Welcome to Season 58 of the Dominion League! This will be my first season as Administrative moderator, which for most of you (in fact, for all of the non-moderators reading this) means absolutely nothing, but if everything explodes I am now the one to blame. A thank you to alibby1152 for serving in this role for the past 14 seasons and to Stef, assemble me, and SamE before that.

Moderator Updates

Aside from the administrative change, we have also seen avi.arfin depart the moderator team. We thank them for their work.

This season also marks three seasons since we last added new moderators, and so moderator applications will be open this season. If you are an experienced league player who would like to give back to the community (and of course wield some power) be on the lookout for a message in #announcements from alibby1152 in the coming weeks.

Feedback

On the returning form last season we asked a few questions about table setup. While a majority of players responding wished to maintain the status quo (using default table settings: card pool level 10, ban and dislike lists on, players may adjust by mutual agreement), particularly in H and I tiers there were concerns raised about playing with all cards. I want to make a reminder here that, except for their use of the ban and dislike lists, your opponents cannot unilaterally restrict the card pool. If you want to play with all cards, you should.

We have also received some feedback both last season and the few before that concerning players returning from breaks. The Season 58 Town Hall will cover breaks and returning, so get your questions and opinions ready.

No-Shows

Having opponents not show up to scheduled matches can be frustrating, and we have seen these complaints on your returning forms. Understanding that life happens, please let your opponent know ahead of time and as soon as possible if you will not be able to make a scheduled match. On the other side, if your opponent does not show up to a scheduled match without advance warning, please let your division moderator know - we cannot do anything about a recurring problem if we do not know it exists.

Benchmarks

Starting this season we are starting a more consistent enforcement of the scheduling benchmarks, which encourage players to never be in a situation where they will need to schedule 2 or more matches more than a single week. If you are falling behind this pace but still think you can finish the season, be sure to ask your moderator for an extension so that they know you are still around and trying to finish the season on time.

There are a few divisions this season which when setting them up we knew could lead to some difficult scheduling across time zones. We apologize if this ends up being the case for you; the numbers were pretty tough this season. In any case, best of luck this season and, as always, be sure to have fun!