Getting close to the final round

Hi all, long time no speak - I'm still here sitting back and watching our semi-finals while competing in the Players and Daily tournaments.

Well we have some very interesting possibilities as we come close to the end of the semi-finals. Semi-final league 1 is particularly interesting as there could be a couple of playoff teams not in the top 10 that could earn an automatic spot in the finals by winning the league.

Here is a reminder of the rules for the finals as we get closer - in particular I want to remind everyone we are using a live draft for the finals, and the Mystery set to be used is the ONLY item we will be voting on - everything else is pre-determined based on the results of last year's vote. Let me know if you have any questions - here are the details:

The top 10 teams in the cumulative standings after the 6th round will move on to the championship finals. The two teams that win the championships in the semi-final round automatically go the championship final regardless of where they are positioned within the top 24 after 6 rounds. If one of the semi-final champions is in the top 10 (a scenario that is very likely) then the 11th place team in the cumulative standings after 6 rounds moves on to the 12 team championship final. If both of the semi-final champions are in the top 10 (a scenario that is very possible) then the 12th place team in the cumulative standings after 6 rounds moves on to the 12 team champions final. The Championship final league will use a LIVE DRAFT which is scheduled to take place at 9:30 PM Eastern time on Thursday August 18th. Everyone knows now when the Live Draft is scheduled for, so please make note of this. If there are multiple people in the top 12 that cannot make the date/time of the draft, the commissioner will try and re-schedule to a more agreeable time but no promises can be made that this can be accommodated. If a Live Draft time just cannot be determined / set based on availability, a 6 round snake draft will take place on the Discussion Forum and then an auto-draft will take place to fill out the rest of the rosters. Order of the draft will be determined by the final standings, and the set used will be voted on by the top 12. The set being used is the ONLY item being voted on. Each owner gets 2 votes, 2 points for their #1 pick and 1 point for their #2 pick - highest point total wins. All other items voted on last year will not be voted on and will be the same as last year: DH will be used unless 60's is the set chosen; 80 million is the salary cap; unique stadiums (to be picked as part of the draft); repeat stadiums from your previous rounds allowed; divisions randomly determined; live draft pick length is 120 seconds.

I just wanted to point out as well that there are playoff bonus points being given out for this semi-final round as well, just like in the first 5 rounds. So the teams making the playoffs will get a boost in points from that as well, and could cause a shift in the standings even if we don't have a team outside the top 10 that wins a championship to earn an automatic spot in the finals. Also, final rank order does determine the draft order of the live draft, but not for divisions placement - divisions will be random.

Duck, Duck, Goose. With 3 regular season games left, the final 12 is nearly set. There are 3 teams competing for 2 spots in the finals: hallerose and Takanahana tied at 364, and Dan Gorman at 365. I'll mention sphilipp at 367 is in because he would win a tiebreak with hallerose. Hallerose and Takanahana play each other in the final series - if Takanahana wins the series then he is in. If hallerose and Gorman end up tied, then I think we need to go to some weird tiebreak like a coinflip. Takanahana is in the playoffs of the semis, so he won't be eliminated tomorrow no matter what happens.

I would like to put in a request for next year that whatever deck is used for the semis is excluded from voting for the finals. It is a Mystery Card Championship, not who is best at one of the decks.

I also would like to request seeding for divisions as well for next year. Not quite a reward for the 1-seed if they are dumped in a division with the 2 and 3 seeds, for example.

And, I say these things with excited anticipation of my participation in my first ever Finals. I would be interested to hear what the regular participants think about such things as well.

Thanks for your feedback jaywalker, I agree with you. I actually think maybe next year we randomly choose both the finals and semi-final sets and ensure they are different. I don't know that voting gains us much. I also think the divisions should be based on rank, but had decided to just use what was voted on last year (because I wanted minimal voting) so random won. This should change for next year.

10 teams have clinched a spot in the finals. Can we start voting? I'll mention that I will be on vacation on Aug 18 (13th-22) and unlikely I can do the live draft on that day, but I can probably set my draft lists before-hand and probably get 8 or so of my preferred players. Since the semis are the 80s, the first round of the playoffs will be completed on Wed. Aug. 3 and we will for sure know the 12 finalists. Actually, there is a greater than 50% chance we'll know the 12 finalists tonight (pending a possible coin flip). Depending on the outcome of the first round of the 80s playoffs, we could be very close to the final ranking already by Wednesday. Any chance we could move the live draft way up? Anyway, I love the live draft so much that I'd want the league to do it even if I'm unavailable.

10 teams have qualified for the finals. Dan Gorman and hallerose are tied at 366 and Takanahana is at 365, currently in 13th place. Dan Gorman and hallerose are not in the playoffs. Takanahana is in the playoffs; if Takanahana loses in the first round then Gorman and hallerose are both in. If Takanahana wins then Takanahana is in the finals. Either way, Gorman and hallerose need a tiebreaker either to determine who is in the finals or for ranking/draft order. The winner of the Gorman/hallerose tiebreak automatically qualifies for the finals.

For the tiebreaker, I'm going to wait and see whether it is for a spot in the final or just for ranking. What I do for a "coin flip" will depend on how much is on the line.