Big update here for people! Biggest I've ever written actually in terms of sheer words.
INTRODUCING ELO v1.1
Some bigger changes are coming to ELO after seeing room for improvement in several areas to better adapt this system - known for its use in Chess and later extended to such events as Magic The Gathering tournaments and even the official FIFA World Rankings for football - to the efed world.
But, there is a change that can be made now! This won't affect what you see in the rankings here, but it will affect what's happening in the background.
Introducing: Rating degradation following inactivity.
So, the long and skinny of this is that behind the rankings list published each month is another list that includes characters that are active but have not yet met the 'activity test' for inclusion. Using Aidan Collins this month as an example - he has only had 2 matches since returning, and so does not feature on the June rankings. But did he have to start from scratch at match 1? No. Because Aidan - under the moniker 'Blizzard' - was included in the published list throughout 2014. And after that, he also appeared at the XX event in 2019. So he has points on record and they have been retained. In fact, as of this month there are 1,646 characters on the 'inactive' list since January 2013 (oh I wish how I had access to all the records since 1999). Each of those 1,646 characters' data has been retained and can be used if they show up again, just like Aidan has.
Now, there are two things to note about that list:
1) New characters start at 1600 rating points. And yet, of the June 2025 list, only 7 characters are below this mark. Most of the characters below this mark are on the inactive list, because in general, characters who are unsuccessful in a fed (any fed, not just XWF) tend to leave. So what does this mean? More points are being added to the system than are being lost.
2) The curious case of John Madison. Maddy was dominant in 2013 and 2014 and has earned his spot in the XWF Hall of Legends. Maddy also has the highest recorded ELO rating. If he were to return to tomorrow, he would have a rating of 2198.71. He could, theoretically, lose to the lowest rated character 5 times in a row and still appear at the top of the rankings. That's weird, right?
I want to favour those who are here competing week-in week-out. I also want to correct course on the overabundance of points being added to the system.
So... from this list and moving forward, characters who are inactive and OVER 1600 rating points, will start to lose their points. This is scaled - someone at 1700 points will lose 1 a month, someone at over 2000 points (currently this is only Maddy, Robert Main, and ALIAS) will lose 10 a month, and there are some different thresholds along the way too. But, this is in place now, and I'll see how it looks in the next 6 months or so when ELO 2.0 is likely to drop.
Any questions, always happy to answer them. I'll update the info thread with more specifics when I get around to it.
On to June...!
UPDATED FOR JUNE 2025!
WHAT. A. MONTH. 1 PPV, 2 Warfares, 1 Anarchy - we have BIG CHANGES.
Namely...
Trumpets please...
AAAAAAANNNNNNNNNDDDDDDD NNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
- After seven months on top, losing the tag titles cost Sebastian Everett-Bryce a lot more than he gained by winning them, and he has finally been knocked off! And what do you expect when somebody holds a title in the XWF for almost 300 days and has been nipping right at the previous number one's heels? Congratulations should go to MICHEAL GRAVES allegedly. So weird that he seemed to inherit someone else's points to help him get so high up the rankings, right? Speaking of that though...
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!!- Do you know what's really weird? This is allegedly the first time that Micheal Graves has been at the top of the rankings and yet... somehow he has now tied Robert Main for the most total months as the number 1 ranked character - with 27 months in total. So weird. He also somehow allegedly dubiously conceivably moves into 3rd place on the most individual reigns at number 1, tied with Sebastian Duke at 3.
Enough about that guy though, time to gush over another...
ANOTHER ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!!- This one is long overdue and is on me for the delay. Some characters wear masks for a bit, and then don't. It's the same character. Under these rankings, Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack would all be the same. Meanwhile, some are bodies inhabited by supernatural entities for a bit, and then aren't, or the entity changes, or whatever. I catch some of both of these. I don't catch all. Or I interpret it wrong. I definitely interpreted this one wrong. This month, Mr. Oz ticked up 100 matches with the XWF. What a trooper! Truth is... he probably did this a long time ago. Because Mr. Oz should have shared the same history as Ghost Tank, but I didn't capture that at the time. So... not only does Oz now become just the 15th member of the 100 club on his own merits, merging Ghost Tank's data into his now rockets him up to 153 matches in total, placing him in the top 5 for most matches in XWF history. Shout out to Oz, thank you for your service, AND as an added bonus... from next month, Oz will start with a higher rating and ranking than in this month due to this merge as well. There's a reason that doesn't take effect until next month though, and that's because I wanted this next point to stand on its own...
Biggest ranking rise - TIE- Mr. Oz (+7). If I completed the merge this month, this feat wouldn't stand out. Don't be sleeping on Oz on Anarchy, guys! This has happened already this year, but he went another month undefeated and he feels almost destined to pick up another title at the challenging 1k limit sometime soon!
- Lucy Wylde (+7). If War Games didn't put everyone on notice, they should be very scared now. A few months ago, Lucy fell on the wrong side of a bunch of newcomers coming in after she took a couple of heavy losses. I called it then that she had the potential to rise again, and now? I told you so. She's the TV Champ and carving up everyone in a reign that is starting to remind me our current Universal Champion's tenures with the title. It's bittersweet getting a TV Title opportunity when it means facing a champ like Lucy. Good luck to the rest of you.
Highest debut/return:- Dickie Watson - Don't be fooled by them being the only name eligible for this nod this month. Do you know what it takes to knock off Emilia Glazkov and Aurora in the same month? Dickie has it. As a long time fan of their work before they joined XWF, I'm glad to see them NARROWLY avoid being bumped into the inactive list and having to reset their activity test. They've been dipping their toes in our pool throughout the year, but winning the X-Treme Championship this month (for however short it lasted) was a cannonball into the deep end. And even though they enter the ELO rankings at only 24th, rest assured that this is a shark that just got added to our pond.
Eyes on:- Charlie Nickles and Dolly Waters. I had to mention Charlie. One of the most active members of the fed finally winning the Universal Championship is a homegrown moment for us to be proud of. And this Leap of Faith main event? It just doubles down on that. Whoever walks away with the title, the XWF wins. Even though they're right next to each other in the rankings, Charlie has the bigger chance to shake things up higher up the card. But I'm always a fan of Dolly Waters being in the top 10. Could the top 5 be in sight?
- Tatiana Jolee. I almost hate to point her out so I don't jinx her, but I already did when I put up the Star of the Month thread. 2-0 in June, and a rise of 6 ranking rises almost forced me to include her with Lucy and Oz above. Tatiana is a perfect example of momentum building, and I'm excited to see if it can continue to grow.
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