It's June already and CDM is less than three months away, so I'd like to finalize the ruleset sooner rather than later. Based on feedback I've read in this topic and elsewhere, it seems that (aside from fixing the matchmaking algorithm) the only change that will happen this year is the TT LKS format.
Given the positive reception of the LKS format used at ASMKC for a few years now, the core idea for CDM 2023 will be to adapt that system. For reference, here is a description of the ASMKC TT format:
1st Barrage mode
All players will pair up and complete all Time Trial courses. The results of this will be used as a tie breaker in the life phase.
2nd All contestants life Phase
All players are allocated five lives. Courses are chosen at random. Players who have times in the top half of contestants do not lose a life. Players with times ranking in the bottom half (rounded down if there are an odd number of players) do lose a life. When all lives are gone for a contestant, they are eliminated.
3rd Top contestant showdown
When the contestants are whittled down to the top four (or three, depending on if certain players were simultaneously eliminated) contestants, those top four contestants all gain half a life point. They then compete against each other only losing half a life if their race results in them being in the bottom half of resulting times.
Note that the 1st phase ("Barrage mode") corresponds to group stage at CDM, and that a player's total time in that phase is used as a tiebreaker if two or more players are eliminated on the same track in a later phase (corresponding to KO stage at CDM).
As far as adapting this system to CDM, I think that the core components to be kept are:
- multiple lives allocated to each player at the start of KO stage.
- on each track, the bottom half of the field (rounded down) loses a life.
Components that I think should be changed for CDM are as follows:
- using results from group stage as a tiebreaker in KO stage. I think that having your results from group stage impact your results in KO stage (beyond initial seeding/setup) feels bad as a competitor, and is something that we should avoid doing. My suggestion is to instead use results from the final track as a tiebreaker in case two or more players get eliminated at the same time.
- the number of lives allocated to each player. Five is likely too many for the larger field at CDM, and no half-life shenanigans.
Another issue that I have with the ASMKC format is a natural consequence of how it functions: because each player has multiple lives and the number of lives lost across the field depends on the number of players remaining, this means that there's a lot of variability in how many tracks are played, both in total and at different stages of the competition. For example, if the field is super imbalanced, it's possible for half the field to be eliminated after the minimum 5 tracks, leaving the other half with all of their lives intact. On the other hand, if the field is more evenly matched, then it might be the case that everyone goes down to their last life before a single player is eliminated! This also means that when reaching the "final" (two players remaining), the life count can be anywhere in the range of 1 - 1 to 5 - 5, or even 5 - 1. These different outcomes completely change the length and dynamics of the latter portions of the LKS, and in my opinion this is a negative aspect of the format.
To remedy this issue, I propose the following:
- at the start of Top 16, each player receives 3 lives. After each track, the bottom half of the surviving players (rounded down) loses a life until 8 players remain. Those 8 players advance to the Top 8. If multiple people are eliminated on the last track (e.g. 3 players lose their final life when there are 9 players remaining), then their times on the last track are used as a tiebreaker to determine who advances to the Top 8 (e.g. the fastest player of those 3 would advance to the Top 8 ).
(break before Top 8 )
- at the start of Top 8, each player's life count is reset to 3. Same procedure as Top 16 until 4 players remain, who then advance to Top 4.
(break before Top 4)
- same procedure for Top 4 as Top 8 until 2 players remain, who advance to Top 2.
(break before Top 2)
- each finalist starts with 3 lives, slower one loses a life each track until there is one Last Karter Standing.
In my eyes, the two main benefits to this format compared to ASMKC are:
- a lot less variability in number of tracks played. Each of Top 16/8/4 is composed of between 3 and 7 tracks, with the majority of cases falling closer to 5 tracks. Top 2 takes place over 3 to 5 tracks. (If we were to do 4 lives per player per phase, then each of Top 16/8/4 would have 4 - 10 tracks with most being close to 7, and Top 2 would have 4 - 7 tracks.)
- clearer demarcation between the traditional KO stage milestones of Top 16/8/4/2. Surviving to the next phase of the KO stage is a significant feat, and this format highlights this by putting everyone back on the same initial footing at the start of the next phase. This also means that if a top player stumbles and loses an early life, then they're not disadvantaged in the latter portions of LKS.
Please let me know what you think, and hopefully both the TT LKS format and overall CDM 2023 ruleset can be finalized soon.
