Archon Online: Leagues
Archon Online supports leagues since v0.51: a league is a series of tournaments bundled together that produces a single cumulative ranking. It is the default tool for European online leagues (monthly or weekly sessions on Lackey/Discord) but it also works for local in-person seasons.
This guide covers the organizer side. For the standalone tournament cycle see Archon Online for Princes; for the player perspective see Archon Online for players.
NOTE
The league feature is recent (v0.51, November 2025) and evolving: some operational UI details change between releases. When this guide and the live UI disagree, trust the UI — open an issue on the Archon repo or flag it to your National Coordinator so we update the guide.
1. What a league is on Archon
A league is a container of tournaments with an aggregated ranking computed by Archon. The Leagues page describes it as “Leagues are groups of tournaments”. Key traits:
- Three ranking algorithms to choose from at creation:
RTP,GP,Score(see Scoring). - Two league types (the Type field):
League(the league directly aggregates tournaments — the normal case) andMeta-League(the league aggregates other leagues — see Meta-League). - Finals excluded from the cumulative ranking (changelog v0.51, “pure score ranking (finals excluded)”): the league ranking rewards round-play performance, not the final outcome.
It is not a new game format: the individual tournaments inside the league remain standard VEKN tournaments (Constructed, V5, Limited, Draft) with their own states, decklists and finals. The league is a layer above the tournaments, not a replacement.
2. Creating a league
IMPORTANT
As for tournaments (see Recommended procedure), until the archon → vekn.net sync stabilizes announce the league on the VEKN calendar and manage it operationally on Archon. The VEKN 28-day advance notice rule still applies.
From the Leagues page on Archon (visible to users with the organizer role) you get the Create League button. The form asks for:
- League name — name of the league (e.g. Italian Online League — Spring 2026).
- Format — format of the league’s tournaments:
Standard,V5,Limited,Draft. - Ranking — ranking algorithm:
RTP,GP,Score(see Scoring). - Type —
League(aggregates tournaments directly: this is the normal case) orMeta-League(aggregates other leagues: see Meta-League). - Online — toggle: makes the league filterable with the Include Online toggle on Archon.
- Country — reference country; for international leagues there is the Worldwide 🌍 option.
- Parent League (Optional) — if set, nests the league inside an existing Meta-League.
- Start / Finish / Timezone — start/end dates and timezone.
- Description — in markdown: use it for a short ruleset, calendar, tie-breaks, prizes.
- Add Judge — adds judges/organizers for the league.
To confirm use Submit; Cancel aborts.
TIP
Start date required, Finish optional. The UI validates “A start date is required”; the Finish field is “Optional finish date/time”. For leagues with a fixed calendar it is still good practice to fill Finish, so players know until when results count.
Once created the league is in “empty” state (zero contenders, zero tournaments). The next step is linking tournaments (or sub-leagues).
3. Adding tournaments to a league
Tournaments are not added from the league page itself. The in-app message is explicit:
“To add a tournament, set the league in the tournament info page.”
Procedure (league already created):
- Create the tournament as usual (see Creating an event in the Princes guide if it is your first time).
- Open the new tournament and click Tournament Manager → Info tab.
- Set the league field to the league you created and save.
To add an already-existing tournament to a league, apply steps 2 and 3 on that tournament.
Best practices:
- Create the league first, then the tournaments: assigning the league at tournament creation time avoids the edit round-trip.
- Keep Format and Ranking consistent across the league’s tournaments: changing format midway generates rankings that are hard to explain to players.
- For online leagues, enable the Online tournament flag on the individual events too, not only on the league.
WARNING
Events uploaded after the fact (historical archon Excel). If you import historical results via archon Excel file, verify that the file correctly references the league: a tournament uploaded without the league link will not enter the cumulative. Coordinate with your National Coordinator before the bulk upload.
4. League scoring
Archon offers three ranking algorithms for the league standings, chosen at creation time via the Ranking field:
| Algorithm | When to use it |
|---|---|
Score — pure score cumulative | Sums GW/VP/TP from the rounds of the linked tournaments. Finals excluded. It is the historical default (changelog v0.51). |
RTP — Rating Tournament Points | Ranking weighted by VEKN tournament rating. Use it for long leagues where different weights (championship vs friendlies) make sense. Verify with your National Coordinator. |
GP — Grand Prix style | Points awarded by position (1st/2nd/3rd), Grand Prix style. Use it for leagues where the per-stage placement matters more than the raw cumulative. |
NOTE
The three options are exposed as the Ranking field, but the exact computation lives in archon/scoring.py: choosing between RTP, GP and Score means choosing how Archon will turn tournament results into the league ranking. Before closing a new league with RTP or GP, do a manual check on 2-3 players to make sure the chosen formula produces what you expect.
Tie-breaks and drop rules
Archon shows the ranking as-is (Rank, VEKN #, Name, City, Country, Result): if your league applies drops (best 4 of 6, etc.) or custom tie-breaks, manage the final ranking separately (e.g. spreadsheet or vtes-hook.com) and publish the “official” league standings as an attachment to the closing post. Document the drop rule in the Description at creation time, so players know what to expect.
5. Meta-League (nested leagues)
A Meta-League is a league that contains other leagues instead of tournaments directly. Most leagues (a single season, a linear calendar) use the simple League type and don’t need a Meta-League. Use it only for cases like:
- Multi-circuit seasons: a season (Meta-League) aggregates several circuits (Leagues), split by geography or format.
- Qualifiers → league final: an “annual” Meta-League collects several qualifier waves, each a League.
As with tournaments, the link is set from the child league, not from the Meta-League. The in-app message:
“To add a league, set the parent in the league page.”
Procedure:
- Create the Meta-League first (Type =
Meta-League). - Open the child league with the Edit button and set Parent League to the Meta-League you just created, then Submit.
On the Meta-League page you get the Child Leagues section with the columns Name, Start Date, Format, Ranking, Location.
TIP
Keep the hierarchy flat when you can: two levels (Meta-League → League → tournaments) are usually enough. Three or more levels make the standings hard to explain to players and multiply breakage points when a tournament is reassigned.
6. Operating during the league
The league “lives” while its tournaments are being played. When you open a league from the list, its public page shows:
Onlinebadge (if the league is online), contenders counter (distinct players who joined at least one tournament).- Organizers (judges and organizers of the league).
- Child Leagues — for a Meta-League.
- Tournaments — list of tournaments with
Name,Date,Formatand status (Planned,Registration,In Progress,Finished). - Rankings — cumulative standings (
Rank,VEKN #,Name,City,Country,Result).
Things to remember:
- Each league tournament has its own cycle (PLANNED → REGISTRATION → WAITING → PLAYING → FINALS → FINISHED): the league does not override the child states.
- Decklists and sanctions are per-tournament, not per-league: a
WARNINGapplied in stage 1 stays on the player’s VEKN profile but is not “inherited” as an active state in later stages. - Stage drop ≠ league drop: a player dropping tournament 3 can still register for tournament 4. If you want a “permanently out of the league” mechanism, document it in your league’s ruleset and track it manually: Archon does not (yet) have a separate league drop flag.
- Multideck: the standard for European online leagues. Allows different decklists per round and per-round corrections without touching the others. See Multideck for players.
- On-demand pairing: in online sessions Archon generates tables on the fly. For high-participation leagues, when possible, use the optimal pre-computed seating from the VEKN historical Excel sheet instead of automatic pairing.
Edit or delete a league
On the league page, organizers see the Edit and Delete buttons.
WARNING
The Delete confirmation reads: “This will permanently and officially delete this league. Tournaments will be kept.” Linked tournaments are not deleted when you delete the league: they stay as standalone tournaments without the league reference anymore. If you also want to delete the tournaments, do it manually from each tournament’s page.
7. Standings and cross-check
The Rankings section on the league page is affected by the same recurring bugs as online standings (see Known bugs for Princes). Before publishing the final league ranking:
- Cross-check with vtes-hook.com: recompute totals from the individual tournaments and verify they match what Archon shows.
- Check that all league tournaments are in
Finishedstate: a stage stuck inIn ProgressorRegistrationcan skew totals. - If you apply drops or custom tie-breaks, also publish the “raw” Archon ranking so players can verify their per-session scores.
8. Known bugs
WARNING
Summary of bugs documented on the Archon repo and in the CHANGELOG between November 2025 and May 2026. Check the up-to-date CHANGELOG before assuming a bug is still open.
League view on empty tournament. Historically the league view errored out when a linked tournament was still empty (zero registrants). Fixed in v0.64 (“Fix league view on niche case (empty tournament)”). If you still see the issue, file a report.
Online standings bugs (historical). Recurring online-standings bugs also reflect on the league ranking: use vtes-hook.com as a fallback before publishing the final standings.
archon → vekn.net sync. The same bug patterns as for tournaments (wrong country/venue/proxies fields post-import) can resurface on league containers: prefer announcing the league on vekn.net and managing it on Archon (see Known bugs — Princes).
9. References
- Archon Online for Princes — single tournament creation, cycle, finals, reports.
- Archon Online for Judges — decklists, sanctions, overrides.
- VEKN Tournament Rules — official tournament rules.
- Archon repository: github.com/vtes-biased/archon and CHANGELOG.
- vtes-hook.com — fallback for standings verification.