Season 1 is finally complete.

Congratulations to Dunga (5-0), Frankdeslimste (4-1) and TexasJohn (4-1) who respectively won the 3 inaugural season 1 groups. They go to Group A for season 2 and will be joined by the three runners up from season 1 - DagenDaDragon, Ironheart and Heyheuhei.

Group B is formed by the 3rd and 4th place players from season 1: MilitaryManiact, Bakapon, Farragut, Ineffable, Warlord and (due to Duke of Ben's retirement) CEBearsfan.

The other players from season 1 go to Group C: Hangblague, Envaeronment, Bluemonkey, VaporX, Domenico. The spot left open by the Duke's retirement will be filled by the winner of season 2, Group D (already completed), Zerbi, who finished 6-1.

Groups D and E are part of season 2, have finished, and they are waiting patiently for these new season 2 groups A, B, and C to be completed.

I will set up the new tournaments today, and will provide links here. To speed things along a bit, we will go with 3 games at a time instead of 2.

Remember, anyone can get in on the fun - new players will be placed into a season 3 expansion group F. Details about the concept, development and links to the existing tournaments can be found on this thread:

http://warlight.net/Forum/Thread.aspx?ThreadID=3535

I imagine group A is now a definitive A-Division. Yes?

I am interested in playing

Me too ;)

I'm interested

I would like to be included too :)

yes please

Dunga: yes.

Everyone else: Great! You'll all be included in Season 3.

Here are the Season 2 tournaments:

Group A: http://WarLight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TournamentID=2295

Group B: http://WarLight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TournamentID=2299

Group C: http://WarLight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TournamentID=2301

Group D: http://WarLight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TournamentID=2163

Group E: http://WarLight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?TournamentID=2197

Note that Groups D and E are already complete. I will announce winners and movements for season 3 when groups A, B, and C are also complete.

Group E, which has been bumped from Season 3 to 2, features a 3 way tie at the top that cannot be resolved by applying the head-to-head rule. The three top finalists are considering a mini-tournament to resolve it. If they all want to go that way, I will respect and apply it since there is time before season 3 can begin. In that case, I will post the tourney here as well.

I'd like to be included too!

I would like to be included in season 3 also if possible.

The W.A., or Warlight Association (better names are welcomed, but we need something less clunky I think) is really starting to blow up!

I am quite suprised as to how things turned out, with Domenico's relegation to group C coming as a shocker! He was a shining star of the league, and in my mind a shoe-in for Group-A. I predict he will be back with a vengance...

Additionally, I am personally not liking my chances here in the elite Group-A. With such luminaries of the game as Dunga and HHH as my opponents, how can I hope to avoid relegation?!

I want to give a hearty and well-earned thanks to ChokeCherry for organizing this, especially as I don't think he is actually taking part in the competition. Just a question, how big are you willing to let this thing become? If there are too many groups, would you consider expanding each group to include more than 6 players, perhaps to 10? Obviously this would be a logistical nightmare, especially at first, and I imagine it would cause the rounds to last a bit longer. I am concerned that with too many Groups, it might be a bit discouraging to players in lower groups, knowing that it might literally take a year to get to the top level.

I would have no problem taking a year to climb to the top. Would make it very rewarding if I was good enough to do so.

I would also like to join when possible.

What? no [WM] tag for me?

I would like to get into this.

TexasJohn: Thanks for the comments. You raise a good question, and you're probably right that there may eventually be a point where the groups need to be a bit bigger. I'm of the view so far that we don't have too many groups yet, even taking into account the players expressing interest now for new expansion groups. We're probably going to have at least 6 or 7 groups for season 3, and I think we could stand even more than that.

For this to be interesting rather than discouraging for new players, they would need to realize that when there are a lot of players in the league, they may never get to group A if they do not yet have elite skills. The interest would lie in seeing if they are good enough to get to one level higher and find out where their level of competition naturally fits. You're right to observe it would take a long time for the new players to get that high, but the gradual climb has to be part of the appeal - the league requires a long-term interest. Even getting relegated shouldn't be necessarily discouraging for some if it means finding better parity to hone their skills and enjoy not getting crushed so often.

I'll do my best to incorporate improvements as we go. I will try to find a balance between predictability and faithfulness to the original concept on the one hand and adaptability to majority preferences for improvements on the other, so it's good to hear these ideas and suggestions.

Oh, I agree that it is still much too early for expanding the groups. I was just pointing out a possible problem in the future. There was always a lot of support for this idea, but it seems even more people are seeing the appeal and expressing interest.

One thing that I think would be cool, but have no idea how to do, would be some sort of league webpage. It could have forums (although at the moment the WL forums seem to serve the purpose), as well as a way for administrators to post important news and even highlights from close games. This could be a cool way to bring the members of the league closer together, commenting and learning from completed games between evenly-matched or "elite" players.

I could make a website if you wanted, with chokecherry as the administrator of course. Just invite me to a game if your interested choke.