Cup competition - unfair

[Andy Holzer]

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?

[nikolgiorgos]

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
- read this interesting thread

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

[pcmacdaniel]

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.

[Andy Holzer]

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?

[pcmacdaniel]

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!

[nikolgiorgos]

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.

[HoofDaddy]

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.

[La Morralla FS]

Play defensive, hard trackling and pray

Good luck!!!

[Killroy]

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.

[cookizzz]

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.