A New Season Begins: Seasonality Introduced and Rank A+/G Overhauled

ESEA Team -

ESEA PUGs and matchmaking services have had many iterations over the past few years, each attempting to improve upon the last. Today we are proud to launch the latest versions, with a host of changes taking effect across all ranks.

TL;DR

  • ESEA launches matchmaking seasons!
    • Each season spans three months, with users having to play five placement matches each new season to achieve a rank
  • Tons of prizes awarded each month to users across ranks A+ to D-
    • Prizing leaderboard resets each month!
  • Structural and prizing updates to both Rank A and Rank G

Season IV: A New Hope

One of the largest changes to the current system of matchmaking is the introduction of seasonality. PUGs are now separated into three-month “Seasons”, bringing about new opportunities for you to earn prizes as well as fresh attempts to climb through the ranks! Seasons will use Roman numerals, and we’ll be kicking off seasonality with 2018 Season IV. Why Season IV? Because starting off with Season I seemed so…pedestrian, or because winter is the fourth of nature’s seasons, or there are four elements, four cardinal directions, four leaf clovers…whatever works for you!

Your season rank is visible on your ESEA Profile for the entirety of the current season, and your final ranking will be locked in when that season ends. At the start of each new season, all ESEA subscribers will have to participate in 5 placement matches for their rank to be displayed. Your final rank in previous seasons will influence your standing in the following season to a degree, but placement matches will allow for potential leaps in rankings and fresh starts.

After your placement matches conclude and current rank is assigned, you will be added to the Rank Leaderboard where competition continues against other members in your rank section ( e.g., Rank B competes against B-, B, and B+). At the end of each month, users will be eligible for promotion or demotion depending on their current rank, as well as prizes based on leaderboard standings. Although you will be locked to the Rank Leaderboard for prizing, your rank can still change throughout the month and your matches will always be sorted by your current rank. Smurf accounts will not be eligible for prizes, and smurfing may result in a Smurfing ban.

Prizes for the new seasons will be issued on a monthly basis, and players can earn points towards the leaderboards by winning PUGs. Regions will have their own unique prizes which are available for ALL Ranks! Players will start at 3000 points within their Rank, and you will earn 5 points per win and lose 4 points per loss. And just to avoid panic about reaching zero points, that would require losing 750 PUGs in a row. Which leads us nicely into the next topic.

It would not be ESEA without some additional stats to track. To kick off seasonality, all stats and personal records are now sortable by seasons. Moving forward, all new features surround PUGs will also have the same functionality. The top placing players at the end of the season will earn special achievements (e.g., badges) to showcase their placing at the end of the entire season. More details on these achievements will be released in the future.

To see the prize breakdown for your region, head on over to the new Rank Leaderboard page! You will need to play your placement matches to regain your rank, so queue up today and play!

(G)old Stars and A+ Effort

Over the past few months, we’ve been working closely with many players in the community to determine where we can improve the experience for established and new talent alike. It has always been our goal that Rank A+ and Rank G should be a place that provides an opportunity for existing talented players along with up-and-comers to hone their skill and perfect their craft outside of official matches. With community feedback in hand, we are releasing the following changes:

Rank G:

  • Player list rebuilt from the ground up around MDL players
  • $1,500 Weekly prize money added for NA and EU ($6,000 per month, per region)
  • Each season the top two Rank G players will earn a spot in Rank S
  • New qualification process through A+ Club
  • New suspension system for competitors violating handbook
  • ESL will be profiling via broadcast the best Rank G players and matches each week as part of their upcoming US National Championship program, details of which will be released in the coming week

Rank A+:

  • A+ Leaderboard now uses a point-based system
  • Every two weeks the top 100 A+ members will earn a spot in the A+ Club
  • The A+ Club will be the final qualification for Rank G, with the top two players each tournament earning a spot in Rank G
  • The qualification tournament will span two days with limited hours