An In-Depth Look At Automated Tournaments

When we introduced Automated Tournaments to the Legacy of the Void beta, we released some details about this new feature, but now that we’re close to the launch of the expansion, we’d like to go in depth about how we designed tournaments, and share the thinking behind the decisions we made.

Why We Added Tournaments

One of the major reasons we're developing tournaments is because we heard the demand from the community for them, and we wanted to deliver on that. Another reason is that StarCraft II is a competitive game at its core, and tournaments are the ultimate expression of the StarCraft competitive experience. We want everyone to experience the eSports competitive scene for themselves and to feel the joy of bringing home a trophy. 

Looking at Warcraft III

In designing tournaments for StarCraft II, we took a look at how they currently work in Warcraft III and noticed two things we really wanted to improve.

The first and most important was matchmaking. Warcraft III tournaments use Swiss style matchmaking, in which players with similar records are matched against each other, and only one player can become champion. Ultimately, this style of matchmaking means only the highest skilled players can win, causing an ugly cycle where less skilled players continually lose, and eventually stop participating in tournaments altogether.

The other area we wanted to improve was differentiating tournaments more from the ladder system. In Warcraft III, there are some differences between the two - such as loose matchmaking, set modes, set times, and portrait rewards - but those differences don't really speak to the core of what players expect from tournaments. 

With the above challenges in mind, we looked at how we might address them.

Smaller Tournaments with Matchmaking

One way we felt we could address the above issues was by grouping players of similar skill together in smaller tournaments. Holding multiple small tournaments at once means more than one player can win. In addition, grouping players by skill means the most skilled players aren't the only ones who stand a chance at winning.

To differentiate winners of tournaments of varying skill levels, each tournament has a difficulty level determined by the player in the highest league for that tournament. Grouping players also distinguishes tournaments from the ladder, since it removes anonymity and lets players see who they're up against (just like in real tournaments). 

When playing in tournaments, you'll be able to see your opponents' races, past build orders, and win records for each map. As with professional tournaments, you can veto maps in your favor and prepare strategies against your opponent. You’ll also have a private channel to chat with your opponent and wish them luck, whether good or bad.

Two Formats for Play

When designing the formats for tournaments, we decided on two types: a three-round version and a six-round version.

The three-round tournament with single elimination bracket play is more common. This format was designed to be more accessible to players by requiring less time commitment than the six-round format, and is scheduled to start every two hours. 

The six-round tournament was designed to fulfill the StarCraft II competitive fantasy. This tournament format starts with three rounds of double elimination group play followed by three rounds of single elimination bracket play.

Each round consists of a match followed by a short break. Each match lasts 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks in between.  If the match doesn't end in 25 minutes, the winner is determined by who is ahead in experience points. On the other hand, if all players finish early, the tournament automatically advances to the next round, which shortens the overall length of the tournament. 

In the group play segment, there are four groups. Each group has four players who compete among themselves for spots and better seeding in bracket play. These tournaments occur twice a day every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Right Rewards

Similar in importance to the format and structure of tournaments are rewards.

In Warcraft III, portraits work well as rewards for tournaments because there aren't many of them in the game, so it’s easy to tell how prestigious each one is. However, StarCraft II has many portraits, so it’s hard to distinguish the rarity of one from another.

When we looked at what kind of rewards made the most sense for StarCraft II tournaments, the answer was easy and obvious: trophies and league icons.

Upon winning a tournament in StarCraft II, you will be granted a 3D trophy with the league icon that’s associated with the tournament. Each trophy you collect will display the format type and time of the tournament where you won. In addition, all the trophies you earn will be displayed in a new section of your profile called the Trophy Case.

In addition to the Trophy Case, a 3D trophy model will appear next to your bases in-game for the remainder of the ladder season. 

If you’re not sure whether to spend time playing for a trophy or for a league promotion, there’s no need to worry: you can try for both by participating in tournaments, since tournament matches also count toward ranked play. Additionally, whenever we make improvements to ranked play after Legacy of the Void releases, those same changes will affect tournaments as well.

How to Participate in Tournaments

Once Legacy of the Void launches, you'll be able to join in the fun by heading over to the Multiplayer section of the in-game menu, where you'll find Tournaments. Once there, simply select your race and sign up to join a tournament.

While you wait to start, feel free to play some campaign missions, jump into the matchmaker, or hop into an Arcade game! Whether you're in a game or waiting on Battle.net, you'll receive a notification when the tournament is about to begin.

We hope you've enjoyed our in-depth look at Automated Tournaments! We're listening closely to the current discussions about the game and what the community would like to see. There's still more work to be done for the game and more features we'd like to add in the future.

Thanks for reading! GLHF in tournaments!