The way NA Game Changers is being run this upcoming season is in direct opposition of its mission statement- that is, bridging the gap between GC and T1/T2 coed competition. I have tried through private channels to get my feedback across, but I feel as though these recent changes merit a public response. The tournament schedule, lack of communication & implementation of feedback, and inconsistent auto-invite system discourage GC teams and orgs from participating by making it disadvantageous to compete in both circuits.
1) The scheduling puts GC teams at a disadvantage if they want to play in the NACL qualifiers.
- GC OQ #1 concludes just days before the first challengers qualifier, and GC OQ #2 is scheduled *in between* the 1st and 2nd NACL qualifiers.
- This reflects poorly on GCโs goal to have GC players one day โplaying at Masters and Champions". The proximity of the qualifier dates means GC teams that want to compete in the NACL qualifiers will have footage on them that non-GC teams don't have. GC as a program exists to remedy the fact that there are disadvantages for GC competitors to breach the coed scene, yet they are adding another.
- Orgs are also disincentivized from investing in a GC as they got the news about the schedule less than a month before qualifiers started. Itโs no secret that many orgs have pulled out of GC entirely within the last month, and I canโt blame them.
2) My team has delivered feedback to Riot through private meansโ my team and I have even sat in rooms with TOs and Riot to discuss GCโ yet these changes seem to go against what we shared.
- We asked that the yearly schedule be changed to better align GCโs off season with that of VCTโs and NACLโs in order to have better trade windows and increase upward mobility for GC players.
- In response, they actually *extended* the GC season. It now starts in January and given that the last NA GC event is in late October, then GC Champs likely will be in November again. VCT and Challengers teams will find it even harder to justify accommodating a GC playerโs schedule for trials.
- I want to clarify here that I am not blaming the new TO, Raidiant. Riot should be overseeing this process as they have been receiving feedback for years now. None of what Iโm bringing up is new.
3) Qualifying to GC champs does not get you invited to the main event in NA, even though it does in other regions.
- For reference, BBL and G2 bypass their open qualifiers. We won the event not even a month ago and have to play not one, but TWO qualifiers right in the middle of NACL open qualifiers.
- It would be really nice to have some level of consistency the way these regional events play out. I know it's different tournament organizers, but surely the formats require some level of oversight from Riot?
4) There is almost a month gap between qualifying and participating in the main event. Moving the GC qualifiers to after the NACL qualifiers and closer to the main event would fix these scheduling issues.
- GC OQ #2 concludes on Feb. 10th. The GC main event starts March 6. Presumably, this is due to VCT: Americas starting sometime in February, and Riot doesn't want to split the viewership.
- In my eyes, it is more damaging for GC teams competing in coed to force them onto a worse schedule than it is for GC OQs to split viewership.
It is frustrating delivering feedback for years and feeling as though itโs been ignored or seeing the complete opposite come to fruition. I hope Riot can revisit these changes so we can better achieve our shared dream of seeing women and marginalized genders compete at the highest level one day. I will be discussing this further tonight on stream because I understand that nuance could get lost in a tweet.
All that being said, my team is still incredibly excited to play in the NACL qualifiers, even at a competitive disadvantage. With 5 spots up for grabs, it will be a competitive qualifier and we canโt wait to show the progress weโve made in the last year for this very moment.