Nexus Press Tournament Season 9 (January 15, 2025)
Nexus Full Press Season 9 Registration
Extensions You may request an extension from your GM at any time and without needing to give a reason. If you’re uncertain about needing an extension, err on the side of asking for one! Extensions will generally be in multiples of 24 hours to keep the same adjudication time, but you can also request that the adjudication deadline be adjusted, if the board generally agrees to it. GMs will by default not grant an extension if:
- the phase has less than 3 hours left before adjudication
- the current phase was previously extended
- it’s a retreats phase
- the game is lagging behind other games in the same round
Scoring and Standings During the Preliminary round, all players will be assigned a player number and standings will list player numbers to preserve anonymity. Semifinals and Finals have no anonymity. The scoring system for all rounds: Duct Tape Scoring (DCTS aka Draw, Center, Top, Solo) a) Owning 1 or more centers when a game draws is worth 8 points b) Each supply center is worth 2 points c) 12 bonus points are awarded to the player with the most centers if they have more centers than every other player d) A solo victory results in 100 points for the soloist and 0 points for all other players in the game This is in the scoring calculator under the name NPT aka Nexus Press Tournament: https://diplomacy-things.gitlab.io/diplomacy-score-calculators/ Each player’s best two game scores are used for determining the overall standings. Scores will be updated every two weeks or so, more frequently as the round wraps up. Updates will be in this Discord channel. The first update might wait until at least every game is in 1904.
Tournament format Each player can sign up for 1, 2, or 3 waves in the Preliminary round. Each wave will have 1 game per player, but one could play up to 4 games if called upon to be a substitute. Each player’s two best scores from the Prelims are considered for making the Semifinals. The semifinals and finals are 1 game per player. The finalists from the previous Nexus Full Press Tournament are given the option to be included directly in the Semifinals. They may choose to waive this bye, in which case they will enter in the preliminary round and do not automatically advance. A returning finalist who uses their bye and does not play any Preliminary games will be seeded as if they had scored a zero in the Prelims. The Semifinals will consist of 49 players for a total of 7 boards. The top 49 – N scoring players from the Prelims will make the Semifinals, where N is the number of returning Season 8 finalists who choose to use their automatic bye and didn’t score in the top 49 in the Prelims. Each semifinal player receives a seed based on the Prelim standings e.g. 1st place is 1 seed, 2nd is 2 seed, and so on. The Semifinal board rosters are decided by a snake draft of these seeds. Semifinals and Finals will use the Paris method for country selection. This video explains the Paris method. The Paris method will also use the Prelim player seeds. Each Semifinal game will produce one finalist:
- Sole board toppers will automatically advance to the finals.
- Co-board top tie-breakers will be based on who had a higher score the previous game year (keep going back until one has the higher score).
- If there is still a tie, the player whose country had a lower average score in the other Semifinal games will advance in the finals.
- Finals seeding will be based off of Semifinal score and scoring ties for finalists will be broken based on whoever is the higher Semifinal seed.
Substitutes Substitutes will be recruited from players that volunteered when registering, and from Discord pings if necessary. Priority will be given to players not yet in 3 games during the Prelims and then to players that registered the earliest. Players will substitute into a maximum of one game in each Round. Conduct The Code of Conduct is your guide to what is and is not acceptable when playing in this tournament. It is also very long. To help guide you, here are a few things that are bad:
- Being 48 hours late to accept a game invite.
- Asking for advice on any tournament game in a public forum (e.g. Discord, Reddit)
- Sending messages that constitute verbal abuse. Emotions running high is a part of Diplomacy, but please treat the other players in your games with respect.
- Using accusations of rule-breaking as a diplomatic tactic.
- 2 NMRs* in a single game
Note: We count triggering a Grace Period (Backstabbr) or an Excused Missed Turn (WebDip/vDip) as an NMR, despite the phase not going through. We prioritize games running smoothly and will substitute players accordingly. Grace periods are to prevent ruining games. They are not there to increase negotiating time. Re: NMRs, you can always ask for an extension! Extensions are free! Finals Schedule The finals will have a 1 day break once a week. The default day off will be Sundays. However, should the participants unanimously decide, that set day off will be changed.
Breaking the rules The Tournament Directors for Season 9 are Kutusov, Superstition, and Pyxxy. The Tournament Directors will do their best to efficiently and respectfully resolve any issues. If you are confused or concerned about any rules, the Code of Conduct, or think someone may have broken one, please contact a Tournament Director. You will never be penalized for asking a question. All accusations against other players must be made directly to a Tournament Director. Do not make accusations in-game or in the Nexus Server. As a subcategory of breaking the rules, cheating includes but is not limited to:
- Entering the tournament multiple times
- Making deals with players outside the boundaries of a single game
TDs have the power to moderate Nexus games and the Nexus server as they see fit, with the goal of running a competitive and healthy tournament worthy of the Nexus name. Returning Nexus Tournament finalists The 7 finalists from the Nexus Press Tournament Season 8 are invited to play again with a direct bye into the Semifinals. However, please note that seeding for the Semifinals will be done by each player’s score in the Preliminary round. Using a bye to the Semifinals is treated as scoring a zero in the Prelims. The Tournament Directors will reach out to each Season 8 finalist and confirm their choice of using the bye prior to registration closing.