So, are we going to let Korea have 4 teams next year?

ValyrianBlade·Oct 30, 2016·1 votes·497 views

I mean, it would be a lot more fair. KT Rolster may have actually had a shot at beating SKT. ROX and SSG both took them to 5 games, so who's to say KT Rolster wouldn't have had a shot.

Back to the fair point: there are 4 groups. As much as NA and EU bicker back and forth about who's worse, it really all comes down to which country gets a strong team in the group without a Korean team. Why should there be a group without a Korean team? They win every group they're in. They consistently make semifinals. They've won the last 4 worlds in a row - It seems reasonable they should get 4 teams.

5 Comments

hotarseOct 30, 20161 votes

Korea : 3 or 4 teams based on mid season invitational China: 2 or 3 teams based on mid season invitational N/A: 2 or 3 teams based on mid season invitational EU: 2 or 3 teams based on mid season invitational Taiwan/HK: 2 teams South America: 1 team Wild Card: 2 teams

GeminiRuneOct 30, 20161 votes

Allow me to break this down for you the best way possible as people constantly bring this up

I mean, it would be a lot more fair. KT Rolster may have actually had a shot at beating SKT. ROX and SSG both took them to 5 games, so who's to say KT Rolster wouldn't have had a shot.

KT Rolster was not even at Worlds. If they were really wanting to prove that, they would have beaten SSG in the regionals. Granted the fashion that the finals turned out to be was reminiscent of the LCK semis where KT gained a surge after a game 3 win. But that is a different time in a slightly different mentality. Would KT get as far as SSG did? Likely. Would it be 5 games if they met either of the other Korean teams in a bo5? Who knows. Point is that it's just a "what if" and not even fact.

Back to the fair point: there are 4 groups. As much as NA and EU bicker back and forth about who's worse, it really all comes down to which country gets a strong team in the group without a Korean team.

People often call that group one of the least appealing groups as is. Not every group is going to have the most competitive lineups across the regions that compete. That just happens to be how the format was for the past few seasons.

Why should there be a group without a Korean team? They win every group they're in. They consistently make semifinals. They've won the last 4 worlds in a row - It seems reasonable they should get 4 teams.

There's a group without a NA, EU, CN, and 2 LMS and IWC teams as well in this format. They win and get far because they prepare with their way and their infrastructure which they have adapted to. The way a team played closing out LCK and going into Worlds gets almost entirely discarded, especially by the appointed 2nd and 3rd seeds. Hence the clear dominance.

But getting 4 teams, especially under the same format, would be punishing for not just the single region that would probably get screwed over but also the many fans that hail from said region. This year had the form of a light punishment in MSI providing a tougher road for the teams that failed to advance. But it would be absurd to retain the same format, grant one more spot to Korea, and ultimately eliminate one spot to a region attempting to make it to that big stage. If people want 4 Korean teams, consider a balance across the rest of the regions that doesn't take spots away from them and use MSI as a similar light punishing incentive.

ValyrianBladeOct 30, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Allow me to break this down for you the best way possible as people constantly bring this up

KT Rolster was not even at Worlds. If they were really wanting to prove that, they would have beaten SSG in the regionals. Granted the fashion that the finals turned out to be was reminiscent of the LCK semis where KT gained a surge after a game 3 win. But that is a different time in a slightly different mentality. Would KT get as far as SSG did? Likely. Would it be 5 games if they met either of the other Korean teams in a bo5? Who knows. Point is that it's just a "what if" and not even fact.

People often call that group one of the least appealing groups as is. Not every group is going to have the most competitive lineups across the regions that compete. That just happens to be how the format was for the past few seasons.

There's a group without a NA, EU, CN, and 2 LMS and IWC teams as well in this format. They win and get far because they prepare with their way and their infrastructure which they have adapted to. The way a team played closing out LCK and going into Worlds gets almost entirely discarded, especially by the appointed 2nd and 3rd seeds. Hence the clear dominance.

But getting 4 teams, especially under the same format, would be punishing for not just the single region that would probably get screwed over but also the many fans that hail from said region. This year had the form of a light punishment in MSI providing a tougher road for the teams that failed to advance. But it would be absurd to retain the same format, grant one more spot to Korea, and ultimately eliminate one spot to a region attempting to make it to that big stage. If people want 4 Korean teams, consider a balance across the rest of the regions that doesn't take spots away from them and use MSI as a similar light punishing incentive.

I didn't say how they had to find the spot for the 4th Korean team - just that it would make sense for them to get a fourth team.

And KT Rolster actually beat SKT in the summer playoffs. Since SKT won the Spring playoffs though, they had more points (KT Rolster can third and second, SKT came first and third). Then yes, KT Rolster lost the gauntlet and lost their chance at worlds. I'm not bitching that they didn't make it this year, I'm just saying KT Rolster vs SSG in the semifinals could have been better than H2K v SSG. If it wouldn't have been - then H2K could have beaten KT in the quarters/groups.

Worlds should be the best players in the world - if those players happen to all be in the same region then so be it. Yes, other regions need the ability to send teams there to grow and develop their programs - but as someone else suggested here you can always remove 1 team from NA/EU/China depending on MSI performance.

GeminiRuneOct 30, 20161 votes

Your subject of discussion was "are we going to let Korea have 4 teams next year" in which you go on to explain various details - your KT Rolster point being rather irrelevant as they were not even able to prove anything at Worlds this year. All of that I honestly bypass. The rest however: you give no sense of fairness to any other region without one of them getting shafted by the system. Removing a team slot completely is extremely punishing for a region.

But if you want to pull the hypothetical card like with KT Rolster, let's think of it like this. What if the system gets changed to appease to removing a region slot and giving it to another region who "deserves" it more? If that's the case, what if said Korean team doesn't show up at MSI next season, effectively dropping to 2 teams if the system persists? Pretty sure a lot of people wouldn't be fine with that. Derailing a region in an improving eSports infrastructure just brings out more hysteria.