Sky League Group Assignment & Update (3/22 & 3/29 @ 4pm EDT / 8pm UTC)

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Can we have more Duel at Dawn plz, I don't think we got enough...

[Urz]

Hey guys, here is a short post detailing the events of yesterday. The formal bracket stage thread will go up tonight (which will have map rolls). The following teams advanced to the bracket stage:

C1 seed: Glowwater Thralls
C2 seed: The Clamour
D1 seed: The Mandarins
D2 seed: Museosaurs
E1 seed: The Gents
E2 Seed: Mad Hatters

Here's an updated bracket with all the seeds: http://i.imgur.com/46KdXgK.png

Update on VODs: Group E has already been uploaded. I have the footage for group D, that will be uploaded once it has been edited. Group C unfortunately was not recorded due to misconfiguration of streaming software.

Clarification on group D: Keyvias contacted me earlier in the week and asked if there was a way Muse could participate, as they hadn't signed up. I told him that I was expecting at least one no-show (Phalanx Infamia who to this point has not provided any communication beyond their signup), and that they could have the first no-show slot if Muse had a full team ready. As it turned out, not only did Phalanx not show, but the two other teams in the group (MAG and Clockwork Cavalry) only brought a single ship each. The result was that those two teams played together, and Museosaurs took one of the two empty slots for a total of three played games.

[Thomas]

Things got a bit odd with Group D as expected, but I do have mixed feelings about letting a team, who didn't sign up, join after the tournament had already started.

[Puppy Fur]

Things got a bit odd with Group D as expected, but I do have mixed feelings about letting a team, who didn't sign up, join after the tournament had already started.

I'm no longer participating due to that reason and others. The normal regulations should have been followed even if it meant no second seed (which is what would have happened if things were done right if I'm told correctly).

[Urz]

Mothers Against Gaming and Clockwork Cavalry, consisting of new players who had a misunderstanding about what constitutes a full team, showed up with seven players between the two of them ready to play. Muse, who had missed the signup deadline while traveling for GDC, showed up with eight players ready to play. So the choices were to either disqualify the two new teams and not allow Muse late entry, denying the 23 players who had set aside their Saturday afternoon any matches, or work it out in a way that everyone gets to play (which will also have a negligible effect on future rounds due to the composition of the group). I'm confident in my decision.

Sorry to hear you'll no longer be participating, PuppyFur.

[Mr. Ace Rimmer]

I'm not so confident considering we ended up with 3 teams in D and if I'm not mistaken, 5 in E? That being said, what is done is done and Overwatch as a team will still be participating in the Sky league.

[Puppy Fur]

Mothers Against Gaming and Clockwork Cavalry, consisting of new players who had a misunderstanding about what constitutes a full team, showed up with seven players between the two of them ready to play. Muse, who had missed the signup deadline while traveling for GDC, showed up with eight players ready to play. So the choices were to either disqualify the two new teams and not allow Muse late entry, denying the 23 players who had set aside their Saturday afternoon any matches, or work it out in a way that everyone gets to play (which will also have a negligible effect on future rounds due to the composition of the group). I'm confident in my decision.

Sorry to hear you'll no longer be participating, PuppyFur.

Taking into consideration what you said I'll see about continuing with Sky League though I don't fully agree with it.

[Thomas]

My only issue with what happened is how the rules were bent for these teams in particular.

Every other team had to sign up by the deadline. If there was a possibility for teams to show up late and still have a chance of getting in, this should have been mentioned somewhere. Along with signing up after the tournament had already started (and getting a pretty easy group because of it).

As for MAG/CC fusing, that was technically already allowed under the rules, with teams only being bound to a team after playing for them. This way there still would have been two no-shows, allowing everyone who signed up on time and showed up to play.

And while MAG/CC didn't have a full 'team', there was nothing in the rules saying you needed a full 8 players. The 'team' actually isn't defined anywhere in the ruleset, which probably lead to a lot of misunderstandings from the newer teams; especially when combined with talk about randomly pairing teams in the group stage. ((It was later discussed in the thread, but never put into the official ruleset))

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Overall it was more to watch, but compromised the rules put in place




((I'm not that upset, just love this meme. xD ))

[Skrimskraw]

the biggest problem that I can see is that Muse had a free pass into the playoffs.
a bit unfair to some of the teams that signed up on time.

other than that, so far the tournament have been a Little chaotic, the changes to single elimination and the substitution rules which are more fair to teams that play in week 1, because teams in week 0 play on the 5th, and subs are free to play for whomever after the 6th.

[N-Sunderland]

the changes to single elimination and the substitution rules which are more fair to teams that play in week 1, because teams in week 0 play on the 5th, and subs are free to play for whomever after the 6th.

All the teams that play in week 0 are subject to the same rule, and when they play in week 1 nobody's (effectively) subject to it. I don't see the problem.

EDIT: In case I wasn't clear enough, what I mean is that in week 0 all the teams that play have restricted subs, so it's all fair, and then when they play in week 1 everybody's subs are basically unrestricted, so once again it's a level playing field.

[Mr. Ace Rimmer]

Agreed. Anyways, I consider Round 0 the finals of the preliminaries.. It decides the final 2 teams through to the tournament proper.

[Puppy Fur]

I agree with Thomas fully. As some of you saw Overwatch had a tough time getting past the first week. But a team that didn't sign up gets to fight newer players... Next time more rules need to be in place for this situation.

[Imagine]

I agree with Thomas fully. As some of you saw Overwatch had a tough time getting past the first week. But a team that didn't sign up gets to fight newer players... Next time more rules need to be in place for this situation.

If this is about your team getting randomly seeded into a hard group... just... just no.

[Lunalee]

It's not about getting put in a hard seed. The week before last a team got pushed through because of a no show. This last week Muse got played in to a no show, they were not signed up and ended up pub stomping inexperienced teams. This isn't about hard seeds its about rules being followed.

[Mr. Ace Rimmer]

It's unfortunate that Puppy used Overwatch as an example. Group B was difficult yes, but every team in group B knew what they were going up against and knew that if they lost two matches they would be out.

I am sure it was not Puppy Fur's intention to infer that Overwatch feel hard done by, that isn't the case. We like every other clan in that group had to work, and all who played in the bracket did the same.

Nothing should be taken away from that.

On the point of MUSE being in the tournament, what's done is done. I feel it could have been handled differently but, it is far to late to change things now. Urz has explained his reasons and as much as I disagree, I accept them. Lets move on from this and learn from it.