NAF Tournament Series

1 About the Tournament Series

Cumulative tournament series have existed in Blood Bowl for almost as long as tournaments and are a good way to increase regional cooperation and competition. The NAF allows two tournament series types: structured and open. Approval and support of all tournament series is provided by an appointed Tournament Series Coordinator (TSC), currently Topas. The following guidelines define both types and introduce a suggested scoring system.

The following guidelines are also available as a downloadable PDF:
NAF Tournament Series
Série de tournois NAF (en francais)

2 Content

1 About the Tournament Series
2 Content
3 Abbreviations
4 Structured Tournament Series
__4.1 Requirements
__4.2 Considerations
__4.3 Participation
5 Open Tournament Series
__5.1 Requirements
__5.2 Considerations
__5.3 Participation
6 General Prerequisites
7 Suggested Scoring
8 Prizes

3 Abbreviations

TS           Tournament Series
TO          Tournament Organizer (hosts an individual tournament)
TSO        Tournament Series Organizer (registers and organizes a tournament series)
TSC        Tournament Series Coordinator (NAF-appointed, coordinates the tournament series program)
TD          Tournament Director (elected NAF committee member)

4 Structured Tournament Series

A Structured Tournament Series benefits from giving its participating coaches a very clear idea of which events will be included. It also uses a format in which only a certain number of top scores count, so that participants don’t feel that they must attend every single tournament in order to have a chance of winning the series.

4.1 Requirements

Certain requirements need to be met to qualify for a NAF-approved Structured TS.
A Structured TS must

Have one Tournament Series Organizer (TSO) who has agreed to track the results of the series. This can be one of the participating tournament organizers.
Present a list of all participating tournaments (with actual or estimated dates for each) prior to the beginning of the series.
Publish the scoring details before beginning of the series.
Consist of at least 5 NAF-approved tournaments.
Consist of at least 15 rounds.
Apply to the TSC for approval prior to the first tournament in the series. This is done by simply posting the series in the appropriate area of the NAF forum.

4.2 Considerations

The following criteria are left up to each TS and TSO to decide:

The number or percentage of tournaments that must be attended for a coach to be eligible for awards. [Suggested: 50%]
The number of tournament performances that will be counted to determine the winner. In other words, each coach’s top scores will be counted toward their total, the rest will be discarded. [Suggested: 3]
Maximum number of tournaments in the series. [Suggested: 12]

4.3 Participation

Tournaments should be submitted at least 8 weeks before the event to not only allow enough time for proper approval and potential changes, but also to give coaches sufficient notice to plan their participation. If you cannot meet this deadline because of unforeseen changes or other reasons, immediately contact the approval team or TD to inform them.

5 Open Tournament Series

An Open Tournament Series is ideal for regions with a developing or unpredictable tournament scene. It doesn’t require as much planning, but its events might be more difficult for participating coaches and organizers to keep track of.

5.1 Requirements

Certain requirements need to be met to qualify for a NAF-approved Open TS.
An Open TS must

Have one Tournament Series Organizer (TSO) who has agreed to track the results of the series. This can be one of the participating tournament organizers.
Publish the scoring details before beginning of the series.
Consist of at least 5 NAF-approved tournaments that – unlike the rest of the series – must be named at the time the series is announced and sanctioned with actual or estimated dates for each, if available.
Consist of at least 15 rounds.
Have a clearly defined geographic region and duration (e.g. any tournament taking place in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia between January 1st and December 31st 2023)
Accept all tournaments taking place within the defined limits that give adequate notice. If a TSO feels that this system is being abused, please contact the TSC.
Apply to the TSC for approval prior to the first tournament in the series. This is done by simply posting the series in the appropriate area of the NAF forum.

5.2 Considerations

The following criteria are left up to each TS and TSO to decide:

The number or percentage of tournaments that must be attended for a coach to be eligible for awards. [Suggested: no minimum]
Scoring system [Suggested: Coaches will be awarded points based on their performance in each TS event they participate in. This is a cumulative score, not an average.]

5.3 Participation

Regional TOs wishing to participate in an Open TS should contact the TSO at least 60 days prior to the tournament date. They are required to seek NAF approval for their tournament and provide the TSO with the results of their tournament within 14 days of the tournament’s conclusion.

6 General Prequisites

The following criteria apply to both Structured and Open Tournament Series:

Coaches may not accrue points unless they are registered with the NAF at the time a tournament takes place. In other words, someone can’t sign up in December and retroactively assume points for tournaments they played in during previous months.
All participating tournaments must be NAF sanctioned by the TD or approval team.
A tournament must receive advance permission from the TSC or TD if it wants to take part in more than one series. This will usually not be permitted.
It is up to the TSO to decide whether variant tournaments (e.g. Deathbowl, Dungeon Bowl or Specialist) are allowed to participate in the TS.

7 Suggested Scoring

All scoring is per tournament, but dependent on the series only a certain predetermined number of top scores might count. Coaches receive the following points based on their ranking:

+10 to +1 points for top 10 placement, on a declining scale. In other words, a 1^st place finish is worth 10 points, a 2^nd place finish is worth 9 points and so on, down to a 10^th place finish being worth 1 point.
Should there be fewer than 10 coaches (it happens!), the maximum score is equal to the total number of participants, declining as usual. That means winning a tournament with 6 participants results in 6 points for 1^st place, 5 points for 2^nd place, and so on.
+1 point per full 10 places below them in the standings. Examples: A coach finishing 1^st in a 32-coach tournament receives a bonus of +3 because there are 30+ coaches below. Finishing 13^th in the very same tournament gives 1 bonus point, as there are 19 coaches below. A coach finishing first in a 10-coach tournament receives no bonus as there are only 9 coaches below.
+1 point per day of the tournament. Given to all participants.
Organizer bonus: +1 point per 10 coaches in the tournament, only for organizers who do not play in their own event. Note that this is unlikely to be of much use in a Structured Series, but offers some consolation for organizers who miss out on playing in their own events in Open Series.
It is also suggested that coaches are required to coach at least two different types of teams and that (for Structured TS) their total score must include at least one result from this second race. This rule can be scaled based on the size of the series.
Tiebreakers for Structured TS: It is suggested that coaches receive 0.1 points for each tournament they participate in. This score is taken in whole and is not reduced to “best 3” as with other scores. So, someone who participated in 9 tournaments might have a total score of 30.9, beating out someone who only played in 8 tournaments and has 30.8.
Tiebreakers for Open TS: It is suggested that the first tiebreaker is “most first place finishes,” followed by “most second place finishes” and so on.
Secondary tiebreakers: Series may set further tiebreakers at their own discretion. In the event that tiebreakers are exhausted, random determination may be used. It may also appropriate to give out “ties” in certain cases (a pair of 2^nd place prizes and no 3^rd place prize, for instance).

8 Prizes

Prizes for 1^st to 3^rd place will be provided by the NAF and distributed through the TSC to the TSOs. There will also be a prize available for the coach who has achieved the best score using only Stunty teams. As this requires separate tracking and since Stunty teams are far more competitive with the current ruleset at a lot of tournaments, including a Stunty prize is at the discretion of the TSO.