Friendlies
Friendlies are played quarterly, over several weekends, in preparation for the four major tournaments of the 4chan Cup. While friendlies do have a slight bearing on team rankings, they are generally used as a means of readying a team for coming matches of greater importance, or to experiment with new tactics. Friendly matches are of the most importance to teams looking to improve their seeding for coming tournaments, as rankings directly affect the pots for group stage draws. The rules regarding friendlies have changed over time.
Exhibition matches have occasionally been played during tournaments to showcase new teams.
History
2012 Winter Friendlies
The first set of friendlies played were the friendlies of the 2012 4chan Winter Cup. Participation in the friendlies was not total, and of the teams that did participate, some played many more games than others. Due to the sketchy records for these friendlies they were not used in ranking calculations.
2012 Spring Friendlies
Friendlies for the following Babby Cup used good conditioning for all teams and matches were set to be thirty minutes long (fifteen minutes per half), a slight extension on the standard twenty minute match length for most official matches. Teams were now limited to playing in a maximum of three friendlies, and matches ended at full-time regardless of draws.
2012 4chan Summer Cup Friendlies
The Summer Cup friendlies saw a return to twenty minute-long matches. Participation was now at a maximum with all teams competing in three friendlies each.
2012 4chan Autumn Babby Cup Friendlies
Stricter regulations on managerial alterations and scheduling were introduced for the Autumn Babby Cup friendlies. Teams could now be punished for incomplete or missing rosters. The three-matches-per-team rule remained.
2013 4chan Winter Cup Friendlies
Due to complaints regarding schedule-bloating and the redundancy of multiple friendlies, the number was reduced to one match per team.
2013 4chan Spring Babby Cup Friendlies
The limit for number of matches was increased to two after discussion about the long periods of downtime resulting from lack of friendlies before the Winter Cup. These were the first official matches hosted by Gracen Ivorinne !SyespadaHQ.
2013 4chan Summer Cup Friendlies
The first matches hosted by DrBorisG !!tgJi9upHCoV. These friendlies also saw the first official matches for /asp/, /gd/, /lgbt/, /s4s/, and /vr/.