Black Market Duck Cup ​

Black Market Duck Cup Game mode · Spectator betting

★★★☆☆

Statistics

Entry	Ticket, via the dock boat menu
Loadout	Anything — you watch from the stands
Structure	Six matches a season, two boss teams brawl each match
Your input	Pick a team, set the bet, ring the bell once per match
Mutators	No
Maps	BossRush maps that fit an arena
Difficulty	★★★☆☆

What Is It? ​

You don't fight. You bet.

Every match, two teams of bosses brawl at once: Blue on the left, Red on the right, balanced by power and bigger every match. Pick a team to back, watch from the stands, and once per match ring the bell to call down a disaster that hits both teams alike. A season is always six matches, and when it's done the number of matches you called goes on the Hall of Fame leaderboard.

Getting In ​

• Interact with the boat at the base dock. Next to "Boss Rush" you'll see an extra option: Black Market Duck Cup.
• It costs one BossRush ticket, same as normal BossRush, and is only taken when you confirm on the map screen.
• No mode-specific item needed, and you don't have to strip your gear.
• The map screen lists BossRush maps that can fit an arena. Twisty maps like the Maze work too: when no roomy spot turns up, the arena settles for a bit more walking around corners and stands behind a wall.
• You can't enter while another mode is running (Standard arena, From Scratch, Faction War, Blood Hunt, Fate Echo and Zombie Mode all count).
• If the start gets blocked (content not ready, the map can't fit an arena, another mode in the way), your ticket is refunded and you're told why.

How a Match Runs ​

Pre-match screen (Blue Team vs Red Team + which side to back + your bet) → "Start Match" → watch them fight (one bell) → results → "Next Match"

The pre-match screen: both teams at once ​

• Each match draws both teams together: the Blue Team on the left, the Red Team on the right. Each card shows the codex portrait, name and power (mod bosses are tagged "Mod boss"); the column headers show head count and total power.
• The Blue Team is drawn first and the Red Team is balanced against its total, so the two totals are never more than 500 apart.
• It keeps growing: the Blue Team's power target rises every match, from roughly 4 average official bosses' worth in match 1 to 6, 8.5, 11, 14 and 17.5 by match 6. Blue has 3 to 20 bosses, Red up to 30.
• Every BossRush boss can show up, and the same official boss can appear more than once; a team of nothing but one boss is possible. The three mod bosses have fixed power (Dragon Descendant 1500, Phantom Witch 500, Skyburner Dragon Lord 2000), and each team gets at most one of any given mod boss.
• Don't like the draw? "Redraw" rerolls both teams, up to 3 times per match; the button shows how many are left. The screen swaps in place instead of closing and reopening.
• Back a side: pick "Blue Team xN" or "Red Team xN"; Blue is the default and your pick carries over between matches. The number is the payout for backing that team and depends only on the gap between the two total powers: the stronger team pays less, the weaker one more.
• Pick a bet in the footer row, then hit "Start Match". The side you back is locked in at that moment; changing it afterwards doesn't affect this match.

The fight ​

• Both teams hit the field at once and go for the nearest opponent. Last side standing wins; if both sides go down together, the house wins and every bet loses.
• Health-bar names carry "- Blue Team" (in blue) or "- Red Team" (in red).
• Bosses don't hurt their own teammates: grenade and rocket blasts and the mod bosses' area skills only hit the other side. The bell's disaster is the exception; it hits both.
• The Skyburner Dragon Lord has triple health in the Duck Cup and starts casting the moment it enters, with no opening pause. Its beams, body contact, magma and shockwave only go after the other side and never land on you in the stands. When it takes to the sky for "My child, protect me!" nobody can target it; whoever was locked on it switches to the Dragon Descendant it summons, which lands beside the Lord, and the Lord falls when the Descendant does.
• The Dragon Descendant and Phantom Witch also fight only the other side: the Witch's minions don't chase you, and the Descendant's phase 2 charge, straight and fan volleys and incendiary grenades all go at whoever it is currently locked on. Its ground-marked explosion doesn't show up here.
• Summons (the Witch's minions, the Descendant the Lord calls) count as members of their team: you can spectate them, they go after the other side, and they count toward the fighters standing; they add no power to the time-out score.
• A match lasts up to 240 seconds. If nobody has won by then, the side with more power × remaining health among the fighters still standing wins; an exact tie goes to the house.
• Switch who you watch: the keys pop up when the fight starts. A / ← / left mouse for the previous fighter, D / → / right mouse for the next, W / ↑ to jump to the Blue Team, S / ↓ to the Red Team. The camera starts on the team you backed and moves to the next teammate when the one it follows goes down.
• The spectator panel on the right has Surrender and Exit: surrender counts as a lost bet; exit leaves the arena, keeps this match to replay later, and settles your bet as lost.

The Bell: One Disaster for Everyone ​

In the whole match you get exactly one active move: ringing the bell.

• Once per match. It calls down a random disaster that treats both sides the same:
  • Meteor shower — meteors pound the arena for 8 s, hitting whoever is there;
  • Missile strike — three waves of missiles on random fighters, either side;
  • Haste — everyone moves 50% faster for 15 s;
  • Frenzy — everyone deals 50% more damage for 15 s;
  • Rejuvenation — everyone on the field heals 30% at once;
  • Frost — everyone moves 40% slower for 12 s.
• Meteors and missiles take a share of each target's max health (7% per meteor, 12% per missile, 5 missiles per wave), so a hit weighs the same on a tank and on a glass cannon.
• The bell doesn't pause the fight. The card shows which disaster you got, and the line along its bottom edge is the time left.

Results and the Season ​

• The results screen shows which team won, which one you backed, how many were left standing on each side, the time, the disaster that hit, and your bet. Calling it right counts as a win.
• A season is always six matches. Losing doesn't end it early. After the sixth results screen you go to the Hall of Fame.
• Before you leave the Duck Cup (season finished or left early) a Session summary pops up: each match's result, your net bet winnings, what you gained and lost, and any bets returned as-is. Hit "Return to base" to leave. If nothing happened this trip, it doesn't show.

Betting: Back the Team You Picked ​

You can bet two things: money in your account (cash in your backpack is left alone), or items in your backpack. Nothing in your storage can be bet: the match is on a raid map, and storage is back at base.

• Where to pick: the pre-match screen and every results screen (for the next match) have a "Bet" row in the footer: No bet / Bet 1,000 / Bet 5,000 / Bet 20,000 / Custom amount / Bet items. Picking "Custom amount" brings up a slider dynamically capped by your wallet balance and the match's true return multiplier.
• A money bet sets "how much per match from now on": pick once and every match uses it until you change it. Default is no bet, and loading a save resets to no bet.
• An item bet only covers the next match: "Bet items" opens a page of your backpack; tap an item to put it up, tap again to take it back, then "Done".
• The money is only taken, and the items only recorded, once the match locks in. Short on money or the items are gone? No bet this match; the results screen says why, and the match goes ahead.

Betting Items ​

• What you can bet: anything in your backpack, as many and as pricey as you like. Only quest items and worthless stuff are hidden. Containers work too; lose, and what's inside goes with them.
• Value: the merchant buy price, half the base price. Betting an item never beats selling it.
• Nothing is taken up front: your items stay in your backpack during the match. Lose, and they're taken.
• Win, and you keep them plus get prizes: quality follows what you put up, total value is "what a win pays" minus the stake value, and you get one prize per item bet (up to 6). If your backpack is full, prizes wait and arrive as soon as there's room.
• Don't move the staked items after the match starts: on a loss, anything that can't be found is charged against your balance at its value, down to 0.

What a Win Pays ​

A win pays back stake × 0.92 ÷ that tier's assumed win rate. The payout includes your stake:

• x1 — assumed 85% win rate, about 1.08× back
• x2 — assumed 70% win rate, about 1.31× back
• x3 — assumed 55% win rate, about 1.67× back
• x4 — assumed 42% win rate, about 2.19× back
• x5 — assumed 30% win rate, about 3.06× back

So a 5,000 bet won at x3 pays back 8,360. If a tier's actual win rate (after 20 bets in that tier) runs higher than the table, that tier's payout drops automatically.

Interruptions and Refunds ​

• A bet sticks with its match: a technical abort, a suspended season, or closing the game mid-match and coming back all mean replaying that match (with a fresh draw). The bet isn't refunded; it carries over and settles on the replay, still on the team you originally backed and at the payout you locked in, so the pre-match page no longer shows "Back a side" or "Redraw".
• Leaving after the fight starts costs you: press "Exit" in the spectator panel and the match is kept to replay later, but a bet on a match that has already started counts as lost.
• Dropping the season: "Abandon season" on the recovery page, or starting a new season while the last one still had a bet open, works the same way: a bet on a match under way counts as lost, a bet on a match that hadn't started is returned as-is. A confirm box spells this out first.

The Hall of Fame: A Leaderboard ​

After the sixth match, the season goes into the Hall of Fame and gets ranked:

• Matches called first, then net bet winnings, then whoever got in earlier. Net winnings cover the whole season, even if you played it over several sessions.
• Each entry is a card: rank, matches called, net winnings, and a portrait of the season's MVP (the boss that showed up most in the teams you backed, counting more when you called it right); calling an upset also adds a "Won an upset at xN" line. This season's row is highlighted, and the header tells you where it placed.
• The Hall of Fame carries across seasons and has only 32 seats. When it's full, the lowest-ranked season gets pushed out.
• Champions from the old one-on-one days are listed after the leaderboard as "Past duel champion".
• Hit "End season" when you're done looking.

Questions You Might Have ​

• Do I have to wait for a warm-up every time? No. Once the map loads, you're on the lineup screen.
• Is it normal not to see my own character? Yes. During the fight the camera follows the bosses (you can switch with the keys); your body waits quietly in the stands and the camera comes back when the match ends.
• Can I jump in myself? No. You bet and you ring the bell.
• Can I bring a pet from the Nest? No. This mode doesn't use Nest companions.
• Are there mutators? No. The Duck Cup doesn't roll mutators or trigger random events.
• Do kills here count toward the Duck Emperor Codex? No, and they give you no XP either. That's bosses fighting bosses, not you.
• Does a technical fault count as a loss? No. The same match is retried automatically, up to 2 times, and doesn't count as a defeat; any bet carries over. If it keeps failing, the season is suspended and the recovery page at the boat takes over.
• The season is stuck: can't get in, can't play on. Now what? Interact at the dock and you'll get a recovery page. "Abandon season and settle stakes" asks you to confirm first and spells out what happens; after that a bet on a match already under way counts as lost, a bet on an unstarted match is returned as-is, the stuck season is cleared, and you can start fresh. Not ready? "Later" closes it.