STAGE 1 Rules:
Stage 1 begins with 29 of you and will last 4 rounds ending with 20 players.
In order to advance to Stage 2, in honor of Season 40: Rise of the Underdogs, you must earn a Key Card. Once you are in possession of a Key Card, you are GUARANTEED a spot in the Top 20 and Stage 2 meaning you are safe from elimination.
Here is how Stage 1 works.
All players will compete in a challenge. The player who does the best in the challenge and DOES NOT have a Key Card will be declared the challenge winner, earn a BONUS 50 Leader Board Points and earn THREE KEY CARDS to Stage 2. The player who does the best (not necessarily the challenge winner as the best could already have a Key Card) earns 50 points for the Leader Board and everyone else earns points proportional to their performance. The challenge winner will keep one of the THREE KEY CARDS they earned. They will then GIVE AWAY ONE KEY CARD to any player who does not have one thus giving them a spot in the Top 20. The THIRD KEY CARD they own will be put up for auction as described later.
The person who wins is obviously safe from Elimination due to owning a KEY CARD. Everyone will then vote 1 person without a Key Card into Elimination. The TWO PEOPLE with the most votes will face Elimination but will not compete against each other. Instead, those voted into Elimination will have the power to choose their opponent. They will only be allowed to choose someone without a KEY CARD and it must be someone who VOTED THEM INTO ELIMINATION. So if you are going to vote someone into Elimination you must be prepared to face them in Elimination. In the event a player is voted in and no one who voted them into Elimination is eligible to be chosen then the person with the next most votes will be sent in against them. If there is a tie for next most votes then the voted in player gets to choose their opponent from all those tied.
Once all 4 players in Elimination have been determined, the THIRD KEY CARD won by the challenge winner will be up for Auction. Those not in Elimination without KEY CARDS will Bid their Leader Board points to earn the KEY CARD. Whoever bids the highest amount wins the KEY CARD and the points they BID will be given to the challenge winner. In the event of a tie for highest bid, the challenge winner gets to choose which of those tied will win the Auction. (Due to the numbers, the Auction in the 4th Round will result in the 1 left over player being forced into Elimination as described below)
The 2 elimination matches will then occur with the winners staying and losers being eliminated. Those who win the Elimination earn a KEY CARD to Stage 2, a BONUS of 25 points for the Leader Board as well as HALF of the points owned (rounded down) of the person they eliminated. The Eliminated Player then can give their remaining points to players still in the game, either all to one person or divided between multiple people.
So the schedule is:
Round 1 (29 people) - 1 Challenge Winner, 1 Key Card Given, 1 Key Card won at Auction, 4 in Elimination with 2 Winners and 2 Eliminated
Round 2 (27 people - 5 with Key Card, 22 without) - 1 Challenge Winner, 1 Key Card Given, 1 Key Card won at Auction, 4 in Elimination with 2 Winners and 2 Eliminated
Round 3 (25 people - 10 with Key Card, 15 without) - 1 Challenge Winner, 1 Key Card Given, 1 Key Card won at Auction, 4 in Elimination with 2 Winners and 2 Eliminated
Round 4 (23 people - 15 with Key Card, 8 without) - 1 Challenge Winner, 1 Key Card Given, 1 Key Card won at Auction with the leftover player entering Elimination, 5 in Elimination with 2 Winners and 3 Eliminated
As you can see Round 4 will be a little different. With 8 eligible, 1 will in the challenge and then give 1 Key Card away making 6 vulnerable. The Elimination Vote will occur with 2 voted in and each choosing their opponent. The 2 remaining will participate in the Final Auction for the Key Card. The winner of the Auction will win the Key Card and the leftover player will have to enter Elimination to earn one of the last 2 Key Cards to Stage 2. That player will choose which matchup they will join increasing it from a 1v1 match to a 1v1v1 match with TWO of the THREE people in that Elimination being eligible.
When all is said and done, 20 of you will survive Stage 1 (the first 4 rounds)
Stage 1 will begin late tonight with the first NON-LIVE Challenge.
Good luck.
