Austrian Championship Series – Official Rules
1. Summary
The IFPA Austrian Championship Series is an annual pinball competition with players qualifying throughout the entire calendar year. The top 48 players with the most WPPR points earned in Austrian events will play for the title of IFPA Austrian Pinball Champion.
2. Competition Details
2.1. Qualification
Unlike most tournaments in which the qualification takes place over one or more days at the tournament site, qualifying for the IFPA Austrian Championship Series (AUTCS) is based on the results of all IFPA endorsed open tournaments held in Austria within the calendar year. All WPPR points earned by a player in those events are added up, and the 48 players with the highest points total are qualified to participate in the AUTCS Final. If any of the top 48 players are unable to participate, any spaces will be made available in order to lower ranked players.
It is the player’s responsibility to make sure they have an email address on file with the IFPA, or they run the risk of not being contacted for participation in the AUTCS Final. Please update your IFPA profile at https://www.ifpapinball.com/user-profile-3/ to ensure that we have a way to contact you. If you see a green check within your profile information on your IFPA profile page, this means that we do have a registered email address from you.
2.2 Date/location
The AUTCS Final will be held in the first quarter of each year. The exact date and location as well as information about any applicable entry fees will be announced separately, and will also be included in the email sent out to all qualified players.
2.3 Prizes
The winner of the AUTCS Final will receive the title “IFPA Austrian Pinball Champion”, which they will hold until the next AUTCS Final or for a maximum of two years in case the AUTCS is discontinued. The top 3 finishers will receive a trophy and a certificate. There might be additional non-cash prizes. One ECS Final spot will go to the highest finisher who did not already qualify for the ECS Final through the regular qualifying process.
3. Finals Format
3.1. Qualifying Phase
Time based head-to-head Swiss System. A finishing time will be included in the tournament details on announcement, and as long as all players end their matches before that time, a new round will be started. The time frame will be set in a way that at least 17 rounds should be possible. We will be using matchplay.events with Strict Swiss player pairing and Balanced arena selection.
The top 16 players qualify for the final phase. The top 4 players receive 2 byes for the final phase, and players 5-8 receive 1 bye. Any ties for qualifying spots or byes will be broken by the players’ Median Buchholz/Solkoff scores (“micro points”), as calculated by matchplay.events. Only if a tie cannot be broken this way, a short tie breaking game will be played.
3.2 Final Phase
4 rounds of PAPA style finals (4 player group match play, 3 games per round, 4-2-1-0 scoring). The top 2 players of each group move on to the next round. Tie breaking games will be played. The top 4 players of the previous phase skip 2 rounds, players 5-8 skip 1 round.
Finals machines will be selected by a tournament director or by matchplay.events.
3.3 WPPR
Assuming at least 17 rounds being played in phase 1, this should add at least 68% to the TGP. Phase 2 is 68% for a total of at least 136%. Including the 150% event weight for country series finals, the tournament will most probably grade out to 204% TGP or more.
4. Rulings
All rulings will be based on the PAPA/IFPA Competition Rules (available at https://www.ifpapinball.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PAPA_IFPA-Complete-Competition-Rules-2021.04.06.pdf). Additional house rules may apply and will be announced before the tournament.
5. Contact
Email address for inquiries (CD Austria): ifpacd@noebl.com
