Frequently Asked Questions

BOBA Leagues is a competitive league management platform for Bo Jackson Battle Arena (BOBA). It allows commissioners to organize tournaments, track player rankings, and manage competitive play for the card game community.

Browse the Leagues page to find open leagues. Click on a league to view its details, then click "Join League" if registration is open. Some leagues may require commissioner approval before you can participate.

Yes, you need to sign in with Google or email to join leagues and have your match results tracked. Your account allows you to build your competitive profile and track your rankings across all game modes.

You need to apply to become a commissioner first. Click "Apply to Create Leagues" and fill out the application. Once approved, you'll have access to create and manage your own leagues.

In Round Robin, every player plays against every other player in the league. This ensures everyone gets equal opportunities and the most comprehensive standings. Great for smaller leagues (4-12 players) where you want maximum matchups.

Swiss format pairs players with similar records against each other each round. After the first round (random pairings), winners play winners and losers play losers. This creates competitive matches throughout and quickly identifies top players. Ideal for medium to large tournaments (8-32+ players).

Bracket Only is a single-elimination tournament where losing means you're out. It's fast-paced and high-stakes - perfect for quick tournaments or finals events. Seeding can be based on prior standings or random.

Yes! Round Robin and Swiss format leagues can have playoffs after the regular season. The top players (based on standings) advance to a single-elimination bracket to determine the champion.

Commissioners can set how many players make playoffs (Top 4, Top 8, etc.) or use a percentage (Top 50%). Qualification is based on regular season standings - wins, then tiebreakers like game differential.

Rookie mode uses a Hero Deck of 60 cards (no Hot Dogs or Plays). Flip a coin to see who plays left-to-right and who goes first. Each player shuffles and deals 7 Heroes. Place the Heroes face down, 1 in each Battle. Reveal Heroes 1 at a time. Highest power wins. Battles can tie. Winner of the most Battles out of 7 wins the game. You can read more about the official rules of all BOBA game modes at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Substitution mode is just like Rookie mode, but each player has a Hot Dog Deck with 10 Hot Dogs. After playing all Heroes face down in Battle, each player draws a hand of 4 more Heroes as a "Bench". Before revealing your Hero in each Battle, you can pay 2 Hot Dogs and substitute a new Hero from your Bench. If you substitute, also draw a new Hero (from your Hero Deck) to join your Bench. You can only substitute once per Battle. The player that wins the coin toss goes first. After a Battle is won, the player that most recently won a Battle goes first. You can read more about the official rules of all BOBA game modes at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Playmaker mode is just like Substitution mode, but each player has a Playbook Deck with 30 Plays. When you draw your Hero Bench (consisting of 4 Heroes), also draw 4 Plays. After Heroes are revealed, each player can pay the Hot Dog cost noted to run Plays. You only get one chance to run Plays per Battle, but you can run as many as you want (as long as you can afford the Hot Dog cost). The same rules as Substitution decide who goes first each Battle. Draw a new Play after each Battle (whether you used a Play or not). You can read more about the official rules of all BOBA game modes at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Madness mode is a high-variance, anything-goes game mode where players use a Madness hero deck of exactly 70 unique heroes with no card power cap and a maximum of 6 cards per power value. All heroes must be unique — no duplicates. Madness leagues are for pure fun and do not affect Elo rankings. You can read more about the official rules at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

In Madness mode, each player uses a Madness hero deck of exactly 70 unique heroes. There is no card power cap, but no more than 6 cards per power value are allowed, and all heroes must be unique — no duplicates. Unlike Spec and Apex, Madness is a game mode designation rather than a deck ruleset applied on top of another mode. You can read more about the official rules at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Yes! Rookie, Substitution, and Playmaker each have their own separate Elo rating tracked independently — competing in one mode does not affect your rating in another. Madness mode is the exception: it is purely for fun and does not affect Elo rankings at all.

Spec rules are a deck construction ruleset that limits the number of cards per power value and the number of copies of each card. SPEC Hero decks have a max card power of 160 and must contain exactly 60 cards, with a maximum of 6 cards per power value. SPEC Hot Dog decks must contain exactly 10 Hot Dog cards, and SPEC Playbook decks must contain exactly 30 Play cards. Additionaly you may add Bonus Plays in addition to the required 30 Play cards. All Hero and Playcards must be unique, no duplicates. You can read more about the official rules and how to play at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Apex uses the standard deck rules with no power limit on hero cards. You can use any legal cards to build your deck, giving maximum flexibility for creative strategies. For more information, you can read the official rules and how to play at https://www.bobattlearena.com/explore/how-to-play/

Sealed events follow official BoBA limited formats. Booster Box Sealed: exactly 60 heroes with no power restrictions, exactly 30 unique plays plus unique bonus plays, and exactly 10 hot dogs. Double Blaster Sealed and Double Mega Sealed: exactly 40 heroes with no power restrictions, exactly 20 plays (duplicates allowed from your pool), and exactly 10 hot dogs. Hot dog decks are built offline. A sealed league uses Rip & Build unless the commissioner turns that phase off. Official rules: https://rules.bobattlearena.com/tournament-rules/08-limited-formats/

Some leagues cap play deck power with DBS. Each card has a point value. DBS is checked only when a play deck is submitted: the deck total must be at or under the league maximum. DBS is not a deck requirement, it does not apply to hero decks, and turning on DBS never changes a league's deck requirement. You can build a deck and see its total in the BOBA Leagues Deck Builder.

The league page names the deck requirement. None means you do not submit a deck. Play deck means a play deck. Hero deck means a hero deck. Tournament deck means both. When Rip & Build is on, you submit during that phase. Otherwise you submit when you join. If the league also has a DBS maximum, a submitted play deck is checked against it.

In-Person leagues meet at physical venues (game stores, conventions, etc.) while Online leagues are played remotely through digital means. Each has its own separate ranking system.

No! Your In-Person and Online Elo ratings are completely separate. You could be highly ranked online but just starting in-person play, or vice versa. This reflects the different competitive environments.

No, each league must choose one play mode. However, you can participate in both types of leagues simultaneously to build rankings in both environments.

Elo is a rating system that measures relative skill. When you win against a higher-rated player, you gain more points. Losing to a lower-rated player costs more points. This creates accurate skill rankings over time.

All players start at 1000 Elo in each game mode. As you play sanctioned matches, your rating will adjust based on your performance and opponent strength.

Ratings update when a sanctioned league is completed, not after individual matches. This ensures accurate rating changes based on your full league performance.

Players are grouped into tiers based on their rating: • Brawl (0-999): Starting out • Steel (1000-1199): Building skills • Ice (1200-1399): Cool competitor • Fire (1400-1599): Heating up • Glow (1600-1799): Shining bright • Hex (1800-1999): Mystical power • Gum (2000-2199): Sticky strong • Super (2200+): Ultimate tier

Eras are competitive seasons in BOBA Leagues. When an Era ends, historical rankings are preserved and a new Era begins. This allows for fresh starts while maintaining the historical record of past achievements.

Yes! Your player profile shows your rating history, including changes from each league, peak ratings, and historical performance across all game modes.

Matches are typically best-of-3 games. Each game consists of 7 battles. The player who wins more games wins the match. Exact format may vary by league settings.

After playing your match, go to the league page and find your scheduled match. Click "Report" and enter the results. Depending on league settings, you may need to report game-by-game or battle-by-battle results.

If both players submit different results, the match is flagged as "disputed." The commissioner will review the submissions and make a final ruling.

Yes, commissioners can edit match results to correct errors. However, once a league is completed, results are locked and cannot be changed.

Playoff and bracket matches cannot end in ties. If the match is tied after 3 games (1-1-1), a tiebreaker determines the winner. Players will be given an option to choose the winner of a tiebreaker when reporting results. See your league's rules for more details on how to resolve ties.

Sanctioned leagues affect your official Elo rankings. They must follow specific rules: public visibility, full detail match reporting, and proper commissioner oversight. Your performance in sanctioned leagues builds your competitive resume.

Unsanctioned leagues are for casual play, testing, or private events. They track separate casual Elo ratings that don't affect your official rankings. Great for practice, learning, or just playing for fun without competitive pressure.

Sanctioned leagues are clearly marked with a badge on the league card and detail page. You'll also see "Affects Rankings" on sanctioned leagues.

No, sanctioned leagues must be public so rankings are transparent. Private leagues are automatically unsanctioned.

Some leagues offer prizes! Check the league description for prize details. Prizes are arranged and provided by the individual commissioner, not BOBA Leagues itself.

If a league needs to ship prizes to players, it will have prize distribution enabled, you'll be asked to provide shipping information when joining. This is only shared with the commissioner for prize fulfillment and is not used by BOBA Leagues.

Your shipping information is only shared with the league commissioner and only for leagues that explicitly collect it for prizes. BOBA Leagues does not use this information for any other purpose.