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December 8, 2004
League Play arrives online Saturday, December 11th. Leagues are a great way to engage in some competitive play (complete with prize support!) without having to plan your life around scheduled event times. Leagues also feature two unique elements of play that you won't find in any casual or tournament game: customizable League Cards and the Race to Mount Doom rules!
How do I join a League? Is there a cost? Can I play in multiple Leagues?
The 'League Play' button in the Main Lobby (the Rohan-themed button) will take you to the League Lobby. Here, you will see three groups of queues (similar in appearance to the Sanctioned Tournament Lobby queues).
At the top you will see 'Waiting Leagues' [#1 in the image above]. These queues behave like on-demand tournaments; people join up and once the specified number of players join (8 for most Leagues) a new League is born! One important difference between the Waiting League queues and the on-demand tournament queues is that, if you join a Waiting League you can leave the lobby/log off/fall down a pit fighting a Balrog and 'die' only to come back in cooler robes and you won't be dropped from the Waiting Queue (unless you choose to leave the queue, that is). So you can sign up for a soon-to-be-formed League and not have to wait around in the lobby for it to start.
The other option is to join an existing League -- you'll find these in the middle set of queues of the League Lobby [#2 in the image]. You can join a League at ANY time -- even if it's in its last week (not recommended). If you join a League past the 1st Week, you'll get your games per week from the weeks you missed added to your available total... we'll get into games per week later. Long story short: you can join a League late and, with some vigilant playing, catch up to the other players.
The last set of queues in the League Lobby shows Leagues you are in [#3 in the image above]. So for those of you who have asked: yes, you can be in multiple Leagues at the same time. It's worth noting that each League is entirely distinct from the others. That is to say, League Card modifications made in League A don't carry over to League B and your score in League C has zero impact on League D.
Participating in a League requires Event Passes and, in the case of Sealed Leagues, a Starter Deck of your choice. At the Conclusion of the last week of the League, all players earn Booster packs based on their rankings.
How will League games be played? How do I find opponents?
Leagues behave much like casual games: you and your opponent decide when to play your games. Each League has its own League Room that looks like the Casual Lobby. In these League Rooms you can chat with other players and challenge them to games. You can also be challenged but you are always free to decline a challenge with no penalty (unless of course you spent the last 10 minutes talking about how you are the greatest player in the history of the universe, in which case, the penalty might be some well-earned comeuppance).
League games are scored in a similar fashion to tournaments -- 3 points for a win, 1 point for a loss. Each week you'll get to play 5 games for points. If you don't play all of these games, they carry over to the following weeks (and should you join late, you get the games from the week(s) you missed added to your available number). You can play any number of games you want after you've played your scored games. These excess games earn you tiebreaker points (3 for a win, -1 for a loss). In the event that you and another player share the same score, tiebreaker points resolve the matter.
It’s worth noting that a draw results in no points for either player nor does it count as a scored game for either player. So, if you and your opponent are willing, you can call a draw at any time and (if the other player accepts the draw) replay the game – an option you don’t normally have in a tournament.
You are free to play any opponent you would like. To minimize collusion and to make sure that people branch out and meet new opponents, you cannot play more than 1 scored game against the same person in one week. You can rematch for tiebreaker points but you'll have to wait until next week for proper vengeance. In low-population Leagues, this rule is relaxed due to the fact that, if there are only 7 or so other players in your League, scheduling 5 games in a week against unique opponents can be hard to do (unless you all have the same schedule for playing). In small leagues, you can play opponents 2 or 3 times in one week (depending on size) for points.
At the end of the last week of a League, all points are compared, ties are resolved via tiebreaker points and Prize Support is given out.
The Forums will make finding opponents for Leagues a little easier. We'll open a League Forum where players can offer up challenges and make appointments to meet online.
How long do Leagues take to play?
Leagues run for 6 weeks on average with 5 games per week (so about 30 games over a month and a half).
Most Leagues will have a time limit of 50 minutes on games.
You don't have to log in every day, or even every week to play all your games and do well. Of course, frequent players will get more tiebreaker points and learn more about their opponents. A week of League play is equivalent to a 5-round tournament stretched across 7 days. If you want to play something more than casual games but have very little free time, Leagues are definitely the answer!
What play formats will be used in a League?
For our initial launch of Leagues, we will have Standard Constructed, War of the Ring Block Sealed and Fellowship Block Sealed. As time goes by we will switch up the play formats available.
Will Leagues affect my Overall, Standard or Sealed Ratings?
NO. Leagues have zero impact on your Online Ratings for good or for ill.
What's the deal with League Cards? How do you get them? How many are there? How do they work?
League play features special Online-only customizable character cards. These are companions and minions that can be improved as you play games! Each time you play a game you will earn 3 League Character Points if you win vs. an opponent with equal or greater score, 2 League Character Points if you win vs. an opponent with a lower score and 1 League Character Point for a loss (Draws and Tie-breakers yield no League Character Points). Players who have very high scores earn less League Character points unless they challenge other high-scoring players.
Between games you can go into your League Deck Builder and purchase abilities for your League Cards! Each League card has a set of upgrades (strength bonuses, twilight cost reductions, signets, special abilities and more) with various League Character Point costs.
Modifications to League Cards apply only to a particular League. So if you put 20 points into your Frodo, Mr. Underhill card in League A, and then you joined League B your Frodo, Mr. Underhill would be back to normal. So when your League starts, don't worry about a veteran from another League having an unfair advantage from super-strong League Cards.
At the time of release there will be 13 League Cards, one from each pre-War Block culture.
The League Cards will be relatively rare cards. You get a League Card when you join your first League and you get another card for every other League you join. Fellowship Members can also get League Cards by opting to receive a random League Card each month. Keep an eye out for special promotion and prizes to earn League Cards. One way will be to join a League on Release Day -- doing so earns you a random foil League Card!
Look for exclusive physical version of certain League Cards available through upcoming promotions!
What's all this Race to Mount Doom stuff?
The Race to Mount Doom rules are special League-only rules to add more flavor and strategy to your game. Some Leagues will use these rules, some will not and whether or not a given League uses these rules will be made clear in the League Lobby.
When these rules are in effect, players start the game on the 1st of nine Race to Mount Doom sites. These are not to be mistaken with sites on the adventure path -- your fellowship travels down those sites, you (the player) travel down the Race to Mount Doom sites. Each site has game text that applies to all games played while you are at that site. Some possible game texts include: "Each time your fellowship moves, you may draw a card" or "Shadow: Play a possession to make the Free Peoples player exert a companion.”
Your Race to Mount Doom site appears in your support area during games (though it is not technically a support area card and cannot be targeted) and, if the site offers a phase action or optional response, it will hint in your support area when usable.
Each 5 points you score moves you forward to the next site until you reach site 9, at which point you stop moving. In general, earlier Race to Mount Doom sites have generally beneficial effects and later sites have generally disadvantageous effects. Race to Mount Doom rules will give a slight edge to underdog players and an added challenge to the front-runners of a League.
Will the Race to Mount Doom rules be used in Sealed Leagues?
The Race to Mount Doom rules will be available in Sealed Leagues. A few of the Race to Mount Doom sites provide deck building challenges by making a certain culture difficult to use or especially useful if used in an unorthodox way. Since a Sealed League player has little ability to build around these sites, certain Race to Mount Doom texts will not appear in Sealed Leagues.
We are pleased to offer Leagues in just a couple of days! With our global player base it's sometimes hard for people of different time zones to regularly attend scheduled events and we have countless players who want something more involved than the casual lobby but less competitive than tournaments. Leagues kill two Goblin Runners with one Aragorn as they offer scored games that you play at your convenience! Leagues are a great way to meet new players, form friendly rivalries and learn new ways to build your deck and play your cards. Add to the mix customizable League Cards that slowly grow in strength as you put effort into your League and Race to Mount Doom sites that bring new conditions to the game and you've got an amazing way to play The Lord Of The Rings Online TCG like never before!
See you all on Saturday!
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