View the High School and Middle School Competition Rulebook for league details.

These official rules (rules) of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2024-2025 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.

1.1.1 Game. An instance of competition that is played until a winner is determined by one of the following methods, whichever occurs first: (a) Completion of the countdown timer or objective achieved, (b) Team surrender, or (c) Team forfeit.

1.1.2 Set. A series of games that is played until one player wins a majority of the total games (e.g., winning two games out of three, best-of-three). The winning player will receive a win tally in favor of their team for the match.

1.1.3 Match. A group of sets that is played until one team wins a majority of the total sets (e.g., winning two sets out of three, best-of-three). The winning team will either receive a win tally in a league format or advance to the next round in a tournament format.

1.1.4 League. A group of teams that regularly play against one another. There are two distinct types of PlayVS leagues: (a) Recreational and (b) Competitive.

1.1.5 Phase. A section of scheduled league play that comprises a season. There are distinct phases for leagues, with each phase having its own league format.

1.1.6 Season. Scheduled league play that will occur over a predetermined amount of time.

Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.

Each league page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s Roster and Bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches are expected to be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The roster and bench must be finalized before the Roster Lock Date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

Once a game of record is established, substitutions are not allowed. Once the game is complete and the results are recorded, player substitutions may be made before the start of the following game.

Substitutions must be made by one of the following:

In the event the Match Assistant is unavailable, rosters and substitutions must be confirmed before the start of each game unless otherwise approved by a League Official and stated by a PlayVS Admin in the Match Lobby Chat.

Players on the bench may be used for any match their team is competing in within their assigned league. Eligible substitutes for a match will be displayed on the Bench tab of the team’s roster card. Only the players shown on a team’s bench can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.

If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in the match and there are no available substitutes, competition may continue without that player as long as it does not disadvantage the opposing team.

A game of record (GOR) in Pokémon UNITE is established in the following conditions:

Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby Chat.

At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing if necessary.

By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game.

If a disconnection occurs during match start, or during the load in process, the game may be restarted using the same Pokémon and item selection.

If a player disconnects from the online match during a game, the player should attempt to reconnect to the match as soon as possible. If the player cannot rejoin, the game will continue with the current players found in the lobby. Please provide a screenshot for all disconnects as proof of when the disconnection happens.

If an entire team disconnects from the online match during a game, the disconnected team must share a message in the Match Lobby Chat to notify the opposing team. If the team cannot reconnect in a timely manner, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.

Format:

Mode:

Settings:

The match format listed above will be the standard format for all preseason and regular season matches.

Starting in the playoffs phase, the match format will be adjusted to be a Best-of-Five (Bo5).

For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.

If any Pokémon is incorrectly picked or banned during the tournament draft process, the team who selected incorrectly must notify their opponent immediately in PlayVS Match Lobby Chat. If the draft is complete before correcting the error, the game must be paused immediately upon loading into the game. The notification must include the Pokémon selected incorrectly and the Pokémon they intended to select at that time.

Teams must restart the tournament draft process immediately if there is a mistake or game client error. The draft should then be restarted and brought back to the point at which the error occurred so that the team in error may correct its mistake. All previous picks and bans except the mistakenly chosen Pokémon must remain the same.

If all players are already loaded into the game, every player must exit the game and create a new tournament lobby.

If both teams have scored the same amount of points at the end of a game, the team that reached the tied scored first will be awarded the win for that game

Each player on the starting roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:

2.1.1 Nintendo Switch System or Android/iOS device

2.1.2 Monitor/Television

2.1.3 Headset and/or Earbuds

2.1.4 Table and Chair

2.1.5 USB to Ethernet Adapter (if competing on Switch)

2.1.6 One Pair of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers, Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, or any Nintendo Switch compatible controller with no turbo mode availability (if competing on Switch).

Players must compete using an official Nintendo Switch system or Android/iOS device in all PlayVS games.

Teams must adhere to Section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.

In order to avoid giving any team an advantage, spectators will not be allowed to join the game lobby.

Pokémon UNITE is a live-service multiplayer game that may release new content patches with updated team rosters during the season.

Any Pokémon or items currently disabled in-game by Pokémon UNITE will not be available for use during official PlayVS matches. All PlayVS matches will occur on the most up-to-date patch, and New Pokémon added to Pokémon UNITE during the regular season may be available for use in a PlayVS match.

Any Pokémon added to Pokémon UNITE after the regular season has ended will not be available for Playoffs.

If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, in-game statistics and results will be recorded at each game's conclusion.

In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant cannot be used, statistics will not be tracked, and the match results must be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.

In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.