The Title Belt
The Title Belt is a Team Modification and Rule first appearing in Season 12. It was reintroduced as a mechanic in Gamma 4.
Effects
During a given Season, The Title Belt is first awarded to the Winner of the Midseason Fiesta. If the Title Belt Wielder is not selected for the Postseason via the standard rules, they will replace the lowest seeded Team in their Conference in the Postseason Bracket.
Title Matches
The Title Belt may be claimed by a challenger during a Title Match. Title Matches are a type of Featured Match that take place every fourth in-game Day[Note 1] of the Regular Season after the Midseason Fiesta, replacing Prize Matches. During the in-game Day that a Title Match occurs, no other Games are played. They are a contest between the current holder of Title Belt (the defending Team) and a random Bottom 12 Team in the league (the challenging Team).[Note 2] During a Title Match, the defending Team always plays at home and the challenging Team away. If the defending Team Wins the Game, they keep the Belt; however, if the challenging Team Wins, possession of the Belt is transferred to them. Wins are not awarded during a Title Match.
History
First Appearance
The Title Belt first appeared as a possible Decree in Season 12 alongside Based Evolution and Pennants. It was described with the following:
Win the Championship to claim the Belt, then Defend it in Title Matches next Season. The Holder of the Belt is protected from Steals and Swaps and guaranteed a Postseason Birth. Should the Holder win the Championship, they will claim a Title.
During the Season 12 Election, Based Evolution would go on to win with 247,049 Votes, 53% of all Decree Votes for that Season. As a result, The Title Belt was not introduced at that time.
Reintroduction
The Title Belt and Title Matches were reintroduced in Gamma 4 during the third Short Circuit. This was initially alluded to by multiple changes to The Book — including in the "T" section of Glossary — at the start of Gamma 4:
Blank: A Prize Forged by the Cheat Blank granting access to Blank which must be defended in Blank.[1]
Blank: A contest, usually between two Teams, between Long Blank granting the Winner possession of Blank in lieu of a Win.[1]
Additionally, a 'special prize' was teased for the winner of the inaugural Midseason Fiesta[2]; however, due to issues relating to duplicate Teams, the event was cancelled on Day 116, and no Winner was declared. As a result, The Monitor awarded the prize to the Canada Moist Talkers by default, as at the time they were the Team in the League with the least amount of Wins:[3]
hey
uh
bad news
noise complaint
crashed the fiesta
seeing double
had to shut it down
sorry
can't leave empty handed
so uh
moist talkers?
sure why not
you won
what did you win
how about this
shiny
The prize was revealed to be the Title Belt when the Regular Season resumed the following Monday,[Note 3] during Day 118. The first Title Match was played on Day 120.
Season Results
This section details the results of the Title Belt during the Seasons it has been active.
Gamma 4, Season 1
During Gamma 4, Season 1 the Title Belt was first awarded to the Canada Moist Talkers by the Monitor after the Midseason Fiesta was cancelled. This was due to the fact that, at the time, the Moist Talkers were the Team in the League with the least amount of Wins.[3]
| Title Belt Results for Gamma 4, Season 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Midseason Fiesta | |||
| Day | Home | Away | Result |
| 116 | N/A | N/A | No Winner declared Belt granted to the Canada Moist Talkers by The Monitor
|
| Regular Season | |||
| Day | Defender | Challenger | Result |
| 120 (M) | Canada Moist Talkers | LA Unlimited Tacos | LA Unlimited Tacos Win. Belt claimed by the Tacos.
Both the Tacos and Moist Talkers keep the Belt for an unknown reason. |
| 121 | N/A | N/A | The Tacos lose the Belt for an unknown reason.
|
| 122 | N/A | N/A | The Tacos regain the Belt for an unknown reason.
|
| 124 (M) | LA Unlimited Tacos[Note 4] | Hellmouth Sunbeams | Hellmouth Sunbeams Win. Belt claimed by the Sunbeams.
The Tacos, Moist Talkers, and Sunbeams all keep the Belt for an unknown reason. |
| 126 | N/A | N/A | The Tacos lose the Belt for an unknown reason.
|
| 128 (M) | Hellmouth Sunbeams[Note 5] | San Francisco Lovers | Hellmouth Sunbeams Win. Belt defended by the Sunbeams. |
| 132 (M) | Hellmouth Sunbeams[Note 6] | Canada Moist Talkers | Hellmouth Sunbeams Win. Belt defended by the Sunbeams. The Moist Talkers and Sunbeams both keep the Belt for an unknown reason. |
| 136 (M) | Canada Moist Talkers[Note 7] | Baltimore Crabs | Baltimore Crabs Win. Belt claimed by the Crabs. |
| 137 | N/A | N/A | The Belt transfers from the Crabs back to the Moist Talkers for an unknown reason. |
| 138 | N/A | N/A | The Belt transfers from the Moist Talkers back to the Crabs for an unknown reason. |
| 140 (M) | Baltimore Crabs[Note 8] | Core Mechanics | Core Mechanics Win. Belt claimed by the Mechanics. |
| Postseason | |||
| Day | Home | Away | Result |
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Generally equivalent to every fourth real-life hour, barring Spillovers.
- ↑ The Bottom 12 Teams are defined as the "2 Teams with the fewest Wins from each Division, plus the 4 remaining Teams with the next fewest across the whole League", as per The Book.
- ↑ This was due to the fact that between the start of Gamma 4 and this point, Team Modifications were not visible to Fans.
- ↑ Whilst both the Moist Talkers and Tacos were in posession of the Belt at the start of Day 124, only the Tacos, technically the only Team who should have been in possession of the Belt at this time, entered a Title Match.
- ↑ Whilst both the Moist Talkers and Sunbeams were in posession of the Belt at the start of Day 128, only the Sunbeams, technically the only Team who should have been in possession of the Belt at this time, entered a Title Match.
- ↑ Whilst both the Moist Talkers and Sunbeams were in possession of the Belt at the start of Day 132, and therefore could have both potentially been be considered defenders, the position of the Sunbeams as the home Team on Day 132 suggests they were the Defenders for this Game.
- ↑ Whilst both the Moist Talkers and Sunbeams were in possession of the Belt at the start of Day 136, only the Moist Talkers, despite the fact that they technically should not have possessed the Belt at the time, entered a Title Match.
- ↑ Whilst both the Crabs and Sunbeams were in posession of the Belt at the start of Day 140, only the Crabs, technically the only Team who should have been in possession of the Belt at this time, entered a Title Match.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Book of Blaseball. Glossary. (24 Jan 2022). (Website) - Via Blaseball.com
- ↑ The Game Band. Short Circuits Developer Log #3. (24 Jan, 2022). (Website) - via Medium.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Slugger Croms [bria#5537]. (29 January 2022). "Instead of re-working the rest of the schedule and Circuit, we’re going to destroy the problem contained within the tournament. 🔪 The Moist Talkers ⚪ were awarded the Prize for being in last place." (Message) - via #announcements, Blaseball Discord.
