[Eddie]

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Fresh from a massive 2014, and an amazing Grand Finals weekend, it's all eyes ahead to 2015, and making it ever better.

For 2 years now we've followed the format of top 32 ranked players from the years season > top 8 pre-seeded into a double elim bracket, while 9th-32nd fight it out in groups stages on day 1, top 3 of each group (12 players) move onto day 2. Example this years finals!

Given that OSC is a yearly competition, and ranking/positioning should play a pivotal role, group stages where 9-16th particularly might not make it to day 2, is probably not the most rewarding system for a years hard work. It wasn't so much of an issue in season 1, but given our enormous growth this year, and increased international interest and participation, groups may have become somewhat unbalanced, or will be in the future.

***Also note, this is not the big change/reward for SEA players some might have heard is in the works, that is still to come, so please minimise koreans op, leifeng cups, etc We will get to that in the coming weeks

So here is what i propose for 2015 (Working idea)

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Idea suggested by deth:

New System

32 Player Finals Series
Players ranked 1-8 in the yearly rankings play off in a round robin group to determine positioning in a 32 Double Elimination bracket.
Players 1-20 Start in the Upper Bracket, 1-8 from group stage seeded into the later rounds
Players 21-32 are matched up first round in the lower bracket, elimination. 6 players knocked out.
LB works as before, with a slight adjustment for number of players and rewarding the group players as per goals
1st + 2nd from group stage cannot finish lower than 5/6th

Using Players Ranked 1-32 at the conclusion of season 2, an example bracket would look like:

Upper Bracket example
(Winner's bracket Match 1+2 act as Upper Bracket R5, winners face off in the upper bracket finals.)
Lower Bracket example
(Loser's bracket Match 1+2 act as Lower Bracket R7, winners face off in the 3rd/4th place match, and go onto play the person who drops from the winners bracket finals)

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+ [Eddie's Original Idea] +

- Top 32 Players.
- One Double Elimination Bracket.
- Top 16 players start in the upper bracket with double chance, and play amongst themselves, Bo3 to finals.
- 17-32nd start in the lower bracket, first round amongst themselves. Bo5 games for lower bracket. Elimination.

Example Here (Quickly done, will look a lot better on liquipedia)

It will still be a 2 day event, all upper bracket and lower bracket round 1 on Day 1. Lower R2 to finals Day 2

Old format: Groups > 20 player double elim
60 bo3's day 1 (20 Rounds), 38 bo3's day 2 (8 Rounds)
12 Players eliminated Day 1

New format: 32 player bracket, top 16 double chance, 17-32 lower bracket
16 bo3's (4 rounds), 30 bo5's (9 Rounds)
8 Players eliminated Day 1

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Pro's:
- Great reward and incentive to get top 16
- Less chance of rank 32 going in and shaking up groups for example
- One bracket, easier to set times for games, more chance to cast additional series.
- Increased time to prepare for first opponent, since no unpredictability from group stages
- More potential for great series/+comebacks with bo5 elimination match (although not guaranteed)

Con's:
- Less chance of upsets?
- Could only face 1-2 opponents for the whole weekend

So what do you guys think about this idea?