[EVENT TRACKER] Winter Cup: December 17th!

[Kisaragi Zane]

Hello Starfighters & Cardfighters, Kisaragi here on behalf of the Starfight Crew. I can feel the anticipation of Starfight Winter ever since it was announced back in October's vote and trust me, I too, am looking forward to seeing what exciting fights that will unfold before our very eyes. However, before we get started with what we're all here for: I'd like to say a few words to everyone ranging from the participants, first timers, and those who were not able to participate. It's without a doubt that I'm very appreciative to the many people who come and participate in not only just the team leagues but even the tournaments, as I said in the previous tournament closure, Starfight wouldn't be here without the fighters who decided to take a chance and those who supported it's conception. The reason why I created Starfight has been something I've only disclosed to a few people and seeing it go for it's second run sincerely means a lot. I'm someone who doesn't have a Vanguard Cardshop and this was my predicament ever since I started getting more involved in Vanguard. My only form of competitive Vanguard was online, here, on our own Cardfight Area. However, I was surrounded by people who had the luxury to play in real life and I listened to their stories, their struggles, and their achievements. Each story I listened to, I began to realize something, a difference, and it started to grow more and more clear to me. Throughout the years, I've constantly heard the phrase "there isn't a difference", which fundamentally: you'd be right because we're playing the same card game with the same rules whether it's real life, over video calls, or on a simulator. However, there is one difference, and that is the experience that many people, including myself, that I've often found myself missing out on and even jealous of others because of this. It wasn't out of spite or envy, but a pure desire to feel, and to be exposed to exactly what it was that they were experiencing. Starfight Team League draws people with many different types of goals and reasons for participating, but it also is meant to give people an experience - that experience, that feeling - that I simply cannot begin to describe with words. I finally was able to experience that twice this year: once at a locals albeit small and the second at a tournament. And even now, I still standby the sentiment that it is a whole new feeling one that I've grown to appreciate that pushed me to create an event that could capture and emulate it. Team Battles and, at some point later, Tournaments started to lose it's competitiveness because of how day-to-day it was with no real merit to show for it outside of individual goal's. What I'm not trying to do is turn Starfight into a "Win or Lose" because there are many positive aspects that can be gained from defeat nor a Leaderboard/Ladder system. What I am trying to do, and what Starfight is trying to do, is to give a healthy competitive environment that is found at every event in real life and for everyone to be able to gain or take something away for their efforts, dedication, and enthusiasm for Vanguard. My Summer team, Starfish Alliance, was able to do so and after doing so had fulfilled an accomplishment that I've sought and hope to see others complete as well, including now - here in Winter 2017 into 2018! I'd like to thank all of my friends and all of the fighters I've met who've shared their stories to expand my horizons whether it was real life or online: there's something to take from any story because I truly gained a lot from each and every one over the years. Once more, we thank you all for entering, participating, and supporting Starfight Team League! And without further ado, let's start this. Let your story and efforts be heard as you participate in Starfight Winter 2017!

STARFIGHT TEAM LEAGUE EVENT: BEGINS NOW!

To kick this event off from the start!

• This Starfight Team League will follow the "Conquest Theme"! After setting up the rules and formats of a Star Battle only, each team declares two clans from the opposing team's clan pool and those clans are barred from usage in that Star Battle by that team only.
   (And no, this does not violate the "Intentional Deck/Clan Prohibition" rule on the MAIN PAGE OF STARFIGHT!
  
  • If for whatever reason you need to: you may ping any of the Starfight Assistants, Moezilla, or Zane Kisaragi on the Starfight Discord to announce the barred clans from the Star Battle. This option is subject to change depending on the progression of Starfight Winter.
• Prize will only be distributed to the First Place Starfight Team due to Starfight Team League being significantly shorter! However, you may pick any of the listed prizes!
• In addition to a few reminders, this thread will be used as a Weekly Event Tracker! On every Sunday, starting on the 24th of December, I will submit the Weekly Star Challenge regarding a small challenge you can do to earn extra points in your Star Battles!
• In addition to being able to buy your clans at a cheap price of 500 of your Team Points: I'm happy to introduce a new system to reward teams called a "Win Streak!" You may only submit a Win Streak once per week! If your team beats 4 teams in a row at any point: you must submit all four reports to the REWARD CLAIM THREAD and your team will be awarded one clan of your choosing!
  
  • You may not include any wins from Star Battles used in previous Win Streak Claims!
• Any players who are still looking to join, may still register a team a 3-5 at any point throughout the event!
• All Saturday Tournaments starting from December 23rd will contain all of the tournament information needed as far as how many points you earn per round, any prizes, so on and so forth and will be posted in the Starfight Event Hall!
• Midnight Showdowns are played in Normal Format Only! However, they may be played in 5v5s in addition to 3v3s!
• Zeroth Dragons are still banned! However, there will be a chance to have them - more on that later.
• Also please remember to familiarize yourself and your team of the Event Rules & Star Battles/Point System, in addition, do not forget to check out and stay alert for Event Announcements & Updates and any questions, suggestions, or concerns may be addressed in our Request & Help Thread. I, especially, urge the Star Battles/Point System since we're using an entirely New Point System!
• Lastly and most importantly, please remember to have fun. I cannot stress this enough: regardless of anything from who you are, why you entered, your team/teammates, your goals/objectives, etc: at the end of the day, this event is meant to just be fun. I don't expect things to go perfectly, but nonetheless this will help me determine how future events will be ran, as long as everyone has fun.

STARFIGHT WINTER CALENDER!
The purpose of this section is to let everyone know what happens in which week to plan ahead of time. Not to mention, in the event I should not be able to continue hosting Starfight Winter: nothing will deviate the set path. Additionally, I will continue to post each new week with further details regarding links to the tournament, top five teams, and rules & instructions to the Star Challenges! (This is something I was going to implement on Summer but I never thought I'd ever have to leave mid-Starfight Team League but things happen I suppose.)

• First Week (Dec 17th - 23rd): Star Challenge: None || Tournament: December 23rd!
• Second Week (Dec 24th - 30th): Star Challenge: United Sanctuary Pride! || Tournament: December 30th!
• Third Week (Dec 31st - Jan 6th): Star Challenge: Zoo & Dark Zone! || Tournament: January 6th!
• Fourth Week (Jan 7th - 13th): Star Challenge: Dragon Empire Pride! || Tournament: January 13th!
• Final Week (Jan 14th - 20th): Star Challenge: Star Gate & Magallanica! || Tournament: January 20th!
• January 21st: Starfight Winter will end!

Okay I think I've said enough. So remember to have fun and play~ Good luck and may the best team win!

[Kisaragi Zane]

December 24th - December 30th!

Star Challenge!

United Sanctuary Pride: Win a Star Battle with at least one player on your team (min. of 1) using a clan from United Sanctuary! (Aka: they must have played within the star battle, regardless if they win or lose). Additionally, clans from this nation cannot be banned from Star Battles!
Prize: +75 Points per United Sanctuary Teammate

• You are allowed to attempt this challenge as many times as you want.
• Only the team attempting the challenge must play by this rule. The opposing team do not have to unless they're also taking the challenge as well!
• To claim points, you must report it in your team thread and put the link of this post as Challenges.
  
  • EXAMPLE REPORT!
• It should be obvious but these can only be attempted/completed in a Star Battle. Meaning up to 5 times per week.

Top Five Starfight Teams!

1st Place: Team Majestics with 1550 Points!
2nd Place: Avant Garde with 1400 Points!
3rd Place: Crowned Coalition V2 & Team WARN«Я» Br0s with 1050 Points!
4th Place: Team Asteroid with 800 Points!
5th Place: Team Curry Chicken & America's Final Hope: Net Neutrality with 700 Points!

This list will be updated every Sunday, after a tournament-esque event.

[Kisaragi Zane]

December 31st - January 6th!

Star Challenge!

Zoo & Dark Zone Alliance: Win a Star Battle with at least one player on your team (min. of 1) using a clan from either Dark Zone or Zoo! (Aka: they must have played within the star battle, regardless if they win or lose). Additionally, clans from this nation cannot be banned from Star Battles!
Prize: +75 Points per Dark Zone or Zoo Teammate

• You are allowed to attempt this challenge as many times as you want.
• Only the team attempting the challenge must play by this rule. The opposing team do not have to unless they're also taking the challenge as well!
• To claim points, you must report it in your team thread and put the link of this post as Challenges.
  
  • EXAMPLE REPORT!
• It should be obvious but these can only be attempted/completed in a Star Battle. Meaning up to 5 times per week.

Top Five Starfight Teams!

1st Place: Team Majestics with 3025 Points!
2nd Place: Team WARN«Я» Br0s with 2901 Points!
3rd Place: Crowned Coalition V2 with 2725 Points!
4th Place: Avant Garde with 2225 Points!
5th Place: Team Heil Moe with 1825 Points!

This list will be updated every Sunday, after a tournament-esque event.

[Kisaragi Zane]

January 7th - January 13th!

Star Challenge!

Dragon Empire Pride: Win a Star Battle with at least one player on your team (min. of 1) using a clan from either Dragon Empire! (Aka: they must have played within the star battle, regardless if they win or lose). Additionally, clans from this nation cannot be banned from Star Battles!
Prize: +75 Points per Dragon Empire Teammate

• You are allowed to attempt this challenge as many times as you want.
• Only the team attempting the challenge must play by this rule. The opposing team do not have to unless they're also taking the challenge as well!
• To claim points, you must report it in your team thread and put the link of this post as Challenges.
  
  • EXAMPLE REPORT!
• It should be obvious but these can only be attempted/completed in a Star Battle. Meaning up to 5 times per week.

Top Five Starfight Teams!

1st Place: Team Heil Moe with 5100 Points!
2nd Place: Team Majestics with 4875 Points!
3rd Place: Avant Garde with 3925 Points!
4th Place: Crowned Coalition V2 with 3775 Points!
5th Place: America's Final Hope: Net Neutrality with 2975 Points!

(Italicized is to indicate that the team has not updated their team thread after the tournament(s), thus their score is based off of last known update.)

This list will be updated every Sunday, after a tournament-esque event.

[Kisaragi Zane]

January 14th - January 20th!

Star Challenge!

Magallanica & Star Gate Alliance: Win a Star Battle with at least one player on your team (min. of 1) using a clan from either Magallanica or Star Gate! (Aka: they must have played within the star battle, regardless if they win or lose). Additionally, clans from this nation cannot be banned from Star Battles!
Prize: +75 Points per Magallanica or Star Gate Teammate

• You are allowed to attempt this challenge as many times as you want.
• Only the team attempting the challenge must play by this rule. The opposing team do not have to unless they're also taking the challenge as well!
• To claim points, you must report it in your team thread and put the link of this post as Challenges.
  
  • EXAMPLE REPORT!
• It should be obvious but these can only be attempted/completed in a Star Battle. Meaning up to 5 times per week.

Top Five Starfight Teams!

1st Place: Team Heil Moe with 7750 Points!
2nd Place: Crowned Coalition V2 with 5800 Points!
3rd Place: Avant Garde with 5625 Points!
4th Place: Team Majestics with 4775 Points!
5th Place: Underground Assassins with 3475 Points!

(Italicized is to indicate that the team has not updated their team thread after the tournament(s) and/or team score is inaccurate, thus their score is based off of last known update.)

This list will be updated every Sunday, after a tournament-esque event.

[Kisaragi Zane]

The Final Hour!

Top Five Starfight Teams!

1st Place: Team Heil Moe with 9950 Points!
2nd Place: Avant Garde with 8724 Points!
3rd Place: Crowned Coalition V2 with 5800 Points!
4th Place: Team Majestics with 4675 Points!
5th Place: Underground Assassins with 3475 Points!

(Italicized is to indicate that the team has not updated their team thread after the tournament(s) and/or team score is inaccurate, thus their score is based off of last known update.)

This is the last Top 5 Starfight Teams Leaderboard! You have an hour left to rack up on some points!

[Kisaragi Zane]

STARFIGHT TEAM LEAGUE EVENT: ENDS NOW!

Congratulations to the following Starfight Teams!

First Place Team: Team Heil Moe with 9950 Points!
Members: Hope, Maku, Miguel, Moe, Shockwave!

Second Place Team: Team Advant-Garde with 8724 Points!
Members: Diva-, Misaka 10032, Pidove, Sandy, Touma Callum!

Third Place Team: Crowned Coalition V2 with 7800 Points!
Members: FlamingSpirit, Grein, GrimRSwords, Raiouza, ZooZuu!

Fourth Place Team: Team Majestics with 4675 Points!
Members: Astaroth, KurosakiX, PcDroid, Sad Girl, Zeisho!

Fifth Place Team: Team Underground Assassins with 3475 Points!
Members: Cecelia, Lotion Lover, NeoBuster, Nika, SS217!

We, of Starfight, would like to congratulate all five of these teams through their hard work, effort, and perseverance over the course of six weeks through the Star Battles, the weekly tournaments, and even those who risked in the Midnight Showdowns all to stand where they are now.  Both new champions of Starfight and returning champions still representing and reinforcing the purpose in each and every one of their experiences in this Team League. I'd also like to thank everyone who participated or even so much as taken an interest into Starfight, for without those interests it would not have been possible for us to even have Starfight Winter.

With that out of the way, I felt this Starfight went a lot smoother than Summer than Winter due to correcting issues from the previous League, everything was all laid out, I didn't have to leave in the middle of it, etc etc. Though, I will say, the number one criticism for this Starfight was that it was too short: which had a huge impact on being able effectively enjoy it or adjusting to the format/meta and planning how to get back into the running if you missed Star Battle chances and/or a tournament(s). Again, Starfight was shortened to compensate those with school/holidays since well, people wanted to have it. Other than that, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do for future Starfight Team Leagues, there isn't a definite answer on whether or not I'm going to do Summer of 2018 because there are many different factors that was brought up towards the end of this league that wants me to rethink on how Starfight should be done, even in the final moments of it to make it more enjoyable and competitive for everyone. In addition to that, I'm not sure what Summer holds for me personally or for Vanguard since we are transitioning from G to the next series. I will say that I am happy to see that the improvements made in this one helped were shown in this Starfight: increased Midnight Showdowns, more tournaments, more involvement, so I'm hoping new improvements will help make the next Starfight Team League better every step of the way. Anywho, that about wraps up this Starfight League of Winter 2017: I'll leave the Starfight Server up and the participating Starfight Team threads up for recreational purposes. Since Star Gate is getting updated... today, in fact, I'll plan for a tournament with some new series name for Saturdays: not sure if I'm going to do Day/Nights but who knows. Again, thank you all for participating, thank you all for entering, thank you all for the every bit of support into these Starfight Team Leagues, they mean a lot and are appreciated!