the International Convocation of Mages! awesome tournament format

[Sailor Vulcan]

Players can participate alone or in teams. There is no upper limit on the number of players per team, but each single player or team must have a minimum of 2 custom spellbooks and a maximum of 4.

Each spellbook can only be used in one game per match.

The number of games that have to be won to win a match is equal to the number of players on the smallest team. So if there's one opposing player, you have to win one game to win the match. If there are two opposing players, you have to win two games, etc.


Additional option: Spellbook Rotation

After winning a match, play another match against the same opponents but using THEIR spellbooks. All teams and single players switch spellbooks with their opponent(s) and proceed to play another match.



The great thing about this format IMO is that it lessens the impact of imbalances in the metagame on determining who's the greatest Mage Warrior! In a one spellbook per participant only meta, the wizard is dominating, at least in part because of his great flexibility. But the ICoM would make more specialized spellbooks meant to deal with particular kinds of matchups not only viable, but competitive on the same level as a spellbook meant to deal with all incomers! At least I hope it would.

What do you think?

[DaveW]

I don't understand what you are saying about the number of players on a team, or how many wins you need to win. Maybe an example would help. Are you, for example, saying that each team would have the same number of players, of could each team have a different number?

On the option:

I hate the idea of using someone else's spellbook. The are some styles that I'm more practiced in, enjoy more, etc. To be forced to play a defensive build when I'm offensive-inclined (or vice versa) would be horrible. In addition, we both would not be very familiar with the opponent's book.

Instead, I would suggest playing the same person, each using a different Mage / spellbook than in the first game.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Using someone else's spellbook is very challenging, yes. It would be about just as challenging for your opponents. It could be the ultimate test of the players' skill, to be able to figure out how to use someone else's spellbook that you're not necessarily familiar with. It would also be a way to inspire more creativity in deck builders.

Teams do not need to have the exact same number of players. Matches do. So, if you exclude the option, in a match where a team of two is facing a team of four, one of those teams will need to have 2 points to win.

In a match where a team of one is facing a team of two, one of those teams will need to have 1 point to win the match.

In a match where a team of three faces a team of three, one of those teams will need to have 3 points to win the match.

This is a correction from how I originally imagined it: Both game and match results are now calculated as scores. A win is +1, a loss is -1, and a draw is 0.

A match ends when every spellbook has been played in a game once, or when one of the teams has the number of points required to win the match. When the match ends, whichever team has the higher score wins the match, and adds 1 to their total score. The losing team subtracts 1 from their total score.

With the option, teams face against each other in a second match using their opponent's spellbooks. The players get to choose which of their opponent's spellbooks to play (if there's a disagreement, it's decided randomly). All teams would have separate scores for the regular matches and the rotation matches. At the end, the two scores will be added together, and the team with the highest score are the winners!