View the Competition Rulebook for league details.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, starters, substitutes (collectively team members), and other members.
1. Game Rules
1.1 Game Account Connections
Players are required to create and connect the Trainer ID of their Pokémon UNITE account to their PlayVS profile before competing in a match. Trainer IDs are located above your username on your Trainer Info page (Top left corner player icon).
Players without in-game accounts connected are ineligible to participate in the match.
Per section 6.2.7 Connected Accounts of the league’s Competition Rulebook,
teams must address missing game account connections before establishing a game of record. Reaching a game of record without confirming game accounts or addressing missing game account connections is not grounds for a match restart or loss.
1.2 Roster Requirements
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 must 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.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of each game by using the Match Assistant to change the roster and re-confirm rosters during the roster confirmation step.
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.
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.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Pokémon UNITE is established in the following conditions:
When the in-game match timer begins to countdown.
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.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
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.
Directed Pause
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.
Player Pauses
By default, players are not able to pause an in-progress game.
In the event of an equipment failure, an in-progress game will not be stopped. Players should attempt to reconnect or correct their equipment.
Player Disconnection
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.
Failure to replicate game settings will result in a remake of the game.
If the game is played to completion using altered Pokémon or items, the new game will stand as a game of record, and results will stand. View section 7.2 Game of Record of the league’s Competition Rulebook for more details.
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.
You cannot fill the spot of a disconnected player with a different player in the middle of a game. You must wait until after the game to substitute the disconnected player for another player. Rosters are locked for each game once the game begins and a GOR has been established according to section 1.4 Game of Record.
Team Disconnection
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.
1.6 Match Format
Format |
|
Mode | Tournament |
Team Size | 5 Players |
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.
1.7 Specific Rules
Error During Tournament Draft
If any Pokémon is incorrectly picked or banned during the tournament draft process, the team who selected incorrectly must notify their opponent immediately in the 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.
Tiebreaker Protocol
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
2. Player Equipment
2.1 Equipment
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:
Nintendo Switch System, Nintendo Switch 2 System or Android/iOS device
USB to Ethernet Adapter or Built in LAN port (Dock) if competing on Switch
Any Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 compatible controller with no turbo mode functionality (if competing on Switch)
Stable internet connection
A Nintendo Switch Online (paid) membership is not required.
2.2 Supported Equipment
Players must compete using an official Nintendo Switch system or Android/iOS device in all PlayVS games.
PC, laptop, and emulator use are not permitted. Any team found in violation of this rule will receive a forfeit for all matches in which PCs, laptops, or emulators were used. Nintendo Switch consoles and Android/iOS devices must not be modded in any way.
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to Section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow Pokémon UNITE Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and joining the game lobby.
Side Selection
Each team will compete as either top side (purple team) or bottom side (orange team) for each game. Side selection for each game is as follows:
| Preseason and Regular Season |
Game 1 | Home team ➤ Selects side |
Game 2 | Away team ➤ Selects side |
Game 3 | Loser of game 2 ➤ Selects side |
| Playoffs and Finals |
Game 1 | Home team ➤ Selects side |
Game 2 | Away team ➤ Selects side |
Game 3 | Loser of game 2 ➤ Selects side |
Game 4 | Loser of game 3 ➤ Selects side |
Game 5 | Loser of game 4 ➤ Selects side |
Tournament Draft
Once all ten players have reported to the official game lobby, one member of each team confirms team readiness for the draft pick phase. Once both teams confirm readiness, the room owner will start the game.
Clicking Start will take all participants into the tournament draft mode. Draft format phase orders proceeds as follows:
| *Ban Phase #1 | Pick Phase #1 |
1. | Top Side Team | Top Side Team |
2. | Bottom Side Team | Bottom Side Team |
3. | Top Side Team | Bottom Side Team |
4. | Bottom Side Team | Top Side Team |
5. |
| Top Side Team |
6. |
| Bottom Side Team |
7. |
| Bottom Side Team |
8. |
| Top Side Team |
9. |
| Top Side Team |
10. |
| Bottom Side Team |
*Reminder: Slot 4 and slot 5 for top/bottom sides of the lobby (Left-to-Right) will choose bans for their respective teams.
3.3 Match FAQ
Spectating
In order to avoid giving any team an advantage, spectators will not be allowed to join the game lobby.
In-Game Content Updates
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.
4. Post-Match Process
4.1 Results
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.