Red Bull Wololo V - Main Event Announcement

Main Event Announcement​

Red Bull Wololo, the iconic Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition competition, culminates in a LAN Final in a castle!

SEE THE INVITED PLAYERS HERE!

• Red Bull Wololo, the global 1v1 Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition tournament returns for the fifth and final chapter, transporting the 12 best players in the world to an immersive medieval fantasy setting
• The finale is set to be the most prominent iteration yet, with a qualifier taking place this August to determine competitors who will take on the top-performing players from the entire Red Bull Wololo series at the final.
• The grand final will unfold in Castle Heidelberg in Germany in an incredible LAN event to bring the Red Bull Wololo story to an epic conclusion.
• The competition builds on the legacy of Red Bull Wololo IV, which saw the world's best players compete in an epic Viking themed competition.
• AGON by AOC returns as the official Monitor Partner for the event, bringing exceptional visual clarity and ultra-high refresh rates to competitors

Red Bull Wololo, the iconic global 1v1 Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition tournament, is back for a groundbreaking final fifth iteration, with a medieval theme and an awe-inspiring LAN Final at Castle Heidelberg in Germany. Since the beginning of August, registrations have been open for the qualification stage taking place on August 14th and 15th, offering aspiring conquerors around the world the opportunity to take on the biggest stars in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, including the reigning Red Bull Wololo Champion, Liereyy. Each tournament is a fierce battle of wits as only the top players rise to the ultimate challenge and compete for the most vigorous civilisation.

A spectacle for the ages, Red Bull Wololo V is set to be the most prominent iteration yet, befitting the final chapter of the series. The quest to Castle Heidelberg has already begun, and players can register to the Red Bull Wololo V qualification stage, where hundreds of players will battle for two spots in the final. The group stage will take place from September 13th to 17th, determining the final twelve who will throw down the gauntlet at the Red Bull Wololo V Final from September 18th to 19th. A spectacular final chapter, the gothic Castle Heidelberg in Germany will be transformed, bringing players back in time with breathtaking medieval cosplay and more! The final will be narrated by leading broadcast talents and streamed on YouTube and Twitch, with streams in English, German, Spanish and many more languages.

Red Bull Wololo V fortifies the success of previous events in the series. The first Red Bull Wololo began in 2020, and viewership and participation have continued to increase as the storyline evolved. Red Bull Wololo IV came to an exciting five-day conclusion in June 2021 and saw 40,000 peak concurrent viewers and over 1,000 Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition players registered for the Red Bull Wololo IV qualification stage. The world's highest-ranked Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition stars from around the world are set to return for the final chapter, including Red Bull Wololo IV winner Kai 'Liereyy' Kallinger.

Red Bull Wololo plays out on Empire Wars, a unique game mode for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, seeing two players face off in an honourable duel like the knights of old. Each game starts in the Feudal Age, skipping Dark Age to jump into the action as fast as possible. As part of the series, each Red Bull Wololo has introduced a new story arc for players to compete in. Red Bull Wololo I and II had players compete to control a castle and library in Western civilisation. Red Bull Wololo III represented Asian civilisation, and in Red Bull Wololo IV, players took on the role of battle-hardened Viking warriors in a Nordic-themed event.

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Red Bull Wololo V has teamed up with industry leaders to produce an unforgettable final chapter in the unique event series. AGON by AOC, the global leader in gaming monitors, returns as the Official Monitor Partner for the event, bringing exceptional visual clarity and ultra-high refresh rates to competitors.

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If you have not yet already registered for the qualification stage, there is still time. Head over to the official tournament page here and sign up now.

Make sure to join the official Red Bull Wololo Discord server for discussions, questions and other announcements. Click here to join.

Check out redbull.com/wololo for more information.

 

Daut did not have to play any of the three top players that were considered favorites before the tournament (Viper,Hera, Lierrey).

Neither did Villese, and he can get through if he wins against Vinchester and Daut loses against Tatoh.

i probably would have considered Daut to be the(slight) favorite against all of them beforehand,

Slight favorite means precious little in a best of three.

he probably cannot complain too much

He probably wouldn't complain at all because his team-mate will qualify by winning against him. But why should that stop us from asking why the highest seed player with (1-2) score is getting the toughest route to the top 8?

 

He probably wouldn't complain at all because his team-mate will qualify by winning against him. But why should that stop us from asking why the highest seed player with (1-2) score is getting the toughest route to the top 8?

Here's the problem with that question -- why does it matter?

It's how the tournament was structured and the rules are being followed. There is no universe in a short time scale you can have everyone play a round robin, so this is the next best thing.

Complain about Empire Wars being a diminutive form of strategy, which it is, or about the fact that it isn't truly a LAN tournament despite the restrictions on players during a global pandemic being based on the absolute need to have people in a single location, but there's no need to make apologies for the system that's being utilized. It works well enough and is something different. Besides, a lot more entertaining than watching Lierrey Viper and Hera slaughter everyone in their path until they face one another, making that entire side of the bracket an afterthought.

 

Here's the problem with that question -- why does it matter?

Why do we care that tournaments are organized sensibly and not let arbitrary decisions give unfair advantage to one or the other player?

It's how the tournament was structured and the rules are being followed.

What rule exactly was followed to determine which of the 5 (1-2) players was chosen to play a (2-1) player?

There is no universe in a short time scale you can have everyone play a round robin, so this is the next best thing.

No, the next best thing is the usual single-elimination or double-elimination tournament.

 

There is no universe in a short time scale you can have everyone play a round robin, so this is the next best thing.

True, but two groups of 7 players playing round robin would have worked quite well within the schedule. It'd probably mean more games on the B stream, but nothing wrong with that.

 

Here is something interesting: If Tatoh and Slam both deliberately throw their games (slam anyways has basically no chance of qualifying), Tatoh and Daut will both guaranteed qualify.

(Verified by enumerating all possible outcomes on a computer.)

Please tell me more about how the tournament rules make sense.

 

If they deliberately and obviously threw their games they would never be invited to another big tournament. There's not even a remote concern of that occurring tomorrow.

 

Deliberately and *obviously*, of course not.

 

If they deliberately and obviously threw their games they would never be invited to another big tournament. There's not even a remote concern of that occurring tomorrow.

I don't think anyone would expect TaToH to throw in "obvious" ways. Frankly, he doesn't even have to throw for his teammate for it to be awkward.

The question is more like... what incentive is there to play at his best? And isn't there incentive to not play at his best? This applies to JorDan and Liereyy as well (and maybe also a few others), but the TaToH-DauT matchup is probably one of the more obvious.

Consider TaToH's position, and even disregard the fact that DauT is his teammate. If slam loses and TaToH knows he automatically qualifies, it would be understandable and even expected that he may reserve his best strategies for the main event. Since DauT has to win, he'll definitely try to play his best. This would not be TaToH "throwing" (since it's natural behavior for players who are already through), but it is kind of awkward since it has such powerful impact on other players who are trying their best in their own matches. Sure, you can say that each match is $250, but then it comes down to whether $500 is worth giving up some of your best strats for the main event. And seeding? With at least 3/8 players being very dominant (and seeding being much more malleable than qualifying at this point), what seed would you like to try for?

Given that, imagine being one of the players likely to be in the tiebreak, knowing that their tournament life is dependent on whether someone else feels like reserving strats. This is why I prefer double elimination to Swiss when player availability is not an issue (like at a LAN). Every match still counts like in single elimination, but it also gives the chance to cancel out a bad day or an unlucky draw. The only issue is the potential of revenge killing from the loser's bracket in the finals, but that can happen in Swiss/round robin anyway (for instance, in the very likely circumstance that TheViper faces either Hera or Liereyy when they've already met in the group stage).

A small part of me is kinda enjoying the popcorn drama, though.

 

There were 2 matchups in the whole tournament where players with different record were paired and both times it involved Daut playing someone with a better record.

Please tell me more about how the tournament rules make sense.

 

This is why I prefer double elimination to Swiss when player availability is not an issue (like at a LAN). Every match still counts like in single elimination, but it also gives the chance to cancel out a bad day or an unlucky draw.

Double elimination takes a whole lot longer. That means either (A) longer tournament schedule which can get very tedious for casters/talent and boring for spectators (especially with some early upsets) OR (B) players have to play multiple matches in single day which again can become boring. Not to mention how either of this can affect gameplay of specific players and open a whole different topic of "unfairness". Another disadvantage of double elimination is players who get eliminated early won't feel as involved. You can bring them as analyst etc. but they come to LAN to play and compete & 25% of them will only get to play 2 sets. That is unfair if someone is having bad day / needs time to adjust to meta.

What round robin or Swiss stage brings is somewhat predefined and steady content that is equal for all players. Everyone will get to play at least certain amount of sets (4 in this case). This is more important in a LAN event than an online event where you generate meta (for players) and hype (for everyone else) for first few days and then go into elimination stages which can then be lot more competitive.

 

There were 2 matchups in the whole tournament where players with different record were paired and both times it involved Daut playing someone with a better record.

Probability & Random chance 101

 

This is why I prefer double elimination to Swiss when player availability is not an issue (like at a LAN). Every match still counts like in single elimination, but it also gives the chance to cancel out a bad day or an unlucky draw. The only issue is the potential of revenge killing from the loser's bracket in the finals, but that can happen in Swiss/round robin anyway (for instance, in the very likely circumstance that TheViper faces either Hera or Liereyy when they've already met in the group stage).

Why not a round robin group stage as @Giuseppe551 suggests?

This is more important in a LAN event than an online event where you generate meta (for players) and hype (for everyone else) for first few days and then go into elimination stages which can then be lot more competitive.

It is important for online events too imo. Hidden Cup would be a lot better if it had groups of 4 playing round robin with the top 2 advancing for the Ro16.

 

Round robin has two main drawbacks. First, it's a lot of matches (imagine having a 14-player round robin stage...) which forces you to create groups thus artificially preventing certain match ups. Second, at some stage it becomes very clear one player cannot make it to the playoffs anymore and they will lose all motivation to keep playing (match win $250 incentive helps with this a bit though).

Swiss round is very appealing on paper. You get interesting matches, you only get a manageable amount of sets, and it does an okay job at splitting the field. It's not perfect, but you need to find a compromise between fairness, competition appeal, spectacle, etc.

Hidden Cup would be a lot less interesting if it had groups of players. One of the major appeals of the tournament is precisely its no-seeding, single elimination structure that is so cutthroat that forces players to be on their A game from the very beginning of the event, and that enabled outsiders to do well on every edition so far (HC1 miguel, HC2 TheMax, HC3 dogao, HC4 JorDan).

It would be an issue if Hidden Cup was the only mixed-maps tournament of the year, but that's not the case.

For RBW, the Swiss System is certainly not without flaws (for instance DauT gets to play someone with a higher score for the second time) but it has filled its goal: have a manageable number of matches, create pairings that we rarely see as well as hype matches from the group stage and reasonably split the players. There will surely be some controversy tonight when people judge X or Y should have been in the top 8 but that is inevitable. Hell, if you had RR groups instead of Swiss, people would find ways to complain that one group was "easier" than the other one if their favorite player didn't make it.

Exciting storylines so far, I'm impressed with how Capoch and JorDan have performed - standout players of the group stage for sure -, and am glad to see that peak Viper is back to challenge the new kids. Liereyy looks strong as always though.

 

After watching Viper vs Hera and Liereyy I have to make my statement ( probably controversial ) - I think he no longer is a top2 player ( at least in EW ) but still can surprise his opponents with some crazy strategies and get an early lead with that. What I noticed ( and Viper himself as well ) that for instance in that Haboob game he was housed for a long time, in another game ( or perhaps the same I don't remember ) his macro was off so mechanically I think aM boys have the edge which forces Viper to become creative if he wants to challenge them.

 

In regards to swiss system I would like to mention one of the less mentioned S-Tier Tournaments of the last years, Mangrove Shallows Cup.
I think this tournament was a great example of how swiss system can work, just a Five round Swiss-style group were you clearly know that if someone wins 3 series he's advancing to the next round and if he loses 3 series he's out, simple as that.
Although you would need 1 more day for games it is only 1 more series overall since you don't have "meaningless" matches (for group stage with 16 players).

 

Round robin has two main drawbacks. First, it's a lot of matches (imagine having a 14-player round robin stage...) which forces you to create groups thus artificially preventing certain match ups. Second, at some stage it becomes very clear one player cannot make it to the playoffs anymore and they will lose all motivation to keep playing (match win $250 incentive helps with this a bit though).

Swiss round is very appealing on paper. You get interesting matches, you only get a manageable amount of sets, and it does an okay job at splitting the field. It's not perfect, but you need to find a compromise between fairness, competition appeal, spectacle, etc.

For RBW, the Swiss System is certainly not without flaws (for instance DauT gets to play someone with a higher score for the second time) but it has filled its goal: have a manageable number of matches, create pairings that we rarely see as well as hype matches from the group stage and reasonably split the players. There will surely be some controversy tonight when people judge X or Y should have been in the top 8 but that is inevitable. Hell, if you had RR groups instead of Swiss, people would find ways to complain that one group was "easier" than the other one if their favorite player didn't make it.

Both drawbacks of round robin group stages also apply to Swiss (Barles and Nicov know they are done already) and the way you describe Swiss also applies to a round robin group stage. You do not need to contort logic arguing for Swiss over round robin group at this tournament as I never suggested they should have used this format instead. I just noticed that people tend to respond to criticisms of the Swiss format by positioning single or double elimination as the only alternative and wanted to point out that this is not the case. I agree that a round robin group stage would not necessarily eliminate the issue of perceived unfairness though it should be said people are generally accepting of this due to major football tournaments.

Hidden Cup would be a lot less interesting if it had groups of players. One of the major appeals of the tournament is precisely its no-seeding, single elimination structure that is so cutthroat that forces players to be on their A game from the very beginning of the event, and that enabled outsiders to do well on every edition so far (HC1 miguel, HC2 TheMax, HC3 dogao, HC4 JorDan).

It would be an issue if Hidden Cup was the only mixed-maps tournament of the year, but that's not the case.

This might be an appeal of the tournament to you but it is not for me nor is it an opinion I have seen commonly expressed. I have seen many more people complaining about the unfairness of single elimination random seeding than saying they like it for being "cutthroat" or for allowing players to advance farther than expected in part thanks to an easy draw. It also undermines the concept Hidden Cup is based on to have half the field gone after playing one set on the first day.

 

In regards to swiss system I would like to mention one of the less mentioned S-Tier Tournaments of the last years, Mangrove Shallows Cup.
I think this tournament was a great example of how swiss system can work, just a Five round Swiss-style group were you clearly know that if someone wins 3 series he's advancing to the next round and if he loses 3 series he's out, simple as that.
Although you would need 1 more day for games it is only 1 more series overall since you don't have "meaningless" matches (for group stage with 16 players).

Indeed that's a great take on the system. BoA used the same system and it worked well too.

Does it work with every number of players though? Might get too many or too few through and need extra tie breakers.

 

Scoring part for players are a little bit off and inaccurate to be honest. Viper has 7/10 on strategy, lol.

Those numbers are based on Empire Wars and RBW specifically. Strategy has been one of Viper's weak points in resent RBW tournaments.

 

Does it work with every number of players though? Might get too many or too few through and need extra tie breakers.

No, you could f.e with 12 Players even get into a situation where you have an uneven number of players still fighting for spots.
This system is made for Player/Team numbers of 8 or 16.
I just prefer it because I dislike matches where one player has to win to stay in the tournament while the opponent doesn't have to win and is "only" fighting for better seeding (okay 250€ extra here, but you know what I mean).

 

I don't think anyone would expect TaToH to throw in "obvious" ways. Frankly, he doesn't even have to throw for his teammate for it to be awkward.

The question is more like... what incentive is there to play at his best? And isn't there incentive to not play at his best? This applies to JorDan and Liereyy as well (and maybe also a few others), but the TaToH-DauT matchup is probably one of the more obvious.

Consider TaToH's position, and even disregard the fact that DauT is his teammate. If slam loses and TaToH knows he automatically qualifies, it would be understandable and even expected that he may reserve his best strategies for the main event. Since DauT has to win, he'll definitely try to play his best. This would not be TaToH "throwing" (since it's natural behavior for players who are already through), but it is kind of awkward since it has such powerful impact on other players who are trying their best in their own matches. Sure, you can say that each match is $250, but then it comes down to whether $500 is worth giving up some of your best strats for the main event. And seeding? With at least 3/8 players being very dominant (and seeding being much more malleable than qualifying at this point), what seed would you like to try for?

Given that, imagine being one of the players likely to be in the tiebreak, knowing that their tournament life is dependent on whether someone else feels like reserving strats. This is why I prefer double elimination to Swiss when player availability is not an issue (like at a LAN). Every match still counts like in single elimination, but it also gives the chance to cancel out a bad day or an unlucky draw. The only issue is the potential of revenge killing from the loser's bracket in the finals, but that can happen in Swiss/round robin anyway (for instance, in the very likely circumstance that TheViper faces either Hera or Liereyy when they've already met in the group stage).

A small part of me is kinda enjoying the popcorn drama, though.

You know a good solution to avoid any of this Tatoh-Daut drama? Make them play before Slam's game. Sometimes it is so simple...

 

Just want to say thanks to the overlay boys for quickly fixing the .gnisufnoc etiuq yllaer saw hcihw retnuoc ecruoser derorrim

 

thx lord for all this emotions

 

Can someone tell me where to find the Mr Yo interview where he discussed the players (particularly Hera and Lierey) that the announcers have referenced several times?

 

Can someone tell me where to find the Mr Yo interview where he discussed the players (particularly Hera and Lierey) that the announcers have referenced several times?

If you watch the VOD it aired just at the end of the break today, before the Hera-Capoch match

 

If you watch the VOD it aired just at the end of the break today, before the Hera-Capoch match

Thanks appreciate the help