Tournament Formats

UPDATED AS OF:  8 - 30 - 21

Looking for a consolidated place for rules around our sponsored tournament formats for big prizes?  Look no further as all info contained here will remain updated as the current formats change and evolve!

Current Tournament Season Info: Alpha Trion Season Four

Note:  Cards, characters, and stratagems released only as part of Primus Pack 1 or subsequent Primus Packs are NOT legal in any of the below formats. 

Keeping Time in Round:

We suggest each playing keep time to avoid conflicts, each player needs to have clear communication about the time left in the round, and if there are any interruptions in game play (judge call, disconnect, etc) for each players to pause their timer. 

ADDING A DESIGNATED SIDEBOARD STRATAGEM SLOT:

Stratagems were a unique and dynamic mechanic added to the game in WotC’s Wave 5 release: Titan Masters Attack and expanded on by each subsequent ATP release. At the time of introduction, Organized Play at that time did not update sideboard construction rules around this brand new card type.

The ever-growing influence of Stratagems across different metagames, along with the increasing weight of each battle card slot in a competitor’s sideboard, call for an update to this--we believe.

Previously, sideboard looked like the below, regardless of format:

• 1 Character slot (restricted to 19 or fewer stars)
• 10 Battle Card slots, including any sideboarded Stratagems

Going forward, for each Alpha Trion series event (unless otherwise stated), sideboard construction will have the below skeleton, regardless of format:

• 1 Character slot (restricted to 19 or fewer stars)
• 1 Stratagem slot 
• 10 Battle Card slots, not including any Stratagems

SETTING AN UPPER TIME LIMIT FOR SIDEBOARDING:

No player may spend more than 3 minutes or 180 seconds sideboarding between games. Below is the standard flow of sideboarding:

1. Previous game ends, sideboarding time begins counting down
2. The player who lost Game 1 chooses to go First or Second in Game 2
3. The player who won Game 1 chooses whether or not to sideboard characters and/or Stratagems 
4. The player who lost Game 1 chooses whether or not to sideboard characters and/or Stratagems 
5. Both players sideboard battle cards simultaneously

If 3 minutes from the above Step 1 have passed and a player or players are still in the midst of the above Step 5, they must immediately cease sideboarding and present their legal battle deck. If a player presents an illegal deck after sideboarding, they immediately receive a game loss and sideboarding time would begin as a lead-in for the next game.

END OF ROUND PROCEDURE CHANGE:

The completion of matches is integral to a competitive community’s ability to gather and play events (local, regional, and national in level) in a timely manner. Having an easy-to-understand and not open-to-interpretation set of rules around matches running to and/or past the allotted time limit helps keep things consistent for everyone involved: players, judges, and tournament organizers.

The previously established set of End-of-Round procedures put in place by the game’s original creator and thus sanctioner of Organized Play, WotC, really seemed to leave the game in a confusing place after the introduction of Titan Masters and the deployment mechanic around them.

That, paired with less than optimally clear language in the ruling itself, has resulted in a situation where one playing party feels slighted all too often in addition to often requiring the presence of multiple judges to confirm any ruling revolving around the End-of-Round aspect of tournament play.

In accordance with what has seemed a pressing need for too long, the Alpha Trion series of tournaments and the ATP contributors have decided on a change for how End-of-Round or End-of-Time-in-Round rules work for the events we run for the Transformers TCG. They are as follows:

When the end of the allotted time for the round is called, all gameplay ceases. Players do not untap, nor finish any attacks of any turn they are on, nor does their opponent take any turns past the present one. 

DURING GAME 2:

• If time is called during Game 2, Game 2 ends in a draw and the match ends in favor of the player who won Game 1 as a record of 1-0-1.

DURING GAME 3:

• If time is called during Game 3, one set of tiebreakers will be employed.

• Players immediately tabulate the remaining HP for characters on their team, including present additional HP (i.e. from Stratagems or Upgrades). The player who has the MOST remaining HP wins Game 3 and the match ends in that player’s favor as a record of 2-1.

• If more than one player is tied for the most remaining HP at the time of this tabulation, Game 3 and thus the match each ends in an unintentional draw as a record of 1-1-1.

• Characters that began on your starting team but are presently under characters are counted toward this HP total. (i.e. Mini-Cassettes under Blaster)

• Characters that did not began as part of your starting team and are presently under characters are NOT counted toward this HP total. (i.e. characters yet to be deployed from under Metroplex, Tidal Wave, or Trypticon)

• Characters on another character in Head Mode do not have their remaining HP count toward this HP total, but any additional HP they grant your team in Head Mode is counted.

BETWEEN GAME 2 & 3:

• If time is called during sideboarding between Games 2 and 3, players immediately stop sideboarding and must present their registered GAME 1 teams--even if they sideboarded a character or characters in Game 2.

• “Before game” or “at the start of game” or “at the beginning of your first turn”-esque effects do not resolve. Then, each player tabulates the remaining HP on their current characters (alongside any starting buffs existing on things like Stratagems).

• The player with the MOST remaining HP from this comparison of Game 1 teams wins Game 3 and thus the match as a record of 2-1.

• If more than one player is tied for the most remaining HP at the time of this tabulation, Game 3 and thus the match each ends in an unintentional draw as a record of 1-1-1.

• Characters that began on your starting team but are presently under characters are counted toward this HP total. (i.e. Mini-Cassettes under Blaster)

• Characters that did not began as part of your starting team and are presently under characters are NOT counted toward this HP total. (i.e. characters yet to be deployed from under Metroplex, Tidal Wave, or Trypticon)

• Characters on another character in Head Mode do not have their remaining HP count toward this HP total, but any additional HP they grant your team in Head Mode is counted.