WoT CCG Tournament Rules
latest revision July 01, 2001

Official Tournament Types

There are two types of tournaments that can be run for the Wheel of Time Card Game: Sealed Deck and Constructed Deck.

Sealed Deck

Sealed Deck Tournaments are played with the Dragon Reborn (the Hero Deck) and Forsaken (the Villain Deck) Starter Decks, which can either be purchased at the location of the event or brought by players for purposes of competing in the tournament. The Judge will review all decks that are brought unwrapped to the tournament. In addition the Judge will allow players to open one or more booster packs from any card set that is currently available. A judge may allow the use of Cycles starting character cards, but must announce the allowance of these cards at the start of the tournament.

Trading

The Judge in charge of the tournament may choose to allow a trading session before play begins. Players may only trade with the cards they have obtained from opening any sealed booster packs they purchased for the event or Cycles cards. After any trading session, players should be given an amount of time (usually 10-15 minutes) to construct their deck. Their deck must conform to the standard deck construction requirement for tournament play (50 card minimum).

Constructed Deck

Constructed Deck Tournaments require that players use their own pre-constructed decks during the tournament. A pre-constructed deck must conform to the customizing your deck rules in the Wheel of Time Collectible Card Game. The minimum deck size for official Constructed Deck tournaments is 60 cards. To compete in an official Constructed Deck Tournament, a player must bring both a Hero Deck and a Villain Deck to the event.

Aiel Wars (constructed variant)

Aiel Wars uses the following changes/additions to the standard tournament rules, but otherwise plays as a standard tournament:

1. If a player begins the game with a Starting Advantage, it must be one of Chief's Chair, Maidens of the Spear, Sweat Tents, or Ji'e'toh.
2. Each deck (light and dark) must have at least 10 characters and 10 troops with the printed Aiel allegiance.
3. A Hero player may not play Couladin.

Deck Limitations

In both tournament types the following deck construction restrictions apply. A play deck may not consist of more than 50% character and troop cards. Minimum deck size for a sealed tournament is 50 cards, and the minimum deck size for a constructed tournament is 60 cards. Neither format allows for a reserve deck (or sideboard).

Dice

In all official Wheel of Time Tournaments, players must bring dice to the event. All dice must conform to the standard format, which appears on the sticker sheets that are included in the sealed Starter Decks. A player can request that the tournament Judge review dice being used by any of his opponents.

Running the Event

The Judge will pair up participants into 2 player games (see Expanded Set-Up rules below). In case of an odd number of players, the Judge will give one player a bye. No player in a tournament should get a bye more than once, unless all players have had at least one bye.

Time

The game will be run in a series of Games and Cycles. In a given Game, a player will either play his Hero Deck or Villain Deck. In a given Cycle, a player will play his Hero Deck once, and his Villain Deck once.

At the start of the tournament the Judge will inform all players as to the duration of all Games for the tournament. This can range from 60 to 75 minutes, at the Judge's discretion, but once announced will be the duration for all Games during the tournament. After this time has been met in a given Game, the Judge will call for the beginning of the Last Battle. If, at that point, a game has not ended or already begun the Last Battle, the players will play through the conclusion of their current game-turn. After completing that turn of play, the players will begin the Last Battle, regardless of the amount of accumulated pattern. After 15 minutes from that point, the Judge will call for the final game- turn of the Last Battle. Players in games which have not yet ended by this point will finish up their current Last Battle game-turn, and start a final Last Battle turn. The Game ends when all players have either finished their games, or completed the final game-turn of the Last Battle.

Number of Games/Cycles

Play as many Cycles as you have time for; we recommend a minimum of 2 Cycles. Try to insure that you will have enough time for players to play both Games in a Cycle.

Order of Play for the first Game

1. The Judge organizes a series of 2 player Games, allowing for a bye if there are an odd number of players (see Expanded Set-Up rules below).
2. The Judge seats players and reveals who will be playing their Hero deck and who will be playing their Villain deck.
3. Players choose their opening hands, including any starting advantages. Both starting characters and opening hand cards count towards the required deck minimum, but starting advantages do not.
4. Players wait for the Judge to begin the game.
5. The game begins as players simultaneously place their starting characters into play followed immediately by any starting advantages. Play then proceeds to the Ready Round.
6. The Judge calls the Last Battle when time is up.
7. Games which have not entered the Last Battle at this point complete their current game-turn, then immediately begin the Last Battle.
8. The Judge calls the final Last Battle game-turn after an additional 5-15 minutes (determined beforehand).
9. Games which have not yet ended at this point complete their current Last Battle game-turn, then immediately begin a final Last Battle game-turn.
10. All Games conclude with either a winner or with players completing the final Last Battle game-turn when time is called.
11. The Judge records the scores (see below).
12. The Judge arranges players for the next Game (see below).

Scoring

When the Game concludes, the Judge will record the players' scores. A player will be awarded a number of Game Points for winning/losing the game and a number of Tie Breaking Points, depending on how he finished in his game. Judges will record the following information.

Game Points

A player who loses the game is awarded 0 Game Points. A player who wins the game is awarded 2 Game Points. The bye (if there is one) is awarded 2 Game Points. If a game ends in a tie (see below), both players are awarded 1 Game Point. Note: it is possible for both players to lose a game, in which case they are both awarded 0 Game Points.

Tie Breaking Points

In addition to normal points, players will be awarded a number of Tie Breaking Points. These points should be kept track of independently from Game Points. Tie Breaking Points will be used to determine placement during the tournament and at the conclusion of the tournament to determine final rankings.

With the exceptions of a pre-Last Battle starting character or Ta'veren kill, a concession, forfeiture, or a bye, all players are awarded an amount of Tie Breaking Points at the end of a Game equal to the amount of Pattern on their section of the Pattern (light/dark) whether they win, lose, or tie the game.

If a player concedes or is declared forfeit, he is awarded 0 Time Breaking points.

If a player kills his opponent's starting character (or Ta'veren) before the Last Battle, or his opponent concedes or is declared forfeit, he is awarded Tie Breaking points equal to the greater of:

• his Pattern, or
• 18 - (Opponent's Pattern + Neutral Pattern).

A bye is awarded 2 Game Points and 8 Tie Breaking Points.

A player can never receive less than 0 or more than 16 Tie Breaking Points in a single Game. If the appropriate formula above would yield a total of less than 0, the player is awarded 0 Tie Breaking Points. If the formula yields a total greater than 16, the player is awarded 16 Tie Breaking Points.

Between Games

After a Game is concluded, each player is matched up with a new opponent based on his total score from the previous game(s). The Judge will record the scores from all players who used their Hero deck from highest to lowest (using Tie Breaking Points if need be). He will do the same for the Villain players. He will then match up players starting at the highest scores, going through the lowest. In the second Game of a Cycle, players will play the deck they did not use in the previous Game. If at all possible, a player should never face the same opponent twice during the tournament. Judges may alter player placement to insure this does not happen, or if two players who played the same deck type have the same amount of Game Points and Tie Breaking Points. If a player had a bye, he is inserted into the rotation based on his accumulated Game Points, and the player with the lowest score from the previous Game (chosen randomly if multiple players tied for lowest), is given a bye.

Between Cycles

After a Cycle has been completed, the Judge will arrange all the players in a list from highest to lowest total score. A Judge will always use a player's total score - the value of all his previous Game scores added together, to determine his placement. The highest scoring player will face the second highest scoring playing in the first Game of the next Cycle. The Judge will continue to go down the list until all players are matched up. The bye from the previous Game is moved into the rotation as mentioned above.

Expanded Set-Up Rules

What follows is step by step instructions for organizing and running a Wheel of Time tournament. Before running a tournament a Judge should prepare a number of scoring sheets for each of his players. At the start of the tournament, each player should sign a score sheet and hand it to the Judge.

The first Game of the first Cycle

The Judge should take each player's signed score sheet and shuffle them together in one pile. He takes the top player's sheet and assigns him to play his Hero Deck at table #1. The next player will use his Villain Deck at the same table. The third and fourth players will play Hero/Villain at table #2. Continue until all players are accounted for. If there is an odd number of players, the last player receives a `bye' for the first Game and is considered to have used his Hero deck.

As each game finishes, record each player's score. After all games are finished, sort the score sheets into two piles, one containing all players who played their Hero decks during game #1, and one containing all players who played their Villain deck during game #1. Sort the players in descending order by score, with the highest scoring player in each pile on the top. Break ties using Tie Breaking Points.

The second Game of the first Cycle

For the second game, take the highest-scoring player from the Hero pile and match him against the highest-scoring player from the Villain pile; these players will play against one another at table #1 for this Game. Each player uses their other deck for this Game, so the players who were Hero now play Villain, and vice-versa. The second player in the Hero pile will play off against the second player in the Villain pile, until all players are accounted for. If there was a bye from the previous game, the Hero player from the previous game with the lowest score (or determined randomly if tied) gets a bye for this game, and is considered to have played his Villain deck. Note: a player should only be awarded one bye during the course of the tournament, unless all players have received a bye. If a player is to receive a second bye due to low ranking, the player immediately above him is instead granted the bye.

The first Game of the second Cycle and Subsequent Cycles

After the first complete Cycle of two Games, in which each player has played 1 game as the Hero and one as the Villain, combine all score cards into a single pile. Rank the players by total score thus accumulated (all previous Game scores added together), starting with the highest score and ending at the lowest. Begin the first Game of the second Cycle by matching the top-scoring player against the second highest scoring player. The top player will play his Hero deck and the second will play his Villain deck. Continue to match up players in order of descending scores. If there was a bye from the previous game, the Villain player from the previous game with the lowest score (or determined randomly if tied) gets a bye for this game, and is considered to have played his Hero deck. If at all possible, no 2 players should face one another playing the same deck twice. If a match-up would cause this to happen, simply move the lower-ranked player down 1 space in the stack.

The second Game of the second Cycle

For the fourth Game of the tournament, once again sort the players into Hero and Villain piles, and match them up again as explained in the second Game of the first cycle (remember to use a player's total score, and not just his score from this Game). If necessary, make adjustments to the rankings as above to insure players never face each other with the same deck twice. Treat the bye as detailed above.

Final Score

After all Turns have been completed the Judge will add up the final scores. Each player will have a final amount of Game Points and Tie Breaking Points. The winner is the player with the most Game Points at the end of a tournament. If players tie in the number of Game Points they have, the player with the most Tie Breaking Points wins the tie. If, after Tie Breaking Points are compared, there is still a tie, both players receive the same ranking. Prizes will be awarded based on final rankings.

Standard Tournament Floor Rules

1. The tournament will be presided over by a Judge, who may be assisted by as many Assistant Referees as needed. A Judge may be required to interpret rules, to inspect dice/decks, to call the Last Battle, to end excessively long games, interpret a Declaration of Forfeiture, or make any other adjudication as necessary during the tournament. The Judge or a designated assistant is also responsible for maintaining the advancement/scoring sheets, and only these people are permitted to write on these sheets. Assistant Referees will aid by answering rules questions on the floor and being available to the Judge for any other assistance they may require. If necessary, the Judge may overrule any decision made by an Assistant Referee. The decision of the Judge is always final.
2. Preliminary Games will begin the call for the Last Battle at 60-75 minutes, regardless of the pattern in a given Game. The Judge will make an announcement when the Last Battle is to begin, but will not give minute warnings. When the Last Battle is called, players will finish their current game-turn and proceed to the Last Battle. If any Games are still in progress after an additional 15 minutes, the Judge will call for the final game-turn of the Last Battle. When this happens, players will complete their current Last Battle game-turn, and then play one final Last Battle game-turn. After this final game-turn, the Judge will record the player's Game Points and Tie Breaking Points.
3. Players must take game-turns in a timely fashion. Whereas taking some time to think through a situation is acceptable, stalling for time is not. If the Judge feels that a player is stalling to take advantage of a time limit, the Judge may issue a warning, or interpret the stalling as a Declaration of Forfeiture, at their discretion.
4. During breaks, all participants wishing to leave the game area will be required to leave their play decks, labeled, with the Judge.
5. The use of plastic sleeves or other protective devices on cards in a tournament is allowed.
6. Players may not have any outside assistance (i.e. coaching from someone not at her table) during a Game. If a player is in violation, the Judge may issue a warning to the player, or interpret the violation as a Declaration of Forfeiture.
7. All decks sizes and dice must conform to the restrictions outlined in these tournament rules. Players caught breaking these rules will be declared forfeit.
8. A Declaration of Forfeiture will result in the forfeiting player being removed from the tournament and all his acquired points being lost.
9. If a player concedes during a game or is declared forfeit, the Judge maintains the right to review the game and award Tie Breaking Points to the player's opponent as he feels is best deserved by the opponent. The Judge may use this ability if he believes the forfeiting/conceding player is purposely attempting to manipulate the scoring system to the benefit or detriment of his opponent. The Judge may use any method he finds reasonable to assign these new Tie Breaking Points. If a Judge uses this ability he is to make note of it on the player's score sheet, and must submit these changes when he provides official verification of the event.
10. Failure to adhere to the above rules, or any other rules specific to a particular tournament, may be interpreted by the Judge as a Declaration of Forfeiture. Only the Judge can make an interpretation of a Declaration of Forfeiture. Until Tarmon Gai'don Precedence Entertainment reserves the right to modify these tournament rules as needed. These rights are non-negotiable.