ESL Caves into Outcry From Halo Community

After announcing the format for this weekend’s HCS NA Pro League Last Chance Qualifier, which you can read about here on GAMURS, ESL was met with considerable backlash from the competitive Halo community. The news was announced with this tweet. Fans and players alike raised concerns over the format of the event, mainly due to the fact that the bracket stage featured only single elimination. Community members felt that this was unfair tothe teams competing as it no longer ensured that the two best teams would receive the remaining Pro League spots. To understand why people felt this way, an example must be provided: Suppose that OpTic Gaming and Team eLevate, two of the teams that are favoured to take the last spots, play in the quarterfinals of the  tournament. If they are the two best teams present, only one of them can move on to have a chance at a spot in the Pro League with the single elimination format. Concerns were also raised about the amount of opportunities given to amateur teams. For most teams, this was the first and last chance to get into the Pro League. If they were rightfully the second best team present, but get matched against the best team early on, they would not be given a fair chance to enter the league. Thankfully, ESL listened to the community and have given fans and players what they’ve asked for. This gives us a format with a group stage (four groups of four)on the first day, the top two teams from the group stage moving onto the bracket stage and the top eight teams playing through a double elimination bracket on the second day. With this format change, not only are there better odds for the best teams to make it in, but it’ll also make for an excellent tournament! Teams are putting their livelihoods on the line, this way we can see who truly deserves it.

What do you think about this format change? How do you feel about ESL giving into pressure from the community? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us@GAMURScom. Patrick Cowley can be contacted through email at patrick@esports.guru or on Twitter, @PtrckCowley.