Welcome to the Commander Precon Escalation League! In this league, players will participate in a 9-week battle using Wizards of the Coast officially printed preconstructed decks from Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Throughout a series of phases, players will upgrade their decks within the given constraints, battle opponents, obtain points, and compete for phase and overall league championships. This document provides an overview of the league rules and guidelines to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all participants.
Reserved decks are available for all league participants. If your preferred deck choice is unavailable at our location, you may participate with a factory-sealed Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander Precon purchased from another retailer.
Upgrades (or escalations) happen at a set interval which determines a given “phase” of the league. At any time during the phase a player may add any number of new/additional cards to their deck as long as the total priced sum of these cards does not exceed the limit for the phase.
Start Date: Friday, April 11th.
Phase Upgrade Frequency: Every 2 weeks.
Phase Upgrade Increments: $75 per phase ($0, $75, $150).
Decks Eligibility: The chosen preconstructed deck must one of the 5 Tarkir: Dragonstorm Preconstructed decks.
Allowed Commanders: The commander(s) must have been included within the original preconstructed deck. Utilizing commander(s) that were not the face card of the precon is permitted. (Phase 1 only)
For pricing guidelines, players should utilize TCG Market Price, which can be accessed easily through the USD value on Scryfall. Alternatively, you may use Moxfield > Price settings > TCGPlayer > Update to Cheapest.
Scryfall View Pricing
Moxfield Price Settings
Maintain two deck lists: One for the current playing deck and another for "upgrades only," which shows the total price and quantity of cards added to the deck.
Submit Lists: Deck lists should be submitted at the start of each phase in the Google Sheet. Changes are allowed during each phase but must be resubmitted. Moxfield and Archidekt are great sites to curate deck lists for submission.
Changes may also be made to a deck within each phase, as long as the deck upgrades remain within the maximum dollar amount for the phase.
Game Composition: Games must consist of 4 players.
Game Eligibility: A game is eligible if there are 4 players present and agree unanimously that the game should be considered a league game to be submitted for tracking. Games can be played in person at Infinity Game Lounge.
Starting the Game: Players will randomly determine seating or player arrangement and then start the game as set forth in CR 103.2.
Free Mulligan: Players are granted one free mulligan.
Additional Mulligans: Follow the rules set forth in CR 103.5 of the Comprehensive Rules.
The goal of this points system is to encourage active engagement by rewarding players for their participation and enthusiasm, in addition to level of experience. It fosters an environment where cleverness, creativity, and diverse gameplay are celebrated, motivating players to explore unique strategies and tactics. Finally, the system cultivates a spirit of camaraderie and good sportsmanship, nurturing a positive culture of respect and support for fellow players.
Each player receives 1 point for participating in a game (regardless of the outcome).
The winning player of each game receives 3 points. If a game ends in a draw or tie, all players receive 2 points.
At the end of each league phase, the player who has played the most games during that phase receives an additional 2 points. This encourages players to be more active and engage with more opponents.
The first player who deals damage (or loss of life) to an opponent in a game receives 1 point.
If a player successfully saves another player (i.e., prevents them from losing the game) by using a card or ability, they earn 1 point. This can include actions such as using removal on an attacking creature an opponent controls or countering a lethal spell that would kill the other player. This only counts towards saving other players, not preventing all players (including yourself) from losing. Example: if a player is about to combo off and win the game and you prevent them from doing so you do not get 2 points for saving the other 2 players from losing. Limit once per player per game.
Players can receive 1 point for swapping with a different player's deck in each league game. This encourages players to swap decks with other league members for games with various decks and avoid repeatedly using the same one.
Each game, every player may choose a Player of the Game. Player of the Game nominations can be for a variety of reasons such as, coolest win, displaying good sportsmanship, style points, most flavorful deck, etc. Each vote earns the nominated player 1 point for creating a positive gaming environment. Choosing a Player of The Game is optional. Choosing yourself will not count.
Each phase of the league will have a points cap restriction on the number of points available to obtain for each point type. While the points system is designed to encourage active participation, this limitation is to ensure that players who simply play the most cannot establish too large of a lead versus players who play less.
The soft cap is 3 times the point amount on all point types except for Winning a Game and Drawing a Game. This is to ensure that very active players can still be rewarded with points for playing (and winning) games. Drawing a game is capped at 1 times the point amount to ensure players are not intentionally drawing.
After each phase the points cap will reset, allowing players to achieve points as normal in the next phase.
Remember, the goal of this points system is to encourage active participation, diverse gameplay, and good sportsmanship among the players.
|
Point Type |
Points |
Cap |
|
Game Participation |
1 |
3 |
|
Drawing a Game |
2 |
2 |
|
Winning a Game |
3 |
No Cap |
|
Most Games Played (Phase) |
2 |
N/A |
|
First Blood |
1 |
3 |
|
Guardian Angel* |
1 |
3 |
|
Deck Swap |
1 |
2 |
|
Player of the Game |
1 |
3 |
* Limit once per player per game.
Game results will be tracked using the attached Google Form (work in progress) and the associated spreadsheet (work in progress). After each game each individual player should submit the form to report the game results and their impact on the game.
The game results form is required to be filled out as formulas in the associated spreadsheet will automatically calculate point totals for the overall league standings.
Additional metrics are being tracked for extra fun or interesting data points. These data points may be utilized to highlight additional league meta details such as:
Fast mana usage - Can be used to identify correlations between fast mana + win rates.
Win conditions - Can be used to identify trends in how games are won.
Deck archetypes - Can be used to identify meta balance.
Number of Turns length - Can be used to track average game length/time.
Points will be distributed throughout each game and phase of the league. At the end of each phase, the points are tallied up, and the player with the most points becomes the Phase Winner. For the overall league winner, points from all phases can be combined to determine the League Champion.
Details regarding league rewards will be announced at a later date.
