Posts from Heading towards CIS-2020.

Maybe change name for "Jebus Templates Tournament" instead of SNG?
I wanted to play serious international tour and this map pool is just a joke. Firewalk is new template in Hota and it's playable only in mirror version.
I suggest to change firewalk for nostalgia, even mt_jeb or diamond are better than this one. 3/5 maps similar to jebus won't be fun to play and watch for more experienced viewers

Don't go mad. Keep calm and play Jebus. HotA was created for Jebus.

I've been getting a lot of questions, so I'll answer once and here. I don't play HotA (my attitude towards it is well known), so I handed over the entire HotA tournament to Sergey Frishe, who, in my opinion, did an excellent job running a number of major offline events, and I didn't hear any complaints or grievances (if there were any, they were probably minor and not made public). Thus, once again, this person is taking on a completely unpaid burden of losses (both in terms of time and, more importantly, in terms of money). Is there anyone on the forum who is willing to replace him in this role? Willing to arrive earlier, willing to spend several days setting up/configuring the internet so that the CIS region finally has a normal internet connection and, consequently, good coverage of the event? Willing to invest a good amount of money in this and not only in this? In previous championships, the constant reason for complaints was that losing one match meant you could forget about winning the championship, right? This time, a completely different format is planned so that even if you lose one game according to the draft or in a maximum-length match (hello, Mizrael), the chance of winning the championship will not be lost, which requires faster drafts. Is this innovation interesting, or should we stick to the Olympic format, where losing a match means it's all over? This pool of drafts was also chosen in such a way that it includes drafts that are prevalent in broadcasts and that viewers find interesting to watch. Maybe I'm wrong (I'm far from an expert on HotA drafts), but I watch the streams of those who gather the maximum audience: Amila, Hell – mostly Jebus, and occasionally some 6LM. Sometimes I see Mirror or Anarchy on streams (hello, Reddit), Diamond and Nostalgia, but only once in a blue moon. You can simply look and see, if possible, what percentage of the games played are these two drafts that people want to see in the CIS. And a little bit about the mercenary side... thanks to Frishe's studio, the prize pool for the last CIS tournament has more than doubled, and the champion earned, as far as I know, around 100k, and the bronze medalist – about 60k. All this was provided by viewer support, and also by a certain amount from Frishe himself (maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I was told). In other words, do you want to play for a total prize pool of less than 100k (32 x 3k) or for a significantly larger amount? P.S. Everything written here is my personal opinion, and besides, the pool is not yet finalized; Firewalk could easily be replaced by something else, as could one of the Jebus drafts. P.P.S. Tomorrow, some changes will be posted on the main page of the championship, in particular, the SOD tournament will be canceled (the required number of participants was not reached)

Hmm... Then it would be good to remember who the CIS tournament is held for. For the players?
It seems so. And since the opinions of a significant portion of the players were taken into account when making the decision about the possibility of separating versions in the tournament, then in the same way, it is the players who should determine the pool of templates.
Therefore, here, probably, everything is very simple: each player who has made a prepayment writes 7 templates.
7 templates that receive the most votes should be in the tournament.

So, here, it's probably very simple: each player who has made a prepayment submits 7 map templates.
The 7 templates that receive the most votes must be used in the tournament.

It would be simple if it weren't so complicated. If you remember, last year's CIS tournament in St. Petersburg had a similar system. In the end, it was a complete failure, and everyone complained about it. Therefore, selecting templates by voting is a bad idea. Let the organizer make the decision. Another question is the number of templates – this is the aspect that can be discussed.

On streams, Jebus is prevalent not because he is the most entertaining for viewers. But because the most active and popular streamers are Jebus enthusiasts (this is no longer an insult; I am also one to some extent). If (hypothetically) the most popular streamers were not Hellight and Amilu, but Lucky and Shopa, we would see an absolute prevalence of mirrors and HL builds. There is no need to attribute everything to some ephemeral "entertainment value." It is not about the template at all.

Jebus is so prevalent on streams not because he is the most entertaining for viewers. But because the most active and popular streamers are Jebus fans (this is no longer an insult, I am also somewhat one of them). If (hypothetically) the most popular streamers were not Hellight and Amilu, but Lucky and Shopa, then we would see an absolute dominance of Mirror and HL decks. Don't attribute everything to some ephemeral "entertainment value." It is not at all in the template.

Anton and Misha don't get as many viewers when they stream LM or Mirror decks.

I agree with Merlin, the CIS region should be entirely for the players, and the majority should determine the pool. In general, create a poll on the forum for those participating in the tournament, and that would be good. Just let each person vote for 3 templates to avoid a situation where players vote for unplayable garbage because they don't want to vote for what they don't like; I suspect this was the reason for the poor pool in the previous St. Petersburg tournament

As Kostya Derti said, the poll already turned out to be a failure, but even 3 Jebus-like templates seem like too much to me, even though it is indeed the most spectacular template (that's a fact). I wouldn't say it's the most "esports-friendly," but we're not really having a show tournament here, so I don't think we should get upset prematurely; a compromise will be found.
P.S. However, everyone who is dissatisfied should try to suggest something, because there are very few decent HL+U maps for LAN that don't drag out the game (you can count them on one hand). For example, along with the "unplayable" Firewall, I can say the same about Nostalgia; its younger brother is more balanced and faster, and the same goes for 8mm and Spider.

In previous championships, the constant reason for complaints was that losing 1 match meant you could forget about the championship, right?

The speed of the matches has increased due to normal road junctions and checkpoints. This is not very related to the templates, as can be seen in practice in Vaskelovo: 4 rounds in two days.

Using a system like in FB, you can hold a tournament in 7 (6.5) rounds for 32 people. But there are already about 35 participants; will some of them still have to leave the tournament after 1 loss in the qualification?

And a little about the mercenary aspect... thanks to the same Frishi studio, the prize fund of the last CIS tournament has more than doubled, and the champion earned, as far as I know, about 100k, and the bronze medalist - about 60. All this was ensured by viewer support, and a certain amount from Frishi himself (maybe I'm wrong, but I was told that). In other words, do you want to play for a total prize fund of less than 100k (32x3k) or for significantly larger amounts?

Let's be honest, this is still the main argument why Sergey is given the right to choose the templates. These amounts, which have not yet been announced, will only be seen by the top three out of 35+ participants, and everyone pays for the trip and the tournament fee. So, maybe we should ask them if they are ready to go to the main tournament on these terms? This is all announced 4 months later, when the team has already been assembled under other conditions.

Those 7 templates that are listed in the tournament topic are quite adequate.

There will be no 7 templates from the theme, nor will there be a vote. There also won't be 35+ participants (information published on the studio's website is not the ultimate authority; there are many errors there). More detailed information will be available later today.
And yes, comparing Vasquelevo and the CIS is, at the very least, inaccurate.

Some changes have been made to the tournament's main page; the most important ones are that the HotA tournament rules and templates are currently under development and will be posted very soon, there will be no Olympians in the tournament, and the SoD tournament has been officially canceled.

Urgent message! Today, an impromptu meeting of the judging panel took place, and I was unexpectedly included. There will be no voting; we've already been through that.

SUDDEN Regulations:
Game version: HOTA.
Templates: h3dm1, Jebus King, 6lm10a, diamond (roads), M200-Papich-pack
Standard template style. Standard trading on all templates, except for M200 – there, it's all random. OH and timers will be set closer to the start of the tournament, but the timer will not exceed the standard values. Additional announcements will be made regarding the versions of the JK and h3md templates.

Tournament format. The tournament is designed for 32 players. (If there are more, there will be qualifying matches for players with low ratings on the M200 template).
Two stages of the tournament:
1) Group stage
8 groups of 4 players, rating-based seeding. GSL system (this is how the FB tournament is currently held). 2 players advance from each group.
2) Playoffs
Single Elimination BO1 (no time for BO3) + match for 3rd place.

Schedule:
May 3. Draw, possible qualifying matches, and Round 1. Poker tournament (but this is not certain).
May 4. Rounds 2-3 of the group stage. The groups should be completed by the morning of May 5.
May 5. Start of the playoffs. 1/8 and 1/4 (it will be a tough day).
May 6. First game of 1/2, possible force majeure replays of 1/4. Second game of 1/2. Semifinal matches will be streamed one after another. If there is no technical possibility for streaming (just in case), this item will be revised.
May 7. Final. Match for 3rd place. Awards ceremony and closing of the tournament.

It’s sad to see what they’re trying to turn the strongest CIS tournament of all time into... An unplayable Diamond, M200??? And even a specific Jebus Cross, which is essentially only played in MS Studio tournaments. A very heavy pulling of the blanket in favor of a particular part of the audience.
Although I have repeatedly voiced a reasonable compromise option with 6 templates, where a coin flip decides who will ban 3 templates and who will ban 2. What stops you from adding Nostra as the 6th template?
In short, I ask the organizers to state whether this is the final decision or not. I did not sign up for this and will free up my spot for those who wish to participate in all of this.

By the way, the idea of voting, suggested by Wojciech, was dismissed prematurely. If everyone had chosen exactly 3 templates, instead of 7 (or however many there were in the previous iteration), we would have arrived at a clear and adequate pool of 5 templates, which would have satisfied everyone, with 99.9% certainty.

Currently, there is only one version of h3dm1. With a ban on Greenie and others. Just like with Diamond. The road fix has been implemented by default for two years now.