Preliminary Fluff

"Despair! Despair and abandon hope, wanderer, as these are the Dark Lands, a god-forsaken waste of unheard malevolence and evil. Only a few of those daring enough to walk into this place have come back alive and of these, rarely anyone returned with a mind intact."

From "A calamitous journey" Gutberg Friedmensch, historian and writer from Altdorf

"One does not simply walk into the Dark Lands. It's black plains are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. And Hashut's eyes are ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand man could you do this. It is folly."

Omar Rafir Ibami, Araby Noble

Such a desolate place is, obviously, perfectly suited for a Blood Bowl contest. Could one think of a better setting for a game of mayhem and destruction? The ever industrious chaos dwarfs' love for precious minerals, exploiting slaves and sacrificing them to Hashut is only surpassed by their passion for "Bazhurrak Kazul" (as Blood Bowl is called in their tongue). The Chaos Dwarf Empire had always been proud of fielding some of the most dreaded and violent teams in the history of fantasy football. The decision to host a major tournament could, inevitably, only result in another glorious triumph for Hashut's Chosen. However, disaster struck and a sly Dark Elf team from Naggaroth snatched away victory. Not even one chaos dwarf team would advance to the quarterfinals in a tournament massively dominated by orcs, of which innumerable savage hordes fiercely roam the huge plains south of the Chaos Dwarf Empire.

To survive, or even be victorious in the Black Cup, you must be dauntless and strong, need to have nerves of steel to jump up timely when frenzied, bloodthirsty abominations approach you to increase their personal decapitation jobs finished count.Will you be able to stand firm in the chaos of savage chaos? Brave enough to travel to the forsaken Dark Lands and return with the highly coveted and most prestigious trophy alive? Who will eventually restore Hashut's honour which his children have lost on the pitch? Are your pointed ears going to steal the title once more or will a pack of never to be underestimated greenskins manage to claim victory? Chaos worshipers from he Northern Wastes, skaven from Crookback Mountain and ogres from the Mountains of Mourn have also been a common sight at the competition as have been khemri far away from Nehekhara beyond, even the ever-loathed dwarfs from the World's Edge Mountains haven't seemed to be particularly scared to participate in the infamous merciless bloodbath which the Black Cup has turned out to be.

Format

 - Coaches can apply with any 1 team at leisure

 - There is no limit on the number of teams participating

 - Sort teams by TR

 - The lowest TR-teams play an initial qualifying game in order
   to reduce the number of teams to the highest multiple of 2
   possible

 - Teams are seeded by TR

 - Sort teams by TR (example for 37 teams):

 Bracket 1 :  1- 2
 Bracket 2 :  3- 4
 Bracket 3 :  5- 8
 Bracket 4 :  9-16
 Bracket 5 : 17-27 + 5 teams from bracket 6
 Bracket 6 : 28-37

 - Initial qualifying round for the 10 teams with lowest TR
   (bracket 6, random seeding, winners advance to bracket 5)

 - Schedule is created using a TR-seeding

 - An explanatory schedule overview table is to be found at the
   bottom of the page

Team Prizes (not cumulative)

 Champion       +5   100k   Secret Weapon
 Runner-up      +2    50k
 Semifinalist   +1    20k

 Secret Weapon (determine randomly):

 - Blunderbuss
 - Bomb
 - Chainsaw
 - Rocket Boots (Pogo Stick)

 The weapon can be given to any player of the winning
 team and is supposed to work exactly as its regular
 counterpart. It is "soulbound" and therefore not
 transferable. It must be allocated previous to the
 next game - it can not be retained.

Player Awards (cumulative)

 Most SPPs overall : FF+1 / Stand Firm
 Most touchdowns   : FF+1 / Jump up
 Most completions  : FF+1 / Strong Arm
 Most casualties   : FF+1 / Frenzy
 Most interceptions: FF+1 / Nerves of Steel
 Rookie Award      : FF+1 / Dauntless
 Larsson Award     : FF+1 per Larsson

 (all prizes to be allocated after the tournament has finished)

 The Black Cup might very well be the most brutish, violent and
 painful tournament on FUMBBL. Therefore, players excelling in this
 competition and coming out alive, deserve a proper acknowledgment
 (i. e. a trait).

Map of the Dark Lands:

http://nexusx.wanadooadsl.net/ayudas/Warhammer_World_Map.jpg Example for 32 teams (5 brackets):

   (this method works exactly as in pro tennis:
   teams would be allocated in brackets of 2-2-4-8-16-32-etc where
   the top half of teams would always face the lower half, with a
   fixed schedule, top 2 seeded teams couldn't meet before the final,
   top 4 not before semis etc. Now, some might argue that this
   just wouldn't be fair for whatever reasons, but let's face it:
   Welcome to the Dark Lands, where the Chaos Dwarf Empire reigns
   ruthlessly and Orc Hordes roam the barrens, where the strong
   dominate the weak and rule with neither mercy nor sympathy. Such
   a seeding might perfectly fit fluff and spirit of Blackbox.)

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