For Season 2, the Devon Series will utilize the Dracoviz hosting platform for submitting battle parties and for running the tournament bracket, whether Swiss or Round Robin. The Dracoviz account is what Tournament Organizers (TOs) and trainers use to see the bracket progression and your opponents’ parties. TOs may host both ranked and practice events; check with them to be sure what type of event you are joining.
To submit events for ranking, TOs should first obtain approval at Apply to Host. After that, TOs can submit qualifying tournaments on our Rank Submission Form. Below, we describe how ranking works, our Season 2 roadmap, changes from last season, etc. Read on to learn more, but if you came here expecting to see regular season rankings, you should instead head to our Leaderboard.
Raw Score
- Raw score is determined by how efficiently trainers earn round wins during the month. Your first 15 rounds are weighted; playing more still affects your rank. Ideally, you win all 15 rounds you play! For most, however, this is unrealistic. So, it’s important to note that trainers who exceed 15 rounds with a positive win rate will – in the vast majority of situations – still increase in rank, just at a lesser rate. The primary exception to this rule is for trainers with exceptionally high match win rates (approximately 70% or higher). Trainers at that level will only increase in rank if their unweighted match win rate exceeds their cumulative win rate prior to that event. We included some common examples below, but please note that we cannot cover every situation. The weighting tiers for wins and losses are approximately:
- 15 total rounds or under; wins are worth 1.00, losses worth -1.00
- 16 total rounds; wins are worth 0.95, losses worth -1.05
- 17 total rounds; wins are worth 0.90, losses worth -1.10
- 18 total rounds; wins are worth 0.85, losses worth -1.15
- 19 total rounds; wins are worth 0.80, losses worth -1.20
- 20 total rounds; wins are worth 0.75, losses worth -1.25
- 21 total rounds or more; wins are worth 0.70, losses worth -1.30
- The weighting tiers are approximate because they can be lesser/greater depending on sample size, grind rate, and average match win rate for the monthly and cumulative monthly sample. For this reason, our Ranking Personnel conduct monthly recalculations taking these and other variables into consideration.
- Example 1: Trainer Alexa has completed 15 rounds with 9 wins and 6 losses, or a 60% cumulative match win rate. If she enters another 5-round tournament and wins all 5 rounds, this will increase her raw score. This is because the contribution from her unweighted match win rate (75%, at 20 total rounds) is greater than her previous match win rate. However, if Alexa does not sweep the event as expected, or does not perform well, she can potentially lower her rank. Will the she survive the risks and reap the rewards? Decisions have to be made.
- Example 2: Trainer Karim has completed his 15 rounds with 13 wins and 2 losses, or an 86.7% cumulative match win rate. If he enters a 3-round tournament and wins all 3 rounds, this will decrease his raw score. This is because the contribution from his unweighted match win rate (85%, at 18 total rounds) is lesser than his previous match win rate. But a lot hinges on Karim having such an amazing start! If Karim had only lost one more match up above, or 12 wins and 3 losses (80%, at 15 total rounds), then he would actually benefit from sweeping the three additional rounds. Will reality meet his expectations or not?
Threat Score
- Participating in events with higher ranked trainers will positively impact your rank more than participating in events with lower ranked trainers.
Spice Score
- Running Pokémon not common in the meta (and still winning rounds) will modestly improve your rank.
- We also provide a separate spice metric that measures uniqueness only.
Season 2 Changes
- Round Participation: For Season 2, trainers will be required to participate in a minimum of 24 total rounds in order to qualify for Worlds. This number is roughly 3 rounds per month/meta, or what one might expect a casual trainer to do each month. Note: Trainers who qualify via an International Showdown and/or GymBreakers Cup are exempt from this requirement.
- Meta Participation: For Season 2, trainers will be required to participate in 75% or more of our metas, or 6 out of 8, in order to qualify for Worlds. We don’t want trainers who take a month or two off to be immediately disqualified, however, we also recognize that you must participate in order to qualify for Worlds. Note: Trainers who qualify via an International Showdown and/or GymBreakers Cup are exempt from this requirement.
- Leaving Early: When trainers leave a tournament early, only the rounds they played in are counted against their total round cap.
- Completing a Tournament: Trainers who complete an entire tournament are given a small boost in their overall rank.
- GymBreakers Cups: GymBreakers Cups (that leverage Devon metas) are eligible for World Championship qualification. The exact amount of seats will vary, but it will be modest compared to the general pool. The GymBreakers qualifiers shall contain only the most elite players in the format, as determined by both the GymBreakers staff and its associated individual leaderboard, and along with the insights and approval of the Devon Ranking Personnel. All other monthly requirements such as Round or Meta Participation are waived. Announcements will be made if/when participating trainers qualify by such means.
- International Showdowns: Trainers who win an International Showdown are automatically given a spot in the Devon World Championship for Season 2. All other monthly requirements such as Round or Meta Participation are waived. International Showdowns contribute to rank just like a monthly meta, with your round performance across all of them being calculated with the same system specified above. At present, we intend to live stream four of these events on our Devon Twitch. More information can be found on our Road Map above. Announcements will be made if/when participating trainers qualify by such means.
- Discretion to Adjust: The Devon Corporation Ranking Personnel reserve the right to adjust ranking system, including adjustments made during mid-season, in order to ensure the ranking system is implemented with validity and integrity. This discretion includes adjusting the general Devon Series, International Showdowns, Gym Breakers qualifications, and/or any other associated and official Devon offering. When/if this clause is leveraged, there will be a formal announcement which includes the rationale behind the decision.
- Consistent Tournament Entry in Dracoviz: For our first season, Devon Personnel were busy learning the in and outs of the Dracoviz platform, as were competing trainers. As a result of this learning curve, we were somewhat tolerant of minor mistakes on how tournaments were built. This season we will be less forgiving. Accordingly, we want to remind all TOs and trainers to review our rules and tournament building instructions on our Apply to Host page and to please watch our Tournament Creation Video.
These are the steps we’ve taken to ensure our ranking system and criteria for qualifying for Worlds are valid, engaging, and balance participation/fun with the competitive spirit that only the most Elite Grassroots Series can provide. With that said, it’s also important to note that no ranking system, including our own, is perfect in how it calculates and determines rank. We’ve done our best work here and we encourage anyone who wants to volunteer or chime in to respond to our Call for Developers.
Alright, ready to check out Season 2 ranks?
Devon Leaderboard
Looking for information on Season 1?
Season 1 Archives
Regards,
Devon Corporation