01 May '07 11:57>1 edit
This has bugged me for ages, so i'll air my thoughts. Why are the leagues judged on board score? If you look at any teams league in the World, the winners are the ones who win the most matches against the other teams in the league. Only in the case of a tie is board score used to select the winner.
You might think this is neither here nor there, but it changes the outcome of the league substantially over the course of a whole season. If i had my choice of system, it would be this...
Each division has a table of results in the same way we have currently, but instead of 'wins/loss/draw' as it is currently, it would be a cross table showing the over all result of each Clan v Clan contest. Only when all the games between two clans have been completed does the table show a result. 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, 0 for a loss. This way each clan is in competition as a team. With the current system, it feels like a lot of individuals fighting to get the best individual score. If one team fields a particularly strong team, they just walk away with the league and become unstoppable. If they had to win 10 Matches, the circumstance is different. It is possible for a slightly lower graded side to cause an upset, for this reason...
Team A
Player 1 - 2350
Player 2 - 2100
Player 3 - 2000
Player 4 - 1500
Player 5 - 1300
Player 6 - 1200
Average:1741
Team A
Player 1 - 2000
Player 2 - 1950
Player 3 - 1850
Player 4 - 1600
Player 5 - 1400
Player 6 - 1300
Average:1683
One would expect Team A to win because they have a higher average rating, however when you look at the individual pairings themselves, the match does not look anything like as one sided, in fact I would expect Team B to perhaps take the match. If Team B did cause an upset, then Team A lose a whole Match point. If these two teams went on to win their remaining matches, then Team B is rewarded for beating Team A with the title. Team A would probably end up with a higher board score. They might win their other matches more convincingly that team B, but they must actually BEAT Team B if they want to be champions.
I hope this highlights my point clearly, i haven't really got time to iron it all out. I do believe this would make the Leagues far more interesting to everyone involved, not to mention those not involved too. Looking at the 7 day League, you can clearly see which teams are going to win each division, even though the season isn't even half way through. If a Clan v Clan system was introduced, then there would be a build up towards the end of the season which would be much more exciting, surely...?
You might think this is neither here nor there, but it changes the outcome of the league substantially over the course of a whole season. If i had my choice of system, it would be this...
Each division has a table of results in the same way we have currently, but instead of 'wins/loss/draw' as it is currently, it would be a cross table showing the over all result of each Clan v Clan contest. Only when all the games between two clans have been completed does the table show a result. 1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw, 0 for a loss. This way each clan is in competition as a team. With the current system, it feels like a lot of individuals fighting to get the best individual score. If one team fields a particularly strong team, they just walk away with the league and become unstoppable. If they had to win 10 Matches, the circumstance is different. It is possible for a slightly lower graded side to cause an upset, for this reason...
Team A
Player 1 - 2350
Player 2 - 2100
Player 3 - 2000
Player 4 - 1500
Player 5 - 1300
Player 6 - 1200
Average:1741
Team A
Player 1 - 2000
Player 2 - 1950
Player 3 - 1850
Player 4 - 1600
Player 5 - 1400
Player 6 - 1300
Average:1683
One would expect Team A to win because they have a higher average rating, however when you look at the individual pairings themselves, the match does not look anything like as one sided, in fact I would expect Team B to perhaps take the match. If Team B did cause an upset, then Team A lose a whole Match point. If these two teams went on to win their remaining matches, then Team B is rewarded for beating Team A with the title. Team A would probably end up with a higher board score. They might win their other matches more convincingly that team B, but they must actually BEAT Team B if they want to be champions.
I hope this highlights my point clearly, i haven't really got time to iron it all out. I do believe this would make the Leagues far more interesting to everyone involved, not to mention those not involved too. Looking at the 7 day League, you can clearly see which teams are going to win each division, even though the season isn't even half way through. If a Clan v Clan system was introduced, then there would be a build up towards the end of the season which would be much more exciting, surely...?