Unofficial Metagame Characterization
Based on popularity and interest, Unofficial Metagames are characterized into 3 levels as detailed below. New Metagames start at Level 1, and as they grow may be bumped up further. Rules for submitting metagames are located
here.
Level 1 - Thread in Unofficial Metagames forum
The first step for Unofficial Metagames after approval is a thread in the UM forum. This thread should contain all discussion and resources for the metagame, as new metagames don't get their own separate forum. Upon approval, the metagame will get a separate room in the UM discord for discussion.
Requirements:
- OP of thread with rules & clauses already (mostly) written
- Sample VR showing a prelim S/A/B rank
- Reasonably established users as TL/council members (at least 3, preferably 5)
- Must be different from other already established metagames in an appreciable way (e.g. OU at level 50 is not different enough; Middle Cup would be).
Level 1a - Thread in Level 2 forum
Level 1a is for metagames such as LGPE UU or 2v2 that are offshoots to an existing Level 2 metagame. The metagame thread resides in said related forum with separate tag, instead of the main UM forum. The metagame will also have a separate channel to discuss the metagame in the specific discord for the metagame they are an offshoot of (e.g. LGPE UU will have a channel in the LGPE OU discord).
Requirements:
- Same first 3 as Level 1
- Must be related to but a spinoff of an already established Sub-forum metagame (e.g. LGPE UU in the LGPE OU forum).
Level 2 - Sub-forum of UM forum
The second level to UMs is for when Level 1 metagames grow to the point where discussion in one thread becomes crowded, and there is consistent discussion both on the forum and on the discord. At that point, the metagame may be upgraded to Level 2, and get its own separate forum & discord. Level 1a metagames getting upgraded would be given a sub-forum of the metagame they are associated with.
Requirements:
- Must have significant activity in main thread in the UM forum
- Must have forum resources & community resources fully fleshed out & be actively worked on (i.e. VR, sample teams, speed tiers, role compendium, sample sets, etc)
- Active enough discussion in the UM discord channel to warrant a separate discord.
Level 3 - Sub-forum of Smogon Metagames / Official Status
The final level to UMs is when the community grows to the point where they are named a Level 3 Metagame. At this point, they are no longer an Unofficial Metagame and will be an Official Smogon Metagame, with all the benefits that provides. The metagame will be moved to be a direct subforum under Smogon Metagames, instead of being listed in Unofficial Metagames. The best example of this leap is Monotype, which had a hugely dedicated community and the activity warranted official status. Obviously, Level 3 won't be guaranteed and will be on a case-by-case basis. However, Level 2 should be reasonably easy to achieve given a dedicated playerbase.
Requirements:
- Must have significant community activity in the subforum, discord, and potentially PS room.
- Must have a large and dedicated player base (i.e. Monotype-size)
- Must have a large library of forum and community resources, in addition to a team dedicated to writing analyses for the strategy dex.
- Must have a significant presence in unofficial and community tournaments with consistent participation throughout.
