diff --git a/config.py b/config.py
index 4841521..2e74ad5 100644
--- a/config.py
+++ b/config.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import shutil
-from typing import Dict
+from typing import Dict, List
 
 import yaml
 import platformdirs
@@ -90,43 +90,57 @@ class Config:
     def __init__(self, config: Dict):
         self._config = config
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def player_base_rating(self) -> int:
         return self._config["player_base_rating"]
 
+    @property
     def min_player_count(self) -> int:
         return self._config["min_player_count"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def max_player_count(self) -> int:
         return self._config["max_player_count"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def min_suit_count(self) -> int:
-        return self._config["min_suit_count"]
+        return self._config["min_suits"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def max_suit_count(self) -> int:
-        return self._config["max_suit_count"]
+        return self._config["max_suits"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def starting_game_id(self) -> int:
         return self._config["starting_game_id"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def ending_game_id(self) -> int:
         return self._config["ending_game_id"]
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def starting_time(self) -> datetime.datetime:
         time = self._config["starting_time"]
         return dateutil.parser(time, tzinfos={'EST': 'US/Eastern'})
 
+    @property
     @check_config_attr
     def ending_time(self) -> datetime.datetime:
         time = self._config["ending_time"]
         return dateutil.parser.parse(time, tzinfos={'EST': 'US/Eastern'})
 
+    @property
+    @check_config_attr
+    def excluded_variants(self) -> List[str]:
+        return [var.lower() for var in self._config["excluded_variants"]]
+
     @check_config_attr
     def variant_base_rating(self, variant_name: str, player_count: int) -> int:
         global_base_rating = self._config["variant_base_rating"]
diff --git a/constants.py b/constants.py
index f205ada..763cb7f 100644
--- a/constants.py
+++ b/constants.py
@@ -29,3 +29,6 @@ DB_TABLE_NAMES = [
 DATABASE_SCHEMA_PATH = 'install/database_schema.sql'
 DEFAULT_DB_CONFIG_PATH = 'install/default_db_config.yaml'
 DEFAULT_CONFIG_PATH = 'install/default_config.yaml'
+
+VARIANTS_JSON_URL = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Hanabi-Live/hanabi-live/main/packages/data/src/json/variants.json'
+
diff --git a/database.py b/database.py
index 081a8df..0b81f45 100644
--- a/database.py
+++ b/database.py
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+import json
+
 import psycopg2
 import psycopg2.extensions
 import psycopg2.errors
+import requests
 import unidecode
 
 import constants
-from config import read_db_config
+from config import read_db_config, read_config
 from log_setup import logger
 
 
@@ -118,3 +121,29 @@ def add_user_name_to_player(hanabi_username: str, player_name: str):
 def add_player(player_name: str, user_name: str):
     add_player_name(player_name)
     add_user_name_to_player(user_name, player_name)
+
+
+def fetch_and_initialize_variants():
+    response = requests.get(constants.VARIANTS_JSON_URL)
+    if not response.status_code == 200:
+        logger.error("Could not download variants.json file from github (tried url {})".format(constants.VARIANTS_JSON_URL))
+        return
+    variants = json.loads(response.text)
+
+    config = read_config()
+
+    for variant in variants:
+        variant_id = variant['id']
+        name = variant['name']
+        clue_starved = variant.get('clueStarved', False)
+        num_suits = len(variant['suits'])
+
+        if config.min_suit_count <= num_suits <= config.max_suit_count:
+            if any(var_name in name.lower() for var_name in config.excluded_variants):
+                continue
+            cur = conn_manager.get_new_cursor()
+            cur.execute(
+                "INSERT INTO variants (id, name, num_suits, clue_starved) VALUES (%s, %s, %s, %s)",
+                (variant_id, name, num_suits, clue_starved)
+            )
+    conn_manager.get_connection().commit()
diff --git a/install/database_schema.sql b/install/database_schema.sql
index 0f3bea5..aecec94 100644
--- a/install/database_schema.sql
+++ b/install/database_schema.sql
@@ -111,8 +111,7 @@ CREATE TABLE variants (
   id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
   name TEXT NOT NULL,
   num_suits INTEGER NOT NULL,
-  clue_starved BOOLEAN NOT NULL,
-  max_score SMALLINT NOT NULL
+  clue_starved BOOLEAN NOT NULL
 );
 
 /**
diff --git a/install/default_config.yaml b/install/default_config.yaml
index 2425c8b..b90bbbe 100644
--- a/install/default_config.yaml
+++ b/install/default_config.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,42 @@ min_player_count: 3
 max_player_count: 5
 min_suits: 5
 max_suits: 6
+# Corresponds to game IDs from hanab.live
 starting_game_id: 1000000
 ending_game_id: 9999999
+# EST = Eastern Standard Time, so USA/Eastern
 starting_time: "2023-10-10 00:00:00 EST"
 ending_time: "2023-12-10 00:00:00 EST"
+# Any variant that contains one of these keywords will not be allowed for the league.
+excluded_variants:
+  - Ambiguous
+  - Mix
+  - Evens
+  - Dark
+  - Cocoa
+  - Fives
+  - Ones
+  - Black
+  - Gray
+  - Matryoshka
+  - Dual
+  - Critical
+  - Blind
+  - Mute
+  - Alternating
+  - Duck
+  - Cow
+  - Synesthesia
+  - Reversed
+  - Down
+  - Throw
+  - Funnels
+  - Chimneys
+  - Omni
+  - White
+  - Brown
+  - Pink
+  - Rainbow
+  - Prism
+  - Sudoku
+  - "Null" # We have to enquote this here, since otherwise The YAML spec treats this as a null (=absent) value
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 519bc15..59e53d1 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,3 +4,5 @@ PyYAML
 verboselogs
 python-dateutil
 unidecode
+requests
+requests_cache