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I've been brainstorming ways to create more parity across the board for this upcoming TWDT season. Before I begin, I also want to say that I share the intuition that things shouldn't be changed, especially with the draft coming up so soon. I've been hesitant to propose this idea, but the more I think this through with other people, the more I believe this is something we should seriously consider.
In a draft league, we should be doing our best to provide every captain, regardless of variables like draft position, the possibility to assemble a team that can compete for the title in every league.
As I see it, the current structure for adding lineups doesn't promote such parity. Let's take warbird/javelin as our example. The current requirements are:
There's never enough 10* players to go around. Last season, there were five 10* javs in the draft. Two teams (zidane and dreamwin) had two 10* javs each. Under this current structure, zidane and dreamwin's teams paid no penalty for fielding duo 10's. Attacks and skyforger at the 6th draft spot never stood a chance.
Here's the main problem: The elite 10* players have far too much weight in determining the outcomes of games, and in particular, the playoffs. Too many championships are decided by round one of the draft (or the first pick of the draft when you're zidane picking ease). There's no flexibility for captains to add lineups that make up for the disparities in the talent pool. The general rule has been if your elite players don't show, you're losing those games. And if you miss out on elite players early in the draft or free agency, you're not competing for championships in those leagues. Both of these cases are due to the current rule set, which could be changed with little effort. A team shouldn't be paying the maximum price for their best player celebrating their mother's birthday during TWDT hours. And a team shouldn't have to throw leagues by default because of their draft position.
We could use a better equalizer that gives captains the chance to compete without relying so heavily on 10*s that aren't being weighted down proportionately. And we need to remove rigid structures that make high star players absolutely irreplaceable. But we need to accomplish these things without compromising the quality of competition.
Here's my proposal: A total star cap limit for every lineup.
In warbird and jav, the sweet spot would seem to be 40* total per lineup (or 8* average per player), with no dedicated requirements for adding specific rating tiers.
All of these lineups would be valid: (Examples are in warbird, ratings taken from last season)
Lineup 1 - 10/9/8/7/6 (Ease, Attacks, Wiibimbo, Cloth, destruct)
Lineup 2 - 10/10/8/6/6 (Mythril, RaCka, Ogron, blt_12, finite)
Lineup 3 - 9/8/8/8/7 (Jones, Lockdown, Skyforger, Cape, maketso)
Lineup 4 - 8/8/8/8/8 (Trasher, Turban, Flew, Pineapple Express, Paky Dude)
Lineup 5 - 9/9/8/8/6 (Beam, Geio, Jamal, Alextron, tj hazuki)
All of these lineups, assuming ratings are done as accurately as possible, provide more parity than what we currently use. In this system, a 10* player would pay the penalty of being weighed down by a 6*, or trading their 8* for a 7*. A 9* player would be weighed down by a 7*. The difference between 9/10*s would actually be accounted for. Duo 10's should be penalized and weighted down more than duo 9's. Not doing so gives too much value to the elite 10* players, and they're always in short supply.
You could still field a standard lineup (Lineup 1), but the overpowered lineup of 10/10/8/7/6 is no longer valid. There's far more flexibility and creativity once you stop forcing every lineup to fit the traditional mold. One size doesn't fit all here. If your normal lineup is 10/9/8/7/6 and your 10* doesn't show, it should be possible to fill his absence by adding an equally competitive lineup like a 9/8/8/8/7. If you missed out on elite players early on in the draft, you should still be capable of drafting a lineup that could compete by stacking 8*s in the later rounds. Also, higher tiered players would actually have to play up to their rating to balance out their lower rated counterparts.
If a captain is gifted with creativity, imagination and better strategy, more of the playerbase will get more playing time than has been the case. Most importantly, there will be more avenues for captains to draft a winning lineup without relying on the first 2 rounds of talent as their only option.
Base is a bit messier in finding the perfect * total for lineups. Right now, the current structure is:
Lineup 1: 10/10/9/8/8/7/6/6
Lineup 2: 10/9/9/8/8/7/7/6
Lineup 3: 9/9/9/9/7/7/7/7
Lineup 4: 10/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/6
Lineup 5: 9/9/8/8/8/8/7/7
There are many more mixes. An immediate concern is the breakdown in practicality for captains and staff on any given sunday. 8 players is more difficult to sort through in real time. I also don't have the intuition of a pure baser to know if the talent pool would support 64 as the perfect number. Others might have a better idea.
At the very least, if we don't make this change for base, we should at a minimum change the current requirement from 4 high * players to 3 and add 2 spots for 8*s. Last season, 8*s were over represented, but there were only 6 realistic spots each on any given sunday. That alone would utilize more of the player base and give less incentive to stack. If we go with a basing lineup * cap, if you want an elite terrier and 2 elite sharks, you're going to be weighed down by weaker spiders. And vice versa.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. In the name of Thanos.
My initial instincts tell me the 40* lineup cap makes sense in warbird and jav, but base might be better off just changing the lineup to 3 high stars/8/8/7/7/6. But nothing has been decided yet, this is just an idea. This has to be decided soon, so let me know your thoughts.
In a draft league, we should be doing our best to provide every captain, regardless of variables like draft position, the possibility to assemble a team that can compete for the title in every league.
As I see it, the current structure for adding lineups doesn't promote such parity. Let's take warbird/javelin as our example. The current requirements are:
- Two high * players (9*/10*)
- One 8*
- One 7*
- One 6*
There's never enough 10* players to go around. Last season, there were five 10* javs in the draft. Two teams (zidane and dreamwin) had two 10* javs each. Under this current structure, zidane and dreamwin's teams paid no penalty for fielding duo 10's. Attacks and skyforger at the 6th draft spot never stood a chance.
Here's the main problem: The elite 10* players have far too much weight in determining the outcomes of games, and in particular, the playoffs. Too many championships are decided by round one of the draft (or the first pick of the draft when you're zidane picking ease). There's no flexibility for captains to add lineups that make up for the disparities in the talent pool. The general rule has been if your elite players don't show, you're losing those games. And if you miss out on elite players early in the draft or free agency, you're not competing for championships in those leagues. Both of these cases are due to the current rule set, which could be changed with little effort. A team shouldn't be paying the maximum price for their best player celebrating their mother's birthday during TWDT hours. And a team shouldn't have to throw leagues by default because of their draft position.
We could use a better equalizer that gives captains the chance to compete without relying so heavily on 10*s that aren't being weighted down proportionately. And we need to remove rigid structures that make high star players absolutely irreplaceable. But we need to accomplish these things without compromising the quality of competition.
Here's my proposal: A total star cap limit for every lineup.
In warbird and jav, the sweet spot would seem to be 40* total per lineup (or 8* average per player), with no dedicated requirements for adding specific rating tiers.
All of these lineups would be valid: (Examples are in warbird, ratings taken from last season)
Lineup 1 - 10/9/8/7/6 (Ease, Attacks, Wiibimbo, Cloth, destruct)
Lineup 2 - 10/10/8/6/6 (Mythril, RaCka, Ogron, blt_12, finite)
Lineup 3 - 9/8/8/8/7 (Jones, Lockdown, Skyforger, Cape, maketso)
Lineup 4 - 8/8/8/8/8 (Trasher, Turban, Flew, Pineapple Express, Paky Dude)
Lineup 5 - 9/9/8/8/6 (Beam, Geio, Jamal, Alextron, tj hazuki)
All of these lineups, assuming ratings are done as accurately as possible, provide more parity than what we currently use. In this system, a 10* player would pay the penalty of being weighed down by a 6*, or trading their 8* for a 7*. A 9* player would be weighed down by a 7*. The difference between 9/10*s would actually be accounted for. Duo 10's should be penalized and weighted down more than duo 9's. Not doing so gives too much value to the elite 10* players, and they're always in short supply.
You could still field a standard lineup (Lineup 1), but the overpowered lineup of 10/10/8/7/6 is no longer valid. There's far more flexibility and creativity once you stop forcing every lineup to fit the traditional mold. One size doesn't fit all here. If your normal lineup is 10/9/8/7/6 and your 10* doesn't show, it should be possible to fill his absence by adding an equally competitive lineup like a 9/8/8/8/7. If you missed out on elite players early on in the draft, you should still be capable of drafting a lineup that could compete by stacking 8*s in the later rounds. Also, higher tiered players would actually have to play up to their rating to balance out their lower rated counterparts.
If a captain is gifted with creativity, imagination and better strategy, more of the playerbase will get more playing time than has been the case. Most importantly, there will be more avenues for captains to draft a winning lineup without relying on the first 2 rounds of talent as their only option.
Base is a bit messier in finding the perfect * total for lineups. Right now, the current structure is:
- Four high * players (9*/10*)
- One 8*
- Two 7*s
- One 6*
Lineup 1: 10/10/9/8/8/7/6/6
Lineup 2: 10/9/9/8/8/7/7/6
Lineup 3: 9/9/9/9/7/7/7/7
Lineup 4: 10/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/6
Lineup 5: 9/9/8/8/8/8/7/7
There are many more mixes. An immediate concern is the breakdown in practicality for captains and staff on any given sunday. 8 players is more difficult to sort through in real time. I also don't have the intuition of a pure baser to know if the talent pool would support 64 as the perfect number. Others might have a better idea.
At the very least, if we don't make this change for base, we should at a minimum change the current requirement from 4 high * players to 3 and add 2 spots for 8*s. Last season, 8*s were over represented, but there were only 6 realistic spots each on any given sunday. That alone would utilize more of the player base and give less incentive to stack. If we go with a basing lineup * cap, if you want an elite terrier and 2 elite sharks, you're going to be weighed down by weaker spiders. And vice versa.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. In the name of Thanos.
My initial instincts tell me the 40* lineup cap makes sense in warbird and jav, but base might be better off just changing the lineup to 3 high stars/8/8/7/7/6. But nothing has been decided yet, this is just an idea. This has to be decided soon, so let me know your thoughts.
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