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Hello everybody! I hope you've enjoyed the first two cups, because I am happy to announce the third and final cup of the season… the Champions Cup! Aligning with our apparently yearly tradition of a grand tournament ending on the final week of the season, this is a 13 gameweek, consolation bracketed tournament in which every team will play from Gameweek 26 onward! Unlike the other tournaments of this year and last year, this cup has a couple of twists, so buckle in and enjoy the ride!

The Group Stage

The Group Stage for this tournament is split into 2 parts, Group Stage 1 and Group Stage 2. It will last 6 weeks, with each stage accompanying 3 of those weeks. All 16 teams will survive the Group Stage.

Group Stage 1 will be seeded normally, with 4 teams in 4 groups. For example, here is what a set of these groups could look like:

Each manager will play every other manager in their group once, hence 3 gameweeks for Group Stage 1. For example, this could be the result of those groups:

Group Stage 2 is seeded based on the result of the above groups. So, all group winners will move to a group, all runners up, so on and so forth. The example will generate the following groups:

All managers who are in Group E - the Group Stage 1 winners’ group - will get to choose their opponent in the Round of 16. The order that Group E will choose is based on their finish in Group Stage 2. There is a caveat here: they must choose a manager who finished in the bottom 2 places of Group F, G, or H. That means they cannot choose a manager from Group E, nor a manager who finished in the top 2 of their group.

From there, it’s simple! The Round of 16 will be a single leg, while every subsequent round will be 2 legs. There will also be consolation and double consolation and so on (there are a lot of people in the league) so everyone will have a cup matchup every week!

As a reminder, the first match of Group Stage 1 will start on Gameweek 26, with the final being Gameweek 38, so this is our longest tournament yet!

And yep, $30 + mystery kit (+ bragging rights) is still the prize!

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FAQs

Why 2 group stages?

I wanted to do a longer group stage, without the groups getting boring after a few weeks. It appears that as a group stage approaches 4-5 weeks, only the managers at the top and bottom of the group are really competing, with the rest having lower stakes. This allows for a normal group stage, seeded as we expect with managers of all quality, along with a group stage that ideally will put you alongside managers in similar form.

Why the ability to choose an opponent?

Since we did a bye as a reward for group stage winners in the Short n’ Sweet cup, I wanted something new. I also received inspiration from the tournament feedback poll, where it sounded like people tended to enjoy the single leg knockout rounds. I thought, what better way to make everyone play a single leg knockout round and give group winners a bonus?

I also appreciate the strategy that it can provide - “what opponent next week gives me the best chance of winning?” This allows managers to get creative and look at the opponent’s players’ matchups. For example, maybe out of the 6 managers to choose from you find one who, despite finishing 3rd in their group rather than 4th, has terrible fixtures for their players that week in particular. Or, maybe you share defensive fixtures with someone and feel like your midfield/forwards are stronger that particular week.

How will Group E choose their opponent?

They haven’t scheduled the games yet, but Gameweek 31 starts on a Saturday and Gameweek 32 isn’t until the following Saturday. There should be plenty of time from the end of 31 to the start of 32. I will do my best to reach out in order of the final group table, but in case you’ll be on vacation or otherwise unreachable, you can provide a ranked list of desired opponents.

What if a Group E manager is inactive?

The following is my hypothetical “ideal” best-choice ranking that will be used in case of inactive / unreachable managers:

1. H4
2. G4
3. F4
4. H3
5. G3
6. F3

How are the remainder of the teams seeded?

This is a little complicated, but all 1 and 2 seeds will play a seed below them from another group. Depending on which managers are chosen, this will impact how the rest of the bracket is generated. Basically, expanding this list will allow the fixtures to be generated with the following parameters:

1. A higher seed must play a seed lower (no 2 seeds will match up)
2. A team must play a seed from another group
3. Each “quadrant” must have one team from each group

If these aren’t all feasible, I’ll do my best and let everyone know.

And, if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll definitely keep the announcement on the website updated and will likely include any other information or answers to questions people have in the first gameweek update!

Good luck, and an early welcome to the Champions Cup!