Match modifiers

Delivery

Announced before every match as a LPCHUIP advisory. Most games draw one modifier from the rotation—drawing nothing is itself a modifier, called Clean Ice. A modifier assigned deliberately can be added on top, so some games carry two.

Before certain games, conditions are imposed on the match itself. Le Council names the condition and issues an advisory. The community reads between the lines.

Catalogued conditions

Thin Ice

Skating reduced for all players.

Slower game. More turnovers. More falls.

Mercury

Losing team gets a cumulative advantage as the deficit grows.

Comebacks more likely. Third-period comebacks under Mercury are the most-watched moments in the league.

Fog

Goalies see less.

Higher scoring. A favorite for bettors who like the over.

Lockdown

Goalie stats boosted. Defensive grind, low scoring.

Lower scoring. A favorite for bettors who like the under.

Tension

There’s something in the air tonight. An indescribable tension that makes sticks fly and tempers flare.

Fights break out about twice as often.

Static

Player modifiers are amplified in both directions. Good becomes better, bad becomes worse.

The Sixth’s influence is greater, for better or for worse.

The Net Remembers

Goals have a chance of echoing later for the same scorer.

Not every goal echoes, but some come back later in the same period for the same team. The echo counts.

Black Hole Net

Something is pulling everything toward the net. Le Council has opened a file.

Goals become easier to score. The Net makes the difference.

Double or Nothing

Standings points and bet payouts double.

Everything matters more. Advisories under Double or Nothing often include a Le Council disclaimer about not being responsible for outcomes.

As of Season 2, Double or Nothing no longer turns up at random. Le Council pulled it from the standard rotation; it now appears only when deliberately assigned to a specific game. When it does, it was chosen.

Triple or Nothing

Triple standings points, triple bet payouts. Reserved for the final day of the regular season. Every shift carries playoff weight.

A stronger version of Double or Nothing, also outside the standard rotation. It was assigned to every game on the final day of Seasons 1 and 2. Season 3’s final day ran under The Last Mile instead.

The Last Mile

The final day of the regular season. Standings points count twice. Payouts do not.

Never drawn at random. It was assigned to every game on the final day of Season 3, and it decided the Givre: Le Council had declared Nairobi uncatchable on the grounds that three matchdays were worth six points. The third was The Last Mile, so they were worth eight. Oslo took the conference by a point.

Insured Matchday

Underwritten by Permafrost Assurance: every winning bet pays out double. Standings points are untouched—only your winnings.

Never drawn at random. It arrives when Permafrost Assurance underwrites a matchday, and it can sit on top of whatever the game drew.

The Jambono Was Here

One random event in the game is retroactively changed after it happens. The feed updates. The community notices.

Never drawn at random. One play is rewritten after it happens, and the feed says so. The score, so far, has not moved. See The Jambono.

Clean Ice

No modifier. Announced as a modifier.

Nothing unusual will happen. Supposedly. The community will never fully believe nothing is happening.

Other conditions

Other match conditions have been documented but not officially named by Le Council. Community records note, among others, games that behave normally until they don’t.

Le Council has acknowledged several of these patterns without naming them. The rest is Glacified.

See also

• Match advisories—how modifiers are announced.
• Player modifiers—the named player conditions.
• Arena modifiers—the per-venue layer.