Hi, everyone!
I'm pleased to confirm most of the details of WC2015, including key dates and the formats we will use for the qualifiers.
GRAND FINALS (Saturday 12th December - Sunday 13th December)
- 1 reigning champion (Sisyphos) and 31 players that qualified in preceding weeks (see below)
- Round one for Day 1 starts Saturday 12th December 6pm GMT+0.
- Day 1 will be 32-player swiss decklock, over 5 rounds of best-of-three, to find Top 8 players.
- Day 2 will be 8-player single-elimination decklock with best-of-five per round.
- Click here to see progress and results
- Click here to see the decks used by the Top 8
THREE REGIONAL QUALIFIERS (Thursday 8th October - Wednesday 25th November)
- For each region (Americas, Europe/Africa, Asia/Australasia), there will be a SEVEN-ROUND event over MULTIPLE WEEKS.
- Click here for news on each one as it progresses (e.g. pairings).
- You can only take part in ONE regional qualifier.
- All rounds will be played using the Swiss 2-Hero 4-Game (S2H4G) Format (see below)
- Each round lasts five days (from Thursday to Monday). You will be told your opponent on the Thursday and then need to arrange a time to play your games by the end of your Monday (in your timezone). Aim to play on the weekend!
- The gap on Tuesday/Wednesday is there for me to attempt to resolve any situations where a match has not been played.
- Maximum of 128 players per regional. Sign up ahead of time to avoid disappointment!
- You can sign-up here: http://www.shadowera.com/wc2015.php
- Sign-ups close Thursday 8th October (9am GMT for Asia/Australasia, 1pm GMT for Europe/Africa, 5pm GMT for Americas)
- The top ranking players at the end of each regional will earn a spot in the Grand Finals.
- The specific number of players that can qualify from each regional will be proportional to number of entrants and will be confirmed at the end of round 1.
- It costs 500 Shadow Crystals to take part in a 7-round regional qualifier. The 500SC will be taken from your account automatically when you sign-up and no more will be taken after that. (It is not 7x 500SC to take part!)
- In-game names for all players competing will be shown, so the in-game email can be used to organise your matches. If you're on Telegram, that's a recommended alternative since you can have a chat.
- All games to be played on latest version (currently 2.92).
ONE WILDCARD QUALIFIER (Saturday 5th December - Sunday 6th December)
- Note: This is the same format as the Wildcard Qualifier last year.
- Day One: decklock best-of-three swiss format with cut to top 8 (max 128 players)
- Day Two: 8-player decklock best-of-five single-elimination to determine Wildcard champion (deck can be different to swiss stage)
- Top TWO from Day Two win an invite to Grand Finals.
- Winner of Day Two is crowned the 2015 Wildcard Champion.
- This is open to everyone, whether they competed in a regional or not, providing they have not already qualified.
- There is no charge to enter the Wildcard Qualifier.
- Click here to see the progress and results
Swiss 2-Hero 4-Game (S2H4G) Format
- Note: This is the same format as we used in WC2012 Qualifiers - back due to popular demand!
- Every player plays in every round.
- Opponents in the first round will be decided at random.
- Round 1: each player brings TWO HEROES (and two associated decks) and will play FOUR GAMES against their assigned opponent.
--- In game 1, Player A goes first with one of his/her two decks, against one of Player B's two decks.
--- (Player A is whoever the server randomly picked to go first in game 1.)
--- In game 2, players use those same decks but Player B goes first (Player B creates the game with password 'creator').
--- In game 3, Player A uses his other deck against Player B's other deck. Who goes first in this game is determined at random by the server.
--- In game 4, players use the same decks again, but the other player goes first.
--- If a game ends in a draw, it must be replayed.
- For each game won, a Player earns 1 point. If they win overall (3-1 or 4-0) then they get an additional 0.5 points.
- Opponents in subsequent rounds will be determined based on points. (Those with 4.5 pts are paired up, those with 3.5 points are paired up, those with 2 points are paired up, and so forth. The exception here is that you cannot face the same person in two different rounds.)
- Round 2 onwards: You may change your decks from the previous round, but it is otherwise the same as Round 1.
- The tie-breaker for people level on points at the end will be based on the performance of your opponents.
- The player with highest points (and tie-breaker, if required) at the end is the winner of the event.
- All players who complete all rounds will receive 5 digital packs of Lost Lands boosters.
GRAND FINAL PRIZES
- Winner: iPad Air 2 (16Gb wi-fi) + $500 via PayPal + digital foil Playset of Lost Lands Part 1.
- Runner-up: $500 via PayPal + digital playset of Lost Lands Part 1.
- 3rd place: $300 via PayPal + digital playset of Lost Lands Part 1.
- 4th place: $150 via PayPal + digital playset of Lost Lands Part 1.
- All Grand Finalists: 50 digital cards of their choice + WC2015 Grand Finalist sleeves
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I sign up for a regional qualifier?
A: You can sign-up here: http://www.shadowera.com/wc2015.php.
Q: How will I know my opponent for each round of the regional qualifier?
A: The pairings will be shown on Challonge.com. They will also be shown on a thread on the forum. Both will show your opponent's in-game name.
Q: What's the best way to arrange my matches?
A: The in-game mail, accessible from the World screen, is the default way to contact your opponent, since you will know their in-game name. Suggest at least 3 dates/times that work for you (use GMT+0 to specify the time - http://gmt.shadowera.net/), rather than ask “what time can you play?”. Hopefully your opponent can make one of them and they'll just pick one. If not, they should reply with some times they can do.
Q: What if we can't get our match played in time?
A: You will need to apply for an extension so you can play on the Tuesday or Wednesday. If the game is still unplayed, it will be down to Wulven's discretion as to how many points you get for the round (if any).
Q: How should we play our match?
A: If you have agreed in advance who will create the first game and with what password (recommended), then you can just search for their name in the Challenge screen at the appropriate date/time and enter the password to join their waiting game. If you did not agree a password or who will create in advance, then one of you put up a game with password ‘123' and wait for the other to join. Post a message in the in-game lobby to say you are there.
Whoever went second in the game 1 should create the game 2 with special password ‘creator’ (without the quotes), which will ensure the correct person goes first in the second game.
For the avoidance of any doubt: YOU MUST NOT MAKE ANY DECK CHANGES BETWEEN GAME 1 AND GAME 2.
If you want to play the other two games after (games 3 and 4), LOAD YOUR NEXT DECK and confirm it is loaded by starting an AI game on the World screen. Remember that your hero must be different to the one you used in games 1 and 2, and you must not make any deck changes between game 3 and game 4.
Q: Can we play the match in two parts?
A: Sure. Splitting it up might make it easier to schedule. Come along with one deck and use it for your first two games; later, come along with different hero and deck and use that for the other two games. Aim to get the first two done as soon as possible!
Q: Can we use Telegram to arrange our games?
A: Sure, if you're both on there. If you're in the Official Organised Play Space, check the memberlist for your opponent's name.
Q: How should we report results?
A: You can send me (Gondorian) an in-game mail with the result in the subject: e.g. "MyName 0-4 MyOpponent". You'll already be in the app after your last game, so this should be easy to do!
Q: Which of us should report the result?
A: Both players should report so that will act as confirmation of the result, and I can investigate any discrepancies. If I have not heard from either player by Monday night, I will chase you up for information.
Q: How exactly will the final tie-breaker be calculated for the S2H4G event?
A: We will use the Median-Buchholz system. The method is to give each player a raw score of 1 point for each match win and 0.5 points for each match tie (e.g. 3 match wins and 1 match tie means a raw score of 3.5pts). Then each player's Median-Buchholz score is calculated by adding the raw scores of all opponents other than the best and worst (hence 'Median') and multiplying that sum by the player's raw score. Note: Challonge does not calculate this correctly, so it will need to be done outside of Challonge.
I will be updating this post with more details as they become available.
If you have any questions, post below please.
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