Seeding has long been a fact of competition, be that sporting, eSports or otherwise, but some games and scenes choose to take that a step further and actively ease the journey of those players considered the best. Upcoming Smash event Shine, organized by Matthew ‘MattDotZeb’ Zaborowski announced that they had decided to ‘float’ the top 32 through first round pools, making way instead for a fan autograph signing session that the organisers clearly feel is of more benefit.
When announced on Reddit, the news was met with largely positive response, with a number of fans saying they’d rather get an autograph than play a god in pools, but despite this it can be considered a mistake by those who took the decision. There are a number of reasons why such a decision is not just poor, but actively damaging for the scene, but we’ll start with the most obvious: the lack of excitement.
Earlier this year, perennial MIOM Top 30 player Mike ‘Nintendude’ Brancato was defeated in round one of Evo 2016, before going on a somewhat epic run through losers bracket that saw him eventually finish in 13th. One of the chief arguments in favour of floating players is that ‘top 30 don’t lose in pools’, but we’ve seen players like Nintendude, Westballz and even Mango lose to players ranked way below them at events in the past, so clearly that is not entirely accurate.
By giving Nintendude (and others) a free run into the second round, you deny not on his vanquisher Kaeon a moment in the spotlight which he no doubt earned with his 2-0 victory, but you also deny the fans the chance to watch the losers run. On top of that, the potential for the headlines an upset makes is gone, meaning that some of the most compelling competitive stories would not be told if they were at an event with this style of bracket.
It may or may not be related, by the way, but at that same tournament MattDotZeb himself was beaten in, you guess it, round one pools by a player called Firefly. With this in mind, it seems bizarre that commenters would suggest upsets don’t happen, and even more bizarre that the TOs, of which MattDotZeb is one would willingly choose to rule out those kind of headlines being made at their event. What could possibly be worth sacrificing that for?
It turns out the answer, as we said above, is an autograph signing, and that brings us onto the next argument in favour that pops up on Reddit. ‘Sporting events’, claims many a commenter, ‘often allow players or teams a bye’, but this is wrong on a number of levels too. Events that do allow it often do so on the basis of results in the qualification stages/regular season, and even those are uncommon.
The fact is that Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton or any other star in a credible individual sport is required to run, drive or play just as much as the lowest qualifier once their event starts. The idea that Bolt could be allowed to sign autographs while others ran races is laughable, to the extent that even the otherwise ridiculous IOC haven’t succumbed, and also demonstrates why this move could have long-term negative effects on the perception of Smash, and maybe eSports.
In a recent NPR article about eSports, Daniel ‘Tafokints’ Lee cited the actions per minute in games, and Melee in particular, as a reason that sports and eSports are not so different. There is a physical exertion involved in Usain Bolt cruising to a first round win in the Olympics that will still be a factor when he gets to the final, just as Adam ‘Armada’ Lindgren will exert mental energy in pools even if he never drops a game. The credibility of any sporting event that chooses to given such an advantage to players that are already way ahead in the rankings would be at risk of being shot, and even more so if it were done in favour of an autograph signing.
This leads onto the final point, and perhaps the least important for Shine specifically. The TOs at Shine might have guessed that they’ll make more money from the signing than would otherwise have been the case, but from the outside this seems a clear example of hero-worship in a game that is already stagnant at the top. Since his evolution from genuine contender into some kind of Swedish vulgarian and subsequent travel issue, William ‘Leffen’ Hjelte has left us with five contenders for any event, and a scene that actually worships some of the top players as if they were gods.
The case of Leffen is actually a very pertinent one, as a large part of his evolution from also-ran to potential major winner came from being able to face Armada regularly and hone his skills against the very best. Preventing lower level players from getting that experience is likely to not only hurt our chances of seeing new names in the top ranks, but will also give the perception to the outside that the scene is actively opposed to movement in the top ten, and would rather get a Mango wristband than follow a serious competitive scene.
What is the Dr Pepper here, though? What’s the worst that can happen? Let’s imagine, just for a second, that the 33rd ranked player at this event does the unthinkable and makes it into finals, where he faces a floated player. A number of mistakes, uncharacteristic ones for those who have watched him make his run to finals, plague his play, and after the event he claims to have been fatigued during the set due to the long weekend.
Before you scoff at this hypothetical problem, many top players have talked in the past about the effort required to play a two- or three-day tournament, and it is both a mentally and physically exhausting effort. What the organisers are saying with this decision is that, if you want to win the event and are not a top 32 player, your chances are even less and you must work harder to achieve the same as a god, for example. Is that a healthy message to send?
So, in conclusion, you potentially hurt the development of players, the competitive scene and the integrity of your event, all for an autograph session. So far, most of the scene has avoided making these sort of decisions, but if it becomes the norm then Melee will only become more entrenched in its own ways, and more stagnant at the top level, as well as continuing to be a joke in the eyes of the wider FGC. For a long time, as a lover of Melee, that perception seemed nasty, and prejudicial, but today part of this fan finds it hard to defend the scene he loves.
We contacted MattDotZeb for comment, but he declined to contribute to the article. However, he did respond to criticism on reddit with the message below:
