Standard Pauper Double League Official Announcement

Here's the announcement you've been waiting for!

I am happy to officially announce the Standard Pauper Double League. In case you've missed my previous posts, the concept is pretty simple: this will be two back-to-back events, each consisting of 5 rounds of Swiss before cutting to a Double Elimination Top 8. Players who survive the first cut will be ineligible for the second phase of the tournament, which will otherwise be an identical 5 rounds of Swiss followed by another Double Elimination Top 8. Players will be responsible each week to contact their opponent and play their match for the week. Pairings will be handled through the Gatherling database at pdcmagic.com for the Swiss rounds, while the Double Elimination rounds will run off a tournament bracket hosted here on my blog.

So here are the official rules for the event:

1. Registration: Registration begins immediately and will be open until 11:59pm EST on Friday, October 30th. To register, send an email to gwyned at gmail dot com with "Standard Pauper Double League" in the subject line and include your MTGO username and your time zone. There is no entry fee to participate - in other words, it's absolutely free!

2. Important Dates: You must register by Friday, October 30th at 11:59pm EST to participate in this event. Round 1 then begins on Monday, Novemeber 2nd. Each round will run one week, beginning on Monday and ending at 11:59pm EST every Sunday.

3. Format: The format for this event is Standard Pauper Constructed, which means only cards printed at Common in Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, Dragons of Tarkir, Magic Origijns, and Battle for Zendikar are legal. Older printings of legal cards are acceptable. Deck must be 60 cards minimum, with an optional Sideboard of no more than 15 cards.

You are welcome to change your decklist between rounds as long as the new deck is still Standard Pauper Constructed legal.

4. Structure: Both phases of the event will be in Swiss style, with a total of 5 rounds. After the Swiss rounds are complete, there will be a cut to Top 8, resulting in 5 rounds of Double Elimination play. The second phase of the event, also consisting of 5 rounds of Swiss play, will run concurrently with the Top 8 Double Elimination. Players who earn a spot in the initial Top 8 are thus NOT eligible to play in the second phase of the event. Once the second set of Swiss rounds are over, there will be another 5 rounds of Top 8 Double Elimination play, then a final best-of-five match between the two 1st place winners to determine the Grand Champion of the Double League.

I will be using Gatherling on pdcmagic.com to facilitate matches. This means that each participant needs to have a functional account at pdcmagic.com/Gatherling. I will be adding players to the event manually once I have received your registration E-mail, so don't try to register on that site directly.

Each week, login to the Player CP on Gatherling and look for the entry under Standard Pauper Double League. There you will see your Pairing for the round. Once your match is over, both players will need to record the results in their Player CP as well. Failure to complete your match may be grounds for disqualification for the event. Be sure and contact your opponent early each week to make sure you can complete your match in a timely fashion.

5. Tables: Please set up each match as follows; before you join a match, make sure the match is setup correctly.

• Type: Standard Pauper
• Match Structure: Best 2 out of 3
• Event Timer: 25 minutes
• Allow Watchers
• Comment: Standard Pauper Double League

6. Conduct: It is the responsibility of each player to be aware of all the rules for this event. Ignorance will NOT be an excuse.

This event, like any Player Run Event, relies on the honor system. Please be a good sport.

If you’ve contacted your opponent and have not received a response in 48 hours, please contact me. If only one person contacts me and no results are reported, I will award that player a match win and drop his or her opponent.

If you are having any other problem (such as your opponent not showing up, your opponent dropped connection in the middle of the match, harassment, or anything else), don’t hesitate to contact me. And if you suspect another player is cheating, let me know. But I trust that every player will be a good sport and act in good faith such that I never have to become involved.

7. Prizes: The exact prize structure has not yet been finalized but will be announced once registration closes. Currently the total value of the Prize Pool is $80.00. If you are interesting in donating to this prize pool, please contact me at gwyned at gmail dot com with the subject line "Standard Pauper Double League Prizes".

8. Questions: Leave any questions in the comments below, or feel free to contact me at gwyned at gmail dot com.