The Official Rules of the Pixelmon World Cup:

Discord/General Behavior Rules:

• Discord Announcements will be treated as the main notice for updates and news. Announcements may also contain important information regarding format/rule changes which are to be treated as an update effective immediately.
• Be respectful: Treat all participants, staff, and spectators with respect. No hate speech, racism, sexism, or any form of discrimination will be tolerated.
• Friendly banter is allowed: Engaging in playful, light-hearted teasing is encouraged, but ensure it doesn’t cross the line into harassment or personal attacks.
• No illegal content: Sharing or promoting illegal content, including but not limited to hacks, cheats, or copyrighted materials, is strictly prohibited.
• No spamming: Do not flood the chat with repetitive messages, excessive emojis, or irrelevant content. Keep the discussion focused on the Pixelmon World Cup.
• No self-promotion or advertising: Refrain from promoting personal social media accounts, servers, or unrelated projects without prior approval from the moderators.
• Keep the chat family-friendly: Avoid using profanity, explicit content, or any NSFW material. Maintain a welcoming environment for players of all ages.
• No impersonation: Do not impersonate other players, staff members, or anyone else in the community. This includes using similar usernames or profile pictures.
• Follow channel-specific rules: Each channel on the Discord server may have additional rules or guidelines. Be sure to read and follow them accordingly.
• Report rule violations: If you encounter someone violating the rules or creating a hostile environment, report the issue to a moderator or staff member.
• Listen to moderators and staff: If a moderator or staff member requests that you stop a certain behavior or provides guidance, please comply. They are here to maintain a positive atmosphere for everyone.
• Follow Discord’s Terms of Service: You can review the ToS at the following link: https://discord.com/terms
• If a player misbehaves during their group’s match day, the group may be penalized with a loss depending on the severity of the situation.

Fair Play Rules:

• Players are prohibited from using the Pokemon Wand on other players. Being caught doing so will result in the offender’s team’s next match being forfeited. Being caught doing this a second time will result in the offender being banned from the remainder of the tournament.
• Players are prohibited from starting a match with the form of a Pokemon that needs to transform in the middle of the match (Mega Evolutions, Meloetta-Relic Form, Zen-mode, etc.).
• Players are prohibited from teaching their Pokemon moves which it has never been able to learn (Geomancy Magikarp, Close Combat Landorus, etc.). 
• Players are prohibited from bringing anything on the ban-list to their matches.
• Players are prohibited from using any method outside of spectating and speaking to directly gather information about another player’s team.

Scheduling Rules:

• Teams are required to have their matches scheduled 7 Hours before their match day begins. Using EST Time (The Tournament Standard), this means that the deadline for everyone to schedule their matches is at 5:00 PM EST the day before their match begins. 
• Teams which fail to schedule by the deadline will have to forfeit their match, meaning they will have a (0-2) record for that match. The opposing team will have a difference of +12 Pokemon (6 pokemon per match) granted to them. Managers/Assistants will elect the battlers set to receive the updated Win/Loss score.
• In the event that both teams fail to schedule their match, it will result in a loss for both teams, as opposed to a draw.

Scoring Rules:

• Teams which forfeit a match early will have their remaining Pokemon dropped down to 0, regardless of the amount of Pokemon they had left over when they forfeited.
• A Player who ends a match by KOing the Pokemon on both sides (Self-Destruct, Explosion, Perish song, recoil damage, etc.) will be granted the match win, even if the user’s pokemon faints.

Battle Rules:

• If something occurs in a battle that should not have happened (An ability failed to proc, a move dealt an incorrect damage/had a wrong secondary effect), the match will not be paused and must continue as normal. 
• In the event that a player is found forcing an instance where the waiting glitch is occurring (Does it intentionally after learning the cause), they will be banned from the remainder of the stage. (Groups, Knockout)
• Players are prohibited from bringing illegal Pokemon sets to a match. Any player caught doing so will have to forfeit their match. (Refer to Fair Play rules).

Team Rules:

• Once the Battler Deadline for the Pixelmon World Cup has passed, the only changes a team is allowed to make internally is the changing of manager/assistant positions. Managers will be allowed to switch places with Team Assistants, but may only be allowed to switch places with Battlers if they were originally enrolled as one before the deadline. Managers are also permitted to promote a Battler to the role of Team Assistant as long as they stay within the limit of (2) Team Assistants per team.
• Team Member in the following context represents Managers/Assistants/Battlers. After the Battler deadline has passed, teams will be granted the opportunity to replace one team member during each phase of the tournament. The tournament consists of two main phases: the Group stages and the Knockout stages. Therefore, throughout the entirety of the tournament, teams will have the ability to make two replacements in total, but only one replacement per phase. If a Battler is replaced, they will no longer be allowed to participate in the tournament unless they were to be brought in as a replacement again (meaning subbed out during Group Stages and brought back in for Knockout stages). 

Waiting Glitch Procedures:

Notice: At any given point, players are not allowed to swap out Pokemon or change move sets during a match that was brought to a halt by the waiting glitch.

1. In the event that the waiting glitch happens before or on Turn 10, the match must restart and the same exact moves which were used must be replicated. Logs will be provided
2. In the event that the waiting glitch happens after Turn 10 but before or on Turn 50, the match must restart entirely anew. 
3. In the event that the waiting glitch happens after Turn 50, players must restart anew, however, the match must become a 4v4 rather than a 6v6. (Each player boxes two Pokemon of their choice).
4. In the event that the waiting glitch disrupts battles for an excessive amount of times, players will be instructed to call it a draw or play with different teams.