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Thanks for the amazing level of response! Teams should be finalized in the next few days and coaches will be getting in touch with their players!
Hello Team Liquid!
Last year, a wildly successful league for new players was run by our very own L_Master, Jealous, and LazerSnipe. The Coach Pupil League paired teams of new players with dedicated coaches to compete in a several month league aimed at player improvement. As a participant last year who thoroughly enjoyed my experience, I want to revive the idea and return with Season 2!
I intend to run a 3-5 month league for players who feel like they are stagnant at the lower end of the ladder or who feel like they cannot compete in any of the current tournaments or events. The exact format will depend on the level of response and active participants, but I fully intend for this to be a team style league much like last season. You can read more about S1 here: Coach-Pupil League
What I want from this thread is a roll call of who would be interested in participating. I need to know how many players/coaches/admins to expect. Once I have a good gauge of numbers I’ll release a full set of rules and format. There has already been a lot of good discussion on this topic after the close of last league and I intend to use much of the feedback from this thread for season 2:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/bw-tournaments/525469-coach-pupil-league-2-discussion
You should sign up as a player if you:
Feel like you can't improve
Would benefit from a mid-high level player giving advice
Don’t feel able to compete in any tournaments (even lower level tourneys like the Rookie TeamLeague)
You should sign up as a coach if you:
Have a good level of knowledge about the game and want to share it with others
Want to give back to the community and see foreign Broodwar grow.
You should sign up as an admin if you:
Have a skillset that will be helpful (Liquipedia, casting, graphics, etc.)
Want to participate in a community organized event
Support the idea of the CPL
Note: Players and coaches are encouraged to apply for admin tasks as well
I do not want to set a hard MMR divide between the players and coaches as it's such a new benchmark. I'm hoping it will be fairly obvious what you should be signing up for. If you wish to be a player but the general skill level of the league is well below yours then you will be promoted to coach status. Please do not sign up as a player if you are obviously able to compete in current tournaments.
Edit: Seems like a lot of people consider themselves in the middle between coach and and player. If you are willing to do either role and are just waiting to what skill level signs up please specify as some of you have been. If you are only willing to be a coach or player and will not participate if you find yourself on the wrong side of the skill division please specify.
A note on participation:
I appreciate that for many of us we have full time jobs and other life commitments that take precedence over Starcraft. At a minimum I expect this season to run for three months, although if we get a lot of teams it may run longer. Please only sign up if you have an intention of interacting with your team outside of the weekly scheduled match. Remember that you will get out of the CPL what you put into the CPL.
If you are interested, please post to the thread with the following information:
Coach/Player
Battlenet Name:
Battlenet Server:
TimeZone:
MMR:
Race:
Admin Role (optional):
Edit If you haven't already, PLEASE JOIN THE DISCORD
https://discord.gg/BJWDeBg
I've gotten enough response that I know the major format of the league. Some of the specifics such as date/time and exact team numbers will be worked out next week as I get in contact with everyone. Expect a poll for some items in the future.
Format
Round robin team tournament. Each week teams will cycle through their opponents and play five bo3 matches on the same three map set (map pool TBD).
Teams will consist of a single or pair of coaches, an A team (roughly 1600-1900 MMR) and a B team (roughly 0-1600 MMR).
Every match will consist of three B-team series and two A-team series.
The league will consist of two full rounds of round-robin where each team will play every other team twice.
At the completion of the league there will be a brief period of playoffs, exact format TBD.
Rules
1. Absolutely no BM or harassment. This is a educational and fun league that all players benefit from. If you cannot play nice, you will be removed. Good natured shit talk is acceptable, but don't push it into BM territory.
2. Games can be pre-played if you and your opponent can coordinate an acceptable time. Otherwise all games must be played at the specified time/date (TBD).
3. One player or coach is responsible for reporting game results, providing replays, and providing the next week's lineup every week.
4. Substitutions are allowed provided that the subs are playing the same race as submitted in the lineup and are in the appropriate team (A or B team).
5. A-team players are expected to assist with coaching of B-team players.