Tournament Rules Cutoff Dates Are A Mess. Let’s Talk About It.

This is going to be a shorter article, but one that I really want the 40K community to think about. TOs and players, we can all do better here.

40K tournament rules cutoff dates are a complete mess. Let’s talk about it.

Summary of the Issue

For those who don’t play tournaments, let me give you a quick summary.

Every tournament has a rules cutoff date. That is the date before which any rules (a new codex, balance dataslates, points updates, new detachments, etc) have to be released to be valid for that tournament. For example, if a GT is on January 15th, they might set the rules cutoff date to January 1st. That means that if GW drops a balance dataslate on January 2nd, the GT won’t use it and will play with the “old” rules during their January 15th GT.

Well, at least that is what it means in theory.

In practice? Who the hell knows.

Almost every single time rules come out after the rules cutoff date, TOs allow those rules to be used anyway.

I have 2 big issues with 40K rules cutoff dates in general. These two issues are related, as we’ll discuss in more detail later.

1. Rules cutoff dates are too far out. The vast majority of people do not want to play with 2-3 week old rules. This 2-3 week “tradition” is largely from a pre-digital 40K era where information disseminated much slower, and is probably worth reconsidering.
2. Rules cutoff dates are too malleable, and this just creates way more confusion. People should be confident that if the rules cutoff is January 1st, then any rules that come out after January 1st will not be used at the event.

If you will move the rules cutoff date back to allow new rules that come out after the rules cutoff date, you should just choose a later rules cutoff date in the first place.

What is the Purpose of Rules Cutoffs?

Rules cutoffs are a crucial thing for an in-person game like 40K. This is especially true for a game that requires you to acquire specific models and build, prime, and paint them.

If a rules update drops, people will need time to get some different models ready to adjust their list so it is both legal and effective with whatever rules changes occurred. Depending on your experience level, you’ll also need some time to memorize the new rules and get a practice game or two in. If the rules drop the night before the event, obviously basically no one is going to have time to adapt their lists before the event starts the next morning.

Your average 40K tournament attendee is not, for example, Jack Harpster, someone whose literal job is to play competitive 40K and lives in a house with a bunch of other 40K pros and has a massive painted model collection from every army on hand.

Your average 40K tournament attendee is a dad who at most plays once a week and maybe only has a few hours free a week to hobby their army after work, family, and other commitments. That is who we need to keep in mind when discussing tournament rules and structures, not the nerds (love you all) who play 15 games on TTS every week.

The purpose of a rules cutoff date is to provide clarity for players so they can plan their hobbying and practice, and make sure people have enough time to prepare. This is why I think it’s important for TOs to actually stick to their rules cutoff dates. Maybe someone keeps a few evenings before the event free, just in case they’ll need to make some changes to their list and paint some new models. Once that rules cutoff date passes, and no rules are changed, people should feel confident filling that potential hobbying time with other activities or obligations.

Now, here is the huge downside to having early rules cutoff dates: By and large, players really don’t like playing with “outdated” rules. I’m one of those players! Once a dataslate drops, I have 0 interest in playing any more games with the old ruleset. If it’s a big event I’ve booked travel for then I’ll still go, but there is no way I’ll go to an RTT for example that is using rules from a prior balance update. Players also like the chance for “glory” and a tiny shred of 40K internet fame if they do well, and basically no one else besides attendees cares about the results of an event from an “old meta”. An exception is made for uniquely prestigious events like WTC, of course.

Balance updates are done to improve the health of the game. In theory, they tone down unfairly strong armies, improve unfairly weak armies, and clarify or remove rules pain points or questions. It’s logical on average to want to play with a new dataslate because the meta is on average healthier after a rules update than before a rules update.

Also by the time a balance dataslate comes out, there are 1-3 armies that people are just so sick of facing and having unfun games into, and these armies are always disproportionately represented at tournaments (except GSC, who are always the most busted army that no one actually plays). A great example is the emergency points nerf GW released for Death Guard and Chaos/Imperial Knights a few weeks ago. It would be a very hard sell to tell attendees you’re not using that because everyone was sick of those 3 armies.

Mike, What Is The Issue?

I am so glad you asked!

I have 2 big issues, that I discussed earlier but will now break down into more detail.

TO’s Keep Changing the Rules Cutoff Dates

Here is what happens every single time I see a rules update come out after a rules cutoff for a GT:

The TO opens it up for discussion, and there is a lot of (sometimes angry) back and forth. It’s not clear what is going to happen. And this causes both confusion and frustration for players.

And then, most of the time, the TO allows the new rules to be used because that’s what the majority of players want.

Rules Cutoff Dates Are Too Early, On Average

Here is why I don’t like setting the rules cutoff date 2-3 weeks before:

The community overwhelmingly does not want to play with 2-3 week old rules! That’s why there is always so much pressure on TOs to change the rules cutoff date after new rules come out. So rather than having TOs work against the community and create this tension where what the community wants is not what the policies are, let’s have them work together and set rules cutoffs that everyone is comfortable with.

TOs want what their community to be excited and eager for their event. That’s a great thing. People are more excited and eager when new rules are used. So if new rules come out a week before, they are going to listen to their community (which is a good thing) and allow them, so let’s just skip the whole confusing song and dance and just have them set closer in the first place.

An Example: The Challenger’s Cup

I’m going to use the upcoming Challenger’s Cup as an example. Before starting, I want to make one thing clear: This is not an issue with the Challenger’s Cup specifically. The Challenger’s Cup is going to be amazing, and I’m really hyped for it and have so many friends going and hyped too. I also am really happy that they are using the recent dataslate, because I mean this from the bottom of my chaotic heart: Fuck Challenger’s Cards.

But here’s what happened: The Challenger’s Cup is an upcoming teams event on the 26th-27th of this month. Their rules cutoff was the 10th. On the 12th, GW dropped a balance dataslate after accidentally leaking it in their public app.

The rules cutoff for the Challenger’s Cup was the 10th. That means that any rules released after the 10th (say, a balance dataslate on the 12th), would not be valid for the tournament. This should be extremely cut and dry. That is the whole point of a rules cutoff date!

Here is what happened: When the rules dropped on the 12th, the TOs weren’t sure if they would use the new rules. They said they were going to open it up to a community vote. This lead to some… very vigorous discussion amongst attendees. I understand both sides and don’t fault any players in that discussion.

I give the TOs credit for their communication once the update dropped, but this just illustrates that an incorrect choice was made with the rules cutoff date in the first place. I’m in favor of using the new rules and actually reminder/encouraged several team captain friends to vote that way, and I’m very happy with the outcome. I think this is just a good example of why TOs should think a bit more about rules cutoff dates in the first place.

While We’re on the Subject, List Submission Dates Are Way Too Early Too

We don’t need lists locked 1-2 weeks early. The narrow gap between rules cutoffs and list submission is part of the problem!

I genuinely don’t get why this happens. No one really cares. Why do we lock lists so far before events? Why is this a homework test you have to prepare so far in advance for?

I respect the hell out of GW events for just letting you roll up with a list the morning of. Not sure exactly what you want to run? Take as much time as you need. I wish more events would follow the lead of GW events on this.

List Submission being very close to the start of the event benefits literally everyone. “Pros” have more time to prepare, busy semi-casual players have more time to practice and can adjust their lists based on how much free time. Realize a few days before you won’t actually have enough time to finish painting that Lord Of Skulls? No worries, just replace it with some other units.

My Recommendation for TOs

TO’s, please keep in mind that your role is to provide clarity for your attendees. People should be able to plan their attendance and schedule around what you say, not whomever is most vocal in your local Discord.

Here is my recommendation for any TOs:

1. Do not just set a rules cutoff date that is 2-3 weeks before the event out of habit.
2. Stop and really think: What is latest date where you will actually stick to not allowing any new rules, even if they improve the health of the game? Say there is a very overpowered army that players are largely sick of playing against, and a rules update comes out that tones down that army and makes players much more excited for the “new” meta. How close to your event would that desired update have to come out for you to not allow it?
3. Make that date your rules cutoff date, not your first instinct date.
4. Most importantly: Stick to your rules cutoff that you set. If you think most of your attendees will be frustrated and less interested in attending if you set that rules cutoff date, then that’s a great sign that you should think harder about the rules cutoff date you just set.

My recommendation for what it’s worth: Rules cutoff date is 1 week before for a GT. Rules cutoff date is 2 weeks before for a Teams event. There is no rules cutoff date for an RTT since the whole point is building community and getting practice, but if the rules change within 3 days of the event, you’ll drop any painting requirements and allow proxies (many/most RTTs allow this already).

TO’s, you are the underappreciated and underpaid glue that keeps the competitive 40K community running. Don’t take this article as a negative thing, and I appreciate each and every one of you!*

* Except the TOs that required Soul Grinders to have bases before GW’s basing guide came out. I still appreciate you, but you get appreciated a little less. Okay, a lot less. Actually, you don’t get any appreciation at all. I miss Soul Grinders so much.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for sticking with me as I discussed a very niche topic in competitive 40K. If you want to agree with me, tell me I’m a dummy, or tell me your team is going to kick my team’s ass at the Challengers Cup, join the best Chaos/competitive 40K discord today! https://discord.gg/jVRdSqQT. See you in the Warphammre discord or a comments section here or elsewhere.

We’ll resume our irregularly scheduled Chaos programming later this week, maybe.

As always, have fun, stay safe, and may the Dark Gods bless your rolls! Unless you told Daemons players their Soul Grinders had to be on bases, in which case I hope you roll just slightly below average.