The time of its end is almost at hand, so I might as well make this post. Silph Arena as the last vestige of The Silph Road is about to wrap up, but before it can do so, it has to determine a world champion for its individual tournaments. And all that takes place within this month, the ultimate month of its existence, but more on that will come shortly. What's important is that it also uses a specially designed format or "meta" for creation of teams for the competition. Admittedly, this post will focus more on that and less on the tournament aspect, though both are still relevant to some extent, so this post will cover both.
For the format, it is a slot-based affair with restrictions based on species. The first slot is reserved for one starter Pokémon, including their evolved forms, from Kanto to Alola, as all that are currently present in the game. The next four slots are reserved for groups of featured Pokémon from all the formats over the course of the initial seasons of Silph Arena (2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022) that are neither the preceding nor the following. The final slot is for Legendary Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, or Ultra Beasts, essentially being the "superclass" of them. For all of these slots, Shadow Pokémon are allowed, but Mega Evolution is banned as is the usual norm (for a Great League format or theme). In some sense, the format resembles the Timeless themed cup but with further inclusions and exclusions.
Because of the format's structure, there are some implications. First is that practically any Pokémon species that are on the list is viable (except for Registeel, which duly noted has been banned for this purpose) as long as they can make it for Great League. Next, only one starter (or its evolved form) and Legendary superclass Pokémon is allowed, and because the "species clause" is still in effect, they all must be unique - if the list hasn't already established that. Lastly, the format encourages Trainers to be a little daring in their choices, although it is still filled with "standards" that are still viable. It is for a championship after all (and the last of its kind ever for the Arena), so it has to be this way.
As for the schedule, over the past two weeks, skilled Trainers should have received invitations to participate in a Continental Championship (coming up in a few days on July 15-16) for the usual four conferences, with 128 in all for each. These will be Swiss round affairs, from which the top four go on to the World Championship tournament, held live on July 29. That marks the end, and after archival, Silph Arena and The Silph Road shuts down entirely on August 1.
Even though I'm not a participant in the concluding tournaments, it's still nice for me to be able to write about them, and in this case, it would be the last time as Silph Arena is about to bid farewell to Trainers. It's a final stretch that many never expected, so in some ways, the format or "meta" has to be somewhat unexpected as well. Regardless, things have been set into motion in Silph Arena, and in motion they will be within the last half of this month until they all come to a rolling halt at the month's conclusion.
One year ago: Common Event Mechanisms in Pokémon Unite
Two years ago: Collaboration for Pokémon
Three years ago: YouTube Pokémon Highlights - GabaLeth Edition
Four years ago: Brandon Tan in My Town!!!
Five years ago: Exploring Dual Types
Six years ago: "Don't Fear Failure!"
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