The war week clock
From the Polandball Go Wiki
Alliance wars run on a fixed weekly clock set to UTC. Every phase begins at 00:00 UTC, whatever the season and wherever you live. The PvP ladders work the other way: they reset at 8 PM US Eastern and follow daylight saving. Most of the time the two line up neatly, which is why the difference is easy to forget until daylight saving ends.
1 The four phases#
A war week has four phases, each one UTC day long:
- Sign-up, all of Thursday. Alliances enter that week's wars. The game lists no matchups yet.
- Setup, all of Friday. Sign-up closes at Friday 00:00 UTC, matchmaking runs at that moment, and members spend the day placing defense squads.
- Attack, all of Saturday. The boards open and members attack.
- Review, all of Sunday. The results become final when review ends, and rewards follow in the weekly payout.
From Monday to Wednesday there is no war running. The next sign-up opens on Thursday at 00:00 UTC.
2 In US Eastern time#
Because 00:00 UTC is the evening before in the Americas, each phase starts the day before its UTC name.
Summer time (EDT), through October 31, 2026:
- Sign-up opens Wednesday at 8 PM.
- The roster lock and matchmaking fall on Thursday at 8 PM.
- Attacks open Friday at 8 PM and close Saturday at 8 PM.
- Review ends Sunday at 8 PM.
Winter time (EST), from November 1, 2026:
- Sign-up opens Wednesday at 7 PM.
- The roster lock and matchmaking fall on Thursday at 7 PM.
- Attacks open Friday at 7 PM and close Saturday at 7 PM.
- Review ends Sunday at 7 PM.
US daylight saving ends at 2 AM on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The war labeled Oct 29 is the one that straddles it. Its lock is Thursday, October 29 at 8 PM EDT, and its attacks run from 8 PM Friday to 8 PM Saturday, October 31. Its review then ends on Sunday, November 1 at 7 PM EST, an hour earlier on the wall clock than reviews have ended all autumn. The war labeled Nov 5 is the first to run entirely on the 7 PM schedule.
3 In Europe#
The UK and most of Europe left summer time a week earlier, on Sunday, October 25, 2026. The war clock didn't move in UTC, so for a player in London the lock went from 1 AM Friday to midnight, and every other phase moved an hour earlier on the local clock too. Nothing changes for European players on November 1.
4 Week labels#
The game names each war in its match history by a date, such as "Oct 8". That date is the Thursday on which sign-up opened, not the day anyone fought. The war labeled Oct 8 locked at Friday, October 9, 00:00 UTC, was fought on Saturday, October 10, and was reviewed on Sunday, October 11. polbielytics labels war weeks the same way.
5 The roster lock#
The single most important moment in the week is the close of sign-up. Your war lineup is the roster you held at Friday 00:00 UTC. The game freezes each ball's CP, upgrades, typing and item at that moment, and nothing you do afterward changes the balls that fight that week. In the US that deadline is Thursday evening: 8 PM in summer and 7 PM from November 1. Players who have been spending upgrades on Thursday nights at 7:30 should move them earlier once the clocks change. See Roster lock.
6 How it differs from PvP#
The PvP ladders keep Eastern wall-clock time, so their resets slide against UTC when daylight saving changes:
- Open League resets every Sunday at 8 PM Eastern. That is Monday 00:00 UTC in summer and Monday 01:00 UTC in winter.
- Rarity League runs one rarity a day from Sunday 8 PM Eastern: Common, then Uncommon from Monday, Rare from Tuesday and Epic from Wednesday. It closes on Thursday at 8 PM Eastern and stays closed until the Sunday reset.
In summer, the Rarity League closes at exactly the moment the war roster locks: Thursday 8 PM EDT is Friday 00:00 UTC. From November 1 the two come apart. The war lock moves to 7 PM EST, and the Rarity League still closes at 8 PM EST, an hour later.
The same is true at the end of the week. In summer the Open League's Sunday reset lands on the stroke of the end of war review. In winter the review ends at 7 PM EST and the Open reset follows an hour later. Glory's placement bonus is paid at what the game calls the Monday rollover, which belongs to the PvP clock, not the war clock. See PvP leagues.
7 War Council's lock#
War Council, polbielytics' own fantasy game, locks its lineups when attacks open, at Saturday 00:00 UTC. That is Friday 8 PM Eastern in summer and Friday 7 PM from November 1. It is a day after the game's roster lock, and it follows UTC just as the war does.
8 Quick reference#
- Every war phase: 00:00 UTC.
- Roster lock: Friday 00:00 UTC. Thursday 8 PM EDT, or 7 PM EST from November 1.
- Attacks: Saturday, all day UTC. Friday evening to Saturday evening in the US.
- Open League reset: Sunday 8 PM Eastern, all year.
- Rarity League close: Thursday 8 PM Eastern, all year.
9 On polbielytics#
The war pages carry a banner with the current phase and the time left in it, read from the game's own phase feed. The war scoreboard shows the week by its Thursday label.
See also Alliance wars, Roster lock and PvP leagues.