I'll preface this thread with some information on how the Group Stages will work and any reasoning behind the small changes.
The group stages will be the prelude to the knockout stage, there will be likely around four groups with four nations in. Due to potentially having an odd number of teams, one or two of the groups may have 5 teams in instead. Two teams will advance from each group stage into the knockout stage, leaving us with eight teams. Each team will play the other teams in their group once. Teams will gain 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Should teams have the same number points by the end of the group stages then "head-to-head" results will be used first, with round difference being used secondarily should the teams have drawn in the group stages. If you have any questions regarding this then please send me a PM, add me on steam (chalfie) or post in the Q&A thread.
So what changes are we seeing this year? Well we'll be having a "Nations Cup Draw" on 12/02/13. I'll be using last years rankings to sort the teams into groups of four, with any teams not fitting into the 16 being in a seperate group at the bottom. Teams that did not take part last year will be put at the bottom. Currently the groups look like this:
Pot 1
1. France
2. Ukraine
3. Poland
4. Turkey
Pot 2
1. Russia
2. United Kingdom
3. Germany
4. Finland
Pot 3
1. United States of America
2. Belgium and Netherlands
3. Scandinavia
4. Italy
Pot 4
1. Canada
2. Czech Republic
3. Brazil
4. Middle Europe
Pot 5
1. Kazakhstan
2. Greece
3. Lithuania
4. Georgia
All the teams in the different "Pots" will be assigned a number from 1-4 (or 1-3 in the final group) and then a Random Number Generator will be used to select which teams go into each group. The draw will be updated live as it happens on the 12/02/13 at 20:00 GMT in this thread, people are welcome to discuss it in this thread as it happens or just watch as the lottery balls roll out! I think it will be a fun and involving method for everyone. If anyone would like a more in depth explanation of how it will work or simply as some questions they'd like answered then add me on steam (chalfe) or throw me a pm!
The group stages will be the prelude to the knockout stage, there will be likely around four groups with four nations in. Due to potentially having an odd number of teams, one or two of the groups may have 5 teams in instead. Two teams will advance from each group stage into the knockout stage, leaving us with eight teams. Each team will play the other teams in their group once. Teams will gain 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a defeat. Should teams have the same number points by the end of the group stages then "head-to-head" results will be used first, with round difference being used secondarily should the teams have drawn in the group stages. If you have any questions regarding this then please send me a PM, add me on steam (chalfie) or post in the Q&A thread.
So what changes are we seeing this year? Well we'll be having a "Nations Cup Draw" on 12/02/13. I'll be using last years rankings to sort the teams into groups of four, with any teams not fitting into the 16 being in a seperate group at the bottom. Teams that did not take part last year will be put at the bottom. Currently the groups look like this:
Pot 1
1. France
2. Ukraine
3. Poland
4. Turkey
Pot 2
1. Russia
2. United Kingdom
3. Germany
4. Finland
Pot 3
1. United States of America
2. Belgium and Netherlands
3. Scandinavia
4. Italy
Pot 4
1. Canada
2. Czech Republic
3. Brazil
4. Middle Europe
Pot 5
1. Kazakhstan
2. Greece
3. Lithuania
4. Georgia
All the teams in the different "Pots" will be assigned a number from 1-4 (or 1-3 in the final group) and then a Random Number Generator will be used to select which teams go into each group. The draw will be updated live as it happens on the 12/02/13 at 20:00 GMT in this thread, people are welcome to discuss it in this thread as it happens or just watch as the lottery balls roll out! I think it will be a fun and involving method for everyone. If anyone would like a more in depth explanation of how it will work or simply as some questions they'd like answered then add me on steam (chalfe) or throw me a pm!
Group A
POS | Nation | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | RW | RL | RD | Points |
Russia | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 47 | 16 | 31 | 6 | |
2 | Poland | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 44 | 16 | 28 | 6 |
3 | Canada | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 39 | 21 | 18 | 6 |
4 | Italy | 4 | 1 | - | 3 | 23 | 37 | -14 | 2 |
5 | Greece | 4 | - | - | 4 | 0 | 63 | -63 | 0 |
Group B
POS | Nation | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | RW | RL | RD | Points |
Turkey | 3 | 3 | - | - | 42 | 5 | 37 | 6 | |
2 | U.K. | 3 | 2 | - | 1 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 4 |
3 | Scandinavia | 3 | 1 | - | 2 | 30 | 33 | -3 | 2 |
4 | Brazil | 3 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 42 | -39 | 0 |
5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Group C
POS | Nation | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | RW | RL | RD | Points |
Ukraine | 4 | 4 | - | - | 52 | 12 | 30 | 8 | |
2 | Finland | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 48 | 16 | 32 | 6 |
3 | Ka & E.R. | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | 27 | 37 | -10 | 4 |
4 | Middle E. | 4 | 1 | - | 3 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 2 |
5 | BeNe | 4 | - | - | 4 | 19 | 45 | -26 | 0 |
Group D
POS | Nation | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | RW | RL | RD | Points |
Germany | 4 | 4 | - | - | 49 | 10 | 39 | 8 | |
2 | U.S.A. | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 38 | 23 | 15 | 6 |
3 | Czech R. | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | 32 | 30 | 2 | 4 |
4 | France | 4 | 1 | - | 3 | 32 | 24 | 8 | 2 |
5 | Georgia | 4 | - | - | 4 | 0 | 63 | -63 | 0 |