EMERGENCY - Let's not let them make Nations Cup last only 3 matches

[Z3ro]

Brackets and stuff will be up soon. =^}

Currently F5'ing. 

[Mr.X]

I think we should just copy/paste what was done last year cause it perfectly fits with the number of 18 teams we have.

We could do 3 groups of 6. In each group 4 would qualify, which leaves chance to any team, and everybody is sure to play 5 matches. So we have 12 teams that could be put in another group stage (4 groups of 3, best way to go from a mutiple of 3 (18) to a mutiple of 2 required for knock-out).

Then we can go with 8 teams towards knock-out stages. Every time will have had its fun.

This.

[Captain Lust]

The big disadvantage to that is how long it takes. 11 match weeks is ages and that could take anything up to 13 weeks with qualifiers and inevitable scheduling difficulties.

Also, what happened last time was that some teams just couldn't hold it together for very long and it became a pain for everyone involved trying to schedule matches, which were often quite tedious. I think the "qualifying group" system should do quite well, since it guarantees 4 matches for every team and no team is ever forced to play a match at a point where they simply cannot proceed regardless of the result.

[Mr.X]

It's been changed:

Rule Modified 24/02:

• Before the knockout stage, teams will be split into two groups of four and two groups of five and each team will play each other team in its group. Each team except the bottom two teams in the two groups of five will qualify for the knock-out round, with their positions in the knock-out stage being seeded by their performance in the group stage. Draws are decided by play-off matches.

[Rallix]

Wait, so no teams will be eliminated from the 4 team groups?

[Chaingun]

Yepp. Bad teams are at a slight disadvantage in the 5 team groups compared to the 4 team groups.

But really, one shouldn't care... Chances are you'll get knocked out immediately anyway if you end up last in a 4 team group.

[Orion]

Chances are you'll get knocked out immediately anyway if you end up last in the group.

This. The advantage of being placed in a 4-team group instead of a 5-team group is that you get one match in the knockout phase which the two bottom teams in the 5-team groups won't get. They all get to fight 4 matches before being knocked out, though, if the bottom-most teams in the 4-team groups get knocked out first.