Board Game Arena

Knockando wrote: ↑21 December 2024, 09:19 J'avais bien lu ça, mais pour un tournoi swiss de peu de tours, un joueur out à chaque tour ce serait dommage.

You're right, that's an issue that I initially thought not very important, but it might cause some difficulties in the end (in case of tie breaker for instance). We might have to consider another way of finalizing the list of 60. I have ideas about it that I'll submit to DoW. I'll keep you informed.

It could be enough to be sure that the number of players in the semifinal is even and not odd?

Round 5 in Eastern Standard Time tournament is just about to start ! Let's look at the situation here just before it begins !

Its' a constant in our qualifying tournaments, surprises are everywhere ! Once more, lots of seeds are out, taken by surprise by opponents that appeared withint their reach, but who combined a bit of luck with a good game to get the better of an opponent known to be stronger.

In the EST1, this happened to seeds 4.ian-w, 7.FlerFlegma and 8.Gregnr... it even happened in round 1 for FlerFlegma, beaten by an opponent who had only 7 games recorded on BGA... for 2 wins ! Seireface had just reached ELO 100, just what he needed to register, it seemed impossible that he could eliminate a seed... but FlerFlegma has been caught by surprise by his 39 points earned with only 2 tickets. A feat for such an inexperienced player, but sadly, this was not the start of a beautiful story... Seireface did not pass round2.
ian-w spent a bit more time in our tournament, as he reached round 3, where he fell against cybrweez, another player who seemed quite unexperienced on his BGA profile (only 20 games played) but with a win ratio that could question his experience on the game (79%). Maybe he has played a lot of "real games", or was a user of other apps... or maybe he is a quick learner ! Anyway, in his opposition against ian-w, he showed that he had a good understanding of the game... ian-w bet on a long destination ticket : Los Angeles - New York, completed with a Los Angeles - Seattle. A good option it seemed... but ian-w did not secure Los Angeles ! It took not long to cybrweez to read ian-w's objectives, and to do what he had to block Los Angeles : he successively claimed Los Angeles - San Francisco and Las Vegas - Salt Lake City... ian-w's destination tickets were then almost impossible to achieve... and that ends in his elimination.


Not many would have bet on cybrweez at the start of this tournament, but he managed to enchain victories, and some prestigious one, and is now of the few still here a few minutes before the start of round 5 !

Seed 8. Gregnr, fell a bit further, in round 4, but fell anyway. Once again, the seed's executioner is a player with few games on BGA, but a high winning ration (more than 70%) : Myothi. That proves that everyone can be dangerous here ! And that even the top players can fall anytime !

It almost happen to Trainalot, top seed of the Eastern Standart Time tournament, who got really close to get out in round 3 ! His game against JWitness ended with a tie : 122 - 122... the first tie-breaker is the number of destination tickets completed : but there was again a tie : 2 - 2 ! Trainalot managed to round 4 thanks to his longest path ! What a relief for him ! Fortunately, his 4th game went a bit easier, with a 127 - 100 win. He is still here in round 5, to face FF_Gouge (a player engaged in two tournaments, who has no chance to get his ticket for semifinal).


Trainalot came very close to elimination, but the top seed of this tournament is still in the run !

Seeds 2. Eichi05 ; 3. Cournot ; 5. smartin23 and 6. Larrioto all climbed every step to reach round 5. They still have 2 games to win to get their ticket for semifinals. But everything can happen, no mistake is allowed !

Just want to put some commentary here...

I feel that DoW rushed this as I noticed it could have been better implemented, and COVID plus the Ukraine situation didn't help things. Had this been planned (and started) in 2023, it probably would have come out much better.

Namely, I think that this should have been a satellite way to get in instead of the only way to get in, especially since the 2014 10th Anniversary WC did have localized satellites for a National Final (the semi final round) before the World Finals in Paris, which if I recall correctly, there were 28 World Finalists in Paris for 2014.

Also, with it being single elimination and also it being 2 players (rather than 4 players) and also only USA base game, one's chances can really get hurt right off the bat with crummy tickets to begin with (screw you, Boston to Miami!). The first stages should have been Swiss format and also the games should have varied say, Original USA for the 1st game, 1910 Mega for 2nd game, Base Europe for 3rd game and Mega Europe for 4th game, but then one would have to restrict the brackets to max 128 or 256 per bracket and have the top 1/64th of that bracket be the semifinalists.

As for the number of World Finalists, since the 2014 edition had 28 World Finalists, I felt 8 World Finalists was really making this thin, I would have been okay with something like 16 to 20 World Finalists to battle it out in Paris, which should include the defending World Champion.

I might have missed stuff and I'll probably get razzed on some of my points and observations above, but just voicing my 2 eurocents on how to make this better for the Silver Anniversary World Championship come 2029 (Hoping that we all have to wait 5 years instead of 10!)

I'd love.to.see this every year !!
I absolutely Love thé idea of a Big world wide tournament and im really sad to have dropped out so early by one single game (where of course i could have done better... I can totally admit that)

With some more préparation time it could also easily bé a Big swiss system (which is perfectly made for a Big number of participants) instead of a Big kO tournament.

Or what do you think Rwain?
Shouldnt swiss system bé thé better format? And finally thè top x Player may advance depending on participants.
Thé more rounds, thé more significant and validé are the results!
I Guess that would be much more of a fair qualification...

And anyway thx for your gréât tournament rundown, i like watching and Reading it!

PS: ignore al thè accents, Auto correction having some fun with me

Hi Goldeneye and Sergio_Marquina, and thanks for your comment. It's very pleasant to see players who are keen to improve things. I can't answer you on everything about the timing and the reasons behind the choices made by DoW. I know that they initially considered 4 players game for this anniversary, but there were too many problems with this option, one of them being the length of a turn based game : it averages 3 weeks. I've made a test on BGA, to see if a 5 days 4 players tournaments could be done : it was a disaster.
I try to hear players'demands and to rely them to DoW, and then to see how we can improve things. That's why the semifinal has been extended to 9 games for instance. But there are lots of things that cannot change now. However, I can assure you that, if I was asked to organize another official TTR tournament in the next years (that might never happen, I can't tell), I will keep in mind all these comments.

@Rwain

Great recaps! Good luck to everyone still in and play well.

I was fortunate to be one of the 8 winners of the Azul World Championship qualifiers taken place early this year (https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34573). Unfortunately, there was no streaming. After all, BGA/game designers spent money to fly us to Lisbon, and had us sign a photo release waiver, why not use the tournament as an opportunity to market the game? As such, I recommend have a plan to have some games from Paris, especially the grand final, to be streamed.

Goldeneye wrote: ↑21 December 2024, 18:09 Namely, I think that this should have been a satellite way to get in instead of the only way to get in, especially since the 2014 10th Anniversary WC did have localized satellites for a National Final (the semi final round) before the World Finals in Paris, which if I recall correctly, there were 28 World Finalists in Paris for 2014.

Tournaments in France were sometimes preventing players from outside a club to join. In the US, if you were not living in the lucky 10 cities hosting a tournament you had no shot to participate (or spend plane tickets and hotel rooms to play a Mega 5player game, a bit steep for a lottery ticket). I am not sure how it would be best, especially outside of Europe.

Goldeneye wrote: ↑21 December 2024, 18:09 Also, with it being single elimination and also it being 2 players (rather than 4 players) and also only USA base game, one's chances can really get hurt right off the bat with crummy tickets to begin with (screw you, Boston to Miami!). The first stages should have been Swiss format and also the games should have varied say, Original USA for the 1st game, 1910 Mega for 2nd game, Base Europe for 3rd game and Mega Europe for 4th game, but then one would have to restrict the brackets to max 128 or 256 per bracket and have the top 1/64th of that bracket be the semifinalists.

Well even in single 2player game on the USA map with bad tickets there is less luck than on 1910 or in any 4-player game. So I am not sure about your point concerning randomness. Also, you were mentioning ELO has a bad measure, which I partially agree with. Yet the best players in Arena, will likely the best players in this tournament, and were already good players in the past, and won the 2 previous world championships despite formats not favoring the best players. All the best players have an ELO hovering between 600 and 800, maybe fluctuatiing more when playing mutliplayers.

Multiplayers tournaments would have to be played live, but in a single night there is only a few games you can play. 3 multiplayer games are not reflective of any level if you want to find the top 8 (which is really really steep starting with 3600) to be some of the best players. For the time being, only 2-player games can be used for a competitive tournament on BGA.

I'd have no problem having several round of Swiss on different types of maps in some sort of league with multiple ways to qualify.

Round 5 has started everywhere now, and it's a question of hours before we know the names of the first semifinalists ! Some of you might ask : "Why so soon ? " And I will answer : "because some non eligible players managed to reach round 6, and therefore, they "offer" a "free" ticket to their opponent, like ja900330 in the China Standard Time tournament, or donchdonch in both Central European 2 and Eastern 1 !

No one in Eastern Standard Time 2 ? No one has reached round 6 at the time I'm writing... but ...
Let's have a look at this tournament. EST2 is one of the two "incomplete" qualifying tournaments (with Europe4). This tournament opened a week before the start, and gathered "only" 358 players on the 512 expected. It's not full, but it's not empty neither. With 358 players engaged, this tournament still offer 8 tickets for semifinals. Some players saw here a good opportunity to have an easier way to the semifinal. Were they right ? We'll have a little part of the answer while looking at the journey of the seeds.

So ? Was it easier for them to reach round 5 ?
The answer is ... NO !!!
Like every other tournaments, seeds have known defeats here too ! Only five of them are still in the run for a place in semifinal : seeds 1. thekid, 3. ExaltedAngel ; 4. Qorlas ; 6. MadManMark and 8. onyx puffin.

Seed n°1, thekid seems to unfold his path towards the semifinal. A bye in round 1, then two clear victories : 117 - 14 then 120 - 98 and a kick in round 4 (the game was close to the end, 107 moves had been made, thekid chose to expel his opponent rather than to claim another real victory. Difficult to say it was by impatience, willingness to ensure qualification, habit, fear of losing... Anyway, he applied one of the tournament rule to reach the next level )...
Finally, thekid arrived in round 5 with only 2 victories, and had to face a player with only 231 ELO, Sommer Dusk of Roses. But, at this stage of the tournament, no one can be here by accident. Could Sommer Dusk of Roses create the surprise against one of the highest ELO player in the whole tournament (755) ? He might have, but he didn't. thekid played his game with seriousness and assurance and claimed a large victory : 125 - 62.
thekid is now in round 6, and therefore he only needs one more victory to attend the semifinal !


thekid will have to win a 4th game to be a semifinalist... or maybe he won't.

thekid seems to be quite lucky in this event.... his two potential opponents in round 6 are both non eligible players :


chee18 registered in 3 tournaments ; Quickthinker in 4 ! Whatever happens, even if thekid was to lose his round 6 game, he will be called to replace chee18 or Quickthinker. Therefore, thekid is the first known semifinalist ! Congratulations to him !

The 4 other seeds still in haven't completed their round 5 now ! They are all facing players with a ELO below 400, and are therefore the big favorites... but there's still danger here ! We saw in other tournaments that lots of seeds who underestimated their opponents have been surprised and went out. For instance, MariskaZoeten, ExaltedAngel's opponent, is only 361 ELO, but with a winning ratio of 71%. The same goes for Avelache, MadManMark's opponent, who is quite experienced with Ticket to Ride : 605 games on BGA, 75% wins... It won't be easy for ExaltedAngel and MadManMark to reach round 6 !
Qorlas and onyx puffin looked a little more favored in their table : onyx puffin's opponent, PlatypusTensei only presents a 47 % victory ratio, with a 236 ELO... while Qorlas's opponent, L-D only displays 18 wins in 41 games, and a ELO below 200... But ! That does not mean that it will be easy for seeds 4 and 8 !


Qorlas seems to have the easiest match in this 5th round... but probabilities do not ensure victory and he will have to play a good game to win.
If PlatypusTensei and L-D managed to reach round 4, that means that they must play at a higher level than what their records show, and Qorlas and onyx puffin will have to stay focus during the game if they don't want to add their names to the long list of seeds who have been kicked out of the tournament !


In this list, we found three seeds coming from this tournament. And one of them really is a big surprise ! One of the favourite of this 20th Anniversary, a player with a great experience, well known by the top players community, whose ELO (740) was one of the highest of all contestants was facing an absolutely unknown player : only 16 games played on BGA ... and only 7 wins for a 222 ELO. The conclusion of the game seemed clear... and yet, bunger took the better of admitted 104 - 101 ! A very tight game, where admitted come close to the victory, but had a dead ticket that cost him 8 points... bunger did a good job blocking admitted's route in the south, forgetting to compete for the longest path, but claiming Miami / New Orleans / Houston... and thus forcing admitted to lose time and trains by Atlanta and Litlle Rock, time and trains that he missed to link Duluth to Houston.


Bunger surprised admitted in round 3, but it seems not like a lucky shot, as he's still in the tournament 2 games later. He will be one of the 16 last players in this tournament... and maybe one of the semifinalist if he wins his round 6 !

For seed 5. Docent, the story was quite similar, yet even shorter. After a bye in round 5, he faced a quite unexperienced player for his first game in round 2 : BL_1996, ELO 172. A destination blocked, 20 points loss, and a defeat... A nice feat for BL_1996, but not the same nice ending than Bunger's, as he left the tournament the round after.
And finally, seed 7. Agood314 had a tough game against a player who had almost no TTR game played on BGA before this tournament... only 4 games, 3 wins... enough to reach ELO 100 and fulfill the requirements to register... but this must hide a good experience in real games, as riche739 did not lose any of his 5 games in this tournament : 5 games, 5 wins, and one against a very experienced player. It seems impossible that he's just discovered the game. Anyway, he made a perfect roue till now, and he's just one win away from qualification !


Will riche379 be one of the many surprised guests expected in the semifinals ?

24 days before the start of the semifinals, we know the name of the first player invited : thekid, from Eastern Standard Time 2. The top seed of this tournament did what he had to do, and made no mistake in his first games, granting him the first ticket for the second part of this 20th Anniversary World Tournament.



But thekid is not the only one to get his semifinals ticket before round 6 ! In the Eastern Standard Time 1, seed n°3. Cournot, also got his ticket after his victory against macegreen86 132 - 102. The Canadian player only reached round 6, but he will face donchdonch a russian player who registered in... seven qualifying tournaments... That's only six too many to be eligible for semifinals ! (and don't forget this name, as he will offer other free tickets in other tournaments
A good news for Cournot, who will play his sixth round with much less pressure, knowing the ticket is granted.

and are the two first players to reach the semifinals.


And now let's finish our tournaments'overview with the last qualyfing tournament : the Pacific Standard Time !
This tournament, the only one in Pacific, took a long time to attract players... it was one of the last to get full, but finally, there were 511 contestants on the starting line on the 1st of December. One registered player waited for the last minute to chose the tournament he would play in, leaving an empty seat behind him...
A departure that made one happy player : DrakeStorm. The top seed of this tournament won a free bye, and was then the only player to reach round 2 without playing a game. But honestly, would that have changed anything if he had to play it ? I doubt it. His two first games were demonstrations : 118 - 28 ; 130 - 50. The next one was a little more disputed : 122 - 95, but still quite a clear victory. Only in his last game did he have to struggle for victory...
Starting west with Calgary - Phoenix and Vancouver - Santa Fé, he claimed early Helena - Duluth to take control of the map. When his opponent, yo65, opened with New Orleans - Houston, links to Los Angeles saw their values increase ! DrakeStorm immediately took control of Los Angeles - El Paso while Yo65 claimed Los Angeles - Phoenix... This game was like a chess game, with players responding to each other.... and that's what happened move after move ! Yo65 played a nice game, challenging the top seed at every move.


yo65 competed with DrakeStorm on route points, did better with his destination tickets (36 pts thanks to Los Angeles - Miami and Los Angeles - Chicago), but the moves made by DrakeStorm at the start of the game to slow him down near LA might have been enough to prevent him to compete for the longest path. 123 - 117, a very tight win for DrakeStorm. yo65 is out, but he can proud of his last game. Because he lost against the top seed of the Pacific Tournament, but not only that... DrakeStorm is the defending champion here ! He is the one who won the 10th anniversary World Tournament in 2014 !


The defending champion is only one step away from qualification now. It seems impossible that the semifinals could take place without him.

Seed n°1 assumed his status here, as he is still in after 5 rounds. Is it the same for other seeds ?
Yes for seed 2. Sysyphus, a french(?)/american(?) player with the second highest ELO in all our qualifying tournaments. For now, he seems to have both planets and stars aligned, as he managed to reach round 6 without any problems... his closest game was against a familiar player here... donchdonch, who almost created a big surprise... but Sysyphus took the better of him 126 - 117.



Seed 3. ommie32 ; 5. scorps4 and 6. pegaso74 also reached round 6 and are now waiting to know who they will face in THE important game of the tournament, the one that gives a direct access to semifinals.

Seed 7. Gattivo4, is still playing his 5th round. He's facing a french player who has a high number of Ticket to Ride games in his history (more than 2000), but not a high win ratio (only 54%). It seems very likely that Gattivo4 will also take another step in this tournament.
Seed 8. ajCameron, is also competing right now, and also against an opponent with a medium win ratio (48 %)... we might say that it is likely ajCameron will also take another step in this tournament but... there's something that can leave doubts here. ajCameron won a seed status thanks to a ELO of 573 (a more than respectable one)... but, three weeks after, his ELO is down to 438 ! It's only the 13th ELO of players still playing in the Pacific Tournament. He seems to be in a bad period, with many costly defeats (in ELO I precise)... that means that he loses against player like Grombek, his opponent in round 5. A bad omen for his current game ?

At this stage of the competition, only 1 seed could not follow the rythm of his running mates : seed 4. speedypuzzlement (defeated in round 4 by jbehne, who lost in round 5)... 7 over 8, that's the highest ratio of seeds still in of all qualifying tournaments. Top players here seemed to have managed to stay focus on their game, with no overconfidence even agaisnt opponents that seemed less experienced by far. Will it continue in round 6 ?