Tournament Regulations 1.0 - "The War is Just Beginning"

We had the Tournament Regulations drop on us on Wednesday, so let's look at what it tells us about competitive play:

I found some cool painted minis being showcased at Worlds.

I'm not going to go over the whole thing, but rather hit up the key areas that make Legion different, and clarify things we didn't have an answer to.

Tournament Participant Roles:

No need to go over much here.  It's a normal FFG tournament rule document here.  If you've played an FFG game in the past, you know the roles.  If you haven't, read it.

One note:  As is typical, "Relaxed" tournaments can have the Leaders play in them as long as there are more than one Leader present.  This means as long as you've got a Judge and an Organizer, you're good to go.

Tournament Materials:

Here's where things get interesting.  Tournament Organizers are responsible for terrain.  Players are not responsible for ANY terrain.  Here's the key bit under Custom Terrain:

Organizers and players may use custom terrain to fulfill the terrain requirements for each game.

If the organizer provides terrain for a tournament, they must ensure each table has a variety of

terrain types. If players are asked or allowed to bring their own terrain, the organizer should

place that terrain at tables as they would place the store’s to ensure fairness amongst all

competitors. The owner of the custom terrain should ensure they mark the terrain in order

uniquely identify the terrain at the end of the event. 

Also important is that players will bring their own objective / deployment / condition cards, and it is the Blue player's cards that are chosen from.  Only one new set of cards available with Priority Supplies when that comes out, but that means that there is an even greater list building strategy than previously thought.

Modifications are okay-ish.  Basically the Marshall has final say as to whether any given mini is legal, and players have to check before the tournament to see if what they did is okay or not.

Cards must remain unaltered.  Odd since there is no damage deck, but whatever.

More pretty things from Worlds

Tournament Play:

Terrain should cover 1/4 of the available map.  That's a lot of terrain, when all we have officially are barricades.  Remember, the Organizers have to provide the terrain.  Any guess why FFG is only doing 8 total players for Worlds?

The Organizer should also make it clear what effect terrain has before the game starts.  Probably a good idea to print out a sheet and leave it near the table saying what each terrain piece is / does.

Bid is back!  Bid is for Red / Blue player, and Blue player's cards are used for setup.

Was I supposed to see this?

Tournament Concepts:

120 minute Rounds!  (With up to 30 minute extensions if the Organizer announces it in advance)  Play fast!

Wins = 1 point  

Loss = 0 points

NO TIES / NO MOV.  Only Victory!

Tiebreakers for an individual game:  Victory Points > Score (units destroyed vs units destroyed) > Blue Player

Tiebreakers for a tournament:

Strength of Schedule > Extended Strength of Schedule (Oh god) > Flip a Damn Coin (Nooooooo)

Hope you have software available, because calculating out SOS is hard enough.  Good luck doing Extended SOS on pencil and paper.  Also I cannot wait for the first time prize support is decided by coin flip.

Advanced Structure looks like the way to go for anything bigger than 8 players, so that you have a clear winner and not the undefeated players rooting for their first round opponents to not drop and win out.

Here's a quote for the Tiers - I think it is worded differently:

Relaxed

Tournaments at this level are welcoming to all players, regardless of experience level. Players are

encouraged to help each other improve and learn, so long as it does not significantly disrupt the

game. The focus is on creating a fun and friendly environment.

Formal

This tournament level expects players to possess at least a minimal amount of experience.

Players should be familiar with the game rules, and be prepared to exercise that knowledge to

play at a reasonable pace. Players are expected to avoid bumping units and refrain from other

sloppy play mistakes. The focus is a friendly competitive environment.

Premier

Premier events are the highest level of competition for Fantasy Flight Games tournaments. At

this top level of tournaments, players are expected to have a moderate amount of experience.

Players should be familiar with not only the game rules, but also the Rules Reference and

tournament regulations. The focus is on a competitive and fair environment.

That's it for the Tournament Regulations.