Poison

"Poison Tournament" Proposal

Now that we've got a monthly flow of single-season league startups, I'd like to propose (for comment) a tournament idea I've been sitting on for awhile. I'm calling it a "Poison Type" tournament. PLEASE DREAM THIS WITH ME and leave some feedback!

The Structure

There would be two leagues of 8 teams each. However, a (league-operated) team in each league would be randomly designated as "poison" at the inception of the tournament. Let's call them "Poison Oak" and "Poison Ivy" for the sake of discussion. Every team plays every other team only twice, for a total of 30 games, 14 inside your division and 16 against the opposing division. That means you would play a total of 2 games against Poison Oak and 2 against Poison Ivy. Lots is at stake in those 4 games. Read on to see what I'm imagining as the unique managerial-gaming challenge.

The Gaming Challenge

If you lose to Poison Oak, they immediately evaluate your players, and exchange a player with you that they think will improve their roster! You'd get sim results and see an Alert something like this: "Poison Oak took SS Alex Rodriguez from you and gave you SS Larry Bowa in return." To keep managing simple, the exchanges are at the same position/pool, e.g., Poison Oak's SS might be exchanged with yours, or their SP exchanged with yours, etc. Each time a Poison Oak and Poison Ivy win, they improve, making them stronger as the tournament unfolds, and difficult to beat.

Now, you too can pluck a player from another team by EITHER shutting them out OR winning by more than 5 runs. If you beat Poison Oak 4-3, it's just a win. Neither of you gets a player as spoils. But If you were to defeat Poison Oak (or any other team) by the score of 3-0 or 9-3, the sim would pluck a pitcher or position player from Poison Oak that makes you more competitive. As always, the challenge is to win your division and then the championship. If you make it to the championship against a poison team, you are still vulnerable to having a player taken with each loss. Clearly, the odds are tilted toward the poison teams. Sound like a challenge? You only have to last 30 games at the pace of 1 game per calendar day.

There are certainly strategy questions here. Do you try to win with modest players and great managing skill so as to avoid one of your superstars taken by Poison Oak? Do you advance-plan your rotation so that your ace always faces Poison Oak or Poison Ivy? And what about your schedule? Playing poison teams early gives you a chance to recover. If you play them late in the schedule, you might lose your best player(s) for the post season. Lots to think about.

Rules (Evolving)

1. Two teams are "poison" at any given time. No more than two; no less than two.
2. Poison status is stolen from a poison team whenever they are shut out by an owned (not league owned) team.
3. Poison teams will take 1 player from you at their discretion whenever they beat you.
4. Poison teams will also take players from each other if/when when they play.
5. Non-poison teams also steal players from other teams when they win by means of a shutout.
6. Auxiliary Rosters are available to all teams.
7. There are no injuries in this tournament-style play.
8. Plays a 30-game schedule spread over 34 calendar days with no consecutive games against any opponent.
9. Worry-free RPL and Finances.