old guide by Luigi was dated in a few places, this is updated to include all modern policies and the best available tools for hosts, as well as restructured in a few places for ease of comprehension. happy to edit further if I receive any feedback!
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Generate and post the OP at XX:00
Generate OP with this tool: https://krisxv.github.io/threadGenerator
Post it at the scheduled time. Pretty simple.
After 5-10 minutes, establish the size of your bracket
Use these guidelines to figure out the size of your bracket:
Watch out if you're about to cross to an upper bracket (for example, currently 95 signups - but at 97+ signups the bracket jumps up to 128-size) - try to wait a couple more minutes/signups and post Round 1 then, with the bigger bracket size.
Then, post Round 1
Grab the playerlist using this tool: https://www.smogon.com/bracketmaker/check-approval/ (just toss in the thread URL, ignore the 'valid posters' field)
Then, paste the player list into this tool: https://krisxv.github.io
You will use this tool (henceforth 'the Kris tool') to host the rest of the tournament.
Keep an eye on substitutes
Some late joiners may continue to post in the thread or ask you to join directly on Smogtours.
If you have any Byes, type !roll (x) in any Smogtours or PS! chatbox - where x is the number of Byes - then replace that Bye with your substitute.
So, if I have 14 Byes, I type !roll 14, and if it rolls 8, I sub out Bye8 for the new player.
If you do not have Byes, keep these people in mind in the event of Round 1 no-shows. Instead of giving activity wins, sub out the person who isn't there for the new player.
If you have a no-show and no substitutes available, wait until the start of Round 2 to award the activity win. This guideline holds through the following rounds too - give activity wins if the next round has started and someone hasn't showed up yet.
The recommendation is to stop allowing substitutes at XX:30, as it will slow the tournament down. It's only a guideline and you can be flexible around edge cases (eg. if you see that many games in Round 1 have started late or are taking a long time).
Manage the rest of the round
On the Kris tool, simply click the names of the winners throughout Round 1, then copypaste the BBCode at the bottom into the thread.
You will receive a lot of PMs early on. You need to be focused.
Update the OP with new results as often as possible so that people can keep track of the progression of the round.
Prioritise accuracy above speed, but do try to be quick as well, as it improves the experience for players and spectators.
Prepare and post Round 2
It's important to keep things moving quickly that you post Round 2 when most of the games from Round 1 are done, rather than all.
To know when to post Round 2, you can use one of two methods:
1) Count, then generate and post
Look at the number of pairings in the Kris tool (it counts them automatically). When only 10 to 20% of pairings are left go ahead with generating and posting Round 2.
2) Generate, then count and post
Click 'Make New Round' early. When most or all of the Round 2 pairings have at least one advanced player per line, you should be good to go ahead and post the output. Try to aim for the same 10-20% guideline - this is just a way to help yourself visually, as you will gradually see more and more pairings fill up.
Repeat to the end
Keep going through Round 2 with the same method you went through Round 1; update, copy the full BBCode, advance when 10-20% of games are left.
If there's a particularly long game that is holding up the tournament, call a Tournament Director. As a general guideline, if a Round 1 game is still ongoing when all other Round 2 games are finished, that game should be force tied; however, there can be some wiggle room if the game is deemed close to done or one of the players is clearly favored. Try to rely on a Tournament Director for these judgement calls if necessary.
At the end of the tournament, keep the replays from Semifinals and Final and hyperlink them in the thread.
Triple Joins & Other Tomfoolery
If you are a Saturday 4pm or Sunday host, there is a possibility that some of the people in your tour have already joined the two tours, meaning they aren't allowed in the Saturday 4pm or Sunday tour. To easily catch them what you do is open this tool by the wonderful Jetou (https://thejetou.github.io/hosting-tools/playerlist-duplicates-finder) and copy and paste the Round 1 from prior tours in the first box, and then your Round 1 below them, still on the first box. At the top of the second box you will see who joined three times. Once you find them, immediately disqualify them from the tour and inform the host of the Smogon Tour season (currently Finchinator) of who triple joined.
If at any moment in your tournament you feel a player is cheating immediately contact a Tournament Director and explain your suspicions, we're much better equipped to investigate cheating than you are.
---
Generate and post the OP at XX:00
Generate OP with this tool: https://krisxv.github.io/threadGenerator
Post it at the scheduled time. Pretty simple.
After 5-10 minutes, establish the size of your bracket
Use these guidelines to figure out the size of your bracket:
Check the # of posts in the thread to establish how many signups you have.
Watch out if you're about to cross to an upper bracket (for example, currently 95 signups - but at 97+ signups the bracket jumps up to 128-size) - try to wait a couple more minutes/signups and post Round 1 then, with the bigger bracket size.
Then, post Round 1
Grab the playerlist using this tool: https://www.smogon.com/bracketmaker/check-approval/ (just toss in the thread URL, ignore the 'valid posters' field)
Then, paste the player list into this tool: https://krisxv.github.io
You will use this tool (henceforth 'the Kris tool') to host the rest of the tournament.
Keep an eye on substitutes
Some late joiners may continue to post in the thread or ask you to join directly on Smogtours.
If you have any Byes, type !roll (x) in any Smogtours or PS! chatbox - where x is the number of Byes - then replace that Bye with your substitute.
So, if I have 14 Byes, I type !roll 14, and if it rolls 8, I sub out Bye8 for the new player.
If you do not have Byes, keep these people in mind in the event of Round 1 no-shows. Instead of giving activity wins, sub out the person who isn't there for the new player.
If you have a no-show and no substitutes available, wait until the start of Round 2 to award the activity win. This guideline holds through the following rounds too - give activity wins if the next round has started and someone hasn't showed up yet.
The recommendation is to stop allowing substitutes at XX:30, as it will slow the tournament down. It's only a guideline and you can be flexible around edge cases (eg. if you see that many games in Round 1 have started late or are taking a long time).
Manage the rest of the round
On the Kris tool, simply click the names of the winners throughout Round 1, then copypaste the BBCode at the bottom into the thread.
You will receive a lot of PMs early on. You need to be focused.
Update the OP with new results as often as possible so that people can keep track of the progression of the round.
Prioritise accuracy above speed, but do try to be quick as well, as it improves the experience for players and spectators.
Prepare and post Round 2
It's important to keep things moving quickly that you post Round 2 when most of the games from Round 1 are done, rather than all.
To know when to post Round 2, you can use one of two methods:
1) Count, then generate and post
Look at the number of pairings in the Kris tool (it counts them automatically). When only 10 to 20% of pairings are left go ahead with generating and posting Round 2.
2) Generate, then count and post
Click 'Make New Round' early. When most or all of the Round 2 pairings have at least one advanced player per line, you should be good to go ahead and post the output. Try to aim for the same 10-20% guideline - this is just a way to help yourself visually, as you will gradually see more and more pairings fill up.
Repeat to the end
Keep going through Round 2 with the same method you went through Round 1; update, copy the full BBCode, advance when 10-20% of games are left.
If there's a particularly long game that is holding up the tournament, call a Tournament Director. As a general guideline, if a Round 1 game is still ongoing when all other Round 2 games are finished, that game should be force tied; however, there can be some wiggle room if the game is deemed close to done or one of the players is clearly favored. Try to rely on a Tournament Director for these judgement calls if necessary.
At the end of the tournament, keep the replays from Semifinals and Final and hyperlink them in the thread.
Triple Joins & Other Tomfoolery
If you are a Saturday 4pm or Sunday host, there is a possibility that some of the people in your tour have already joined the two tours, meaning they aren't allowed in the Saturday 4pm or Sunday tour. To easily catch them what you do is open this tool by the wonderful Jetou (https://thejetou.github.io/hosting-tools/playerlist-duplicates-finder) and copy and paste the Round 1 from prior tours in the first box, and then your Round 1 below them, still on the first box. At the top of the second box you will see who joined three times. Once you find them, immediately disqualify them from the tour and inform the host of the Smogon Tour season (currently Finchinator) of who triple joined.
If at any moment in your tournament you feel a player is cheating immediately contact a Tournament Director and explain your suspicions, we're much better equipped to investigate cheating than you are.
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