Brought to you from the makers of Monday Night Fourball and the Bare Bones Tourney….we present to you, the Majik Pelota Tourney.

<b>History leading up to the present day…</b>

A small faction of wizards, in love with the game of bloodbowl, had tried for years to develop a team made of magical creatures to compete on the pitch. However, the demons they summoned either ate their keepers or suffered from temporal instability and dissipated during the match. Imps and familiars they created were too fragile to play in anything besides Stunty Leeg. The wizards grew increasinly frustrated at their failures and watching their necromancer cousins make their mark on the game with various undead teams. Finally, they decided if they could not make a team of their own, that they would try to alter the rules of the game and the pitch on which it was played.

The first modification they made was to fill the line of scrimmage with players. The middle zone of the pitch had to be occupied seven players on each. The wide zones, which were renamed “alleys,” contained two players each, although they were not required to be on the line of scrimmage at kickoff. He wizards were delighted to think of the initial scrum that would occur at kickoff.

Not wanting to settle for a slight rules change, they decided on a second modification that was enforced with magic. The field was divided into three paths. The middle path is seven paces wide and the two outside paths (formerly called wide zones) are four paces wide each. They divided the paths with magical barriers so that no player could pass from an alley to the middle or vice versa without fulfilling the proper conditions. Each player was outfitted with an amulet before taking the pitch. These amulets enabled one to cross the barriers only when a player came into hard physical contact with a player from the opposite team. Thus the ball could move freely in between the barriers, but player could only block their way through or be pushed through by opposing team members.

In addition to these changes, the wizards mandated that a team could not score down the same path in which they had previously scored. Thus, a team that scored down the middle path could only score again by using an alley path. Once a team had scored down an alley path and the middle path, it could other score down the remaining alley path. A team that was lucky enough to score three times could then score down any desired path.

Finally, due to the wizards' dislike of inaction, they forbade stalling.

The wizards decided to test out this new field and rules in hopes that bloodbowl players and fans would be lured to this new type of game. They sought out teams of different races to test out this new game and sponsored a tournament they called……Majik Pelota.

<b>Rules of Majik Pelota</b>

1. Only one LRB team of each race may apply to play in the tourney. This allows the wizards to see if the game needs to be tweeked before it is advertised on a grand scale. The first player to PM me about a team will receive “first dibs.” However, I will not be asking for team requests until I announce the open round robin tourney is taking applications.

2. The initial set up on each kickoff (including the beginning of each half and after each score) should include 7 players on the line of scrimmage (LOS) on the middle path. Two players must be placed in each wide zone (Alley). If a team has less than 11 players, there must always be at two players in each wide zone and the rest on the LOS on the middle path. If the team has less than seven players, each alley should contain at least one player. A team with less than five players may place the players in any path allowable by the regular rules.

3. Players may not cross over into another path unless it is the result of a block or blitz. Therefore, a player could be pushed into another path or block/blitz a player on a square adjacent to a path and follow up the block. A player can also throw or hand off the ball into another path. Players may not take a move action to go across into another path.

4. A team may only score down one path per game, unless they have scored down each path one time, in which case they could again choose which path they would like to score in. Therefore, if a team managed to score down the top alley, if they obtained the ball again, they could only enter the endzone through the middle path or the lower alley. The third score must be on a path that had not previously resulted in a score.

5. Teams are not allowed to stall. Since this is difficult to enforce, the official ruling will be that if a player with the ball has an open path to the endzone (defined as having enough MV to enter the endzone without needing to make a die roll on a dodge, gfi, etc.), then s/he must score, unless the player’s team ends its turn with a turnover.

6. Just to clarify, skills still work across the magic barriers. Thus, players may use shadowing, diving tackle, and provide assists (including guard). However, PassBlock may not be used to cross a barrier.

7. All games will be played on Monday Nights from 7:30 to 11:30 GMT-6 timezone. The tourney will take approximately 3 weeks to complete and will be followed by a KO tourney. Players should attempt to play 2-3 games per night. Seeding for the KO tourney will be determined by the regular season.

8. Points will be scored as follows:
Win = 5
Tie = 2
Loss = 0
Each TD scored = 1

9. No wizards or stars.

<b>Strategy</b>

There is no set strategy for game play or team selection yet although different teams and skills will be useful at different times. High AG and Dodge will allow players to move away from the line. High STR and Block are useful for the war at the LOS. Frenzy, Side Step, Shadowing, Diving Tackle, and Stand Firm will help to pass through barriers or avoid passing. Leap and Tentacles may allow greater mobility or restrict it.