IGNProLeague August 02 2012 06:54. Posts 1147 | Profile # |
Hello everyone! We have decided at IGN Pro League that Team Arena Challenge was better suited for a league style format instead of a self-contained qualifier and tournament. Now that Team Arena Challenge 3 has concluded, we will be changing the format of our team league to a division-based system and call it the IGN Pro Team League or IPTL.
The new format introduces three divisions: Amateur, Contender (8 teams), and Premier (8 teams). Let's take a look now at each of these three divisions and how they interact.
Premier Division These 8 teams are the cream of the crop. They are the best teams around the world and are competing for a big chunk of change (prize pool still TBA). The first 8 teams in the Premier Division of IPTL will be seeded in from the top 8 of Team Arena Challenge 3. These 8 teams will be placed into two groups. The top 2 teams from each division will move on to the playoffs, and the bottom teams in each group will be relegated to up and down matches with winners from the Contender Division.
In each group, every team will play every other team in the group.
Group 1 for IPTL Season 1 looks like this:
- Team Liquid
- SlayerS
- MVP
- Evil Geniuses
Group 2 looks like this:
- LG-Incredible Miracle
- StarTale
- Prime
- Team SCV Life
The top 4 teams will go to the playoffs, a single-elimination bracket. The bottom 4 teams move to up and down matches to face the top 4 teams from the Contender Division.
The full (tentative) schedule for IPTL Season 1 Premier Division is under the spoiler! + Show Spoiler [IPTL Premier Schedule] +Premier Division games will be broadcast on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Premier Group A Schedule: Liquid v EG - September 11 SlayerS v MVP - September 18 Liquid v MVP - September 25 SlayerS v EG - October 2 SlayerS v Liquid - October 9 MVP v EG - October 16
Premier Group B Schedule: IM v StarTale - September 12 Prime v TSL - September 19 IM v Prime - September 26 StarTale v TSL - October 3 StarTale v Prime - October 10 IM v TSL - October 17
Contender Division These 8 teams are incredibly good, but not quite at the tip-top of the heap. The first Contender teams will be teams that place 9th-16th in Team Arena Challenge 3. These 8 teams will also play round robin groups, with the top 4 teams receiving a cash prize and moving on to face the 4 weakest teams from Premier in up and down matches. Teams finishing third and fourth in their groups will fall out of Contender Division and must re-qualify through the Amateur Division.
Group 1 for IPTL Season 1 looks like this:
- Acer
- aTn Type
- FXO
- compLexity
Group 2 looks like this:
- NSHoSeo
- Karont3
- Empire
- Dignitas
The full (tentative) schedule for IPTL Season 1 Contender Division is under the spoiler! + Show Spoiler [IPTL Contender Schedule] +Contender Division games will be broadcast on Thursdays and Fridays.
Contender Group A Schedule: Acer v aTn Type - September 13 coL v FXO - September 20 Acer v FXO - September 27 aTn Type v coL - October 4 FXO v aTn Type - October 11 Acer v coL - October 18
Contender Group B Schedule: NSHoSeo v Empire - September 14 Karont3 v Dignitas - September 21 NSHoSeo v Dignitas - September 28 Karont3 v Empire - October 5 Empire v Dignitas - October 12 Karont3 v NSHoSeo - October 19
Amateur Division This is the rest of the field. The 4 teams dropping down from the Contender Division will be seeded into a massive open (not semi-open like TAC, actually open) bracket that will contain all other interested teams. The top 4 teams will enter the Contender Division in the next season.
Teams looking to sign up for the IPTL Amateur Division must meet the following requirements: Must have a manager, a website, and at least 5 reliable players.
Application instructions are inside the spoiler: + Show Spoiler [Amateur Application] +To apply, e-mail Frank Fields (ffields (at) ign (dot) com) with the following information:
Team Name: Website: Team Accomplishments:
Manager: Real Name: Alias: In Game Name & Identifier: e.g. RGNMirhi.241 Email Address: Phone Number:
Assistant Manager: Real Name: Alias: In Game Name & Identifier: e.g. RGNMirhi.241 Phone Number:
Roster: Real Name: Alias: In Game Name & Identifier: e.g. RGNMirhi.241
Amateur Division Schedule is behind the spoiler, beginning broadcasting on August 14th! + Show Spoiler [Amateur Division Schedule] +Round 1 - August 12 - August 18 Round 2 - August 19 - August 25 Round 3 - August 26 - September 1 Round 4 - September 2 - September 8 Round 5 - September 9 - September 15 Round 6 - September 16 - September 22
We hope that you'll enjoy this new format and that many teams show us what they're made of in the Amateur Division. Prize pools and additional scheduling (up and downs, playoffs, etc.) are still to be announced. Stay tuned for additional information as the season begins! Please post here with any feedback or questions you may have, and please join us for the Team Arena Challenge 3 Grand Finals on August 11th! Thank you!
Last edit: 2012-08-02 07:16:54 |
|

|
opterown Australia. August 02 2012 06:56. Posts 27725 | Profile Blog # | |
| | live report calendar: http://goo.gl/qc4eD |  |
|
|
| -FoX United States. August 02 2012 06:58. Posts 463 | Profile # |
| This is really cool! Hope to see a lot of up and coming teams in that amateur division! |
|
|
| ChuCky.Ca Canada. August 02 2012 06:59. Posts 2475 | Profile # | |
| | Most Skilled Current esport Games Scbw>Sc2>Cs1.6>Dota2>Hon>Loopin Louie The Drinking Game>LoL |  |
|
|
| mistsifter Australia. August 02 2012 07:00. Posts 41 | Profile # |
Liquid vs EG opening match! Hyped already! |
| |
|
| Finrod1 Germany. August 02 2012 07:00. Posts 3608 | Profile # |
no mouz?  |
| | "In a society that has abolished every kind of adventure the only adventure that remains is to abolish the society." |  |
|
|
opterown Australia. August 02 2012 07:00. Posts 27725 | Profile Blog # |
| group 2 is very difficult compared to group 1, lol |
| | live report calendar: http://goo.gl/qc4eD |  |
|
|
| chris5180 August 02 2012 07:02. Posts 190 | Profile # |
| i like the format, can't wait! |
| |
|
| imallinson United Kingdom. August 02 2012 07:03. Posts 2084 | Profile Blog # |
| This seems like a really interesting format. It look very similar to the GSL format and I'm curious to see how that works in a team league. |
| | The night is dark and full of Terrans | |
|
|
Sozai United States. August 02 2012 07:09. Posts 27 | Profile # |
If I'm reading this right there seems to be a contradiction.
The top 3 teams from each division will move on to the playoffs, and the bottom teams in each group will be relegated to up and down matches with winners from the Challenger Division.
The top 4 teams will go to the playoffs, a single-elimination bracket. The bottom 4 teams move to up and down matches to face the top 4 teams from the Contender Division.
Both of these quotes seemed to be in relation to the premier division. One states the top 3 of each group, a total of 6 teams will advance to the playoffs, and the other states a total of 4 teams will advance.
And are Challenger Division and Contender Division supposed to be the same thing or something different?
Is something wrong here or am I just confusing myself? |
|
|
IGNProLeague August 02 2012 07:15. Posts 1147 | Profile # |
On August 02 2012 07:09 Sozai wrote:If I'm reading this right there seems to be a contradiction. Show nested quote + The top 3 teams from each division will move on to the playoffs, and the bottom teams in each group will be relegated to up and down matches with winners from the Challenger Division.
Show nested quote + The top 4 teams will go to the playoffs, a single-elimination bracket. The bottom 4 teams move to up and down matches to face the top 4 teams from the Contender Division.
Both of these quotes seemed to be in relation to the premier division. One states the top 3 of each group, a total of 6 teams will advance to the playoffs, and the other states a total of 4 teams will advance. And are Challenger Division and Contender Division supposed to be the same thing or something different? Is something wrong here or am I just confusing myself?
You're right, it was a mistake left over from an earlier draft. It's fixed now. =) |
|
|
| Acronysis August 02 2012 07:33. Posts 831 | Profile # |
Sounds good - I like this format =) Makes for a lot higher stakes for every match I feel - it's crazy to think about some of the good teams that will have to go through the amateur division (Quantic first comes to mind).
Super excited for this - IPL TAC just gets better and better each season =) |
| | Thorzain, MVP, Mana, Sase, Nestea, Ganzi, Oz, Curious, viOlet, TheStC, HerO |  |
|
|
| Veldril Thailand. August 02 2012 07:39. Posts 1597 | Profile # |
| I have a question: Will IPTL uses an all-kill format or the Ace match format (like KesPA's Starcraft Pro League)? |
| | Without love, we can't see anything. Without love, the truth can't be seen. - Umineko no Naku Koro Ni |  |
|
|
IGNProLeague August 02 2012 07:39. Posts 1147 | Profile # |
On August 02 2012 07:39 Veldril wrote: I have a question: Will IPTL uses an all-kill format or the Ace match format (like KesPA's Starcraft Pro League)?
Bo9 All-kill formats are still the plan. |
|
|
| Gorlin United States. August 02 2012 07:40. Posts 1803 | Profile # |
With the round robin, is point differential used to determine tie-breaks? Will it be all-kill format or the proleague format? (edit: just answered above me) If it's all-kill, and uses point dif for tie breaks, I really don't like that. The way that seems to me is that teams will want to send their best players first and just hope that they all-kill since they won't want to drop any maps. This puts less emphasis on interesting usage and snipers, map choice, etc. This is still awesome news, but could you elaborate on this?Last edit: 2012-08-02 07:40:37 |
| |
|
opterown Australia. August 02 2012 07:45. Posts 27725 | Profile Blog # |
On August 02 2012 07:40 Gorlin wrote: With the round robin, is point differential used to determine tie-breaks? Will it be all-kill format or the proleague format? (edit: just answered above me) If it's all-kill, and uses point dif for tie breaks, I really don't like that. The way that seems to me is that teams will want to send their best players first and just hope that they all-kill since they won't want to drop any maps. This puts less emphasis on interesting usage and snipers, map choice, etc. This is still awesome news, but could you elaborate on this?
yeah, i agree, point difference is not the best for allkill format |
| | live report calendar: http://goo.gl/qc4eD |  |
|
|
IGNProLeague August 02 2012 07:55. Posts 1147 | Profile # |
On August 02 2012 07:45 opterown wrote: Show nested quote +On August 02 2012 07:40 Gorlin wrote: With the round robin, is point differential used to determine tie-breaks? Will it be all-kill format or the proleague format? (edit: just answered above me) If it's all-kill, and uses point dif for tie breaks, I really don't like that. The way that seems to me is that teams will want to send their best players first and just hope that they all-kill since they won't want to drop any maps. This puts less emphasis on interesting usage and snipers, map choice, etc. This is still awesome news, but could you elaborate on this?
yeah, i agree, point difference is not the best for allkill format
So our plan for tiebreakers right now are head-to-head first (for two-team ties), then map score difference (i.e. 12-6 is better than 11-7 is better than 11-8, and so on). |
|
|
| yawnoC United States. August 02 2012 07:59. Posts 2517 | Profile # |
| Really interesting decision. Interested to see how this will turn out. |
| | GG |  |
|
|
| johnnywup United States. August 02 2012 08:07. Posts 2743 | Profile Blog # |
gogo infinity seven for "amateur" division!
i like this format the best out of all, very much like GSL |
| | Infinity Seven #1 Favorite Team~ | Startale #2 favorite~ |  |
|
|
| MCXD Australia. August 02 2012 08:08. Posts 2514 | Profile Blog # |
| What will the format of the up and down matches be? Two round robin groups, top 4 going up and bottom 4 going down (like the main divisions themselves)? Or simply pairing up the teams and having 4 stand-alone matches to determine the 4 teams going up and down? |
| | Please check these out and tell me what you think: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=398973 |  |
|
|
| 1 2 3 4 Next All |
|