There are over 200 independent countries in the world. Each of them has a population, flag, and national pride of their own. However, international sports events and tournaments have too long catered to the biggest, most populous, most athletically successful powerhouse countries. Countries without a big population don't even get a chance! Well, now it's the little guys' turn...
I present to you the Little World Cup! It's just like the real World Cup, except only the 32 smallest, least populated countries are invited. Time for the little guy to get a taste of victory!
This is a 32 player, 1v1 tournament split into two stages, the group stage and the knockout stage. Each player will represent 1 country/team of their choice.
GROUP STAGE
Similar to the World Cup, the group stage will begin with the drawing of eight four-team groups from four seeded pools of eight teams. The pools are: Pool 1 (Biggest Populations), Pool 2 (Europe, Africa, and Asia), Pool 3 (Caribbean), and Pool 4 (Oceania). Individual countries within each pool can be seen further down. At the beginning of the tournament, one team from each pool will be drawn to each of eight groups. The group venue will also be randomly drawn, determining each group's maps (each location will have two permanent maps).
Each group plays a round-robin tournament, guaranteeing that every team will play at least three matches. All three of each team's matches will be sent out at once, according to the following group stage game settings: each match will consist of two games, one on each of the group venue's two maps. Standings will be kept that record points: wins (the player wins 2-0) are 3 points, losses (the player loses 2-0) are 0 points, and ties (the players tie 1-1) are 1 point. Point spread will be kept for tiebreaking purposes and will be determined by the number of rounds it takes to win a game; win in 4 rounds or less is +4, 5-8 rounds is +3, 9-12 rounds is +2, and 13 or more rounds is +1. Losing counts for negative point spread in each of the above increments.
The top two teams (by points earned) from each group advance to the knockout stage. If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used:
First tiebreaker: head-to-head results
Second tiebreaker: best point spread
Third tiebreaker: least amount of rounds played in all wins
Fourth tiebreaker (heaven forbid): 1v1 tiebreaker match on randomly chosen small map
Notice that it pays to win in earlier rounds!
KNOCKOUT STAGE
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in 1v1 matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary (see below). It begins with the "round of 16" (or the second round) in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the final. There will be no third-place match.
The game settings for the knockout stage are as follows:
each match will take place at a determined venue, using that venues two maps as settings for the two periods of that match. If a team wins both periods, it wins 2-0. If each team wins one period, an extra game will be issued to the two teams on a randomly chosen small map, representing extra time and/or a penalty shootout. The winner of this game will be determined winner of the match and proceed on in the tournament. Point spread and number of rounds played per game will not be recorded in the knockout stage. These settings will continue through the final of the tournament, though the venues (and thus the maps) may change for each individual match.
INDIVIDUAL GAME SETTINGS
Standard
Automatic
Sequential
Flat Rate
Chained
Sunny
TOURNAMENT VENUES AND MAPS
Keeping with the small theme of the tournament, all tournament games will take place in the eight largest cities of the smallest U.S. state, Wyoming (everywhere else was booked, I swear...). Each of these eight cities will be randomly chosen as the venue for a group during the group stage, and the group's matches will all be played on the two venue maps (except for tiebreakers, if necessary).
Each Wyoming venue's two maps are chosen from the 16 smallest maps in the CC map library, and are distributed as below:
1. Cheyenne (Doodle Earth & Greenland)
2. Casper (Luxembourg & Austerlitz)
3. Rock Springs-Green River (Lower Egypt & Ireland)
4. Laramie (Madagascar & USA Southwest)
5. Gillette (USA West & Indochina)
6. Sheridan (Duck and Cover & Circus Maximus)
7. Evanston (Upper Egypt & Haiti)
8. Cody (Egypt: Nubia & Greater China)
Again, each of these venues will be randomly assigned to a group after the drawing of groups.
SIGNUPS
Please sign up for the country team of your choice below. If you do not have a team preference, I will reserve a spot for you in the tournament but will determine your country after those with preferences have chosen. Note that this is a PREMIUM ONLY tournament, as up to six games will be sent out at one time.
Thanks, and good luck in the Little World Cup!
