First, ropz spoke about the format on his Twitter.
I hope BLAST changes the Spring/Fall Groups format next year.Robin ropz Cool
Twistzz later expressed solidarity with ropz, and then it seemed that players were unhappy with the current format. However, later FaZe analyst innersh1ne joined the discussion, and the situation became more transparent.
The BLAST format for 2023 is full of crap. It will be published soon. I hope they will revise it.Vyacheslav innersh1ne Britvin
After that, it became clear that the players had in mind the format for 2023, which many have not yet heard of.
How Did This Year's Format Look?
The rules of BLAST group stages were strange this year. For example, in what other group stage could a team lose three matches out of 5 and leave the group? And there were such situations in 2022.
In addition to this problem, there were also repeated matches because the group stage was divided into three phases. At BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022, two games were repeated, and one had an absolutely identical result to its predecessor. Is it interesting to watch?
The fact is that BLAST made an incredibly soft group format. It was divided into three stages: three groups of four; three playoff sets, the winners of which advance to the finals; relegation matches, the winners of which advance to the finals. This format is even difficult to explain, let alone what follows it. So it also killed competitiveness because to be relegated, a team needs to lose at least three matches, possibly four.
Of course, the format had to be changed, but what did BLAST come up with next year?
Related:
New Group Format
Next year, the group stage will be shortened to two stages: groups and the playoff bracket. Again, three groups of four teams each, but now all matches will be held in the BO3 format, and the winner will immediately receive a place in the finals.
The other teams will already enter the Single-Elimination playoff bracket. The team that took second place in the group immediately enters the final of the bracket, while the other two teams will start the playoffs from the first round and need two matches to reach the finals.
The format has improved, and there will be less confusion now. BLAST removed the absolutely unnecessary last stage of the tournament, which gave a fourth chance to a team that had already lost three times.
However, it really cannot be called ideal. Why does such a huge number of BO3 series on the group stage? As part of the group stage, 24 BO3 matches will be played, which is a huge number, considering that this is not even a full-fledged tournament.
For example, as part of the BLAST Premier World Final 2022 - the most important and prestigious BLAST tournament this year, only 13 BO3 series took place. Only four fewer teams participated in it than in the groups.
The new BLAST format is still very soft: the team must suffer three defeats to leave the event. Each partner team will have three chances to get to the finals.
What to Do With the Format of the Group Stage?
First, BLAST should review the number of slots for partner teams at their events. Only two teams that are not partners of the operator can get a place in the finals of BLAST, which is very little, considering that there are only 12 partners in BLAST.
This does not mean that partner events should be abandoned, but reducing the number of slots that partner teams receive is possible. For example, make it so that only three teams who won the groups get places in the finals, and the rest of the teams go to the Showdown to fight against the teams from the qualifiers.
In this case, it will be possible to reduce the group stage to one - Double-Elimination of groups. It will not tire the team and confuse the audience.
When Will the BLAST Series Tournaments Start?
Last year, BLAST Premier Spring Groups started at the end of January. However, in 2023 it will be taken after IEM Katowice 2023, so BLAST groups will most likely begin after Katowice to avoid interfering with the winter Player Break.
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