Playoffs Format Update
So, last year 1v1 Classic 2's playoffs were done with a Single Elimination, 12-man format, with the people with top 4 seeds getting a bye (a free win) for Round 1. It was 3 Bo3s of multiple different old gens, with the higher seed also striking one of the 4 possible gens of their choosing during scheduling in order to determine which 3 gens were played in the Bo3. At the time, the 12-man formula followed up nicely with how Smogon did the official Smogon Classic. However, after looking over the timeline of the last playoffs of 1v1 Classic 2, and taking more into account how 1v1 as a metagame operates, I believe (after discussing with the other cup hosts) that a better system can be implemented in order to fit more in line with the metagame of 1v1 and the numerous different Old Gens being played in this classic.
First off, playoffs will be boosted from a
12-man to a 16-man tour. This eliminates the the byes given to high seed players during round 1, as well as fits more in line of what was in place for Smogon Classic this year.
Additionally, the playoffs will be double elimination, not single elimination. 1v1 is an exceptionally volatile metagame, and the added consistency given by double elimination is therefore appropriate. The extra weeks added by the Loser's Bracket will not significantly effect the timeframe of any other major tournament. To add on to this, instead of being a Bo3 of Bo3s, the tournament will be a Bo3 of Bo5s.
The tiebreaker for points will be determined by the overall win ratio, followed up by the deepest run in any individual cup as a win ratio tiebreaker. This is in-line with The Smogon Grand Slam, which uses a similar system for their playoffs, and also benefits good 1v1 players who perhaps got nuked early on in a cup due to hax.
The process for choosing the metagames played will also be altered. Last year, higher seed simply struck down a gen for the Bo5s while scheduling happened. In order to reduce the overwhelming advantage that system gave the high seed player,
Boat (phiwings99) and I determined a new way for determining which gens would be played that still gives high seed an advantage but isn't terribly weighted to one particular side:
During scheduling:
- High seed picks two gens first
- Low seed picks one gen of the two remaining.
Whenever they want beforehand:
- High seed picks the first gen played for the first set.
After a Set:
- Loser from the Bo5 set played chooses the next gen to play for Set 2 and Set 3, if Set 3 happens.
This has several benefits from the previous "high seed strikes one" method. By forcing the high seed player to choose both gen before the low seed picks, the advantage the higher seed gets is slightly mitigated, because the low seed will always be given the opportunity to pick their best gen, or their opponent's worst. It will work something like this:
JoeSchmoe69: Yo we have each other in 1v1 classic playoff. I'm high seed, i pick oras bw
WhyAreTheSheepsRed: I pick ADV. When play?
Joe Schmoe69: play rn coward, oras first
*Set Begins, WhyAreTheSheepsRed loses the ORAS Bo5*
WhyAreTheSheepsRed: f aight I lost so I choose ADV for the next Bo5
And so on till someone gets 2 wins total for the Bo5s. Thats the general gist. This method, I believe, will maintain a competitive environment for the playoff series.
Tho none of this would be an issue if we had 5 old gens, can't wait for next classic lmao. This high seed/low seed designation will carry on into loser bracket.
TLDR:
- 16 man playoffs
- Single Elimination
- High seed picks first two gens and low seed picks last gen during scheduling, then high seed picks the first gen played in first set, during the series loser of the previous set picks one of the remaining gens for next set.
Obviously this will all be reiterated in the actual playoff post, so you don't have to keep checking in back here for info. Anyway, yeah, thats basically it. Hope y'all have fun with the remaining Cup games left, and I will see the chosen few in Playoffs!
edit: bo3 of bo3s -> bo3 of bo5s. Changed from Double Elimination to Single Elimination.