Character Battle 21:
Horizon

NOTE FOR RETURNING PLAYERS: feel free to read below as a couple of things have changed from the last contest, mainly prizes. If you just want to jump right into making your brackets on BracketMaker, scroll right to the bottom of this page for the links to the Official Bracket and the character image gallery.


INTRODUCTION
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For the first time since 2020, it's my 21st Character Battle contest! The theme for this one are the two main Horizon games: Zero Dawn and Forbidden West (including their respective DLC stories: Frozen Wilds and Burning Shores). This will be a 64-character single-elimination contest where before the contest, people can create their official tournament brackets (kind of like March Madness) predicting who will win each battle, round by round. During the contest, people vote for characters they like the best. Entrants earn points if they guess correctly. Most points at the end of the contest will win prizes!

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) This contest is open to ANYONE. Yes, ANYONE. Anyone can enter this contest. 

2) This contest is a competition in which you, the entrant, can earn points by correctly predicting winners via a creation of a standard elimination-style tournament bracket. 

3) This contest will last about 5 weeks, beginning February 3, 2025.

4) If you have any questions, please send them to my Email: e.roivas@gmail.com (subject line “Character Battle 21 Question”)

5) Making the tournament brackets will be done entirely ONLINE, once again at BracketMaker. It is free, and you will need to make an account (also free) there if you haven't entered a prior contest.

6) To be able to vote in this contest, you will need to be able to access this site. Be sure to bookmark it.

7) Voting lasts for 24 hours, beginning and ending around 8:30 PM ET each contest day. I will do my best to keep to these times, but there may be times when I may be late or something comes up. If there is a situation where I know I will not be at a computer for a period of time, for example, if I’m going away for a weekend, it shall be made known. This battle start/end time is subject to change.

8) No “absentee” voting—meaning, if you’re going to be away and therefore can’t vote, I will not vote for you if you ask. It would not be fair to the other players. If your predicted winner for that battle loses, you were away from a computer and couldn’t vote, oh, well.

9) ONE CONTEST ENTRY PER PERSON.

10) A violation of said rules (no absentee voting, no vote fixing, cheating, just generally being a dick and not engaging in fair play) will result in disqualification from the contest, and any points accrued will be divided up among everyone.


HOW BATTLES AND VOTES ARE DONE

1) I post 2 battles per day right here. Battles are posted between 8:30 PM and 9 PM Eastern Time. In the past I used to share the link here daily on my social media pages, but thanks to the enshittification of the Internet and the whims of algorithms, you may not see the link. Bookmark this page and be sure to check it often.

2) You go to the current battles and place your vote. That's all you do. When the battle ends at the end of the voting period, the votes will be tallied, and the winner advances. Points will be administered to the entrants and added to the overall scores.

3) In the event of a tie at the end of the voting period for any battle: I will roll two d20's (20-sided die) of different colors into my dice tower. Each color will represent a character. Whatever die rolls higher 2 out of 3 times will determine the winner. If possible, I will record video for tie-breaker rolls. 


POINTS

Exactly what is it and how does it work? For these contests, I use what I call a full and partial point system. Here's how it works:

1) For each correct prediction you make on your bracket, I give you points. Every wrong one, you get nothing. Simple. And in Round 1, it is simple. For each correct prediction, you get 25 points. If you’re wrong, 0.

2) In Round 2, the partial point system comes into play. For each completely correct prediction, in which you not only predict the correct winner but ALSO have the correct battle pairing, I give you 50 points. If you predict just the winner, but have a different pairing, I give you 25 points. 

The later rounds all have the same system, the only thing different is the point values. Here’s the point system for all rounds. 

MAIN BRACKET SCORING
Round 1: 25 points for correct pick, 0 for a wrong prediction.
Round 2: 50 points for a fully correct pick, 25 for getting just the winner.
Round 3: 100 points, 50 points.
Round 4: 250 points, 125 points.
Quarterfinals: 500 points, 250 points.
Semifinals: 1000 points, 500 points.
Final: 2500 points, 1250 points.

At the end of each contest day, I tally up the votes and administer points as needed. In the past, I have posted the current leader board and winning results every night, or nearly every night. Depending on the amount of entries, I may end up doing it every other day, or once a week. It depends on my mood that evening, as well as total turnout. That will be determined when the contest starts. While I will attempt (and am usually good about) to post the leaderboard nightly, sometimes there may be circumstances beyond my control in which I can't do it that night, especially if this contest ends up with a large turnout. If nothing else, the leaderboard will be posted every weekend of the contest.

PRIZES

So, what are the prizes for this contest? 

1st place: $75 (either as cash or gift card to a store of your choice)
2nd place: $50 (as above)
3rd place: $25 (as above)

With that said, here are your important links, dates, and references:

--Official Bracket: MAKE YOUR ENTRY HERE (you'll see the bracket and a link to Predict Winners at the top of the page, log in/create an account to then proceed making your picks)

--Character Pics (these are for your reference when making your entry): CB21 Image Gallery (Images are shown in alphabetical order)

Bracket entry period: 1/7/25 to 2/1/25, the Official Bracket will stop accepting entries at 12 AM PT (3 AM ET) on 2/1/25.
Contest begins: Monday, 2/3/25 8:30 PM ET.

Any questions, please ask! Good luck!