Amazing artwork made by vmnunes
Thanks to Fc and Ubers for letting us steal parts of the OP
We're finally ready to announce that in 2023, the Draft League subforum will be hosting its inaugural circuit! The circuit is a collection of individual tournaments spread throughout the year with varying classifications, generations, with and formats all coming together to allow players to earn points for the final showdown - the Draft League Championship, where the top 16 performers will battle to earn the title of Circuit Champion, the Draft League Circuit Champion banner and a custom avatar on PS! This thread will contain the schedule for all circuit tournaments and will outline their classifications.
Key: Tournament Name | Signups date | Expected Finals date | Tour Type | Host
Winter 
Kick-off Tour: 5th December 2022 - 12th March 2023 (Type A), hosted by Rissoux, shiloh and Tjb145 
Spring 
Draft League Classic I, hosted by Tjb145
ORAS Cup I: 27th February - 14th May (Type B), hosted by Lady Salamence and SlickPanther 
USUM Cup I: 20th March - 4th June (Type B), hosted by vmnunes and Zooch 
SS Cup I: 9th April - 25th June (Type B), hosted by abriel and AngularPenny5 
Summer 
Summer Seasonal: 11th June - 1st October (Type A), hosted by Nyx and Theia 
Classic Playoffs I: 25th June - 30th July (Type B*), hosted by Tjb145 
Little Cup I: 30th July - 15th October (Type C), hosted by DOOR MONEY and TRowePrice667 
Autumn 
Low Tier I: 27th August - 12th November (Type C), hosted by Lumii and Toy Time King
Draft League Championship I13th November - 17th December, hosted by Rissoux and Theia
Team Tournaments 
(These will NOT count towards the circuit)
Draft Champions League I: 4th September - 10th December, hosted by Nyx and Theia 
Tournament Information
Unless stated otherwise below, all tours will consist of battle pools of 4/5 players, with 2 players advancing on to the single elimination bracket stage, with all games being best-of-one.
Type A
Kick-off Tour: The subforum's inaugural event, SV Paldea Dex draft. We've been allowed to include it in the circuit, despite it starting prior to the circuit - this is the only time a situation like this will occur.
Summer Seasonal: A double elimination current gen (SV) tour, straightforward and simple.
Type B
ORAS/USUM/SS Cup I: Similar to kick-off and the seasonal but played in ORAS/USUM/SS instead! SS will be using the post-DLC Galar Dex.
Draft League Classic Playoffs I: The top 16 players on aggregate from the ORAS, USUM and SS cups compete in a single elimination, best-of-three, bracket.
*THIS DIFFERS FROM MOST OTHER SUBFORUMS INTERPRETATIONS OF CLASSIC. We will award circuit points for each cup, and thus, playoffs will have its own, unique scoring table.
Type C
Little Cup I: SV Little Cup but in draft form!
Low Tier I: Draft's take on RU, what happens when you ban the best Pokémon in standard draft?
More type C tours may be added as the year progresses.
Type A: Tournaments given a significant weight in the circuit, awarding the most points, we aim to have 2 per year. Doing well in Type A tournaments will be of the greatest help to a budding Championship contender.
Type B: These tours will primarily feature the 3 main past generations of draft as a format (ORAS, USM and SS) due to their formats being not only past gens but also being far more developed than those formats in type C. While they award fewer points than type A, doing well in each cup, as well as Classic playoffs, will still be worthwhile for those aiming for the Championship.
Type C: Tours that are here will tend to revolve around less explored metagames, with the idea being to flesh them out through play testing. There is scope in future years to move some of these tours to type B if they end up flourishing (both on Smogon and in the wider draft community as a whole). This will also be the classification in which NatDex, OMs and ADV/DPP draft tours will be placed if we go down those routes. Type C tournaments should be seen as a small bonus towards a Championship run.
Type B: These tours will primarily feature the 3 main past generations of draft as a format (ORAS, USM and SS) due to their formats being not only past gens but also being far more developed than those formats in type C. While they award fewer points than type A, doing well in each cup, as well as Classic playoffs, will still be worthwhile for those aiming for the Championship.
Type C: Tours that are here will tend to revolve around less explored metagames, with the idea being to flesh them out through play testing. There is scope in future years to move some of these tours to type B if they end up flourishing (both on Smogon and in the wider draft community as a whole). This will also be the classification in which NatDex, OMs and ADV/DPP draft tours will be placed if we go down those routes. Type C tournaments should be seen as a small bonus towards a Championship run.
Spreadsheet
Tournament Staffing
To run this circuit, we'll need people who are willing to staff it. If this interests you, reach out to Rissoux or Tjb145 via Smogon or Discord. Staffing tours gives you the Tournament Staff role in the Discord, as well as the potential pre-Contributor/Community Contributor badges on Smogon if done consistently well.
A reminder that this is not an exhaustive list of tours that we'll host. We may host tours outside of the circuit and may add more type C tours depending on interest.
Here's a graphic with an overview of this year's calendar as it stands. The numbers refer to weeks within the year.
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