13th Trials - Phase 2: The Battle Round

[serprex]

Phase 2 will end in:
Phase 2 has ended!

Phase 2 - The Battle Round

The rules for this phase are quite detailed, so be sure to read through them all carefully.


General Structure:

• Each player will play 4 Bo5 series
• Players who selected the 'I hate Brawl' task will play up to 3 additional matches. These matches will be exclusively between players who picked this task (plus STANDINs, if needed, see below)
• Trialists will play a match against every other player in-Element (including the defending Master, if there is one)
• Remaining matches shall be off-Element matches
• Challengers trialing for the same Element shall have the same off-Element opponents
• If the number of participants does not allow for exactly 4 matches for each player, STANDIN opponents will be used.
• STANDINs will have 8 elements of their choice.
• All STANDINs used to fill up 4 matches will be treated as in-element opponents.

Element Declaration:

Send element picks by:
I hope everyone's sent picks by now

• PM TrOs 8 elements. These are your chosen elements. You may only use an element as many times as you chose it. (you may use your in-element element without restriction, ofc)
• To players in the Light and Air trials, or playing worldwideweb3 in their extra matches, please send in your elements to DoubleCapitals and serprex only.
• Players who have not submitted elements by the end of the above deadline will have their 8 elements randomly assigned.

Deckbuilding Rules:

• Decks may be of any size, and you may use any mark.
• Decks must be at least 60% in-element (including pillars and pendulums).
• You may have two games per match where your deck may be only at least 40% in-element. You must inform your opponent after the game that you made that choice.
• You may only use an off-element as many times as you picked that element in your choices.
• "Other" cards are allowed every match. They are counted as in-element.
• Mark cards are treated as pillars of the Element whose quanta they produce for all deckbuilding rules
• Using a Pillar/Pendulum/Mark-card counts as using the Element that Pillar/Pendulum/Mark-card belongs to.
• Matches start with 3 upgrades. Each game you may use an additional 3 upgrades (so 3 in g1, 6 in g2, 9 in g3, etc). You may use an additional 3 upgrades for each Relic in your deck.

Game Rules:

• After every game, you must tell your opponent what Elements you used if they ask, but you should not share decklists or specific cards.
• In the event of a disconnect (Opponent not responding, CPU takes over), the players should play it out vs the AI on both sides
• If the same player wins in both "games", they are considered the winner of that game.
• If the two "games" result in wins for different players, the game is voided, and players may not switch decks before the next game.
• If it is obvious that a game will never end (e.g. if both players have zero net damage output -- where they can both heal off the damage done each turn easily -- and will never deck out, and both players have no means of breaking the stalemate), that game is voided, and players may switch decks prior to the next game.
• If a desynchronization error is detected and leads to weird circumstances, take screenshots immediately. Then the players should replay the match, unless it was clear who was going to win.
• Voided games do not count towards Elements used.
• In the event that an illegal deck is used in any game (whether that game was voided at the time of the match or not) the user of the illegal deck will be given a loss for that game (and their opponent a win).
• If you lose access to the Elements the Game during a game , the opponent should have the CPU take over, and they should play vs the CPU. If the opponent wins, the game is a loss for the person who lost connection. If the CPU wins, the game should be replayed with same deck and mark, unless the player who lost connection can prove that they'd win despite any series of draws from the opponent.
• Trials Overseers are the final arbitraters on all matters. If you have any issues, contact TrOs IMMEDIATELY.

After a Match, plus Scoring:

• If you win a match, post a topic in the TRIAL BATTLE RESULTS SECTION, titled: [Trials 13 - Phase 2] [YourElement] YourName NumberOfWins - NumberOfLosses OpponentsName [OpponentsElement] (e.g. [Trials 13 - Phase 2] [Light] Mobian 3 - 1 shockcannon [Fire])
• Once Phase 2 finishes, you will have 2 days to post your decks in this topic.
• If you lose a match, wait for your opponent to post the topic detailed above. Then post in that topic to confirm the result.
• Once Phase 2 finishes, you will have 2 days to post your decks in this topic.
• NO DECKS SHOULD BE POSTED UNTIL AFTER ROUND 2 HAS ENDED.
• If you will be unavailable for deck posting during the 2 day deck posting window, please send the deck to the TrOs beforehand, with the title '[Phase 2 Decks] - YourName'.
• Please save your decks for easy posting after the round ends. We recommend sending your decks for each match as a PM to yourself to easily copy/paste into the post during the 2 day window.
• If a game is not played before Phase 2 ends, it will be ruled a forfeit for the player who made the least attempt to ensure the match was played. i.e. a win for the demonstrably more active player. If both players can provide sufficient evidence that they tried to make a match happen, but were unable to complete it, the TrOs reserve the right to award up to 0.25 points (per game) to each player for a draw.
• Each game is scored independently, and a win awards 1 point.

Here are the matches . Pretty tables inside!

For matches:
Time is up!

Any player who does not post their Phase 2 decks during the 2 days between the end of matchs and the beginning of Phase 3 will have that match marked as 0 wins.

Deck Submission Deadline:
Time's up!



Post any questions below, we're happy to help!

[TeRevised]

Weren't like 3 days left for Phase 1 submissions?

[Submachine]

Weren't like 3 days left for Phase 1 submissions?

No need to worry, Phase 2 is just updated early. We still have time for Phase 1, though much less than 3 days.

TIME TO ENTER THE TRIALS
PHASE 1 DONE

[Wyand]

Since no answer arrived I'd like to ask again publicly why current rules hate so much bow decks?
should forget Grabbow and SoSe decks? A Grabbow uses 6-10 elements depending
on variant, a bit less used by SoSe. Rules let us use 8 Elements ONCE. It is crazy that by the current
rules an trialist cannot really use bows whatsoever. Grabbow is one of 's
most important asset.

Please allow everyone to choose one between their chosen 8 Elements.

[serprex]

The rules hate bow decks so much because I hate bows

[Wyand]

If this is a joke, it is a bad one, and not a good answer. If it isn't then it is also bad, since personal bias shouldn't
screw important decks.

[Wyand]

I'd like to also add that I'm concerned about the 40% rule, and especially about that other rule
which enables players to run 0% in-element decks in one game. This is called Trials of [element] for a reason.

[MyNameIsJoey]

Well wyand, after 13 trials its difficult to always come up with something new and refreshing. Try it out, hell you might enjoy it. And if you dont theres a feedback thread to make sure the mistake isnt made again

[shockcannon]

I don't really see an issue with 40%. It allows for a lot more cool deck options to be seen while still having to incorporate your element into a large part of the deck. It also allows players to run trios if they want. 50% in element really hinders trios quite a bit, and it's nice to see trios used.

0% in-element is kinda iffy though in my opinion. I'm fine if it stays because I know exactly how to crush people with this rule but also not a huge fan. I think it can stay with some restrictions, like you have to use a 40% in element deck for the first two matches. That way there might be less possible elements to use by that point, making it not a complete guess as to what the opponent might bring. If a player can manage to win the first two using only monos, then they'll be rewarded by having a massive range of decks they could use. Maybe even pushing it so you can't play the <40% in-element deck until after 3 games, giving players a chance to 3-0 and end the match if they really don't want to face a random mono that they can't predict.

[Wyand]

Well wyand, after 13 trials its difficult to always come up with something new and refreshing. Try it out, hell you might enjoy it. And if you dont theres a feedback thread to make sure the mistake isnt made again

I'm sure it is hard to figure out new rulesets. I admire the volunteers doing this work. That still doesn't explain the extreme idea of 0% decks.
Pointing to feedback thread isn't useful when Flash will die, and chances are good this is the last Trials. It would be more practical to ask ppl
before deciding possibly controversial rules. I don't know how the community operated in the golden days, but how things went in
2018 and 2019 made me feel that everything is very casual and not really planned now. I know that we are in the decline, but still.
Having conversations and discussions before events seem a better idea than letting ppl complain afterwards.

[shockcannon]

If we do want to limit the 0-40% in element game another suggestion is that the game right after you use the 0-40% in element deck, you have to play a 80% in-element deck. If you save your 0-40% in element for game 5 then it's a non-factor. But this rule will add some more predictability and improve the overall quality of experience instead of having a random guessing game for when you might face a mono of some completely different element.

[Ginyu]

I also dislike the any-% in-element deck per match. Trials are about to master your element of choice, including making use of its strengths and making up for its weaknesses. Using off-elements need proper planning to be successful so you don't get screwed. When you can field any deck at any one time in the match, this planning becomes mostly obsolete. Maybe something like the Tinker role from a few wars before could work, but not sure about this (for reference: With Tinker, your deck's mark had to be your element's mark, and all your Pendulums counted as in-element). With that, you could still technically field monos, but with a drawback, but it will make some duos or even trios more viable by giving them the Pends with the quanta you want to generate first.
I do not see 40 % as that big of a problem as your own element will still make up most of your decks, so trying that out seems like a good idea.

A proper reason for bow bans would also be great. It is totally fine to restrict its usage to maybe 2 times, but leaving them out completely will restrict an already tight meta even more.

I might have missed the rule, but are these 8 off-elements for all your matches (probably not counting the I-hate-Brawl tasks?) or for each match?