16-06-2023 11:00

A month ago, we told you about the upcoming Federation league, here. In this article we'll cover the basics in federation management and playing clashes. We encourage you to ask questions in the forum if there are any, to this end we have created a forum thread here. There will be a separate article regarding the league system and ranking at a later point, to avoid dropping too much information at once. We can also announce that we plan to add the new features to the site next week on day 79 (Wednesday). The entire first season (87/79) will be a beta test, please see bottom of this article for more information. We also want to highlight that this will be a free feature: everyone will be able to join one federation without any cost, and participate in clashes.

Here is an overview of the entire clash page. We will go through all of this below.

Picking team leaders: new federation admin role

First, let us start with the basics, how do you set up your Federation in order to compete in clashes? As a federation president, you will be able to assign a brand new role to any of your members: "Can pick First Team members". You can assign this role to any member of the federation, even members who aren't in the first team themselves, and there is no upper cap for the amount of members who can be assigned this role.

Selecting first team

Once a federation have their leaders sorted out, it is time to pick the first team. This is done in a separate tab: "First Team". Here, all members who have made themselves available for the first team will be shown. It is up to the team leaders to pick up to 16 first team members, including two key first team members.

Clashes: the federation vs. federation battleground!

Whereas the normal individual league is a calculation of matches between teams, the federation league will be a calculation of clashes. In clashes, two federations go head to head to decide a winner. As discussed in the previous article, there will be two clashes each week. Each clash has a start point and an end deadline.

Clash start point

The start point also acts as a deadline, for two reasons. Firstly, it sets in stone who can play in that particular clash: If the leaders only selected 10 first team members when the start point was reached (out of a maximum of 16), only those 10 can play. You have then forfeited the other 6 matches. Secondly, it also cements the away match tactic of all the first team members. We will return to that topic further down below.

Clash end deadline

This, naturally, marks the end of every clash. Any matches that are started before the deadline will count, even if they don't get published until after deadline.

Clash table

The clash table is made up of two rows, as seen in the image below:

Each row represents the challenges of that federation against the opponents. It is possible to switch between your challenges and their challenges through a drop down menu at the top of the page. Losses will contribute 1 point to the clash table, draws contribute 2 points and wins contribute 4.

Our challenges (home matches)

During a clash, you must choose a member of the opposing federation to play against. When you have achieved a result against that team, you will contribute with points towards the clash table, as seen in the image above. Each member can play a maximum of two matches against their chosen opponent, and only the latest result will count. If you draw the first game and decide to play another one in the hope of snatching a win, this could backfire if you go on to lose that second match. The initial draw no longer counts and you have now contributed with a loss towards the clash table. In the table, it would look like the image below. The first match finished 3-3, the user tried again but lost the match 0-1. The latest result is the one that counts.

Opponents challenges (away matches)

While your federation play matches against the opposing federation, they will also play matches against you. You will be able to switch between your matches and theirs through a dropdown menu at the top:

When opponents play matches against you, they will contribute with points towards their row in the clash table.

Away match tactics

Each member has to decide how they want to play in defense (when the opponent challenges you) for the upcoming clash. This is set in stone when the start point is reached, and will not change, even if a player is injured, suspended or sold. When opponent players challenge you within a clash, this is the team they will face, for the entire duration of that specific clash.

This does not mean that you will need to use this tactic in your own challenges against the other federation. You are free to experiment in order to improve your score, it will even be possible to play specially designated scout matches against every opponent. But you will always play against the defense tactic that the opponent has selected for the current clash, and this will not change until the next clash starts.

Key first team members

Finally, we want to introduce one of the most important features of any clash. As a team leader, you will be tasked with pinpointing two first team members who you think will be of extra importance. Key members will be able to play their two challenges, just like all the other members. But in addition, they can play one more match, against any opponent. Below we can see a key member in action. The user tripoli999 has played two matches against this opponent, both losses. Key member afwendjo steps in and play a third match against the same user, turning the loss into a win.

What this effectively means is that your federation has two wildcards, which you can use in any manner you see fit. If your federation is shorthanded (let's say you were only able to field 14 first team members instead of 16), then in all likelihood the key members will take on the two opponents that were not challenged the regular way. If you do field the full 16-member team, you can instead use the key members tactically, in order to improve on your score. Key members will be marked with a special icon in clashes as well as on the federation home page.

The goal of a clash

The end goal is simply to score more points in the clash table, than the opponent. If you do, you have won the clash, which will generate bonus points toward the federation league table. We will explain this in more detail in an upcoming article. If the federations are tied on points in a clash, goal difference will be used as tiebreaker to decide a winner.

First season will be a beta test

Next season (87 in football, 79 in hockey) will be considered a beta test, so the first competitive season, season 1, will be season 88/80. All stats from season 87/79 will be wiped. The beta is partly to give us a chance to fix any issues, but also to give you a chance to learn, adapt, and sort out your first teams.We will also take on board any feedback and consider making changes to the feature.

We will divide the 87/79 beta season up into smaller segments, and restart the league after each one. This will give any new federations a chance to join and test the feature too. We will post another article with more information regarding the beta test next week, when the features are launched. No actual clashes will start until day 1 of the 87/79 beta season, but you will be able to select your first teams in advance.