Year 2 of Sword & Shield Battle Stadium kicks off with the 2021 BSS Circuit! Just like last year, the Showdown portion of the circuit will consist of four tournaments: Open, Ladder Tour, Classic, and Masters. Returning to the 2021 circuit after a year's hiatus are circuit points (CP) from laddering on cart! See below for more info on how scoring will work for this portion of the circuit. To further encourage Switch play, we are adding an official cartridge tournament as an additional way to earn CP! You can think of this as a Switch-based ladder tour with a small playoff bracket for additional CP payout.
Based on player feedback from last season, double elimination brackets will not be returning to this year's PS tournaments. Instead we will be returning to more of the "last life bracket" approach from two years ago. The losers from each round will be able to play against other losers from the same round for a maximum of 2 weeks. In the event of a round with only three losers, a round-robin will be played to determine CP payout. Our hope in removing double elimination and modifying the last life bracket is to minimize both tournament length and CP farming to make the circuit both more competitive and to leave more time in the year for other tournaments!
And of course, the circuit wouldn't be complete without Invitationals. Invitationals will follow the same format as last year, with the top 12 in CP totals qualifying and the top 4 receiving a first round bye. The Invitationals winner will earn the coveted BSS circuit ribbon
1. chemcoop - 37 CP
2. zaaya - 32 CP
3. greilmercenary9 - 26 CP
4. Kiby - 25 CP
5. GroudonEmpire - 22 CP
6. Mishimono - 21 CP
T7. papiloco - 20 CP
T7. Psynergy - 20 CP
9. luisin - 18 CP
10. cant say - 16 CP
11. MZ - 15 CP
12. Breckinridge - 14 CP
Full Standings: Spreadsheet
PS! Tournaments
- January 10: Battle Stadium Singles Open III (sign-ups starting Jan 3)
- Best-of-three tournament playing standard Gen 8 BSS
- Semifinals and Finals will be best-of-five
- Includes modified last-life bracket in place of a traditional Loser's Bracket (see above)
- March 7: Battle Stadium Singles Ladder Tournament IV
- Qualifying stage with 4 Cycles, each a week long, where the top 3 players on the PS ladder qualifies for the playoffs (top 4 in each cycle earn CP)
- Playoffs is 12-man best-of-three single elimination, with top seeds from each cycle receiving a first round bye
- Semifinals and Finals will be best-of-five
- May 23: Battle Stadium Singles Classic IV (sign-ups starting May 16)
- Best-of-three tournament playing standard Gen 5, 6, 7 BSS
- Includes modified last-life bracket in place of a traditional Loser's Bracket (see above)
- September 19: Battle Stadium Singles Masters III (sign-ups starting Sept 12)
- Best-of-three tournament playing teamlocked Gen 8 BSS
- Includes modified last-life bracket in place of a traditional Loser's Bracket (see above)
- November 14: Battle Stadium Singles Invitational 2021
- Single Elimination, best-of-five tournament playing standard Gen 8 BSS
- August 13-22: Battle Stadium Cartridge Tour I (sign-ups starting August 9)
- Four one-day online competitions hosted on the Switch
- Effectively a ladder tour with each cycle being a friendly competition
- Top 2 players from each tour will advance to a single elimination bracket, to be played on Pokémon Showdown so that replays can be saved
- Player rankings will be determined using CP (Circuit Points). The top 12 players with CP will qualify for the Invitational, with the top 4 getting a round 1 bye.
- Any tiebreaks necessary to determine byes/top 12/seeding will be decided by highest cartridge score
- The circuit has a BFL (Best Finish Limit) of 3. Therefore, only your top 3 performances will count towards your ranking. In other words, having one bad tournament does not negatively impact you directly. Both cartridge results and the official cartridge tour count as tournament finishes and contribute to your BFL.
- Point structure:
- Showdown Tournaments
- Players will earn the amount of CP equivalent to the last round that they won in before getting eliminated, not including activity wins. Each round won in winner's bracket gives 2 CP. Losers can play up to 2 rounds of "last-life" for up to 2 CP (1 CP per round win).
- Winning the finals of a tournament will earn you 1 extra CP on top of the 2 CP for winning that round.
- Ladder Tournament qualifiers will earn 6 CP for qualifying as 1st seed and 4 CP for seeds 2-4 in each cycle, and 2 CP per win in playoffs.
- Seasonal Cartridge Results (BFL of 1)
- Getting to Masterball tier = 2 points
- 1700-1799 ELO in Masterball = 4 points
- 1800-1899 ELO in Masterball = 6 points
- 1900-1999 ELO in Masterball = 8 points
- 2000-2049 ELO in Masterball = 9 points
- 2050-2099 ELO in Masterball = 10 points
- 2100+ ELO in Masterball = 12 points
- Top 10 Finish = 14 points
- First Place: 16 points
- Players who submit results for 5+ seasons will receive a participation reward of 1 CP. Players who submit results for all 10 seasons will receive 2 CP!
- Cartridge results must be submitted on a separate thread within a month of season end (e.g. S14 results must be submitted before S16 starts)
- Battle Stadium Cartridge Tournament
- Individual Tours Scoring
- Participation = 2 points
- Top 10 Finish = 4 points
- 1st & 2nd Place: 6 points
- Each win in playoffs will be worth 2 CP, with a 1 CP finals bonus.
- Individual Tours Scoring
- Showdown Tournaments
OTHER MAJOR TOURNAMENTS
- February 6th : Intro to BSS Month
- July 25th: Battle Stadium Premier League VI
- Community-wide team tournament where managers draft players, featuring past gens and doubles.
- January 2nd, 2022: Battle Stadium World Cup (tentative - based on community activity)
- Regional-team based tournament competing for the highly coveted Ronaldinho Soccer Trophy
2021 Circuit
Battle Stadium Singles Open III Champion: chemcoop
Battle Stadium Singles Ladder Tournament IV Champion: zaaya
Battle Stadium Singles Classic IV Champion: MZ
Battle Stadium Singles Masters III Champion: chemcoop
Battle Stadium Singles Cartridge Tour I Champion: Ahsung
2021 Battle Stadium Singles Invitational Champion: chemcoop
Past Circuits
2020 Circuit
Battle Stadium Singles Open II Champion: LightScreener
Battle Stadium Singles Classic III Champion: cant say
Battle Stadium Singles Ladder Tournament III Champion: marilli
Battle Stadium Singles Masters II Champion: marilli
2020 Battle Stadium Singles Invitational Champion: marilli
2019 Circuit
Battle Spot Singles Open Champion: zaaya
Season 14 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Ladder Tournament II Champion: Puff Killa
Season 15 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Classic II Champion: DragonWhale
Season 16 PGL Ladder Leader: marilli
Battle Spot Singles Masters Champion: chemcoop
Season 17 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
2019 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: chemcoop
2018 Circuit
Battle Spot Singles Winter Seasonal Champion: chemcoop
Season 8 PGL Ladder Leader: chemcoop
Battle Spot Singles Ladder Tournament Champion: greilmercenary9
Season 9 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Classic Champion: Jhon
Season 10 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Season 11 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Fall Seasonal Champion: Puff Killa
Season 12 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
2018 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: greilmercenary9
2017 Circuit
Season 2 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Jmal98
Season 2 PS Tournament Champion: Natalie.
Season 3 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Natalie.
Season 3 PS Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 4 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Doobzi
Season 4 PS Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 5 Cartridge Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 5 PS Tournament Champion: Jhon
Season 6 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Psynergy
Season 6 PS Tournament Champion: Megazard
2017 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: Jmal98
Battle Stadium Singles Open II Champion: LightScreener
Battle Stadium Singles Classic III Champion: cant say
Battle Stadium Singles Ladder Tournament III Champion: marilli
Battle Stadium Singles Masters II Champion: marilli
2020 Battle Stadium Singles Invitational Champion: marilli
2019 Circuit
Battle Spot Singles Open Champion: zaaya
Season 14 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Ladder Tournament II Champion: Puff Killa
Season 15 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Classic II Champion: DragonWhale
Season 16 PGL Ladder Leader: marilli
Battle Spot Singles Masters Champion: chemcoop
Season 17 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
2019 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: chemcoop
2018 Circuit
Battle Spot Singles Winter Seasonal Champion: chemcoop
Season 8 PGL Ladder Leader: chemcoop
Battle Spot Singles Ladder Tournament Champion: greilmercenary9
Season 9 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Classic Champion: Jhon
Season 10 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Season 11 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
Battle Spot Singles Fall Seasonal Champion: Puff Killa
Season 12 PGL Ladder Leader: greilmercenary9
2018 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: greilmercenary9
2017 Circuit
Season 2 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Jmal98
Season 2 PS Tournament Champion: Natalie.
Season 3 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Natalie.
Season 3 PS Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 4 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Doobzi
Season 4 PS Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 5 Cartridge Tournament Champion: chemcoop
Season 5 PS Tournament Champion: Jhon
Season 6 Cartridge Tournament Champion: Psynergy
Season 6 PS Tournament Champion: Megazard
2017 Battle Spot Singles Invitational Champion: Jmal98
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