Tournament Guide

Season 4: Grordhelm Uprising – Last Updated May 26th, 2023

This guide will help Tournament Organizers and players to understand the different types of competitive events and Alchemist Essence distribution on Akora Play! Please visit the Akora Official website for additional information and resources.

Akora Play stores / Tournament Organizers are able to host up to 3 competitively ranked events each week (resets each Monday). Tournaments of all sizes are welcomed and encouraged, although only events consisting of 5 or more players extending 3 or more rounds will be eligible to receive Alchemist Essence for Top 3 players. All events that don’t reach this threshold will only be eligible to receive Alchemist Essence for completed matches.

Tournament Format

Akora TCG currently offers 4 tournament formats:

Legacy (Constructed) : Best of 3
Legacy – Flash (Constructed) : Best of 1

“Legacy” is a constructed format where players build a tournament-legal deck to play in the event.
Bound (Sealed) : Best of 3
Bound – Flash (Sealed) : Best of 1

“Bound” is a sealed format where players are given a pre-constructed deck, which is the only deck they can use for the duration of the event.

Tournament Structure

Swiss Round Tournaments: are used to pair players of equal standing against each other. Swiss rounds end when there is one undefeated player or the number of appropriate rounds is completed. The total number of rounds is based on the discretion of the Tournament Organizer.
Swiss + Single-Elimination Top Cut: Swiss rounds play out like normal, then the Top X players are brought into a Single-Elimination Top Cut where the winner of the top cut will be the winner of the whole event.

Match Structure

The Tournament Organizer may not modify the number of game wins required to win a match. Tournament Organizers must ensure players are playing the appropriate amount of games based on the format that was selected for the event. Players should be notified of the match structure prior to the beginning of the event.

Best-of-one Game Match: In a best of 1 match, players will have a limited amount of time to conclude their match. The player to win will be deemed winner of the match. When time is called, players are required to proceed to end of round procedures. Upon conclusion of the match, players are required to report their scores.

Number of Wins required: 1

Match Time: 30 minutes, 3-minute pre-match for side decking.

Extra Time: 5 minutes for end of time procedures
Best-of-three Game Match: In a best of 3 match, players will have a total of 60 minutes to conclude their match. The player to win 2 games total will be deemed winner of the match. Once the first game is over, the player who loses chooses who goes first in the next game. When time is called, players are required to proceed to end of round procedures. Upon conclusion of the match, players are required to report their scores.

Number of Wins required: 2

Match Time: 60 minutes, 3-minute between games for side decking.

Extra Time: 10 minutes for end of time procedures

For Top Cut, Finals, etc. the time limit on rounds can be adjusted at the Tournament Organizers discretion.

Number of Rounds

The total number of recommended rounds for Swiss is decided based on the number of players and can be adjusted at the discretion of the Tournament Organizer. A top cut may occur at this point if the Tournament Organizer has advertised.

2 Players – 1 to 2 Rounds (1 Round Recommended) – No Top Cut
3-4 Players – 1 to 3 Rounds (2 Rounds Recommended) – No Top Cut
5-8 Players – 1 to 4 Rounds (3 Rounds Recommended) – No Top Cut
9-16 Players – 1 to 5 Rounds (4 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
17-32 Players – 1 to 6 Rounds (5 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
33-64 Players – 1 to 7 Rounds (6 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
65-128 Players – 1 to 8 Rounds (7 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
129 – 226 Players – 1 to 9 Rounds (8 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
227 – 409 Players – 1 to 10 Rounds (9 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut
410+ Players – 1 to 11 Rounds (10 Rounds Recommended) – Optional Top Cut

The above is a recommendation guide for determining the number of rounds and what top cut should be, if chosen to run a top cut. Tournament Organizers can elect to not move to the top cut, they can also change the round / top cut size.

Alchemist Essence

Throughout each season, players are able to accumulate Alchemist Essence; players must participate and play in local and online events hosted through the Akora Play system. Below is a breakdown on Alchemist Essence.

Match Played: 5 Alchemist Essence

Match Won: 10 Alchemist Essence

3rd Place in Event* : 25 Alchemist Essence

2nd Place in Event* : 50 Alchemist Essence

1st Place in Event* : 100 Alchemist Essence

*In order for an event to receive placement points it must have 5 or more participants and 3 or more total rounds.