Below is a list of changes that are being made for Roulette Rivals 17 (RR17). This list may not be exhaustive, so it is recommended to still read over the full list of rules.
Given all of the positive feedback surrounding the Swiss format in RR16, this upcoming tournament will also utilize it. For a review of how the format is played, check out the RR Basic Info page and the RR16 Spreadsheet. The changes below aim to build upon the format to better suit the size of the community.
- The primary tiebreaker will now be Points Differential, switching priority with the Buchholz Score. This change aims to place more importance on a player's personal performance, rather than that of their opponents.
- Forfeit matches where one player was clearly at fault will be assigned a score of 0-6. This result will be counted towards both players' point differentials.
- Following the first round draw of the Swiss stage, which will remain fully random, draws will be nonrandom and use a balanced BH system. Essentially, within the same points bracket, the player with the most difficult opponents and with the easiest opponents would be matched up and so on. The intent with this change is for luck to be a smaller factor in Swiss stage performance.
- For example, imagine that there are four players that have 4 points. Their Buchholz scores are hypothetically 2.9 (A), 2.8 (B), 2.7 (C), and 2.6 (D). The matchups in the next round would be Player A vs D and Player B vs C.
- The Buchholz score calculation will now be affected by the activity of previous opponents - their contributions to your BH will be weighted based on the total number of rounds that they opt into. For example, if you face an opponent that earns 0pts in R1 and then drops out of the tournament, their effect on your BH score will be significantly less than if they earn 0pts in 6 rounds of play.
- The initial draw for the Knockout Stage will now be semi-random, similar to how RRWC KO Stages are drawn. The top four players in the Swiss stage will be seeded in any of the top 4 slots and so on.
As is common in the lead-up to RR tournaments, there will be changes to the pool of legal spins for official events.
- Impact Explosive (Weapon) is now banned for Vanya Shah (Mumbai), Dawood Rangan (Mumbai), and Hush (Chongqing).
- Loud Firearm + No Target Pacification complications are now banned for Marcus Stuyvesant (Dubai) as Skydiving Suit and Hush (Chongqing).
- Fire is now unbanned for Yuki Yamazaki (Hokkaido).
- Drowning is now unbanned for Vanya Shah (Mumbai) except as Tailor.
- Falling Object is now unbanned for Nolan Cassidy (Whittleton Creek).
The following unique kills have been added to the pool of conditions, joining the five that are already legal in the trilogy:
- Destroy Silvio's Seaplane (Silvio Caruso)
- Overheat the Sauna (Yuki Yamazaki)
- Feed to the Hippo (Rico Delgado)
- Dump in the Cocaine Machine (Jorge Franco)
These new conditions are not exclusive, meaning if a unique conditions also counts for other existing kills, that remains the case. For example, the Seaplane kill on Silvio Caruso may still be used for Explosion (Accident) kills. For more details on these kills and more, check out the Unique Kills section of the rules.