Late in 2018 we’d come to realize just not enough people were using defensive actions, even though it’s something we all admire. But it was late in the year, so we had to put it off until 2019. Now, we finally have the chance to implement some much needed updates to the rules. So during Lightspeed Saber Academy’s Winter League, they’ll be testing a new scoring system, which is a 1,2,3 system rather than 1,3. It goes like this:
First contact: 1 point
Clean contact: 2 points
First contact return: 2 points
Clean contact return: 3 points
A “return” is the equivalent to a “riposte.” So in other words, using defensive blade work makes your subsequent actions worth more.
In addition, we will be testing changing true doubles to be worth zero instead of one point each, however, with the reimplementation of the triple-double rule, which means that if three doubles happen in a row, the lead fencer is given priority. So that means the advantaged fencer— usually the trailing fencer— can only keep doubling out for so long before giving a big advantage to their opponent.
Test these changes out at your base and see what happens!