Each Player selects up to 10 characters
to put into his or her pool of potential starting characters. This
happens before characters are selected for the play deck. Certain
cards may be revealed as though they were starting characters. These
cards are included in the pool of starting characters, but do not
count against the 10 character maximum. Each player reveals his
or her first choice for a starting character simultaneously with
opponent. If a unique character is duplicated by opponent's selection,
both characters are set aside (this character may not appear in
either player's starting company).
Each player then selects a second character
to reveal (but not a unique character revealed earlier). Each
unduplicated revealed character goes into its player's starting
company. Each player continues this process until one of the following
occurs: the player has 5 characters in his or her company (6 for
a minion player), the total Mind of that player's starting characters
is 20, the player has exhausted his or her pool of 10 potential
starting characters, or the player decides to stop revealing characters
(i.e., he or she is satisfied with the starting company). Note
that when one player stops, the other player continues revealing
characters until one of the four conditions is met. A player may
not reveal a character that would bring the total Mind of all
of his or her starting characters above 20.
In his or her play deck, each player may
now assign up to 10 characters, and this may include any unrevealed
or duplicated (set aside) characters from his or her pool of starting
characters. Note that the Character Draft differs from the rulesbook
in that a duplicated starting character does not automatically
go into the play deck, and that its inclusion in the play deck
does count against the deck's 10 character maximum.
Allowing players to introduce characters
in this fashion minimizes matches where each player starts with
very few characters because of multiple duplications.
- Rules Violations during Play-Rules
violations will probably occur in tournaments. It is suggested
that these violations not be policed or worried about until a
player involved notes it. At that point in the game, the correct
rule is adopted. A previous violation is not affected or retroactively
corrected after both players implicitly agree to the violation.
For example, if a player chooses Sting (a unique minor item) for
his starting company, and his opponent notices after the first
turn of the game that unique minor items may not be chosen for
starting companies, do not replace Sting at this point. If the
opponent noticed the violation before either player had taken
a first turn, the offending player must replace Sting with a non-unique
minor item. The tournament coordinator may choose to immediately
correct any rules violations brought to his or her attention.
- Cheating-If a player cheats, he
or she is immediately ejected from the event. This should be reported
to the Council of Lórien, so that further action can be
taken if necessary. In a Swiss System format (see below), an opponent
receives the maximum tournament points for the capability of his
or her deck (as outlined above).
Clarifications and Rulings
- Legal Play of Cards-A player
may not play a card just to discard it (i.e., just get it out
of his or her hand). Specifically, a card may only be declared
if it meets at least one of the following criteria.
- The card must have an immediate effect
on the game.
- The card is a long-event. Long-events
can always be played, even if ultimately they will not affect
play.
- The card has a potential effect on
play that could be triggered later (e.g., the second use of
Dragon's Desolation). Most permanent-events fall into this
category. Only those that are playable on or with a certain
entity are restrictive. For example, you cannot play a corruption
card if no character exists that would be affected by it.
In all cases, if a card "cannot
be duplicated," a second copy of that card cannot be declared-unless
the first copy of the card is targeted for removal earlier in
the same chain of effects when the second copy is played. This
is a clarification of Annotation 11 given on page 50 of the Middle-earth:
The Wizards Companion.
- When Cards Are Played-A player
may not declare any resources during the opponent's turn. Additionally,
a player may not actively engage any resource or character effect
during the opponent's turn (e.g., a player may not tap a Palantír
during the opponent's turn). A player may not declare any hazards
and may not actively engage any hazard permanent-events, etc.
outside of the opponent's movement/hazard phase.
- Illegal Targets-A player may
not target an opponent's characters, companies, items, followers,
etc. with his or her own resources. Of course, resource long-events
and other cards which do not target and have global effects
will affect opponent's cards.
- Card Text vs. Rules-A card's
text takes precedence if it contradicts a rule of the game (or
these rules).
- Revealing Manipulated Cards-Certain
cards, effects, and/or rules allow a player to search for cards
and add them to his or her hand, play deck, or discard pile
outside of the normal sequence of play (i.e., in addition to
filling out the hand and drawing cards when a company moves).
A player may or may not be required to reveal some or all of
the identity of such manipulated cards. If the card manipulated
must be a specific type of hazard or resource, then it must
be revealed to the opponent. If the card must be either a hazard,
resource, or character, then enough of the manipulated card's
face must be revealed to show opponent that it is the correct
type. If there are no restrictions on which cards may be manipulated,
the manipulated card does not have to be revealed.
- Official Rulings Source-All
rulings from the Collected Rulings File given on the Council
of Elrond's are official rulings for use with Council events.
Additional Rules
In addition to these guidelines, a few rules
which do not appear in older versions of the rulesbook take effect
for tournament play.
- Removing Corruption Cards-A
character may choose to ignore the restriction that he or she
tap to remove a corruption card (as printed on a corruption
card), and suffer a -3 penalty to the dice roll to remove it.
This means a character can remain untapped to remove a corruption
card and modify his roll by -3. The character can remove a corruption
card when already tapped (or wounded) and modify his roll by
-3. A character may only attempt to remove each corruption card
once per organization phase if he or she ignores the tapping
restriction to do so.
- Larger Sideboard-The sideboard
(which is not used with starter rules) has been increased according
to the Middle-earth: The White Hand rules insert. The maximum
number of cards a deck may have in its sideboard in a 1-deck
or 2-deck game is 30, 3-deck game is 35, and 4-deck game is
40.
- Accessing Hazards in Sideboard-A
player can access hazard cards in his or her sideboard when
the opponent's Wizard or Ringwraith is in play-or if the opponent
is Sauron. A player must do this at the end of the opponent's
untap phase. Specifically, the player may either bring up to
5 hazard cards from the sideboard into the discard pile, or
1 hazard card from the sideboard into the play deck and shuffle
(if at least 5 cards are in the play deck). In either case,
the hazard limit against all of the opponent's companies this
turn is halved, rounded up.
- Movement to Gorgoroth-Wizard
players may only move to or from sites in Gorgoroth by using
specific region movement from a site Imlad Morgul, specific
region movement that passes through Nurn or Udûn, Under-deeps
movement or using special movement resources like Gwahir or
Mountains of Shadow.
- Victory Conditions-The elimination
of a player's Wizard or Ringwraith no longer ends the game.
The eliminated Wizard/Ringwraith should be placed in the player's
out-of-play pile. It provides -5 marshalling points, subtracted
off the player's final marshalling point total at the End-of-Game.
The -5 also comes off the player's "raw" total for the purposes
of calling the End-of-Game. A player whose Wizard or Ringwraith
has been eliminated may not reveal another Wizard or Ringwraith.
This includes all Wizards who fail corruption checks.
- General Influence Bonus-Ringwraith/Sauron
players have +5 unused general influence at all times. This
bonus general influence can never be used to control characters.
- Starting Companies-Ringwraith/Sauron
players may have starting companies at Dol Guldur and/or Minas
Morgul. A ringwraith may also be brought into play at Dol Guldur,
Minas Morgul, or his home site.
The Swiss System Format
The Council of Lórien has adopted a
variation of the Swiss System for its official tournament format.
This tournament format allows the success of each player to be determined
by a total of tournament points awarded from the play of several
games, thereby decreasing the deterministic role of luck in each
game. Keep in mind that this format measures a player's performance
versus the field of players, not necessarily against specific players.
It is important that players not be allowed to scout their opponent's
decks.
The Swiss System format can be used for
any of the actual types of games being run (two-deck standard
rules, sealed deck starter rules, scenario, etc.). The guidelines
below assume a game type using an End-of-Game. will be run. This
is as opposed to a Resource/Character scenario tournament; see
the special section below for specific suggestions on running
a Resource/ Character scenario tournament. Here are the basics
of the Swiss System tournament structure that The Council of Lórien
has adopted:
- Number of rounds-A Swiss System
tournament is comprised of a certain number of rounds as dictated
by the number of participants in the tournament.
Players |
Rounds |
Official |
2 |
1 |
No |
3 |
2 |
No |
4 |
2 |
Yes
|
5
|
3
|
Yes
|
6-8 |
3 |
Yes |
9-16 |
4 |
Yes |
17-32 |
5 |
Yes |
33-64 |
6 |
Yes |
64+ |
7 |
Yes |
- Each player may participate and play
(unless a bye is given) in each round. If a player drops out
of a tournament, he or she must inform the tournament coordinator.
- Awarding Byes-For each round,
it must be determined if an even or odd number of players are
participating. If an odd number are participating, one player
is given a "bye". The player given the bye does not play a game
that round. If a bye needs to be given for the first round,
the tournament coordinator randomly chooses a player from all
players. If a bye needs to be given for any later rounds, the
tournament coordinator randomly chooses one player from the
group of players having the lowest tournament point totals.
No player should recieve two byes in one tournament. A player
given a bye recieves tournament points depending on the round
of the tournament:
Round |
Points |
1 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
6+ |
1 |
After awarding one player a bye,
an even number of players will remain to play in the round. It
is encouraged that the tournament coordinator take steps to avoid
giving a bye for the first round. If at all possible, the tournament
coordinator should have someone available to play or not play,
to make sure there is an even number of players.
- With an even number of players participating
in a round, players are paired off. Paired players play one
game within a time limit. Specific game rules and time limits
are dictated by the game type of the tournament (two-deck standard
rules, sealed deck starter rules, scenario, etc.).
- For the first round only, players are
paired off randomly, or optionally by published ranking (i.e.,
each player has zero tournament points).
- Pairing Players -For each round
after the first round, each player is paired off with another
player with the exact same total of tournament points. A tournament
coordinator begins pairing each round with the group of players
who have the highest total tournament points. When pairings
are being determined, choose a player at random from the pool
of available players with the same total of tournament points,
and then choose the player with whom he or she is paired.
If more than one eligible player
exists with whom a player may be paired, the second player is
determined randomly from all eligible players. If no eligible
players exist with whom a player may be paired, the player is
paired with a player with the next lowest total tournament points
(chosen randomly if more than one player exists with the next
lowest total).
Tournament coordinators must try to avoid
having the same players play each other more than once. If a
player's tournament points indicate that he should face an opponent
he has already faced, try to rearange the pairings with other
players of the same tournament points, so that all player's
are facing a new opponent. If this is not possible, randomly
choose a player from with the next lowest number of tournament
points as that player's initially chosen opponent.
- Each player is awarded a certain number
of tournament points based upon the result of each game he or
she plays.
- Upon completing a game, a player must
notify the tournament coordinator if he or she intends not to
participate in the next round. A player can feel free to drop
out of the tournament after any round, but the player would
then be ineligible to reenter the tournament and ineligible
to receive any prize or ranking consideration.
- A total of accumulated tournament points
is kept for each player. The winner of the tournament is the
player with the most tournament points when all rounds of the
tournament are completed. Runners-up can also be determined
at that time by comparing tournament point totals.
- Tournament Points-A player is
awarded a number of tournament points for the following game
results (only one result can apply to each player at the conclusion
of each of his or her games).
- Winning with The One Ring (i.e.,
successfully executing Cracks of Doom, A New Ringlord, etc.)-10
(in sealed deck game), 8 (in a single-deck game), 7 (in a
two-deck), 6 (in a three-deck or four-deck game);
- Defeating opponent with a Marshalling
Points Ratio of 2 or greater-6;
- Defeating opponent with a Marshalling
Points Ratio less than 2 but greater than or equal to 1.5-5;
- Defeating opponent with a Marshalling
Points Ratio less than 1.5 but greater than one-4;
- Achieving a tie as above in this
document-3;
- Losing to an opponent who wins by
result (d) above-2;
- Loosing to an opponent who wins by
result (c) above-1;
- Losing the game otherwise-0.
- Tournament Point Ties-When all
rounds are completed, it is possible that more than one player
will have the same highest tournament point total (i.e., the
leaders will be tied). The following menu of tie-breaking criteria
is followed. Each tied participant is in contention until a
criterion is resolved that takes him or her out of contention.
Those leading participants removed from contention are relegated
to the tier of runners-up (and possibly could face another series
of tie-breaking criteria-see below). The coordinator resolves
the list of criteria in the order given, establishing each player
removed from contention, until one player is left in contention,
or until the entire list of criteria is resolved and a tie still
exists (see below for this case).
- Head-to-Head. Tally the number
of losses of each tied player from all games played with any
other tied players. The players with the fewest total head-to-head
losses stay in contention. All other players are out of contention.
- Number of Wins. Tally the
number of games each tied player received 3.5 or more tournament
points-these are wins. Players with the most wins stay in
contention, all others are out of contention.
- Sum of Opponent's Scores.
For each tied player, add up all of their opponent's tournament
point totals. The player with the highest sum wins the tie-breaker.
If more than one player is still
in contention after criterion III is resolved, playoff rounds
are held. The playoff rounds are formatted in the same manner
as the tournament. See the Number of Rounds note above regarding
the number of rounds to be played. If both players and the tournament
coordinator agree, however, no tie breaker actions are taken,
and each tied participant is recognized as co-champion. The pre-determined
prizes for the number of top finishers equal to the number of
co-champions should be divided up and awarded evenly amongst the
co-champions.
If multiple players are tied in a lower
tier, the previously mentioned guidelines also apply. Replace
the concept of players tied with the most points with players
tied with the same number of points.
The tie-breaking policy requires that
tournament coordinators keep a running record of each player's
opponent in addition to tournament point results each round.
- Time Limits-Each game has a
time limit that depends on the type of game being played. The
time limit is the amount of time allowed for the play of games.
A tournament coordinator needs to consider an additional 15
minutes or so between rounds for administrative tasks. Also,
a coordinator needs to consider an amount of start-up time (20
minutes or so).
- one-deck game-50 minutes
- two-deck game-1 hour and 20 minutes
- three-deck game-2 hours
- campaign game-3 hours
- sealed deck game-50 minutes*
- resource/character scenario game-1
hour*
* See the descriptions of the
different games below for further information.
- A tournament coordinator will have
an official time keeping device. He or she should announce the
time approximately 10 or 15 minutes before final time will be
called. When the time limit is reached according to the official
time keeping device, play of each game continues until: the
player who went second in the game finishes a turn (i.e., until
both players have played the same number of turns); or until
the End-of-Game is called normally according to the rules. After
the player who went second finishes his or her turn, the End-of-Game
begins automatically, regardless of marshalling point totals.
- Marshalling Point Ratios-If,
at the Free Council after the final marshalling point (MP) totals
have been tallied (including all standard rules interpretations),
one player has more MPs than the opponent, that player wins.
The winner receives either 4, 5, or 6 tournament points depending
upon the ratio of his MP total to the opponent's (see above).
The loser receives 2, 1, or 0 points respectively. To determine
a winner's MP ratio, divide the winner's total MPs by the loser's
MPs. A loser with zero MPs automatically gives the winner 6
points.
- Negative MPs-A player's final
MP total after all End-of-Game modifications cannot be negative.
In this case, the MP total is zero.
- If, at the Free Council after the final
MP totals have been tallied (including all standard rules interpretations),
both players have the same number of MPs (i.e., they are tied),
both players receive 3 tournament points.
Formats
The following formats are allowed for sanctioned
tournament play. Other formats will require a written proposal,
as outlined above.
Hero alignment includes Wizard players.
Minion alignment includes Ringwraith, Sauron, and Balrog players.
Fallen-wizard alignment includes Fallen-wizard players.
Single Alignment
Each player is the same alignment: hero, minion,
or Fallen-wizard. Any hazards from any MECCG expansion may be used,
but only the appropriate resources, characters and sites may be
used. As an exception, hero items may be used in a minion tournament,
and vice versa, as per the rules on p.75 of the MELE rulesbook.
In a Fallen-wizard only tournament, each player should declare which
Fallen-wizard he or she is playing to the tournament coordinator.
The tournament coordinator should, and is allowed, to break normal
pairing rules to not pair two players with the same Fallen-wizard
against each other. Single Alignment tournaments require players
to each bring one deck.
General Opponent
You may play either any alignment you choose:
hero, minion, or Fallen-wizard. You do not know the alignment of
your opponent until he tells you at the start of the game. You may
bring two decks of the same alignment to the tournament. One must
be dedicated for play against minion opponents, and the other against
hero opponents. Either deck may be used against a Fallen-wizard.
You may have cards which are used in both decks, but each deck must
contain the same cards for each game it is used in.
If your opponent declares he is a Fallen-wizard,
he must also declare which one he is. You may add ten predetermined
cards to your sideboard against a Fallen-wizard opponent. If you
are playing with the Wizard corresponding to the Fallen-wizard
your opponent is playing, then you may replace those Wizard cards
with an equal number of other Wizard character cards that you
have available (these need not come from any deck). In any case,
you may not play the Wizard corresponding to your opponent's Fallen-wizard.
The Sealed Deck Game
Due to size considerations, sealed deck tournaments
only require a 25/25 card minimum deck size (as printed in the rulesbook).
For a sealed deck game tournament, each player receives a starter
deck and three booster packs. The Council of Lórien suggests
using either 3 boosters from Middle-earth The Wizards, or 1 booster
from Middle-earth the Wizards and two from either Middle-earth:
Dragons or Middle-earth: Dark Minions. No other cards are allowed
in the play area besides the cards received from the Tournament
Coordinator. Tournament coordinators should feel free to enforce
this policy any way they see fit.
Each player is allowed 45 minutes to construct
a deck for a one-deck game. It will have to determined if standard
or starter rules are being used by the tournament coordinator.
It should be noted that on average, seven cards (not counting
region cards) from each player's set of cards will not be playable
at all. Players should be aware of this extra baggage when constructing
their decks. If a player does not have 25 playable hazards or
resources, he or she should play with all that he or she does
have, and still play with 25 of the other.
Players may exchange cards between his
or her deck and the set of cards he received but did not use between
rounds. Such exchanges must be completed in the time allotted
between rounds and may not interfere with the running of the tournament
(i.e., when the Tournament Coordinator announces that the players
are to pair up and begin the next round, players must immediately
stop exchanging cards and get ready to play the next round).
The Challenge Deck Game
Each player brings a Challenge Deck to the
tournament, or purchases one at the tournament. No cards may be
added to or removed from the deck, and all cards in the deck must
contain the proper icon for that deck. Standard rules should be
used for the tournament, and it should be run as a two-deck tournament.
The Resource/Character Scenario Game
It is recommended that resource/character
scenarios be considered by a tournament coordinator who has the
means of communicating to all players in advance what the pool of
scenarios will be for the tournament. It is suggested that the coordinator
post (in advance) three resource/character scenarios that will be
used for the tournament. Each player comes to the tournament with
a deck constructed for his or her chosen scenario.
Present Official Scenarios-Presently, the
three scenarios for official Council event tournaments are:
- A Hobbit's Quest (found on page 72
of the Middle-earth: The Wizards Companion)
- Barrels out of Bond (found on page
66 of the Middle-earth: The Wizards Companion)
- The King beneath the Mountains (found
on page 67 of the Middle-earth: The Wizards Companion)
Resource/character scenario game tournaments
can be run within the same tournament Swiss System structure as
the other Free Council games (which are the games presented in the
rulesbook). Each player attempts to complete the victory conditions
of his or her chosen scenario instead of playing for the Free Council.
After starting characters are revealed, each player must announce
to the opponent which scenario he or she has chosen. The opponent
then knows what victory conditions the player is trying to achieve.
Other resource/character scenarios can
be used if approved by the Council of Lórien. To obtain
permission, the tournament coordinator must submit a written proposal
for the scenarios he or she proposes to use. Original scenarios
so submitted become the property of the Council of Lórien,
which may choose to publish them (with credit to the original
designer).
- Time Limit-For a Resource/Character
Scenario tournament game, time is called after one hour. If,
at this point, no player has achieved the victory conditions
for his or her scenario, the player who currently is taking
his or her turn finishes the turn. If the opponent did not have
the first turn, the opponent then takes one final turn (i.e.,
both players get the same number of turns). Assuming in the
interim no player achieves the victory conditions for his or
her chosen scenario, the winner is the player who achieves the
higher "rank" as indicated by his or her specific scenario.
- Ties-If both players have achieved
the same "rank" as indicated by the specific scenarios, the
players tie. Each receives 3 tournament points.
- Tournament Points-A player is
awarded a number of tournament points in a resource/character
scenario game for the following game results:
- Achieving the victory conditions
of his or her chosen scenario-6
- Achieving the higher rank at the
game's end-4
- Tying-3
- Losing with a lower rank at the game's
end-2
- Losing if opponent achieves his or
her victory conditions-0