Leagues

Leagues are the backbone of the Community Premodern Series.  Running every two weeks like clockwork, these events enable players to compete in six matches against other CPS players on their own schedule.  Matches are found on the Magic Online Society Discord in our dedicated Premodern League Channel and reported on Gatherling. 

Because Leagues use an open matchmaking system, you are free to find matches on your own time. For some players, this meanings fitting all their matches in during a free afternoon; for others, this means spreading their matches out across the two weeks of the league.  Leagues allow you to play at your own pace.

In addition to being stand-alone events, Leagues directly feed our bi-weekly Showdowns.  Leagues are also the building block of our Premodern Series Seasons which last 6 Leagues/12 weeks.  Wins earned during Leagues contribute to your Season Ladder rank, which determines participation in the Season Championship.

To participate in Leagues you need

• An MTGO Account

• A Gatherling Account

• Access to the Magic Online Society Discord

(For details, see "Getting Started with the CPS")

League sign-ups take place on Gatherling, and the current League can be found under "Active Events"

• Players may join a league at any time during a league's duration 

• Players must register their deck on Gatherling prior to playing their first match

• Players may change their registered deck prior to their first match by contacting a League Moderator

• Players may play up to six (6) matches in each league; each match must be against a unique opponent

• Matches must be arranged on the Magic Online Society Discord in the Premodern League channel using the @CPL tag. 

• Matches are played in MTGO's Freeform Tournament Practice Room

• All matches should be set to a 25 Minute Match Clock.

• All Matches should be set to "Allow Watchers"

• The player creating the match should include "CPL" and their opponent's name in the Match Comments

• Winners are responsible for reporting their win on Gatherling immediately after the match (Match reporting can be found on the Player CP tab).

• Losers are responsible for confirming the match result on Gatherling in a timely manner (Match confirmation can be found on the Player CP tab)

• Any concerns about registration, match reporting, or player behavior should be addressed via Direct Message through Discord to one of the League Moderators.

• All Matches should be set to a 25 Minute Match Clock. 

• If player runs out of time during a match, that player loses the match.

• Although players are responsible for managing their own game clock, "Stalling" is prohibited and punishable by league suspension or banning, in the case of multiple complaints.  

• For our purposes, Stalling is defined as the use of game actions that do not meaningful interact with the game state constitutes behavior in violation of Daybreak Games' code of conduct and is a reportable offense. Examples of stalling include but are not limited to:

  • Repeatedly activating an ability (such as on Mishra's Factory) to force your opponent to use their remaining clock time to pass priority between those activations.

  • Casting spells that do not impact the the game state in order order to force your opponent to use their remaining clock time to pass priority between those spells.

  • Engaging in demonstrably unprofitable attacks to force your opponent to use their remaining clock time to pass priority between combat steps.

• Any concerns about clock manipulation, stalling, or player behavior should be addressed via Direct Message through Discord to one of the League Moderators.

• All Matches should be set to "Allow Watchers"

• Scouting opponents is prohibited.  While players are welcome to watch other matches (especially if they have completed all of their league matches), players should not join matches with players they have watched.  In practice, this means: 

  • You should not respond to a CPL call of a player you have observed

  • If you use the @CPL tag to locate an opponent, and a player you have observed responds, you are obligated to inform them that you have seen their deck.  You may then either offer to share your archetype and proceed with the match or give them the option to seek a different opponent.  

• Instances of scouting abuse are punishable by league suspension or banning, in the case of multiple complaints.

• Any concerns about inappropriate scouting or player behavior should be addressed via Direct Message through Discord to one of the League Moderators.

League ranking is determined by your number of wins, followed by the following tiebreakers

• Breaker 1: Opponents' Match Win Percentage

• Breaker 2: Player's Match Win Percentage

• Breaker 3: Opponents' Game Win Percentage

Prizes are determined based on your number of wins:

• 6 Wins: 3 Cardhoarder  Bot Credits

• 5 Wins: 2 Cardhoarder Bot Credits

Bot Credits will automatcially be assigned to your MTGO account by Cardhoarder. No action is required on your part to claim your prize.

At the conclusion of each League, the results of the previous two Leagues are combined, and the top 16 players are invited to participate in a Showdown event.  (For example, at the conclusion of league 11.2, the results of 11.2 and 11.1 are combined to determine who will be participating in the subsequent Showdown event.)

Combining two Leagues' results to determine Showdown participants is designed to encourage consistent League participation reward consistent performance (typically those qualifying for a Showdown average  60-70% win-rate across two Leagues).

Players who qualify for a Showdown will be notified within 24 hours of qualification.  See Showdowns for more details.