Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

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Propaganda Panda
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Joined: 13 October 2023, 22:48

Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by Propaganda Panda »

Update: All open spots are taken. If you are interested, still feel free to contact me as there may always be dropouts!

Hello everyone!

I am currently organizing a large tournament for top Ark Nova players: The Emu Cup! The first season has concluded last month, maybe you've already heard of it or seen some of the matches on YouTube. (Here is an overview of how Season 1 looked!)

We are now preparing for Season 2 and looking for skilled and motivated players who want to test their proficiency at Ark Nova and compete against the best players in the world. The tournament will run from February until July, with players being required to play about 10 real-time matches per month. No turn-based!

There will be 64 players - currently, we have about 50 players signed up, including famous names such as sorryimlikethis (our new arena winner!), JDansp, dwarvintime, Darcelmaw and, well, myself :D. You can find the full list of current participants here.

With about 15 vacant spots left, there is still room for...maybe you! Sounds interesting? Here is all important information.

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Requirement for participation
- Peak BGA elo of at least 600
- Ability to reliably play all the assigned matches and stay committed to the end
- Be nice and fair 🙂

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Game settings
- Real-time - normal speed (no turn-based!)
- 2 players, same map
- Random map choice (like arena) during group stage matches, pick/ban map selection during the final Bo5 knockout stage
- Map pool: 1a-8a (arena maps) + 9
- No Marine Worlds (only base game)

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Format: Three stages (Initial Stage, Group Stage, Final Stage)

1) Initial Stage (64 players): ~ 8 weeks
- 4 groups with 16 players each, best-of-1 single round-robin (groups will be decided by random draw, with all players ordered by rating prior and divided into 8 pools to ensure fair and balanced groups)
- Top 6 finishers of each group automatically advance to the next stage, while 7th to 10th place will play for two more spots during the Elimination Gauntlet.
- Elimination gauntlet (best-of-3):
-- 7th place vs. 8th place: winner advances to the next stage
-- 9th place vs. 10th place: loser is eliminated
-- loser 7th/8th vs. winner 9th/10th: winner advances to the next stage

2) Advanced Stage (32 players): ~ 6 weeks
- 4 groups with 8 players each, best-of-2 single round-robin
- 1st place of each group advances to the winner bracket of the final stage
- Posturing match (best-of-5) - 2nd place vs. 3rd place: winner advances to the winner bracket of the final stage, loser advances to the loser bracket of the final stage
- Determination match (best-of-5) - 4th place vs. 5th place: winner advances to the loser bracket of the final stage, loser is eliminated

3) Final Stage (16 players): ~ 6 weeks
- Double-elimination KO tree (best-of-5) with a winner bracket and a loser bracket
- Elimination occurs after two losses (if you start in the winner bracket) or one loss (if you start in the loser bracket)
- Here is how it could look for the Emu Cup: https://challonge.com/emucup02 (esports example for this format: The International (TI) in Dota 2)
- Grand Final (best-of-7): winner of winner bracket (starts with a 1-0 match score) vs. winner of loser bracket

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Match scheduling

- In order to play a match, players will simply contact their opponent via Discord or BGA and find a time where both can play the match. You can play each match whenever you want and in any order you want, as long as it is before the deadline of the respective stage.
- Example: During the Initial Stage, you will be in a group with 16 players (Bo1 single round-robin), so you will have to play 15 matches against different opponents. This stage will probably last from February 1st until April 1st - you can then play your 15 matches whenever you want during these two months. For example, if you want to, you could play 10 matches in a week, do take a 6 week break, and then play your remaining matches
- In the later stages of tournament, it is allowed to play a best-of-series (Bo2, Bo3, Bo5) over the span of multiple days, if you don’t have time to do it in one day.

Important: Please only sign up if you can finish all your matches. It is very important for us to avoid dropouts, as this would affect everybody's standings.
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You fulfill the requirements and want to play? Send me a DM and we'll look to get you into the tournament :D

To connect with the community and all the other players (be it as a participant or maybe just a spectator), feel free to join our Discord server.
You can also watch matches from the first season on our YouTube channel.
Last edited by Propaganda Panda on 20 January 2025, 23:47, edited 2 times in total.
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SirL
Posts: 6
Joined: 27 September 2023, 16:41

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by SirL »

Thanks for organizing!
DaemonCleaner
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Joined: 16 September 2023, 22:48

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by DaemonCleaner »

The first edition of Emu Cup was awesome (once I figured out what it was). Looking forward to the next iteration! I'm sad you're not playing Marine Worlds, but I understand that you want less variance. Good luck to everyone :)
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Propaganda Panda
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Joined: 13 October 2023, 22:48

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by Propaganda Panda »

DaemonCleaner wrote: 13 January 2025, 18:13 The first edition of Emu Cup was awesome (once I figured out what it was). Looking forward to the next iteration! I'm sad you're not playing Marine Worlds, but I understand that you want less variance. Good luck to everyone :)
I got great news for you...I am actually planning a video where I'll explain what this Emu Cup is :D
DaemonCleaner
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Joined: 16 September 2023, 22:48

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by DaemonCleaner »

Propaganda Panda wrote: 13 January 2025, 21:07
DaemonCleaner wrote: 13 January 2025, 18:13 The first edition of Emu Cup was awesome (once I figured out what it was). Looking forward to the next iteration! I'm sad you're not playing Marine Worlds, but I understand that you want less variance. Good luck to everyone :)
I got great news for you...I am actually planning a video where I'll explain what this Emu Cup is :D
Uh-huh, I'll believe it when I see it! :D
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RoyalRook
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Joined: 29 March 2024, 02:25

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by RoyalRook »

Why didn't you guys just do Marine World for Emu Cup? You already have the arena for 2p based game. And people can do a tournament invite with only selected players and Elo levels. Or do 3p or 4p for Emu Cup, I feel like you can do really cool stuff rather than just keep doing the same thing over and over. Not to mention you have both the elo ladder AND arena for 2p based, what's the point of doing other 2p based competition? You guys competing in 2p based for 6+ seasons straight, and ongoing.
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sorryimlikethis
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Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by sorryimlikethis »

RoyalRook wrote: 16 January 2025, 00:47 Why didn't you guys just do Marine World for Emu Cup? You already have the arena for 2p based game. And people can do a tournament invite with only selected players and Elo levels. Or do 3p or 4p for Emu Cup, I feel like you can do really cool stuff rather than just keep doing the same thing over and over. Not to mention you have both the elo ladder AND arena for 2p based, what's the point of doing other 2p based competition? You guys competing in 2p based for 6+ seasons straight, and ongoing.
I've never really understood this argument - why do the settings have to change if we're already playing on the most competitive settings? A lot of players play arena, so naturally they want to watch similar game settings to improve their own game. Ark Nova arena has been 2p since its inception, but it's also had changes along the way. Maps 9+10, Alternative maps, and looking increasingly likely that Marine World will be in for next season. Having similar settings each season has allowed the meta to evolve. It's a completely different game at the top level now to what it was in season 1.

Emu Cup solves the biggest problem that arena has, which is that the matchmaking is terrible. Arena in its current state is whoever can beat down on the most 200-500 rated players in a row wins.
But, Emu Cup also has its differences to arena. The finals are best-of-3 / best-of-5 with rotating first player and map bans. Map 9 is also enabled.

3/4 player games were never an option because organising real-time games between that many players is not feasible.
Marine World was considered. Expanding from 16 players in season 1 to 64 players in season 2 is tough, though. The people who want to play Marine World will still likely participate in base game, whereas the people who don't want Marine World will not participate in Marine World. That's ultimately why the decision was made.

The Ostrich Owlympics tournament for January is featuring Marine World. And I'm sure the finals for that will be broadcast on the Emu channel above when they happen.
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Propaganda Panda
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Joined: 13 October 2023, 22:48

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by Propaganda Panda »

RoyalRook wrote: 16 January 2025, 00:47 Why didn't you guys just do Marine World for Emu Cup? You already have the arena for 2p based game. And people can do a tournament invite with only selected players and Elo levels. Or do 3p or 4p for Emu Cup, I feel like you can do really cool stuff rather than just keep doing the same thing over and over. Not to mention you have both the elo ladder AND arena for 2p based, what's the point of doing other 2p based competition? You guys competing in 2p based for 6+ seasons straight, and ongoing.
I am pretty sure that there will never be anything else than 2p for competitive Ark Nova. It is simply the mode that the vast majority of top players enjoy the most, and which allows for the highest room for skill expression.

Regarding Marine Worlds, sorryimlikethis has hit the nail on the head. It is the most agreeable option, and we also need to keep in mind that a large portion of the playerbase (including those at the top) have actually not played Marine Worlds yet (or only very little), it has only been added to beta one month ago. It is not impossible that there will be MW Emu Cups at some point in the future if the majority wants it, but we all still find the base game very interesting, otherwise we wouldn't still play it even after thousands of games :D
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RoyalRook
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Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by RoyalRook »

I never took the Ark Nova deep dive beyond solo and IRL with friends. I do think 4p Ark Nova is very interesting, what make Emu Cup special is player dedication not the format. If you have it, use it, those hardcore players are going to do whatever to make a game happen, force them to do 4p and see who comes on top. Do 16 player 4p, or go wild 4p MW, that way you don't have this surplus of 2p base game being played. 2p will always be there for you, expand the meta. Your players would appreciated it too, since all real life major tournaments are 4p just like in the terraforming mars community, we all compete at the top for 2p, but real life major tournaments are in 4p.

I promise you that your viewship for everyone involved will skyrocket if you are broadcasting 4p tournament, that's 4 times the streamers and star power in a single game. It's just good biz and good time for everyone involved. You can even have a main commentator in the main stream, 4p is far more inviting for casual viewers.
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Propaganda Panda
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Joined: 13 October 2023, 22:48

Re: Join the Emu Cup and fight for glory in the strongest tournament in the world! (600+ peak BGA elo)

Post by Propaganda Panda »

RoyalRook wrote: 16 January 2025, 15:05 I never took the Ark Nova deep dive beyond solo and IRL with friends. I do think 4p Ark Nova is very interesting, what make Emu Cup special is player dedication not the format. If you have it, use it, those hardcore players are going to do whatever to make a game happen, force them to do 4p and see who comes on top. Do 16 player 4p, or go wild 4p MW, that way you don't have this surplus of 2p base game being played. 2p will always be there for you, expand the meta. Your players would appreciated it too, since all real life major tournaments are 4p just like in the terraforming mars community, we all compete at the top for 2p, but real life major tournaments are in 4p.

I promise you that your viewship for everyone involved will skyrocket if you are broadcasting 4p tournament, that's 4 times the streamers and star power in a single game. It's just good biz and good time for everyone involved. You can even have a main commentator in the main stream, 4p is far more inviting for casual viewers.
This may not be satisfying answer for you, but you just gotta trust the Ark Nova experts then 😉. For competitive top-level play, 2p Ark Nova is the most interesting, most balanced and most skilled player count - this is not a contested opinion, but simply the consensus. You can ask any strong player and nearly everyone would tell you exactly the same. 4p will never happen and we will not force it upon the players because nobody wants to play it, simple as that. It can be fun for casual games, but if you want high skill expression, then 2p is an absolute must.

IRL tournaments are 4p mainly due to logistical reasons, but this doesn't mean that we have to copy an inferior game mode for online play. With all due respect to stuff like the WSBG, but they are not the pinnacle of competitive boardgaming. They have the prestige and the prize money, and but if we are looking at the level of play, then this right here is the best we have, and by playing in 2p, we can ensure that all the top players in the world actually get to show all their skill.
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