Tournament Director Blog May 2024

Welcome to the May issue of the Tournament Director Blog, your prime destination for everything you need to know about NAF tournaments. Once again, we offer you key information, previews of forthcoming events, and maybe most importantly, summaries of recently concluded exciting tournaments. For this month’s edition, our coverage includes Team Tango, Dungeon Bowl, and WarSaw.

As always, if you want to contribute any content to this blog (e.g. a report of a recent tournament you visited or ran), reach out! Contact info is available on our NAF staff site.

Content

1. NAF Chatter
   1.1 May 2024 FAQ and Errata
   1.2 Reporting Non-NAF Match Results
2. Report: Team Tango (by Wobert)
3. Report: Dungeon Bowl (by DeivySP)
4. Report: WarSaw (by Volkajo)
5. Outlook

1. NAF Chatter

1.1. May 2024 FAQ and Errata

The long-expected May Designer’s Commentary and Errata have been published, this time with a nice accompanying website highlighting the most important changes. As many had expected, an adjustment was made to the Underworld Denizens team. Swarming was removed from the Snotlings, which should weaken them somewhat without devastating their effectiveness. As our statistics show, Underworld has been dominating the tournament scene in recent years. Reining them in a bit should benefit the overall game balance. On the other end of the success ladder, Goblins receive a boost with the new Primary Passing access for their Bomma.

The fouling game will receive a slight dampening as well, with the Guard skill now only working on Blocks, not on Fouls. The last major change is a return to the widely established mode of play where stunned own players who get restunned in the active turn will not turn prone at the end of the turn. This is a welcome clarification, as the previous statement in the last FAQ had caused some confusion and was seen as counter-intuitive. While the current FAQ only mentions biting Thralls due to Bloodlust, one would assume that the same holds true for restunning players, e.g. by Throw Team-mate or Ball & Chain.

Finally, as already announced when publishing the new Gnome race, it was clarified that only Halfling teams have access to a cheaper Master Chef.

As before, to guarantee consistency in all NAF-approved tournaments and avoid widespread confusion, chaos and riots, we ask all coaches to implement the rule changes and clarifications immediately!

For changes to the Underworld and Goblin teams, we allow flexibility, as we know that tournaments are happening where rulesets have been fixed, tiers have been defined, and rosters have been submitted. It is up to the tournament organizers whether they want to apply the Swarming and Bomma changes already. We highly recommend it, but it is not mandatory. Rulesets should clarify whether the respective changes of the May FAQ need to be followed.

This approach of applying rule changes immediately and roster changes gradually is laid out in our annually updated guidelines.

1.2 Reporting Non-NAF Match Results

In the last issue of the TD blog, we introduced the option to report matches against Nonnaffies – coaches that are not NAF members. While our goal remains to maximize the number of registered members at any NAF tournament, we see this as a service to our members, to allow tracking of all matches at a NAF-approved tournaments. Importantly, we continue to allow tournament organizers to host tournaments for NAF members only.

Since then, organizers have been making good use of this new feature. The Non-NAF coach page shows that this dummy account has been playing in already 15 tournaments in more than 5 countries, with more than 180 games in total. Maybe not surprisingly, Nonnaffies like to play Orcs, a team that is often chosen by coaches new to the game. Their overall win ratio is rather low, again reflecting that most Nonnaffies might be rather casual or inexperienced players.

While reporting Non-NAF matches works generally quite well when there was only a single Nonnaffie participating, I would like to highlight once more the procedure to properly enter data from tournaments with multiple Non-NAF coaches. In this case (and only then!), the Non-NAF player race should be selected as Multiple Races in the coach overview (left image below). In the individual games, the races should be defined (see right image). In the example tournament below, there were multiple Non-NAF coaches playing e.g. Amazons, Black Orcs or Chaos Chosen. This info is added in the match results. Match data should never have “Multiple Races” as a race!

When uploading results for a tournament with multiple Non-NAF coaches as an XML file, make sure to follow the same logic, shown below.
There should be a single entry in the <coaches> section.

<coaches>
[...]
<coach>
<name>Non-NAF</name>
<number>9</number>
<team>Multiple Races</team>
</coach>
[...]
</coaches>

In the <game> section, the respective races should then be listed for the individual matches.

<game>
<timeStamp>2024-05-13 00:00</timeStamp>
<playerRecord>
<name>Non-NAF</name>
<number>9</number>
<team>Dwarf</team>
<teamRating>100</teamRating>
<touchDowns>1</touchDowns>
<badlyHurt>3</badlyHurt>
</playerRecord>
<playerRecord>
<name>Stimme</name>
<number>17245</number>
<team>Elf Union</team>
<teamRating>100</teamRating>
<touchDowns>2</touchDowns>
<badlyHurt>1</badlyHurt>
</playerRecord>
</game>
<game>
<timeStamp>2024-05-13 00:00</timeStamp>
<playerRecord>
<name>dreamscreator</name>
<number>20654</number>
<team>Imperial Nobility</team>
<teamRating>100</teamRating>
<touchDowns>2</touchDowns>
<badlyHurt>0</badlyHurt>
</playerRecord>
<playerRecord>
<name>Non-NAF</name>
<number>9</number>
<team>Skaven</team>
<teamRating>100</teamRating>
<touchDowns>0</touchDowns>
<badlyHurt>0</badlyHurt>
</playerRecord>
</game>

2. Report: Team Tango (by Wobert)

I love running a team draft tournament, but as a TO, it always makes me feel a little apprehensive beforehand because there are a lot more moving parts than in a regular event. For the uninitiated, there are different styles of draft tournaments. The most common kind (not that any of them are ‘common’ as such) are Star drafts, Player drafts, and Team drafts. In each variant, coaches take turns picking or bidding on the player, star, or team they wish to use.

In the case of Team Tango, the process was simple. There were 30 different races available (all supplied by me), and each round, coaches took turns selecting the team they wanted to play with. All of the teams were pre-made and came with a few building rules. It was only 1 million TV, and each race had to have a minimum of one of each positional from their roster on the team. This made some of the traditionally better teams harder to build, such as Dwarfs (having to take a Death Roller) and Wood Elves (taking the Treeman).

For a few months before the event, I had been releasing the teams on the event page so coaches would have the opportunity to study them in advance if they wanted to. A few coaches came armed with ranked lists of the teams they wanted and those to avoid. Very wise, although I’m not sure they were used in the heat of battle!

As coaches didn’t need to bring teams with them, I decided to make the swag replace pretty much everything else you might take to a tournament. With that aim in mind, all attendees got some Team Tango d6 dice and tokens to mark rerolls, turns, and scores. Coaches also got a pen to write results with, plus a couple of stickers and a badge. Therefore, the most frugal coach, if they wished, could arrive just with a fistful of block dice and nothing else. Most brought their own stuff just in case!

At the start of each round, the coaches gathered around a board holding all of the team names. The two coaches on the bottom table got to pick first, then the second bottom table, and so on until you reached the top table, which had a choice of two teams. The process was repeated before each round so each coach played three different teams on the day, not knowing what they would play until a minute before they picked them, sat down, and began their game. Each round, they could add skills to the team, which stayed with the team. They could play it safe and add one primary skill of their choice or gamble and roll two skills on a chart to go on two players. The chart allowed for some good traits, some regular skills, and some nega-traits if you rolled low enough. This saw all kinds of fun combinations, including a Rat Ogre armed with a Pogo Stick and a Wight with Take Root. In between rounds, there was feverish checking of team lists as coaches checked to see what skills were added to teams and frantically changed their pick lists.

Anyway, on to the draw itself. In round 1, there was a palpable sense of relief from coaches who got picked early and had a decent choice of teams. There had been a lot of chatter beforehand from a number of coaches telling friends they were going to chalk off three races today they hadn’t played yet. When it came to it, though, a lot of people got cold feet and picked their mainstays if they could. As the draw went on, there was a growing sense of panic amongst some in the room, desperate to hear their name called. No more so than TheRake, who exclaimed, ‘Oh, come on!’ louder and louder after each table was called and he still hadn’t been summoned. The soon-to-be capped Team England coach appeared just a couple of tables from the end and took Dwarfs against Leipziger’s Slann. It was an odd thing, but Dwarfs played Slann in every round of the event, with the Dwarfs winning two of the three encounters. The last pair had a choice of Snotlings (with no stars) or Nurgle. The coaches were KFoged and ScalesnScars (whose podcast is excellent, give it a listen: Speaky Gits – A Blood Bowl Podcast on Spotify), and neither was exactly overjoyed with what they faced.

Thankfully, the first round went off without any hitches. Now that coaches had worked through the format once, they would know what to expect. From this point, I could breathe a sigh of relief as it meant the rest of the day should pass without any dramas (well, there were plenty of those on the pitch, but you know what I mean). All of the attendees really got into the spirit of the day. This was not a highbrow tournament for the more cerebral coaches. No, this was definitely at the silly end of the spectrum. That said, I stand by the fact that it remains a real test because you have no idea what you’ll be using. It makes coaches think on their feet and adapt at a moment’s notice.

The results were soon coming in. The highlight was probably a 3-2 win for Ragnar13’s Chaos Renegades over RiffyD’s Goblin team in an all-action game. Elsewhere, HorneyHelmetHead played against Necromantic Horror, a team he would face again in the second round and eventually choose to play with himself in the final round. The round saw 12 winners, so a lot of happy coaches would be getting some terrible team choices in the next round!

The next draw passed in a slightly less feverish way. I often think it’s the draw itself that is the best part of the day. Watching the coaches eye the list of options, if they hesitate for too long, those watching start to make noise to encourage greater alacrity. Chuck in some good-natured banter, and this is the lighter side of Blood Bowl at its finest. The heavyweight clash of round 2 saw KFoged take on Tauren_Beast and for them to eliminate each other with a 1-1 draw. Elsewhere, two coaches were in a two-player race for the stunty cup. I hadn’t planned to offer a stunty cup for this event until two brave souls/mad fools (delete as appropriate) asked what if they were able to pick a stunty team in each round. I agreed, and the race was on between Greedent and Barney_the_Lurker.

Going into the final round, only five coaches were left on two wins, and so the field narrowed considerably – Badger, Bogey105, Pedro-Laserbeard, Ragnar314, and TheRake. The top table saw Bogey105 pick Dwarfs against Pedro-Laserbeard’s Slann. Although the Dwarfs had dominated the first two rounds of this encounter, this was where they came unstuck. However, despite the win, the Dwarfs were leapfrogged as Ragnar314 took the lead due to having one more bonus point. What made this achievement all the more remarkable was the fact this was Ragnar314’s first ever NAF tournament. What a way to start! Have we unearthed a hidden gem here? Is he a new world number one in the making? We’ll watch with interest!

The individual winners were:

• WINNER – Ragnar314 (Chaos Renegades, Black Orcs & Nurgle)
• RUNNER UP – Bogey105 (Skaven, Dwarfs, Slann)
• MOST TOUCHDOWNS – Zenjo (Elf Union, High Elves & Wood Elves)
• MOST CASUALTIES – CharlieBanks (Humans, Nurgle, Khorne)
• STUNTY CUP – Barney_the_Lurker (Halflings, Goblins & Ogres)
• ROOKIE WONDER – HorneyHelmetHead (Black Orcs, Khorne & Necromantic Horror)

This was also an impromptu team event as we looked at the stats to see which race had performed best. Three races had won all three games – Humans, Lizardmen, and Wood Elves. However, the Humans had the most bonus points and toughest strength of schedule, so Leipziger, CharlieBanks, and KFoged were the team winners.

3. Report: Dungeon Bowl (by DeivySP)

It all started four years ago and I still consider myself a rookie. Wait already four years around and I still have all my rerolls? That is something I did not plan to happen…

The thing I like the most about this marvelous game is the people at the other side of the table or, as a quite active online player, meeting the people from the other side of the screen. And that is how my trip to the Dungeon Bowl started…

– Ey, there is a mayor in Dusseldorf I am planning to go – said Kubusta
– Really, what are we waiting for? Let’s sign up!

It was not exactly like that, but that’s how I felt how it was, so I did sign up (Kubusta finally did not, but promised me a free beer whenever we meet) and… surprise, Arioso is also on the list. Hmm, how can that be? I just met him in the first NAF BB3 Online tournament a few weeks ago… Great, so let me see who from Spain is coming… Wait, there are more than 20 players from Spain, and a few of them like Moronicname or Jotamolon live in Germany, so what better place to meet them face to face. Checking the list I also saw Junior84. He ran over me in the WorldCup so.. let’s see if I can have the desired REVENGE!! (spoiler: we did not get the chance).

In the DungeonBowl, I played against four wonderful coaches with whom I enjoyed every single game. Thank you FB_Titel17, Ferragosto14, Zelmor and Vito for such good games. This time Nuffle looked at me with better eyes, but who knows how he will look at me in the next game we have. The fifth and sixth coaches were part of the Spanish army: Gr4n0t4 and Gancha. They are also wonderful good Spanish coaches (& friends) with whom I never played against. Unfortunately for me Nuffle liked them better in those games.

Traveling to Dusseldorf is quite convenient. A small airport with plenty of connections and a 30 minutes drive to the tournament makes logistics easy. It is also easy to find a hotel (if you do not want to stay in the hostel) and there are plenty of nice restaurants and bars where beer is available till late at night.

The championship lobby is well planned, with a nice clock visible and plenty of big tables with enough space to host a lot of people. As the rounds pass, nice German beer starts to appear on the tables and the time between rounds is enjoyed in a “terrace” chit chatting about the train of dice rolled – Tchuu Tchuu! – , the rat ogre blitz on turn 8 that double skulled and prevented a win or the “Granotada” made to win the game on turn 16.

Meeting dice rollers, skulls fanatics and, definitely, Blood Bowl enthusiasts has always been a pleasure. This has been my third international experience and I already signed up for the Europen. If you see me, don’t hesitate to say hello. I am really looking forward to meeting you there!

4. Report: WarSaw (by Volkajo)

The end of April had the first edition of the Polish National, the WarSaw (you are asking for it if you name your town like this) tournament. Only a four hour train ride away, this was very easy to attend for me and over the last years I have met a few players from the Polish community that I was happy to visit. With the “National”-status, it was no surprise to see delegations coming over from Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Finland. This time I actually met up with a travel buddy there, the lovely ratogre. We met at international tournaments, hung out a few times, became friends, so we decided to do the trip together, which added another fun dimension. 

The tournament was held at a venue a bit outside the city, I believe it was some kind of chess club, that was connected to a restaurant, which made logistics with food and drinks rather easy. Friday night we had a nice gathering at the restaurant and the locals told us about how the game is being played in different parts of the country and which are the future tournaments for our travel list. We started rather early on Saturday so we decided to not go all too wild.

Going into the tournament the organizers were very good with communication and giving out information about what’s happening, like racial distribution. I was very much surprised to see that, even with the ruleset being Eurobowl, the meta was actually a bit different due to the local play style. The field was rather bash heavy and during the first few games, I realized pretty quickly that coaches were not hesitating to throw in a cheeky foul every once in a while. This is actually another interesting aspect of traveling for the game: There are different approaches to the game and a current meta, which also might be a reflection on local “traditions”. Adapting/reacting to these can be rather interesting and might even elevate your game – especially in preparation for a big tournament like the Euro which sets the tone for a lot of rulesets. 

The more important part of tournaments and to a large part these reports is the social aspect. For the Warsaw tournament this was absolutely perfect. The kick off event Friday night set the tone and the friendly, fun atmosphere continued throughout the entire weekend. It seemed like most coaches were there to just have a good time and hang out (it also helped that there was a supermarket next door so drinks were fairly cheap). 

Even though not everyone spoke English, the local community was incredibly welcoming. Another dinner was had on the Saturday night, drinks were consumed and the second day started early as well. Some might even say it started so early, the organizers were not even there when it started. Apart from this tiny delay the schedule worked out perfectly ad overall WarSaw was a smoothly run event. 

The tournament was won by Domingo and his Lizards, ahead of Renon (fouling Black Orcs) and Mankiz (Imperial Nobility), so not exactly the three races people expected to be at the top before the tournament. Great to see how different approaches to the game in this case also lead to different overall results at a tournament. 

While the average level of play might not be as high as in some other communities, the top tables were populated by strong players, so the Blood Bowl was good. Personally I definitely want to come back to play more tournaments in Poland with a community that nice, chill and welcoming. Beach Bowl in Gdańsk end of July looks like a destination worth checking out.

5. Outlook

June sees yet another uptick in tournament numbers, with a total of 107 events in as many as 22 different countries! Tournaments are also played in emerging communities such as Colombia and Mexico. The month kicks off with the Amorical Cup in Ottawa, the North American team championship that finally takes place again after a long Covid-related hiatus. Another Major/National, the Danish Open, is held on the second weekend. June will also see the eleventh iteration of the 24-hour tournament Block Around the Clock in Blyth (UK) and the tenth issue of the Linemen Cup in Madrid. The Uff Da Bowl in Minnesota is happening for the ninth time. Clocks are ticking differently there, which might explain why this year’s edition is called Uff Da Bowl 2019. And while many of you will be sweating, Winter Sevens and Risky Rollers Winter Cup are taking place in New Zealand and Australia, respectively.
I myself will be trying to reproduce my previous performance at Amorical Cup, and later that month attending Raccoon Cup and Berlin Rumble.