Season 1 of THE ARENA featured 2,412 contests across 107 contestants from 7 planes of existence. Let's see what happened and set the stage for the conference tournaments and grand championship. Take notes! The grand championship bracket contest will have a $100 reward for the winner (either an Amazon gift card or Bitcoin).
Pride and Prophecy Evaluation Tool (PPET) Rankings
The top 25 are displayed on the right and it's worth calling out the tiers in addition to the rankings. Talos, Anomander Rake, and Sauron (top 3) scored above a 7, putting them definitively above the rest of the pack. #4 (Rand al'Thor) through #9 (Elayne Trakand) scored between 6-7, clearly placing them in a higher standing the remainder of the top 25. #10 - #26 represent the characters that scored between 5-6, substantiating our choice to display only the top 25 consistently, although this puts the legendary Vivec on the outside looking in. The below list shows the average PPET scores by conference, which can serve as a relative indicator of the representative power level of characters chosen, in addition to the relative power level of the universes themselves. It's important to note that these numbers are completely meaningless, and only serve as relative performance indicators.
- The Elder Scrolls (4.41)
- The Wheel of Time (4.38)
- The Lord of the Rings (3.80)
- Malazan Book of the Fallen (3.63)
- Warcraft (3.36)
- The Black Company (3.19)
- A Song of Ice and Fire (2.43)
The Bookmaker
Betting was not that popular during Season 1, but I hope increased popularity of THE ARENA will lead to more participation in Season 2. Congrats to laz213, as no other contestants were able to gain any gold during the season! Maybe gambling DOES have risks! Due to the conditional nature of tournaments, it is a lot more technical work to incorporate these postseason matches into the betting simulator, so I will not be doing this for the conference tournaments and grand championship. This can be done and I would take the time if there was more of an audience. The Bookmaker will be reactivated for Season 2.
Results by Conference
Conference standings are based on win percentage within conference matchups. These standings determine the seeding of the conference tournaments. These may not align with overall win percentage and PPET rankings.
A Song of Ice and Fire Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the A Song of Ice and Fire characters is below. Daenerys and Daemon split their head to head, and had the same number of overall regular season wins (30), however, Daemon faced one less opponent and had won less defeat, meaning he just narrowly takes the crown on the basis of overall win percentage. The brothers Greyjoy (Euron, Victarion) split their head to head matchups, but Euron takes the 3 seed based on a much better overall win percentage. Jacaerys takes the 5 seed over Jaime Lannister after winning both head to head matchups. Tyrion, Aemond, and Rhaenyra all tied, and although Rhaenyra defeated Tyrion in both head to head matchups, she split with Aemond, so this defaults to overall winning percentage. Robert Arryn and Viserys Targaryen traded wins for their one and only wins of the season. Robert Arryn was forced to fight three more times and thus has a lower winning percentage, thus taking the final seed.
- Daemon Targaryen (24-4)*
- Daenerys Targaryen (24-4)
- Euron Greyjoy (18-10)
- Victarion Greyjoy (18-10)
- Jacaerys Velaryon (17-11)
- Jaime Lannister (17-11)
- Tyrion Lannister (16-12)
- Rhaenyra Targaryen (16-12)
- Aemond Targaryen (16-12)
- Stannis Baratheon (13-15)
- Petyr Baelish (12-16)
- Cersei Lannister (9-19)
- Alicent Hightower (8-20)
- Viserys Targaryen (1-27)
- Robert Arryn (1-27)
Malazan Book of the Fallen Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Malazan Book of the Fallen characters is below. Coltaine takes the 5 seed over Whiskeyjack by winning both head to head matchups. Trull Sengar, Lady Envy, and Ganoes Paran had a three-way tie, but no champion swept the other two so this defaulted to overall win percentage. Icarium and Kalam split, with Kalam having a better overall win percentage.
- Anomander Rake (34-2)*
- Quick Ben (32-4)
- Bugg (30-6)
- Karsa Orlong (26-10)
- Coltaine (23-13)
- Whiskeyjack (23-13)
- Mallick Rel (22-14)
- Silchas Ruin (20-16)
- Lady Envy (18-18)
- Ganoes Paran (18-18)
- Trull Sengar (18-18)
- Kalam Mekhar (16-20)
- Icarium (16-20)
- Itkovian (13-23)
- Fear Sengar (11-25)
- Tehol Beddict (8-28)
- Brys Beddict (8-28)
- Hull Beddict (4-32)
- Rhulad Sengar (2-34)
The Black Company Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Black Company characters is below. Although The Lady and Soulcatcher were tied, Soulcatcher bested her sister in both head to head matchups and wrestles the conference championship. Croaker and Darling split their meetings, but Croaker wins the overall win percentage tie breaker. Stormbringer and Goblin split their matchups, and Stormbringer just edged out Goblin in the overall standings. The Faceless Man and The Hanged Man both killed each other once, with The Faceless Man winning the tiebreaker.
- Soulcatcher (27-3)*
- Lady (27-3)
- The Dominator (25-5)
- The Limper (21-9)
- Croaker (17-13)
- Darling (17-13)
- Stormbringer (16-14)
- Goblin (16-14)
- Shapeshifter (14-16)
- The Howler (12-18)
- The Faceless Man (11-19)
- The Hanged Man (11-19)
- Mogaba (10-20)
- Raven (8-22)
- One-Eye (7-23)
- Marron Shed (1-29)
The Elder Scrolls Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Elder Scrolls characters is below. Jyggalag and Molag Bal split their head to head matchups, but Jyggalag easily take the 3 seed based on overall win percentage. Mannimarco takes the 5 seed after splitting head to head matchups with Azura due to overall win percentage. Martin Septim takes the #7 seed over Vivec after winning both head to head matchups. The Mad Prince takes the #11 seed after besting Ulfric Stormcloak in both encounters.
- Talos (26-2)*
- Mehrunes Dagon (20-8)
- Jyggalag (18-10)
- Molag Bal (18-10)
- Mannimarco (17-11)
- Azura (17-11)
- Martin Septim (16-12)
- Vivec (16-12)
- Hermaeus Mora (15-13)
- Mankar Camoran (11-17)
- Sheogorath (10-18)
- Ulfric Stormcloak (10-18)
- Serana (7-21)
- Jarl Balgruuf (6-22)
- Lucien Lachance (3-25)
The Lord of the Rings Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Lord of the Rings characters is below. Gandalf and Galadriel split the head to head, but Gandalf takes the #2 seed based on the overall win percentage tie breaker. Saruman and Aragorn also split the head to head, but Saruman takes the #4 seed based on overall win percentage. Gimli proves the might of the dwarves by taking the #7 seed after defeating Legolas in both contests.
- Sauron (25-3)*
- Gandalf (23-5)
- Galadriel (23-5)
- Saruman (21-7)
- Aragorn (21-7)
- Elrond (17-11)
- Gimli (16-12)
- Legolas (16-12)
- Boromir (11-17)
- Frodo (7-21)
- Shelob (7-21)
- Peregrin Took (7-21)
- Samwise Gamgee (6-22)
- Merry Brandybuck (6-22)
- Gollum (4-24)
Warcraft Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Warcraft characters is below. Ragnaros just edges out Hakkar for the #6 seed by a narrow win percentage margin after splitting their head to head. Baron Rivendare and Edwin VanCleef each won one matchup, and had the same winning percentage. Baron played three more matches, so takes the #9 seed on that basis. Emperor Thaurissan takes the #11 seed after besting Sally Whitemane in both matchups.
- C'thun (27-3)*
- Nefarian (22-8)
- Kel'thuzad (21-9)
- Ossirian (20-10)
- Onyxia (18-12)
- Ragnaros the Firelord (17-13)
- Hakkar (17-13)
- Renault Mograine (15-15)
- Baron Rivendare (14-16)
- Edwin VanCleef (14-16)
- Emperor Thaurissan (12-18)
- Sally Whitemane (12-18)
- Majordomo Executus (11-19)
- Mekgineer Thermaplugg (8-22)
- Gallywix (7-23)
- Alexei Barov (5-25)
Wheel of Time Conference Results
The final conference standings and seeding for the Wheel of Time characters is below. Moiraine takes the 4 seed over Padan Fain by sweeping the head to head. Egwene and Nynaeve split their head to head matchups, but Egwene far outperformed Nynaeve in the overall record. Lan and Perrin split, but Lan had the better overall winning percentage.
- Elayne Trakand (17-3)*
- Rand al'Thor (15-5)
- Matrim Cauthon (13-7)
- Moiraine Damodred (12-8)
- Padan Fain (12-8)
- Egwene al'Vere (11-9)
- Nynaeve al'Meara (11-9)
- Lan Mandragoran (8-12)
- Perrin Aybara (8-12)
- Thom Merrilin (3-17)
- Min Farshaw (0-20)
What's Next?
Well, the conference tournaments of course! Following the conference tournaments, the grand championship will be conducted. The conference season champions (highest win percentage in conference), are guaranteed a spot in the grand tournament, as are the winners of the conference tournaments. If these happen to be the same character, tough cookies! The remaining spots (as many as 50 characters) will be selected and seeded based on quantitative (PPET rankings, character ratings) and qualitative (key matchups, storylines, etc.) and announced on X. The winner of the grand tournament will be granted one wish that will be granted by The Recruiter for the entirety of Season 2. Season 2 of the Arena will feature new characters, including characters from two new universes (Diablo and Forgotten Realms) and rule changes and will be announced in more detail in the coming months. For those eager beavers that rely on their daily dose of The Arena action, I expect this will start around June/July. There will be PLENTY of bloodshed to keep you entertained over the next two months!
