Blood Bowl itP IV: Anything But A '1'

[Wraith]

I, too, will be there to tune in for the grand finale. Perhaps we can arrange a Skype chat for heckling this season, as the chat-box can be very inconvenient at times?

Unrelated BB2 note: Dsop sir! I caught your comment about us finding time together for our game, are we still potentially on for Saturday afternoon (your time)? I'm about 7 hours ahead of you, I think, so can go pretty late into Sunday morning if needs be.

[Unpronounceable]

Why wouldn't it be?

Reasons? Reasons are usually the cause of things.

Just checking ;)

[Silfir]

Thus ends the fifth season of the Giant in the Playground Standard League.

The final began in the pre-planning stage. We started with a 70k difference in TV. Tasroth bought a lineman to make 12, bringing it to 140k. In return, I sent Max Euwe II (-MA rookie) off to live on the farm, bringing me down to 13 players, but also 210k TV difference - which I cut to 200k with a cheerleader, and then spent the inducements on a Wizard and a Bloodweiser Babe, figuring 13 guys and a babe should be just enough to keep me at full strength or close to it despite my facing down a Mighty Blow witch elf.

First half; Tasroth wins the toss, though with both teams capable of scoring fast, and somewhat less capable of holding on to the ball, it's not as much of an advantage as it could have been. He decides to let my elves receive first. Because of a close kick, Siegbert Tarrasch ends up having to be shielded near the halfway line (and team reroll the pickup), and rather than rush forward with potential receivers I try to run more of a running game. This gradually turns out to not work very well at all - slowly my players are peeled away from ball protection, I don't really manage to get players or the ball past the defensive lines, and finally I'm forced against the sidelines, which is never a good thing when witch elves are involved. The two sideline cage corners are formed by José Raul Capablanca and Mikhail Tal, my Side Step Dodge Tackle blitzer and +ST Dodge blitzer, respectively. One of these guys, naturally, is now in severe danger of just getting pushed off the pitch - but the bloodthirsty witch elf picks the wrong target in the heat of the moment, and one neat side step later, Attacker Downs her chin into Capablanca's elbows. In the resulting confusion, Frank Marshall (who Tarrasch had to hand off to previously) manages to pass the ball to Paul Keres II, who scores for the 1-0 lead in the middle of the half.

Time for the Angels to return the favor - they form a tight ball in the center of the pitch, and manage to get the ball inside it - one turn later, they position both their ballcarrying runner and one witch elf a bit down the pitch, leaving an opening, (helped along a little by a fireball, which only returns one KO this time) for a blitz on the runner, who dutifully dumps off to the free-standing witch - who is then surrounded entirely by Chosen defenders. Bad turns into worse as attempts to block free a path for her to dodge into results in Both Downs at precisely the wrong moments, and finally the ball goes down and it's a free-for-all. In the end, no one scores - which allows the Chosen to end the first half with a lead.

They do start the second one defending again - and do, in fact, line up with a full team (though Frank Marshall has gone down Badly Hurt by now after throwing a "worth a try" 2d-against block. Not so worth it after all). The Angels run the same play again and slowly punch their way downfield. Finally, they attempt to outflank the Chosen, with the ballcarrying witch elf close to the sidelines, on the better side of a rather substantial screen - not, however, an impenetrable one. She is prompty brought down by Mikhail Tal, and the ball manages to come down in a spot where Siegbert Tarrasch can reach it, and pass to a waiting Chosen lineelf past the halfway line, potentially out of reach of the entire dark elven squad!

But he goes 2-for-2 in fumbled pickup rolls instead (with the team reroll having to be spent on a dodge on the ballcarrier blitz), and the Angels easily recover and huddle up near the endzone, hoping to draw out the clock for a time, perhaps to force extra time - Mikhail Tal, however, is not having it, and throws a block right into the huddled mass of bodies, pushing the ballcarrying runner into the endzone, and giving them four more turns in the half in which to try and score the 2-1 winner.

This time the Chosen do try to position some hopeful receivers, while Siegbert Tarrasch rushes back to his own endzone to recover the ball (kicked deep this time, and yes, he fumbled the pickup again - 8 MA is great, but inevitably comes at the price of other skills). By the time he can advance downfield, his potential receivers have been marked to hell and back, so the Chosen decide to form a cage around him with the majority of the team and somehow elf the marked receivers out of the clutches of the defense. It works at first, but they're swiftly marked or knocked over again. In the end, the win does unexpectedly come down to Siegbert's so far unused passing prowess, as Mikhail Tal manages to ST4 muscle his way free of his markers into the endzone. Tarrasch manages to both outmaneuver all dark elves to avoid an interception, and has the endzone in range for a 3+ pass. It sails into Mikhail Tal's reach - and with the help of a team reroll, he manages to hold onto the ball for a 2-1 lead.

Only one turn left to go for the Angels, and despite a spirited attempt to do so, they fail to maneuver their Side Step blitzer into scoring position.



A well played, close match by Tasroth, that likely came down to a weak period of his in the first half. I more or less jumped or was let off the hook during my receiving drive then - it could have resulted in a defensive TD right then if Tasroth had tried to surf the right blitzer - and then managed to stall the return score, giving me an advantage that was ultimately hard to break down (though not for lack of trying, as Tasroth did manage to score and almost prevent my own team from scoring).

This closes the book on a great season for Caissa's Chosen, who came into the league with a couple of open league matches and managed to level themselves into a ridiculous elf team at the beginning of the season. (The +ST alone on Mikhail Tal, the blitzer, likely decided a couple of matches, including this one.) Unfortunately, having won the title in their inaugural season, they've instantly departed for the elven homelands to gloat and put their new glory to good use trying to pick up comely elven maidens. The truth is, that is the one thing they could actually be persuaded to stop playing chess for - that it's easier to woo the ladies with toned muscles and battle scars than dazzling combinations, positional brilliancies and endgame technique.

I will return to the Standard League next season - I'll surely have found a different team to coach by then. It won't be elves again, I promise. (Though I'm not sure you'll like what I have in mind much more.)

[Wraith]

Congratulations on a well deserved victory Silfir, and commiserations on a hard fought loss Tasroth. The game was certainly entertaining to watch, so hopefully that means it was equally fun to play.

With that in mind, I too feel that it is time to put my team into retirement, at least for a while. Although the Destroyers have redeemed themselves from the mess that they were in at the end of last season, I think playing them again for the fourth season in a row will end up not just in burn-out but in boredom, which I don't want at all. They will return to reclaim their Legacy League glory days, no doubt about that, but for now they can go drink some beer and carouse. They've earned it.

Not entirely sure who their replacements will be yet, though I believe I've narrowed it down to three. We'll see how much time I have to get in some practice matches, perhaps.

[Lyrakien]

I'm running at Mountain time in the US. Saturdays are usually best for me, but Sundays could also work. Otherwise we're looking at after 8 PM on most weekdays (Thursdays and Fridays I'm available after 10 PM). Any of those times look good to you?

Ooooooh crap, I've been so busy with trying to figure out my study abroad stuff that I completely forgot this was going to be a thing. Is it possible to have it today? Tomorrow after your 8PM might be a bit of a stretch.

[Wraith]

If you need a little more time to get your game played, just say the word. Otherwise, the day gets rolled on in ~12 hours from this post.

In a similar vein, Dsop - I finish work in 2 hours from now, are you around to play our BB2 game shortly thereafter?

[Lyrakien]

I'm almost tempted to accept a no show from both sides, but then I look at the god damn Saurus team and go, "holy ****ing **** I need SPP." It might be iffy to go late on Monday, but it could happen. Otherwise, I might just say I forfeit and at least give Deadline some free SPP.

[Maethirion]

Well, the Chaos vs Chaos face off, for the honour of the red jersey has been decided. Apparently, as the Killers were playing at home, they got to wear the fancy jersey for the game, while the End Times were relegated to a somewhat unfetching shade of brown. This is clearly not their lucky jersey.

The Killers won the toss, and elected to receive, not wanting to take the first turn bash, and knowing that as the End Times had hired two sets of babes, the chances of any KOs not getting up at the end of the half were pretty miniscule anyway. ... this was a good move. The first block of the game resulted in a KOed lines-beastman, and we quickly saw a clash of the titans, as the Killers minotaur blitzed in to take on his opposite number... and promptly broke his ribs. The End Times' apothecary earned his salt by managing to strap him up enough for the next drive, but the difference in strength put them severely on the back foot. While Unpronounceable did a great job of applying pressure, I rolled enough armour breaks to comfortably score in turn 8. A brief attempt at some return damage by the End Times didn't manage to do anything in their turn 8.

The second half was very interesting. Having forgotten that minotaurs have frenzy (somehow), I set up my warriors too close to the sidelines, and the opposing minotaur, freshly back on the field, immediately blitzed him into the stands, where he was KOed. Unfortunately, this left the minotaur out of movement, and he was return blitzed, by a minotaur, into the stands... where a badly (well?) aimed kick brought the beast down for good. Bob Bifford was hear to say "It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim." (Sorry). Unfortunately, I forgot that handoffs are a thing on chaos teams, and committed far too many resources to stopping ANOTHER return surf, and the End Times team made a break for it down the opposite side of the pitch with the ball, where I could only bring three pieces to bear. While in the next two turns, a two-dice against block still managed to knock the ballholder over, the Killers were unable to prevent a warrior from dodging, picking up and going for it over the line on turn 5.

This left the Killers with 4 turns to score a winning touchdown. Luckily for them, it was also at this point that Nuffle decided enough was enough, and cursed the End Times. While, again, Unpronounceable applied excellent pressure, the Killers had a stupidly high number of armor breaks, especially against AV 8 and 9, and on turn 8, the Killers had their ball carrier poised to cross the line, when they realised a 3SPP warrior was in range of the end zone... with two GFIs. They figured, why not? And took the risk to get him across the line, and the ball handed off to him. Once again Nuffle favoured the Killers, and they didn't even need to use their last remaining reroll.

Final scoreline: Khornate Killers 2 - 1 End-times are a Mutating

Thank you, Unpronounceable, for the game. I'm sorry the dice fell the way they did. I'm not sure what that minotaur is getting fed, it's ridiculous.

[Wraith]

I'm almost tempted to accept a no show from both sides, but then I look at the god damn Saurus team and go, "holy ****ing **** I need SPP." It might be iffy to go late on Monday, but it could happen. Otherwise, I might just say I forfeit and at least give Deadline some free SPP.

No one needs to forfeit, if both sides are finding it tricky to make time. These things happen - I'll leave it off a little bit longer and see how it goes

Speaking of tricky timing, Dsop and I have scheduled our game for 10pm GMT+1 on Thursday 30th, if that's okay to wait for. Apologies for the slow going to the BB2 players, but we're finally on track!

[Deadline]

I'm almost tempted to accept a no show from both sides, but then I look at the god damn Saurus team and go, "holy ****ing **** I need SPP." It might be iffy to go late on Monday, but it could happen. Otherwise, I might just say I forfeit and at least give Deadline some free SPP.

I can totally swing tonight after 8PM. It's possible I can shuffle time around if necessary, just say the word and I'll see if I can make it work. I've kinda been wanting to actually play my Nurgle team this season.

If you can't make it work, no worries, I've been there myself.

[Thufir]

OK, so with the Main League season finished up (I'll update my post on the first page with the final version of the table and so on in a bit) we have a couple of things to consider.

One is the next season - who's in, who's changing to a different team, who's out? We've had a higher number of forfeits and assigned draws this season than is really ideal, though I appreciate this has not always been entirely the fault of the players involved. That said, unless Devmaar's circumstances have changed such that he feels he can come back, he's obviously out. Luzahn has barely been around all season so I figure he's out. The other person who's been absent for a notable number of games is Gnoman, though from what he's said that's a case of an extremely busy schedule rather than any unwillingness - though in this context I will say that if your shcedule is a problem and you'd rather drop out, you can, and I don't mind running the league; conversely though if you're happy to continue in the league working around your difficult schedule that's obviously fine too, the more the merrier.
Anyone wishing to join the league for the next season or change to a different team obviously has a bit of time at this point before we start the next season. I'm not sure exactly how much time, and that may partly depend on the other thing which I'll get to in a minute. Basically, you don't need to rush, but do start thinking about it and letting me know in the weeks to come.
Any other suggestions on the running of the league are welcome - I will be taking on board Wraith's suggestion from a few pages back to try and have the 2 week deadline fall consistently on a Monday so any last minute games can hopefully be crammed into the weekend.

The other thing is that I'd like to continue the idea from the last season break of running short KO Cups in said breaks. Last time was just a generic low TV affair to see how it worked, now I want to get into gimmicks, so this time round I'm thinking it's time for an All-Stunties Cup. So that's Halflings, Goblins, Ogres, Lizardmen with no Saurus, Underworld with some restrictions (I haven't thought about this for months so I'm not sure what the restrictions should be, but obviously allowing them all their Skaven players could be an unfair advantage over the other stunties). I'll dig out the details for the KO Cups and how to apply and figure out precise rules on what's acceptable for Underworld, any TV restrictions etc over the next couple of days, but for now if people would like to express interest that'd be great, and if they have any suggestions as regards the rules for the Cup those would also be considered.

[Gnoman]

I fully intend to return. I'm extremely busy for the next 4 to 5 weeks, but by the time we get the league organized that will be two games at most, and I'll endeavor to make them anyway. Some time after that (the duration of this, I'm afraid, is in the hands of the Gaming Commission), if all goes as planned, I'll be dropping my hours considerably and most of my schedule problems will go away.

[Wraith]

One is the next season - who's in, who's changing to a different team, who's out?

I'm in with a new team, though I haven't decided which yet. Probably Skaven, since we've not had them in the League for a while and sufficient time has passed that hopefully it doesn't appear that I'm trying to jump on the Cheesy Comestibles' bandwagon, but I'm still experimenting.

I'll dig out the details for the KO Cups and how to apply and figure out precise rules on what's acceptable for Underworld, any TV restrictions etc over the next couple of days, but for now if people would like to express interest that'd be great, and if they have any suggestions as regards the rules for the Cup those would also be considered.

"All players must have the Stunty rule"? Underworld Goblins can't lose it and Underworld Skaven can't acquire it even through mutation (a missed opportunity in my opinion, but none the less...) so that seems to cover all the bases. The only one that I think questionable would be the ST7 Goblin Fanatic being a pseudo-Big Guy, since a Stunty-Only game isn't likely to be a high scoring one so Secret Weapon won't kick in as often.

Either way, I'm definitely in with Lizards. I've played Stunty-Only before and it's a lot of fun, even if it is often a disaster for everyone involved!

[Thufir]

"All players must have the Stunty rule"? Underworld Goblins can't lose it and Underworld Skaven can't acquire it even through mutation (a missed opportunity in my opinion, but none the less...) so that seems to cover all the bases. The only one that I think questionable would be the ST7 Goblin Fanatic being a pseudo-Big Guy, since a Stunty-Only game isn't likely to be a high scoring one so Secret Weapon won't kick in as often.

Either way, I'm definitely in with Lizards. I've played Stunty-Only before and it's a lot of fun, even if it is often a disaster for everyone involved!

No, that would disallow Big Guys, which is not the intent. The point is to have only the Stunty teams (thus the no Saurus restriction on Lizards to make them function like a Stunty team), not only Stunty players. It could be as simple as no Skaven on the Underworld, but that might take it too far the other way since then they'd just be Goblins with mutation access, no secret weapons, and only one Troll (whereas the Lizards still have their higher MA to make up for having only one Big Guy, and the Krox is a pretty good Big Guy). Could still work though. I looked into what other Stunty leagues had done back when I was trying to strt an actual Stunty league rather than just a Cup but that was ages ago and I've forgotten.

[Silfir]

As mentioned before, I'm in with a new team. (Very likely with The Killosophers, a Chaos team.)



I would've thought the stunty team big guys ought to be fair game - they're hardly more reliable than the stunties themselves, after all!

I think only allowing the two Skaven linemen is a fairly reasonable restriction on Underworld. Compared to goblins, they sacrifice secret weapons, cheap bribes and one big guy, and instead get two ST3 players with General access as well as Mutation access everywhere.

Literally "Stunty"-only would likely be massively lopsided in favor of the skinks, and playing the ogres under those rules would be a sad affair indeed, so let's not do that!

Put me down for goblins in the Stunties in the Playground Cup!

[Lyrakien]

I can totally swing tonight after 8PM. It's possible I can shuffle time around if necessary, just say the word and I'll see if I can make it work. I've kinda been wanting to actually play my Nurgle team this season.

If you can't make it work, no worries, I've been there myself.

I think I'll be able to make it, and yeah, I kinda understand the whole "actually playing Blood Bowl" sentiment. Seems people are just too busy/uninterested as the season goes on.

[Wraith]

I think only allowing the two Skaven linemen is a fairly reasonable restriction on Underworld. Compared to goblins, they sacrifice secret weapons, cheap bribes and one big guy, and instead get two ST3 players with General access as well as Mutation access everywhere.

Literally "Stunty"-only would likely be massively lopsided in favor of the skinks, and playing the ogres under those rules would be a sad affair indeed, so let's not do that!

I see what you mean, and I think I like it. So if Underworld were to get their Linemen, Goblins get their secret weapons, Halflings get a single Treeman and Skinks get their... well, selves, what would you suggest for Snotlings? Multiple Ogres to a limit of 2 or 3 maybe? They're not particularly reliable, but just one seems like too little in comparison!

Hmm, I wonder.... is anyone brave enough to play Orcs with only Goblins, a Troll and Loner Goblins? I've no idea how it'd work, but I'm sure it could, somehow.

[Deadline]

I think I'll be able to make it, and yeah, I kinda understand the whole "actually playing Blood Bowl" sentiment. Seems people are just too busy/uninterested as the season goes on.

To be fair, summer is turning out to not be the best time for me to try and work this in. After this season, I may have to delay getting back in until this fall. I do like the sound of this all stunty league though.

[Silfir]

I see what you mean, and I think I like it. So if Underworld were to get their Linemen, Goblins get their secret weapons, Halflings get a single Treeman and Skinks get their... well, selves, what would you suggest for Snotlings? Multiple Ogres to a limit of 2 or 3 maybe? They're not particularly reliable, but just one seems like too little in comparison!

Hmm, I wonder.... is anyone brave enough to play Orcs with only Goblins, a Troll and Loner Goblins? I've no idea how it'd work, but I'm sure it could, somehow.

Just... let them have the ogres...?

Why are you trying to nerf the stunty teams? They're bad enough with their full rosters. It's Underworld and Lizardmen only that need some stuntifying to match the competition.

[Wraith]

I'm not deliberately trying to nerf stunty teams; apparently, I"m just using a different vatiant of the rules than you are.

The one I know is literal - Stunty Only means that everyone must be stunty. But as Thufir mentioned above, since he has generously volunteered to run the thing, he's seen a set of rules that more clearly accounts for Big Guys and Secret Weapons.

Don't mistake me for a grognard, I'm quite happy to play either, but now we've simply confirmed that it's not the rules I know and we're all reading from the same page

[Lyrakien]

To be fair, summer is turning out to not be the best time for me to try and work this in. After this season, I may have to delay getting back in until this fall. I do like the sound of this all stunty league though.

I've been on for about an hour now, and I can only stay on for about an hour and a half more. Did I miss you or something? I thought I had the times correct, but maybe not.

[Deadline]

I've been on for about an hour now, and I can only stay on for about an hour and a half more. Did I miss you or something? I thought I had the times correct, but maybe not.

No, you didn't miss me, I had a friend who needed help moving (he has to be out of his apartment by tomorrow morning). This was totally my bad, I'm sorry. It looks like I just missed you by 8 minutes too. Crud. Any chance you'd be able to hit the same time tomorrow?

Or a bit earlier, if that works? I can be available about an hour earlier if that helps.

[Unpronounceable]

Yes to the stunty cup. Might play ogres.

Standard league I am torn between playing the Boneheads again, want to make up for last seasons farce, or start again with a new team, probably Orcs or Humans.

Is there any probability of the legacy being run, as then that'd make it easy to move the Boneheads over there?

[Lyrakien]

No, you didn't miss me, I had a friend who needed help moving (he has to be out of his apartment by tomorrow morning). This was totally my bad, I'm sorry. It looks like I just missed you by 8 minutes too. Crud. Any chance you'd be able to hit the same time tomorrow?

Or a bit earlier, if that works? I can be available about an hour earlier if that helps.

Maaaaybe probably. Fairly likely we can do the same time if it helps.

[Wraith]

Lyrakien and Deadline got game after all, thanks for keeping me in the loop guys! I hope it as worth the wait.

Which means we can roll on a new day. In what is perhaps to some a surprisingly development, new-comer Lyrakien jumps to the top of the league and takes the #1 spot away from LCP for the first time! Although the Lizards have a game in hand, they are playing against a notoriously difficult-to-pin-down Wood Elf team coached by Manticoran, who has made his mark as a tough opponent in previous Leagues, so there's every chance that the Jellyfish can pull away in the last few weeks of the season! Good luck, everyone!

Season 03 - Day 09
Goblinization Nation (DarthMario) vs. Naggarothian Nightmares (Maethirion)
Isla Sauria (LCP) vs. Unsidhe De Cuirte Dorsche (Manticoran)
The Unsightly Jellyfishes (Lyrakien) vs. Rules Rules Rules (Its_TFT)
Playboy Plaguemates (Deadline) vs. Those Who Eat Brunch (Dsop)
Have Some Popkhorne (Silfir) vs. Super Furry Wild Animals (Wraith)
The Orctodads (legoshrimp) vs. Team Named Spoon (Grytorm)
The Shameful Dead (MisterQuiv) vs. The Expendables 97 (Untypable)

Games to be completed by: Monday 11th July, with extra time if necessary to make up for this week finishing later than usual.

[LCP]

In what is perhaps to some a surprisingly development, new-comer Lyrakien jumps to the top of the league and takes the #1 spot away from LCP for the first time!

Hate to be a party pooper but it seems this is only because the Unsightly Jellyfishes were awarded a win in their bye against KingOfFeed whereas I was awarded a draw - which I thought was the convention (as Silfir made the case for it somewhere earlier in the thread/s).



On the Stunty League - I'm not particularly interested, for me the appeal of Stunties is being different from the other players around them.

On the next Standard League - sad to see the Hammersjurg Destroyers go, but I still feel like the Rampagers have got it in them to win a league, so I'll be sticking with them for the time being at least. If the Legacy League restarts I could move them there and start a new team in Standard; otherwise they'll stay where they are.

[Thufir]

People with an interest in playing the Stunty Cup - any thoughts on TV? Should I limit it or should we leave it open for people to bring in high TV Stunty teams if they have them? I'm not particularly bothered personally but I'm curious what other people think.

[Silfir]

Hate to be a party pooper but it seems this is only because the Unsightly Jellyfishes were awarded a win in their bye against KingOfFeed whereas I was awarded a draw - which I thought was the convention (as Silfir made the case for it somewhere earlier in the thread/s).

Oh, ouch. KingOfFeed's first four matches were awarded draws, and every match since forfeit wins. Aside from the disparity in points (which can be corrected, provided custom playoff selection is available) the disparity in SPP really hurts.

In Wraith's defense, though, it must be hell to keep track of this stuff every fortnight - there are three tardy coaches in the Rookie League at this point, and the others are being scored as wins. This to me just seems to be part of the operating risk of the Rookie League - because it's intended specifically for new coaches to enter, it'll just be more likely to have some new coaches dropping out midway, and I don't think "You can't join the Rookie League because you're a rookie" is a good solution either.

I believe playoffs can be assigned manually I guess at this point we're best off reconstructing the table outside of the client and using that to decide who ends up in the playoffs. It has the merit of giving us the ability to retroactively disqualify our tardy coaches and eliminate all their results - including wins and draws from before dropping out. At least points-wise, that'll lead to a fairer table. SPP-wise, we have the option of assigning the remaining byes such that coaches who've so far had more SPP and earnings than average get them assigned as draws, and coaches like Pippington who got just a bit shafted get wins. It probably won't even out... but I think it's the best we can do?

People with an interest in playing the Stunty Cup - any thoughts on TV? Should I limit it or should we leave it open for people to bring in high TV Stunty teams if they have them? I'm not particularly bothered personally but I'm curious what other people think.

I'd say if there are enough people with established stunty teams they should be allowed to play them. It's going to bring some variety into the mix.

If it'll be just two high TV stunty teams against six rookies, I'd be tempted to suggest making the cup stunty-only - but the inducements might be more of a boon than the extra TV.

[Deadline]

Lyrakien and Deadline got game after all, thanks for keeping me in the loop guys! I hope it as worth the wait.

It was indeed. The game was suitably weird, and I've re-discovered that when Nuffle turns his loving gaze upon you, there just aren't enough re-rolls in the world to save you.

DSOP, I'm going to be unavailable from this Friday to the following Tuesday, but should be available most evenings after 8-8:30 PM MST. Is there a particular time that will work for you?

[Lyrakien]

Hate to be a party pooper but it seems this is only because the Unsightly Jellyfishes were awarded a win in their bye against KingOfFeed whereas I was awarded a draw - which I thought was the convention (as Silfir made the case for it somewhere earlier in the thread/s).

Yeah, I noticed that when I was trying to figure out where your second tie came from. I certainly don't feel like I earned "1st place" at the moment, especially what could only be described as an act of Nuffle with the last game against Deadline and three free wins as of today.

Oh, ouch. KingOfFeed's first four matches were awarded draws, and every match since forfeit wins. Aside from the disparity in points (which can be corrected, provided custom playoff selection is available) the disparity in SPP really hurts.

I believe playoffs can be assigned manually I guess at this point we're best off reconstructing the table outside of the client and using that to decide who ends up in the playoffs. It has the merit of giving us the ability to retroactively disqualify our tardy coaches and eliminate all their results - including wins and draws from before dropping out. At least points-wise, that'll lead to a fairer table. SPP-wise, we have the option of assigning the remaining byes such that coaches who've so far had more SPP and earnings than average get them assigned as draws, and coaches like Pippington who got just a bit shafted get wins. It probably won't even out... but I think it's the best we can do?

I can definitely agree the SPP difference is pretty substantial. I don't think I've had a single zero SPP match, and with nearly everyone on the Jellyfishes having block and three with block AND guard, the team is definitely stacked. Playing against teams unlucky enough to get those tardy coaches early in the season feels so... dirty, and at this point, with the level disparities, the snowballing teams are REALLY starting to snowball.

If the final decision is to assign SPP from those draws in the first four rounds, it's a total of 16 SPP from each free win, right? Two MVPs and two touchdowns?