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MLG Format Explanation

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
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motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-26 18:23:05
February 27 2011 06:13 GMT
#1
UPDATE for MLG Columbus/Raleigh: click here for updated diagram

There are a couple differences from before. Note that Koreans are now seeded into Pool Play, as described in this thread. Also, note that this fact "bumps out" four qualification spots from the open bracket. At Dallas, the four players who lost in the final round of the Winners' Open Bracket, as well as the eight players who made it to the top eight in the Losers' Open Bracket, advanced to the championship bracket. At Columbus, the top eight in the Loser's Open Bracket will play each other, leaving only four players to advance.

The final, obvious change is that the Championship Bracket changes slightly to accommodate the 6th place player in the pools.

If these changes were confusing, simply compare the two diagrams. Here is the Dallas diagram and here is the Columbus diagram.





OLD POST:

MLG's new format is very different from tournament formats the SC2 community has seen so far. It seems as if every other post in the official MLG format thread is expressing annoyance at the format or confusion over how it works. This is because Slasher's post appears to be written with brevity in mind as opposed to clarity, and written with Pool Play as the focus, when in fact the Championship Losers' Bracket should be the focus.

So in the spirit of saving tournament organizers from themselves, let's walk through the new MLG format, see how it works, and see why it's a good format for spectators (if not so much for players). With pictures!


We start the discussion by explaining the three main elements of the format.

The Open Bracket is a 256 (max) person bracket. Anyone can purchase a player pass and enter this bracket. It is double elimination, which means there is a Winners' Bracket and a Losers' Bracket. After a player loses a match in the Winners' Bracket, he is moved to the Losers' Bracket, and after a player loses a match in the Losers' Bracket, he is eliminated. After four players remain in the Winners' Bracket, competition ends and all four players move into Pool Play. Meanwhile, in the Losers' Bracket, after there are 12 players remaining, competition ends and all twelve move into the Championship Bracket.

The Championship Bracket is a 32 man bracket, and as its name implies, whoever comes out on top of the bracket is the winner of the entire MLG event. This bracket is also double elimination. However, it works very differently from, say, the bracket we saw in MLG Dallas. It has a Winners' Bracket and a Losers' Bracket, but the Winners' Bracket only has four players (determined from Pool Play) and the Losers' Bracket has 28 players seeded in from various parts of Pool Play and the Open Bracket. Understanding who exactly goes where in the Losers' Bracket of the Championship Bracket really requires a diagram, which I'll produce in due time.

Pool Play is a set of four groups, with five people in each group, for a total of 20 players. The groups are made up like so: sixteen players with good results in previous MLGs (based on a points system that you can read about here) are seeded directly into Pool Play. Four players from the Open Bracket also make it into Pool Play, as discussed above. Everyone in pool play plays each other to determine group standings. The #1 player in each group advances to the Championship Bracket Winners' Bracket, for a total of four. The #2, #3, #4, and #5 players in each group are seeded into the Championship Bracket Losers' Bracket.


So we can basically sum up the above by saying that the final destination of the tournament is the Championship Bracket, whether you get to the Championship Bracket from the Loser's Bracket of the Open Bracket, or whether you get there from Pool Play.

Let's break out the pictures now, to make sure everyone is on the same page. To start off: the tournament has a maximum of 272 players, 16 of which are seeded into pool play and 256 of which enter the open bracket.

[image loading]



Pool Play is explained pretty well by the following diagram.

[image loading]



Now, remember that the Loser's Bracket of the Championship Bracket gets players from a variety of different places, and understanding where exactly each player goes can be confusing. So here's a diagram that might help with that. If it's still confusing, read down further until you get to the big diagram that ties everything together.

[image loading]
click the image for a clearer version



And here's a diagram that shows the rest of the Championship Bracket:

[image loading]



And here's the image that ties it all together!

[image loading]
click the image for a larger version



I want to list some things about the tournament that the above diagrams don't make clear.

First of all, the entire tournament is Bo3, unless an extended series occurs. If the Championship Match isn't an extended series, then the person coming from the Winners' Bracket has to win one Bo3 to win the tournament, while the person coming from the Losers' Bracket has to win two.

After players are eliminated, they will play a few consolation matches to determine their exact 1st-32nd place ranking. This is for the purpose of awarding prize money and Player Points.

Tiebreaking procedures in Pool Play:
Ties will be broken using the following Tiebreakers in this order: Head to Head, Games Won Percentage, and Seed. If there is a tie involving more than two Players and one of the Tiebreakers resolves the tie for a Player(s), but leaves at least two Players tied, resolution of the tie(s) that still exists will start over with Tiebreaker #1.
So, basically, tiebreaking games will never be played.

Starcraft 2 Player Passes will be sold online for $70, and sold at Check-In for $80 if there is an open spot in the Bracket.



Now let's talk about why this format is awesome for spectators and not so awesome for players.

The idea behind this format is that MLG can broadcast exciting games between good players at all times. Pool play starts immediately on Day 1, and when pool play winds down, games will be going on in the Championship Bracket, so spectators will be able to be able to see awesome games like Liquid`Tyler vs EGIdra throughout the match, instead of having to suffer through Liquid`Tyler vs LocalKidWithMoneyToBurn for a few hours.

Additionally, this format does a better job of allowing the best players to rise to the top.

Unfortunately, this format has one major downside: it's extraordinarily taxing on non-seeds. A player seeded into Pool Play, if he were to win all of his Bo3s and win the tournament, would play seven Bo3s. However, a player coming up from the Open Bracket might play as many as twenty-one Bo3s. There's obviously a big difference here. I think we're going to see that seeded players are going to have a significant physical advantage over the non-seeded players when the final matches of the event roll around.

Anyway, I hope this post was informative to you.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
blade55555
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States17423 Posts
February 27 2011 06:16 GMT
#2
Hey thanks for explaining this very detailed and informative. That is crazy that a player that has to play in the open tournament will end up playing 21 bo3's is that if they were too win the tournament unless I misread.

Thanks for the post again greatly appreciated^_^.
When I think of something else, something will go here
eNtitY~
Profile Joined January 2007
United States1293 Posts
February 27 2011 06:17 GMT
#3
Amazing post, it really explained it well for those who didn't get it. :D
http://www.starcraftdream.com
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
February 27 2011 06:18 GMT
#4
On February 27 2011 15:16 blade55555 wrote:
Hey thanks for explaining this very detailed and informative. That is crazy that a player that has to play in the open tournament will end up playing 21 bo3's is that if they were too win the tournament unless I misread.

Thanks for the post again greatly appreciated^_^.

The maximum number is 21, though a more likely number would be something like sixteen.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Horse...falcon
Profile Joined December 2010
United States1851 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 06:21:33
February 27 2011 06:19 GMT
#5
Wow beautifully done motbob, this answers a lot of questions.

I suppose the 256 man non-seed tourney will be just like Dallas last year? This does suck for a lot of the players who did well last year but didn't make it into the top 16 as they will likely be burnt or sniped by a novice. Hope they give JP some crap about this on Sotg.
Artosis: "From horsssse....falcon"
kOre
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada3642 Posts
February 27 2011 06:19 GMT
#6
On February 27 2011 15:17 eNtitY~ wrote:
Amazing post, it really explained it well for those who didn't get it. :D

Didn't understand it till now, but I def agree with the added physical drain this will have on players who come up from the Opens ... man it's going to be crazy ...
http://www.starcraftmecca.net - Founder
SiguR
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada2039 Posts
February 27 2011 06:19 GMT
#7
Wow, well written. I am actually considerably more excited for the format now.

The mild favouring for the seeded players is a downside, but this entire set up seems pretty favourable. MLG is going to be an epic, epic mountain to climb for some players.
holy_war
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States3590 Posts
February 27 2011 06:20 GMT
#8
Great job explaining it. The diagrams made it much simpler to understand and I'm quite excited about this new format!
GenesisX
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Canada4267 Posts
February 27 2011 06:21 GMT
#9
Awesome diagram, very easy to understand! Thanks
133 221 333 123 111
BluePabs
Profile Joined November 2010
United States317 Posts
February 27 2011 06:23 GMT
#10
Oh man was that helpful. You really broke it down nice and I get it now. I originally didn't since I thought the disparity between the strain on an open bracket player and a seeded player seemed too much and so I thought I misunderstood it.

Not the case. But wow great breakdown, thank you!
Punic
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States152 Posts
February 27 2011 06:25 GMT
#11
Very well done.....
.....but if theyre trying to pull the general public into "esports" then why do we have quite possibly the most complicated bracket ever assembled.....lame.
"Where is the chapstick?" - Stephano
Shaoling
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Sweden344 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 06:27:53
February 27 2011 06:25 GMT
#12
how many days is mlg? i mean a guy in the final with possibly 50+ games played during 2-3 days. he's gonna be so tired that he's lost before he even sits down to play.

And this is all tournament games where you need 100% focus, not churning out games on the ladder.
www.feelingcontemptuous.com - My music website [Dubstep/Electro/House]
DeltruS
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada2214 Posts
February 27 2011 06:26 GMT
#13
You should get paid from MLG for this.
http://grooveshark.com/#/deltrus/music
Defacer
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada5052 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 06:27:38
February 27 2011 06:26 GMT
#14
What. The. ?.

I think I understand it, but it seems insanely complicated.

How long does it take to play this tournament?
About how many games total would comprise the tournament?
How the hell do they schedule and run this thing?
Why are you doing MLG's job for them?
goldenwitch
Profile Joined August 2010
United States338 Posts
February 27 2011 06:27 GMT
#15
21 bo3s... I want to see it happen, talk about an amazing story
cristo1122
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Australia505 Posts
February 27 2011 06:28 GMT
#16
wow i actually understand wat MLG format is thanks for all the diagrams they really help
ZvP imbalanced blizzards solution nerf terran
godemperor
Profile Joined October 2010
Belgium2043 Posts
February 27 2011 06:28 GMT
#17
Wow, nicely done. Still cant believe they can do this in just a weekend.
Raelcun
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States3747 Posts
February 27 2011 06:29 GMT
#18
I found this far more helpful than the official thread thanks bob
cristo1122
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Australia505 Posts
February 27 2011 06:30 GMT
#19
wow i actually understand wat MLG format is thanks for all the diagrams they really help
ZvP imbalanced blizzards solution nerf terran
Diamond
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States10796 Posts
February 27 2011 06:30 GMT
#20
On February 27 2011 15:29 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
I found this far more helpful than the official thread thanks bob


Same, I actually understand it now. Thank you so much!
Ballistix Gaming Global Gaming/Esports Marketing Manager - twitter.com/esvdiamond
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