• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 05:30
CEST 11:30
KST 18:30
  • 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
Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun2[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt1: Inheritors15[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists19[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers24Maestros of the Game 2 announced92026 GSL Tour plans announced15Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid25
StarCraft 2
General
Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists MaNa leaves Team Liquid Maestros of the Game 2 announced
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament INu's Battles#14 <BO.9 2Matches> GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 523 Firewall Mutation # 522 Flip My Base Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion BW General Discussion Leta's ASL S21 Ro.16 review [ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt1: Inheritors BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro8 Day 2 [ASL21] Ro8 Day 1 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro16 Group D
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV Diablo IV Nintendo Switch Thread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
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
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread 3D technology/software discussion European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1624 users

2023/24 ESL Pro Tour - Format and Schedule

Forum Index > SC2 General
22 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 All last
bela.mervado
Profile Joined December 2008
Hungary408 Posts
March 21 2023 21:24 GMT
#4
On March 22 2023 05:49 argonautdice wrote:Also does anyone enjoy Swiss-style group format? (Aside from the Swiss, I suppose?)


I do.
Played quite a few years of curling, and it is usual to have swiss rounds in the first part of an event.
Always wondered how it would look to have swiss rounds instead of the round robin groups in sc2.
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1923 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-21 22:20:08
March 21 2023 22:19 GMT
#5
Swiss doesn't really work unless you have way more people. Magic tournaments make good use of it because tournament size is massive in comparison. Swiss actually makes sense to have 200 people play 9 rounds since you get a cleaner cut, but when you only have 16 people playing a million rounds you're opening yourself up to some really awkward records/tiebreakers. Oh well.
┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1282 Posts
March 21 2023 22:25 GMT
#6
On March 22 2023 07:19 Mizenhauer wrote:
Swiss doesn't really work unless you have way more people. Magic tournaments make good use of it because tournament size is massive in comparison. Swiss actually makes sense to have 200 people play 9 rounds since you get a cleaner cut, but when you only have 16 people playing a million rounds you're opening yourself up to some really awkward records/tiebreakers. Oh well.


I assume ESL will do it like they do it in Counterstrike. With 16 players (or teams in CS) there are no awkward tiebreakers whatsoever. It is a a clean system. When you have 3 wins, you advance. If you have 3 losses, you are out. It really plays out nicely.
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/Intel_Extreme_Masters/2022/Rio/Legends_Stage
For example, this was the Legend Stage in the last major. It guarantees every player has to play between three and five matches, depending on how good they perform.

This is a good scaled down ESL Tour overall, though I'm not convinced GSL really needs 6 slots. I'm also not sure how the Global Standings are supposed to work if they now qualify you to the events that usually give you the global standing points?
No word on the Championships yet?

"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
dysenterymd
Profile Joined January 2019
1250 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-03-21 22:32:48
March 21 2023 22:31 GMT
#7
On March 22 2023 07:25 Balnazza wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 07:19 Mizenhauer wrote:
Swiss doesn't really work unless you have way more people. Magic tournaments make good use of it because tournament size is massive in comparison. Swiss actually makes sense to have 200 people play 9 rounds since you get a cleaner cut, but when you only have 16 people playing a million rounds you're opening yourself up to some really awkward records/tiebreakers. Oh well.


I assume ESL will do it like they do it in Counterstrike. With 16 players (or teams in CS) there are no awkward tiebreakers whatsoever. It is a a clean system. When you have 3 wins, you advance. If you have 3 losses, you are out. It really plays out nicely.
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/Intel_Extreme_Masters/2022/Rio/Legends_Stage
For example, this was the Legend Stage in the last major. It guarantees every player has to play between three and five matches, depending on how good they perform.

This is a good scaled down ESL Tour overall, though I'm not convinced GSL really needs 6 slots. I'm also not sure how the Global Standings are supposed to work if they now qualify you to the events that usually give you the global standing points?
No word on the Championships yet?


Considering there are still 10ish Koreans who are better than all but the very best foreigners, 6 spots is justified. Granted, some of those might not be able to travel due to impending military service.

I really don't like 3 spots coming through the global standings, I'd much rather an extra spot be given to Korea, Europe, and one of Asia/Americas.
Serral | Inno | sOs | soO | Has | Classic
tigera6
Profile Joined March 2021
3483 Posts
March 22 2023 02:12 GMT
#8
Like what you do to judge the global standing, when you dont have enough tournaments to earn them. Like the first ESL Summer Global, there would only be result from GSL, ESL Regionals and a bunch of Open Cups who being dominated by the same group of top players? That means top 3 in global points would probably be those who made into to Ro8 GSL and/or Ro6/8 in EU, maybe one more slot for AM regional depending on the distribution of the points.
mintyminmus
Profile Joined September 2022
Australia127 Posts
March 22 2023 04:28 GMT
#9
In its current format the non-korean Asia region with its 1 spot is just going to make the Asia regional a giant exp pool for Oliveria, who at this point is miles above his none KR regional competitors.
I would prefer the competition for 2nd place to be more meaningful but I don't think the strength of rest of the region fully justify a second spot. Its hard to balance
xyfan
oneill12
Profile Joined February 2012
Romania1222 Posts
March 22 2023 04:34 GMT
#10
nice?
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1907 Posts
March 22 2023 05:34 GMT
#11
On March 22 2023 13:28 mintyminmus wrote:
In its current format the non-korean Asia region with its 1 spot is just going to make the Asia regional a giant exp pool for Oliveria, who at this point is miles above his none KR regional competitors.
I would prefer the competition for 2nd place to be more meaningful but I don't think the strength of rest of the region fully justify a second spot. Its hard to balance

this is a big lol, while oliveria has to be the favorite in his region, i dont think he is head over heels above everyone else. with only 1 spot it is entirely possible he doesn't even make it.
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
dbRic1203
Profile Joined July 2019
Germany2655 Posts
March 22 2023 05:45 GMT
#12
On March 22 2023 11:12 tigera6 wrote:
Like what you do to judge the global standing, when you dont have enough tournaments to earn them. Like the first ESL Summer Global, there would only be result from GSL, ESL Regionals and a bunch of Open Cups who being dominated by the same group of top players? That means top 3 in global points would probably be those who made into to Ro8 GSL and/or Ro6/8 in EU, maybe one more slot for AM regional depending on the distribution of the points.

Also GSL is 3 seasons, while the online regionals are only 2.
So depending on the Timing (if 2nd GSL season is allready done before ESL Summer) the Koreans will have way more points, because 2/3 of their Regional is done allready. If the 2nd GSL season is not accounted for, they ll be at an disadvantage, because they only got 1/3 of their regional points allready earned, while everyone else got 1/2.
It just doesn t make sense if you re in the middle of the year.
They should have just given the 3 slots away to specific reasons and be done with it
MaxPax
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7169 Posts
March 22 2023 08:14 GMT
#13
On March 22 2023 14:45 dbRic1203 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 11:12 tigera6 wrote:
Like what you do to judge the global standing, when you dont have enough tournaments to earn them. Like the first ESL Summer Global, there would only be result from GSL, ESL Regionals and a bunch of Open Cups who being dominated by the same group of top players? That means top 3 in global points would probably be those who made into to Ro8 GSL and/or Ro6/8 in EU, maybe one more slot for AM regional depending on the distribution of the points.

Also GSL is 3 seasons, while the online regionals are only 2.
So depending on the Timing (if 2nd GSL season is allready done before ESL Summer) the Koreans will have way more points, because 2/3 of their Regional is done allready. If the 2nd GSL season is not accounted for, they ll be at an disadvantage, because they only got 1/3 of their regional points allready earned, while everyone else got 1/2.
It just doesn t make sense if you re in the middle of the year.
They should have just given the 3 slots away to specific reasons and be done with it


I'm sure they'll find a way to make it fair
I like Swiss-Style. Works really well in CSGO

I'm just happy to get another year of awesome Starcrafts
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
mintyminmus
Profile Joined September 2022
Australia127 Posts
March 22 2023 10:53 GMT
#14
On March 22 2023 14:34 CicadaSC wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 13:28 mintyminmus wrote:
In its current format the non-korean Asia region with its 1 spot is just going to make the Asia regional a giant exp pool for Oliveria, who at this point is miles above his none KR regional competitors.
I would prefer the competition for 2nd place to be more meaningful but I don't think the strength of rest of the region fully justify a second spot. Its hard to balance

this is a big lol, while oliveria has to be the favorite in his region, i dont think he is head over heels above everyone else. with only 1 spot it is entirely possible he doesn't even make it.


I mean Oliveria is currently somewhere between top 5 and top 20 depending on his form and how much to account his iem run, while his noticeable competitors (Nice, Cyan, Has, Firefly, Meomaika etc) are all solidly in the "decent players but not even top 30" range. He also reached deep playoff in premiem events a couple of times besides the last iem, while the rest of the region is mostly in the "not playoff relevant" zone. Aligulac is not to be trusted entirely but a 600-ish difference in its statistical rating is quite a large gap that would kind-of qualify for "head over heals above everyone else".
I acknowledge that it is entirely possible for any stronger player to vastly underperform (or become inactive) and not qualify for a main event that he/she "should" and of course the lesser players could theoretically greatly improve and beat the favorite (pulls a 80>96), but describing my statement as "a big lol" based on the current situation is simply an incorrect oversimplification.
xyfan
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1282 Posts
March 22 2023 11:02 GMT
#15
On March 22 2023 17:14 Harris1st wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 14:45 dbRic1203 wrote:
On March 22 2023 11:12 tigera6 wrote:
Like what you do to judge the global standing, when you dont have enough tournaments to earn them. Like the first ESL Summer Global, there would only be result from GSL, ESL Regionals and a bunch of Open Cups who being dominated by the same group of top players? That means top 3 in global points would probably be those who made into to Ro8 GSL and/or Ro6/8 in EU, maybe one more slot for AM regional depending on the distribution of the points.

Also GSL is 3 seasons, while the online regionals are only 2.
So depending on the Timing (if 2nd GSL season is allready done before ESL Summer) the Koreans will have way more points, because 2/3 of their Regional is done allready. If the 2nd GSL season is not accounted for, they ll be at an disadvantage, because they only got 1/3 of their regional points allready earned, while everyone else got 1/2.
It just doesn t make sense if you re in the middle of the year.
They should have just given the 3 slots away to specific reasons and be done with it


I'm sure they'll find a way to make it fair
I like Swiss-Style. Works really well in CSGO

I'm just happy to get another year of awesome Starcrafts


TIME won all but one of the SC2 CN Regionals (losing the other one in the finals). And while Has and Nice are good, I don't think they are better than TIME. Pretty sure he will dominate the new Asia Region, but the rest of the tourney should be fun
"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
argonautdice
Profile Joined January 2013
Canada2719 Posts
March 22 2023 12:55 GMT
#16
On March 22 2023 20:02 Balnazza wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 17:14 Harris1st wrote:
On March 22 2023 14:45 dbRic1203 wrote:
On March 22 2023 11:12 tigera6 wrote:
Like what you do to judge the global standing, when you dont have enough tournaments to earn them. Like the first ESL Summer Global, there would only be result from GSL, ESL Regionals and a bunch of Open Cups who being dominated by the same group of top players? That means top 3 in global points would probably be those who made into to Ro8 GSL and/or Ro6/8 in EU, maybe one more slot for AM regional depending on the distribution of the points.

Also GSL is 3 seasons, while the online regionals are only 2.
So depending on the Timing (if 2nd GSL season is allready done before ESL Summer) the Koreans will have way more points, because 2/3 of their Regional is done allready. If the 2nd GSL season is not accounted for, they ll be at an disadvantage, because they only got 1/3 of their regional points allready earned, while everyone else got 1/2.
It just doesn t make sense if you re in the middle of the year.
They should have just given the 3 slots away to specific reasons and be done with it


I'm sure they'll find a way to make it fair
I like Swiss-Style. Works really well in CSGO

I'm just happy to get another year of awesome Starcrafts


TIME won all but one of the SC2 CN Regionals (losing the other one in the finals). And while Has and Nice are good, I don't think they are better than TIME. Pretty sure he will dominate the new Asia Region, but the rest of the tourney should be fun

Yeah the consolidation of the Asia region and Oliveira's recent rise will certainly attract more viewers to this regional which is cool.
very illegal and very uncool
Sarieli
Profile Joined March 2023
1 Post
March 22 2023 13:14 GMT
#17
The last IEM Katowice champion comes from Asia region,but they have only one seed?That means the other Asian player needs to beat Oliveira if they want to play offline game.
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7169 Posts
March 23 2023 10:09 GMT
#18
On March 22 2023 22:14 Sarieli wrote:
The last IEM Katowice champion comes from Asia region,but they have only one seed?That means the other Asian player needs to beat Oliveira if they want to play offline game.


No. They can just grab one of the three spots trough global standing. I highly doubt it but I also highly doubted Oliv winning IEM
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
QOGQOG
Profile Joined July 2019
834 Posts
March 24 2023 02:43 GMT
#19
On March 23 2023 19:09 Harris1st wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 22 2023 22:14 Sarieli wrote:
The last IEM Katowice champion comes from Asia region,but they have only one seed?That means the other Asian player needs to beat Oliveira if they want to play offline game.


No. They can just grab one of the three spots trough global standing. I highly doubt it but I also highly doubted Oliv winning IEM

I don't know if there are enough Open Cups in the world for that. Usually the global spots go to EU players (sometimes KR) because their regional events are worth more points even without getting super far in them.
dr_j_i_t_
Profile Joined July 2019
7 Posts
March 26 2023 18:24 GMT
#20
The Swiss system is also used in the Pro Chess League. It has the advantage that winners play winners, and losers play losers, so that in theory there are fewer mismatches after the first round. It also takes some of the chance element away. The best players should qualify.
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
April 07 2023 14:40 GMT
#21
Absolute clown fiesta of a pvp between Bistork and YoungZest
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
whoare365q
Profile Joined April 2023
1 Post
April 10 2023 12:10 GMT
#22
--- Nuked ---
argonautdice
Profile Joined January 2013
Canada2719 Posts
April 10 2023 12:19 GMT
#23
On April 10 2023 21:10 whoare365q wrote:
So the Americas and Asia regions got the shaft compared to last year by having essentially 1 and 2 fewer guaranteed spots to the finals, respectively, especially for Asia since it's a lot harder for players in the Asian region to travel to the offline events in Sweden/US.

On March 22 2023 05:49 argonautdice wrote:
So the Americas and Asia regions got the shaft compared to last year by having essentially 1 and 2 fewer guaranteed spots to the finals, respectively, especially for Asia since it's a lot harder for players in the Asian region to travel to the offline events in Sweden/US.

Bruh, you wanna change the answers a bit if you're gonna copy my homework.
very illegal and very uncool
1 2 All last
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
09:00
KungFu Cup 2026 Week 5
CranKy Ducklings55
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
OGKoka 196
ProTech144
SortOf 72
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 7003
Jaedong 1334
PianO 299
Zeus 227
actioN 189
Larva 179
Hyuk 178
Stork 148
ToSsGirL 138
Killer 97
[ Show more ]
Dewaltoss 86
Shinee 61
NaDa 45
JulyZerg 31
soO 28
Rush 27
ZerO 16
ZergMaN 11
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
Sacsri 9
sSak 7
Sexy 4
Terrorterran 2
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm421
XaKoH 393
XcaliburYe76
League of Legends
JimRising 457
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2005
shoxiejesuss1270
edward222
Other Games
ceh9634
singsing284
Happy270
crisheroes130
Livibee56
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick545
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream168
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP3
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 5
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota245
League of Legends
• TFBlade1063
• Stunt473
Other Games
• WagamamaTV115
Upcoming Events
Afreeca Starleague
30m
Leta vs YSC
Kung Fu Cup
1h 30m
GSL
1d
Rogue vs Percival
Zoun vs Solar
Replay Cast
1d 14h
GSL
2 days
Cure vs TriGGeR
ByuN vs Bunny
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
3 days
[ Show More ]
OSC
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
IPSL
4 days
Ret vs Art_Of_Turtle
Radley vs TBD
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
BSL
5 days
IPSL
5 days
eOnzErG vs TBD
G5 vs Nesh
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Jaedong vs Light
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W4
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W5
KK 2v2 League Season 1
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals 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.