Welcome back My Little Crias,
When we last had met a new World Champion had been crowned under unhappy circumstances. The only way to correct it would be to unleash new tournament rules for all competitions going forward. The Secret Society of the Salmon Alpaca was thrilled and eager to unleash an era of combat for its gladiators by removing the playoffs for its contestants and leaving the battle royale format straight to the very end. That was until the global pandemic swept across the nations of Earth.
For our purposes 2021 only exists to right the wrongs of history. A new format will hopefully be thrilling to you, My Crias. And the year 2020 will exist in the year 2021. Though much in the way of spirits has been consumed, the Grand Salmon Alpaca is not drunk when He states this. As seen in the video shared on 5/16/21, the European Championship will finally be on. It’s more than a little late, but better to be late than never to be at all! (Insert a hoooraaaah!)
There is a link below to open and view your gamesheets. Hopefully you can all access this link via Google docs. If you do not have a Google account, don’t fret. We will find a way to get your gamesheet to you. Notify the TSzAL of any problems you may have in the Facebook Group page.
The Rules:
We’ve been through this before, but let us refresh our minds and fill in those who may be competing for the first time.
The Group Stage:
The first round consists of 6 groups of 4 teams. The teams in a group all play each other once. They are awarded 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. It is your job to decide not just the outcome of each match, but what the score will be.
Your point accumulation will be as such: for every result in terms of wins and draws correctly predicted you will receive 5 points. If you predict one team’s score correctly, you will receive 2 points. If you predict both teams’ scores correctly you will receive 5 points. Each match has the potential to earn you 0, 2, 5, 7, or 10 points.
Using the tables to mark the results of the matches as you predict them, you will rank the teams and how they finish in each group. The column marked Scored is to add up the total amount of goals each team scored. The Conceded column is where you add up the total amount of goals a team had scored against them. The Difference column is where you subtract the goals Conceded from the goals Scored. The Points column is where you sum up the number of points each team earned giving 3 points for each win, and 1 point for each draw. You will then rank the teams 1-4 with 1 going to the team with the most points and 4 to the least.
In the case of a tie on points the team with a greater goal difference ranks higher. If the teams are still tied, the team that scored more goals ranks higher. If the teams are still tied please contact us to help you determine the order.
As a note, please
pay particular attention to where each match is being played. The
belated 2020 European Championship was to be the 70th 60th
anniversary of the first European Championship to be played. As such,
no one team was selected to host the tournament. Rather several host
countries were picked. So pay attention as there will be several
teams that will get at least a few matches in their home countries.
How this affects your predictions is solely up to you, but do be
aware of it.
Once you have completed filling out all your groups and ranking all the teams, you can begin to arrange your playoff bracket. Group Winners and Group Runners-Up will be placed where they are labelled in the bracket. Because there are 6 groups, in order to have 16 teams for the playoffs only the best 4 third place teams qualify. To figure which of those teams you have predicted, transfer your third place teams to the table under the sheet 3rd Place Rankings. The ranking criteria for these teams is below the second table. Once you have ranked the teams, those in the green section are the ones that will qualify for the playoffs.
To determine who these third place teams match up against you must use the 3rd Place Chart sheet. Find the row that contains your 4 third place teams. The team in column G will play the winner of Group B, the team in column H will play the winner of Group C, the team in column I will play the winner of Group E, and the team in column J will play the winner of Group F. Transfer your teams accordingly to the playoff bracket. (If you require help with this obnoxious step, please let us know and we can make your world seem right again.)
The Playoffs:
Here you will predict the results of each playoff match. Be sure to enter the predicted scores. The only way you can win 5 points for a correct result is if you have the correct teams in the correct slots and pick the winner. Your predicted scores will still count even if you have the wrong teams. Pick one half the score correct and you will get 2 points. Pick both scores correctly and you will receive 5 points. Again, that counts even if you have the wrong teams in the slots.
For every Quarterfinalist that you correctly predict, whether they be in the correct spot or not, you will receive 25 points. For every Semifinalist you pick correctly, you will receive 50 points. For every Finalist you correctly pick, you will receive 75 points. If you correctly pick the Champions, you will receive 100 points. Please make sure to pay attention to where these playoff matches will take place. This could affect how you want to make your predictions.
As always, there will be a way to make up points if you find yourself with a busted bracket come the playoffs. This leads us to a special announcement.
Everybody Gets to Bring a Friend:
Every tournament the TSzAL hosts all competitors are paired up with a team that is actually competing on the field. You would earn 3 points for every win that team had, and a point for every draw. That is no longer the case. As you travel around Europe from match to match, you should be allowed to bring a friend of your choosing. That’s right, in the spirit of democracy you get to choose a Euro Buddy.
But wait, there’s more. Your Euro buddy will be able to earn you more than a measly 3 points or 1. Their performance on the field will determine how much your point totals rise by. Every goal your Euro Buddy team scores will net you the same number of points as the jersey number of the goal scorer. If someone scores on a penalty kick, you will get half the number of points as the jersey number. Each assist gets you one half the number of points as the jersey number of the player with the assist. You will receive the amount of points equal to the number of saves your goalkeeper makes multiplied by the number of saves plus one, all divided by two. 1 save equals 1 point. 2 saves equals 3 points. 3 saves equals 6 points. And so on….
However, your Euro Buddy can hurt you as well. An own goal will cost you one half the number of points as the jersey number of the player who put the ball in his own net. A yellow card will cost you one half the number of points as the jersey number of the player booked. A red card will cost you the total amount of points as the jersey number of the player booked. If your Euro Buddy accumulates a negative point total, no points will be deducted from your score. You simply earn 0 Buddy Points for that match.
For the Group Stage of the Tournament, each national team can only be picked once as a Euro Buddy by a contestant. As a result, the Euro Buddies for the first stage of the tournament will be picked according to a draft. The draft order shall go as follows: 1) Historicus (Defending European Champion), 2) Scriptor (Reigning World Champion), 3) Praeceptor, 4) Musicus, 5) Artifex, 6) IoannesNix, 7) Fortuitous, 8) Colubris.
Once the tournament enters the playoff stage Euro Buddies can be switched out. Each player will get to pick one team per round. A team will be allowed to be picked by more than one player from the Round of 16 on. There will be no draft at this point, but a deadline to pick your team will need to be met.
In Closing:
The tournament officially begins on Friday, June 11th at 3:00pm. As such, your bracket predictions must be submitted by Wednesday, June 9th end of day to allow 24 hours for verification of your playoff stages. The draft for Euro Buddies will begin on Monday June 7th. While there will be no official time limit for picks, we ask that you prepare in advance. Contestants with later picks will have less time to make their selections and fewer choices to do so with. If you are suspected of rigging the time so that contestants cannot make a selection prior to the start of the tournament, you will receive a red card and potentially forego having a Euro Buddy for the first round. The aim is to have the draft completed by Thursday June 10th.
As always, there is some information that may be helpful in making your predictions found in the menu on the right side of this web page. Aside from this, you may use any other information you like to make your predictions. As always, we hope that you will have fun with this process and the tournament as a whole. If you have any questions about anything at all, feel free to ask in the comment section below, or on the Facebook Group page.
May the odds, and the goals, be ever in your favors.
The Grand Salmon Alpaca
