🎉 Introducing... the FMA Inter-League Battle! 🎉

Get ready for an epic showdown because starting this season, leagues will go head-to-head in the ultimate test of consistency, strategy, and performance!

Here’s how it works:
Every week, I’ll rank each league based on their placements across divisions. The twist? Lower scores are better! Just like golf:

🥇 1st place = 1 point

🥈 2nd place = 2 points
...you get the idea.

I’ll track these weekly totals, and the league with the lowest cumulative score by the Wednesday before Finals takes the crown! 🏆 I'll be keeping score in a master spreadsheet (yes, I love spreadsheets).

🔄 This battle will rotate between circuits, starting with Drum Corps in Season 130, then onto Marching Band, Guard, etc. The winning league each season will nominate a group to host the next Inter-League Smackdown Event, a Masters-of-FMA-style event featuring the best of the best from the previous season with room for others to join in the event that there is a need to fill up the event. Think of it as FAME/CLASS 2.0, but bigger, better, and way more competitive.

💡 A few key details:

Only the top 12 groups per division count each week - so getting as many of your league's members into that top tier matters!

Divisions will be scored separately, then combined into one league total.

Yes, larger leagues may have some advantage, but hey, part of the fun will be working through those quirks together!

This is meant to bring more energy, more rivalry, and more FUN to the game. I’ve seen some newer leagues grow and evolve, and I think this adds a new layer of depth and teamwork.

So—what do you think? 🔥 Yay or Nay?
Questions? Concerns? Suggestions? Bring them on!
(P.S. I’m doing this whether you jump in or not 😎)

Let the battles begin! 💥

DCL will in fact be winning this. #DCLONTOP

Okay! Pop off!

I actually do agree with brassdragon.

The corps in DCL are very good but are not normally in the top 5 or 6 so in this case of a contest, DCL will get a lot of points.

You might be misunderstanding how I am scoring the game. You don't want a lot of points. You want to be in the top 5 or 6. The placements are face value. 1st place = 1 point, 2nd place = 2, etc. The league with the LEAST overall combined scores from each division wins.

If every group in a particular league is top 5 in every division, they are most likely going to win because that would be 45 points. If all of the groups are 12th - 8th, that is 150 points, which is a lot of points and isn't going to win.

1+2+3+4+5 = 15 x (3 divisions) = 45 = lowest score = WINNER!

8 + 9 + 10 + 11+ 12 = 50 x (3 divisions) = 150

That is why some of the leagues who only have division 2 and 3 corps have an advantage over say, CLASS, who has more top D1. That's why I said, this inter-league battle does not favor the leagues with the "top d1" players.

I do see the potential issue of a league only getting points from 1 division - which means their score will be lower - so perhaps there will be penalty points added to their scores to even it out - hmm :) Any ideas about solving this one?

Oh I misread that.

NDCLA could do very well then, I’m pretty sure we have the top 6 for D2 currently.

I believe I solved the problem. Let's use CLASS as an example:

CLASS has one D3 corps in the top 12, meaning CLASS is only representing 8% of Division 3.

Therefore, I will multiply their current score of 3 (because they have a corps ranked 3rd) by 92%. Their D3 score would be 5.76.

In D2, CLASS has 2 corps, 9th and 12th, giving them a score of 21. CLASS corps represent 17% of the top 12; thus, I will multiply their score of 21 by 83%. Their current D2 score would be 38.43.

D1, 5 corps, top 5, current score 15, representing 42% of the top 12. Current score would be 15 + (15 x 58%) = 23.7

Current Combined Example Score: 67.89

I think what could work as well is changing the way you score it like the league with the most points wins. change the point values,. that would solve that issue as well

I'm impressed with the way you think and the solution yuo came up with but it's not necessary

WOW! Thank you! That's a great idea! I was totally overcomplicating things. That makes much more sense, and if leagues don't have a corps in the top 12, they don't get the points (period).

So, THIS is how I will score it. The league with the MOST points wins. Now I understand why people misunderstood the point system, at first. The points go as follows:

1st place in division: 20 pts
2nd: 15
3rd: 10

4th = 9
5th = 8
6th = 7
7th = 6
8th = 5
9th = 4
10th = 3
11th = 2
12th = 1

It's all coming back to me now. If I recall correctly, that is how I scored it the last time I did this inter-league competition.

Problem solved!

Yesterday's discussion on Discord raised some questions about the integrity of the competition in its current state and got me thinking about going in a different direction; like a Fantasy-Football-style tournament with teams made up of various players on FMA - either done by random with AI or picked by founders/league representatives - which seriously would rely on enough participation to even be able to get this tournament off the ground. I created a Google Form for you to fill out if you are interested in competing in a tournament like this one and adds you to a pool to be selected for a team:

https://forms.gle/W7ofkUsF9P24gygn8

This sounds fun can anyone join?

Yes, and important aspect of this is to have groups from each division be on a team. So, we need D3s, too!

This tournament is going to be a lot of fun if we can get enough players! I am envisioning rosters with a (free agent) that a team can bench and switch out :)), just like fantasy sports.

Objective Recap:
Each fantasy team has 3 corps

One assigned to Music captions

One to Visual captions

One to GE (General Effect)

Scoring comes from TWO shows per player per week

Use their latest performance of the week Caption Scoring
Music Player Music Ensemble + Brass + Percussion
Visual Player Visual Ensemble + Guard + Visual Proficiency
GE Player GE 1 + GE 2 (or total GE) Selection Rule
Each week, for each corps, use the latest 2 events they performed in - based on specific criteria (there must be at least 3 groups in your division - groups do not have to be in the tournament - corps in your division may be teammates or opponents)

Example:

Week runs Sunday - Saturday

Nemesis could perform Tues + Sat

Spirit of Atlantis performs Mon + Fri (etc,.,) It really depends on your schedule and if you meet the event criteria. Power-Up Rule: “Backup Boost”
✅ Rule Summary
Each fantasy team may designate 1 backup corps at the start of the season. (They are a corps that is not in the tournament and will be chosen from a list)

That backup can be used twice during the tournament, in place of any main player (Music, Visual, or GE) who doesn’t compete in a week.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT TO USE IT! If you want to use it to get a higher score, go for it! That is totally up to the team to decide. Example: Team Scoring Breakdown
Team A
Music Corps: Spirit of Atlantis

Music Ensemble – 2nd → 9 pts

Brass – 3rd → 8 pts

Percussion – 5th → 6 pts
Music Total: 23 pts

Visual Corps: Gold Fusion

Visual Proficiency – 4th → 7 pts

Guard – 6th → 5 pts

Visual Ensemble – 4th → 7 pts
Visual Total: 19 pts

GE Corps: Nemesis

GE 1 – 1st → 10 pts

GE 2 – 2nd → 9 pts
GE Total: 19 pts

Team A Weekly Score = 23 + 19 + 19 = 61 points

Also, your team can decide who wants to take over what captions - DK can be GE for one event, Music the next, it's up to you but must be decided before your event starts.

Replying to put this back on top of the recent posts - still needing one more player to register for this tournament by tomorrow.