Proposed changes to how group stage is done at Worlds
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?