1. BUILDING AN ARMYThis first phase consists of Generals building their armies using player auction.
1.1. GENERALSWar will have 12 Generals, one for each element. Masters are the Generals of their element by default. If a Master is unable to join War, he or she will appoint a replacement General (Sr. Member or above). If one or more elements don't have a Master, a General will be picked by the Council.
Generals are given
400 blank cards. These cards will be used as currency when recruiting players during the next phase. Later they will be used to build the starting Vault for the team.
1.2. PLAYER AUCTIONPlayers who want to join War will each start their own War application topic where they include important information about themselves like their score and the number of rare cards they have. Players pick up to 3 elements they refuse to work with (feel free to choose 0-2). Generals from these elements cannot make bids on the player, other elements can. Bids for players start at
1 card.
Note: Player auction is a big part of War event, so unfortunately there are no guarantees that you will get to join the team you want. Players who later refuse to fight for the element that bought them, or who become inactive and fight with zero motivation, will be removed from the event and banned from the next War. Only way to get to join a specific team is to convince the General of that element to bid high on you. Bidding lasts 7 days. Generals will bid using the following template:
[color=yellow][size=72pt]6 cards[/size][/color]Once a bid has been posted, it is final. Editing or removing a bid is strictly prohibited and will lead to a penalty.
Each General recruits 7 players from the auction.
Minimum raise is 2 cards. If the previous bid is 4 cards, you have to bid 6 cards to win. Generals can only bid on a maximum of 21 different players. Generals can bid on these 21 players as many times as they like, but cannot bid on a 22nd player. Getting outbid doesn't make a difference: the limit is 21 whether or not you are winning or losing (or lost) the auction.
Maximum bid is 24 cards. If a player gets bid on 24 cards, he or she has two options:
1. Instantly join the team that made the 24 card bid.
2. Wait for someone else to make the same 24 card bid (24 cards is maximum so you don't need to bid any higher), and join that team instead. You can wait as long as you want (waiting other 24 card bids), even make the decision after the auction has closed.
General of
really wants Bill on his team so he bids 24 cards. Bill now has the option to instantly join team
, or to wait for some other team to bid the same 24 cards. Bill is hoping some other team might do the maximum bid as well, so he decides to wait.
Next day General of
bids 24 cards. Bill likes
so he decides to join team
. Bill is added to team
roster and General pays 24 cards. Bill's application topic is locked.
We will have one universal auction clock. When the clock is running, Generals can bid on anyone. When the clock stops and there were no new bids made during the last 24 hours, the auction is over. If there
were new bids made during the last 24 hours, we go to overtime, the clock gets reset back to 24 hours, and the minimum raise increases by one card. When minimum raise increases, starting bid also increases. This means that during the the 1st overtime, starting bids are 2.
Generals win 7 players that they bid the most, AND they were the highest bidder.
For example lets say I had made the following bids:
Player A - 10 cards
(highest bidder)Player B - 9 cards
(3rd highest bidder)Player C - 9 cards
(highest bidder)Player D - 8 cards
(highest bidder)Player E - 7 cards
(highest bidder)Player F - 7 cards
(2nd highest bidder)Player G - 5 cards
(highest bidder)Player H - 4 cards
(highest bidder)Player K - 3 cards
(highest bidder)Player L - 3 cards
(highest bidder)Player M - 3 cards
(highest bidder) I would first win players A, C, D, E, G, and H because they are my highest bids. I could then pick one from players K L and M because I bid the same amount on all of them. Lets say I pick would player K. My bids for players L and M would then disappear like they never even existed, making the Generals who bid 1 card on Players L and M the highest bidders.
My team would cost me 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 5 + 4 + 3 = 46 cards. This means that the starting Vault of my team would be 400 - 46 =
354 cards.
Bidding is basically a choice between buying expensive veteran players and starting with a card disadvantage, or buying cheap newbies but having a card advantage, or anything in between.
If a General fails to win the required 7 players, he/she is forced to buy one or more remaining players with a price of 24 cards each. It is very important to bid on multiple different people to ensure that you will be the highest bidder in at least 7 occasions.
2. GETTING READY FOR WARNext teams get ready for War by coming up with a strategy, delegating tasks, and building their starting Vault.
2.1. SECRET FORUM SECTIONEach team has their secret forum section only visible to team members, Warmasters and forum Administrator. All discussions held in this secret section are to be kept a secret. A player who gets caught telling team secrets to anyone outside his or her own team will be permanently banned from all Elements community PvP events. Just to be safe, don't publicly talk about
anything that goes on in that section.
There are specific topics that all teams are required to start. On top of that, any team member can start any topic when needed, but needless spam should be avoided.
2.2. MEMBER ROLESEach team has a total of 8 members (1+7). Several have specific roles assigned by the General. The General may choose to assign multiple roles to himself or another player.
1. GeneralGeneral is the leader of the team who makes sure that other team members are doing their jobs and fighting their battles. General also communicates with Warmasters. Generals can use up to 9 upgraded cards during duels.
2. LieutenantLieutenant is second in command. The General may not assign this role to himself. If one team member is unable to perform his or her duties, the Lieutenant is responsible for performing the job of that team member. Lieutenants can use up to 6 upgraded cards during duels.
3. StrategistStrategist makes sure that the team Vault is up-to-date at all times by building the initial vault, noting which decks the team uses each round, and listing cards salvaged and discarded,
all at the team’s direction. Because decks used, salvaged cards, and discards are all submitted using Google Docs (a new process to War 4), a War-experienced strategist proficient in Google Docs may be valuable to a team’s success. The Strategist can use up to 3 upgraded cards during duels.
4. Duel OrganizerDuel Organizer is in charge of all team duels happening during a round. If one or more team members are unable to fight their duels, Duel Organizer must inform the General as soon as possible and try to find a replacement. Duel Organizer should also be aware of team absences. The Duel Organizer can use up to 3 upgraded cards during duels.
5-8. SoldiersSoldiers fill any duty that may be required of them. Soldiers can use up to 3 upgraded cards during duels.
2.3. THE VAULTThe Vault is very important because cards in the Vault are not only used to build decks, but they also act as "hit points" for the whole team. If a Vault is less than 30 cards at the start of a round, that team gets eliminated from the event. Vault is built by the whole team, led by the General.
Cards that were not used during player auction, will form the team starting Vault. Up to this point, cards have just been a number, now it is time to fill the Vault with specific cards.
Vault building rules:- at least 50% of cards have to be from your element
- maximum of 24 per card from your element (restriction doesn't apply to Pillars or Pendulums)
- maximum of 12 per card from other elements (restriction doesn't apply to Pillars or Pendulums)
- no Shards
Cards in the Vault are always unupgraded. If you move an upgraded card back to the Vault, it becomes unupgraded.
Notes:- Marks: For the War event, "Mark of ..." cards are considered in the element of the element they feature. This is different to how they appear in the normal game as they are an ‘other’ card there. They are not considered equivalent to a Pillar or Pendulum.
Important! Vault doesn't really exist. Players are not given cards they take from the Vault, nor are any cards removed from their account if they lose. Players must own the cards on their Elements game account in order to use them. If a player doesn't have a specific card in his/her account, he/she cannot use it even if that card is listed in the Vault. So try to pick cards that your team members actually have or can buy if needed.
3. STARTING A ROUNDWar consists of multiple
rounds. Each round consists of three phases:
Determining OpponentsDeckbuildingDuels[/list]
| Number of Duels | Deckbuilding | Duels | | TOTAL |
27-52 | 4 days | 3 days | | 7 days |
14-26 | 3 days | 3 days | | 6 days |
7-13 | 3 days | 2 days | | 5 days |
1-6 | 2 days | 2 days | | 4 days |
3.1. DETERMINING OPPONENTSAmount of cards in the Vault determine how many players from each team participates on a round:
| 0-29 cards | = | team is eliminated |
| 30-65 cards | = | 1 player fights |
| 66-98 cards | = | 2 players fight |
| 99-131 cards | = | 3 players fight |
| 132-164 cards | = | 4 players fight |
| 165-197 cards | = | 5 players fight |
| 198-230 cards | = | 6 players fight |
| 231-263 cards | = | 7 players fight |
| 264+ cards | = | 8 players fight |
All teams must maintain a sticky topic in their secret forum section that lists players in a numerical order from 1 to 8. This list tells the Warmasters the order in which the players will join a round in case the team has less than 270 cards. Teams are allowed to change the order at any time depending on their player availability.
A team has 225 cards in the Vault at the start of a round. This means that 6 players from this team will fight during the round. Bill and Jack are both unavailable for this round, so the team has wisely edited their player list so that Bill and Jack are at spots 7 and 8.
If the team doesn't change their player list, and Bill and Jack are at spots 1 and 2, both of them will be added to the player pool of that round, forcing the team to use substitutes. This is why it's important to keep the player list updated at all times.
Opponents will be determined randomly by Warmasters using an online randomizer, with the constraint that no team will play another team more than once within a given round if possible. If there are uneven number of players fighting during a round, the team with the fewest cards that is able to field 2 or more decks gets the bye, meaning that one player in that team will skip the round. If that team already had a bye during a previous round, the team with the next fewest cards gets a bye instead. No team may have a 2nd bye unless all other active teams have had at least 1 bye.
Duel pairings will be made public by the Warmasters. The same topic will also have one or more
Event Cards. Event Cards have a positive or negative global effect that will affect all the players during that round. Event Cards are designed by the forum Administrator and Warmasters.
3.2. DECKBUILDINGTeams will build one deck for each player who is fighting during the round.
Deckbuilding rules:- Any mark
- At least 50% of your cards have to be from your element
- Generals can use up to 9 upgraded cards (unupgraded cards taken from the Vault are transformed into upgraded ones)
- Lieutenants can use up to 6 upgraded cards (unupgraded cards taken from the Vault are transformed into upgraded ones)
- Other players can use up to 3 upgraded cards (unupgraded cards taken from the Vault are transformed into upgraded ones)
- You cannot change your deck until the round is over
Conversion Rule Teams have the option to
convert some of their cards. This means that they can replace any card in their Vault with a Pillar or a Pendulum of their element. Converting helps teams to avoid a situation where they would be otherwise forced to build "suicide" decks. Converting will be done by the Strategist using the google doc. Teams can convert a maximum of 24 cards per round.
Illegal Deck RuleIf teams write "Y" in the “Planned Suicide” row for their illegal deck they will automatically forfeit the match, BUT don't take the 3 card penalty for building an illegal deck. By adding "illegal", teams show that they
knowingly built an illegal deck, and can prevent a situation where they would be forced to take a double penalty (both discarding because of a loss and a card penalty) for not being able to build enough legal decks.
3.3. DUELSPlayers will contact their opponent and try to find a time that suits both. If the fight doesn't happen both players lose by default unless one player is clearly more active in trying to find a suitable time. Warmasters will determine who the most active player is and their word is final.
We are using a "best-of-five" method, which means that each battle consists of up to 5 matches with the winner being the first player to get 3 wins. Remember, you have to play all duels with the same deck and the same mark.
3.4. INACTIVE PLAYERSIf it looks like a team member won't be able to fight during a round, the team has 3 options:
1. Temporarily replace that team member with any other team member, including the General. Temporary replacements (Generals and Lieutenants included) use the same exact deck and mark as recorded for that player including any upgraded cards. Penalty for using a replacement is that you cannot claim normal salvage if you win!
2. Permanently replace the inactive member by buying any of the players that weren't bought during the auction phase. The first time each team does this is free; for each subsequent permanent replacement the team will be penalized 6 cards. This new player joins the team as a full member, and stays with the team until the end of the event.
3. Forfeit and take a loss.
4. AFTER A BATTLEWinners
salvage cards, losers
discard them.
4.1. WINNING A BATTLEWinner of the duel starts a new topic in the "Battle Results" section. For example if "KingKiller" from
fights "LordOwner" from
, and wins 3-1, he will start a topic titled:
(Air) KingKiller 3 - (Water) LordOwner 1Other Examples
(Air) Gen. KingKiller 3 - (Water) Lt. LordOwner 1 (indicate any titles that players have)(Air) KingKiller 3 - (Water) (Sub) LordOwner 1 (use SUB to indicate that someone else played instead of LordOwner) In that topic KingKiller will post his deck, and give a short explanation on how the battle went. LordOwner will then reply to that
same topic posting his deck. He can also talk about the battle if he so chooses but that's optional. Everyone can join the discussion in any of these results topics.
After each win, the team can
salvage cards from the opponent. Winning team picks
6 cards from the deck posted by the losing player, which will be added to their Vault. These cards become part of the Vault and can be later used by anyone on that team. Salvaged cards are always unupped even if the original card is upped. Maximum card amount per team doesn't apply to salvaged cards.
When you salvage cards, you are not really taking cards from the opponent, you are merely taking a
copy of that card and putting it into your Vault. In Elements terms, you are using Parallel Universe on those cards.
4.2. LOSING A BATTLEWhen a team loses a battle they have to
discard 24 cards from the deck used. Cards that are left in the deck after discarding are returned back to Vault.
5. ENDING A ROUNDAfter all the battles have been fought, round ends and a new one begins. We continue until there is only one team left.
6. WINNING THE WARWinning team of War gets:
- cool forum award icons
- forum background image will be changed to show which element won
- If the winning team General is also a Master of that element, he or she will either be crowned a
Grand Master, or if there already is one, will have a chance to fight the current Grand Master for the title.
7. OTHER RULES
7.1. PENALTIESPenalties are issued when a team somehow breaks the rules or disrupts the event, either knowingly or by mistake. When a team gets a penalty they have to, at the end of the round, remove a number of cards from their Vault. They can remove any cards they have in the Vault at that time, including the ones they salvaged during that round.
| Minor penalty | 3 cards | Small and harmless things like posting an illegal deck by mistake. |
| Medium penalty | 6 cards | For bigger infractions like not doing what they are supposed to do because of inactivity. |
| Major penalty | 12 cards | For major infractions like seriously disrupting the whole event. |
Penalties are easy to avoid by paying attention to details and double-checking everything before posting. Hopefully there won't be any need to issue penalties.
7.2. BACKROOM DEALS AND SHARING OF INFORMATIONConspiring with another team in any way is forbidden. Even discussing information that is already public ruins the spirit of the event and makes everything less fun for everybody.
To see how War happens in reality, please visit the War Archive forum section (
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,175.0.html). Some things were done differently during previous Wars but the basic principle is the same.
