Official Rules & How to Play

1. Overview

EOC 2026 Fantasy League is a free-to-play orienteering fantasy game built for the 2026 European Orienteering Championships in Druskininkai, Lithuania.

You build a squad of 10 elite orienteers — 5 men and 5 women — using a starting budget of ≋100 Springs (named after Druskininkai's famous mineral springs). Your squad earns points across four race rounds: three individual races scored by finishing position and heat, and performance in the relay.

The game rewards genuine orienteering knowledge. Knowing who delivers best splits, who anchors relay legs, and who is running their very first EOC final is worth more than just copying the world ranking list.

2. Race Schedule

The game runs across four rounds over five competition days in Druskininkai:

#	Round	Date	Transfers	Notes
Q	Qualification	Wed 23 Sep	Initial pick (no limit)	Transfers allowed until 20 min before the first start
L	Long Final	Thu 24 Sep	2	Final A/B/C known after Quali results
M	Middle Final	Sat 26 Sep	1	Fri 25 Sep is rest day — no scoring
R	Relay	Sun 27 Sep	1	Scored by position in the round

Friday, 25 September, is a rest day.

3. Building Your Squad

3.1 Squad size and budget

Pick 5 men + 5 women — 10 runners total.
Total squad cost must not exceed ≋100 Springs.
Maximum 1 runner per nation — you cannot have two athletes from the same country.

3.2 Starters and bench

Each round, you must designate your starters:

Select 3 men starters and 3 women starters (6 starters total).
The remaining 2 men and 2 women sit on the bench and score zero points for that round.

Starter selection is the key decision each round. A ≋5 first-timer sitting on your bench scores nothing even if they post the fastest relay leg. Choose carefully.

4. Runner Prices & Tiers

Every runner is placed in one of four price tiers based on their IOF world ranking. Prices are set approximately two weeks before EOC and remain fixed for the entire tournament.

Tier	Price	Rule	Notes
Elite	≋19 – 22	IOF world top 20	Safe pick, but expensive.
Star	≋13 – 15	IOF rank 20–50	Core of most squads. Consistent Final A runners.
Solid	≋8 – 12	IOF rank 51–100	Good value. Regularly qualify for finals.
Budget	≋4 – 7	IOF 100+ / unranked	First-timers, relay specialists, longshots. Best ×2 targets.

5. Scoring System

5.1 Individual race scoring (Qualification, Long, Middle)

Points are awarded for finishing position. Qualification and Finals use different base scales. For finals, base points are multiplied by a heat coefficient depending on which final the runner qualified for.

DNS (did not start), DNF (did not finish), DSQ (disqualified) all score 0 points. Runners outside the top 20 score 0 position points but can still earn best split bonuses.

Place	Qualification	Finals base	Final A ×1.0	Final B ×0.8	Final C ×0.7
1st	40	100	100	80	70
2nd	35	90	90	72	63
3rd	30	82	82	66	57
4th	26	75	75	60	53
5th	22	68	68	54	48
6th	19	62	62	50	43
7th	16	57	57	46	40
8th	14	52	52	42	36
9th	12	48	48	38	34
10th	10	44	44	35	31
11th	8	40	40	32	28
12th	7	37	37	30	26
13th	6	34	34	27	24
14th	5	31	31	25	22
15th	4	28	28	22	20
16th	3	25	25	20	18
17th	2	22	22	18	15
18th	1	19	19	15	13
19th	1	17	17	14	12
20th	1	15	15	12	11
21st+	0	0	0	0	0

5.2 Relay points

Relay points are not based on your team's overall result, but on each runner's individual finishing position.

Points by position

1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st+
100	90	82	75	68	62	57	52	48	44	40	37	34	31	28	25	22	19	17	15	0

A runner who posts the fastest time in the round scores 100 pts, regardless of what position their team finishes overall.

5.3 Multipliers and bonuses

Rule	Value	Description
Final A — heat coefficient	×1.0	Top 15 qualifiers per gender go to Final A.
Final B — heat coefficient	×0.8	Places 16–30 in qualification go to Final B.
Final C — heat coefficient	×0.7	Remaining qualifiers compete in Final C.
Relay	×3.0	Every runner's result in the relay is scored this way.
First-timer bonus	×2.0	Never raced an EOC final before, or missed the top 50 where there was no qualification round. All position points for that race are doubled. Applies in the relay too.
Best split bonus	+15 pts	Flat bonus for the fastest split. Awarded once per runner per race.

5.4 Order of calculation

Points are calculated in this order for each runner in each round:

Step 1 — base points for position.
Step 2 — apply the heat coefficient for individual finals (×1.0, ×0.8 or ×0.7).
Step 3 — apply the first-timer bonus ×2.0, if applicable. Applies in the relay too.
Step 4 — add the best split bonus (+15 pts).

The best split bonus is always added as a flat amount after all multipliers — it is not doubled by the first-timer ×2 bonus.

5.5 Worked examples

Example A — Individual final

First-timer, 1st in Final B long, 2 best splits

1st place base	100 pts
Final B ×0.8	= 80 pts
First-timer ×2.0	= 160 pts
2 best splits (+15 for at least one)	+15 pts
Total	190 pts

Example B — Relay

3rd fastest in the round

3rd place (position points)	82 pts
No first-timer bonus	—
Relay coefficient ×3	= 246 pts
Total	246 pts

6. Transfer Rules

The transfer market opens after each round's results are published and closes 20 minutes before the first start of the next race.

Qualification: Initial squad selection — no transfer limit.
Long Final: 2 free transfers. The key window — you now know who is in Final A, B or C.
Middle Final: 1 free transfer.
Relay: 1 free transfer. Also designate your relay squad before the market closes.
1 transfer = 1 runner out, 1 runner in within remaining budget.
The 1-per-nation rule applies after every transfer.
Unused transfers do not carry over to the next round.

7. First-Timer Rule

A first-timer is a runner who has never previously competed in an EOC final (Final A), or who missed the top 50 where there was no qualification round. Status is verified via IOF Eventor before the championship.

Applies to both individual finals and the relay — a first-timer running the relay still earns ×2 on their points.
A runner who competed in previous EOC qualifications but never made a final IS considered a first-timer.
First-timers are always placed in the Budget tier (≋4–7).

A ≋5 first-timer who posts the fastest time in the relay scores 200 pts.

8. Relay Challenge

The relay challenge — before the relay starts, designate your team of 3 men + 3 women. Their points are multiplied by ×3.

8.1 How it works

Pick 3 men + 3 women for your relay team.
After the relay, each of the 6 runners' points are multiplied by ×3.
You must field a full 6-person team — partial teams do not get the multiplier.

8.2 Picking the right relay team

Because points are scored by individual result rather than team finish, the best picks are runners who will post strong individual results — not necessarily the runners whose team wins. Things to consider:

Runners who specialise in the relay and post strong individual results, even if their team is not a medal contender.
First-timers who are strong relay runners — their points are ×2, and the relay challenge adds ×3 on top, for a potential ×6 combined effect.

9. Results Processing

For individual races the system processes finishing positions and split times. For the relay, it processes each runner's position in the round.

Best splits are identified by comparing all runners on that course.
Runners are matched using their IOF athlete ID.
Points are calculated and the leaderboard updated immediately after upload.

10. Quick Reference

Starting budget	≋100 Springs
Squad size	5 men + 5 women (10 total)
Nation limit	1 runner per nation
Starters per round	3 men + 3 women
Bench per round	2 men + 2 women — score 0
Transfers available after Qualification	2
Transfers available after Long Final	1
Transfers available after Middle Final	1
Market close time	20 minutes before first start
Best split bonus	+15 pts (once per competition, per runner)
First-timer multiplier	×2.0 on all position points (including relay)
Final A coefficient	×1.0
Final B coefficient	×0.8
Final C coefficient	×0.7
Relay coefficient	×3 (requires 3M + 3W team)
DNS / DNF / DSQ	0 points

≋ Good luck. May your splits be best! ≋