Kong Off 4 format ideas

[tessler1134]

Hello everyone!

I had a conversation with Richie today about the KO 4 format for March 2015. He asked me to post this on the forums to get feedback and opinions from everyone. So this means that what is stated here is not set in stone....we are looking for feedback from everyone on this, so please read this and let us know what you think.

Here is our proposal....for Friday and Saturday we do the same high score format as done in previous years. The number of players involved will depend upon the number of DK machines that Richie is able to get (unknown at this time). We take the top 8-10 players from Fri-Sat (obviously by score) and they get to compete on Sunday in a bracketed format. For Sunday, the #1 ranked player will play against the last ranked player, and so on.

For the set of players entering the contest on Fri-Sat, this is made up of the following:
- The top 10 players in the world according to the Twin Galaxies score board.
- Next set of players: several possibilities as follows:
   - determined by the DK online opens (MAME scores are accepted, as per the DK online open rules); we take the top X players by score for all the DK opens.
   - players voted in by the DK community
   - some other way

Whether there is a separate wildcard event as in previous years will be determined by the number of DK machines that Richie can get.

Let us know what you think.

[WCopeland]

Thanks for posting, Eric.

My main concern is the relevancy of the TG Top 10, especially if they are no longer accepting score submissions. Wouldn't the DKF Arcade Top 10 be more relevant?

[Scoundrl]

How are we going to manage BotA 4 and KO 4 in the same month?

[ChrisP]

When TG starts taking submissions again, which I am sure will happen long before the KO, the "top 10" thing will be a problem, because Billy and Steve are going to be pushed out of there pretty quick, and they don't play online tourneys. You obviously can't have a KO without Billy and Steve.

You solve that one simply: just declare that anybody who is a current or former world champion gets an auto-spot. (And believe me, nobody is going to complain about taking a spot if he actually ends up going... and if they do complain they can stuff it because Tim in the KO would be fking EPIC).

After the champions, I would propose that you throw a bunch of scores in a blender and it'll all come out okay. You'd do it like this:
- Grab the top 20 from the TG DK rankings and throw the players/scores into a spreadsheet
- Grab the top 20 from the aggregated rankings from the 6 (or whatever it's going to be) 2014 DKOs and throw them into the spreadsheet
- Sort by player name and remove any current/former champions like Hank and Robbie(?), since they're already in
- Whoever's name is in there twice (top 20 TG + top 20 tourney finish) remove the lower of the two scores
- Now sort the list by score, and voila. Determine how many spots you have and there's your invite list. And as people RSVP "no", just keep moving down the list.

If you aggregate the TG rankings together with the scores from 6 DKO tourneys, it's gonna be pretty damn hard for any of the best players to fall through the cracks. This is very back-of-the-envelope so maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would work out just fine.

[WCopeland]

Chris, do TG rankings include MAME scores?

[tessler1134]

Great idea Chris, I like it!

Keep those ideas coming!

[ChrisP]

Chris, do TG rankings include MAME scores?

Top 4 on TG's MAME list (Dean, Jeff, Vincent, Ross) are going to be in no matter what because of their arcade scores, then you have 3 guys who are no longer part of the scene at all, and then you're already in the 800Ks.

So even if you included TGs MAME scores, the list is so weak that you'd have all the spots filled long before you hit a score good enough to qualify for the KO.

Of course, that's only how things stand now.

When submissions start up again, that could change, so that's a good thing to think about.

[lakeman421]

I kind of had the idea of having the top 12 with dedicated machines and special introductions like in the past. The remainder of the machines that Richie has available will be for the wild card format.  The top 12 do the bracket formation double elimination and whoever gets eliminated goes the the wild card competition.  The wild card competition is like the past where its based on high scores.  Eventually the top players get moved in with the wild card players.  The wild card players may have at least a one day advantage from this and gives the top players less time to play for a high score.  I think some player strategies will change because of this and this will mix in the top players with the wild cards as opposed to being separated the past couple of years.

[homerwannabee]

I wonder if people realize Dean is on the verge of not making it if we go by just his arcade score?

I think people are going to be super tired if you force all the bracket games in one day.

I suggest doing the round of 16 and 8 on Saturday, and the semifinals, and finals on Sunday.

Make Friday the qualification day however you do that.

[xelnia]

If you aggregate the TG rankings together with the scores from 6 DKO tourneys, it's gonna be pretty damn hard for any of the best players to fall through the cracks. This is very back-of-the-envelope so maybe I'm wrong, but I think it would work out just fine.

Here is how Chris' suggestion would play out today. The most glaring omission from this list in my opinion is Phil Tudose.

Automatic Bids
Billy Mitchell 
Tim Sczerby
Steve Wiebe
Hank Chien

Aggregate Rankings of TG DK Arcade Top 20 and DKO Top 20

Rank		Score		Player		Source
1		1,136,500		Ross Benziger		TG
2		1,135,900		Vincent Lemay		TG
3		1,105,400		Jeff Willms		TG
4		1,091,400		Dave McCrary		DKO #1
5		1,086,700		Robbie Lakeman		DKO #3
6		1,079,400		Dean Saglio		TG
7		1,058,200		Steve Wiltshire		TG
8		1,054,900		Jeff Wolfe		TG
9		1,052,900		Mark Kiehl		TG
10		1,037,500		Shaun Boyd		TG
11		1,028,200		Wes Copeland		DKO #2
12		1,023,600		Mike Groesbeck		TG
13		1,012,800		Kyle Goewert		TG
14		1,008,100		Corey Chambers		TG
15		999,800		Estel Goffinet		TG
16		968,700		Eric Tessler		DKO #2
17		957,400		Eric Howard		TG
18		913,400		Ben Falls		DKO #1
19		911,700		Chris Psaros		DKO #1
20		907,100		Jeff Harrist		TG
21		905,700		Jeremy Young		DKO #1
22		894,100		Martin Laing		DKO #3
23		880,700		Adam Mon		DKO #1
24		817,000		Aaron Rounsaville		DKO #2
25		798,300		Ethan Daniels		DKO #1
26		785,600		Andrew Barrow		DKO #3
27		753,800		Daniel Desjardins		DKO #1