Starting 1st February 2026 and lasting 4-6 months, Season 7 of The Cup of the North is a free to enter table top knockout Competition available to all.
In this knock out event the luck of the draw can dictate your fate, whether that is as a hero taking down a whale, or seeing your hopes crushed by a minnow. All the best coaches could be drawn against each other, leaving the rookies to take the glory or it could be a turkey shoot round one. It’s the fairy story that only Blood Bowl and your dice can tell.
All coaches entered will play each round against a singular opponent. The winner progresses to the next round, whereas the loser is knocked out and does not continue.
The Cup of the North is a resurrection style event, which means all players return to their starting status after each game regardless of any events which may have occurred in a preceding match. All entrants are placed into a pool where they will be drawn at random. No players are seeded and you can be drawn vs anyone game one. The winners of each round will then be placed into a pool for the following round. They will then again be drawn at random and can play against anyone who is left in the pool.
Each round consists of one game against your drawn opponent. The final result must have a winning coach. If the score is tied at the end of the second half, the match will move to overtime. Overtime will be played as per the Blood Bowl rule book including sudden death:
“If, at the end of the second half, the score is tied between both teams, an eight turn period of extra time can be played. Once the End of Drive sequence is resolved, extra time begins by determining which team will kick and which will receive, as described on page 38. Team re-rolls are not replenished at the start of extra time. However, any team re-rolls that were not used during the second half are carried over into extra time. In all other respects, extra time is played exactly like a normal half. If there is still no clear winner at the end of extra time, the game is decided by a penalty roll-off, representing the teams taking part in a field goal penalty shoot-out (the only time field goals are used in modern Blood Bowl). To resolve sudden death, both coaches roll-off five times, each rolling a D6 and re-rolling ties. The coach who wins the most roll-offs wins the game.”
The competition will start on the 1st of the month and all entrants get one calendar month to complete their game. If the game is not completed the outcome will be decided by the admins (TheCowDaddy). This will be based on who has tried to organise the match more and has shown more availability. If the match would be deemed a draw the players will roll off as per the above sudden death rules to decide a winner. If the players are not available the admins will roll off on their behalf.
The competition will run for four to six rounds dependent on numbers entered.
8-16 coaches = 4 rounds
17-32 coaches = 5 rounds
32+ coaches = 6 rounds
If the number of coaches for round one is between sixteen and thirty two or more than thirty two, the byes will be dealt with in one of two ways dependent on the number. If there is an odd number or there are more than 32 entrants, there will be an additional round where coaches, drawn at random, will play to see who qualifies for round one.
For example:
“Thirty Five coaches have entered the tournament. This means there are three players over the 32 coaches needed for five rounds. This equates to three extra games. Six coaches will be drawn at random from the full list to form these three games. The winners will then go into the pool for round one meaning only thirty two coaches remain.”
If there is an even number of coaches entered and there is less than 32 total coaches, all coaches will play for a place in round two. All losing coaches will then be placed into a draw, the coaches drawn will then be placed into the round two draw to fill the remaining spaces.
For example:
“28 coaches have entered the tournament, meaning we are four short of the 32 needed for five rounds. All 28 coaches play a game in round one. This means only 14 coaches will qualify for round two as winners. As we need 16 coaches in round two, as part of the draw two of the coaches who lost in round one will be randomly selected to get the bye into round two.”
If you choose to concede at any time, you are free to do so. This will not affect your ability to enter any future tournaments. Your concession is a voluntary loss and means you cannot continue in this season of the cup and your opponent will qualify for the next round.
You are expected to provide your results to the Cup of the North Whatsapp group so they can be updated by the TO. Please provide:
Winner
Score after normal time,
Score after XT (if applicable)
Penalty score (if applicable)
Casulties (SPP only)
All coaches receive 1,150,000 to spend on building the team. Team building includes the purchasing of players, side-line staff, rerolls, inducements and dedicated fans.
All inducements from the 2025 rulebook are allowed (If another rulebook is released before the start of the season it will not be allowed.).
Inducements which are not permitted are as follows:
Star Players - The cup is a team only event and Stars are not allowed to enter.
Prayers to Nuffle
Mercenary players
Wizards
If Riotous Rookies are hired they are rolled before each match, please ensure you have miniatures for the extra journeymen which can be identified as the rookies.
Teams are split into tiers and each tier has a limited amount of SPP to spend as you see fit. The skill selection and SPP cost are listed below with the following restrictions:
Stacking is only allowed on one player and that player can only have two additional skills maximum.
Primary = 6 SPP
Elite Primary = 8 SPP
Secondary = 12 SPP
Elite Secondary = 14 SPP
2nd skill = +2 SPP
Random characteristic - = 18 SPP
So to have a player with a primary and a secondary skill the total cost would be (Primary 6 SPP + Secondary 12 SPP + 2nd skill 2 SPP) 20SPP
Random skills are not allowed.
Random characteristic upgrades are allowed. They will need to be rolled before the first game is played in front of witnesses, preferably the roll should be made by your opponent or by an unbiased party. Should the coach not roll the improvement they want they can choose to take a secondary skill instead. It will still cost the full SPP for the characteristic improvement however and the difference between a secondary skill and a characteristic improvement will not be refunded.
Team Captains on the teams which can take them, must be chosen before game one and connot be changed.
At the end of each round, as you progress, You will earn 4spp for your win. This can be spent on skills as the competition progresses for example:
“After once again beating TheCowDaddy in round 1, they have earned an additional 4SPP. As Summers stacked a skill and have no SPP remaining they have to wait until after round 2 before they can afford to buy a skill. However Gareth, due to taking elite skills on his Lizards and not stacking a skill, has SPP remaining. As such they can afford a primary skill after round 1.”
Please note that you must have played a game to earn the SPP. If you have a bye or a concession, you will NOT earn the 4SPP
Your initial choice of race must be provided before the first draw to the admin - 1st February 2026. The full team roster must be provided to the admin and your opponent before the first game is played. Rosters will be open and available to be viewed by all entrants after the first round. Please provide them to the admin in a recognised PDF roster form.
It is your responsibility to check your roster is correct, if your roster is not correct the following rules apply depending on when it is discovered.
Before game 1, no problem, re jig and re submit your roster.
During a game or after game 1 has been played, the coach with the incorrect roster must rejig and remove any pieces no longer available. Once complete their opponent gets to pick one of their models and they are permanently removed from the cup. So the offending coach cannot use them this game or any following games this season. The roster is then resubmitted showing which player is removed.
1st Place – Bottle of Booze and the Cup, a play in place for the BB3 World Cup 2026 (Online competition)
2nd Place – Trophy
3rd place – Trophy
The draw will be completed at the beginning of each month and a link to a video/stream will be provided. A video will either be uploaded to the group or (dependant on the admins availability) will be streamed live.
There will also be a segment dedicated to the cup on the upcoming episodes of the BBNE1? Podcast where we will discuss the draw, the players, the David’s, the Goliaths and of course how much nuffle has chosen to screw us all.