2014 PC Tournament !
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 6:50 pmThe Strat-O-Matic Baseball Players' Championship 2014
(2013 Season Player Set)
Official tourney page: http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/tournament/20
The 2014 tournament will have 5 events, and a 2 round playoff. In the playoff, the top 36 managers will play in 3 twelve team leagues. The playoff teams from those 3 leagues will become eligible for the final 12 team league. The champion from that final league becomes the tournament champion, and the other finalist becomes the runner up for the tournament.
The score for the "round robin" will be the sum of the best 4 scores out of the 5 events. This provides several benefits for the tournament:
-if someone misses event 1 but still wants to join up for event 2, they can do that, and still have a very realistic chance of making the playoffs.
-if someone joins for event 1 but misses one of events 2-5, they aren't completely "sunk".
-if someone enters all 5 events, but just "boots" one of them, they aren't sunk by that either.
-As a side-bar to the above, this will allow me to invoke closure on entering events with a little more of an iron fist. When you have only 4 events and they all count, it's hard to do that, since it effectively eliminates that manager from the tournament. With the best 4 of 5 counting, you still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs even if you miss an event.
-IMPORTANT - all communication will be done on these message boards, and, from time to time, by Private Message (PM) on these boards. I will not be using real life emails. Based on a suggestion from last year, I will attempt to have Strat-o-Matic assist us with "banner" notices on the main online gaming pages.
-By invoking closure on the time to enter events, we should be able to herd us cats into a more compressed group, with everyone more or less completing each event at pretty much the same time. Many managers said to me that they would prefer it if there wasn't such a time lag for events to be completed. It should be mean needing fewer fillers for events, also. With just a little extra maintenance by strat-o-matic and myself, this should make the leaderboard on the main event page more interesting and meaningful, as well.
I will publish details on event timelines in a separate post. The overall goal is to start the tournament soon, and to keep the events rolling more like clockwork this year."
Here are the additional details:
Event 1 - will start imminently. Deadline for entry - July 2.
Event 2 - will start June 25. Deadline for entry- August 20. This is effectively the tournament entry deadline.
Event 3 - will start July 16. Deadline for entry September 10.
Event 4 - will start August 20. Deadline for entry September 24.
Event 5 - will start September 24. Deadline for entry October 22.
Players are expected to enter 1 team, and 1 team only in each event. Each "event" will have many leagues, to accomodate the large number of players. So event 1 will have leagues 1 through 12 (or so), in order to include 1 team from each of the participants. But you only enter JUST ONE team in each EVENT - not one team in each league. Just one team for each event.
Entry deadlines will be strictly imposed. The Commissioner retains the right to invoke closure on an event entries. We will try to avoid fillers as much as possible, although some fillers will be necessary. Leagues will be set-up as private leagues with password protection. To keep things simple and moving along, the passwords will be posted in the discussion thread set up for each league. The main idea is to prevent accidental team entries for players who are not participating in the tournament. If someone has difficulty entering a password protected private league, please post this on this Q&A thread, and we will attempt to find a solution for you that works.
Re summer holidays and long vacations - I have deliberately set long timeliness for events 1 and 2 so that people can fit their entries in around their summer schedules.
Please note that it is expected that all tournament participants are being asked to commit to make entries in all 5 tournaments. Failure to make an entry in one event does not disqualify someone, but we are asking that each person try to enter teams in all 5 events, as part of their commitment to the tournament. As further incentives, players who enter all 5 events will get 5 bonus points. Plus, players can use their top scores for the top 4 out of their 5 events. So, if a player had teams entered in events 1 through 5 with the following scores - 80, 90, 75, 110, and 65, his combined score would be 355 for his best 4 events (80+90+75+110) plus 5 points for competing in all 5 events, for a total of 360 points. If, instead, he had missed event 3, his score would be 345 (80+90+110+65, and no bonus 5 points, since he did not enter all 5 events).
Point System / Tiebreakers
- 1 point for each regular season win
- 3 points for winning a regular season division title
- 3 points for winning the wild card position
- 2 additional points for making the finals
- 3 additional points for winning a league championship
- 5 bonus points for participating in all 5 events.
Tiebreakers
1. Championships won
2. Finals made
3. Playoffs made
4. Regular season total wins
5. No. of events played
6. Pick 3 winner
Ballpark Requirement
- A player must not re-use a ballpark. For example, if he used Fenway in Event 1, he may not use Fenway in events 2 or 3, nor may he use Fenway in the playoff round.
- There can be more than 1 player using the same ballpark in the same event and/or league. For example, player X and player Y may both use Fenway in event 1 league 1. In theory, the same ballpark could be used by all 12 teams in any league or event. The prohibition relates to the same player using the same ballpark. ***EXCEPTION*** - Event 5 will have a live ballpark draft on these boards, as well as a live 1 round player draft. The draft order is [UPDATE] serpentine, and will be based on the number of points earned in event 1. So event 1 serves an extra purpose this year, by establishing the draft order for event 5. Event 5 (only) will also have players assigned to particular leagues, based on event 1 points earned. Please note that this exception means that there will be unique ballparks for each league in event 5 - it still doesn't mean that any player can re-use a park previously used by him in a prior league.
- A player who is acting as a "filler" for a particular event and league should also refrain from using that ballpark in any other event or league. So, a player acting as a filler should avoid using a ballpark that he may want to use for an active team in a separate event.
- If a player re-uses a ballpark, there will be a 20 point penalty.
Events
Event 1: $80M, DH #1
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
regular set - NOT unleashed
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Event 2: $60M, No DH
**24 team league**
**unleashed set** - to increase the available player pool for the 24 team league
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
DH Rule: No
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 10%
Event 3: $80M, no DH
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: No
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
not unleashed
Event 4: $80M, DH
unleashed set
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Event 5: $100M, "Unleashed" Player Set
Salary Cap: $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
2 round draft - one round for ballpark, 1 round for 1 player - draft order based on event 1 standings - see above, UPDATE - DRAFT WILL BE SERPENTINE
Playoffs
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in 3 leagues of 12
(All 12 playoffs qualifiers advance to Champions League)
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
not unleashed
Champions League ("Unleashed" player set)
the 12 Semi-Finals playoffs qualifiers in a single 12-team league
Salary Cap: $80,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Subject to the commissioner's final discretion, it is intended that for the semi-finals, there will be a live draft for the ballpark only (not for player drafts). Not only will the re-use of ballparks from events 1-5 be prohibited for the semi-finals, but furthermore, we will require use of unique ballparks for the semi-final round, and the finals. The order of drafting in both the semi-finals and the finals will be based on the point scoring in events 1-5. The drafts will NOT be serpentine for the finals - i.e. the draft order will be repeated in each round. These "seeding" rules for the draft order provide an incentive and a reward for the managers who finish with the highest scores in events 1 through 5.
Re ballparks in semi-finals:
Since each semi-finalist will have already used 5 different ballparks in events 1-5, they may not re-use those ballparks in the semi-finals. So, if a manager is picking 12th for the live ballpark draft in the semi-finals, they will have to choose from one of the 14 remaining ballparks (30 minus 5, minus 11 ballparks already drafted in that semi-final event).
Re ballparks in the finals
Same as for the semi-finals, except they also cannot re-use the ballpark that they used in the semi-finals, so that they can choose from one of the remaining 13 ballparks.
Finals player/ballpark draft
The finals will use a live player/ballpark draft, consisting of 4 rounds, with round 1 being for the ballparks. Each player must draft a ballpark.
Penalties
Ballpark penalty in playoffs/fair play at any time/commissioner's discretion
Failure to observe the rules against re-using ballparks in the playoffs (or any other rules, or fair play, at the commissioner's discretion at any time in the tournament), may result in disqualification from the tournament. The playoff ballpark penalty is in effect, whether or not it is noticed early or later. However, if the error is detected early enough to be corrected before the beginning of league play, then the disqualification penalty may not apply, at the commissioner's discretion. Please note that "fair play" penalties will only be invoked in very extreme circumstances. To date in my tenure as commissioner, there have been no fair play penalties, and I don't expect to ever see any.
There is no "super reliever" penalty
Other
Communication
All communication and signups are held on the Players' Championship forum, and by private messages. External emails will not be used. The only monetary requirement is to purchase your required number of teams.
Qualifying Events
The tournament will consist of Five (5) Qualifying Events that will be used to rank managers. Every manager must play in at least four of the tournament Events to be eligible to compete in the Semi-Finals round and Champions League. The rankings will be based on each manager's cumulative score. If you have played all five events, your lowest event score will be dropped when compiling your overall cumulative total. If you only play in four of the events, you will not be eligible to drop your lowest event score.
Semi-Finals round
After all 5 Events are completed, the top 36 ranked tournament managers will play in 3 leagues of 12 teams each in the Semi-Finals round. The 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs (4 from each of the 3 leagues) will advance to the
Other content from the main tournament page:
Champions League
The 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs in the Semi-Finals round (4 from each of the 3 leagues) will advance to the Champions League, which is a single 12-team league. The winner of the Finals in this league will be crowned as the tournament champion.
Use of Fillers
Some qualifying leagues for an event will need "fillers" due to the fact that we won't have an even numbered membership (divisible by 12) and we will probably have some "dropouts" during the season. "Fillers" are non-tournament players who will play in the qualifying league for the sheer joy of competition; "Fillers" can also be tournament players who will play in an extra league just to fill out the league but whose score for that league will not count towards their official tournament standings. For such filler players only their first team entered in a round will count for points.
PRIZES
See tournament main page for prizes!
Playoff Schedule:
The Semi-Finals (see description on posts below) will commence with a "check in" and live ballpark draft, commencing January 15 (or sooner), with the auto draft occurring on or before January 25.
The check-in and live draft for the finals (see below) will commence on April 15, and conclude by April 25 (or sooner).
*************************************************************
Please post your questions here, on this thread!
Welcome to the official Player's Championship Tournament for the very best baseball strategy game ever!!!!
(2013 Season Player Set)
Official tourney page: http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/tournament/20
The 2014 tournament will have 5 events, and a 2 round playoff. In the playoff, the top 36 managers will play in 3 twelve team leagues. The playoff teams from those 3 leagues will become eligible for the final 12 team league. The champion from that final league becomes the tournament champion, and the other finalist becomes the runner up for the tournament.
The score for the "round robin" will be the sum of the best 4 scores out of the 5 events. This provides several benefits for the tournament:
-if someone misses event 1 but still wants to join up for event 2, they can do that, and still have a very realistic chance of making the playoffs.
-if someone joins for event 1 but misses one of events 2-5, they aren't completely "sunk".
-if someone enters all 5 events, but just "boots" one of them, they aren't sunk by that either.
-As a side-bar to the above, this will allow me to invoke closure on entering events with a little more of an iron fist. When you have only 4 events and they all count, it's hard to do that, since it effectively eliminates that manager from the tournament. With the best 4 of 5 counting, you still have a realistic shot at making the playoffs even if you miss an event.
-IMPORTANT - all communication will be done on these message boards, and, from time to time, by Private Message (PM) on these boards. I will not be using real life emails. Based on a suggestion from last year, I will attempt to have Strat-o-Matic assist us with "banner" notices on the main online gaming pages.
-By invoking closure on the time to enter events, we should be able to herd us cats into a more compressed group, with everyone more or less completing each event at pretty much the same time. Many managers said to me that they would prefer it if there wasn't such a time lag for events to be completed. It should be mean needing fewer fillers for events, also. With just a little extra maintenance by strat-o-matic and myself, this should make the leaderboard on the main event page more interesting and meaningful, as well.
I will publish details on event timelines in a separate post. The overall goal is to start the tournament soon, and to keep the events rolling more like clockwork this year."
Here are the additional details:
Event 1 - will start imminently. Deadline for entry - July 2.
Event 2 - will start June 25. Deadline for entry- August 20. This is effectively the tournament entry deadline.
Event 3 - will start July 16. Deadline for entry September 10.
Event 4 - will start August 20. Deadline for entry September 24.
Event 5 - will start September 24. Deadline for entry October 22.
Players are expected to enter 1 team, and 1 team only in each event. Each "event" will have many leagues, to accomodate the large number of players. So event 1 will have leagues 1 through 12 (or so), in order to include 1 team from each of the participants. But you only enter JUST ONE team in each EVENT - not one team in each league. Just one team for each event.
Entry deadlines will be strictly imposed. The Commissioner retains the right to invoke closure on an event entries. We will try to avoid fillers as much as possible, although some fillers will be necessary. Leagues will be set-up as private leagues with password protection. To keep things simple and moving along, the passwords will be posted in the discussion thread set up for each league. The main idea is to prevent accidental team entries for players who are not participating in the tournament. If someone has difficulty entering a password protected private league, please post this on this Q&A thread, and we will attempt to find a solution for you that works.
Re summer holidays and long vacations - I have deliberately set long timeliness for events 1 and 2 so that people can fit their entries in around their summer schedules.
Please note that it is expected that all tournament participants are being asked to commit to make entries in all 5 tournaments. Failure to make an entry in one event does not disqualify someone, but we are asking that each person try to enter teams in all 5 events, as part of their commitment to the tournament. As further incentives, players who enter all 5 events will get 5 bonus points. Plus, players can use their top scores for the top 4 out of their 5 events. So, if a player had teams entered in events 1 through 5 with the following scores - 80, 90, 75, 110, and 65, his combined score would be 355 for his best 4 events (80+90+75+110) plus 5 points for competing in all 5 events, for a total of 360 points. If, instead, he had missed event 3, his score would be 345 (80+90+110+65, and no bonus 5 points, since he did not enter all 5 events).
Point System / Tiebreakers
- 1 point for each regular season win
- 3 points for winning a regular season division title
- 3 points for winning the wild card position
- 2 additional points for making the finals
- 3 additional points for winning a league championship
- 5 bonus points for participating in all 5 events.
Tiebreakers
1. Championships won
2. Finals made
3. Playoffs made
4. Regular season total wins
5. No. of events played
6. Pick 3 winner
Ballpark Requirement
- A player must not re-use a ballpark. For example, if he used Fenway in Event 1, he may not use Fenway in events 2 or 3, nor may he use Fenway in the playoff round.
- There can be more than 1 player using the same ballpark in the same event and/or league. For example, player X and player Y may both use Fenway in event 1 league 1. In theory, the same ballpark could be used by all 12 teams in any league or event. The prohibition relates to the same player using the same ballpark. ***EXCEPTION*** - Event 5 will have a live ballpark draft on these boards, as well as a live 1 round player draft. The draft order is [UPDATE] serpentine, and will be based on the number of points earned in event 1. So event 1 serves an extra purpose this year, by establishing the draft order for event 5. Event 5 (only) will also have players assigned to particular leagues, based on event 1 points earned. Please note that this exception means that there will be unique ballparks for each league in event 5 - it still doesn't mean that any player can re-use a park previously used by him in a prior league.
- A player who is acting as a "filler" for a particular event and league should also refrain from using that ballpark in any other event or league. So, a player acting as a filler should avoid using a ballpark that he may want to use for an active team in a separate event.
- If a player re-uses a ballpark, there will be a 20 point penalty.
Events
Event 1: $80M, DH #1
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
regular set - NOT unleashed
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Event 2: $60M, No DH
**24 team league**
**unleashed set** - to increase the available player pool for the 24 team league
Salary Cap: $60,000,000
DH Rule: No
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 10%
Event 3: $80M, no DH
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: No
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
not unleashed
Event 4: $80M, DH
unleashed set
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Event 5: $100M, "Unleashed" Player Set
Salary Cap: $100,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
2 round draft - one round for ballpark, 1 round for 1 player - draft order based on event 1 standings - see above, UPDATE - DRAFT WILL BE SERPENTINE
Playoffs
Semi-Finals
Top 36 Managers play in 3 leagues of 12
(All 12 playoffs qualifiers advance to Champions League)
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
not unleashed
Champions League ("Unleashed" player set)
the 12 Semi-Finals playoffs qualifiers in a single 12-team league
Salary Cap: $80,000,000
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 20% (standard)
Subject to the commissioner's final discretion, it is intended that for the semi-finals, there will be a live draft for the ballpark only (not for player drafts). Not only will the re-use of ballparks from events 1-5 be prohibited for the semi-finals, but furthermore, we will require use of unique ballparks for the semi-final round, and the finals. The order of drafting in both the semi-finals and the finals will be based on the point scoring in events 1-5. The drafts will NOT be serpentine for the finals - i.e. the draft order will be repeated in each round. These "seeding" rules for the draft order provide an incentive and a reward for the managers who finish with the highest scores in events 1 through 5.
Re ballparks in semi-finals:
Since each semi-finalist will have already used 5 different ballparks in events 1-5, they may not re-use those ballparks in the semi-finals. So, if a manager is picking 12th for the live ballpark draft in the semi-finals, they will have to choose from one of the 14 remaining ballparks (30 minus 5, minus 11 ballparks already drafted in that semi-final event).
Re ballparks in the finals
Same as for the semi-finals, except they also cannot re-use the ballpark that they used in the semi-finals, so that they can choose from one of the remaining 13 ballparks.
Finals player/ballpark draft
The finals will use a live player/ballpark draft, consisting of 4 rounds, with round 1 being for the ballparks. Each player must draft a ballpark.
Penalties
Ballpark penalty in playoffs/fair play at any time/commissioner's discretion
Failure to observe the rules against re-using ballparks in the playoffs (or any other rules, or fair play, at the commissioner's discretion at any time in the tournament), may result in disqualification from the tournament. The playoff ballpark penalty is in effect, whether or not it is noticed early or later. However, if the error is detected early enough to be corrected before the beginning of league play, then the disqualification penalty may not apply, at the commissioner's discretion. Please note that "fair play" penalties will only be invoked in very extreme circumstances. To date in my tenure as commissioner, there have been no fair play penalties, and I don't expect to ever see any.
There is no "super reliever" penalty
Other
Communication
All communication and signups are held on the Players' Championship forum, and by private messages. External emails will not be used. The only monetary requirement is to purchase your required number of teams.
Qualifying Events
The tournament will consist of Five (5) Qualifying Events that will be used to rank managers. Every manager must play in at least four of the tournament Events to be eligible to compete in the Semi-Finals round and Champions League. The rankings will be based on each manager's cumulative score. If you have played all five events, your lowest event score will be dropped when compiling your overall cumulative total. If you only play in four of the events, you will not be eligible to drop your lowest event score.
Semi-Finals round
After all 5 Events are completed, the top 36 ranked tournament managers will play in 3 leagues of 12 teams each in the Semi-Finals round. The 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs (4 from each of the 3 leagues) will advance to the
Other content from the main tournament page:
Champions League
The 12 teams that qualify for the playoffs in the Semi-Finals round (4 from each of the 3 leagues) will advance to the Champions League, which is a single 12-team league. The winner of the Finals in this league will be crowned as the tournament champion.
Use of Fillers
Some qualifying leagues for an event will need "fillers" due to the fact that we won't have an even numbered membership (divisible by 12) and we will probably have some "dropouts" during the season. "Fillers" are non-tournament players who will play in the qualifying league for the sheer joy of competition; "Fillers" can also be tournament players who will play in an extra league just to fill out the league but whose score for that league will not count towards their official tournament standings. For such filler players only their first team entered in a round will count for points.
PRIZES
See tournament main page for prizes!
Playoff Schedule:
The Semi-Finals (see description on posts below) will commence with a "check in" and live ballpark draft, commencing January 15 (or sooner), with the auto draft occurring on or before January 25.
The check-in and live draft for the finals (see below) will commence on April 15, and conclude by April 25 (or sooner).
*************************************************************
Please post your questions here, on this thread!
Welcome to the official Player's Championship Tournament for the very best baseball strategy game ever!!!!