Avengers League 2012

[mattbib]

Welcome to the seventh annual Avengers League.

Avengers League is a strategy-based game where players draft teams of Avengers characters to do battle in a tournament. Matches are scheduled and the players submit strategies for how their teams would be able to beat their opponents' teams. The strategies are posted and forum posters vote for the strategy they feel is most likely to succeed. This year, teams will battle in a double-elimination tournament until all but one team is eliminated and is crowned Avengers League champion!

There are eight spots open in the 2012 Tournament. All posters interested in competing must sign-up in this thread. Preference is given to prior participants who have never forfeited. Remaining spots will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be aware of the time commitment involved. If you're unsure of your ability to commit, then I'd suggest teaming up with another poster. The sign-up period concludes on July 22, or when all eight are filled, and The Draft will commence on July 23. If there is sufficient interest the number of spots may be increased from eight to sixteen, but only if there is enough interest to fill all eight additional spots.

Please sign-up and feel free to ask any questions about Avengers League 2012 in this thread. Please keep all inter-participant dialogue to the Trash-Talking Fun thread.

The Draft List is also different from last year and point values and power levels will be open for debate until the draft begins.

Avengers League 2012 Participants/Draft Order/Teams

1. Valeria Kementari & Daniel Mengsk ***CHAMPION***
   Moondragon (2), Wiccan (3), Lightspeed, Hercules
2. wolvie616 ***Eliminated Game D***
   Captain Marvel (Danvers), Thing, Quicksilver, Venom (Thompson), Wolverine, Aleta (2)
3. Royal Flush ***Eliminated Game C**
   Human Torch, Doctor Strange (3), Protector (2), Spider-Woman
4. Whim ***Eliminated Game E***
   She-Hulk (Walters), Hulk (4), Mantis, Iron Fist
5. ChaZ X ***Eliminated Game 8***
   Invisible Woman, Speed, Captain Britain, Thor (4)
6. KJ Stewart ***Forfeited Game A***
   Scarlet Witch (3), Hawkeye (Barton), Starfox, Iron Man (2)
7. sportsguy831 ***Eliminated Game F***
   Vision, Wonder Man, Hulkling, Hazmat, Finesse, Black Panther, She-Hulk (Lyra)
8. Justin K. ***Eliminated Game B***
   Thor (Ragnarok, 2), War Machine (2), Sersi (3)

Avengers League 2011 Thread
Avengers League 2010 Thread

[mattbib]

Sign-Ups: June 18 – July 22
Once the annual tournament is announced on June 18, 2012 there will be a few weeks before the draft begins. Hopeful participants may sign-up in this thread. All hopeful participants should seriously consider the time involved before signing up.

The Draft: July 24
The Draft will begin Tuesday, July 24 at approximately 10AM EST. Participants will be able to draft up to seven character spots from the Draft List. Note that some characters are valued at more than one character spot. The draft order is randomly chosen, and reverses with each new round. The draft is continuous until it is completed.

Live Drafting
Participants are given five minutes from the preceding participant's pick to post their own next pick. If a participant does not post their draft pick within their allotted five minutes they may be skipped, and the next participant's five minutes begin.

Wish List Drafting
Participants may Private Message (PM) me their draft wish list to me before each round if they're unsure of their availability. List your poster name, the League name and the Draft Round(s) as the subject of your PM (i.e. "mattbib Avengers League Draft Round 2 wish list"). Wish lists should list characters in the order you'd like to obtain them and should include the number of characters equal to your position in the draft order (i.e. if you have fourteenth pick you should list fourteen characters). Upon completion of a round, as I receive wish lists I will post each participants' pick for the new round using the first available character from their wish list. If I have not received a wish list from a participant for the next round, I will draft the next available character from their list for the previous round.

Alternately, if I have not yet posted a draft pick, participants may post their own picks for that round directly in the draft thread, in draft order, even if they've submitted a wish list, even changing from their wish list pick.

Getting Skipped
If there are no available characters from a participant's most recent Wish List they will be skipped.

Since draft rounds will begin immediately after the preceding round has finished, participants should PM their new wish lists (if they wish to use a revised list) immediately after each of their previous draft picks have been posted.

NOTE: As it's possible that five minutes may pass without me being able to post a participant's wish list pick, we will only skip participants on my say so.

Skipped participants may then post their pick for that round at any time, so long as their character has not been taken by another player.

Forfeit
Any participant who misses two draft rounds in a row without providing their draft picks for those rounds later in the same day will forfeit their spot in the tournament.

Draft Order
This year's draft order will be randomly chosen on July 19.

Trades and Free Agency: July 24-27
Immediately following the final round of the draft, players may trade characters of same status and value with each other. In order to trade characters, both parties must Private Message (PM) me approving the trade. The PM must include the name of the other party and the character that they've agreed to trade. The trade goes into effect once I receive both PMs.

Players may also PM trade requests for characters still on the draft list. PMs for draft list trades must include which character you want and which you're giving up. These will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis.

All trading must be completed before 3PM EDT on Friday, July 27.

Regular Season: Begins August 13
The eight (8) teams will play in a double-elimination tournament comprised of two brackets. Teams remain in the winners bracket until their first loss, upon which they move to the losers bracket. A team is eliminated upon their second loss.

Playoffs
The top team of each bracket will play each other in a Final round. If after this round, the loser has suffered only their first loss, a second Final round will be held.

Battles
Battles are scheduled and each team will fight approximately once a week. Teams will be battling until the opposing team cannot continue. Team members will have their last known standard powers levels (or, if they're dead, their standard power levels when they were alive) and will be assumed to be fighting in character. For example, Anti-Vision can be written using lethal force, but Hawkeye would not. The battles will take place in a barren battlefield, unless an alternate location is announced, and teams are allowed to carry into the battle whatever equipment they normally have with them. They begin the battle 100 meters away from and in clear sight of the opposing team. Players cannot leave the battlefield unless to do so is necessary to utilize a character's powers (i.e. teleporters, etc.). Beyond that use your imagination.

Strategies
The day prior to each match, players will PM their teams' strategies to the league administrator, who will post them in a thread devoted to the appropriate match, on CBR's Avengers forum. Strategies must be no longer than 10,000 characters, including format tags. PMs are limited to 5,000 characters so, if sending two PMs for a single strategy, label them Parts 1 and 2 . A team that does not submit a strategy will lose that match and forfeit their spot in the tournament, offering their team up to a new player.

A note about imagination: Strategies will be judged on believability and creativity. While there is a great deal of liberty how the match will play out, unfair and out-of-character tactics are not allowed. One-time feats done in the comics will be considered, but the ordinary feat levels demonstrated by a character will be more strongly weighted. Try to rely on information gleaned from primary sources (the comics) before secondary sources (wikipedia and fansites). Ultimately not everyone will have encyclopedic knowledge of the Avengers, but just do your best.

Lastly, after each match, team players are assumed to be revived and ready for the next match.

Voting
Participants and spectators may vote in each match. All voters should use the poll included in each match thread, and vote solely on a team's strategy and defense. The voting polls will remain open for 24-hours. NOTE: To prevent unfair ballot-stuffing, only votes from posters with 50 or more posts will be counted. Additionally, votes from posters with matching IP addresses will be disqualified.

Participants may question each other's strategies and offer retorts during a match so long as they stay civil. Spectators may also question the participants. However explanations may not contradict or embellish the posted strategy. Voting should not be based on any potential that characters possess or on any other moves that a voter might want to interject on their own. All voters should feel free to comment on why they've voted for a specific team.

To maintain fairness across the board, teams with two or more participants will only be allowed one vote in any match. If more than one member of a team votes in a match, only the first vote from that team will be counted.

Additionally, while encouraging friends or family to vote in the tournament is allowed, encouraging others to vote specifically for you is against the rules and is grounds for disqualification. Friends and family are expected to read both strategies and make a decision based on what is presented; not based on allegiance to a particular participant. All voting should be done without bias.

Bannings
Any player who is permanently banned is also banned from the Avengers League. Anyone who is temporarily banned may remain in the League so long as their banishment does not disrupt the League schedule or prohibit them from submitting strategies. Posters may not vote during their banishment.

[mattbib]

Announcement & Sign-Ups: Monday, June 18 - Sunday, July 22

The Draft: Tuesday, July 24

Free Trading: July 24-27

Week 1: Las Vegas
Monday, August 13 -- Game 1: wolvie616 vs. ChaZ X
Tuesday, August 14 -- Game 2: KJ Stewart vs. sportsguy831
Wednesday, August 15 -- Game 3: Valeria Kementari & Daniel Mengsk vs. Whim
Thursday, August 16 -- Game 4: Justin K. vs. Royal Flush

Week 2: Washington, D.C.
Monday, August 20 -- Game 5: wolvie616 vs. sportsguy831
Tuesday, August 21 -- Game 6: Valeria Kementari & Daniel Mengsk vs. Royal Flush
Wednesday, August 22 -- Game A: ChaZ X vs. KJ Stewart
Thursday, August 23 -- Game B: Whim vs. Justin K.

Week 3: London
Monday, August 27 -- Game 7 (Semi-Final): sportsguy831 vs. Valeria Kementari & Daniel Mengsk
Tuesday, August 28 -- Game C: Royal Flush vs. ChaZ X
Wednesday, August 29 -- Game D: wolvie616 vs. Whim

Week 4: Florida
Tuesday, September 4 -- Game E: ChaZ X vs. Whim

Week 5: Paris
Monday, September 10 -- Game F (Semi-Final): sportsguy831 vs. ChaZ X

Week 6: New York City -- Final
Monday, September 17 -- Game 8: Valeria Kementari & Daniel Mengsk vs. ChaZ X

Week 7: -- Final (If required)
Monday, September 24 -- Game 9 (Final):

[ChaZ X]

I would like to sign up for a spot please

[Valeria Kementari]

Moghedien & Mengsk will take a spot as well

[Daniel Mengsk]

I just felt my soul leave my body...um, I mean yup, sign us up please bib.... :)

[Valeria Kementari]

I just felt my soul leave my body...um, I mean yup, sign us up please bib.... :)

so on which battle will you bail on me? Let's start the bidding people! I have number 3!

(no new trash-talk thread yet ¬¬)

[Daniel Mengsk]

so on which battle will you bail on me? Let's start the bidding people! I have number 3!

(no new trash-talk thread yet ¬¬)

Oh, let's not talk about such unpleasantries dearie, please.

[Justin K.]

I'm going solo, sign me up!

[Justin K.]

so on which battle will you bail on me? Let's start the bidding people! I have number 3!

(no new trash-talk thread yet ¬¬)

After the first loss. For a month, he'll then disappear.

[Royal Flush]

Sign me up solo please

[Daniel Mengsk]

This year, teams will battle in a double-elimination tournament until all but one team is eliminated and is crowned Avengers League champion!

Is this new?

[wolvie616]

That's not new.

I'll be happy to sign up! I feel good about things this year!

[mattbib]

Is this new?

Nope, I've pretty much always done double-elimination.

[Daniel Mengsk]

Nope, I've pretty much always done double-elimination.

Ah okay, I never understand these things and just move with the flow, lol. Are you going to have some special limitations on this League like you had on Mutant League? That worked pretty well, it was fun taking the dampening field into account.