[me=Orion]rigs the vote.[/me]
Looks like we're changing our match format, guys. I'll write the "formal" rule version tomorrow along with all of the other rule changes. Here's what's in store for season 2:
Picking order remains the same, except map selection is limited by categories. Team 1 picks the first map and spawn, as usual, but the map category they picked from cannot be picked from again for the third map. Team 2 picks their faction, team 1 picks theirs.
Maps are now 8 rounds instead of 9. The teams will play 4 rounds in their initial positions, and then swap factions & spawns. That means the map will be reset, and team 1 will take team 2's faction while team 2 takes team 1's faction. The last 4 rounds are played, and the team with the most rounds won at the end of the set of 8 wins that map. Ties are possible on maps.
Second map, team 2 picks map/spawn again. Team 2 may pick any map as long as it is not the same as Team 1's first map. The category of Team 2's map is then disallowed to team 1 for a potential tiebreaker. Team 1 takes their faction, team 2 takes theirs. Again, 4 rounds, swap, 4 more rounds. Winner is the team with the majority of rounds won. At this point, match victor is decided by the team with the most map wins. Draws count as a 0 for both teams, so if a team draws one map and wins the next, they win the match.
However, if both teams are 1-1 or 0-0, then we go to a tie-breaker. We're awesome. Team 1 picks a map again, and cannot pick from the same category as the first or second map. The third map decides the match outcome. If both teams are still at a straight-up tie at this point, the match is considered a draw. This means the attacking team moves up to the rank just underneath the defending team, and the defending team maintains their rank.
Should be good stuff. I voted against this system, but it should still be fun.
We all know now that the roster limit is 11. Hopefully our attendance record will be a bit better now.
On top of that, teams are allowed to play up to 3 matches with a single man down. This means 5v6 and 5v5 matches are possible. In the event that a team plays a match with a man down, they are issued a special form of warning. This is a permanent warning, meaning it never expires. It is not treated like any other warning, and is merely a tally of sorts. Once a team acquires three of these warnings, they may no longer play matches with just 5 players. They must bring at least 6 to each match.
Playoff matches must always be played at 6v6.
Speaking of playoffs, they're going to follow the originally intended format of the final four. Only the top four teams of the season will advance to the playoffs. This should make the playoffs shorter, so the following season can begin sooner.
