Tournament Format
The Amorical Cup 2026 is North America's premier Blood Bowl team championship, held over two days (Saturday and Sunday), with 6 rounds of competitive play. This is a squad-format event where each squad consists of four coaches. Squads will randomly be paired first round, with later rounds using Swiss pairings, and within each matchup, individual coaches will also be paired (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4) using Swiss rankings. Each squad will have 10 Squad Points to spend on building their team lineup. Teams from different tiers cost different amounts. A special award will be given to the "All Amorical Team," the highest-placing squad using 6 Squad Points or less.
Results are compared after the round. If one team had more wins than their opposing team, their team is awarded 2 points. If the teams had the same number of wins and losses, the round ends in a draw and both teams are awarded 1 point. No points are awarded for a loss. Individual performance is likewise treated as 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
The tie-breakers are:
– Strength of schedule
– Combined CAS & TD +/-
– TD +/-
– TD Scored
Rosters Due in PDF format to seanmcowley@gmail.com no later than May 1, 2026. If you submit by that deadline, you may include a free cheerleader on your roster. Your Squad captain should email all four rosters at the same time together in one email, indicating their squad name as well as whose roster is whose within their squad.
Venue Information
The Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel will be our home base for Amorical Cup 2026, situated in the affluent northwest-Metro Detroit suburb of Novi, Michigan, a short drive north of the Airport on I-275. The Hotel has over 200 rooms available, and has a block of rooms reserved for the event at special room rates. There is also dining and a bar on premises, and the hotel will be setting up lunch concession services as well as a full bar in the venue space for the tournament. Parking is free on premises for those driving to the event. A link to online booking at the block group rate is below, or you can also call the hotel at 1-866-837-4180 (you will need to identify the Amorical Cup 2026 Blood Bowl Tournament if you call to get the block rate).
Amorical Cup Block Room Rates
Single King Room: $139 per night plus tax
Double Queen Room: $149 per night plus tax
https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1751995375742&key=GRP&app=resvlink
Roster Building - Note: These Rules have been updated in March 2026 to reflect the new Third Season rules & rosters, including the updated High Elf Team. We will use the new High Elf roster in lieu of the Teams of Legend Roster.
Teams are selected using the Squad Points system (max 10 squad points per squad). Each coach must purchase 11 players before including a star or mega-star players. No two coaches on the same squad may take the same race or the same star player. Highlander rule is in effect for star players in individual matchups. Teams will receive Skill Points and can assign Primary (1pt) and Secondary (2pts) skills. Stacking of two primaries is allowed depending on Tier, with a cost of +1 Skill Point (e.g., two primary skills on one player = 3 pts). You may not include a Secondary Skill in a stack. Only four (4) of a particular Elite Skill (i.e., Block, Dodge, Guard, Mighty Blow) may be added to a roster.
TO's Note: Slann and the new High Elf Rosters are being included in the tourney. The TO reserves the right to decide whether to include any further new rosters that may be released prior to the tourney, up to and including April 1, 2026. The TO will evaluate any such new teams for inclusion, and will similarly evaluate any newly released stars for inclusion in the megastar structure below. No teams or stars released on or after April 1, 2026 will be included in the tourney.
Tier 1 - 4 Squad Points, 1,150,000 Roster Budget, 5 Skill Points, 0 Max Stacks: Amazon, Lizardmen, Old World Alliance, Vampire, Wood Elf
Tier 2 - 3 Squad Points, 1,160,000 Roster Budget, 6 Skill Points, 0 Max Stacks: Dark Elf, High Elf, Norse, Nurgle, Orc, Shambling Undead\
Tier 3 - 3 Squad Points, 1,170,000 Roster Budget, 7 Skill Points, 1 Max Stacks: Chaos Dwarf, Imperial Nobility, Necromantic, Tomb Kings, Underworld Denizens
Tier 4 - 2 Squad Points, 1,180,000 Roster Budget, 8 Skill Points, 1 Max Stacks: Elven Union, Dwarf, Human, Skaven, Slann
Tier 5 - 2 Squad Points, 1,190,000 Roster Budget, 9 Skill Points, 2 Max Stacks: Black Orc, Brettonians, Chaos Chosen, Chaos Renegades, Khorne
Tier 6 - 1 Squad Point, 1,200,000 Roster Budget, 10 Skill Points, 2 Max Stacks: Gnomes, Goblin, Halfling, Ogre, Snotling
Star Players
Star players may be purchased using a team's skill points in addition to their regular cost. Mega-stars cost 4 pts extra. Duo stars will not have an additional tax for the second star beyond the original skill tax, though many are listed as Mega-stars. Each squad may take a particular star only once between the four squad members. If new star players are released prior to April 1, 2026, they may be designated as additional mega-stars in addition to the ones below. No Stars released after April 1, 2026 will be included in the tournament, and if any such stars are released close in time to that deadline, the TO will specifically announce in the rules whether such stars are in or out for clarity purposes.
Mega-stars: Bomber Dribblesnot, Cindy Piewhistle, Grak & Crumbleberry, Dribl & Drull, Estelle La Veneaux, Griff Oberwald, Hakflem Skuttlespike, H'thark the Unstoppable, Ivan Deathshroud, Jeremiah Kool, Jordell Freshbreeze, Morg 'n' Thorg, Skorg Snowpelt.
Star Players Under 100,000: 1 pt skill tax, 5 pt mega-star tax
100,000 - 195,000: 2 pt skill tax, 6 pt mega-star tax
200,000 - 295,000: 3 pt skill tax, 7 pt mega-star tax
300,000+ 4 pt skill tax, 8 pt mega-star tax
Inducements
Some inducements may be purchased as part of team construction. The list of permitted inducements is below, and unlike the original rules, none of the below allowed inducements will have a skill point tax:
Allowed Inducements: Weather Mage, Blitzer's Best Kegs, Bribes, Wandering Apothecary, Mortuary Assistant, Plague Doctor, Team Mascot, Halfling Master Chef, Biased Referee, Riotous Rookies.
Stalling: We will enforce the stalling rules on Page 80 of the BB2025 rulebook.
17 total awards will be given out, 7 of which are team awards
-Champion Team
- Runner-Up Team
- 3rd Place Team
- All Amorical Team (the highest-placing team with 6 squad points or less)
- Team Most Casualties (only CAS that generate spp count)
- Team Most TDs
- Team Best Defense (concedes the fewest TDs)
- Top Individual Performance
- 2nd Best Individual Performance
- 3rd Best Individual Performance
- Best Tier 1 Coach
- Best Tier 2/3 Coach
- Best Tier 4/5 Coach
- Best Tier 6 Coach
- Most Individual Casualties (only CAS that generate spp count)
- Most Individual TDs
- Best Individual Defense (concedes the fewest TDs)
Schedule (we will be playing 4 games Saturday and only 2 Sunday to facilitate travel plans home for those with long drives or flights):
Friday, June 5th - Squad Check-ins All Day after Noon. Note: there will be a separate individual 11s tourney during the daytime Friday at the same venue, and a Sevens individual tourney Friday evening. All attendees are welcome to also sign up for those events as well.
Saturday, June 6th
6:30 - 7:45 am Check-in Continues
7:45 - 8:00 am Announcements
8:00 - 10:15 am Round 1
10:45 - 1:00 pm Round 2
1:00 - 2:00 pm LUNCH
2:00 - 4:15 pm Round 3
4:45 - 7:00 pm Round 4
Sunday, June 7th
7:45 - 8:00 Announcements
8:00 - 10:15 am Round 5
10:45 - 1:00 pm Round 6
1:00 - 1:30 pm Charity Raffle
2:00 pm Awards Ceremony