Warhammer 40K: There’s a Lot to Like About Team Tournaments
Adam here to talk about Team Tournaments – the 40K format that is becoming more popular by the day.
As we are clearly seeing, Warhammer 40K tournaments are coming back in many places. We are not yet back to what it once was, and I am not sure it ever will be, but a lot more events are being played now. As tournaments come back, we are seeing more and more different formats for the tournament scene. One of the formats that seem to be gaining steam is the 40K team tournament. It is basically a group a players that play against a similar number of players and, depending on the format, the winning team is determined by games won and/or points scored. Size can vary from small 2 man teams to the 8 man teams of the World Team Championship(WTC) format. This past weekend there was the Las Vegas Team Tournament which pit 5 man teams against each other in best out of 5 matches per round. It was a fun and exciting weekend and people seemed to enjoy it. This week will be a couple observations about the format itself and it’s effect on the player’s rankings.
Easier for New Players
This past weekend there was a number of new teams. I don’t mean that there were one or two new players on the team but that there were whole teams made up of players who had never played in a tournament before. It seems like the players feel more comfortable going to their first tournament as a group and if you add the fact that you are playing near your buddies it really give you the confidence to step into the world of tournaments.
If the format is a simple one, like the Las Vegas Team Tournament was, then it does make it an easier barrier to entry for newer players. Some people might find the differential scoring, which is used for WTC, a bit more daunting for their first tournament. I know it is not that big of a deal once you get the hang of it but for new players sometimes it better to let them dip their toe in before they take the big plunge and try a tournament with differential scoring.
Less Stressful/More Stressful
I mentioned how team tournaments gives player the confidence to play in a tournament, well a team tournament can really help and hinder a player also. On the one hand you can play without having as much stress in your game than if you were playing a a single player tournament. This is especially true if you are the one that is chosen to play the toughest match-up or the opposing teams best player. With the expectation that you are going to lose, it takes a lot of the pressure off of having to win and can actually make you play better as you are not as tense.
On the flip side, it can sometimes cause more stress, especially towards the end of the round. There were plenty instances of the match being tied at 2 wins for each team and it all rested on that last game. For newer players and players not used to that kind of pressure, it can sometimes cause more stress than they are normally used to and may hinder how their game is played. Now it could also be moments like these that bring out the best in players so there is that occasion where a player shines through the adversity and pulls one out for the team. Hopefully when that happens it also translate over to single player tournaments for them.
Scoring
One peculiar thing about the team tournament format is the way the ranking points are currently scored. Right now each player on the team will receive the same number of ranking points that the team receives for whatever place the team comes in at the end of the event. For example, let’s say my team comes in first at a 60 team event. Let’s say the team gets 100 points for winning the event. Each player gets 100 points no matter how they did at the event. So whether you went 6-0 or 0-6, everyone on that team will get the same amount of points. This could easily raise someone’s ranking due to the team doing well as the points go to their individual points pool. I personally have some issue with this as it doesn’t reflect the proper skill of he player if they happen to be on a team that does well at team tournaments. I feel that a team’s score from a team tournament should be counted for a separate system but, unfortunately we do not have such a system right now. In the meantime, enjoy those points you earned with your friends.
~That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed the article. Let me know what you think, and what aspects of a team tournament you like or dislike, in the comments section below.
