The 2021 Deathlist Cup

[Joey Russ 7,255]

We're back in February, so, if the first round draw happens on the 20th January, this gives everyone 18 days or so to decide if they want to enter the Cup or not. In 2017, deadsox beat Spade, he beat DDT and he beat Death Impends to win the first ever Deathlist Cup. In 2018, Sir Creep got to the final in swashbuckling form, only to find wily old DDT too much. And in 2019, Spade Cooley proved why he is one of the GOATs, dominating every single match he was in like it was nothing. Bou made a nice run in the cup too.  Last year, rookie An Fear Beag blew it out of the park and beat every opponent he faced, including Death Impends in her second finals appearance. Will An Fear Beag make it 2 for 2? Or will anyone win? DeathByArsenic had a wonder run that lasted them all the way to the quarterfinals. It's a Cup, skill is good but so is luck. Come one, come all, and look at the rules...

 

Some Basic Rules which I've tried to explain as simply as possible, but which are open for questions about how obvious things I've forgotten work.
 
 
The Deathlist Cup
 
1.    This will be a knockout tournament featuring one on one matchups between Deathlist forum posters. These matches will be determined by use of a random draw, using Random.org.

2.    If we have an odd number of players ie 30 like in 2017, then certain players will get byes to the Second Round. This will be based on results from the 2019 Cup ie Winner first, then Runner up, semifinalists, etc etc.

3.    Players, on receiving their randomly drawn opponent, will have a ten day period to send the Referee their First Eleven for the match by PM, and one sub in case of an early death. These eleven picks can be very low hanging fruit if you so wish, as the point of the game is to score as many “goals” during the month a match is played.

 

ie, a perfect team would look like this

1. Alan Alda (joker)

2. Jeb Bush

3. George Bush Jr

4. Bill Clinton

5. Hilary Clinton

6. Barack Obama

7. Jimmy Carter

8. Walter Mondale

9. John Major

10. Tony Blair

11. Donald Trump

subs

12. Melania Trump

13. Dick Cheney

14. Sarah Palin

 

As an example. Though in reality, that team would be shit for actually scoring points...

4.    PROHIBITIONS – The following picks will be PROHIBITED ie NOT ALLOWED: death row prisoners, anyone who is a prisoner of ISIS or similar terrorist groups, people solely famous for being ill and nothing else, animals, no kids (that’s anyone under the age of 18), no one missing in action who blatantly died already.

5.    For clarification, my views on Famous for Being Ill are extremely lenient by forum standards. Is your pick an obscure in their own field type, like a historian from Trinidad? They’re fine. Is your pick someone who is in coma due to a heart attack, or a dad on his last Christmas, or the like, the type no one would have heard of for anything? Don’t pick them, there’s PLENTY of other better options. There’s enough Kate Bowler (published academic, cancer) types in the world that you don’t need Kate Cancer Mum of the Mirror Sob Story. Thank you.

NOTE: If they are rejected for the DDP, they will also be automatically rejected here as well just FYI. 

6.    If in doubt, submit a pick, but the decision of the ref (me) is final and is not open to any court of appeal. If you think it’s a dodgy pick, it probably is. If you think the ref is a grumpy teenager, well, he is.

7.    Each match will take place over the course of a single month. For example, a February match would take place from February 1st to February 28th (or 29th on a leap year), a March match from March 1st to March 31st and so on...

8.    Games will be scored in the following manner:

 

A person in your team dies = 3 points
A unique person in your team dies = 1 more point (ie 1 bonus point)
Fatality – Your joker. Double points
Someone famous only for being ill dies – 0 points because not in the team (hah, bet you thought I wasn’t paying attention here)

9.    Here is what happens in the case of a team member dying prematurely (ie on 28th Feb for the March game). If you discover this before the 3rd of the month, your top sub will automatically go into place. If it is discovered on the 3rd or after, sorry about your luck. If it turns out the person was dead and known to be (this is determined via a reference in a newspaper or magazine, not social media) then subs don’t come into play. This was a bone of contention in 2017, 2018, AND 2019 and I hope this clears that up. If it bloody well doesn’t I’m instituting a Hewlett Rule in 2022!

10.    At the end of the month, the player in the match with the highest score wins that game, and will advance to the next round. The player who doesn’t have the highest score will lose, and be eliminated.

11.    In the event of a draw, the following tiebreaks will be used:

1st tiebreak = number of hits
2nd tiebreak = average age of hits
3rd tiebreak = flip of a coin
4th tiebreak if needed = A little game of eenie meenie miny mo (hehe)

12.    A player is only held to one team for a single match. If they win their match and advance to the next round, they may pick eleven entirely different people for the next round. In this way, folk who announce their terminal illness in, say, May, can be put to good dead pooling use.

13.    Qualifying obits? Every single English language newspaper or magazine (ie Bleeding Cool for example) in the universe. Also Le Monde, Le Figaro, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, El Pais and El Mundo. If you still can’t get a QO, well, really… The referee (Joey Russ) may make a judgement call based on what he is provided with, and that call will be final.  Forum posts on Deathlist, and your own blog don't count, sorry.

 

14. For the removal of any doubt, any players who do not send in their team before the deadline will be DQ'd and replaced by the highest scoring loser. No matter how many sad PMs you send afterwards. Apologies aren’t allowed either

Example
 
Death Impends, Joey Russ, YoungWillz and msc hypothetically take part.
 
Random.org gives us these matches:
1.    Death Impends v Joey Russ (feck)
2.    YoungWillz v msc
 
This draw takes place in Month 1 (ie January) and is for matches taking place in Month 2 (February). After the draw, each player sends The Referee (ie Joey Russ) a team of Eleven Celebrities they think will snuff it in Month 2.
 
Then, for the results:
 
msc scores in Month 2 with a big name celebrity and a unique but obscure punk music historian.
Young Willz gets a unique big name celebrity.
 
The score is 7-4 to msc, who advances to the next round.

 

 

 

Good luck!

[Joey Russ 7,255]

List of players participating in this cup: 

 

1. Joey Russ
2. msc
3. Banana
4. Quim Reaper
5. CaptainChorizo
6. alt obits guy
7. Perhaps
8. Wormfarmer
9. markb4
10. Bibliogryphon 
11. deadsox
12. DevonDeathTrip
13. theoldlady
14. Annami
15. Gooseberry Crumble
16. The Old Crem
17. Book
18. nantonian2013
19. Charles De Gaulle
20. ThereWillBeDeaths7
21. YorkshireBanker
22. Great Uncle Bulgaria
23. Spade_Cooley
24. maryportfuncity
25. An Fear Beag 
26. DeathByArsenic
27. CalebH
28. xXConmanXx
29. BuffaloPhil
30. BabyBlue
31. HDS
32. Sir Creep
33. Grim Up North
34. GuyFromFuture
35. dvsp84
36. JoeMoneyPenny
37. gcreptile
38. Clorox Bleachman
39. EtushIsPushingUpTheDaisies
40. Djemba Djemba
41. grobler

[Banana 859]

I’m in. 

[msc 18,512]

34 minutes ago, Joey Russ said:

List of players participating in this cup: 

 

1. Joey Russ
2. msc
3. Banana

 

Three people in the cup and I'm already the rank outsider there!

[TQR 14,426]

Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

[CaptainChorizo 1,990]

I am signing up for 2021

[alt obits guy 3,381]

I would like to return for 2021.

[Perhaps 1,425]

yes

[Wormfarmer 429]

I will be someone's cannon fodder again this year.

[markb4 907]

I'd like to play.

[Bibliogryphon 9,614]

Count me in for Round 1 at least. 

[deadsox 894]

I'll try again.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,365]

Reporting for duty .

[theoldlady 2,336]

 I would like to play again. 

[Annami 85]

I would like to try my luck again.

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,356]

Happy to have the chance to give it a whirl!I'm in please!

[The Old Crem 3,621]

I'm in.

[Book 3,586]

I will try again, thanks!

[nantonian2013 50]

I'm in, even if I won't get very far.

[Charles De Gaulle 484]

I'm in.

[ThereWillBeDeaths7 753]

I'd like to join in this year! Think it'll be a shortlived adventure but looking forward anyways 

[YorkshireBanker 171]

i would like to join

[Death Impends 8,029]

Am going to give it a pass this year. Hate to do so with such a quality pool, but I need the breather. Despite being fully aware the Cup has many casual participants, its head-to-head knockout nature means it's a bit harder for me psyche-wise to throw a bunch of casual names on a team and call it a day.

 

I shall watch from the sidelines with vested interest and will be intrigued to see who gets picked.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria 1,310]

I'm up for another 1st round defeat.

[Spade_Cooley 9,601]

Yeah, why not?