In what order do you take Journeyman and Star Players?

[Gimli]

My team has TV119 and 12 players. However, two are them are MNG, so I will be down to TV101 and 10 players for my next game.

Assume my next opponent has TV127. I would like to induce a Star Player that costs 26 (Mighty Zug). If I have to take a journeyman, I will go to TV106 and 11 players, and my inducements will drop to 21. I'd rather just take the Mighty Zug, which would bring me to TV127 and 11 players.

When I read step 7 of the Post-Match Sequence at p. 29 it suggests that Journeyman must be taken at the end of my last game, which would suggest the Journeyman is purchased first. However, it also states I "may bring journeyman onto [my] team for free until [my] team can field 11 players for the next match." The reference to "may" suggests I don't have to buy journeyman, and can leave my roster at 10, and then induce a Star Player as my 11th.

So can I choose not to take a journeyman and take Mighty Zug as my 11th player?

[slup]

You take journeymen at the end of a game in which you end with fewer than 11 available players.

At the start of the next game you calculate inducements and maybe pick a star player or 2

So you take journeymen before knowing your next opponent and wheater or not you are able to hire a star player

[Darkson]

Journeymen are completely optional - you don't have to take them.
But as you say, strictly according to the rules, once you finished the post-game, you've lost your chance to hire them.

[Cirrus the Blue]

I had no idea they were optional, but the word 'may' in that section confirms that they are! This is good to know.

- Cirrus

[JPS]

strictly according to the rules, once you finished the post-game, you've lost your chance to hire them.

Check with your league commissioner / tournament organizer to see how strictly this is enforced. Most leagues I have encountered don't strictly enforce the order of the post-game sequence, so he/she may allow you to make the decision "retroactively" before your next game.

Personally, I think if you play in a scheduled league, the commissioner should allow you to forgo the journeyman because you knew who your next opponent would be during the previous post-game sequence and essentially made a "rules error." On the other hand, if you play in an open league, I think the commissioner should insist you declare how many journeymen you take during the post-game sequence, because you don't know who you will play next. Its much riskier to pass on the journeyman if you don't know how much inducement money you will get in the next game.

- JPS