Proposed changes to how group stage is done at Worlds

Randomonium·May 7, 2016·1 votes·526 views

So right now Korea, China, NA, and EU are guaranteed 3 teams to worlds while LMS and IWC are guaranteed 2 teams to worlds. I think that every region should automatically get 2 teams that go to worlds but that each region should have to fight for the remaining 4 spots.

What I propose is that every region's #3 and #4 teams play in a tournament prior to worlds and that the top 4 teams from that tournament get to go to worlds. Teams would fight in a 1 game round robin style format with the top 8 teams going to a knockout stage where they were seeded based on their round robin results.

Here's the real kicker though: Once teams go to Worlds there is no blind draw for the group stages. Teams get to pick what group they want to go into based on their performance. Here's how it would break down.

The #1 teams from the regions who placed in the top 4 at MSI are automatically placed in 4 separate groups (i.e. #1 team from region who won MSI is placed into group A, runner-up placed into group B, etc.)

Next, the #1 team from the regions who placed 5th and 6th at MSI get to decide what group they want to join (good opportunity for revenge from MSI.)

Now, the #2 teams from all regions get to choose where in the pick order they want to go based on the performance of their region at MSI. For example, the team from the region who won MSI could elect to go 4th in the pick order instead of 1st. Once the pick order is determined each team selects what group they want to join in order. The only limitation to what group a team can join is that all groups must reserve 1 spot for the final 4 teams.

Finally, the top 4 teams from the qualifying tournament get to decide what group they want to join in the order that they placed.

This would make the group draw of worlds incredibly exciting because instead of the groups being decided by luck it would be an incredibly strategic decision. Not only that but it would build a lot of tension because teams would be essentially calling each other out because they get to pick what pool they want to go into.

Thoughts?

12 Comments

71883083DEL1May 8, 20161 votes

Some of your post makes sense, but the rest is just kind of irrelevant

ur introduction was very good - They should fight for the right to compete as a regional champ but only 2 can go

but the rest was just hard to read for me because eSports do not work like this

RandomoniumMay 8, 20161 votes

Basically what I was trying to do is make it like a draft where teams could choose what group they wanted to be in. The goal of this would be to encourage strategy rather than just have it be about blind luck.

71883083DEL1May 8, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Basically what I was trying to do is make it like a draft where teams could choose what group they wanted to be in. The goal of this would be to encourage strategy rather than just have it be about blind luck.

It's not blind luck, it is a game of who can play this or that champ better and who has more diversity and can learn faster/build faster and work together better

it's league dude

RandomoniumMay 8, 20161 votes

Have you seen the drawing for groups at world before? It is literally blind luck. They literally pick names out of a bowl. We should be able to come up with a better system than that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urX1DgJ5uG0

71883083DEL1May 8, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Have you seen the drawing for groups at world before? It is literally blind luck. They literally pick names out of a bowl. We should be able to come up with a better system than that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urX1DgJ5uG0

because it is league of legends.. the game is all about learning characters and outplaying the other person

it's not just 'oh im good with this so im gonna play this 24/7' cause one day someone is going to ban your #1 champ and you are going to have a rough time picking from the other champs you blindly bought cause you thought they were good after someone else YOU SAW PLAY AS did good with it.

ShadowatomMay 8, 20162 votes

{quoted}

because it is league of legends.. the game is all about learning characters and outplaying the other person

it's not just 'oh im good with this so im gonna play this 24/7' cause one day someone is going to ban your #1 champ and you are going to have a rough time picking from the other champs you blindly bought cause you thought they were good after someone else YOU SAW PLAY AS did good with it.

You are addressing the idea of champion select and champion pools. The OP is addressing the idea of Group stages at the World Championship Tournament. Players who get into Worlds more than likely already know a large amount of champions, but he's saying it's bad that a team like say... Flash Wolves could potentially fall into a group with SKT and RNG/FNC/EDG or whatever, which could potentially knock out a really good team before the bracket stage.

ShadowatomMay 8, 20161 votes

I think the selection process should be reversed. 1st seeds should be treated as such and get a small upper-hand (other than not needing to go against each other). 3rd pool teams pick first, then 2nd pool teams, then 1st pool teams. The only issue I can see with this is time. I'm not sure how much time there is between the Group lottery and the beginning of Worlds, but this process would take a little more time because they'd have to get a representative from each team and potentially translators. Not to mention that the team picking last in each phase actually doesn't even get a vote on who they're grouped with. If Team A picks first, then Team B, then Team C, Team D is left with the fourth group, which is partially unjustified, because the system effectively gives an illusion of free choice.

RandomoniumMay 8, 20161 votes

That's definitely a valid point. I decided to have it go top down because those are the "best" teams and they probably care the least about who they are going up against. The lower seed teams would need to play strategically to have a shot to get pass the group stage and this gives them a better shot.

EleshakaiMay 8, 20161 votes

Who is going to pay for this third international event? These things cost millions and millions of dollars to put on. To host another international event that is for the third/fourth place teams would be ridiculously expensive for very little gain.

As far as the 'picking where you go'... it's pointless. It's a lot of effort for virtually no real benefit to the event. If you want to win the event, you have to face the best teams anyways, so avoiding facing them early isn't really helping your case. The blind draw is fine.

RandomoniumMay 8, 20161 votes

You honestly think that they lose money on these tournaments? There's no cash prize so the ticket sales will easily pay for the cost of the event.

EleshakaiMay 8, 20161 votes

{quoted}

You honestly think that they lose money on these tournaments? There's no cash prize so the ticket sales will easily pay for the cost of the event.

Ticket sales may cover the cost of the venue rental... MAY, but given how low their ticket prices have historically been, I doubt that... but they don't cover the cost of moving the number of people or the rental/relocation of the tech OR the overhead costs associated.

These are not cheap events. You're kidding yourself if you think ticket sales cover the event... you're also kidding yourself if you think a 'watch the third and fourth best teams from each region play!' event would sell out.