Circuit Guide/FAQ

July 13, 2024 Ryan B Hebert

Events Hosted by:

SpearPillar | VGCTrainerSchool | Pokéfolk

2024-2025 Season

(Rules are subject to change if needed)

Introduction

Circuit Overview

Circuit Structure

Regional Events

International Events

Grand Grassroots Cup

Entry Fees

Prizing

Sportsmanship & General Conduct

Grand Grassroots Circuit Resources Page

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the Grand Grassroots Circuit. My name is SirSmoke, the founder and host of SpearPillar. I have had the privilege of speaking with many of you during our tournaments and battling against many of you during limitless tours. Some of you, I have even met in person at Regionals!

The Inspiration behind starting this circuit came from the feedback I had seen from VGC players with the updated Pokemon Worlds Format. We are now able to provide an affordable, alternative, circuit to the normal Play! Pokemon (TPCI) Worlds Circuit. While the prizes for each event are smaller, the registration fees are significantly cheaper, and you can play the events from the comfort of your own home!

We’ve all seen newer players during the Switch Gaming era join our community and become some of the brightest stars alongside many who have been playing the Pokemon VGC since the beginnings of the competitive circuit, and it does seem that many hometown hero stories will be snuffed out before they could even begin due to these changes made to the regular circuit. Therefore, we are giving an event which will provide fair prizing, and is accessible to players of all skill levels, from all locations. We want the VGC Community to grow, not crumble!

Thank you for your time and participation in the Grand Grassroots Circuit.

-SirSmoke

Circuit Overview

The Grand Grassroots Circuit is a Pokemon VGC League consisting of “Regionals”, “Internationals”, and the final invitational only event, “The Grand Grassroot Cup”.

These current host regions are North America, Europe, and Oceania. There will be a total of 6 Regional Events/Region, and 1 International Event/Region.

Host Regions:

North America: SpearPillar

Europe: VGCTrainerSchool

Oceania: Pokéfolk

The Circuit events will be in the most up-to-date VGC Format at the time the event takes place.

All events have a registration cap of 256 players as to abide by TPCI Policy for Third-Party Tournament Hosted. Grand Grassroots Cup has no affiliation with The Pokémon Company International, The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, or Gamefreak and is a Third-Party Hosted Event

Regional Events

There will be a total of 6 Regional Events Per Region, per year of Grand Grassroots Circuit

Regional Events have a BEST FINISH LIMIT OF 4 REGIONAL EVENTS TOTAL (this means you may compete in as many of these events as you’d like, however, your Best 4 Finishes are added together with your 1 Best Finish from International Events to determine if you qualified for the Invitational Event.)

International Events

There will be a total of 1 International Events per Region, Per Year of Grand Grassroots Circuit
International Events have a BEST FINISH LIMIT OF 1 INTERNATIONAL EVENT TOTAL

Grand Grassroots Cup

This is an invitational only event which will have a massive prize pool, as a percentage of each registration fee for our circuit events goes to this event’s prize pool. A running total of the prize pool for this event will be kept throughout the season, and players will be updated regularly on the total value of this prize pool. To qualify for this event, you must earn 40 points with your 4 Regional Best Finishes & 2 International Best Finishes.

Entry Fees

The Entry fee for Regional Events is $10 USD for North American (SpearPillar) Hosted Events.
The Entry Fee for Regional Events is €10 EUR for European (VGCTrainerSchool) Hosted Events
The Entry Fee for Regional Events is $15 AUD for Oceania (Pokéfolk) Hosted Events
The Entry fee for International Events is $15 USD for North American (SpearPillar) Hosted Events.
The Entry fee for International Events is €15 EUR for European (VGCTrainerSchool) Hosted Events
The Entry Fee for International Events is $20 AUD for Oceania (Pokéfolk) Hosted Events
The Grand Grassroot Cup is a FREE event only for individuals/competitors who have received an invite during the circuit!

REFUNDS

If you cannot participate in the event but have already paid & signed up, you can request a refund for 60% of the Entry fee, so long as you message your respective tournament organizer 24 Hours in advance of the event start time.*

Prizing

Regionals Entry Fee Breakdown: $10 Total

$6 goes to the prize pool of the event you just registered for.
$2 goes to the “Grand Grassroots Cup” Invitational Prize Pool
$2 goes to the Organizers/Staff

Internationals Entry Fee Breakdown: $15 Total

$8 goes to the prize pool of the event you just registered for.
$4 goes to the “Grand Grassroots Cup” Invitational Prize Pool
$3 goes to the Organizers/Staff

Total Prize Pool = 6 x Total Number of Participants Points

YOU MUST HAVE A VALID PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO RECEIVE PRIZE PAYOUTS!

Grassroots Points

In addition to Prizing, Players will also receive Grassroot Points (GP) depending on their placement & total number of participants

Grassroot Points are Earned by playing in Regional & International Events. If a player obtains a total of 40 points throughout the course of the circuit season, they will receive an invite to the “Grand Grassroots Cup” invitational at the end of the season! You may participate in events hosted by either party (SpearPillar, VGCTrainerSchool, or Pokéfolk) as the points are shared between regions. Please do not alt as we will not be combining points between different accounts.

Rounds

The number of rounds is determined by the total number of participants from the start of the event.

Top Cut

Top Cut will be determined by total participants from the start of the event.

SAME DAY TOP CUT! (Single Elimination Bracket)

Sportsmanship & General Conduct

The Grand Grassroots Circuit is dedicated to creating and maintaining a welcome, yet competitive, environment for everyone competing. With this, we ask that all players, managers, and staff be as respectful as possible to each other so that we can all enjoy the Grand Grassroots Experience. Below are basic sportsmanship and general conduct rules that we expect each player to follow. Any instances where a player is caught breaking these rules may be subject to warnings, match forfeits, being timed out from competing temporarily, or permanent expulsion from the Grand Grassroot Circuit (and their host organizations) based on severity of the offense and the number of previous offenses. Rules broken here will be handled on a case-by-case basis so anything that is not mentioned below that is especially egregious is still subject to penalties at the Grand Grassroot Circuit Staff’s discretion.

Players must follow all rules located in the Grand Grassroots Tournament Rulebook.
Players must abide by the Grand Grassroots Inclusion Policy
Players must abide by the Grand Grassroots Standards of Conduct
No using alt accounts when participating in the Grand Grassroots Circuit. (We will not combine points from 2 different usernames)
Win Trading is not allowed in the Grand Grassroots Circuit.