• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:34
CET 06:34
KST 14:34
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
2026 KongFu Cup Announcement0BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled10Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains12Weekly Cups (March 2-8): ByuN overcomes PvT block4GSL CK - New online series18
StarCraft 2
General
BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT Terran AddOns placement Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains
Tourneys
2026 KongFu Cup Announcement [GSL CK] Team Maru vs. Team herO StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Team League Season 10 Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 516 Specter of Death Mutation # 515 Together Forever Mutation # 514 Ulnar New Year
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL21 General Discussion BW General Discussion Gypsy to Korea Are you ready for ASL 21? Hype VIDEO
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL22] Open Qualifiers & Ladder Tours IPSL Spring 2026 is here! ASL Season 21 Qualifiers March 7-8
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Fighting Spirit mining rates Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread PC Games Sales Thread No Man's Sky (PS4 and PC)
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Mexico's Drug War Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread General nutrition recommendations Cricket [SPORT] TL MMA Pick'em Pool 2013
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Gaming-Related Deaths
TrAiDoS
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2490 users

Best of Five - Page 2

Blogs > motbob
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Malaz
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany1257 Posts
July 16 2012 10:17 GMT
#21
.I never tought about this, but I really think you're right. What also has to be considered is that tournaments with a loser bracket often times have a way to give the player coming from the winner bracket an advantage (extended series e.g.). Although it's most likely fair to do so, it often times leads to very boring/anti-climatic finals.
jpak
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States5045 Posts
July 16 2012 10:54 GMT
#22
Another thing that made BW Bo5s so exciting was that the first and the last set were played on the same map. This can lead to a lot of suspense before the final game. How would the players play on this map on the last game compared to the first?

I think also cutting down the number of maps a tournament uses can be beneficial to the players because now they can prepare better for the maps that are in play.
CJ Entusman #50! #1 클템 fan TL!
Jonoman92
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States9107 Posts
July 16 2012 11:05 GMT
#23
A never thought about it beyond the point of "bo7 is too long imo" but upon reading this blog I have to say I agree. I also agree finals would be more exciting if both players went into it on even footing. Perhaps have a separate independent prize for the winner bracket champion in an MLG type format to make it fair?
Bagration
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States18282 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-16 14:01:48
July 16 2012 11:10 GMT
#24
But according to your main argument, wouldn't then a best of 1 be the way to go? :p

There has to be a balance between enough games so that the grand finals doesn't become too coin-flippy, but not too long either so that it becomes a marathon. Also, there needs to be enough games so that there can be a feeling of "yes, this is the finale". WCG had a Bo3 for the grand finals, and it was very anti-climatic.

But we need to reward the best players. That's competition. I don't want to see ActionJesus 6 pool to the finals, or Lucky doing nothing but roach ling all-ins to the finals. Upsets are nice, but seeing strong consistent players showcase their dominance is better and a more equitable.

To me, there isn't too much difference between Bo5 and Bo7 frankly. Many BW fans want Bo5 just because they are used to it, while many other fans would prefer Bo7 because many tournaments have been doing it that way. There haven't been too many issues with the Bo7, so I figure no need to make the changes.
Team Slayers, Axiom-Acer and Vile forever
Apom
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
France656 Posts
July 16 2012 11:39 GMT
#25
I will like Bo7 as a format when there are 7-set tennis tournaments.

Regarding Probe1's point, it actually adresses two different topics :
- extended series - let's just all admit that they kill e-sports and move on
- double elimination - yes, I like single elimination better as a spectator... in principle. For that ship to hold water, we would need a way to properly seed players. IPL did it through uncommunicated means, and that was good. NASL did it through publicly available but ultimately bad methods, and we have a terrible finals while MC vs Stephano happened earlier.
figq
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
12519 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-16 12:19:47
July 16 2012 12:09 GMT
#26
If the grandfinal is not played on the same day as the semi-finals (like it's still done in some major events, unfortunately), I don't mind even Bo21.

There have been epic Bo7s, where we see 3-3, after initial 3-0 or 3-1, and that's certainly more epic for a series than 2-2. So yeah.

I've recently followed the Age of Empires 2 epic Bo21 series on twitch (no kidding), and following the ups and downs of the score was incredibly exciting, with the lead or momentum being exchanged.

There's more mindgames in a longer series, more room for come back, even if you lose a couple of games - hence, more room to study your opponent, adapt, and take over. It's the marathon-vs-sprint argument; generally you win long distance run by being smart and keeping your biggest strengths for later. Sometimes that creates great competitions.

Overall, I'd say let them have all kinds of formats - each flavor has its advantages and disadvantages. Currently in SC2 we have grandfinal formats ranging from Bo3 to Bo7 or even Bo9 in some team leagues. It's okay, imo.
If you stand next to my head, you can hear the ocean. - Day[9]
Daigomi
Profile Blog Joined May 2006
South Africa4316 Posts
July 16 2012 12:42 GMT
#27
Thank you Motbob! I have been arguing about this for years now so it's nice to see someone else make a similar point.

A related thing that bothers me is tournaments that use Bo5 from the Ro16 who then still include a loser's bracket, or a round robin tournament where every match is a Bo3/Bo5. We really don't need that many measures to ensure that the best player reaches the top. If you're going to make the tournament a round robin, there will be some upsets with individual matches but over the course of the tournament, the best player should rise to the top. If you're going to have a Bo5 in the Ro16, you don't need to include a loser's bracket as well. If a player loses a Bo5 against a weaker player, he deserves to be out. You've given him more than enough chances already.

Tournament organizers are way too intent on having the "best" player progress, often at the cost of excitement and game quality.
Moderator
Neelia
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany599 Posts
July 16 2012 13:05 GMT
#28
On July 16 2012 15:27 motbob wrote:
Anticlimax

Often, after a Bo7 reaches the point of 3-0 or 3-1, things can get rather boring, despite the fact that a friggin' finals is being played. The result of the series feels like a foregone conclusion. The spectators hit alt-tab, and other important internet things are done while the SC2 match finishes in the background.

If the match feels like a foregone conclusion, that's because it pretty much is. There have been 31 Bo7 series that reached the point of 3-1 or 3-0. Of those, in only one match did the disadvantaged player eventually win the series.

That's right. You could have closed out the stream and gone to bed after a 3-1 or 3-0 result and only regretted it 3.2% of the time.

This feeling of anti-climax is eliminated by a Bo5 finals format. Even players in an 0-2 hole don't seem incapable of pulling the match out.


I would be quite interesting to see if the comeback percentage of comebacks after being down 0-2 was/is much higher of if it just feels/seems more possible : )
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
July 16 2012 13:15 GMT
#29
On July 16 2012 22:05 Neelia wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2012 15:27 motbob wrote:
Anticlimax

Often, after a Bo7 reaches the point of 3-0 or 3-1, things can get rather boring, despite the fact that a friggin' finals is being played. The result of the series feels like a foregone conclusion. The spectators hit alt-tab, and other important internet things are done while the SC2 match finishes in the background.

If the match feels like a foregone conclusion, that's because it pretty much is. There have been 31 Bo7 series that reached the point of 3-1 or 3-0. Of those, in only one match did the disadvantaged player eventually win the series.

That's right. You could have closed out the stream and gone to bed after a 3-1 or 3-0 result and only regretted it 3.2% of the time.

This feeling of anti-climax is eliminated by a Bo5 finals format. Even players in an 0-2 hole don't seem incapable of pulling the match out.


I would be quite interesting to see if the comeback percentage of comebacks after being down 0-2 was/is much higher of if it just feels/seems more possible : )

Bo5 0-2 is equivalent to Bo7 1-3 from a certain standpoint, and a comeback from 1-3 has, as I've said, been done only once. In BW, there are two 0-2 comebacks that I can name off the top of my head.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Saechiis
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands4989 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-16 13:34:49
July 16 2012 13:32 GMT
#30
I think your points are rather trivial and dependant on personal preference, it sounds more like you're rationalising your existing preference for BO5's rather than making an actual statement that could sway people's opinion.
I think esports is pretty nice.
Holgerius
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Sweden16951 Posts
July 16 2012 13:38 GMT
#31
I definitely agree that Bo5s are way superior. I hope OGN will keep it the way it is for the SC2 OSL.
I believe in the almighty Grötslev! -- I am never serious and you should never believe a thing I say. Including the previous sentence.
Testuser
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
6469 Posts
July 16 2012 13:42 GMT
#32
I'm all for only having Bo1s.

Jokes aside, I completely agree with you. You presented it very well, and indeed, often a series loses it's relevance when it's Bo7. I guess it'd make it easier/tougher for the players too, only having to prepare for five scenarios while also having to keep in mind that losing one map is that much more dire.
https://soundcloud.com/papercranesdk
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-16 13:50:38
July 16 2012 13:48 GMT
#33
I think even for players Bo7 is horrible. You can't prepare properly.

I also think Bo5 series in BW, the 5th game really is amazing because both players have nothing more to lose to fall back on, so they play as hard as possible and often play to see a longer game too (not always). The 4th game is also exciting, because it is one player fighting for his right to game 5 (Jangbi vs Zero).

Bo7 is quantity over quality, pretty uniformly the SC2 experience. More tournaments, more games, more everything except concentration. SC2 is picking up, but it would pick up a lot faster if players could really focus and think about the maps.

edit: This isn't Tennis. It's not the same court every serve with slightly varied strategies. It's a completely different court that you need to prepare for. Competitive RTS isn't comparable enough to stuff like Tennis to have any value in learning from each other.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
garbanzo
Profile Joined October 2009
United States4046 Posts
July 16 2012 13:57 GMT
#34
On July 16 2012 21:42 Daigomi wrote:
Thank you Motbob! I have been arguing about this for years now so it's nice to see someone else make a similar point.

A related thing that bothers me is tournaments that use Bo5 from the Ro16 who then still include a loser's bracket, or a round robin tournament where every match is a Bo3/Bo5. We really don't need that many measures to ensure that the best player reaches the top. If you're going to make the tournament a round robin, there will be some upsets with individual matches but over the course of the tournament, the best player should rise to the top. If you're going to have a Bo5 in the Ro16, you don't need to include a loser's bracket as well. If a player loses a Bo5 against a weaker player, he deserves to be out. You've given him more than enough chances already.

Tournament organizers are way too intent on having the "best" player progress, often at the cost of excitement and game quality.

I agree with this. I never really understood this obsession with protecting the statistically better player and making sure that they get to the end. The most exciting games/series, for me, are the ones where the better prepared player wins. It's so much more exciting when you know that, statistically, player A shouldn't beat player B, but they do anyway because their builds are tailored to take advantage of player B's weaknesses. I think definitely less maps and a shorter finals series would help a lot with creating this excitement.
Even during difficult times, when I sat down to play the game, there were times where it felt like god has descended down and played [for me].
garbanzo
Profile Joined October 2009
United States4046 Posts
July 16 2012 14:00 GMT
#35
On July 16 2012 22:32 Saechiis wrote:
I think your points are rather trivial and dependant on personal preference, it sounds more like you're rationalising your existing preference for BO5's rather than making an actual statement that could sway people's opinion.

Umm...he brings up very valid statistics, data, and analysis. If anything he's doing the opposite of what you're saying.
Even during difficult times, when I sat down to play the game, there were times where it felt like god has descended down and played [for me].
Flip9
Profile Joined June 2012
Germany151 Posts
July 16 2012 14:07 GMT
#36
As a spectator I prefer Bo5 even throu Bo7 might reward skill a bit more

Poll: What would you prefer to see?

Bo5 (27)
 
87%

Bo7 (4)
 
13%

31 total votes

Your vote: What would you prefer to see?

(Vote): Bo5
(Vote): Bo7

Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
July 16 2012 14:14 GMT
#37
On July 16 2012 22:57 garbanzo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2012 21:42 Daigomi wrote:
Thank you Motbob! I have been arguing about this for years now so it's nice to see someone else make a similar point.

A related thing that bothers me is tournaments that use Bo5 from the Ro16 who then still include a loser's bracket, or a round robin tournament where every match is a Bo3/Bo5. We really don't need that many measures to ensure that the best player reaches the top. If you're going to make the tournament a round robin, there will be some upsets with individual matches but over the course of the tournament, the best player should rise to the top. If you're going to have a Bo5 in the Ro16, you don't need to include a loser's bracket as well. If a player loses a Bo5 against a weaker player, he deserves to be out. You've given him more than enough chances already.

Tournament organizers are way too intent on having the "best" player progress, often at the cost of excitement and game quality.

I agree with this. I never really understood this obsession with protecting the statistically better player and making sure that they get to the end. The most exciting games/series, for me, are the ones where the better prepared player wins. It's so much more exciting when you know that, statistically, player A shouldn't beat player B, but they do anyway because their builds are tailored to take advantage of player B's weaknesses. I think definitely less maps and a shorter finals series would help a lot with creating this excitement.

Yeah, I think that you aren't even ensuring the best player goes through when you have more games. You're just rewarding a player for different things (I guess mechanics and general knowledge?), where the things that make StarCraft exciting like strategy and timings aren't rewarded in that system. Players need both time and motivation. Motivation comes from getting deep in the tournament, time comes from having less games to prepare for. I think it is actually ridiculous that group stages in GSL are a bo3 per matchup. It just makes everything take forever.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Osmoses
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Sweden5302 Posts
July 16 2012 14:23 GMT
#38
All statistics aside, bo7 is just too long. Guess the sponsors want more opportunities for advertising.
Excuse me hun, but what is your name? Vivian? I woke up next to you naked and, uh, did we, um?
JingleHell
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States11308 Posts
July 16 2012 14:42 GMT
#39
With Bo7, I get bored. Especially if the players aren't players where I'm emotionally invested in one or the other winning. A Bo5, I'll watch anyways usually.

Aerisky
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States12129 Posts
July 16 2012 14:50 GMT
#40
On July 16 2012 20:39 Apom wrote:
I will like Bo7 as a format when there are 7-set tennis tournaments.

Regarding Probe1's point, it actually adresses two different topics :
- extended series - let's just all admit that they kill e-sports and move on
- double elimination - yes, I like single elimination better as a spectator... in principle. For that ship to hold water, we would need a way to properly seed players. IPL did it through uncommunicated means, and that was good. NASL did it through publicly available but ultimately bad methods, and we have a terrible finals while MC vs Stephano happened earlier.

Basically, never? Nice wan :D

But yeah, as I read more and more posts, I'm becoming even more swayed to eh Bo5 side. Granted Bo7 can be pretty interesting, but not with one-on-one series. The key, I think, is the need to have good seeding.
Jim while Johnny had had had had had had had; had had had had the better effect on the teacher.
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
00:00
Code For Giants Cup #28
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech123
UpATreeSC 118
Nina 62
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 19778
Sea 8391
ToSsGirL 45
Dota 2
monkeys_forever430
NeuroSwarm173
resolut1ontv 148
League of Legends
JimRising 697
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K114
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King115
Other Games
summit1g11752
C9.Mang0468
WinterStarcraft395
RuFF_SC243
Liquid`Ken13
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1304
ComeBackTV 74
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 15
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Scarra2378
• Lourlo1201
• Stunt312
Upcoming Events
CranKy Ducklings
4h 26m
RSL Revival
4h 26m
MaxPax vs Rogue
Clem vs Bunny
WardiTV Team League
6h 26m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
11h 26m
BSL
14h 26m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 4h
RSL Revival
1d 4h
ByuN vs SHIN
Maru vs Krystianer
WardiTV Team League
1d 6h
Patches Events
1d 11h
BSL
1d 14h
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
1d 18h
Replay Cast
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
WardiTV Team League
3 days
GSL
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
WardiTV Team League
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
WardiTV Team League
6 days
Korean StarCraft League
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-13
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
BSL Season 22
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
2026 Changsha Offline CUP
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
CSLAN 4
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
NationLESS Cup
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.