Last men standing:
(czech) Lojza
Marched through the upper bracket eating former champions slam and Miguel before making short work of one of AoCs greatest, TheViper, in the final. Must be the favorite to win it all, especially since whoever comes out of the lower bracket will have to beat him in two separate Bo7s on his home map.
TheViper
Lost only two maps (one to JuanNNN, one to St4rk) before getting outclassed by Lojza in the final. Not using any restarts might indicate that he wasn't giving us his all, but getting shown up by Lojza's Huns as Saracen to lose the series 2:4 was most certainly never part of any plan. Can he take down the challenger from within his own country and deliver when facing Lojza for a second time?
MbL
Lost one close-fought Bo5 vs Arena virtuoso Edie in the upper bracket but made sure everybody knows his name and takes him serious after taking down slam 4:2, St4rk 4:0 and F1re 4:2 to move himself into the lower bracket final.
Was promising convincing wins vs St4rk and F1re before playing them and delivered - can he do it once more and take the spot as Norway's greatest Arena player 2016 or Master of Arena 4? Or will someone make sure to shut him up, at least for a little while?
Final matches:
Best of 7: TheViper vs MbL - Sunday (February 14th) 20 GMT - live @fopt_membrillo | @T90Official
Best of 7: Lojza vs the winner of TheViper/MbL - unconfirmed
**Best of 7: Lojza vs the winner of TheViper/MbL - unconfirmed
** only if Lojza loses the first Bo7.
Closing thoughts:
Overall I was more than happy how the 3rd edition of the tournament panned out and it most definitely won't be the last. After the early stages the readiness to schedule and play was excellent and we managed to keep the whole event running on time.
The tournament field was stacked with high level players and the spectator and viewer reception was great. We managed to collect hundreds of dollars for the prize pool and the live streams always had a lot of viewers, no matter the time and date. Letting everybody stream and not limiting the event to certain channels / streamers not only provided nearly full coverage but also great viewing numbers and options for the spectators to pick and choose.
Big thank you to all the amazing people who took or are still taking their time to cover the event. I can't name them all without creating a post that would murder your scroll wheel, but want to name a few:
Membrillo [ ] - Full live coverage on Twitch + VODs on YouTube (!!!)
kc_Ereon [ ] - Full recorded game coverage on YouTube
T90Official [ ] - Live on Twitch + VODs on YouTube
Vinchester [ / ] - Live (POV) on Twitch
Garklavv [ ] - Recorded games on Twitch
Issues with MoA3 / improvement ideas for MoA4:
(nothing set in stone, ideas only, looking for feedback)
Decrease tournament length (18-19 weeks MoA3 to 7-8 weeks MoA4) and down time for players through format
-> group stage followed by elimination stage
Rework game settings to decrease luck and increase strategy / diversity (less rock, paper, scissor effect; civ wars)
-> Bo5; each player vetoes three civs; free pick hidden in all of the games; can't pick the same civ twice (+ Captains Mode?)
Update the seeding algorithm to make it less hassle and more transparent.
-> remove player votings (done by TheViper, Chris, slam for MoA3, had no effect) and increase relevance of MoA event results
Discuss and ultimately fixate time and date early to minimize clashes.
-> make 8-10 week period where event will happen known well in advance so players can prepare, practice or improve seeding
Enjoyed MoA3? Want to donate to see another stacked field for MoA4?
Send me a private message by clicking this link and I'll send you the payment information. Donations are very much appreciated but not a necessity.
What did you enjoy about this tournament? What can be improved?
Who do you think will win this event?