights.
7/2/2021	"Top prizes for 'PJCS 2021' revealed!" *3 In the invitation to the top winners in the game category, there was not only an invitation to the finalists, but also an invitation to The article also states that the top 50 (21st-50th) of the PJCS2021 Main Round held on May 9, will be eligible to participate in the WCS.

*1 HP contents deleted.
*2 the contents below(Japanese)
www.pokemon.co.jp

*3 the contents below

www.pokemon.co.jp

I wondered what the problem was with this "act of postponing the rights of the top finishers to the results of a finished tournament”.

*In addition, Pokémon Japan has already given some users the rights to tournaments for next year.
However, I'm just guessing here, but I think there will be a tournament next year that gives the rights to PJCS2022/WCS2022. (WCS2022 will be held on 4 days instead of 3 days, and the number of days has been expanded), so those who are aiming to participate in the tournaments should not be too pessimistic.

4.The effect of the announcement of the rights granted to the top players in the tournament Influence on the tournament

First of all, let's review the format of the PJCS2021 main tournament held on May 9.

(1) Held via the Internet
(2) Random match BO1 by rating
(3) A minimum of 10 rounds and a maximum of 20 rounds will be played, and the ranking will be determined in order of the final rating.

The most problematic point here is (3).
The goal of this tournament is not necessarily first place, but to be in the top 20 is the top priority.
If this were a "last round, win and you're in first place, lose and you're below 20th, stay and you're in the top 20" situation, I think most people would choose to ”stay”.
There is not much of a difference between 1st and 20th place, but after 21st place, the rates should vary.

The official rankings are not published, so I'm borrowing from Liberty Note's article, which I'm always thankfull.
(I wonder why that tournament doesn't show up on Pokémon Home...)

liberty-note.com

According to this, first place is overwhelming, but the rate difference between third and twentieth is 19, a number that can be turned upside down in one match depending on the match.
”Explanation: Pokémon rates fluctuate by 16 if your rate is the same as your opponent's, and by 1 for every 25 points difference."
So you can see that the goal for most people is to get into the top 20.
If you're in 21st place or lower, you don't have the right to go to the finals, so you can try to reach the limit and see how high you can go, or you can withdraw and spend your time on something else.

...That's the story as of May 9.

However, the situation changed on July 2, when we thought we were only facing the 20th place wall, but suddenly we were informed of the 50th place wall later, which was a tragedy for some people.

The disastrous pattern is as follows:
(1) Those who were ranked 51st or lower and stopped playing because they couldn't get into the top 20 with the number of games remaining.
　(But if you won, you had a chance of getting into the top 50.)
(2) A person who is currently in the top 50, but not in the top 20 with the number of matches remaining, but has made it to the end and lost and is now ranked 51st or lower.

In other words, the PJCS2021 main tournament was like this when I opened the cover later on.

I believe that if there had been an advance notice with the above information by May 9, there would not have been people with (1) or (2) on the day.
If you have any thoughts on this matter, please feel free to express them to the Japanese official Pokémon staff. It is the best we can do to deliver as many voices as possible.
(Sorry, only Japanese is available here.)

support.pokemon.jp

If you are calling by phone, the number is listed below.
(Please note that the office hours may have changed due to COVID-19 compliance.)

https://www.pokemon-support.com/general/s/inquiry

I'm not too disappointed with the current situation, but I'm trying to think positively.
Now, in what form will the problem disappear?

5.The state of the Pokémon VGC National Convention

In conclusion, I think the most appropriate format for a tournament to determine the best Pokémon is a "Main Qualifier BO3 Swiss Draw / Final BO3 Tournament".

In other words, I believe that the WCS format is the ideal one.

However, it's not realistic from both the management and players' point of view to have a BO3 Swiss draw with over 30,000 players, so I feel that the current internet qualifying method is the best solution.
(In the past, I also thought that the internet qualifying method could be done offline or some other way, but considering the situation of other games (TCG for example), I feel that this format, where everyone has a chance, is not a bad thing...)

...Let me change the subject a little.
For example, when you take an entrance exam, what score do you aim for? Naturally, you want to get a perfect score in all subjects.
I'm sure there are many people who aim for a perfect score in all subjects, but no one aims for 80% from the beginning.
In other words, in the case of entrance examinations, the points to aim for are the same for all examinees.
The top some students will pass, and the rest will fail.
By the way, even if the number of places is changed after the exam, the goal of getting a perfect score will not change.
If the number of places is increased, you may not want to go down in level, or if you know that the number of places will be reduced, you may want to take the exam elsewhere... but I don't think there will be any change in the score you get on the exam.

Let's get back to Pokémon.
In Pokémon tournaments, the goal is to win all the matches, whether it's BO1 or BO3, in a Swiss Draw. It's like taking an exam, you may say you don't care if you lose, but I don't think anyone would participate with the intention of losing.
Therefore, even if the retroactive rights basis is changed, there will be no change in the strategy and no change in the results. (To put a finer point on it, if I had known it was going to be a digestive game in the last round, I wouldn't have been so nervous...)

However, in a tournament such as this one, where "a minimum of 10 rounds and a maximum of 20 rounds are played, and the ranking is determined in order of the final rate", the action to be taken (to play or not to play) will change depending on whether or not the barrier to the right is visible. ->In other words, the results you get in the tournament will vary depending on the conditions you are given.

Therefore, if the tournament format had been Swiss Draw, there would have been no "what if I had done this at that time"
The reason why I think BO3 is good is that it slightly reduces the luck factor.
In Pokémon VGC, you can't separate "losing by misfortune." In BO1, you can get away with winning, but in BO3, you can get back at it because you're winning on your own merits, not by luck. You have a second chance.
If you want to know more about BO3, please read the following blog.。

"This is my principle, but the tournament is the place to determine the strongest."

I really agree with you here. Unfortunately, the foundation is too fragile for a fellow convention to decide this.

予選がBo1で本戦がBo3という形式の論点 https://t.co/idZxheEkIj

「予選Bo1総当りで本戦Bo3ノックアウト方式」の大会について、こういう視点が有るという材料をまとめました。どちらが善でどちらが悪といった話ではないですが、どうかご参考に。

 Ayuha Nakamura/アユハ (@ayuha167) July 6, 2021

6.Finally

The only way to conclude this is to say, "We, the users, should play according to the tournament format and rules set by the officials".

We also understand that there is the idea that it is not the first time to postpone the right to participate in a tournament (in fact, they did the same thing last year), that they are grateful even if they do it in a fellow tournament, and that they can assume that they will prepare the right if they do something to the Top 50 considering their past official achievements. Of course, there may be a lot of hardships that we cannot see in this COVID-19 pandemic.

However, I believe that preparing a format that matches the purpose of the tournament and the competition will result in a win-win-win relationship between the management, participants, and other users who are looking forward to the tournament.

In addition, it is better to inform the participants in advance. This is not limited to the granting of rights for game tournaments.

As a lover of Pokémon VGC tournaments and a person who wishes for the development of game tournaments, I hope that this will happen in the future, but I also hope that I was able to share some of these ideas with everyone who read this article.

One last thing.

Pokémon matches and official tournaments can be really fun.

The masters, of course, but especially the juniors/seniors, I want them to experience this atmosphere as much as possible.
I know it is difficult for some people to participate in the World Tournament due to time, money, and other reasons, but I believe that the National Tournament will be manageable.
I hope that you will be able to make many irreplaceable memories through exchange and competition with other like-minded children from all over Japan.
We have the environment to do that here.
That's probably why I care more than anyone else about the tournament and the environment leading up to it.
In fact, from PJCS 2017 to 2018, I have seen firsthand how the number of people and sub-events have increased, making the festival feel more festive and better.
It may be tough at the moment with COVID-19 pandemic, but as a Pokémon fan, I'm looking forward to its further development in the future.

Thank you for reading this long article.