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51691 Posts
Hello.
This is the representative for the ASL writing here.
We sincerely thank everyone who has shown interest and participation in the ACS, which has served as the gateway to the ASL.
Starting in 2026, the ASL will discontinue the existing ACS and introduce a new format, the "ASL Season Open."
The ASL Season Open is open to anyone, regardless of ASL Points, and will be a one-day tournament, with all matches up to the finals taking place within a single day.
We aim to create unexpected surprises and new strategies, including single-elimination matches, and offer a different level of excitement and excitement than the traditional best-of-five format of the ASL.
The two final winners of each round will receive prize money and a spot in the Round of 24 of the next ASL season.
We ask for your continued interest and participation in the new ASL Season Open.
■ Application for Participation
- From Wednesday, February 11th to Wednesday, February 18th, 11:59 PM
- Application Page (GGGL): [Apply]
- Map Download
■ Broadcast Schedule
- Day 1: Live broadcast on Saturday, February 21st at 12:00 PM
- Day 2: Live broadcast on Saturday, February 28th at 12:00 PM
Please note that players participating in the tournament cannot broadcast personally during online matches. However, personal broadcasting will be available after the match concludes.
For a smooth online tournament, please create a Discord account if you do not already have one.
After each round, the winner must save the replay and immediately share it with the team.
If the replay file is not uploaded, the next match may not proceed.
To prevent cheating, players are required to record themselves and their gameplay during the preliminary rounds.
The management team may request the submission of recorded videos at a later date. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
(It is the player's responsibility to prepare a suitable recording environment, including recording equipment and stands.)
Source: https://www.sooplive.co.kr/station/afstar1/post/186524687
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51691 Posts
Hope Artosis can get the chance to cast these games - given it's an fully open one-day bracket we should have some great matchups given this gives winners a direct seed into the Ro24 proper and enables them to avoid the lottery that is the open qualifiers.
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It's a negative in way that it will replace potential new faces
but common criticism with those players qualifying through ACS spots were that it often provided "free" win in group stages and the disparity between regulars and ACS qualifiers were way too large to give a good game.
But on other hand we will see even more regular faces over and over
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Seems like an additional day of ASL quals except way more competitive. Maybe Flash and Queen make it through and don't squash BTS and Stork in the normal qual groups, making it [potentially] slightly better on the latter folks.
If Saber did better last season instead of being turned into a drum set, I wonder if these changes would have been made. I guess the disparity between the amateurs and ro24 is deemed too large still, and being seeded into ro24 without having to face any heavy hitters was favoring of equity over equality.
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bo1, ok, time to train overpool opening vs terran.
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On February 12 2026 14:03 jinjin5000 wrote:
It's a negative in way that it will replace potential new faces
but common criticism with those players qualifying through ACS spots were that it often provided "free" win in group stages and the disparity between regulars and ACS qualifiers were way too large to give a good game.
But on other hand we will see even more regular faces over and over
While usually true, some of these new faces have performed better than old faces. I think it is vital for the scene to at least give new faces a chance. It's just 1-2 spots. I think that's a fair shake to try and keep the scene alive in the long run.
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"We aim to create unexpected surprises and new strategies"
Which are exactly unexpected surprises and new strategies? 4 pool, 1 base with Carrier, only 3 barracks timing push?
I don't see anything surprises from the almost 30 years game!
Maybe, there is a protoss after doing 2 gates in center and see 14 CC then he will quit the game without gg because his honor so high.
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It's pretty important for up and coming players to have attainable goals, and getting the ACS spot was one of them. This feels a bit damaging long term in favor of short term benefits.
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On February 12 2026 23:31 seRapH wrote:
It's pretty important for up and coming players to have attainable goals, and getting the ACS spot was one of them. This feels a bit damaging long term in favor of short term benefits.
They get two shots now through this format, instead of 1 through the ACS.
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On February 13 2026 09:10 RJBTVYOUTUBE wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2026 23:31 seRapH wrote:
It's pretty important for up and coming players to have attainable goals, and getting the ACS spot was one of them. This feels a bit damaging long term in favor of short term benefits. They get two shots now through this format, instead of 1 through the ACS.
Wouldn't make a huge difference if you had 2 more shots against Mike Tyson, my dude. If anything, duck out and keep your face recognizable.
The ASL quals will now be free of 2 of the best unseeded players, but with 1 fewer qualifying slot available: ACS qualified 1 player and now ASL open is qualifying 2 players. Of course, it was easier to reach the finals of ACS than it will be of ASL Open. I'm not a math guy so unsure as to what this actually does to the odds of a yabsab or soO or Ruin making it into ASL. Interesting to note, I believe yabsab was 1 game away from beating effort in the final round of the quals last season. There are many similar stories.
Anyway, it's technically a fairer system in an unfair game where skill gaps are massive. It's what ACS was trying to negotiate but nothing is free so the ro24 fringe players who have been in ASL and couldn't compete in ACS were slightly punished.
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I suppose that means more high quality games overall which is nice, too bad about the amateur players though.
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Hopefully we get some great games, a little sad this could replace us getting new faces into the tournament
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On February 13 2026 20:42 felleN wrote:
Hopefully we get some great games, a little sad this could replace us getting new faces into the tournament
Never really understood this.
Unless I'm entirely missing something if someone can't qualify they don't deserve to be there.
Also BW by nature plus single elim will probably produce some unexpected results.
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On February 14 2026 00:43 Agh wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2026 20:42 felleN wrote:
Hopefully we get some great games, a little sad this could replace us getting new faces into the tournament Never really understood this. Unless I'm entirely missing something if someone can't qualify they don't deserve to be there.
That is true if you have a healthy competitive scene with way to naturally grow from beginner to the top. BW has not a healthy competitive scene. There is old dogs that have an insane knowledge and skill advantage as well as tourney and stage experience from their pro days. They mostly retain their bubble, although universities were a great attempt to open that up. If you retain all knowledge and don't give people a fair possibility to play the best players regularly, get coachings, stage experience etc. new people will, bar for some very rare exceptions, never be able to close that gap.
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Some Pros are willing to teach someone if they like the person and think this person has shown promise
RoyaL for example has received heaps of tutoring from Light.
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See, that's the problem. "If they like someone"... Most people don't have the benefit of becoming liked in the first place.
Royal is part of the bubble. He was already a progamer at SKT so he has the connections. It's hard to get these connections as someone who is basically a nobody.
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51691 Posts
well there's soma, but even then he was a former stx soul trainee and is close friends with larva.
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Good, I prefer players qualifying trough merits. It much better when the best and most deserving players gets the spots.
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Finally! Been waiting for this.
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Some players who have qualified in the past were evidently not ready, except they made it in through the qualifiers not the ACS. ACS winners rarely won their Qualifiers finals auto-seed match.
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How is this any different from the qualifier days? Or just a little more variance with bo1 mass bracket? Expect a lot of cheese I guess. Every PvZ is gonna be a hydra bust shitshow.
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you didnt get autoqualified by winning ACS, you still had to win a qualifier(just got seeded into the finals), so how does this really change anything?
I think its probably good
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On February 16 2026 19:03 Return wrote:
you didnt get autoqualified by winning ACS, you still had to win a qualifier(just got seeded into the finals), so how does this really change anything?
I think its probably good
Last two seasons had autoqualification for winning ACS. befor that it was a finals seed. But last two seasons they also opened ACS to players who already had Ro24 qualified in the past. Before that it was exclusively for the not qualified.
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On February 14 2026 01:27 Miragee wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2026 00:43 Agh wrote:On February 13 2026 20:42 felleN wrote:
Hopefully we get some great games, a little sad this could replace us getting new faces into the tournament Never really understood this. Unless I'm entirely missing something if someone can't qualify they don't deserve to be there. That is true if you have a healthy competitive scene with way to naturally grow from beginner to the top. BW has not a healthy competitive scene. There is old dogs that have an insane knowledge and skill advantage as well as tourney and stage experience from their pro days. They mostly retain their bubble, although universities were a great attempt to open that up. If you retain all knowledge and don't give people a fair possibility to play the best players regularly, get coachings, stage experience etc. new people will, bar for some very rare exceptions, never be able to close that gap.
Mmmm.. it is hard to get on board with this ''cartel'' argument, it just feels lacking in substance. All the pros stream extensively.. replays are for the most part available... everyone has access to an almost unlimited amount of data.. the ladder exist for a reason, and everyone who can rise to the top of it gets to practice against the very best.. Perhaps the only valid aspect of this argument is that people who can afford to do that for a living can devote themselves full time to practice, but if someone's young hungry and resourceful there's every chance for them to brake through, since in such a dynamic ever-evolving game having solid fundamentals is hardly the only deciding factor (albeit the main one).. It seems to me it's not lack of skill, but lack of composure that causes the ''new dogs'' to fail right at the final stages of qualifiers. If what you're saying was the case - those same final stages of the qualifiers should have been obvious stomps alarmingly often, and they are anything [b]but [/b ]that..
So in conclusion - I think the scene will become rather unhealthy and unnatural if some factor was to be introduced to somehow negate/impair the rightfully-earned experience of them ''old dogs''. One may even say that youth, ambition, still actively-firing hormones and fit/energetic bodies is already plenty enough of a factor in that direction.
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On February 19 2026 21:41 nikolaus8844 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 14 2026 01:27 Miragee wrote:On February 14 2026 00:43 Agh wrote:On February 13 2026 20:42 felleN wrote:
Hopefully we get some great games, a little sad this could replace us getting new faces into the tournament Never really understood this. Unless I'm entirely missing something if someone can't qualify they don't deserve to be there. That is true if you have a healthy competitive scene with way to naturally grow from beginner to the top. BW has not a healthy competitive scene. There is old dogs that have an insane knowledge and skill advantage as well as tourney and stage experience from their pro days. They mostly retain their bubble, although universities were a great attempt to open that up. If you retain all knowledge and don't give people a fair possibility to play the best players regularly, get coachings, stage experience etc. new people will, bar for some very rare exceptions, never be able to close that gap. Mmmm.. it is hard to get on board with this ''cartel'' argument, it just feels lacking in substance. All the pros stream extensively.. replays are for the most part available... everyone has access to an almost unlimited amount of data.. the ladder exist for a reason, and everyone who can rise to the top of it gets to practice against the very best.. Perhaps the only valid aspect of this argument is that people who can afford to do that for a living can devote themselves full time to practice, but if someone's young hungry and resourceful there's every chance for them to brake through, since in such a dynamic ever-evolving game having solid fundamentals is hardly the only deciding factor (albeit the main one).. It seems to me it's not lack of skill, but lack of composure that causes the ''new dogs'' to fail right at the final stages of qualifiers. If what you're saying was the case - those same final stages of the qualifiers should have been obvious stomps alarmingly often, and they are anything [b]but [/b ]that.. So in conclusion - I think the scene will become rather unhealthy and unnatural if some factor was to be introduced to somehow negate/impair the rightfully-earned experience of them ''old dogs''. One may even say that youth, ambition, still actively-firing hormones and fit/energetic bodies is already plenty enough of a factor in that direction.
There is actually some truth to the "cartel argument". It is no cartel but it is the fact they play BW for a living. If you are not already a streamer who can contribute to proleague prizepools, or finance spon matches through viewers or out of their own pocket, it is incredibly difficult to get better after a certain point of skill. You need to play vs the top pros in serious settings in order to grow beyond a certain point. You also need their insights and their situational knowledge. For all of this you need money, or achievements, but usually the monetary aspect comes before the achievements.
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So watching the first broadcast game here: Snow vs Rush.
Why is Snow playing? Isn't he auto into round of 16 as last year's runner up?
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On February 21 2026 12:12 RowdierBob wrote:
So watching the first broadcast game here: Snow vs Rush.
Why is Snow playing? Isn't he auto into round of 16 as last year's runner up?
No idea what's going on. I can't find a bracket.
Here's the liquipedia but not updated:
 ASL/21/Qualifier/OPEN/1/Qualifier
No idea about SnOw. There is prize money and it's open to anyone. But possibility they've done away with seeds? Barracks would flip a desk if that were the case.
No idea. Wish it were easier to follow.
+ Show Spoiler +
tLdr: no clue
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Queen Hero Best made to the r4.
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As expected, all the players who made it to the finals were former professional , not amateur players.
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LMAO Dark Archon instant GG
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I wanted to enjoy this but was impossible to follow or get invested. Afreeca rep posted a separate thread with hashtags and no link to a bracket. Very bizarre. Guess i'm waitin for the ro16. See y'all there.
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Who is HY? This guy is crushing.
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Kinda surprised at the low turnout for this event, especially the lack of foreign players. Thought this would’ve been a cool tourney for a lot of amateur players to enter. Not often you can get a game against a top pro.
Maybe the camera setup was too onerous for many?
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Broadcast for this was really weird. They would show you the results in the bracket then broadcast the game after you know who’s going to win. Curious approach.
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On February 21 2026 17:24 RowdierBob wrote:
Broadcast for this was really weird. They would show you the results in the bracket then broadcast the game after you know who’s going to win. Curious approach.
if they didn't show the result before casting you still know one of 2 players would win too. I love to watch PvZ recently because I just need to see one of them would be defeat.
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On February 21 2026 17:24 RowdierBob wrote:
Broadcast for this was really weird. They would show you the results in the bracket then broadcast the game after you know who’s going to win. Curious approach.
That is certainly an approach of all time.
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The event played out weird with the broadcast.....
But Glad we got to see BliSs perform so well. He is a ZvZ monster. Also really surprised by him beating JyJ, shinee, and Shuttle. That was a monster performance from him. Definitely hope this gives him a bit of an opening to play more spons and maybe get a bit more room outside of the ladder to grow again.
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On February 21 2026 17:24 RowdierBob wrote:
Broadcast for this was really weird. They would show you the results in the bracket then broadcast the game after you know who’s going to win. Curious approach.
Yup, this is why I didn't really watch much of it except the final match. Normally qualifiers is maybe my favorite thing in all of Brood War. Was disappointed but oh well, we have a ton of high-quality BW right now so no biggie.
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United States10562 Posts
On February 24 2026 22:50 bulbousbrain wrote:Show nested quote +On February 21 2026 17:24 RowdierBob wrote:
Broadcast for this was really weird. They would show you the results in the bracket then broadcast the game after you know who’s going to win. Curious approach. Yup, this is why I didn't really watch much of it except the final match. Normally qualifiers is maybe my favorite thing in all of Brood War. Was disappointed but oh well, we have a ton of high-quality BW right now so no biggie.
These two qualifiers are just like appetizers to the main qualifier days.
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On February 21 2026 21:11 RJBTVYOUTUBE wrote:
The event played out weird with the broadcast.....
But Glad we got to see BliSs perform so well. He is a ZvZ monster. Also really surprised by him beating JyJ, shinee, and Shuttle. That was a monster performance from him. Definitely hope this gives him a bit of an opening to play more spons and maybe get a bit more room outside of the ladder to grow again.
He also beat Shiny who had just upset JD and True. He is a winner!
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On February 26 2026 07:34 nachtkap wrote:
Sooooo does anyone know who the 2nd place finisher HY 허유진 is yet?
Bliss. its been mentioned a few times.
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Bliss. its been mentioned a few times.
Commented before I got to the end of Artosis casting. Sorry. Kinda assumed he would have checked here. So post from a couple days ago didnt seem that relevant...
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SSAK VS MINI OMG??? MINI MINI MINI
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Oh it started a bit earlier today.r4 stage already.
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51446 Posts
effort looking hella boned
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51446 Posts
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51446 Posts
this is a very matchpoint PvZ
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Rush's green screen looks like a hospital bed curtain. I almost expect a nurse to come over and check his blood pressure.
GomTVT JA JINJA
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Hm, where can I find the stream or is this already over?
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On February 28 2026 20:28 Miragee wrote:
Hm, where can I find the stream or is this already over?
Its already over, you can watch the vods on asl soop channel.
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On February 28 2026 21:35 felleN wrote:Show nested quote +On February 28 2026 20:28 Miragee wrote:
Hm, where can I find the stream or is this already over? Its already over, you can watch the vods on asl soop channel.
Ok, ty!
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EPT
