THE UNOFFICIAL BUT SEMI-OFFICIAL 

BLASEBALL​ ​F.A.Q. 
 

Table of Contents  Last updated Sept 2020 - Currently under construction

 

GENERAL 
What is Blaseball? 
No, really— Out of character, what is Blaseball? 
Why do people care about Blaseball? 
I know I clicked on this doc, but actually I hate reading. Is there a video? 
How long has this been going on? 
How can I materially support Blaseball? 
How do I learn about official updates? 
Does fan lore actually “matter”? 
Can I follow this without understanding anything about real-life baseball? 
How do I… participate in the cultural event known as Blaseball? 
What time zone are the Blaseball servers located? 

GAMEPLAY 
How do I play Blaseball? 
What can I do in Blaseball? 
When do games happen? What is a season like? 
Is there somewhere I can see logs from previous innings and games? 
How can I get lots of coins? 
Do the items in the Shop expire? (Passive Income Potion, High Roller Snake Oil, 
Pendants…) 
When do games stop? What is a siesta? 
What are decrees and blessings? 
What’s the point of winning a championship? 
What are weather conditions? 
What is Shame? 
Which teams are the Home Team and Away Team? 
What does lineup and rotation mean? 
What does it mean when the Live game log says (so-and-so baseball terminology)? 
What do the icons mean in the Watch Live interface? 
Which teams make the playoffs when they have the same win-loss record? 

EVENTS & RECENT ADDITIONS 

Where can I find a timeline of major events? 
What are incinerations? 
What are peanuts? 
Why are we in “The Discipline Era”? 
Who are the Unlimited Tacos? What happened to the Los Angeles Tacos? 
Who or what is The Microphone? 
What is Feedback weather? 
What does a player’s Vibes stat do? 
What are Blagonballs? 

COMMUNITY 

 
  

What team should I join? What is the vibe of each team? 

Who are umpires? Who are groundskeepers? 
What is the Wiki? 
What is SIBR? 
What is Forbidden Knowledge? 
Why does the Discord have a word filter? Why can’t we use custom emotes? 
What is Blasebot? 
What is “The Commissioner is doing a great job”? 
What are some other Blaseball memes that I should be aware of? 
What are some team-specific memes or cheers? 
Are there official team accounts on social media? 
Who are the most popular & least popular teams? 
How can I contribute to Blaseball lore? Haven’t other fans written it all by now? 
How can I contribute to the Blaseball Wiki, in particular? 
What if I want to draw a player but the Wiki has no description of them? (Or a 
description I’m not into?) 
Where should I post fan work I made (such as art, music, fics, etc)? 
If I make Blaseball fan art or fan merch, can I sell my work? 
 

Suggestions or Corrections? 
Contact @keeper_orb or any of the other keepers in ​#beginner-help​! 

GENERAL 

What is Blaseball? 
● Blaseball​ is a ​splort​ in which 20 teams compete under the Internet League Blaseball 
organization, day and night, rain or shine, and at the behest of us fans who vote to 
remake the league in our own image. 

No, really— Out of character, ​what​ ​is​ Blaseball? 

● Blaseball​ is a ​browser game​ developed by ​The Game Band​, about an absurdist simulation 
of baseball that is almost entirely depicted in text. Strange features include random 
incinerations that force team players to be replaced, Forbidden Rule Books, or peanuts 
raining from the sky that induce allergic reactions. 
● Blaseball​ is a fan simulator: you don’t play ​Blaseball​, you watch it. ​Gameplay 
involves choosing a favorite team, placing bets on simulated matches to earn coins 
(all in fictional currency), then spending those coins to benefit your team at the end 
of the week. With luck and a bit of strategizing with fellow fans, your team just 
might win the championship! (See ​Gameplay​ section for more) 
● Community & fandom​ involvement is also a huge draw. Because the presentation of 
Blaseball​ is so bare, but the descriptions & names are so evocative, there is a wide 
  

gap of imagination that the community has filled in with incredible art, fan lore, and 
more (we’re talkin’ music albums, radio mockumentaries, play-by-play livestreams — the 
community is incredible). The ​Blaseball Wiki​ and the ​Discord​ are ideal places to start 
if this interests you the most. 

Why do people care about Blaseball? 

● These articles from the first few weeks of ​Blaseball​ do a pretty good job at conveying 
what’s so interesting about it: 
● Blaseball is the Real Return of Baseball​ covers what the act of keeping up with 
simulated matches is like. 
● An absurdist baseball game is tearing up the internet, thanks to fans​ covers writers’ 
& artists’ homemade contributions to ​Blaseball​. 

I know I clicked on this doc, but actually I hate reading. Is there a video? 
● Discord user ​Aluuvia​ made this video called ​Blaseball: A Fever Dream of a Cultural 
Event​ — which gives you a great overview of what playing Blaseball is like, and what 
early historic events shaped the game & fandom. 

How long has this been going on? 

● Blaseball.
​ com opened on July 20, 2020. Every​ Season​ lasts one real-life week, with 
periodic breaks (called a ​siesta​) that can last a week or more for fans & developers 
to rest. (​Read more about seasons​, including which Season we’re currently on.) 
● (For a timeline of in-game events, see ​Events​ section) 

How can I materially support Blaseball? 

● Blaseball​ has a ​Patreon​ where you can send them money every month and gain access to 
the ​Bloodhouse​, a Discord clubhouse channel where everyone talks about blood. One of 
the Patreon tiers allows you to submit a name into the randomly-selected name pool! 
● Official merchandise is currently in the works. 

How do I learn about official updates? 

● Twitter​ or ​Discord​. The Twitter account ​@Blaseball​ announces news/updates, usually in 
the voice of a character called “​The Commissioner​.” The Discord channel #announcements 
also features updates, usually posted by the ​Umpires​ who are both characters within 
Blaseball​ and the real designers of the game. 

Does fan lore actually “matter”? 

● Yes, absolutely. The developers have stated ​during interviews​ that they encourage the 
“collaborative attitude” of fan interpretations to continue, and that they believe in 
  

“a ‘Many Worlds’ interpretation...that leaves room for everyone.” Any respectful 

additions you can make to the world of ​Blaseball​ is valid and encouraged. 
● Specifically, fan-created lore is regularly integrated into the game itself, with 
examples such as the ​Dial Tone and Vibe Check​ and ​The Grand Unslam​. 

Can I follow this without understanding anything about real-life baseball? 

● Absolutely. Many fans aren’t necessarily knowledgeable about baseball. Rooting for 
your team, betting on games, or getting invested in events require no knowledge about 
the rules of baseball. 
● On the other hand, if you really want to follow play-by-plays closely, there are many 
existing resources about making sense of baseball such as this YouTube video, ​Rules of 
Baseball Explained​. ​Blaseball​ does have some key rule differences, but a basic 
understanding should keep you covered. 

How do I… participate in the cultural event known as Blaseball? 

● First thing’s first: ​sign up​ at Blaseball.com and choose your team. There’s no wrong 
team to pick, and you can always change your mind later. (See also: the ​Community 
section for ​What team should I join?​) 
● Of course, you can always participate by following the story, or making cool stuff, or 
adding to the Wiki, or diving into stats, or helping out newcomers, or just telling 
your friends. And just like doing The Wave, you’ll have a lot more fun with ​others 
than you would alone. 

What time zone are the Blaseball servers located? 

● Pacific US time zone. When the site mentions times & dates, it’s Pacific US. 

 
 

GAMEPLAY 

How do I play Blaseball? 

● Technically, ​you​ can’t. The Blaseball players do. ​You​ will watch from the stands, 
supporting your favorite team. 
● For clarity, usually ​“players”​ means the named characters on teams who play in 
matches, and ​“fans”​ or ​“participants”​ means the people like you who watch & influence 
those matches. 
  

What can I do in Blaseball? 

● You can earn coins by ​betting​ on matches. If your bet wins, you gain double 
(more-or-less). Additionally, you earn passive income every time your favorite team 
wins. (See ​How can I get lots of coins?​ for more) 
● Coins are used in the Shop to either ​buy​ other items that help your gambling in the 
long run, or buy Votes. 
● Votes are spent on an election ballot that wraps up at the end of every season. You 
vote​ on decrees and blessings that you want to see in action. (See ​What are decrees 
and blessings?​ for more) 
● Throughout the season, you’ll watch the progress of matches, track your favorite 
team’s record, and root for them along with the rest of the community. That’s most of 
the interaction inside the game. But don’t forget that it’s still a living world full 
of underlying mysteries, storied interruptions, and emergent narratives. Taking part 
in the ​Discord​ is highly recommended for a fuller experience! 

When do games happen? What is a season like? 

● A season has 3 parts: the regular season, the postseason, and the election results. 
All of this takes place within a real-life week, ​Monday to Sunday​. (​Read more​) 
● Specifically, individual games happen at the ​start of every hour​. The regular season 
wraps up on ​Friday​ and ​Blaseball​ takes a brief break. The playoffs begin on ​Saturday 
and run throughout most of the day. (The exception to all of this is siestas & other 
downtime events.) 
● As of Season 9, there is now a Wildcard best-of-three series after the regular season 
on Friday. The winner of these games makes it into the playoffs. 

Where can I view the Game Log after it’s off the website? Can I review past games? 
● Check out ​Reblase​, a fan-made tool created by server member ​Astrid.
​ ​ ​(Read more at the 
Reblase ​github​ page.) 

How can I get lots of coins? 

● See this helpful doc from the Discord community: ​Blaseball Coin Making Guide for New 
Fans​. It covers items & betting strategy if you’re trying to maximize your payouts. 

Do the items in the Shop expire? (Passive Income Potion, High Roller Snake Oil, Pendants…) 
● No! These are permanent upgrades. Almost anything you buy in the Shop will carry over 
to the next season. Exceptions being consumable items such as Votes and Peanuts. (​Read 
more​) 
  

When do games stop? What is a siesta? 

● A siesta is when the ​umpires​ declare an official ​pause​ to all games. This can be for 
out-of-universe reasons like the website being overloaded, or in-universe reasons like 
a message from ​The Peanut​. Sometimes the fun of ​Blaseball​ is that these reasons can be 
one and the same. (​Read more​) 
● Games are not in session on ​Sunday​, when election results are revealed. 

What are decrees and blessings? 

● Decrees​ are sweeping rule-changes to ​Blaseball​, such as “retire the team in last 
place” or “redistribute wealth from the top 1% every season.” Decree votes are 
collective and affect everybody, regardless of what team you root for. Decrees are 
also typically how big changes in the world get declared, such as ​umpires turning 
rogue​ or ​Los Angeles tearing into infinite cities​. (​Read more​) 
● Blessings​ are changes to individual team players, usually with the intent of helping 
one team perform better next season, such as “give player a Legendary Bat and max out 
their batting stats” or “steal the best pitcher in your league.” Blessing votes are 
tallied up per team and are awarded like a raffle: more fans voting on a particular 
blessing means their team is ​more likely​, but ​not guaranteed​, to win that blessing. 
(​Read more​) 

What’s the point of winning a championship? 

● Well. Okay. Sure. What’s the point of anything, huh? 
● Winning a championship does not provide any material changes to a team, such as bonus 
blessings. On the other hand, it does feel really good to see your team make it to the 
finals and earn a hard-fought victory. (Plus you get one free Vote ticket.) 
● The Rulebook mentions that any team who wins ​3 times​ will “ascend”. So far, only one 
team, the Baltimore Crabs, has achieved this goal, have apparently ascended to the 
“Big Leagues”, and can be seen ​here​. The Telescope in the Bulletin shows their 
current record this season, but nothing else about their current state is known. Two 
other teams- the Philly Pies and the Hades Tigers, are one game away from ascension. 

What are weather conditions? 

● A weather condition affects every match, and weather is seemingly randomized for every 
match. Weather conditions are generally meant to be a ​mystery​, but the Wiki has pages 
that lay out what fans have been able to figure out: (​Read more​) 
  

What is Shame? 
● Shame​ is a rule unique to ​Blaseball​. When two teams are tied, the tiebreaker gets to 
continue racking up points while the loser must be shamed by sitting through a game 
that they've already lost. (​Read more​) 

What are player Vibes? 

● Introduced in Season 4, you can see any player’s Vibes by clicking on their name. It 
possibly affects their performance, but the truth is that ​we​ ​don’t know​ how much it 
affects the game. We do know that Vibes go up or down at the start of every game, so 
they’re regularly fluctuating. 

Which teams are the Home Team and Away Team? 

● For any live match, the team listed on ​top​ is the Away Team and the one listed on 
bottom​ is the Home Team. 

What does lineup and rotation mean? 

● You’ll see this on every team’s roster page. In short, lineup = ​batters​ and rotation = 
pitchers​. 
● The lineup plays every game, and they go up to bat in the order listed. The rotation 
only selects one pitcher to play each game, and pitchers cycle out per game in the 
order listed. 

What does it mean when the Live game log says (so-and-so baseball terminology)? 
● The Wiki has a ​guide​ to the live game log, which is really helpful if you’re not super 
familiar with baseball terminology. It explains phrases like “strike, looking” or 
“fielder’s choice”: (​Read more​) 

What do the icons mean in the Watch Live interface? 

● Refer to these helpful diagrams, made by ​daxleopard​ from the Discord: 
  

Which teams make the playoffs when they have the same win-loss record? 
● Currently, there’s a tie-breaker system called Divine Favor. It’s a priority list that 
determines who wins a tie for qualifying for the playoffs. (​Read more​) 
 
 

EVENTS 

Where can I find a timeline of major events? 

● There’s ​a full, living timeline​ on Blaseball’s Wiki, and it gets updated as major 
events occur with each new season. 
 

COMMUNITY 

What team should I join? What is the vibe of each team? 

● We don’t have an easy way to answer this question ​yet!​ There are developing efforts to 
sum up the personality of every team at a glance, but they aren’t ready yet. Some 
frequent advice includes: 
○ Check out each team’s ​Wiki page​. Ask for personalized advice on Discord. Pick a 
city closest to you. Pick at a whim-- you can always change your mind later. 
  

● Yellowstone Magic is one team with a ​Newbie Handbook​ that includes helpful info! We 
will update as more resources become available. 

Who are umpires? Who are groundskeepers? 

● Umpires​ are named characters who both represent high-level entities who answer to the 
Blaseball Gods, as well as the real-life designers of the game. Think of them like 
Game Masters. They communicate with people in the Discord in-character and announce 
updates about the game, but are typically not available for direct questions or 
comments. (​Read more​) 
● Groundskeepers​ (a.k.a. keepers) are found in the Discord and are moderators for the 
Blaseball​ community. Is there greater lore for keepers? Who knows. You can see which 
keepers are online by looking at the server’s Member List, and you can go to 
#discord-help​ if you need something in the server. (Or direct message them any time if 
it’s something that requires privacy.) 

What is the Wiki? 

● The ​Blaseball Wiki​ is a site designed to catalog historical & cultural elements of 
Blaseball​, from a list of every blessing ever named to fan lore about a player’s 
origin story. The Wiki is unofficial and foremost a community effort, however it does 
have the ​Blaseball​ creators’ stamp of approval. More info can be found in the 
Discord’s ​#fan-lore​ channel. 

What is SIBR? 
● SIBR​ stands for ​Society for Internet Blaseball Research​, an organized group of 
Blaseball​ fans who archive & analyze game data such as player statistics, seasonal 
records, and lots of other mechanisms under the hood. More info can be found at ​SIBR’s 
FAQ​, plus pinned posts in the Discord’s ​#stats​ channel. 
○ SIBR is indeed a parody of the baseball stat-collecting organization, ​SABR​. 

What is Forbidden Knowledge? 

● Forbidden Knowledge refers to gameplay elements that have been discovered within game 
code, but have not been publicly announced or formally introduced. These elements are 
considered ​spoilers​ because they may give away future surprises, or simply make 
Blaseball​ a lot less mysterious than intended. 
○ When discussing Forbidden Knowledge in the Discord, it is common courtesy to 
use spoiler tags. The format for spoiler tags is: ​||Hidden text goes here||​. 

Why does the Discord have a word filter? Why can’t we use custom emotes? 
● The creators believe that ​Blaseball​ should be a ​PG-13 ​experience, both for the sake of 
its youngest fans, and to foster a friendly atmosphere of splortsmanship. Besides, 
  

with 10k+ members, it’s more reasonable that we draw the line instead of allowing room 
for ​any​ potential abuse. 
● Notably, the absence of foul language or custom emotes ​have​ led the community to 
become more funny and creative when it comes to team trash-talk and team cheers. 

What is Blasebot? 
● Blasebot is a helpful fan-made Discord bot created by server member ​BeeFox, ​and it 
sends game and event updates, summaries, and more to the Blaseball server. You can add 
Blasebot to your personal server if you want— more in-depth information can be found 
on the bot’s ​github.​ ​(Additionally, here is ​BeeFox’s Patreon.​) 

What is “The Commissioner is doing a great job”? 

● This is an oft-repeated line that comes from an early ticker message on ​Blaseball.
​ com 
that simply says, ​“The Commissioner is doing a great job!”​ It’s a catchy line that is 
easy to repeat because-- as it turns out, ​The Commissioner​ is in fact doing a great 
job. 

What are some other Blaseball memes that I should be aware of? 
● “We are all love Blaseball”​ — Another unusual phrase that came from the early 
Blaseball ticker & early tweets. I don’t think there’s any hidden meaning to its 
popularity; it simply sounds funny, and we truly are, all, love Blaseball. 
● “Incineration is the only way out”​ — It is established that Blaseball players do play 
non-stop, literally for 100+ days every season. Soon after incineration was 
introduced, Discord member ​bool​ joked that very line about fiery destruction being the 
only way to stop playing, and it became an instant classic. 

What are some team-specific memes or cheers? 

● Too many to cover in this FAQ! Each team does have a ​Wiki article​ that records ‘fan 
culture,’ including cheers. However, your best bet might be to ask your fellow fans 
inside your team’s channel on Discord to show you around. 

Are there official team accounts on social media? 

● Not explicitly! The only official ​Blaseball​ account is ​@Blaseball​ on Twitter. Many 
teams and players have accounts operated by ​fans​, typically with the support of the 
rest of their team. It’s best to ask in your team channel or elsewhere in the Discord 
if you have more specific questions. 
● The Wiki has a collected list of ​Blaseball​ RP accounts on social media. Most accounts 
are on Twitter. (​Read more​) 
  

Who are the most popular & least popular teams? 

● We don’t have access to accurate counts of the registered users on ​Blaseball​.com. But 
we ​do​ have user data from the Discord. If you go to ​#choose-your-team​, the numbers 
displayed are good representations of how “big” each team’s fandom is relative to one 
another. 

How can I contribute to Blaseball lore? Haven’t other fans written it all by now? 
● Blaseball​’s creators and Wiki management both support a ‘multiverse’ vision of 
Blaseball where several interpretations can be true. This is even supported 
structurally in the Wiki with ​“interdimensional” pages​. Additionally, ​Blaseball​ does 
gain fresh new players and new moments to write about every single season. There’s a 
lot of uncovered territory; a lot of blank spaces in-between what the game itself 
could possibly describe. 
● As long as you’re being ​respectful​ (i.e., not a jerk), ​Blaseball​’s staff and community 
alike are welcoming of all sorts of creative additions and re-interpretations. 
● Please keep in mind that the official community does impose ​PG-13​ restrictions, for 
the sake of ​Blaseball​’s youngest fans. More explicit content should be kept to spaces 
outside of the official Discord and the Wiki. 

How can I contribute to the Blaseball Wiki, in particular? 

● The Wiki does have a ​Style Guide​ that you should read. Be aware that this is all still 
relatively very new, and consistent best practices are being hashed out over time 
thanks to the efforts of folks in ​#fan-lore​. Beyond that, here are some worthwhile 
etiquette tips: 
● Before making major additions to the Wiki: It’s recommended that you open up your 
ideas to ​feedback​ in either team chat (when it’s about your team), or in ​#fan-lore 
(when it’s broader than teams). Sometimes an idea is covered by some obscure bit of 
canon; sometimes other fans can help connect your ideas to existing character lore; 
etc. Collaboration is encouraged. 
● If you want to write lore about ​others’​ teams, you should ask members of that team in 
#fan-lore​. Though in some cases, it’s best to simply let members of that team dictate 
their own stories. 

What if I want to draw a player but the Wiki has no description of them? (Or a description I’m not into?) 
● It’s worth stating that ​none​ of the descriptions, images, pronouns, or histories of 
players on the Wiki are “canon” in the traditional sense. Those are simply what took 
off within the community the earliest. ​All depictions of all players are fair game. 
● Seriously, just draw whatever you want. There’s so much existing ​Blaseball​ art of 
players who aren’t athletes; who aren’t human; who can’t even hold a bat. It’s a weird 
& silly universe already so anything is within the realm of possibility. As always, 
  

though, you’re welcome to start a conversation in your team chat or in ​#fanwork​ when 
you need ideas-- or perhaps if you want to know how other artists tend to draw the 
team uniform, for example. 

Where should I post fan work I made (such as art, music, fics, etc)? 
● We have a channel in Discord, ​#fanwork​, just for this purpose. Share it in your team 
chat, too. And on social media, of course-- fan-made stuff on ​Twitter​ gets retweeted 
by @Blaseball all the time. Most folks use the hashtag #blaseball. 
● If you’re looking for a more permanent home besides the usual ephemeral social media, 
well, we don’t have a perfect answer for that so far. The ​Wiki​ can be one such 
solution, as it already hosts lots of fan art & external links to music. Pop by the 
#fan-lore​ channel if you’d like help with adding your creative work to a relevant Wiki 
page. 
● There’s also a growing ​blase.booru​ gallery where you should upload & tag any visual 
fan art. 

If I make Blaseball fan art or fan merch, can I sell my work? 

● Yes! Please read this official statement released in August: (​Read more​)