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What is the MSL?How does the group phase of the MSL work?
How does the bracket phase of the MSL work?
How does Survivor work?
How do the Offline Preliminaries work?
How can I watch the MSL live?
What is the MSL?
MSL stands for MBCGame Starleague. MBCGame is a division of MBC which is one of Korea’s biggest television networks. Although traditionally MSL is seen as the lesser of the two major leagues, these days it is seen on par with OSL (in fact it currently has larger monetary backing than OSL). MBC also sponsor a progaming team.
What is the format of the MSL?
The MSL is a 32 man tournament which takes about three and a half months to finish, with two weeks in between each MSL. The MSL has a very simple structure and is divided into three stages; MSL, Survivor and the offline qualifies. Here is a diagram explaining the whole process, but don’t worry if you don’t understand – it will all be explained.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/mslpathyb4.jpg)
Who plays in the MSL?
This is a very good question to ask as the process can be really confusing at times. The MSL contains 32 players. 24 of these players qualify through the MSL preliminaries commonly known as Survivor. Survivor is a process in itself and will be explained later on. The remaining 8 players come from the previous MSL tournament. The top 8 finishers from the previous MSL are given seeds for the next MSL. A seed guarantees a player a spot in the next MSL – no qualification round needed.
So how does the MSL work?
MSL works in two phases – a group phase and a bracket phase.
How does the Group Phase work?
The most confusing thing about the group phase is how the groups are decided. MSL uses a format called the ‘Steal Draft’. The Steal Draft is a somewhat long and complicated process, not helped at all by the large number of players that qualify for each MSL season. If you need to know how groups are made, read the spoiler. If you are interested in the league format, it isn’t very important.
+ Show Spoiler [Draft Rules] +
Here’s how it works:
The first eight seeds are placed into groups A through H, with the first seed in Group A and the eighth seed in Group H. The first eight seeds may never be moved by any player, they remain in the groups in which they are seeded. Seeds nine through sixteen are determined by previous MSL appearances and performance, with more obviously being better. Seeds nine through sixteen are placed into the other pair in groups A through H, but in reverse order. Seeds eight and nine would be in the same group, then seven and ten, six and eleven and so on up until the first and sixteenth.
Once players are placed into the groups, the remaining players are also ranked based upon previous MSL appearance and performances. Starting with the seventeenth, and ending with the thirty-second, each player takes his own name and places it in an open spot next to the player he wishes to play against.
After everyone has been placed upon the board, the stealing begins. It starts in ascending order at the sixteenth seed and moves all the way up to the first. Seed nine through sixteen are allowed three options: (1) Exchange himself with another player, (2) Exchange his current opponent with another player, or (3) Pass the turn and exchange no one.
Seeds three through eight work a little differently. They are able to pick two moves from the following: (1) Exchange a player in their group with another player, (2) Exchange any two other players with each other, or (3) Pass the turn and exchange no one. Seeds two and one earn a few more decisions. They are able to switch any player with another player and may do so up to three times or until they wish to pass.
The first eight seeds are placed into groups A through H, with the first seed in Group A and the eighth seed in Group H. The first eight seeds may never be moved by any player, they remain in the groups in which they are seeded. Seeds nine through sixteen are determined by previous MSL appearances and performance, with more obviously being better. Seeds nine through sixteen are placed into the other pair in groups A through H, but in reverse order. Seeds eight and nine would be in the same group, then seven and ten, six and eleven and so on up until the first and sixteenth.
Once players are placed into the groups, the remaining players are also ranked based upon previous MSL appearance and performances. Starting with the seventeenth, and ending with the thirty-second, each player takes his own name and places it in an open spot next to the player he wishes to play against.
After everyone has been placed upon the board, the stealing begins. It starts in ascending order at the sixteenth seed and moves all the way up to the first. Seed nine through sixteen are allowed three options: (1) Exchange himself with another player, (2) Exchange his current opponent with another player, or (3) Pass the turn and exchange no one.
Seeds three through eight work a little differently. They are able to pick two moves from the following: (1) Exchange a player in their group with another player, (2) Exchange any two other players with each other, or (3) Pass the turn and exchange no one. Seeds two and one earn a few more decisions. They are able to switch any player with another player and may do so up to three times or until they wish to pass.
Once the groups are decided the games begin in an ODT style bracket.
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Plexa/groupphase2.PNG)
The two winners from the group advance on to the bracket phase of the MSL.
How does the Bracket Phase work?
The Bracket Phase is a 16 man single elimination tournament. The Round of 16 is Best of 3, while the Round of 8, Semifinals and Finals are Best of 5.
Who plays in the Bracket Phase?
The winners from the group phase play in the Bracket phase.
So how are these players organized?
The 16 players are arranged by their group letter and whether they were the group winner or runner up into a 16-man bracket. Usually this suffices, however for one reason or another one side of the bracket becomes stacked with a number of high KeSPA ranked players. In this situation, the bracket is generated so that there is an even distribution of high ranking KeSPA players. This reshuffle takes place before the Round of 8 commences.
What does "thumbs down" mean?
Before each round in the Bracket phase starts players get the opportunity to ‘thumbs down’ a map. This means that this map will not be used in the players Round of 16 match. Maps can also be thumbed down in the round of 8 and beyond, but this time it means the thumbed down map won’t be repeated for the 1st and 5th set.
Who gets to "thumbs down" maps?
In the round of 16 this privilege is given to the group winners and allow them to eliminate one map from the map pool for their Round of 16 map. This allows them to choose which 3 of the 4 maps they would like to play on. In the round of 8 and beyond both players get to thumbs down a map.
Where do the maps come from?
The maps come from a variety of places. MBC choose 4 maps for the MSL. These maps may be commissioned by MBC for MSL (from places like intothemap.com) or may be borrowed from Proleague or OSL. Traditionally MBC opt for conservative maps that are likely to be balanced as opposed to radical concept maps. Recently, MBC have chosen two maps from the Proleague map pool and two of their own commissioned maps.
What is the MBCGame Survivor
MBCGame Survivor, commonly referred to as Survivor, is the qualification tournament for the MSL. There are 12 groups of 4 players with 2 people advancing from each group into the MSL. That makes a total of 24 players which come from Survivor to the MSL.
Who plays in Survivor?
The 8 players who went 1-2 in their MSL group from the previous MSL are guaranteed a spot in Survivor and they make up a quarter of the player pool. The next 8 come from those who were eliminated during the Round of 16 in the previous MSL. The next 12 spots are made up of the highest ranked KeSPA player on each team that is not already in the MSL (To clarify, this is the player with the highest rank on each team who is not currently participating in the MSL). The other 20 come from the Offline Preliminaries – which will be explained later. So that makes a total of 48 players competing for 24 available spots.
How does Survivor Work?
The Survivor group works identically to that of the MSL group phase.
The winning two players advance through to the MSL while the other two have to try their luck next season and re-qualify through the offline preliminaries.
What maps do they play on?
Survivor uses all 4 maps from the previous MSL, but the order of the maps vary from group to group. Usually, there is 1 map for the first game, a different map for the second game, 1 map for both the winners and the losers and 1 map for the tiebreak. These maps may or may not be used in the upcoming MSL.
What is the result of Survivor?
24 players advancing from Survivor + 8 seeds = 32 players for the next MSL
What are the Offline Preliminaries?
The offline preliminaries are the qualifiers for Survivor. There are 20 groups and each of the group winners qualify for Survivor. Officially these are also called Survivor, but to make life simple, we simply call them the Offline Preliminaries.
Who can play in the offline preliminaries?
Any player with a valid pro-gamers license is eligible to compete in this tournament. Thus there are many many participants for this tournament. These players are arranged into 8 man groups, but are not necessarily full. Often highly ranked KeSPA players will receive a bye in the first round (meaning there are 7 players in the group). The highest ranked KeSPA player from each team is automatically seeded into Survivor and does not participate in the Offline Preliminaries. To clarify, this is the player with the highest rank on each team who is not currently participating in the MSL
How do we determine who advances?
The group plays an 8-man single elimination tournament with each round being best of three. The player that is left undefeated is the group winner and qualifies for Survivor.
What maps are used?
The maps for the offline preliminaries are the 4 maps used in the previous MSL. The order of the maps differs from group to group however.
How do I watch the MSL live?
The Ultimate Starcraft VOD/Live Stream Guide has all the different ways you can watch the MSL live.
Do you understand now?
Hopefully? If you have questions feel free to post in this thread without fear of ridicule. I'm always happy to help a fellow fan understand the ways of the Koreans. I would prefer if you didn't PM me though, some people may have the same questions so feel free to ask them in the thread.
