New Draft/Franchise League - the Grand Pokémon League

[Aurethious]

For anyone who has been keeping up with the Aussie Draft Tournament and was wondering how you can get involved in something like that, here's your chance!

The Grand Pokémon League is going to be kicking off its inaugural draft next Monday, so there's still a week for you to jump on board. Here's the rundown of how it's going to work.

[spoilerbl9][bbl9]Roster Guidelines[/bbl9]

Teams will be selected via a Pokémon draft. Once a player selects a Pokémon, that player will have exclusive access to that Pokémon. Think of it like that team owns the Pokédex number. This includes Mega forms and any alternate forms the Pokémon may have. So, for example, it Player A drafts Venusaur, that player has exclusive access to Venusaur in its base form as well as Mega Venusaur.

(NOTE: The draft will take place over the course of a week so that no one is hurt by not being able to make a specific day/time.)

Team rosters will consist of a maximum of 10 Pokémon.

Teams will have a cap of 550 PokéPoints. PokéPoints (PPts) are the value that a team “pays” for a particular Pokémon’s rights.

Pokémon that are initially drafted will be assigned a value based on what round they are drafted in. The breakdown is as follows:
1st round: 100 PPts
2nd round: 90 PPts
3rd round: 80 PPts
4th round: 70 PPts
5th round: 60 PPts
6th round: 50 PPts
7th round: 40 PPts
8th round: 30 PPts
9th round: 20 PPts
10th round: 10 PPts

Pokémon will also have a contract length assigned to them based on what round they are drafted in. The contract length will be how long that Pokémon is under contract to a certain team before it becomes a free agent. The breakdown for inititally drafted Pokémon is as follows:
1st-3rd round: 3 seasons
4th-6th round: 2 seasons
7th-10th round: 1 season

Once a Pokémon’s contract is up, it will become a Free Agent. Each team will have the ability to use one Franchise Tag on a Pokémon during each offseason. The Franchise Tag can be used on a Pokémon with an expiring contract. It guarantees the Pokémon a one season contract for the average of the top contract values (per season) in the league.

Any Pokémon that is not drafted during the initial draft process becomes a Free Agent. Teams may put a claim in to sign a Free Agent at any time. To do so, you must either post in the league thread (linked below) with the following info:
-Free Agent Pokémon you want to sign
-Amount of PPts you want to pay for the Pokémon (Minimum 5 Ppts)
-Number of seasons you want to sign the Pokémon for (Maximum 3 seasons)
Other players will then have 2 days to outbid the offer.

If a Free Agent Pokémon is acquired, the team will then immediately have to make roster moves to ensure that the team stays under maximum roster size and PPts cap. This will probably require the release of a Pokémon.

Released Pokémon will result in a PPts cap penalty equal to half of the Pokémon’s contract worth for the duration of the remaining seasons of the contract. For example, if a team releases a Pokémon that was worth 50 PPts and had 2 seasons left on its contract (the current season counts for this if a Pokémon is released midseason), the team will be assessed a penalty of 25 PPts for 2 seasons (the current season and one more if it’s a midseason release). This penalty will only apply while the released Pokémon is a Free Agent. If another team signs the Pokémon, the penalty will go away.

Trades may occur between teams. However, the PPts value of each side of the trade must be within 5 PPts. There will also be a trade deadline during the season, to be determined when the number of weeks in the season is set.

If a new Pokémon is released, it will be out of play until the offseason. If a large group of new Pokémon are released (i.e. a new gen game comes out), there will be a draft for players to try and acquire those Pokémon.

If a player leaves the league in the offseason, a new player will have the chance to take over the former player’s team. If no new player joins the league to take over the team, the team will be disbanded and the Pokémon will become Free Agents.

If a new player joins in the offseason, there will be an expansion draft in which the new player will have the opportunity to draft Pokémon from the exisiting teams. More details of how this will work will be released if it’s needed.

[bbl9]Season Guidelines[/bbl9]

Teams wil be split into multiple conferences/divisions depending on the number of teams in the league.

The season will consist of a pre-determined number of weeks with one battle for each team per week.

At the end of the regular season, there will be a single elimination playoff to crown a champion. The number of teams to make the playoffs will be determined before the season starts.

Battle Guidelines

All GPL battles will follow standard ION rules. (http://iongamecorner.forumer.com/topic/2354023/Standard-ION-Pokmon-Battle-Rules#.Vs3CTpwrKhc)

Each team will select a home field battle format. The home team’s battle format will decide the battle format for each scheduled battle. Teams may switch home field format during the offseason only.

[bbl9]Registration Guidelines[/bbl9]

To register, simply post in the league thread (http://iongamecorner.forumer.com/topic/2354022/Grand-Pokmon-League-Draft-League#.VtSEypwrKhc) with the following info:
Team Name: This is a city in the Pokémon world and a team name. For example, the Pallet Town Pikachus (NOTE: You do not have to use the name of a Pokémon as your team name.) Offensive names will not be allowed.
Trainer Name: The name you want your trainer to be referred as in the league.
Friend Code:
Home Field Format:
Team Colors: This is so I know what to use to create your team logo. You may also create your own logo if you wish.

The deadline to register is Sunday, March 6th. The draft will begin on Monday, March 7th.[/spoilerbl9]

Hope to see some of you in the GPL!