The RLCS - What We Know So Far
Today saw the start of the RLCS Confirmation E-Mail process, and with it came a lot more information about how the RLCS will run and when players will need to play. Here's what we know so far.
The Brackets Are Split Into Two
Each region is split into two brackets, Bracket A and Bracket B. Bracket B in both NA and EU starts two hours later than Bracket A. Each match on the bracket has a scheduled start time, and you should be contacted next week to tell you which of the two brackets for your region you'll be put into.
There's A Whole Lot Of Teams
The RLCS tweeted about the numbers of the RLCS yesterday, and there are lots of teams participating. A lot have been filtered out since some past tweets, but there are still 6,112 confirmed teams set to participate. That's an incredible 20,478 individual players.
You'll Have To Be Up Early
The schedules for both the NA qualifiers and EU qualifiers were included in the E-Mail sent out to registered participants, and if you want to participate you're going to have to be up rather early. Depending on your region the qualifiers could begin as early as 7am.
Prepare For A Long Day
If you're a serious contender to go through to the group stages of the RLCS you're going to have a long, long day of qualification ahead of you. Regardless of which group your team is placed into, the schedule runs for approximately 14 hours from the beginning of the first game of the day through to the end of the last game of the day. If you're expecting your team to make it all the way, prepare yourself!
The Rules Will Be Enforced
Despite this early stage, the email already reminds players of the rules. If no player from your team checks in to the matchmaking room within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time for a match, your team will be disqualified from the tournament.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again. MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THE RULES. Then read them again. The RLCS is a professional tournament and with this many teams involved they'll have to enforce the rules firmly to keep everything running to time. Read them thoroughly and don't run the risk of disqualification.
Links
NA Schedule
EU Schedule
RLCS Rules
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memlo
1) Smash was not prepared
2) DQ timers would have been great and would have definitely progressed the tournament along. Instead it seemed each DQ required a Moderator to fix.
3) Moderators did not handle lying teams or DQs well, and in general were not helpful
What I can say from seeing EU play:
1) Smash was prepared
2) Thing were run well
3) Moderators were helpful
What I hope to see going forward
1) Learn from your mistakes. Prepare better for 9000 people accessing the site. Prepare with more moderators ready to go.
2) Teams like mine are not professional, yet we made it a lot farther in the tournament than expected. Please don't cater to the Pro teams, everyone loves the underdog upset. The point of the tournament was to compete competitively, and many non-pro teams were DQ'd before they had that chance.
3) This is supposed to be fun and exciting. I spent all of Saturday stressed, irritated, annoyed, and only happy when I was actually playing a game. I think the "prepare more" answers most of the problem here.
Last thing - the RLCS stream was AWESOME. I think they really did a great job there.
Chrissao24
mmus91606
The_BlackPanth33r