Cup competition - unfair

I am a player level 21, so I have had some experience with the cup competition, and know that I sometimes have to deal with teams that are a level or two above mine (for some funny reason - NEVER below mine! why actually?)

But in this competition, I have reached the semi finals, and checked the teams I would potentially meet in the finals. And there is a team level 25, which has not conceded a single goal during the whole tournament. No wonder, compared to my team every single player is 9 stars. This like trying to beat Germany or Brazil with the national team of Nepal or Gibraltar - impossible!

What has been a suspense filled and exciting tournament so far is doomed to end in a very predictable fiasco.

So, I would like to know, what would you try to fight against a team of all-9-stars with a team of 5 stars with two or three six stars? And what would I need to do to be a top dog like this in one of the next tournaments?

Simply because Cup draw is based on starting quality of every team (actually for the best 14 players of the team).
so a team 2 levels above you, maybe has the same q with you (lets say 5* q team for you - 3* quality team for his lv) but when he starts buying his players for the new season, the 5* players of his lv, are 7* players for you.
Some things/methods you can do is
- sell all your good players before the last day, buy 14 3* players (or free agents), get an easy Cup draw and start building your team
- pump your 5* players to 8* players :rolleyes:
- read this interesting thread

http://forum.topeleven.com/tutorials...xt-season.html

Is the cup unfair?

I think so. It's exploitable by managers who deliberately decrease their average quality to get a better cup draw. Whether this is by acquiring several 3* players or having several 1* players on the roster (acquiring 18 yr old 0T youth and not training him but keeping him on the team until he retires).

But if a manager doesn't do this, they risk running into a higher level manager in the cup that is! Also some managers may copy this strategy if they come across other managers doing it.

It's ok to face higher levels managers. But when a manager manipulates their average quality down to 1* for their level, the level gap is a bit absurd.

Do you think it would help if Nordeus would make the bracket of possible levels a bit tighter? In a way that no matter how much you dropped your quality, you would never meet managers more than two levels below you? So in my case, the level 25 manager would at minimum always have to deal with level 23 managers.

That would also reward a more long term perspective when you build a team, adding a spot of realism to the business of managing your team. I mean, which world class club sells half of it's staff, fills up with players from the 3rd league, and then sells those and goes on a shopping spree on the world market?

I would love it if they introduced level brackets in the cup.

Maybe auto-sacking players if their quality gets too low as well? Like a 9Q player on the roster of a level 14 manager!

Quote:

---

In a way that no matter how much you dropped your quality, you would never meet managers more than two levels below you?

---

two lvs above is still too high. Imagine that if that team has some 6* players, they are 8* for you.
1 level above is more fair
* I can say here (from my experience in the Cup/ played a lot of games) that a 6* team of a manager 1 level above you, is much more difficult from a 6* team of a manager 2 lvs above. The second, is a 4* team for the manager, meaning that he is not interest much for his team, not very active, not enough sources (condition/morale of the players).

Also want to say that t11 it's just a game based on football but there are many differences from real football.

I've been manipulating my average q since season 2. I usually try to go into the next season at one point below 4 or 5* team average. It's not hard to keep academy players or buy cheap 3 star free agents and then sell them day 3.

The real manipulators are the money players that replace their entire squad every season/2nd season. It's not fun playing way below your level though, I had one league in lvl 5 that was way below my level as i sold nearly all my decent players at the end of season 4 then spent big. I prefer healthy competition against clubs on or near my level.

Play defensive, hard trackling and pray :D

Good luck!!!

I am a normal player (no money). For the last 10 seasons I guess I have played in a cup one level higher then me Always. So at level 10 I will only face level 11 players. I have won the cup once when I didn't promote. That is apparantly the only way to win the cup. Cup matches should be against the best players of your same level. That would make sense. This season at level 14 my team was quality 84 or something and my first match was against a 94 quality team (level 15). Good luck with that. I agree that the matchmaking in the cup games are not that well thought out.

To steal a series from far stronger opponent, you must make the matches as low scoring as possible first and then wish for good luck.

Its the same for me every season. My opponents in Cup, and even now in CL one or two levels above. at least 10-15 skill over my teams. This means if I do very well I can get to the playoffs nothing more.

In other words, I never have a realistic chance of winning the title in eighter of the tournements.

This IMO is a big drawback in this game, because it ruins the motivation, when winning is unrealistic even with some good/lucky results :rolleyes:

Attachment 47663

Certainly play defense then attack quickly and unexpectedly :D

I do not think that T11 can win with this cup competition. Back in 2011/2012 when I first started playing, it took me 10 seasons to win 2 cup competitions but then I webt onto win about 12 on the trot because I must have been towards the top of my server. I was always paired with lesser teams and often played against teams 8-10 levels below me.

Then T11 bowed to players requests and made the cup a more level playing field and the difference was 1-2 levels, sometimes more. Since then I have only won 1 cup. If you regard the cup like the FA cup, then unless you are top of your server i.e. a Man Utd or Chelsea, then you can expect to meet better teams at a higher level and just hope that you can sneak a surprise result. Just check cup winners in most of the major leagues around the world and you will find that it is mainly the top few teams that win.

Yep. exactly.

Its the 'Similar Quality' aspect of the draw that makes it more predictable and allows for Q manipulation. You can't have a level playing field where a manager who improves his team (say 6*) for League and CL can not improve his team through the TM but a same level Manager 3 levels higher can suddenly bump it up 10Q on day1.

I started Q (mini) manipulating after getting fed up with meeting 3 levels higher teams (but performing not bad) and then trumping it all with a 4 level higher Cup (even though I managed to place 2nd) God Bless my 'aggressive' Def c-a.

Making it purely for a level range and drawing randomly (but with a %age from each level in the range) would imo make it less predictable. The horror draw would be more horrific but the possibility of a lucky draw would exist and the chance of scratching and biting to glory a bit higher.

For Example: Cup has 3 (or 4) level range [25% Lvl X-1, 50% Lvl X, 25% Lvl X+1] - teams have a chance of being in the higher level bracket or lower and each level has the chance of containing high or low q teams. It has the potential to provide bigger Q differences in some cases and be more brutal but rare. If however the levels were set (ie a cycle meant you knew which Season would be your Top Level season then some players would plan for that so a truly random 3 level spread might be an organisational nightmare numbers wise).

But its a no win for Nordeus because of the * and TM mechanic in the game.

No matter what they do there will be an 'exploit' and gamers will find it and use it.

The only truly 'fair' option is strict level based Cups but that would offer little difference between CL and Cup - boring. :(

Just a thought, please bear with me and please feel free to add or correct this idea. It is only a quick thought on how to improve the game.
As we are aware, all cup competitions have a form of seeding involved.

So league first. Extend the leagues to 16 teams and during the first half of the season play 2 league matches on 4 diffent days so the season does not have to be extended.

Main cup competition - teams spread over 4 levels (say 10,11,12 and maybe 13). Preliminary and qualifying rounds between 10 and 11 max difference with the level 12 and 13 teams entering at play off stage. So there will be only 64 teams in preliminary, 32 go through to qualifying and then 16 join the 'big boys' in play offs. Then on to last 16 etc as normal.

For the second half of the season, play a league cup between the teams in a particular league only. This could revive players interest who have been knocked out of the 'main' cup early and no CL place and give them something to play for 2nd half of the season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gert Funck

Its the same for me every season. My opponents in Cup, and even now in CL one or two levels above. at least 10-15 skill over my teams. This means if I do very well I can get to the playoffs nothing more.

In other words, I never have a realistic chance of winning the title in eighter of the tournements.

This IMO is a big drawback in this game, because it ruins the motivation, when winning is unrealistic even with some good/lucky results :rolleyes:

Attachment 47663

---

You have no option but to try to close the Quality gap by being Defensive and for extreme gaps Hard Defensive. Often first to score wins but its no guarantee it'll be you. Just pick an attacking player to pin your hopes on give him a red arrow, try to hit him with a Long Ball and when it happens scream "Run like the wind!" ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Buffs Mad

You have no option but to try to close the Quality gap by being Defensive and for extreme gaps Hard Defensive. Often first to score wins but its no guarantee it'll be you. Just pick an attacking player to pin your hopes on give him a red arrow, try to hit him with a Long Ball and when it happens scream "Run like the wind!" ;)

---

Yeahh, but this never happens 5 times in a row :rolleyes: (needed for CL)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gert Funck

Yeahh, but this never happens 5 times in a row :rolleyes: (needed for CL)

---

Sorry, but I ignored CL as its a Cup thread. Higher level CL draws is a separate issue relating to population (mainly) - its not the same as the more routine issue of facing 'improving after the draw' higher level teams like in the Cup.:rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Buffs Mad

Sorry, but I ignored CL as its a Cup thread. Higher level CL draws is a separate issue relating to population (mainly) - its not the same as the more routine issue of facing 'improving after the draw' higher level teams like in the Cup.:rolleyes:

---

ok, your right. It was just ment as an example.

the last four in my cup this year, after my knockout. again if I should have won, same scenario 5 matches win against way better teams.

final four
Attachment 47683
Attachment 47680
Attachment 47681
Attachment 47682

Mission impossible (without Tom Cruise)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gert Funck

ok, your right. It was just ment as an example.

the last four in my cup this year, after my knockout. again if I should have won, same scenario 5 matches win against way better teams.

final four
Attachment 47683
Attachment 47680
Attachment 47681
Attachment 47682

Mission impossible (without Tom Cruise)

---

I completely understand. There are scenarios where it wont help. For example, I got to the ultimate match in a 4 levels higher Cup (before Q manipulation) but still didn't help me get over the final (pun intended) hurdle against an 8* team. It helped me get there but its not a 100% Do It FTW