Dystemporalia

One of the great things about Anachronism is that its simple rules set and deep strategy can be further enriched by a variety of tournament formats. By changing the number of warriors used and the deckbuilding restrictions, Anachronism can support an almost endless variety of tournament formats. This page provides Anachronism Tournament Organizers with ideas for possible tournament formats and a venue for sharing their ideas. If you want to propose a tournament format for inclusion here, send me an e-mail.

Head-to-Head Tournament Structures

Best of One
Also known as: Sudden Death
Each match consists of one challenge (game). The player who wins the challenge also wins the match. Matches are limited to 15 minutes.

Best of Three
Each match consists of up to three challenges (games). The first player to win two challenges wins the match. Matches are limited to 35 minutes.

Best of Five
Each match consists of up to five challenges (games). The first player to win three challenges wins the match. Matches are limited to 50 minutes.

Best of Seven
Each match consists of up to seven challenges (games). The first player to win five challenges wins the match. Matches are limited to 75 minutes.

Double Challenge
Each match consists of two challenges (games). A player who wins both challenges is credited with a match win. If each player wins one challenge, the match is a tie. Alternately, ties may be broken by playing a third challenge involving the winning warriors in the first two challenges. Matches are limited to 20 minutes (or 35 minutes if tie-breaking challenges are used).

Deckbuilding Restrictions: Standard Formats

Unrestricted
Each player's stable of cards consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of challenges to be played in each match, plus four support cards for each warrior. A stable may contain only one copy of any given card (or two copies of any card that has the Pair ability). Cards may be freely mixed and matched from all sets and cultures.

Culture Shock
Each player's stable of cards consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of challenges to be played in each match, plus four support cards for each warrior. A stable may contain only one copy of any given card (or two copies of any card that has the Pair ability). The four support cards that a player lays down at the beginning of that challenge must match the culture of the warrior that player is using in that challenge.

Extended Culture Shock
Each player's stable of cards consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of challenges to be played in each match, plus four support cards for each warrior. A stable may contain only one copy of any given card (or two copies of any card that has the Pair ability). All cards in a player's stable must share the same culture.

Deckbuilding Restrictions: Scenario Formats

Axis and Allies
Each player's stable of cards consists of one Allies deck and one Axis deck. The Axis deck may contain only Germanic, Japanese, and Roman cards, and must contain at least one of each. The Allies deck may contain only Briton, French, and Russian cards, and must contain at least one of each. The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's Axis deck faces the other player's Allies deck, then vice versa for the second challenge.

Battle for North America
Each player's stable of cards consists of one European deck and one American deck. The European deck may contain only Briton and Spanish cards, and must contain at least one of each. The American deck may contain only Aztec and Native American cards, and must contain at least one of each. The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's European deck faces the other player's American deck, then vice versa for the second challenge.

Battle for the British Isles
Each player's stable of cards consists of one deck composed only of Briton cards and one deck composed only of Irish or Scottish cards (Irish and Scottish cards may not be mixed in this deck). The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's Briton deck faces the other player's Irish or Scottish deck, then vice versa for the second challenge.

Crusades
Each player's stable of cards consists of one European deck and one Near Eastern deck. The European deck may contain only Briton and French cards, and must contain at least one of each. The Near Eastern deck may contain only Turk and Saracen cards, and must contain at least one of each. The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's European deck faces the other player's Near Eastern deck, then vice versa for the second challenge.

Displaced Legion
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges, plus four support cards for each challenge. All of the support cards in the stable must be from a single culture, but none of the warriors used may be from that culture. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three or Best of Five structure. Credit: Brian Edwards (a.k.a. bedwa_naruto).

Displaced Warrior
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. The four support cards that a player lays down at the beginning of each challenge must all be from a single culture, but the warrior must be from a different culture than the four support cards used. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. Credit: Brian Edwards (a.k.a. bedwa_naruto).

Father Time
As Highlander, but limited to male warriors. (Optionally, apply the Culture Shock limitation.)

Highlander
"There can only be one." Each player's stable of cards consists of one warrior, plus four support cards for each scheduled challenge per match (twelve support cards for a Best of Three structure, 20 support cards for a Best of Five structure, or 28 support cards for a Best of Seven structure). The same warrior is used with four different support cards for each challenge in the match. (Optionally, if the tournament uses a Best of Three or Best of Five structure, warriors can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Shock tournament.)

Inherit the Earth
Also known as: Worst Warrior, Culture Schlock (if limited by culture)
Each player's stable consists of the three weakest five-card decks the player can build. At the beginning of each challenge, each player selects a five-card deck from his or her stable for the other player to use in that challenge. The tournament is played using a Best of Three structure. All cards revert to their owners at the end of the match. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Shock tournament, in which case the tournament may be called Culture Schlock.) Credit: Joshua and Robin DeVore.

Jackpot
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. Only warriors with printed life of 7 are allowed. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Schock tournament.)

Ladies' Night
Each player's stable consists of a number of female warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Shock tournament.)

Land War in Asia
Each player's stable consists of one warrior and four support cards for each scheduled challenge per match. Only Russian, Mongol, Chinese, and Japanese cards are allowed. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Shock tournament.)

Melting Pot
Also known as: Anti-Culture Shock, Culture Mix
Each player's stable consists of one warrior and four support cards for each scheduled challenge per match. None of the four support cards that a player lays down at the beginning of a challenge may match each other's culture, nor may they match the culture of the warrior used in that challenge. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure.

Mixed Doubles
Each player's stable consists of one male warrior and one female warrior, plus eight support cards. The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's male warrior faces the other player's female warrior, then vice versa for the second challenge. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Shock tournament.) Credit: Joshua and Robin DeVore.

Package Deal
Also known as: Sealed Pack, Factory Refurbished
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus, for each warrior, the four support cards that shipped with that warrior. Promotional cards are not allowed, and no substitutions are allowed; each warrior must be supported with the four support cards that shipped with that warrior (whether in a starter game, a standard warrior pack, a demo pack, or a mail-in warrior pack). Alternately, all warriors brought to the tournament can be shuffled into a pile, then drawn or dealt at random to the participants, and their support cards distributed appropriately (if you use this option, be sure that all cards are returned to their owners at the end of the tournament). The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure.

Paragon
As Highlander, but played with the Culture Shock limitation.

Postcolonial Pugilism
Each player's stable of cards consists of one Colonizers deck and one Colonized deck. The Colonizers deck may contain only Briton, French and Spanish cards, and must contain at least one card from two of the listed cultures. The Indigenous deck may contain Aztec, Maori, and/or Native American cards, and must contain at least one card from two of the listed cultures. The tournament is played using a Double Challenge structure. During the first challenge, one player's Colonizers deck faces the other player's Colonized deck, then vice versa for the second challenge.

Queen of the Ages
As Highlander, but limited to female warriors. (Optionally, apply the Culture Shock limitation.) Credit: Alioscia Martinelli (a.k.a. Thatlyn)

Salary Cap
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. The total of all warriors' life plus experience may not exceed the number of scheduled challenges times 10 (30 for Best of Three, 50 for Best of Five, or 70 for Best of Seven). The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Schock tournament.) Credit: Nathan Childress (a.k.a. Nathan_404).

Seize the Day
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. Each support card in the stable must have a reveal ability. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. Credit: Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)

Tag Team
Each player's stable consists of two warriors and four support cards for each warrior. At the beginning of the game, each player lays out two sets of four support cards—one for each warrior—but places only one warrior in the arena. Warriors must begin the game in opposite corners of the arena. At the beginning of each round, each player reveals the support cards for both of that player's warriors, but only the support cards corresponding to the warriors in the arena are used to determine initiative. When a warrior is in his or her starting corner, he or she may use one action to "tag in" (swap places with) his or her owner's other warrior. When a warrior is defeated, his or her owner's other warrior enters the arena in the first warrior's starting corner. Each game is best played as a "fight to the death," continuing until all warriors but one have been defeated. If used as a tournament format, the tournament is played using a Best of One structure. Credit: Garrit Pruim (a.k.a. Achilles).

Texas Hold ’Em
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each scheduled challenge. In each challenge, rounds 1 and 2 play normally. In rounds 3 and 4, each warrior uses the initiative number on his or her own support card revealed that round; however, the game text of all support cards revealed in rounds 3 and 4 may be used by all warriors (except for abilities that involve card swapping; a card may only be swapped for a card owned by the same player). The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure.

Three to Beat/Five to Beat
Each player's stable consists of three warriors and twelve support cards or five warriors and twenty support cards. Each match consists of up to five or nine challenges. If played as a multiplayer format, each challenge ends when a warrior is defeated, rather than when one warrior remains as in normal multiplayer games. (For multiplayer games, play Three to Beat; Five to Beat is too cumbersome for multiplayer. Also, multiplayer games are best capped at three players.) At the end of each challenge, the losing warrior is discarded as normal along with his or her related support cards, and is replaced with a new warrior and four new support cards. Each other warriors resets his or her speed, experience, and basic attack damage reset to their printed values, regains one-half (round down) of the life he or she lost during the previous challenge, turns all of his or her support cards face down, and returns to his or her starting square and orientation. Play continues like this until there is only one undefeated warrior left; that warrior's owner wins the match. Matches have no time limit. (Optionally, each warrior can be restricted to beginning each challenge with support cards that match his or her culture, as in a Culture Schock tournament.) Credit: Alioscia Martinelli (a.k.a. Thatlyn)

Timeline
The Tournament Organizer specifies the number of matches and a "starting set" for the tournament. The first game of each match is played with a deck consisting of cards only from the starting set, the second game is played with a deck consisting only of cards from the next set in sequence, and so on. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three or Best of Five structure.

Weaponmasters
Each player's stable is constructed according to normal rules except that all weapons must be of a preannounced type (bludgeon, knife, polearm, ranged, or sword). The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. (This format cannot reasonably be played using Culture Shock restrictions.) Based on an idea by Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)

Arena Modifications

Lord of the Pit
The size of the arena is reduced to 3 x 3 squares. When any player uses an action or card ability to rotate his or her warrior (including rotation at the end of movement from one square to another), that rotation is limited to a 90° increment. Credit: Alioscia Martinelli (a.k.a. Thatlyn)

Minefield
Before beginning each challenge (i.e., before warriors are placed), each player secretly writes down the coordinates of one square in the arena. That square is considered to be "mined." When a warrior moves into a mined square, the mine "explodes," dealing 2 damage to that warrior. Each mine can only explode once per challenge. Based on an idea by Alioscia Martinelli (a.k.a. Thatlyn)

Rules Modifications

Chaos Theory
Each player's stable consists of one card of each type (warrior, inspiration, weapon, armor, and special) for each scheduled challenge per match. For each challenge, one card of each type is randomly selected for that challenge (the best way to do this is to fan out the cards of each type and have the opponent touch—but not pull out and look at!—one card of each type). The randomly-chosen support cards may be arranged in any order their owner chooses. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. Credit: Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)

Chaos War
Each player's stable consists of a number of warriors equal to the number of scheduled challenges per match, plus four support cards for each challenge. Before beginning the first challenge, each player shuffles his or her warriors and places them face-down in a "warrior pile," and each player shuffles his or her support cards and places them face-down in a "support pile." At the beginning of each challenge, each player draws the top card of his or her warrior pile, and the top four cards of his or her support pile, and uses those cards for that challenge. The tournament may be played using a Best of Three, Best of Five, or Best of Seven structure. Credit: Garrit Pruim (a.k.a. Achilles).

Fish
Before warriors are selected for the first game in a match consisting of more than one game, each player may examine, but not take notes on, his or her opponent's stable (the Tournament Organizer may wish to set a time limit of five minutes or less). Credit: Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)

Law of Averages
Each player is given a list of the twenty-one possible rolls of two dice or a stack of twenty-one slips representing those rolls. When a player would normally roll two dice, instead he or she selects from the list or stack one roll that he or she has not yet used. Cards whose abilities swap or re-roll dice, or cause any number of dice other than two to be used for any one roll, are not allowed in this format; cards that increment or decrement dice, however, are allowed. If slips are used, die roll choices should be revealed simultaneously; if lists are used, it is logistically easier to have rolls be announced in the standard sequence of active player first, or by initiative order outside of either player's turn. Once a player uses a particular roll, he or she crosses that roll off his or her list, or sets the slip aside, until all other rolls from the twenty-one-roll pool have been used. Once a player uses all twenty-one rolls in the pool, he or she begins again with a new twenty-one roll pool. Each player begins each new challenge with a fresh, unused twenty-one-roll pool. Based on an idea by Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)

Lightning Reflexes
Each player begins each game with only one support card. In rounds 2 through 4 of each match, each player selects his or her next support card from his or her stable and then reveals it as normal. Credit: Steve McLaughlin (a.k.a. Shteevie)