Leagues are a sealed-deck game mode, found in the events listings.
Like many events, in each league a player's match record is compared to other participants in a leaderboard, with rewards determined by leaderboard standings at the end of the league. Unlike other events, leagues run for a full month (corresponding with that month's Chapter). Each league also rewards a unique new cardback for participation.
Joining a League[]
Leagues cost 
12,500 gold or 
1,100 gems to enter. They can be joined at any point during the month's Chapter. A premium entry option is also available for 5,000 (see #Premium Leagues).
League Packs[]
Leagues are a sealed deck game mode, meaning each player's deck is built from a limited card pool made from a number of unopened card packs.
When you join a league, you will receive and open 8 packs. These cards are used to build a 45-card deck. You get additional packs for each week of the league, usually 2 per week (for 14 packs total by the end), which may be used to improve your deck.
| Starting Packs | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4× Cold Hunt 2× The Empty Throne 2× Omens of the Past |
2× Cold Hunt | 1× The Empty Throne 1× Omens of the Past |
2× Cold Hunt |
- For past league pack distributions, see /List of League Formats.
Cards from these packs are immediately added to your permanent collection, available for decks for constructed game modes, and usable for crafting. Destroying league pack cards for shiftstone removes them from your permanent collection, but they are still available in your league pool for the duration of the event.
If you join the league after the first week, you will not miss card pool packs. You will immediately receive the extra packs you missed, and receive packs for the remaining weeks as normal.
If you resign from the league you are able to re-enter with a new set of packs (see #Resigning).
Premium Leagues[]
Leagues have an alternate "Premium Entry" option for 5,000. Joining a premium league causes all cards opened in the 14 league packs to be their premium versions (note: this doesn't affect reward packs).
These all-premium packs have a normal rarity distribution, so there is no gameplay advantage for a premium entry. It is available as an option to fill out premium collections, or as a way to gain large amounts of shiftstone.[1]
Playing in a League[]
After building your deck, you compete will other participants in the current league through the league's matchmaker. You may play your league games at any point during the month. Up to 40 leaderboard games and 80 tiebreaker games may be played towards your leaderboard position. After finishing available leaderboard and tiebreaker games, additional games may be played for fun with no effect on the leaderboard.
You may edit your deck any point throughout the league, not just when receiving new weekly packs.
Leaderboard Games[]
The first 10 league games you play each week are leaderboard games, which will count towards your leaderboard standing. Every game counts, you get 30 points for a win and 1 for a loss[2].
Any unfinished weekly leaderboard games will roll over into the following week (except in week 4). Joining after the first week will raise this leaderboard game limit to make up the difference. For example, if you join in week 2 you may play 20 leaderboard games that week.
Tiebreakers[]
You can keep playing after finishing the week's leaderboard limit. Up to 20 additional tiebreaker games each week count towards tiebreakers. Tiebreaker wins are used to adjust leaderboard standings between players with the same overall leaderboard games record.
For example, a player with a 6-4 leaderboard games record (6 wins, 4 losses) with 3 tiebreaker wins will be placed ahead of another player with a 6-4 record but only 1 tiebreaker win. They’ll both be behind a 7-3 record in the standings.
Unlike leaderboard games, tiebreaker games to not roll over between weeks, and joining after the league's first week does not give make-up tiebreaker games.
Resigning[]
You can resign a league at any time, which will let you re-enter the league to restart with a new set of packs. You would need to pay the entry cost again to restart.
Cards from the league packs of a resigned run stay in your permanent collection. However, all leaderboard rewards from resigned runs are forfeited.
Leaderboard Rewards[]
Rewards are based on a player's final leaderboard standing at the end of the league. If you resigned and re-entered the league, only your most recent run will count.
Leagues reward packs from the most recent expansion set, and a random premium card.
| Rank | Pack Rewards | Card Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | 20× card packs | 1× random premium legendary |
| 11–50 | 17× card packs | 1× random premium legendary |
| 51–100 | 15× card packs | 1× random premium legendary |
| 101–500 | 13× card packs | 1× random premium legendary |
| 501–1000 | 12× card packs | 1× random premium rare |
| 1001–2500 | 9× card packs | 1× random premium rare |
| 2501–5000 | 8× card packs | 1× random premium rare |
| 5001–10000 | 7× card packs | 1× random premium uncommon |
| 10001+ | 4× card packs | 1× random premium uncommon |
League Cardbacks[]
Enemies at the Gate cardback (April 2018)
All players who join also earn a cardback cosmetic item. These unique new cardbacks are themed to the current Chapter. Cardbacks are unlocked upon joining the league.
History[]
Leagues were first introduced in April 2018 with Chapter 17: Enemies at the Gates.[3] The first league cost 10,000 gold or 800 gems to enter, gave 11 total packs for deckbuilding, and rewarded fewer leaderboard prize packs. The cost, deck packs, and prizes increased for the second league.[4]
Cardbacks were originally unlocked at the end of the league, along with leaderboard rewards. They unlocked immediately starting in Chapter 23 (October 2018).[5]
Premium leagues were introduced with the Chapter 41 league (April 2020).[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 DWD News - Premium Sealed Leagues (March 31, 2020). Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ https://www.direwolfdigital.com/news/eternal-code-of-conduct/
- ↑ DWD News - Sealed Deck Leagues (March 29, 2018). Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ DWD News - New League: A Search for Answers (April 30, 2018). Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ↑ DWD News - New League: Reunion (September 27, 2018). Retrieved July 21, 2020.