Syndicate Competitive League to Host 4th Event on September 14/15, 2013
by ISD Caiden S'or
Syndicate, New Eden - As most pod-pilots are aware, one of the most recognizable events in New Eden is the Alliance Tournament. This event brings together many of the best pilots in New Eden for three weekends out of the year to decide who gets bragging rights (and some substantial prizes) as the best combat pilots around. It is quite an event, one which is unmatched in scope and following. Many Alliances have dedicated groups of pilots who train year-round for the opportunity to participate in, and hopefully win the event.
One such Alliance, Rote Kapelle, decided that a good way to train for the Alliance Tournament was to have a contest between their neighbors in Syndicate. "They ran a fairly successful tournament with a handful of teams here," states Bacchanalian, a member of Stimulus Corporation in Rote Kapelle, "...and that prompted the idea of a larger scale event that included teams from across [the cluster]." Thus was born, the Syndicate Competitive League.
The SCL has run three prior tournaments this year, with the intent that this will become a monthly event. As far as the quality of the teams involved so far, it should be noted that the final match of ATXI between Hydra and Pandemic Legion was actually a rematch of the final of SCL3.
SCL4 is slated to be run on the 14th and 15th of September with 12 teams participating this month. As the event will be run monthly, this should give much more opportunity for pilots across New Eden to participate. Aegon Blackfire, Community Relations Manager for the SCL points out, "It’s a very good way for a smaller group of friends, who maybe are spread out across EVE in different alliances to get together and cut their teeth in tournaments."
For the most part, rules governing the Alliance Tournament are being used for match play, with a few exceptions. One of the main restrictions is on the use of rare ships, such as previous Alliance Tournament awards; they are not allowed. The rules will also be fluid and re-evaluated each month for consistency. 12 teams will gain entrance to the tournament brackets, with a roster of 25 pilots per team; however, only 10 pilots per team will actually enter the arena for each match. The remaining roster can be shuffled and pilots changed between matches.
Aside from the tournament itself, pilots everywhere will be able to enjoy watching via live stream and can see recognizable faces and voices as previous ATXI commentators Bacchanalian and Apathetic Brent (also from Stimulus in Rote Kapelle Alliance) will be on hand for the play by play each day. They are also planning to line up guest commentators to fill in between matches with interviews.
While it is one thing to setup and have teams show up to fight it out, the technical work behind the scenes to bring the match to the public is another matter completely. Namamai, another member of Stimulus Corporation, has handled the camera-work for SCL2, 3, and now for 4.
"He [Namamai] has to both watch the macro and micro battles to ensure we're getting the best pictures to the viewers without missing the actual strategic actions that are taking place." points out Bacchanalian.
SCL3 had upwards of 1500 viewers during the tournament, and the team is now more comfortable with the process. "We've gotten comfortable with the nuts and bolts of it now," Says Namamai, "we're mainly working on making it faster and smoother. Less time between matches, faster updates of brackets, and doing it more often." One other positive sign that they are ready for more is that the tournament slots have increased from 8 to 12 with SCL4.
For Information entering a team into the tournament, mail Ben Booley and Elendar from your Neocom.
GalNet References
Twitter: @syndicatecl
Syndicate Competitive League Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SyndicateCL
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