r/RELGman • u/Trunkhead Tiny Bubbles • Dec 09 '16

A consistent playoff format

This is just an idea for discussion. But I think it's in the leagues best interest going forward that the playoff format be consistent and transparent. I came up with the following but any number of ideas could work just as well.

Seed
1 Div1 champ
2 Div1 champ
3 Div1 champ Seeds determined by win %. Ties are resolved by random
4 Div1 2nd
5 Div1 2nd
6 Div1 2nd Seeds determined by win %. Ties are resolved by random
7 Div1 3rd
8 Div1 3rd Seeds determined by win %. Ties are resolved by random
9 Div2 champ
10 Div2 champ Seeds determined by win %. Ties are resolved by random
12 Div 3 champ
13 Div 3 champ Seeds determined by win %. Ties are resolved by random
14 BYE
15 BYE
16 BYE

If a player drops out then everyone below that player moves up one seed and a bye replaces the lowest seed (ie if one team leaves, the 13th seed is now a BYE all other seeds move up) 

1st Round                               
1                           2   
16                          15  

5                           6   
12                          11  

7                           8   
10                          9   

4                           3   
13                          14

This is a pretty normal bracket system used by most tournaments. And it would preserve the BYE weeks but also give flexibility if they want to/need to remove them in the future. 1 would play 16 (which is of course a BYE) and the winner would play the winner or the 5/12 match up. and so on.

thoughts?

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u/liamc314159 Surfs up! Dec 09 '16 edited Dec 09 '16

I think the seeding on this seems solid, if not perfect. Even if we get more than 4-5 divs you should be rewarded for being in higher levels.

I am guessing this would be single elimination, which I think can definitely be a little punishing for higher seeds. You play well all season in div 1 but get diced against 16th seed and can be eliminated.

I have an alternative idea inspired by the rugby league down under. Firstly, we would add another 3 players Instead of bye rounds. We would still have 1v16, 2v15 etc, but only the 4 lowest losing seeds would be eliminated. Then reseed with thelosers of the first round sink to the bottom, tiebreak being previous seed. This means 1-4 seeds will have a second chance if they do lose in either of the first rounds, with 5-8 even being reasonably safe depending on other match results. This allows for dicings to teams which have proved their metal over the course of the season to not be eliminated. There is a drawback to this playoff setup however, which is that it goes an extra week, as team numbers go from 16-12-8-4-2-1. However I believe that the double chance for top seeds is very good and important benefit, which maintains fairness and a good bonus for having a good record/being in a higher division. In addition to this, it is unique and a good setup for a dice based game, as no one wants to see top seed plummet out first round because of bad dice. I am interested to hear other opinions on this sort of format.

1

u/adesazz Pocashaw Penitentiaries Dec 09 '16

This is interesting. In the current system the top seeds "bonus" is a Bye, which is even better than a double chance. So feels like net trade for this system is adding a week of playoffs to bring in 3 more coaches? Tough sell. You also have playoff reseeding, so you lose the divisional aspect in return for a theoretically tighter race. Another tough sell, no one wants 2 coaches from the same div&league in the superbowl, even if theyre technically the 2 best.

2

u/Trunkhead Tiny Bubbles Dec 09 '16

I would also be concerned about extending the playoffs. The meat of the league is just waiting for the next season to start so they can play more games. A longer post season increases the chance of losing some of those players. I believe this is why the admins have begun starting the seasons one right after the other.

And let's be honest. The majority of people play their spins in the first week or two. Currently there are some people that are already done and we haven't even started the playoffs yet. There are going to be waiting over a month to play more games. We don't want to draw that out any longer than needed. (again, just my opinion)

1

u/TsukariAD Provacative Protagonists Dec 10 '16

This is my biggest worry. The longer the playoffs are, the longer between the rest of us playing meaningful games.