Statement Regarding Orlando Pokémon Regional Championships
At the recent Pokémon Orlando Regionals, two instances of penalties being issued during streamed matches have created questions within the community about celebrations. Play! Pokémon has reviewed each instance, and we would like to provide more information.
In the first instance, during the Pokémon TCG Swiss Round 13 match, the tournament headphones were removed and were thrown onto the table on top of cards and damage counters, putting the TCG game state in disarray before additional game actions could be taken to complete the game. A Match Loss was issued for the disruption to the game state and not playing out the final sequence to finish the game.
In the second instance, during the Pokémon GO Grand Finals, we would like to share some information which may not be known to the broader community. Prior to the final game incident, during game one of the bracket reset series, a player was issued a Warning for the action of hitting and shaking the table during gameplay. Actions such as these can have a negative impact on the experience of participants and disturb the match in progress. Then, during game five, this same player’s behavior continued to be disruptive, including shaking the table to the point that there was a disruption to the broadcast experience. These repeated infractions resulted in a penalty that was escalated to Game Loss.
We will uphold the decisions made by the Judges at this event. Pokémon Judges are committed to bringing the best possible experience to our players by preserving the competitive integrity of our events. Without them and their commitment to Play! Pokémon, we would not be able to hold events, and it is our expectation that they are treated with the same respect as all people in the community.
In the moment of a win, emotions are high, and we recognize that these emotions can lead to energetic reactions celebrating a win. We want to support this authentic, positive reaction, and not discourage this excitement. Celebrations are not an issue, but actions that disrupt or can negatively impact competitive integrity can be.
We will continue to listen to the community of players and our Judges on how best to evolve our tournament system, rules, and how penalties are enforced.
The Play! Pokémon Team