MASTERS 2025!

[Flemin]

SEASON 2025 (MASTERS & OPEN LEAGUE - all information)

A new year is starting, and with it a new championship series "MASTERS 2025"!

After a very successful series of championship tournaments for 2024, we are resuming the competition.
But that's not all! In addition to the championship tournaments, there will also be tournaments from the "OPEN LEAGUE" series!
The game "Forest Shuffle" turned out to be one of the most interesting and liked games in recent years!
Crowds of fans will have the opportunity to take part in an open tournament, in which the chance will be to win tickets to the MASTERS for the top 3 of each edition

This year, as last year, there will be 8 tournaments during the year.
8 MASTERS Ranks and 8 OPEN LEAGUE Ranks.

The MASTERS series will start with the first tournament on January 16

Full calendar “MASTERS 2025” :

• 1) 16/01/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352644

• 2) 27/02/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352648

• 3) 10/04/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352651

• 4) 22/05/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352654

• 5) 17/07/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352658

• 6) 28/08/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352661

• 7) 09/10/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352664 - only invitation (maximum 6 starts total in season 2025)

• 8) 20/11/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352667 - only invitation (maximum 6 starts total in season 2025)



The OPEN LEAGUE series will start with the first tournament on February 1

Full calendar “OPEN LEAGUE 2025” :

• 1) 01/02/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352673

• 2) 15/03/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352676

• 3) 26/04/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352679

• 4) 07/06/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352713

• 5) 12/07/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=379376

• 6) 16/08/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=379380

• 7) 20/09/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=379384

• 8) 25/10/2025

https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=379388

What is the main difference between these series?

The MASTERS League is an invitational league. It is open to players who have a 500+ rating (at the time of registration) or will receive an invitation due to other achievements in the Forest Shuffle game. A maximum of 45 players can participate in the tournament in a two-player game mode. They are divided into 3 groups. Everyone plays with everyone once. Top5 will advance to the final. Where again everyone plays against everyone for victory and points for the ranking of the 2025 season!

Each tournament is played with a different expansion.
This season in the MASTERS and OPEN league we will play:

- ALPINE expansion twice
- WOODLAND EDGE expansion twice
- CLASSICS version twice
- MIX both expansion twice


In the OPEN LEAGUE anyone with a rating from 100+ to 499 can register. Participation in the tournament is provided for a minimum of 60 players (maximum 150). The whole will be divided into 15 groups. The group winners move on to the final phase to fight for the title and an invitation to the MASTERS series (for the top 3).



In a spreadsheet (link below) I will be running the results of the MASTERS series. It also discusses the rules of tournament scoring in detail (points system tab)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

The results of the 2024 season can be found below:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

More table updates coming soon, in future posts


I wish you all the best in the new year and invite you to join in the fun and register!

Registration for the first editions of the MASTERS and OPEN LEAGUE series is open!

[Helbiii]

Good job Flemin sounds great !

[Stockomator]

Thanks for all the work you put into organising this Flemin!

[Flemin]

Hello!

The first editions of both tournament series (masters & open) filled up quickly.
The first part of the MASTERS tournament is behind us. There was no shortage of surprises!

45 players took part in the tournament, including 18 players debuting (40%) at the MASTERS level.

Many great players entered the tournament, including the winner of the entire previous edition "2024" and one event (classic game winner) - HELBIII (France), ready to defend his title The main favorite? Certainly one of them!

Who else can we add to the group of favorites?

The winner of two events in 2024 (woodland & alpine+pick editions winner) - StArvid (Sweden) also took part in the tournament, as well as two other events winner: Ladinek (Czech Republic, classic+pick winner), fp149 (New Zealand, alpine game winner).

Among the participants were also such great players as: Llorent (2nd overall 2024, three podiums), Flemin (5th overall), muggel_b (9th overall), Laura_D (11th overall), KatFrozenFire (12th overall), jouflu (13th overall), as well as several other players with a rating of 600+ ready to win, such as rookies: LordOfLight, miiiiicke, wkccc, vinsso shooter.

As always, someone in the role of the "underdog" can also try to win and cause a surprise. The difference between a player with a 500+ rating and a 650+ rating can be very thin!


The group stages are behind us! Details on the tournament website:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352644

There were some surprises at this stage!
The level of the competition, however, is at a very high level. In each group, a minimum of 8 wins + a good balance of small points was needed to advance. In group three, for example, there was no player who scored less than 5 points! Nice!

Already at the group stage, several favorites said goodbye to the tournament, including players seeded 2,3,4 and 5 according to the pre-tournament ranking: Llorent (7 in the group), LordOfLight (9 in the group), Jouflu (13 in the group), miiiiicke (15 in the group). It was not easy to get promoted and a few favorites had to do without it!

Several other more experienced players were also eliminated from the tournament, and in their place a total of 7 debutants advanced to the final phase for the first time!


So who will fight for the final triumph in the first installment of the 2025 season?

There are 4 winners from the previous year left in the game and they are the main favorites: Helbiii, StArvid, Ladinek, fp149.

Helbiii and StArvid are the winners of groups no.1 and no.3 respectively! There's power here!

4 other players have already participated in the final phase, but never managed to finish high in final: Lemmmmm (8th), GoetheGoethe (9th), -Popiette- (13th & 14th) and Den172 (13th). Den172 is in good shape! Winner of the second group! Will he maintain his form?

Out of 7 debutants, the highest ranking is in order: wkccc (597), MalteH (542), vinsso shooter (525), Nilsson vom Dach (510), shadowdancergr (503). These players will try to surprise the favorites, although the podium itself will already be a big success! marco battlelore (467) and shanataha1 (390) have already achieved a lot by advancing to the finals. Their chances of winning are priced at the lowest, but maybe they will surprise again?!



Main favorites: (based on experience and results so far)
*** - Helbiii, StArvid, fp149
** - Ladinek, Den172, wkccc
* - Lemmmmm, MalteH, GoetheGoethe
Underdog: vinsso shooter, shadowdancergr, Nilsson vom Dach, -Popiette-, marco battlelore, shanataha1

My pick: Helbiii

So who will win?
Post-tournament update coming soon!

The latest end of the tournament is February 5! The tournament itself and the duels can be followed at the tournament link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352644



And on February 1, the first edition of the "Open league" begins, where a full set of 150 players will take part! But follow closely! Sometimes it happens that someone cannot take part in the game for random reasons and then an additional place is freed up! Maybe you will still be able to sign up for the game?
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352673

---------------
GOLD - winner 2024 season
RED - favourites
GREEN - players who have already played in the finals
BLUE - rookies

[Helbiii]

Thanks for the prediction but it was a tough one for me in the final stage

[fp149]

Tough break for StArvid. Would have won if they got the same 2 free wins everyone else got.

[Flemin]

The final is behind us!

First of all, big congratulations to "fp149" on the win!
This is the second victory in the masters series of this player and the first this season (for the inauguration of the 2025 edition)!

However, as the winner fp149 mentions in a previous post, the tournament could have gone very differently if it weren't for the "abandoned matches" donated by 2-3 players who couldn't play all their matches on time.

The tournament started well for St.Arvid, who quickly took the lead, taking the first 6/8 wins. He maintained them practically until the very end. Unfortunately, the fight in the final stage was not fought in equal conditions.

Players:
shanataha1 (7 abandoned games),
Vinsso Shooter (11 abandoned games),
Marco Battlelore (12 abandoned games),
Did not manage to play their matches to the end, which strongly influenced the final fate of the tournament!

All three players have lost a lot of reputation and ranking points, which is why they are excluded from participation in the next edition.


Until the very end, as many as 5 players remained in the game for the first place!
St.Arvid, wkccc, fp149, -Popiette-, Ladinek.

In the end, the table was very tight and the small points of the balance of all matches were decisive!

Top5 :

fp149 (10/14), +253
-Popiette- (10/14), +140
wkccc (10/14), +80
Ladinek (9/14), +241
St.Arvid (9/14), +234

Very close to victory from the underdog position was the player -Popiette-! A very good tournament by this player and the best place so far, first podium and finally second place!

The best among the debuting players was wkccc - third place!
The veterans of Ladinek and St.Arvid this time just behind the podium!

However, it was not a good final for the player of Helbiii. In the end, 7 points and only 8th place.

The entire final table in the tournament link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352644


The second edition of the tournament in 2025 will start
2025-02-27 at 16:00 (Berlin time). This time it will be (alpine expansion)!


You can now register for the tournament!
https://pl.boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352648

The points table of the 2025 season is listed in the excel table at the link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0

"fp149" is in the lead with 190 points.
2nd -Popiette- (158 points, tournament winner),
3rd St.Arvid (140 points, group winner),
4th wkccc (136 points),
5thLadinek (116 points),
5th Helbiii (116 points, group winner)

[Flemin]

We already have almost all the matches played in the group stage of the first edition Open League!


The finalists are:

1) Phylemont 8/9 (France) - He beat the highest seeded player in the entire tournament: F0rtuna (rank 532)!
2) AJT - Spartacus 9/9 (France) - a player who has already played in the MASTERS league and is rebuilding his high ranking!
3) tuncerny 7/9 (Turkey) - In a pretty tight group!
4) Doug Dimmadoom 8/9 (USA) - Quite surprisingly over 3 higher seeded players with a big advantage!
5) Revco 9/9 (USA) - flawless, jumped to the 500+ ranking!
6) rustylampshade 7/9 (USA) - After winning by small points in total, with a higher seeded player (+280 to +51)!
7) Buksi90 (Hungary) 7/9 - The biggest surprise? Seeded only 7th in his group before the tournament started!
8) TPZ22 (France) 8/9 - A sure advancement in a balanced group on paper!
9) stormburns (Germany) 8/9 - Ahead of the very experienced player dictameblanc from France!
10) Uli Radtke (Germany) 8/9 - In a close group, but with a lead from start to finish!
11) kingdedede745 (USA) 6/8 or leslistudes (France) 7/9 - One of three groups still undecided, but only a cataclysm can take away the last seventh win from player kingdede745, who has a better record of all matches and is a big favorite!
12) Busterudy (Canada) 7/8 - One game left for this player, but a very favorable record (+364) against rivals (+157) and (+154) means that promotion is almost in the pocket even if he loses the last match and rivals win!
13) SiTaHN (Germany) 8/9 - With a record balance of small points in all matches (+801)! Wow!
14) Ianwi (Germany) 8/9 - Another big surprise! The player seeded sixth in the group beats the favored "definitivnichtpaul" 7.5/9 by just half a point!
15) magicknight (Great Britain) 6/8 or "p99999" (UK) 7/9 - A better game record and a huge lead in the last match mean that magicknight is very close to advancing.. he just needs to close his match in time!

Who will win the first edition in the OPEN category?

In the final we will most likely see: 4 players from Germany, 4 players from the USA, 3 players from France, 1 from Turkey, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Canada and 1 from the UK.



On paper, the most experienced player is "AJT - Spartacus" with over (1500+) matches played. This player has placed in the top 10 and top 20 of Arena season in the past, and has also played in the MASTERS league (and had a 550+ rating in the past), won all matches in the group (9/9).

Who will try to outsmart the favorite?

Revco - currently the highest ranking among the finalists (514), won all matches in the group too (9/9)! This is the main rival!

Behind the two favorites there is a large group that showed themselves well in the group stage: four experienced players from Germany - Uli Radtke 900+ games, stormburns 550+ games, in great shape! SiTaHN 1100+ games, Ianwi 900 games.
Three players from the USA - led by the experienced kingdedede745 (USA) 6/8 (700+ games) as well as two surprises of the group stage: rustylampshade and Doug Dimmadoom.
Two more players from France: Phylemont and TPZ22.

And the four representing the rest of the world: magicknight from the UK (with a single episode in the MASTERS 2024 league), tuncerny from Turkey (with a 75% win record! Dark horse?), Busterudy from Canada and, closing the pack, the least experienced player who caused the biggest surprise in the group stage: Buksi90 (from Hungary).

My pick: AJT - Spartacus


The final can be followed from tomorrow (4:00 p.m.) at the tournament link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352673

----------------------------------------------------------
GOLD - favourites
RED - pretenders
BLUE - outsiders
GREEN - surprises

[Flemin]

OPEN LEAGUE - Event 1 (summary)

The favorite won.
AJT - Spartacus left no doubt and won the tournament quite confidently, winning 11 out of 14 possible wins.

The podium was completed by:
Uli Radtke (Germany) 9/14 with +465 and TPZ22 (France) 9/14 with +291, from the group of non-favorites!

All three won an invitation to the MASTERS tournament.
AJT - Spartakus and Uli Radtke have confirmed their participation in the upcoming MASTERS tournament.
The invitation for TPZ22 passes as an opportunity to sign up for one of the next editions in the 2025 season.

Right behind the podium landed the player I predicted to be the "dark horse" of the final phase:
Tuncerny (Turkey), who also won 9 out of 14 matches, but with the weakest record of +135 ended up in 4th place.

Revco, predicted as the main opponent for the title, can talk about a big disappointment.
Only 4 wins out of 14 games and a poor points balance meant that he ended up only in the penultimate 14th place!

Complete tournament results are available at the link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352673


The second tournament of the OPEN 2025 series is coming soon!

The tournament starts on March 15, and you can still sign up for it at the tournament link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352676

To sign up for the tournament, you just need to meet the condition of the 100+ ELO ranking.

At the moment we have 96/150 players

The defending champion from the first edition has already confirmed his participation in the tournament, AJT - Spartacus.
Who will win this time?

[Flemin]

MASTERS - 2nd event (Preview)

This time, the best players will have to compete in the Alpine Expansion!
Registration ended a few days ago. We have a complete set of 45 players.
The tournament starts today!

The second edition will be attended by:
- 19 players who took part in the first edition (11 finalists).
Including the entire podium of the first edition:
FP149, -Popiette-, StArvid

- 26 players making their debut in the 2025 season, including:
- 9 returning players taking part in the 2024 season (headed: Lawton, rank 634! (8th place in the entire 2024 season),
muggel_b (9th in 2024), MASA 444 (10th in 2024), noel344 (15th in 2024)
- 17 absolute rookies, including some very strong players!
Haiduk (651) - the second highest ranking in this edition!
Sentimental1Spica (644) - the third highest ranking!
Kackbratze0204 (579),Bigbose Li (575).

Main favorites of 2nd edition tournament: (based on experience and results so far)

***** - Helbiii, StArvid, fp149
*** - -Popiette-, wkccc, Llorent, haiduk, sentimental1spica, Lawton
** - MASA 444, noel344, AJT - Spartacus, Flemin, Den172, Lemmmmm, MalteH
* - GoetheGoethe, Nilsson vom Dach, DarkNumenorean, Pam2428, davidof1977, muggel_b, Fred75014, Bigbose Li, Kackbratze0204

Underdog: shadowdancergr, Honoria7, KatFrozenFire, fabfoe, Pfcmic, ttseppel, F0rtuna, Dead Girl, Lulan18, Aldebaaram, Rikerslash, maxlongstreet, Pea Sprout, TumTum19, Ansgar73, dada161, Uli Radtke, Revco, one two one two, jujudu38140

My pick: StArvid

So who will win?
Post-tournament update coming soon!


The course of the entire tournament can be followed at the tournament link:
https://boardgamearena.com/tournament?id=352648

----------------------------------------------------------
GOLD - favourites
RED - strong pretenders
ORANGE - pretenders
BLUE - outsiders, but favorites to advance to the final
GREEN - potential big surprises