"The MLG tournament has evolved from being won by the best North American players to a competition dominated by foreign talent. The top 12 at MLG Providence featured only two North Americans – HuK and IdrA – both of whom trained extensively in Korea."
"While a dark convention centre filled with thousands of screaming fans and unlimited doctor pepper is the ideal place to watch Starcraft, the dark and active environment can be incredibly draining on players and make it difficult to focus."2011 was a momentous year for Major League Gaming, with record breaking viewership, attendance and prize pools. While Starcraft did not hold the centre-stage at Dallas, events like Anaheim and Providence showed why Starcraft is the largest eSport in the world. During the grand finals it is common for every seat in the convention centre to be filled with Starcraft fans. Arguably the most difficult tournament format in the professional Starcraft scene is MLG’s infamous Open Bracket, which challenges not only the Starcraft skills of a player, but also their endurance and level of focus through potentially three gruelling days of gaming.
The Players
This past year the 256 player Open Bracket featured the top talent in North America, most of the European powerhouses and many Korean progamers. While the majority of players in the bracket do not have a high chance at winning prize money (a top 8 placement), in a double elimination-best of three format, upsets are common occurrences. The MLG tournament has evolved from being won by the best North American players to a competition dominated by foreign talent. The top 12 at MLG Providence featured only two North Americans – HuK and IdrA – both of whom trained extensively in Korea.
In addition to the sheer talent at every MLG, the bracket is open so a total of six best-of-three series must be played in order to proceed to the Championship Bracket. A single dropped match places you in the losers bracket, where nine rounds are required to be played to advance. This system has been criticized for favouring certain players as in the championship round there are a total 16 seeded players and only 12 players from the open bracket. Because of the nature of the seeding and points system, simply by having a high seed at an early MLG means a high placement (and more points for succeeding MLGs) regardless of whether or not you win any games, thus making it almost impossible to fall out of the top 16.
The Venue
The experience of playing at MLG is difficult not only because of the player pool, but also the conditions that competitors must face. While a dark convention centre filled with thousands of screaming fans and unlimited doctor pepper is the ideal place to watch Starcraft, the dark and active environment can be incredibly draining on players and make it difficult to focus. For less experienced players it can cause nerves to affect their play. Everyone finds different ways to handle the stress involved with playing at an MLG event. While there is certainly discomfort associated with playing at any LAN event, smaller invitational tournaments allow players to focus more on their games and opponents.
Things that seem as trivial as seating placement can make a significant impact on how someone performs. Many players prefer the inside seat because it is further away the spectator area. This is because sometimes fans can be distracting when constantly moving and making noise right behind you. With the inside spot however it is possible for someone walking by to bump your chair or nudge you, which can cause a player to lose focus. MLG however makes an effort to provide an equal playing field by having equally uncomfortable seating that can make playing awkward at times.
The Format
MLG, like most LANs, is known for having bad luck with the internet at virtually every event. Some delays are inevitable and no matter how prepared an organization is they can’t prevent delays (IPL3 had the internet go out in the entire city). The problem with MLG is that even without any delays, the tournament is scheduled to go until 1AM on Fridays. This means that it is not uncommon for the last players to finish up at around 3am, go back to their hotels and be expected to play early the next day. While it is important that players have an opportunity to warm and become comfortable, MLG’s three hour warm up time could easily be shortened thereby allowing players to finish their matches without being half asleep.
For games such as Halo that don’t have the same number of serious contenders as Starcraft the Open Bracket format is quite logical. The top 16 seeded teams are consistently dominant and will likely advance regardless of who they face in the Open Bracket. Therefore there is little need to make them play through all the teams. With Starcraft the amount of top professionals that can be seen in the Open Bracket, especially at events like Providence, results in many skilled players getting eliminated early on despite the dual elimination system. With vastly different skill levels being represented amongst the players in the Open Bracket, there is a great deal of luck involved with how the bracket is generated.
Conclusion
The Open Bracket can be incredibly taxing on players both mentally and physically. It tests much more than a person’s Starcraft abilities and puts plays in a situation where it can be difficult to play their best. While part of what makes MLG great is that they allow any player to enter the tournament and make a name for themselves there are certainly problems with the format that can make this almost impossible. There is no perfect tournament system, however the Open Bracket has much room for improvement that will hopefully be seen in the coming 2012 season.
Christopher "Ostojiy" Ostojic is a Zerg player representing Its Gosu eSports. Next to his "Toronto Quest for the Best" first place, he hold several top placements in weekly online cups. If you like what you have read and want to see more, let him know in the comments below.
