Once again, WEU DPC tiebreaker rule changes in the middle of the season. Head-to-head scoring no longer considered.
Tundra Esports captain Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun tweeted about a change to Western Europe Dota Pro Circuit's (WEU DPC) tiebreaker rules. Teams will now have to play tiebreakers for all tied score lines regardless of head-to-head matchups. It seems Sneyking had only recently found out about the change based on his tweet, suggesting a lack of communication on official rules between PGL and the players.
How the tiebreaker rule change affect current WEU DPC standings
Previously, head-to-head scoring is taken into consideration for final placements. This means that teams that lose the least number of games will place higher in the standings. This system rewards teams that dominate the competition by conceding zero losses in any given series. However, that is no longer the case now that head-to-head matchup score is disregarded.
Take the current standings for example and imagine the scenario above. It does not matter that Team Liquid has the best head-to-head scoring. OG, Tundra and Team Liquid will still have a three-way tiebreaker despite having no effect on Major qualification or placement. A likely reason for all tiebreakers to be played is to determine who will place first and earn the most DPC points and prize money. Note that the first place winner will earn 300 DPC points, followed by 180 points for second and 120 points for third.
Team | Scoreline | Head-to-head |
Team Liquid | 6 - 1 | 13 - 2 |
Tundra Esports | 6 - 1 | 12 - 4 |
OG | 6 - 1 | 12 - 5 |
History repeats itself
A similar situation occurred in the 2021-2022 DPC season on the second tour of Division I WEU DPC. DreamHack was the tournament organizer at the time. OG and Gaimin Gladiators had a tied score line of 6-1. However, through head-to-head matchup, OG placed first with 13-2 final score compared to Gamin's 12-6.
The rule change was announced to the teams after the fact, forcing OG into an unexpected tiebreaker match. Tommy "Taiga" Le also stepped in to express his disappointment. In the end, DreamLeague decided to stick with the original head-to-head matchup rule and the tiebreaker match did not happen. Liquipedia had to take down all DPC pages because DreamLeague's failure to properly communicate the tiebreaker rules was in violation of its notability guidelines. Valve also shared part of the blame for updating the DPC format and rules in February without adequately informing the parties involved.
The mishandling of DPC rules is a recurring event because they are not posted on any public channels, which brings about convoluted situations like that of WEU DPC 2022. As of now, no teams have raised any alarms or complain about the rule change. But it can't be easy for a team having to go to tiebreakers, with little to no notice, even if they have ideal head-to-head scoring.
The DPC is nearing its conclusion. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more news and updates!