You are ignoring that whole section I quoted from the rule book. If it is a tie (or no character was defeated) the team with the lowest build total wins. It is that simple.

wow now i feel stupid i just read the bolded line above and it makes my above post wrong sorry

looks like you caught my mistake first

It happens, no biggie... That's why I tend to read stuff a couple times before I reply; it helps cut down mistakes. Not that it always helps, but I still try.

Back when I was a HC noob, I was a terribly slow player. I'd hem and haw so long that one of my opponents would walk off and check his e-mail or something while I struggled to find a way to not be raped by his KC Supes or U Thor. Thing is, I was always too polite to yell for him to come back and would simply take the extra time to 2nd-and 3rd-guess my strategy. I got a poor rep as a staller.

I'm better now, but still feel like I play too slow.

However, I have run across a true staller in my time since. He did it so badly that he got DQed from a tournament once. I kinda hope I never have to play him again, but I'd also like to take him down, too...

I've played in some games where it takes long bits of time for the other player, and at the venues I play at you'll see people turning around to tease and heckle the player taking a long time thinking. Not quite stalling IMO, although at times it may have been so. I do find it funny when the other player takes a good 5-10 minutes thinking of his move, finally makes that last painstaking decision, and then you take 30 seconds for your turn and it is back to him again for another good while

I hate, hate, HATE that!

When I started playing our matches were 10 turns. Granted some games were finished alot earlier than others, but this way seemed to be alot fairer.

And I really think that in timed tourneys that both players should get the same amount of full turns. It wouldn't be that much of an inconvience time wise. If player one has made an action when time is called he can finish his turn and let player two get his last at bat.

When this came up way back when someone suggested chess clocks. Each player has a total of 25 minutes to take his turns. Has anyone tried this?

Out and out stalling is illegal, and a judge can rule on that during a game.

It’s harder to face an opponent who is just continuously passing without doing anything and counting on his lower build total.

I played at a venue where one player did that on a weekly basis. It was one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever faced.

There are a few things you can do yourself to overcome this:

- Build a team at 298 points. This is the minimum you can build and not be vulnerable to the “Lian Harper Gambit” (Previously known as the ‘Ma Kent Gambit’.)

- Play the “Lian Harper Gambit” if your opponent is regularly playing 297 points or less.

Play strategies to defeat turtle teams, namely Vet Superman or anything with Trick Shot or Ultimates. Since Turtle teams often rely on stealth barricades, build against that.


Ultimately, if a player regularly shows up and turtles, it is up to the judge to do something about it. And there are a number of options available:

Run simple scenarios, such as – ‘Swap or not to Swap!’ At the beginning of each game, both players roll 2 dice. If the total of both rolls is 15 or more, swap teams.
Try ‘200 / 200’ – Bring two, 200 point teams. At the start of each game, player 1 chooses one of his opponent’s 200 point teams, and then player 2 chooses one of player 1’s teams. Combine to make 400 points.

Play ‘Only count KO’s’ – Surviving points don’t count towards victory, only KO’s. This won’t keep the player from turtling, but if he does, he can’t win the tournament. If he can’t win, then he’s basically showing up and doing nothing for 3 hours – which probably isn’t his intent.

Lastly, a judge can house rule that all teams are always equal to exactly the build total. Just because its in the rule book doesn’t mean it can’t be modified by a judge, as long as its made known to everyone in advance.
Do this for just a few tournaments and the turtle player will be forced to either change his play style or stop showing up.

At the risk of appearing ignorant..."Lian Harper Gambit"?

This was on the first page of this much too long thread...

Stalling is still a huge problem at my venue. Last week, we had a guy never go further than three squares past his starting area. Another guy takes at least five minutes to decide his move for each move he takes. And I had a guy take a phone while we were playing. He was on the phone for ten minutes straight! I didn't say anything for the first two instances, but you better believe that I said something to the judge when that guy took that call.