(Continuous) Siege on A1 - Extremely difficult!
Hey everyone,
We've been wanting to do something like this for quite some time. With the success of the troll tournament, and some of the other diverse styles of tournaments, we would like to introduce the "Challenge A1" ongoing challenge.
I realise there is the TJ Gauntlet, and I don't want to diminish from that, so we will be doing something slightly different here. Please read on for more details!
After much discussion we have gone for a compromise on our original rule set. We want this to be hard. The best players who attempt this can beat it, but it won't be a walk in the park! The point of the siege will be to combine tactics, mind games and deck crafting to maximise each round. There are some great and diverse strategies a challenger can take to complete this, and we fully believe that it IS doable by somebody who takes the time to analyse each stage to come up with the best plan of attack. To maximise your chance of completing the siege will need careful planning, cunning and your best skills.
Are you up to the task?
What is the Siege on A1?
Siege on A1 is a 7 round challenge, broken down into three stages.
Challengers will need to bring 3 decks to this challenge, and participants are not allowed to change any cards in their decks for the whole challenge. Participants will be allowed to choose which deck they want to use in each round however, and will get a choice in their opponents decks (read on).
Challengers must nominate two decks to use in Stage 1 and they can only use these two decks. After completion of Stage 1, Challengers may swap one of their original two decks for a new deck . Once chosen, the decks are final and no cards can be swapped or changed, and the deck can not be added to. Challengers will have to nominate in advance which two heroes they are picking for Stage 1 and which deck they want to change once you reach stage 2.
Each stage will have a prize attached to it, and participants can drop out at any time and still claim their stage prize. Be warned however, should you choose to drop out and claim an early prize, you will need to change your signature for a designated timeframe depending on when you have dropped out.
PLEASE NOTE that should you LOSE at any stage, you are NOT required to change your signature. Should you complete the siege, you are also NOT required to change your signature.
Participants are ONLY required to change their signature SHOULD THEY WISH TO DROP OUT EARLY and take a consolidation early exit prize
The following should clarify what I mean by stages/rounds:
Stage 1:
Consist of three rounds. That is, participants must beat 3 separate A1 members to proceed to Stage 2. Before starting Stage 1, participants MUST nominate two heroes they will use for this stage.
In Stage 1, the participant will be allowed to choose which faction the A1 member they must face uses.
The participant does not have to specify which deck they themselves will use, only nominate either human or shadow faction for their A1 opponent.
After winning the first round (ie. beating the first A1 opponent), the challenger can opt to take their prize and run at any stage.
Should the challenger take their prize and run, they must display the following in their signature for 72 hours before their prize is awarded: "I ran as fast as I could from the Siege on A1!" in size 3 font (or larger should they wish).
The Stage 1 Prize is 500 crystals (hey, we can't make it too easy!)
Stage 2:
Consists of another three rounds. That is, participants have to beat a further 3 separate A1 members for a total of 6 members beaten to progress through this round.
In this stage, participants are allowed to swap one of their decks for a new one, should they so wish. If they chose to do so, they must nominate before the start of stage 2 which of their stage 1 decks they are no longer using, and which new hero they wish to use.
In Stage 2, each A1 Champion will nominate 2 heroes. The challenger will then nominate which of the two heroes that A1 member is required to use for their match. The challenger does not have to specify which deck they will use, only nominate their opponents hero.
Challengers may opt to take their Stage 2 prize at any stage after beating their first Stage 2 opponent (ie. they must have beaten a total of 4 A1 members before they can opt out for a Stage 2 prize) and leave the challenge.
Should the challenger take their prize and run, they must display the following in their signature for one week before their prize is awarded: "The A1 Siege was too difficult - I retreated quickly!" in size 3 font (or larger should they wish).
The Stage 2 prize is 2,500 crystals
Stage 3 - The Final:
Should a challenger get to this stage, they can opt out and run with their Stage 3 prize without having to play the final.
Should the challenger take their prize and run, they must display the following in their signature for three weeks before their prize is awarded: "I tried to complete the Siege on A1 but ran away before the final battle!" in size 3 font (or larger should they wish).
The Stage 3 prize is 5,000 crystals
In the Final match, the challenger will be pitted against an unknown opponent (ie. not announced before match day) who is allowed to choose any hero they wish to use. The challenger does not have to nominate which of their two Stage 2 decks they will use before this match.
The grand prize for winning all 7 matches, and defeating all 3 rounds is 10,000 crystals. To up the ante, should anyone complete this challenge, I will also display in my signature, in size 3 font "Challenger X destroyed A1 in the Siege on A1" for three weeks. We will also be having random prize bonuses at certain times.
Rules:
1. All matches will be best of three. Alternate who goes first in games 1 and 2. Game 3 will be decided randomly.
2. A challenger is allowed to bring 3 decks only to the Siege on A1. Two decks will be used for Stage 1 and should the challenger wish they can swap one deck after completion of Stage 1 for the remaining Challenge. These subsequent two decks are the only two decks to be used. No card changes are allowed once the decks are decided on. The heroes the challenger will use must be nominated before the start of the challenge for each stage. Deck lists do not have to be submitted, but random checks will occur. Anyone caught cheating and changing cards will be banned from all future A1 events for life.
3. The use of any hero is allowed. No heroes are banned.
4. A challenger may swap between his/her two decks in between each round (not in between games in a match) in each subsequent stage
5. If there is a sync/freeze error or draw, game will be replayed. If there is a disconnect, the person who disconnected will lose that particular game.
6. If a challenger cannot complete a match within a week, they may be disqualified from the challenge.
7. A1 reserves the right to select who participants/competes in this challenge.
8. Crystal prizes for opting out of each round will only be credited to the challenger's account after the challenger who opted out has changed their signature for the required length of time.
9. Should a player lose in any round, they are not required to add anything to their signature. The signature addition is only if a player wishes to leave and claim an early prize
10. Unless otherwise specified, standard tournament rules apply for everything else.
11. C7 RNB RULES v1.5 will apply for notification of any new bugs (please see BlueJet's excellent tournament rules in any of his tournaments under organized play for further clarification)
12. A1 reserves the right to change the rules in between challengers should they wish.
Are you brave enough to complete the Siege on A1?
If so, please post here and we will choose a participant!
