Editing Bracket manipulation
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===Self altering progression=== | ===Self altering progression=== | ||
This is when a player acting on their own accord intentionally loses a set and enters the loser bracket before they legitimately lose and enter the loser bracket naturally. This is a very risky tactic, as the manipulating player could have underrated a player they're set to play against in losers and/or unforeseen the character that player was going to use against them, resulting in an earlier elimination and lower overall placing. Additionally, upsets can occur in tournaments, and the manipulating player can mispredict the result of future matches, resulting in them playing a player in the loser bracket they intentionally entered losers early to avoid playing. This type of bracket manipulation is | This is when a player acting on their own accord intentionally loses a set and enters the loser bracket before they legitimately lose and enter the loser bracket naturally. This is a very risky tactic, as the manipulating player could have underrated a player they're set to play against in losers and/or unforeseen the character that player was going to use against them, resulting in an earlier elimination and lower overall placing. Additionally, upsets can occur in tournaments, and the manipulating player can mispredict the result of future matches, resulting in them playing a player in the loser bracket they intentionally entered losers early to avoid playing. This type of bracket manipulation is more apt to occur in [[Pools|bracket pool]]s than in actual tournament brackets. Due to their much smaller size, having greater variety in player skill, and the goal being to obtain a minimum placing to advance (where then a player's performance in their bracket pool has minimal effect on their actual bracket progression), the situation of intentionally entering losers early being beneficial in overall tournament progression is more common in bracket pools. | ||
===Inflating a friend's placing=== | ===Inflating a friend's placing=== | ||
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==Controversy== | ==Controversy== | ||
Bracket manipulation, while | Bracket manipulation, while a practical method to place higher in tournament and earn more money in a tournament as demonstrated above, is extremely controversial in the Smash community. Many players see it as immoral, as it interferes with the bracket progression of other players. As seen in the above scenario, Smasher C is prevented from placing high enough to earn money by having to face Smasher B sooner than he would have if the manipulation didn't occur. Bracket manipulation is also seen to harm the competitive integrity of a tournament, as it disrupts the natural progression of the tournament, and skews the tournament results from showing who the best players really were (as not every match was played to win). Splitting in particular is very controversial, as detractors see it as watering down the event for spectators as the players splitting will not give it their all in their set. | ||
Bracket manipulation, while generally looked down upon, has some who defend it. In regards to intentionally losing to help a friend, defenders will claim that one should prioritise "being a friend" | Bracket manipulation, while generally looked down upon, has some who defend it. In regards to intentionally losing to help a friend, defenders will claim that one should prioritise "being a friend", rather than competitive integrity. In regards to players splitting in finals, defenders will claim that it's the players' money, and as such it's their right to do what they want with it, as well as the players' right to perform however they want. In regards to a third player's tournament progress being disrupted from other players bracket manipulating, defenders will claim that the third player would have advanced anyway if they "played better". | ||
Despite the small amount of defenders, the majority of the Smash community is against bracket manipulation, and TOs will generally punish players that are caught splitting or manipulating the bracket in any other way. | |||
==Major incidents of bracket manipulation== | ==Major incidents of bracket manipulation== | ||
*The most notorious incident of splitting in competitive Smash was between {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|ADHD}} at [[MLG DC 2010]] | *The most notorious incident of splitting in competitive Smash was between {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|ADHD}} at [[MLG DC 2010]]. This resulted in both players being disqualified and banned from participating in the rest of the 2010 MLG ''[[Brawl]]'' circuit. This event is said to have damaged the reputation of the competitive Smash community, as two of the best players should be model representatives of the community, and not be caught partaking in underhanded activities. This incident is cited as a major reason for MLG dropping ''Brawl'' after the 2010 circuit. | ||
*At [[Pound V]], there were reported cases of players | *At [[Pound V]], there were reported cases of high level players in pools dropping a set to a friend in the same pool as them to help them make the bracket. The most notorious of these was {{Sm|ADHD}} intentionally dropping a set to {{Sm|Doom}} in his pool, which allowed Doom to make the bracket. This in turn prevented {{Sm|D1AOS}}, the player who would have advanced had ADHD defeated Doom as expected, from advancing. The incident caused a large debate on whether one should "be a friend" and willingly bracket manipulate to help their friend place higher, or if one should maintain competitive integrity and sportsmanship, thus treating their friend as any other opponent. This was the primary focus of the Pound V results thread until {{Sm|Plank}} revealed that he wouldn't be paying out the winners. | ||
==See also== | ==See also== |