Kaelaris Profile Blog Joined September 2010 United Kingdom 786 Posts Last Edited: 2012-01-27 23:49:41 #1 Invites vs Qualifiers - A “Conflict”

Blog/Article by mouz|Kaelaris



Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are my own and do not neccessarily reflect that of Mousesports (mouz) in any way, shape or form.



A subject that has been on the mind’s of the community but I feel never really been explored or outlined to it’s fullest extent. As MLG’s schedule and the soon to occur ASUS ROG: Assembly Winter both draw near there are deviations arising despite the two tournaments shaping up to what will be fantastic events for the foreign community. For the sake of the initial sections of this article and the specific references we’re making, we’ll assume that the two tournaments do NOT conflict date-wise as that in itself brings rise to amazingly complex issues when considering the Invite-vs-Qualifier scenario. Thankfully SETT have taken the decision to delay their last 8 invites until after the MLG qualifiers so as to give them ample breathing room in secure the best players possible.







Invites can have their ups and downs to be perfectly honest. One fantastic aspect is the ability to dictate a certain degree of racial balance, depending of course on the pool of players you’re given to pick from. A good portion of the community are far more interested in matches that aren’t mirrors so by doing this you’re diminishing a little of this, but in practice not by a huge amount due to random draw for brackets etc. Invites also allow organisers the ability to pick what they favour for their tournament. Do they want to have the best of the best? or do they want to take fan favourites for that potential boost in viewer numbers from respective fan-bases?



Unfortunately though it’s not all peaches and roses on the Invite side of the fence. I can’t help but feel that Invite systems leave very little room for fantastic story-lines, unless picking up where a story left off elsewhere. For the most part, the catalyst and spark for unpredictability just isn’t there. While I understand that from a logistics and time-spend point of view it’s the easier option, the way in which Blizzard is set to organize their qualifiers for 2012 to me not only seems like the correct solution. By outsourcing to grass-route organizations, it gives the community and E-Sports in general the ability to grow and gives more opportunities to make this a real industry as well. If you’re a member of the E-Sports movement right now, but not in the upper tier, you’ll know just how difficult it can be to commit heavily without taking a financial hit. Blizzard taking these actions allows smaller, aspiring companies to not only achieve great publicity (because the qualifiers mean a lot and thus will attract high viewer counts), but also off the back of that attract sponsors.







So what is all this Qualifier mumbo-jumbo i’ve been talking about good for? First and foremost with any qualifier always comes an atmosphere of uncertainty, anyone may participate under given stipulations by the governing body in charge of course. With the uncertainty though, comes not only anxiety, but also what some would consider amazing stories. While usually rare, under-dog stories arise from time to time resulting in potentially the best tournaments of all time. Almost everyone remembers the story of young mouz.ThorZaIN, considered a one in a million shot at winning the TSL3, crushing his way through FruitDealer, MC, Kas and finally Naniwa. Very few pegged FXO.Leenock to ultimately take down MLG Providence despite displaying absolute formidable excellence throughout. Finally who would forget viOLet’s and Sound’s trials through HomeStory Cup 4? Memorable tournaments and performances such as these could have only happened via the Qualification process. At the time of these examples, there’s a very slim chance any of these players would have been invited due to their lack of exposure before-hand.



Qualifiers not only allow for riveting story-lines to emerge more easily, they also produce more content for the viewer as well as give everyone an equal chance. The story-line building itself is enough to tantalize any StarCraft fan. I can imagine a very realistic world where Qualifiers are the only method that exist when it comes to premier level events, unless we reach a point in time where the racial balance is so skewed that there isn’t a relatively even distribution, which is unlikely.



+ Show Spoiler + To point if you didn't get it already - More qualifiers! Less invites!



It’s probably worth pointing out that in reality i’m someone who is slightly biast toward ASUS ROG since i’m actually going to event, know the organizers etc. Of course though this is an issue that transcends these mere tournaments in comparison.







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I’m sure there are more pros and cons but It’s late and i’m tired, maybe i’ll edit it tomorrow. As always you can check out more of what I do in my signature here on TL.





A subject that has been on the mind’s of the community but I feel never really been explored or outlined to it’s fullest extent. As MLG’s schedule and the soon to occur ASUS ROG: Assembly Winter both draw near there are deviations arising despite the two tournaments shaping up to what will be fantastic events for the foreign community. For the sake of the initial sections of this article and the specific references we’re making, we’ll assume that the two tournaments do NOT conflict date-wise as that in itself brings rise to amazingly complex issues when considering the Invite-vs-Qualifier scenario. Thankfully SETT have taken the decision to delay their last 8 invites until after the MLG qualifiers so as to give them ample breathing room in secure the best players possible.Invites can have their ups and downs to be perfectly honest. One fantastic aspect is the ability to dictate a certain degree of racial balance, depending of course on the pool of players you’re given to pick from. A good portion of the community are far more interested in matches that aren’t mirrors so by doing this you’re diminishing a little of this, but in practice not by a huge amount due to random draw for brackets etc. Invites also allow organisers the ability to pick what they favour for their tournament. Do they want to have the best of the best? or do they want to take fan favourites for that potential boost in viewer numbers from respective fan-bases?Unfortunately though it’s not all peaches and roses on the Invite side of the fence. I can’t help but feel that Invite systems leave very little room for fantastic story-lines, unless picking up where a story left off elsewhere. For the most part, the catalyst and spark for unpredictability just isn’t there. While I understand that from a logistics and time-spend point of view it’s the easier option, the way in which Blizzard is set to organize their qualifiers for 2012 to me not only seems like the correct solution. By outsourcing to grass-route organizations, it gives the community and E-Sports in general the ability to grow and gives more opportunities to make this a real industry as well. If you’re a member of the E-Sports movement right now, but not in the upper tier, you’ll know just how difficult it can be to commit heavily without taking a financial hit. Blizzard taking these actions allows smaller, aspiring companies to not only achieve great publicity (because the qualifiers mean a lot and thus will attract high viewer counts), but also off the back of that attract sponsors.So what is all this Qualifier mumbo-jumbo i’ve been talking about good for? First and foremost with any qualifier always comes an atmosphere of uncertainty, anyone may participate under given stipulations by the governing body in charge of course. With the uncertainty though, comes not only anxiety, but also what some would consider amazing stories. While usually rare, under-dog stories arise from time to time resulting in potentially the best tournaments of all time. Almost everyone remembers the story of young mouz.ThorZaIN, considered a one in a million shot at winning the TSL3, crushing his way through FruitDealer, MC, Kas and finally Naniwa. Very few pegged FXO.Leenock to ultimately take down MLG Providence despite displaying absolute formidable excellence throughout. Finally who would forget viOLet’s and Sound’s trials through HomeStory Cup 4? Memorable tournaments and performances such as these could have only happened via the Qualification process. At the time of these examples, there’s a very slim chance any of these players would have been invited due to their lack of exposure before-hand.Qualifiers not only allow for riveting story-lines to emerge more easily, they also produce more content for the viewer as well as give everyone an equal chance. The story-line building itself is enough to tantalize any StarCraft fan. I can imagine a very realistic world where Qualifiers are the only method that exist when it comes to premier level events, unless we reach a point in time where the racial balance is so skewed that there isn’t a relatively even distribution, which is unlikely.It’s probably worth pointing out that in reality i’m someone who is slightly biast toward ASUS ROG since i’m actually going to event, know the organizers etc. Of course though this is an issue that transcends these mere tournaments in comparison.I’m sure there are more pros and cons but It’s late and i’m tired, maybe i’ll edit it tomorrow. As always you can check out more of what I do in my signature here on TL. Commentator ESL Commentator ♞ Facebook.com/Kaelaris ♞ Twitter.com/Kaelaris ♞ Youtube.com/Kaelaris ♞ Twitch.tv/Kaelaris