Rules

 

Each team may have up to 4 players. One of the 4 is designated captain. The captain may designate an optional co-captain but this is not a requirement.

 

The Ragnarok schedule is composed of overlapping ten-day "weeks". The weeks run from Sunday (Day One) to the FOLLOWING Tuesday (Day Ten).

 

Captains are expected to comply with deadlines, which are as follows::

 

Day Three (Tuesday at 8:59 PM ET): Captains must have contacted each other and completed the match up process (outlined below) then emailed lineups to their team and the league commissioner. Please include captains on all scheduling emails. The league commissioner does not need to be included on scheduling emails unless issues arise that need to be addressed

 

Day Eight (Sunday): By the end of this day, all duels should be either completed, or firmly scheduled for completion by Tuesday. At this time, if there are ANY scheduling difficulties, the league MUST have been notified in order to assist captains in completing the match. Also, captains must remember that the FOLLOWING week begins at this point, and must be proceeding toward the following week's schedule.

 

Day Ten (Tuesday): All duels must be completed.

 

In all cases, the "scheduled time for a match (or duel)" is the time both parties who are to duel have agreed to meet, either by independent scheduling or by agreement that they will be present at a team's default match time. In all instances, there will be a twenty minute grace period from that time before any penalty is applied.

 

Matchups

 

By Tuesday of the scheduled week, the Captains need to have arranged line-ups in the following fashion. This can be done via email, PM, or instant message but email is the preferred method

 

The "away" team states their dueler for the first match.

The "home" team then states their dueler for the opening match, and then their

selection for the second match.

The "away" team then selects their duelers for the second and third matches.

The "home" team chooses their duelers for the third and their substitute dueler.

The "away" team, then names a substitute dueler, to be used in the event a dueler is unable to schedule or appear for a scheduled duel. The substitutes named MUST fill any vacancies that occurs for these reasons, and inability to do so will result in penalties as stated below.

 

Substitution

 

Teams may substitute under the following conditions:

 

- If the team has named a substitute at the time the matchups were made; or

- By using a free-agent as outlined below.

 

The only circumstance in which a team will be allowed to substitute other than as mentioned above is if the opposing captain has no objections. If the captain objects, and a substitute was not named, a free-agent must be utilized. If the team has used its allotment of four free-agent substitutions for the season, the duel is forfeited.

 

Use of free-agents

 

Teams may utilize free-agents under the following three circumstances:

 

- By naming a selected free-agent as eligible for team use prior to the beginning of match scheduling, and informing the league and opposing captain of their intent; or

- When a substitute dueler is required, by requesting that a free-agent be assigned by the league.

 

If a free-agent is required as a substitute in an already-scheduled duel, a request must be sent to the league. The league will randomly select 2 duelists from the free agent pool. The first selected may be vetoed by the opposing captain, which would leave the second option as the substituting player.

 

Penalties

 

The league will assign penalties to teams and duelers for failing to meet scheduling requirements as follows:

 

- If the home team captain has failed to contact their opponent by the end of Day Three, choosing a home field advantage and putting forth their first duelist where applicable, the team will be assessed 1 (one) match point penalty, and will be assessed 1 (one) additional match point penalty per day thereafter, until contact is made.

 

- If a captain has failed to respond, causing a pre-match lineup to be incomplete, by the end of Day Three, the team will be assessed 1 (one) match point penalty, and will be assessed 1 (one) additional match point penalty per day thereafter, until the template is complete or the date is set. There is no appeal.

 

- If duels are not scheduled by the end of Day Eight, the party or parties responsible (to be considered the dueler who has not responded to requests to schedule) will be penalized 1 (one) DUEL point (and thus one match point to the team), and 1 (one) additional duel point per day the match remains unscheduled. If the cause of the failure to schedule is negligence on the part of the captain, the team will be penalized 1 (one) match point per duel unscheduled, and 1 (one) additional match point per day for each duel that remains unscheduled. In the event legitimate attempts are being made to schedule the duel, and neither party is able to accommodate the other, the league must be notified, and assistance will be given; in this case, penalties will not be levied.

 

- If a dueler fails to appear for a scheduled duel, and no substitute is immediately available per the rules, a penalty of 2 (two) match points will be assessed to the offending team. The team will have one opportunity to reschedule the duel, which the opposing team must attempt to accommodate. If the rescheduled duel does not occur on schedule, and the fault lies with the originally offending team, the duel will be forfeited, the result recorded as a 5 (five) to nothing shutout in 6 (six) rounds, with the loss charged to the dueler originally scheduled to duel. The dueler who "wins" such a match will not be credited with a victory.

 

- Regarding duels scheduled for Day Nine or Ten: Any duel scheduled to take place on Day Nine or Ten falls into a special category. As duelers and teams will have had eight days to make arrangements, any duel scheduled for these days that is not fought on schedule, and cannot be dealt with using substitutes, will be ruled a forfeit in favor of the team whose dueler was present as scheduled, without question. Teams should avoid being placed in a position where they are hoping to get a duel complete on the last two days of the ten-day competition week, and should prepare for potential difficulties accordingly.

 

- Penalties applied to an individual duel are wiped out if the duel itself is forfeited (that is, if a team has accumulated penalty points for failing to schedule properly, and the duel is forfeited, those penalty points are disregarded in favor of the substantial penalty for forfeiture).

 

- In all cases, teams are expected to keep the league apprised of difficulties. The weight of evidence will necessarily lie toward those who have made the league aware of problems. The league commissioners will make every attempt, if aware of a problem, to facilitate a solution that does not require use of the above penalties, and will seek to avoid issuing penalties where possible. However, issuance of said penalties is at the sole discretion of the league.

 

Rules of Play

 

Individual duels during Ragnarok are contested according to the commonly known rules of the sport of dueling, with some exceptions as outlined below.

 

 

Individual Duels

 

 

There are no ties.

 

All duels will continue until a dueler achieves a full-point victory, with at least five points scored.

 

Duels must be officiated by callers sanctioned by the League Office. The home team retains the right to choose the caller, or reject a caller suggested by the visiting team.

 

Duels may not be officiated by officials who are, at the time, on duty as officials of another dueling venue.

 

 

Foci/Rank

 

 

All duelists will fight at Wizard Rank (3 Foci) and will not have access to mage spells (NR/IMM) or Keeper spells (EF) unless they obtain an artifact or other items that permit their use.

 

 

Artifacts

 

 

Periodically, Ragnarok Island’s unstable setting may produce a number of useful resources in the form of Twilight Artifacts. These resources can be won, selected at certain points thresholds or traded amongst teams for use in duels. Unless otherwise noted, these are often times single time use items and are expended once used in a duel.

 

 

Match Scoring

 

 

Matches are scored as follows:

 

 

Each duel won: 5 points to dueler and team.

Each point scored within a duel: 1 point to dueler and team, to a maximum of 5 points.

Bonus points to dueler and team are awarded as follows:

- Shutout: 3 points to dueler and the team.

- Five-round shutout: 5 points to dueler and to the team.

-Four-round shutout: 6 points to dueler and to the team.

 

 

Thus, the maximum score for the winner of a non-shutout duel is 10 points; for the loser, 5 points. A shutout is 13-0; a perfect shutout is 15-0.

 

 

League Play

 

The commissioner will maintain both League Standings, and Individual Standings.

 

 

Standings

 

 

Teams are ranked based on standings points, awarded as follows:

 

 

Each duel won: 1 point

Match win: 4 points

Match sweep (3-0): 1 additional point

 

 

Therefore, a Match Sweep results in eight points for the victor (three points for the five duels won, four points for winning the match, and one point for the sweep).

 

 

The points accumulated here reflect in the standings.

 

 

The team which, at the end of the season, has accumulated the most points wins the season championship and will get first pick of resources for the end of season Boss Battle.

 

 

Boss Battle

 

 

[TBA]

 

 

Administration

 

 

The League is run by the Commissioner, with assistance from staff, including the Assistant Commissioner, and Supervisor of Officials with oversight from the Duel of Magic Staff. All decisions of the Commissioners/Duel of Magic Coordinator are final. All decisions by other staff, pertaining to their duties, are final, barring overruling by the Commissioner and/or Duel of Magic Coordinator, which will not be a common practice.

 

 

Assistant Commissioner

 

 

The Assistant Commissioner is assumed to speak with the voice of the Commissioner in any instance where the Commissioner is unavailable to rule, or at the direction of the Commissioner. In some instances, the Assistant Commissioner may make a ruling, pending the Commissioner's approval; otherwise, if the Assistant Commissioner issues a ruling, it is binding.

 

 

Supervisor of Officials

 

 

The Supervisor of Officials is responsible for hiring, training, and supervising the callers without whom the league could not function. Any dispute arising over the conduct of an official must be directed to the Supervisor of Officials; likewise, the Supervisor of Officials will be responsible for complaints from officials regarding the conduct of duelers toward said officials in the course of official league play, and will issue recommendations to the Commissioner's Office in cases of abuse.

 

 

Officials

 

The League maintains a staff of trained duel officials, answerable to the Supervisor of Officials. They are expected to conduct themselves with the utmost integrity, and it is likewise expected that their integrity not be questioned publicly. Questions regarding possible improper activity by officials is to be directed to the Supervisor of Officials.