Welcome to the Game of Stones Season 3!
Hello everybody and welcome to the Game of Stones Season 3! As of today, the Game of Stones Season 3 league has started and you will be able to log into your account (or create a new account) at draft.premierleague.com and use league code CODE. (This code will be in the email and discord post rather than on the website)
After what I'd consider a successful first couple of seasons- including crowning two different champions, close end of season races, and the introduction of mid-season tournaments- I'm so excited to get this next season underway! Tentatively, the draft date has been set to Sunday, August 11th! I will send out an availability form closer to that date. That said, this is an announcement, so let's get into it.
We've seen a total of 20 different managers across the two seasons, and I'm happy to announce the inclusion of 4 more! This takes the league back up to 16 managers for Season 3.
The Cast
As this is The Game of Stones how could I not start with introducing our cast members? Starting with the old-heads of the league (and some highlights of their Game of Stones careers and Season 2 standing):
Matthew
- Champion of Game of Stones Season 2
- Runner-Up of Game of Stones Season 1
- 82 points
- 27-1-10 record
- 1912 points for
Luke
- Runner-Up of Game of Stones Season 2
- 73 points
- 24-1-13 record
- 1515 points for
Gavin
- 3rd place finish Season 2
- 66 points
- 21-3-14 record
- 1403 points for
Dylan
- 3rd place finish Season 1
- 4th place finish Season 2
- 64 points
- 21-1-16 record
- 1587 points for
MatthewR
- 6th place finish Season 1
- 5th place finish Season 2
- 60 points
- 19-3-16 record
- 1508 points for
Kevin
- 9th place finish Season 1
- 6th place finish Season 2
- 58 points
- 19-1-18 record
- 1412 points for
Scott
- 7th place finish Season 1
- 7th place finish Season 2
- 55 points
- 18-1-19 record
- 1332 points for
Darryan
- Champion of Game of Stones Season 1
- 8th place finish Season 2
- 48 points
- 16-0-22 record
- 1350 points for
Jesse
- 4th place finish Season 1
- 9th place finish Season 2
- 48 points
- 16-0-22 record
- 1177 points for
Andrew
- 5th place finish Season 1
- 10th place finish Season 2
- 45 points
- 15-0-23 record
- 1323 points for
Zach
- 11th place finish Season 2
- Champion of Game of Stones Euro 2024
- 44 points
- 14-2-22 record
- 1400 points for
And since we are now up to 16, that means we add 5 managers who did not manage in Season 2! This means we will see 4 brand new faces, and one returning face from Season 1! Here they are:
Emily
- 11th place finish Season 1
- 44 points
- 14-2-22 record
- 1159 points for
Coop
- Favorite team Tottenham
- Thinks Tottenham fans will smile this year
- Predicts Cole Palmer top scorer babyyy
Matt
- Favorite team undecided
- Expects Nottingham Forest to sign enough keepers to run an 11-0-0-0
- Predicted to do the double over Coop, repeating the performance in the Euros league
Rebecca
- Favorite team undecided but has been seen sporting a +-=/x tour jersey
- Predicts Man City and Arsenal running it back #murica
Soph
- Favorite team agnostic
- Will likely become a Nottingham Forest fan
- Predicted to finish exactly one spot above Emily
Prize Pool
End of Season Rewards
We will be mostly adapting the same prize pool as last season, but an increased manager pool comes with a new distribution! Once again, we will have a pay what you can system, so I am taking donations that will contribute directly to the prize pool. The idea behind not including a buy-in is to encourage managers of all backgrounds and interest levels to be able to join the league, should they be interested. Last season, we raised a prize pool of $260 with this method, which I'd say is pretty good (and I'm very grateful for everyone who contributed to it). If you would like to contribute to this season's prize pool, feel free to venmo me! (I will add my venmo to both the email and the Discord post, rather than posting it on this public forum) Also, I'm contributing $100 from my winnings last season as the starter for this season's pot!
This season's distribution of end of season prizing will be as follows:
- 1st Place
- Jersey of your choice
- 50% of prize pool
- 2nd Place
- 25% of prize pool
- 3rd Place
- 15% of prize pool
- 4th Place
- 10% of prize pool
Manager of the Month
The Manager of the Month prize pool this season will be a little different to last season. Instead of taking something small like 10% of the prize pool and adding it to a flat value like last season (only ended up being $2.60 per month), I will simply be funding a $10 prize for the Manager of the Month, and give 4th place the full 10% of the prize pool.
For anyone new, the Manager of the Month award will be granted to the manager who earns the most points in a month. A month is determined by all gameweek start dates within that month. E.g. if a gameweek begins on December 31st and continues until January 3rd, it will be considered a part of December. The tiebreakers for this award are as follows:
- Points
- Points For
- Wins
- Draws
- Coin Flip
Mid-Season Tournaments
This season, we will have a total of 3 Mid-Season Tournaments, including a kickoff tournament (announced shortly), a Winter Cup through the holiday season, and an end-of-season cup! For those just joining us, these are run concurrently to the league phase and will use the league scores in head-to-head group stage and playoff bracket matches. The award for winning one of these tournaments is a $30 cash prize and a mystery kit (such as from https://awaydaysfootball.com/)! Thanks to Zach for this suggestion!
Weekly Updates
Weekly Updates will return! These updates include table changes, stats, interesting matchups that occurred or are upcoming, and more! This year I may experiment a little more with the format, keeping the stats, copium, and tables and maybe adding a little more of a customized look at the gameweek (rather than just listing out everything that happened). These updates will continue to be posted on Discord, but this season will also see them posted here on the website, as well as sent out via email! Feel free to reach out if you would like to be added/removed from the email list.
The Copium tables will continue until morale is improved.
Promotion / Relegation
Yep, that's right, this season will see the bottom 4 relegated into the second division for the 2025/2026 season (pending interest). My goal is to run two concurrent leagues of ~12 or so managers to improve parity, write storylines, and increase satisfaction for managers in the league, especially as interest swells! I want to stress here that relegation, while potentially disappointing, is not a punishment for poor performance. I hope for it to be an opportunity for managers who may need more time to understand the fantasy systems to get just that, and for managers new to the league to have an entryway into the system. Fantasy Premier League is not easy- you can definitely get unlucky- but having played it for a few seasons now, I do think it is something people can learn and develop a skill for. My sincere hope is that in a year or two's time we will have multiple active and competitive leagues that provide rewarding experiences for their members.
Anyway, off my soap box. Check out the promotion/relegation blog post for more info on the system, or message me if you have any questions or concerns!
Prizing Recap
So just as a quick reference, here is all the prizing info for Season 3 of the Game of Stones:
- 1st Place
- Jersey of your choice
- 50% of prize pool
- 2nd Place
- 25% of prize pool
- 3rd Place
- 15% of prize pool
- 4th Place
- 10% of prize pool
- Manager of the Month
- $10 flat
- Mid-Season Tournaments
- $30 flat
- Mystery Soccer Kit
- Prize Pool Starter
- $100
Again, let me know if you have any questions and thank you so much for joining the Game of Stones Season 3!