Hello Warbanders!
Last few days have been pretty grim for the WNL. With Deutschritter, WOLLFBRO and Samurai all leaving, the league is fast shrinking. This is, in my opinion, largely down to the format of the league and it's length.
So i'm going to be honest with you. The Fixtures are currently completely screwed and we're unsure which teams have replaced other teams. Having a 24 team league in round robin format was an error and despite our best efforts we fear that we are unable to fix it. On the whole the league is in disarray, the fixtures are messed up and this is bringing into question the validity of the league. Instead of simply wasting more time (another 15 weeks at least, though likely many more considering how many unplayed fixtures there are) we have come to the conclusion that it is best to attempt to give an at least semi-satisfactory end quickly.
Clearly it would be unfair simply to take off the top 8, as the league is not near completion and many fixtures remain unplayed. Certainly many clans would feel unfairly done by. As such we have decided on the following as our course of action, as it gives every team, even those at the bottom, the opportunity to claim a spot in the final 8.
We split the bottom 15 teams into 2 single elimination brackets. So if the league currently looks like this then the Preliminary Knockout Stages would look like shown below.
Preliminary Knockout-Stages A and B
As you can see, the 2 preliminary stages are seeded by league position. The two winners of this group will advance to the "Championship Bracket" that already contains the top six teams in the league. These will then fight a single elimination tournament to decide the winner. The championship bracket would look a little like this:
The reason we have chosen this option, instead of either ending the league with immediate effect or simply taking the top 8 is twofold. Firstly at least this way we allow a winner and some kind of satisfactory end to the league. We also however allow the teams that did not make the top 8 to have a chance of winning still. Considering how close the compeititon has been for the top 8, I believe this is a fair way of ending the league as it goes some way to negating the unfair fixture lists.
This will take place with immediate effect meaning no Week 13 matches need to be fought. The knockout-placement and seeding will all be done by the points total after week 13 is complete.
I'm aware that on the whole this solution is not completely satisfactory, considering the time we've all spent fighting this competition. Before taking it on I didn't quite realise how big the problems facing the WNL were.
Thanks for your patience
Last few days have been pretty grim for the WNL. With Deutschritter, WOLLFBRO and Samurai all leaving, the league is fast shrinking. This is, in my opinion, largely down to the format of the league and it's length.
So i'm going to be honest with you. The Fixtures are currently completely screwed and we're unsure which teams have replaced other teams. Having a 24 team league in round robin format was an error and despite our best efforts we fear that we are unable to fix it. On the whole the league is in disarray, the fixtures are messed up and this is bringing into question the validity of the league. Instead of simply wasting more time (another 15 weeks at least, though likely many more considering how many unplayed fixtures there are) we have come to the conclusion that it is best to attempt to give an at least semi-satisfactory end quickly.
Clearly it would be unfair simply to take off the top 8, as the league is not near completion and many fixtures remain unplayed. Certainly many clans would feel unfairly done by. As such we have decided on the following as our course of action, as it gives every team, even those at the bottom, the opportunity to claim a spot in the final 8.
We split the bottom 15 teams into 2 single elimination brackets. So if the league currently looks like this then the Preliminary Knockout Stages would look like shown below.
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| POS | Name | Pld | Wn | Dr | Lt | RW | RL | RD | PTS |
| 1 | Renegades | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 160 | 29 | 131 | 34 |
| 2 | Apis Europae | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 172 | 19 | 153 | 33 |
| 3 | Unvanquished | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 157 | 33 | 124 | 33 |
| 4 | Union of Calaquendi and 3OA | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 139 | 53 | 86 | 30 |
| 5 | 22nd Battalion | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 150 | 38 | 112 | 27 |
| 6 | Guard of Istiniar | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 127 | 61 | 66 | 25 |
| 7 | Einherjar | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 67 | 49 | 24 |
| 8 | Polish Eagles | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 112 | 80 | 28 | 22 |
| 9 | Heroes | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 114 | 74 | 40 | 21 |
| 10 | Bohemian Guard | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 113 | 76 | 37 | 21 |
| 11 | Sarracens | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 96 | 87 | 9 | 16 |
| 12 | Legend | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 90 | 97 | -7 | 15 |
| 13 | WOLLFBRO | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 73 | 110 | -37 | 13 |
| 14 | Veche | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 56 | 134 | -78 | 9 |
| 15 | The Kingdom of Swadia | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 53 | 144 | -92 | 9 |
| 16 | Kingdom of Heaven | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 44 | 145 | -101 | 8 |
| 17 | PRT & DoF | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 183 | -174 | 3 |
| 18 | Defenders of Wonwokie | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 182 | -175 | 3 |
| 19 | Army Clan | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 26 | 158 | -132 | 0 |
| 20 | High Castle of Sinners | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 158 | -141 | 0 |
| 21 | AmIMad | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18 | 173 | -155 | 0 |
Preliminary Knockout-Stages A and B
As you can see, the 2 preliminary stages are seeded by league position. The two winners of this group will advance to the "Championship Bracket" that already contains the top six teams in the league. These will then fight a single elimination tournament to decide the winner. The championship bracket would look a little like this:
This will take place with immediate effect meaning no Week 13 matches need to be fought. The knockout-placement and seeding will all be done by the points total after week 13 is complete.
I'm aware that on the whole this solution is not completely satisfactory, considering the time we've all spent fighting this competition. Before taking it on I didn't quite realise how big the problems facing the WNL were.
Thanks for your patience
