The Sentry Box Commander League - Join us on facebook.
Welcome to The Sentry Box Commander League! This document is meant as a summary of how the league works, and includes all the information that you'll need to do well and enjoy the events.
Please see the comprehensive Event Rules and Scoring Rules for more detail. The current scoresheet can be found here.
TL;DR
Each league season will be eight weeks long.
There will be a league event every Thursday. Each league event will be two multiplayer matches.
The people with the most points at the end of the league season will win the grand prizes. Only your best five events are counted.
The people who gain the most points at each event will win the weekly prizes.
You enter the league with 100 points, and there are three ways to earn more:
The League
Each league season will be eight weeks long, with events every Thursday evening from 6:00 to around 9:30, $5 to enter. Each event will consist of two multiplayer matches (three to five players in each pod). Prizes will be given out to the winners of each event as well as a grand prize to the overall league winner.
The league has a tournament structure, but we don't want a tournament atmosphere. The Commander League is designed for fun games and big laffs. If you're worried that prizes on the line are going to make the games too competitive, or if you're sick of trying to stay on top of your Planeswalker Points, read on. We've got your back.
League Points
The winner of each night, as well as the overall league winner, are determined by the number of points earned, and there are a few different ways to win them. Your league score always starts at 100, and it carries over week to week for the entire league season.
Match Points
The winner, as well as second place (and third and fourth for larger pods), earn points at the end of the game. Rather than being a set reward for winning, however, these points are distributed from a pool of points anted by each player at the start of the game (the distribution changes based on how many players are in the pod, but in general second place gets about half as much as the winner, and (if applicable) third or fourth get half as much again). Your ante is always 10% of your individual point total, so you'll be putting 10 points into the pot for your first league game, then more or less (usually more) for future games, depending on how well you do.
The ante system does two things: 1) It slows down the rate at which points are generated, meaning you can relax about missing a couple of weeks out of the season. Due to the other ways to get points you'll still do better the more you attend, but the overall winner isn't going to be determined simply by who shows up most often. 2) It increases the rewards for defeating stronger players and decreases the rewards for beating low-ranked players. The ante system means that beating up on new players and theme decks isn't an easy road to the top, and it should make you happier about sitting at the top table since the rewards are greater.
Decklist Points
To encourage fun and interesting deck building, each player's decklist will be scored by the tournament organizer and awarded between 1 and 30 points based on creativity, interactivity and fun. This system is inspired by one used by Games Workshop for Warhammer events, which are much closer in philosophy to EDH than traditional Magic tournaments are. The ratings are not objective, but they are fair and consistent.
Some example decklists and my ratings will be available to give you a good idea of what will earn points and what won't. A decklist score of about 17 to 23 will usually have the best chance at winning the event.
In general terms:
Gameplay Awards
There are certain things you can do during each game to earn or lost additional points, to further encourage fun gameplay. Details about each of these can be found in the “Scoring Rules” document, or on the scoresheet itself.
Please see the comprehensive Event Rules and Scoring Rules for more detail. The current scoresheet can be found here.
TL;DR
Each league season will be eight weeks long.
There will be a league event every Thursday. Each league event will be two multiplayer matches.
The people with the most points at the end of the league season will win the grand prizes. Only your best five events are counted.
The people who gain the most points at each event will win the weekly prizes.
You enter the league with 100 points, and there are three ways to earn more:
- Match points: You ante 10% of your points each time you play a match, and they're distributed to the winners.
- Decklist points: Each player's decklist is scored by the TO, and receives a 1 to 30 point bonus based on how awesome it is.
- Game Awards: There are a group of bonuses and penalties you can earn each game for doing simple, Commander-friendly things. Nothing fancy, just play well and grow fat.
The League
Each league season will be eight weeks long, with events every Thursday evening from 6:00 to around 9:30, $5 to enter. Each event will consist of two multiplayer matches (three to five players in each pod). Prizes will be given out to the winners of each event as well as a grand prize to the overall league winner.
The league has a tournament structure, but we don't want a tournament atmosphere. The Commander League is designed for fun games and big laffs. If you're worried that prizes on the line are going to make the games too competitive, or if you're sick of trying to stay on top of your Planeswalker Points, read on. We've got your back.
League Points
The winner of each night, as well as the overall league winner, are determined by the number of points earned, and there are a few different ways to win them. Your league score always starts at 100, and it carries over week to week for the entire league season.
Match Points
The winner, as well as second place (and third and fourth for larger pods), earn points at the end of the game. Rather than being a set reward for winning, however, these points are distributed from a pool of points anted by each player at the start of the game (the distribution changes based on how many players are in the pod, but in general second place gets about half as much as the winner, and (if applicable) third or fourth get half as much again). Your ante is always 10% of your individual point total, so you'll be putting 10 points into the pot for your first league game, then more or less (usually more) for future games, depending on how well you do.
The ante system does two things: 1) It slows down the rate at which points are generated, meaning you can relax about missing a couple of weeks out of the season. Due to the other ways to get points you'll still do better the more you attend, but the overall winner isn't going to be determined simply by who shows up most often. 2) It increases the rewards for defeating stronger players and decreases the rewards for beating low-ranked players. The ante system means that beating up on new players and theme decks isn't an easy road to the top, and it should make you happier about sitting at the top table since the rewards are greater.
Decklist Points
To encourage fun and interesting deck building, each player's decklist will be scored by the tournament organizer and awarded between 1 and 30 points based on creativity, interactivity and fun. This system is inspired by one used by Games Workshop for Warhammer events, which are much closer in philosophy to EDH than traditional Magic tournaments are. The ratings are not objective, but they are fair and consistent.
Some example decklists and my ratings will be available to give you a good idea of what will earn points and what won't. A decklist score of about 17 to 23 will usually have the best chance at winning the event.
In general terms:
- A deck full of format staples will have less personality than a deck with many thoughtfully-picked, unique and unusual card choices, and therefore will earn fewer points.
- Decks with strong theme, either mechanical or flavourful, will earn more points than a mishmash of individually powerful cards.
- Decks that seek to interact frequently with the opponent will earn a much higher score than decks that either ignore their opponent completely (some dumb ramp decks) or try to prevent their opponents from interacting with them (prison decks, most combo decks).
- A deck's power does affect your score, in that a stronger deck will earn fewer point than a weaker one, but the effect is relatively small. As long as it is unique, interesting and entertaining to play against, a strong deck can still easily earn high marks.
- Certain individual cards are overpowered enough or disliked enough that their presence may hurt your deck list more than they're worth. Examples include cards like Time Stretch, Obliterate, Consecrated Sphinx, Winter Orb, etc. For cards like these, you'll be given the opportunity to replace them if you submit your decklist in advance.
Gameplay Awards
There are certain things you can do during each game to earn or lost additional points, to further encourage fun gameplay. Details about each of these can be found in the “Scoring Rules” document, or on the scoresheet itself.
Special Thanks
To Steven Clarke, Sheldon Menery and the European Diplomacy Association, from whom I cribbed liberally in the creation of these documents.