Current State of the Challenger Circuit

The current state of the Challenger Circuit is subpar. There is little incentive to participate in the Circuit except for the slim hope of making it into the Smite Pro League. The current status quo of the Circuit doesn’t lead to a competitive atmosphere that would help grow the eSports scene. At best, the Challenger Circuit is neglected. To improve the Circuit and also the SPL in the long run, three points stand out to me:



- Incentives

- Exposure

- Small pool of competitive players.



Currently, the Challenger Circuit incentives, which include a chance to play in the SPL Relegations and the prize money distribution, are inadequate. Although the change from the Challenger Cup to the Circuit was important because it increased the legitimacy of the league, the current Relegations structure doesn’t best serve the SPL. The major problem is that the round-robin matches are best of one. A single-game upset allows for a weaker team to enter the SPL over a stronger team. All teams deserve more than one game per match to earn their spot in the SPL. Relegations should be treated like a final tournament for all four of the teams participating in them, and the current system doesn’t reflect that. There is no downside to increasing the games per match. More games will generate more excitement for fans. It allows for the better teams to win more regularly, considering that even the best teams can lose a single game to a less skilled team. This would increase the competitive level of the SPL in the new season.



Going forward I propose that Relegations be changed to either two-game matches or best-of-three-game (BO3) matches. The number of games played in a BO3 round-robin tournament of four teams would include between 12 to 18 total matches. Splitting the event into a two-day weekend tournament means the players play a minimum of two games to a maximum of six games in one day, which is comparable to the number of games played in the SPL’s end-of-split tournaments. To counter the increased length of the tournament, host the EU and NA Relegations events on separate consecutive weekends. Plenty of downtime exists between splits to allow for such a change. A more formal Relegations ultimately leads to a better Circuit and SPL.



Talking about formalities, it is a little odd that there are no roster locks for teams participating in Relegations. Once it’s determined which teams are competing in Relegations, rosters should be locked to prevent the players from jumping between the four teams. While I do approve of players being pulled up to SPL teams if there is a need during the regular season, and even postseason for the top six SPL teams, I believe allowing the Relegation teams to poach among themselves is detrimental to the scene. (There have been multiple instances of the bottom two SPL teams poaching from the top two CC teams since the inception of the Relegations.) Thus, a rule that prevents the top two CC teams and bottom two SPL teams from exchanging players would benefit the entirety of Smite eSports.



Another incentive that needs to be addressed is the pay distribution. There should be a change in the way prizing distribution is done, where the amount of money earned depends on the team’s record, like in any regular league. As it stands now, the players on all four CC teams are paid the same amount ($50 a week for a five-week split, or $250). I propose instead that the total prize per split of $5,000 (the lowest the CC prize pool has ever been) be distributed so that 50% goes to the first-seeded team, 25% to the second seed, 15% to the third, and 10% to the fourth. (Actual percentages don’t matter, just a suggestion.) With this type of distribution, teams are rewarded according to how they perform in the league. Furthermore, the fact that the best CC team currently earns about 1/16th of the lowest-ranked SPL team seems ludicrous considering the two teams are usually comparable in skill. (While there should be a pay gap, the current gap seems quite large.)



The next issue, exposure, is a pretty simple topic. When the Circuit is streamed on the tiermonster twitch page, the average number of viewers is between 100-1,000. When streamed on HirezTv, the average number of viewers is between 1,000-10,000. (I asked my brother to keep tabs on the stream views out of curiosity.) Simply streaming the games on Hirez’s main twitch page increases the exposure of the Circuit. The games should either be streamed after SPL matches on the weekends or be recorded and streamed earlier in the week. Helping to expand the viewer base of the Circuit allows CC players to start branding themselves and to have the opportunity to create content for Smite if they wish.



My last point is about the entire Smite competitive scene. The ratio of competitive players (high-ranked players, Circuit players, and SPL players) to the total player base is miniscule compared to that of other popular eSports (Dota, League, CS:GO). One reason for this small ratio stems from the fact that Smite actually has really good casual game modes outside of the competitive mode of conquest. Another reason is that some casual players never actually play conquest due to the learning curve. The current tutorials for conquest are outdated and lack crucial information to help new players learn the mode. If these tutorials were updated to reflect the current meta every split, more players would be able to delve into conquest without having to search for third-party guides. Once the tutorials are revamped to reflect the current meta, the effort required to update them during future splits would be minimal. Hirez has taken some steps to mitigate the learning curve with the revised “Learn” tab, but more needs to be done.



In addition, there is a large disconnect between players who want to play at a competitive level and the players of the SPL. The official channels of making your way from the ranked scene to the Challenger Circuit and eventually to the SPL are not advertised well. In fact, a fairly common question in professional streams is “How do I go about joining the SPL?” Expanding the exposure of the Circuit by streaming it on the official channel would help players who want to play competitively take the necessary steps. Closing that disconnect would encourage more players to play competitively and hopefully increase the competitive player base, which strengthens the overall Smite eSports scene.



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