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The Banner Race

Starting with Season 1, Bitcoinia and Etheryst race each other all season for the season's banner. There's nothing to sign up for: every game you play against the rival club in ranked or a tournament can score for your club. The only way to score is to win games, or draw them.

Infographic of the Banner Race at a glance. Bitcoinia and Etheryst race each other all season; there is nothing to sign up for, and the only way to score is to win games, or draw them. 1, What scores. Counts in the race: a Bitcoinia player against an Etheryst player; a ranked or tournament game; it finished and reached at least 8 moves; both players clear the fair-play checks. Doesn't count: games against your own clubmates; Quick and Casual games, friendlies, Sovereign Duels and AI games; games under 8 moves. A win scores for the winner's club, a draw scores for both clubs, and a loss never takes points away from your club. 2, The share and the bar. Each club's score is its share of all the points scored in the race so far, so the two numbers always add up to 100%. Dev plays for Bitcoinia and is rated 1,200; Maya plays for Etheryst and is rated 1,450. Dev beats Maya: 1.617 for Bitcoinia. Maya beats Dev: 0.383 for Etheryst. They draw: 0.808 for Bitcoinia and 0.192 for Etheryst. 3.000 points in all, so the bar reads Bitcoinia 80.8%, Etheryst 19.2%, 3 games. They each won once, but Dev did far better than his rating predicted. A club can't win by being bigger: every race game has exactly one Bitcoinia player and one Etheryst player in it, so both clubs play exactly the same number of race games. 3, The big weeks, on a 13-week track. Week 1: the race opens at 50–50 when the season opens. Week 5, Halfway week: the halfway score, the next chapter of the Bitcoinia and Etheryst story, and a featured match on stream. Week 9, Banner Week: every point scored in a race game counts double, draws included. Week 13: the race closes when the season championship stream begins, and the winning club is named on the stream. 4, Across two seasons: Seasons 1 and 2 are raced as a pair. Season 1 has no defending club yet; its winner goes into Season 2 leading 1–0 as the defending club, whose banner flies on the lobby, and the Season 2 race starts again at 50–50. A club that wins both seasons wins the two-season race. At 1–1, the points from both seasons are added together and the bigger share of that total wins; if that is exactly level, the two clubs share it. 5, Rewards: play 10 race games for your club in a season to earn a share of the rewards: 1,000 XP if your club wins the season's race, 500 XP if it doesn't, added to your career XP. Members of the winning club who played at least 10 race games also earn the Banner badge and the Banner profile frame. Rewards are earned automatically when the season ends, so there's nothing to claim. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of the Banner Race at a glance. Bitcoinia and Etheryst race each other all season; there is nothing to sign up for, and the only way to score is to win games, or draw them. 1, What scores. Counts in the race: a Bitcoinia player against an Etheryst player; a ranked or tournament game; it finished and reached at least 8 moves; both players clear the fair-play checks. Doesn't count: games against your own clubmates; Quick and Casual games, friendlies, Sovereign Duels and AI games; games under 8 moves. A win scores for the winner's club, a draw scores for both clubs, and a loss never takes points away from your club. 2, The share and the bar. Each club's score is its share of all the points scored in the race so far, so the two numbers always add up to 100%. Dev plays for Bitcoinia and is rated 1,200; Maya plays for Etheryst and is rated 1,450. Dev beats Maya: 1.617 for Bitcoinia. Maya beats Dev: 0.383 for Etheryst. They draw: 0.808 for Bitcoinia and 0.192 for Etheryst. 3.000 points in all, so the bar reads Bitcoinia 80.8%, Etheryst 19.2%, 3 games. They each won once, but Dev did far better than his rating predicted. A club can't win by being bigger: every race game has exactly one Bitcoinia player and one Etheryst player in it, so both clubs play exactly the same number of race games. 3, The big weeks, on a 13-week track. Week 1: the race opens at 50–50 when the season opens. Week 5, Halfway week: the halfway score, the next chapter of the Bitcoinia and Etheryst story, and a featured match on stream. Week 9, Banner Week: every point scored in a race game counts double, draws included. Week 13: the race closes when the season championship stream begins, and the winning club is named on the stream. 4, Across two seasons: Seasons 1 and 2 are raced as a pair. Season 1 has no defending club yet; its winner goes into Season 2 leading 1–0 as the defending club, whose banner flies on the lobby, and the Season 2 race starts again at 50–50. A club that wins both seasons wins the two-season race. At 1–1, the points from both seasons are added together and the bigger share of that total wins; if that is exactly level, the two clubs share it. 5, Rewards: play 10 race games for your club in a season to earn a share of the rewards: 1,000 XP if your club wins the season's race, 500 XP if it doesn't, added to your career XP. Members of the winning club who played at least 10 race games also earn the Banner badge and the Banner profile frame. Rewards are earned automatically when the season ends, so there's nothing to claim. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of the Banner Race at a glance. Bitcoinia and Etheryst race each other all season; there is nothing to sign up for, and the only way to score is to win games, or draw them. 1, What scores. Counts in the race: a Bitcoinia player against an Etheryst player; a ranked or tournament game; it finished and reached at least 8 moves; both players clear the fair-play checks. Doesn't count: games against your own clubmates; Quick and Casual games, friendlies, Sovereign Duels and AI games; games under 8 moves. A win scores for the winner's club, a draw scores for both clubs, and a loss never takes points away from your club. 2, The share and the bar. Each club's score is its share of all the points scored in the race so far, so the two numbers always add up to 100%. Dev plays for Bitcoinia and is rated 1,200; Maya plays for Etheryst and is rated 1,450. Dev beats Maya: 1.617 for Bitcoinia. Maya beats Dev: 0.383 for Etheryst. They draw: 0.808 for Bitcoinia and 0.192 for Etheryst. 3.000 points in all, so the bar reads Bitcoinia 80.8%, Etheryst 19.2%, 3 games. They each won once, but Dev did far better than his rating predicted. A club can't win by being bigger: every race game has exactly one Bitcoinia player and one Etheryst player in it, so both clubs play exactly the same number of race games. 3, The big weeks, on a 13-week track. Week 1: the race opens at 50–50 when the season opens. Week 5, Halfway week: the halfway score, the next chapter of the Bitcoinia and Etheryst story, and a featured match on stream. Week 9, Banner Week: every point scored in a race game counts double, draws included. Week 13: the race closes when the season championship stream begins, and the winning club is named on the stream. 4, Across two seasons: Seasons 1 and 2 are raced as a pair. Season 1 has no defending club yet; its winner goes into Season 2 leading 1–0 as the defending club, whose banner flies on the lobby, and the Season 2 race starts again at 50–50. A club that wins both seasons wins the two-season race. At 1–1, the points from both seasons are added together and the bigger share of that total wins; if that is exactly level, the two clubs share it. 5, Rewards: play 10 race games for your club in a season to earn a share of the rewards: 1,000 XP if your club wins the season's race, 500 XP if it doesn't, added to your career XP. Members of the winning club who played at least 10 race games also earn the Banner badge and the Banner profile frame. Rewards are earned automatically when the season ends, so there's nothing to claim. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of the Banner Race at a glance. Bitcoinia and Etheryst race each other all season; there is nothing to sign up for, and the only way to score is to win games, or draw them. 1, What scores. Counts in the race: a Bitcoinia player against an Etheryst player; a ranked or tournament game; it finished and reached at least 8 moves; both players clear the fair-play checks. Doesn't count: games against your own clubmates; Quick and Casual games, friendlies, Sovereign Duels and AI games; games under 8 moves. A win scores for the winner's club, a draw scores for both clubs, and a loss never takes points away from your club. 2, The share and the bar. Each club's score is its share of all the points scored in the race so far, so the two numbers always add up to 100%. Dev plays for Bitcoinia and is rated 1,200; Maya plays for Etheryst and is rated 1,450. Dev beats Maya: 1.617 for Bitcoinia. Maya beats Dev: 0.383 for Etheryst. They draw: 0.808 for Bitcoinia and 0.192 for Etheryst. 3.000 points in all, so the bar reads Bitcoinia 80.8%, Etheryst 19.2%, 3 games. They each won once, but Dev did far better than his rating predicted. A club can't win by being bigger: every race game has exactly one Bitcoinia player and one Etheryst player in it, so both clubs play exactly the same number of race games. 3, The big weeks, on a 13-week track. Week 1: the race opens at 50–50 when the season opens. Week 5, Halfway week: the halfway score, the next chapter of the Bitcoinia and Etheryst story, and a featured match on stream. Week 9, Banner Week: every point scored in a race game counts double, draws included. Week 13: the race closes when the season championship stream begins, and the winning club is named on the stream. 4, Across two seasons: Seasons 1 and 2 are raced as a pair. Season 1 has no defending club yet; its winner goes into Season 2 leading 1–0 as the defending club, whose banner flies on the lobby, and the Season 2 race starts again at 50–50. A club that wins both seasons wins the two-season race. At 1–1, the points from both seasons are added together and the bigger share of that total wins; if that is exactly level, the two clubs share it. 5, Rewards: play 10 race games for your club in a season to earn a share of the rewards: 1,000 XP if your club wins the season's race, 500 XP if it doesn't, added to your career XP. Members of the winning club who played at least 10 race games also earn the Banner badge and the Banner profile frame. Rewards are earned automatically when the season ends, so there's nothing to claim. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.

What scores​

A game counts in the Banner Race when all of these are true:

  • It's a Bitcoinia player against an Etheryst player. Games against your own clubmates don't count.
  • It's a ranked or tournament game. Tournament games include Classic Tournament games, and the Bitcoinia vs Etheryst team tournament once it arrives. Quick and Casual games, friendlies, Sovereign Duels and AI games don't count.
  • It finished and reached at least 8 moves.
  • Both players clear the fair-play checks in Fair play below.

A game scores for the club each player was playing for when it finished. A win scores for the winner's club, a draw scores for both clubs, and a loss never takes points away from your club.

How a game scores​

In plain words: beating a player rated the same as you scores 1 point for your club. Beat a stronger player and it scores more, up to 2 for a huge upset. Beat a much weaker player and it scores very little. A draw splits the points, and the lower-rated player's half is worth more. Every draw adds exactly 1 point in total, shared between the two clubs.

Infographic of how a game scores. Beating a player rated the same as you scores 1 point for your club; beat a stronger player and it scores more, up to 2 for a huge upset; beat a much weaker player and it scores very little. A chart of points scored against who you beat, from a much weaker player on the left to a stronger player on the right, rising from almost 0 through 1 for players rated the same toward 2, with four worked examples: 1, beating a much weaker player, 1,800 beats 1,200, scores 0.061; 2, favorite wins, 1,450 beats 1,200, scores 0.383; 3, even win, 1,300 beats 1,300, scores 1.000; 4, upset, 1,200 beats 1,450, scores 1.617. A draw splits the points: when 1,200 draws 1,450, the lower-rated player's half is worth more, 0.808 for the 1,200 player's club and 0.192 for the 1,450 player's club. Every draw adds exactly 1 point in total, shared between the two clubs. In Banner Week every result counts double. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of how a game scores. Beating a player rated the same as you scores 1 point for your club; beat a stronger player and it scores more, up to 2 for a huge upset; beat a much weaker player and it scores very little. A chart of points scored against who you beat, from a much weaker player on the left to a stronger player on the right, rising from almost 0 through 1 for players rated the same toward 2, with four worked examples: 1, beating a much weaker player, 1,800 beats 1,200, scores 0.061; 2, favorite wins, 1,450 beats 1,200, scores 0.383; 3, even win, 1,300 beats 1,300, scores 1.000; 4, upset, 1,200 beats 1,450, scores 1.617. A draw splits the points: when 1,200 draws 1,450, the lower-rated player's half is worth more, 0.808 for the 1,200 player's club and 0.192 for the 1,450 player's club. Every draw adds exactly 1 point in total, shared between the two clubs. In Banner Week every result counts double. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of how a game scores. Beating a player rated the same as you scores 1 point for your club; beat a stronger player and it scores more, up to 2 for a huge upset; beat a much weaker player and it scores very little. A chart of points scored against who you beat, from a much weaker player on the left to a stronger player on the right, rising from almost 0 through 1 for players rated the same toward 2, with four worked examples: 1, beating a much weaker player, 1,800 beats 1,200, scores 0.061; 2, favorite wins, 1,450 beats 1,200, scores 0.383; 3, even win, 1,300 beats 1,300, scores 1.000; 4, upset, 1,200 beats 1,450, scores 1.617. A draw splits the points: when 1,200 draws 1,450, the lower-rated player's half is worth more, 0.808 for the 1,200 player's club and 0.192 for the 1,450 player's club. Every draw adds exactly 1 point in total, shared between the two clubs. In Banner Week every result counts double. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.Infographic of how a game scores. Beating a player rated the same as you scores 1 point for your club; beat a stronger player and it scores more, up to 2 for a huge upset; beat a much weaker player and it scores very little. A chart of points scored against who you beat, from a much weaker player on the left to a stronger player on the right, rising from almost 0 through 1 for players rated the same toward 2, with four worked examples: 1, beating a much weaker player, 1,800 beats 1,200, scores 0.061; 2, favorite wins, 1,450 beats 1,200, scores 0.383; 3, even win, 1,300 beats 1,300, scores 1.000; 4, upset, 1,200 beats 1,450, scores 1.617. A draw splits the points: when 1,200 draws 1,450, the lower-rated player's half is worth more, 0.808 for the 1,200 player's club and 0.192 for the 1,450 player's club. Every draw adds exactly 1 point in total, shared between the two clubs. In Banner Week every result counts double. Everything it shows is also in the text of this page.

The ratings used are the two players' ratings just before the game started. Tournament games don't change ratings, but they still use the ratings both players had going in.

The formula. E is the winner's expected chance of winning, worked out from both players' ratings before the game:

D = loser's rating - winner's rating
E = 1 / (1 + 10^(D / 400))
win value = 2 × (1 - E)

A draw gives each player's club half of that player's own win value. So an even game (E = 0.5) is worth 1, an upset is worth up to 2, and a win by a heavy favorite is worth close to 0. In Banner Week every result counts double.

Worked examples. Each row is one finished race game.

GameRatings before the gameWinner's expected chance (E)Points scored
Even win1,300 beats 1,3000.500 (50%)1.000 for the winner's club
Upset1,200 beats 1,4500.192 (19%)1.617 for the winner's club
Favorite wins1,450 beats 1,2000.808 (81%)0.383 for the winner's club
Draw1,200 draws 1,450No winner: 0.192 for the 1,200 player, 0.808 for the 1,450 player0.808 for the 1,200 player's club and 0.192 for the 1,450 player's club, 1.000 in total
Small upset1,350 beats 1,4500.360 (36%)1.280 for the winner's club
Beating a much weaker player1,800 beats 1,2000.969 (97%)0.061 for the winner's club
Banner Week, even win1,300 beats 1,300 in week 90.500 (50%)2.000 for the winner's club (1.000 doubled)

The Beating a much weaker player row is why farming weaker players doesn't work: a win you were expected to get earns almost nothing.

The share and the bar​

The race isn't a points total. Each club's score is its share of all the points scored in the race so far, so the two numbers always add up to 100%.

An example. Dev plays for Bitcoinia and is rated 1,200. Maya plays for Etheryst and is rated 1,450.

  • Dev beats Maya: an upset, worth 1.617 to Bitcoinia.
  • Maya beats Dev: she was expected to win, so it's worth 0.383 to Etheryst.
  • They draw: Bitcoinia gets 0.808 and Etheryst 0.192.

That's 3.000 points in all, and Bitcoinia has 2.425 of them, so the bar reads Bitcoinia 80.8% · Etheryst 19.2% · 3 games. They each won once, but Dev did far better than his rating predicted against a stronger player, and that's what the race rewards. Over a whole season, if every player plays exactly at their rating, the race stays near 50–50. The club that plays better than its ratings against the rival leads.

A club can't win by being bigger. Every race game has exactly one Bitcoinia player and one Etheryst player in it, so both clubs play exactly the same number of race games. More members doesn't mean more race games than the rival, and a club full of strong players gains almost nothing from easy wins. A club wins the race by beating the rival more often than its ratings say it should.

The big weeks​

  • Week 1: the race opens at 50–50 when the season opens.
  • Week 5, Halfway week: the halfway score, the next chapter of the Bitcoinia and Etheryst story, and a featured Bitcoinia vs Etheryst match on stream. Featured matches are exhibitions: they aren't rated and don't count in the race.
  • Week 9, Banner Week: every point scored in a race game counts double, draws included.
  • Week 13: the race closes when the season championship stream begins, and the winning club is named on the stream. Games that finish after the stream starts don't count, so the result announced on the stream is final.

Across two seasons​

Seasons 1 and 2 are raced as a pair.

  • The defending club. The Season 1 winner goes into Season 2 leading 1–0, as the defending club. Its banner flies on the lobby, and it's the home side: it chooses to host the week-5 featured match, or to wait and host the featured match at the season finish. In Season 1 there's no defending club yet, so Season 1 has no home side.
  • A fresh race. The Season 2 race starts again at 50–50.
  • Winning both seasons. A club that wins both seasons wins the two-season race. At 1–1, the points from both seasons are added together, and the club with the bigger share of that total wins. If even that is exactly level, the two clubs share it.

Rewards​

  • Play 10 race games for your club in a season to earn a share of the rewards. A race game is one that scored in the Banner Race.
  • XP bonus: 1,000 XP if your club wins the season's race, 500 XP if it doesn't. It's added to your career XP.
  • The Banner badge and frame: members of the winning club who played at least 10 race games also earn that season's Banner badge for their badge shelf and the Banner profile frame.
  • Nothing else: no FOCUS, no packs, and nothing that changes a match or a rating.

Rewards are earned automatically when the season ends, so there's nothing to claim. The XP bonus is added after the season collectible's bar is counted, so it never decides who gets the collectible. If you play race games for more than one club in a season, your rewards follow the club you played the most race games for.

Fair play​

These checks keep the race about real games:

  • Account history: a game scores only when both accounts are at least 7 days old and both players have already finished 10 ranked or tournament games of at least 8 moves, against anyone.
  • A daily limit per pair: only 3 race games between the same two players count in any 24 hours. The 4th and later don't score for the race.
  • A weekly limit on upset bonuses: the upset bonus is the part of a win worth more than 1 point. In any 7 days, one player's losses can give the rival club at most 2 bonus points. After that, beating that player scores no more than 1 point until the week rolls on.
  • A closer look at unusual losses: a player who keeps losing to lower-rated players from the rival club is flagged for review.
  • The usual fair-play checks apply. If a fair-play review restricts an account, its race games stop counting.

What you'll see​

  • The race bar on the lobby and on your club screen: each club's share and how many games have scored, for example Bitcoinia 51.8% · Etheryst 48.2% · 3,410 games. When the shares are equal, the bar reads level. In Banner Week, the bar says so.
  • A line on the end-of-game screen after a race game, for example Banner Race: +1.62 for Bitcoinia. If a game didn't score, the line tells you, and why when it's something like a short game or the daily limit.
  • A weekly update on the official Discord: the week's result, the season so far, and the player behind the week's biggest upset.

FAQ​

Does losing cost my club points? No. A loss never takes points away. It gives the rival club a chance to score, and how much depends on how big an upset it was.

Why didn't my game score? The most common reasons: it was under 8 moves, it wasn't a ranked or tournament game, one of the accounts is too new or hasn't finished 10 games yet, or you'd already played that player 3 times in the last 24 hours. The end-of-game line tells you when a game didn't score.

Can the bigger club win just by playing more? No. Both clubs play the same number of race games, because every race game has one player from each club. The bar compares how well each club does in those games.

What if I change clubs during a season? Each game scores for the club you played it for, and those points stay with that club. Your rewards follow the club you played the most race games for.

Next step​

→ Seasonal Calendar