Draft date: 23-24 January 2016
Signups now open
Head over to tribesschedule.com and sign up for the January 2016 Draft Event.
Introduction to the website and how to sign up here: https://imgur.com/a/8SBTA done by Flagician the IT magician
Check-ins will open Saturday 23 January at 8 am and close at 4pm Central European Time (CET). After check-ins are closed, the captains will begin picking the teams. Games will hopefully start at 5 pm.
What are check-ins? A check-in is a confirmation that you will be present for the tournament. By signing up you just state that you might/will be there unless something happens. When you check-in you commit to being in the EU mumble in time for games to start.
Captains
Check that captain box when you signup. While it is true that not many people enjoy captaining, without you the draft does not happen. So be a good sandraker/butcher and lead your team to victory.
Tournament Format
Sadly we cannot provide you with a proper schedule. Why? Because this can only be done once we know how many teams can be formed with the players attending. And this is impossible to know until draft day.
That said, here are the scenarios:
- If 6 or 8 teams we will have a Round Robin group stage with teams evenly split in two groups. Games will be bo2 with predetermined maps. With a single elimination knockout stage (bo3 with map bans)
- If we have 5 or 7 teams we will have a Round Robin group stage but with only one group. Games will be bo1 and have predetermined maps. Then a single elimination knockout stage (again, bo3 with map bans)
In all of the above cases, the top 4 (or top2 of each group) will advance to the knockout stage, which will consist of semifinals and a final.
It is a bit different with 4 teams. In that case we will do the following:
- A double elimination knockout tournament, with all games being bo3 except the Grand Final, which will be a bo5. In the grand final, the team that comes into it undefeated will start with a 1 - 0 lead. (Meaning they only need to win 2 maps while the opponents need to win 3)
Schedules for all of this scenarios will be premade and the proper one will be put in a reddit post on draft day while picking happens.
In all of these scenarios, even the last placed team will play 4 - 6 maps while it not being too exhausting as a format. We'll try to space the schedule properly so players can catch a breather in between games.
One thing I would like to hear from you lot: Currently the Final is set to be a bo3 if we have 5 teams or more. Would you prefer it to be a bo5?
Mappool
Arx Novena, Katabatic, Dangerous Crossing, Drydock, Raindance, Terminus and Ice Coaster
There was much deliberation for choosing a mappool. As pretty much every Tribes player seems to despise all maps bar 3 or 4. So pleasing everybody here is a gargantuan task.
The reasoning behind our picks is rather straightforward: Arx, Kata & DX are the golden trio (even if DX can be pretty polarizing). They are the most played maps in pugs for a reason. Drydock and Raindance are tested maps that favour a different playstyle. Drydock makes cluster play more viable while Raindance rewards offense & capper synergy. Terminus and Ice Coaster are included because they are new and fresh. Plus it wouldn't be an Out of the Blue tournament without Out of the Blue maps.
Do you already hate the entire mappool bar 3 - 4 maps? Do not fret! You will be able to ban them in the knockout stage of the draft. Here is how:
Map ban process:
For this tournament we would like to ditch the old map ban process and try something new. You are probably familiar with it if you follow CS:GO.
Previously, the captains would ban one map each and then remove maps until one was left. Then, the loser of the map would pick the next one (couldn't picked the 2 maps that were banned at the start)
The new system is the following: Captains ban 1 map each, then pick one map each. Then, captains ban 1 map each again and the remaining one will be the last map of the bo3.
For the semifinals, the seeded (as in, the team that placed higher in the group stage) team will be the one banning first. For the final, an admin will flip a coin to determine who bans first.
This system is only for the knockout stage. In the group stage, maps will be pre-determined.
Tournament Rules
Gameplay rules
- Shrike Health set to 50%
- Maximum of two heavies allowed per team
- Chaff Grenade banned
- Throwing Disk banned
- Saber Launcher banned
This is basically the current EU Pugs ruleset. If the upcoming patch happens to drop before the tournament and changes any of these items to the point that they aren't a problem anymore, we will consider unbanning them. On the same note, if this upcoming patch breaks something horribly, we can make a last second adjustment to ban it. Let's hope that is not needed.
