RULES of MMM
- Combatants are arranged in a four division, single elimination tournament.
- Epic Animals Division: These are species that have featured prominently in works of literary creativity OR have been named for creative written works! From novels, to epic poetry, the plays, even modern music, these combatants will have tales to be told!
- Connoisseur Critters: Animals have many traits for what they eat. Some herbivores can safely consume high levels of toxins Gird your stomachs and get ready to toast these combatants and their dietary diversity!
- Rainbow Collection Division: These brilliant beasties combine colors on their flamboyant forms, sometimes across a rainbow spectrum only they can see. Get ready to salute these striking smoke shows!
- Take a Bow Division: From a courtship dance to a broken wing fake-out, to intimidating enemies, to waggle dance directing buddies to budding flowers, many animals are peak performers. Get ready to applaud these showboats!
- Combatants have assigned seeds 1-16, with “1” being the best-ranked combatant and “16” being the worst-ranked combatant in the Division.
- A single individual at peak “combat” condition represents their species as combatant - for some species this may be a male or female, depending on the natural history.
- Keep season in mind - March is Spring in the Northern hemisphere & Autumn in the Southern hemisphere. Combatant condition & priorities may vary with season, depending on the natural history.
- The combatants are considered as encountering each other on a field of battle:
- Rounds 1, 2, & 3 the better/lower seeded combatant has Home Habitat Advantage. The worse/higher-seeded combatant is the visitor, unless the combatants live in the same habitat
- Rounds 4, 5, & 6 (the Elite Trait, the Final Roar, & the Championship), the field of battle is randomized among 4 possible habitats.
- Pelagic Realm: the open sea well beyond coastlines and stretches from the ocean surface to the ocean floor.
- Savanna Woodland: An area of grassland under a light, patchy canopy of trees and shrubs.
- Peatlands: a wetland ecosystem with incomplete decomposition of organic matter.
- Tidewater Glacier: a glacier that reaches the ocean; icebergs calve from tidewater glaciers.
- To “win” a battle, a combatant has to be holding the field of battle at the end of the encounter. Withdrawing from the encounter, fleeing, or total knock out (carnage) count as a defeat.
HOW BATTLE OUTCOMES ARE DETERMINED:
- A team of scientists research the combatants and their habitats and estimate probability that combatant A wins vs. combatant B wins within the specific habitat of the encounter.
- Attributes considered in estimating battle outcome include weaponry, armor, body mass, speed, fight style, physiology, attitude and motivation.
- From that probability estimation, a random number generator (RNG) determines the outcome of the encounter and which combatant advances in the tournament. The use of the RNG allows for the possibility, if not the probability, of UPSETS (a worse ranked combatant defeating a better ranked combatant).
SCORING THE TOURNAMENT:
Participants fill out their brackets with their choices for the winners for each bout. Scoring occurs at the end of the tournament, points allocated as follows:
- Wild Card = 1 point
- Round 1 = 1 point each
- Round 2 = 2 points each
- Round 3 = 3 points each
- Round 4 = 5 points each
- Round 5 = 8 points each
- Champion= 13 points
