The $100,000 event risks being met with the same wave of disapproval as MLG Las Vegas.
A second Overwatch tournament this month is to feature a pre-determined map pool and map order for its matches, as ESL are preparing to host the IEM Gyeonggi Invitational December 16-18. The tournament is following in the footsteps of MLG Las Vegas, which announced their fixed map pool and order for each match of the tournament earlier this month.
Although taken conjointly with Blizzard, MLG’s decision was met by vocal disapproval from the pro player community. In a Dot Esports article, Fnatic tank player Faraaz “Stoop” Waris described the situation as “a bad idea” which “everyone hates”. The reason, of course, is teams being prohibited from banning maps they are weak on or haven’t practiced at all and being robbed of their map choice upon game loss, a standard practice in the majority of Overwatch tournaments. In MLG’s case, the ostensible lack of balance between map types was also a point of contention, with control maps and particularly the heavily disliked Ilios having prevalence.
Many of the same issues are echoed in the updated version of IEM Gyeonggi’s map rules, which originally featured a map selection phase but which “wasn’t in compliance with Blizzard’s tournament specifications.” Just like MLG, IEM will now run preset maps for each set in each of the five series.
Major discrepancies can once again be found, starting with the map order. Not a single game within a series has a consistent map type across all matches and only two of the five matches start with the same map. Five of the nine maps to be used are either escort or hybrid maps, with assault and control at two each.
The maps which are to be played are also likely to leave the teams unhappy. Notable is the absence of King’s Row and Nepal in favor of maps which are often banned in tournaments such as Ilios, Hanamura and Volskaya. Ilios and Lijiang Tower, in particular, will be played in four of the five matches. No other map or map type has the same frequency of appearance.
Despite IEM’s decision being an unpopular one, it’s likely it will remain fixed. In MLG’s case, letters from pro teams asking to reconsider the pre-set map pool resulted in little change.
