When I first began brainstorming ideas for season two in the spring of this year, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to take the best parts of season one and introduce new ideas/events for the new season. The overall concept was to have a variety of events to combat the monotony of weekly matches. Thru these events, members/fighters would encounter new opponents, new opportunities, and new experiences that weren't available last season. All of these things I hoped would inspire new players to sign up for the league throughout the season. The events were also being designed to give all members a chance to win the valued Prize Matches that allow a fighter to jump divisions quickly. I think it is safe to say that as we are nearly 40% complete with this second season, all of these things have come to fruition.
One of the new events in season two would be an event that occurred in either October or November known as FALL BRAWL. The event came from two different origins. As with many events in the SFCCL, the roots can be traced back to my youth when friends and family organized a neighborhood Street Fighter league. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, we were all professional wrestling fans and decided to have special events throughout our SF season to create crazy matchups & we named them after real-life wrestling pay-per-view events, hence the name Fall Brawl and Super Brawl from WCW. The event back then was very different from the current format we are going to use next week in SFCCL. With the success of last season's Super Brawl, I wanted to include another tournament event within the season. While not exactly at the mid-point of this season, Fall Brawl is the perfect name for the event since it is an obvious reference to the grand tournament at the end of the season. However, the tournament is on a smaller scale since it will be limited to division tournaments. The results of the tournaments will re-rank each division based on each fighter's performance. Finally, the winner of the division tournament will earn a Prize Match. Each winning fighter will have the option of challenging any fighter in a division two higher than their own. For example, the winner of the Bronze Division tournament will have the right to challenge any fighter in the Gold Division for their ranking. The losing fighter will fall to the Bronze Division. In essence, all fighters in the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Divisions will have a shot at the Grand (Gold) Championship of SFCCL. Simply win your tournament and your Prize Match. The lower divisions (A, B, and C) will also have a Prize Match awarded to the winner of their respective tournaments. However, they can only challenge two divisions higher than their own (i.e. - A Division winner can challenge a Silver Division fighter, B winner a Bronze fighter, C winner an A Division fighter). The Gold Division winner automatically becomes the Grand Champion going into the next week and the Prize Match will be more of a Rematch Clause since the fighter can't challenge anyone higher. If/Whenever the Grand Champion loses, the former champion will have a Rematch as a result of winning the Fall Brawl Gold Division tournament. The winner of the European Blue Division will earn the right to challenge any fighter in the Red Division, and the Red Division tournament winner will also earn a Rematch Clause.
As you can see, there is plenty to gain for every fighter in the league.
Each division will be involved in a 16-fighter single-elimination tournament. The event is designed to take during Week 11 over 21 days, or three weeks. Week 11 is the only week this season that covers three weeks. It was designed this way for a specific reason - with hope that the extra time will result in all matches being played. There isn't anything I hate more than 'deciding' matches at the end of a week. I am REALLY going to hate to do this during a special event like Fall Brawl, so I plead that every member plays their matches. If you lose, then you will not have to play again until we begin Week 12, which starts on December 6th. If you win your matches, look up your bracket to see who you fight in the next round. If that match is posted, play your next match in the next round. Don't wait for me. I have no problem at all with members playing all of their matches as soon as possible. If a tournament is completed before the 21-day period is over, GREAT! So please be diligent in contacting your opponents every day during Fall Brawl to setup a time to play. The winners will have more matches to play during this three-week period so I hope everyone does their best to complete all first round matches as quickly as possible. For consistency, I will 'decide' matches to keep a tournament moving forward for the other members who do want to play. Below is the deadline for each round:
1st round matches must be completed by Thursday, November 25th (10 days for 8 matches)
2nd round matches must be completed by Wednesday, December 1st (6 days for 4 matches)
3rd & Final round matches must be completed by Sunday, December 5th (5 days for 3 matches)
This schedule is familiar to those that participated in the Super Brawl tournament last season. If a tournament final is not played by the deadline (December 5th), the declared winner will NOT have a Prize Match awarded. I don't intend this to be a punishment, but instead a motivating factor to have members play out the results. I don't want to 'decide' a single match, but I will to keep the league moving forward. If you can't play your matches, simply let me know & your match will be forfeited. No penalty will be incurred if a member volunteers to do this.
I will also install a one-time new rule during Fall Brawl. Any member who has both of their matches decided during Fall Brawl will automatically be dropped from the league. I hope this underscores how serious I am about every member playing their matches. If you don't want to play, then leave. There are plenty of other players on the Waiting List that are dying to join the league. I will gladly give them these unwanted spots in the league following Fall Brawl.
The seeding in the brackets will be taken directly from the rankings in each division. Following this current Week 11, new division rankings will be posted. From those rankings, the first round matches will be created. The division champion will be matched up against the lowest ranked fighter in their division, the #1 contender will be matched against the 2nd lowest ranked fighter, and so forth. As a reward for being higher ranked, your path to the finals will be easier based on the rankings and seeding. Below is a sample of the brackets using Week 11 rankings for the Gold Division (obviously, next week's rankings will be different based on this week's match results):
Division Champion vs. #15 ranking
#1 Contender vs. #14 ranking
#2 ranking vs. #13 ranking
#3 ranking vs. #12 ranking
#4 ranking vs. #11 ranking
#5 ranking vs. #10 ranking
#6 ranking vs. #9 rankings
#7 rankings vs. #8 ranking
The results in the higher rounds will determine their final ranking. Obviously, the tournament winner will be the division champion for Week 12. The runner-up will be the #1 contender, and each of the losing fighter will be ranked based on who they lost to. So, if you lose, hope the fighter that defeated you wins the tournament as that will result in your fighter being ranked highest among the other losers in the round you lost in. For example, if you lose in the second round and that fighter goes on to win the tournament, your fighter will be ranked the highest among the second round losing fighters which would be the #4 ranking. The following legend should help explain how the rankings will be finalized:
Lose in the first round: rankings will be from #8 to #15
Lose in the second round: rankings will be #4 to #7
Lose in the third round: rankings will be #2 to #3
Lose in the finals: ranking will be #1 contender
All Prize Matches will be scheduled during Week 12, with the exception of the Gold Champion. All other fighters will return to the regular weekly ranked matches during Week 12 as well based on the new rankings following Fall Brawl.
I hope these details clear up any questions you may have regarding the next exciting event this season, FALL BRAWL. It should be another great event while giving everyone in the league an opportunity to better their ranking while creating some exciting new matches. Good luck to all members!