Editing Tournament:Panda Cup

|image = [[File:PandaCup.svg|250px|class=invert-dark]]

|organizer = {{Team|Panda}}

The '''Panda Cup''' was a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' tournament circuit organized by {{Team|Panda}} and was the first North American ''Super Smash Bros.'' circuit officially licensed by [[Nintendo]]. The circuit began on June 24th, 2022 and was planned to conclude on December 18th, 2022. The championships was planned to be held on December 16th-18th, 2022, with a Last Chance Qualifier held on December 15th, 2022, but the date was postponed on December 5th, 2022,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PandaGlobal/status/1599631343159480321|title=Panda Cup Finale is postponed}}</ref> and eventually confirmed to be cancelled on November 23rd, 2023.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2DpSz8mpuA Dr Alan Reveals EVERYTHING That Happened w/ Panda! | Lights Out Episode 36]</ref> There was going to be a pot prize starting at $100,000.

32 players in each game qualified for the finale through four different ways:

'''1. Featured Community Stops:''' 11 offline tournaments featured as community stops had totals of 16 players qualifying for ''Melee'' and 18 players qualifying for ''Ultimate''. The number of qualifying spots for each tournament ranged from 1 to 3 players. 6 tournaments were qualifiers for both games, {{Trn|Saving Mr. Lombardi 3}} was a qualifier for ''Melee'' only, and {{Trn|Almost Pro}}, {{Trn|Let's Make Moves Miami}}, and {{Trn|Port Priority 7}} were qualifiers for ''Ultimate'' only.

'''2. Panda Cup Online Qualifiers:''' 8 players qualified through online tournaments for ''Ultimate'' only. There were 8 regions, with 4 qualifiers and a regional final for each. Points were distributed to the Top 96 of each qualifier, with the Top 32 of each region's leaderboard invited to the regional finals. Players were removed from Top 32 eligibility based on DQs, meaning the Top 32 indicated by points may not have been final.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/8fsWo5z.png|title=PGstats Discord Jaaahsh message}}</ref> In the event of a tie in points for the regional finals spots, all of the tied players would be invited into the regional finals, even if it meant more than 32 players would make up the bracket. The regional finals were a double-elimination bracket with all sets Best of 5. The winner of each regional finals qualified for the finale. Players had to be 18 years or older to participate in the online tournaments, and registration was region-locked to the players living within each tournament's region.

'''3. Expert Community Panel:''' A community panel for each game determined the final players that were invited before the Last Chance Qualifier, inviting 12 players for ''Melee'' and 2 players for ''Ultimate''. The panels included trusted members of the community, many of whom helped to create the [[MPGR]] and [[PGRU]]. Each panelist created a list, and the lists will be combined and averaged to determine the invited players. Only placements, wins, and losses at Panda Cup events counted for the panel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PracticalTAS/status/1591812019061415937|title=PracticalTAS comment}}</ref>

The panel judged players based on 4 criteria:

* Win rate against players who were qualified or with a higher seed at Panda Cup events

* Win/loss rate against other players who may have been chosen by the panel

'''4. Last Chance Qualifier:''' The {{Trn|Panda Cup Last Chance Qualifier}} was going to be an offline bracket held the day before the finale, with the top 4 players of each game qualifying.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/KidLiquid/status/1576761760455208960|title=Top 4 qualify confirmation}}</ref>

In the {{Trn|Panda Cup Finale}}, the 32 qualified players of each game would face off. All finalists would earn complimentary travel and housing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.panda.gg/news/panda-cup-announcement|title=Panda Cup Announcement}}</ref>

Players could only qualify once. If a player was already qualified, the next highest placing non-qualified player received the spot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PandaCup/status/1542250018920202240|title=Qualification rules}}</ref> If a qualified player declined to participate, the qualifying spot would be transferred to the next highest ranked player in the event in which the declining player competed who is not otherwise qualified, following the tiebreaker rules listed below.

In the event {{Trn|Panda Cup Finale}} qualifying spots required tiebreakers (for example, because one spot trickled down to 7th place, where there are two players), the following system would be in place:

* If one spot had two claimants: both tied players would face-off in a best-of-five set. The winner of this set would claim the Panda Cup Finale spot.

* If one spot had three or more claimants: a single-elimination bracket of best-of-five sets would be played out, seeded based on initial event seeding. The winner of this bracket would claim the Panda Cup Finale spot.

* If two spots had three or more claimants: a double-elimination bracket of best-of-five sets would be set up. If the number of claimants was not a power of two (2, 4, 8, etc), the players with the lowest initial seedings would begin in losers (leaving a power-of-two number of players in Winners). The players who would make it to Grand Finals of this bracket would claim the Panda Cup Finale spots.

* If three spots had four or more claimants: a double-elimination bracket of best-of-five sets would be set up. If the number of claimants was not a power of two (4, 8, etc), the players with the lowest initial seedings would begin in losers (leaving a power-of-two number of players in Winners). The two players who would make it to Winners Finals and the one player who would make it to Losers Finals of this bracket would claim the Panda Cup Finale spots.

 

 

 

 

The document's release led to an outcry against Bunney and Panda, with many accusing them for causing the cancellation of the Smash World Tour 2022 and hurting the grassroots scene. Many prominent members of the community called for a boycott for the circuit and the [[Panda Cup Finale]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/nedPT_/status/1597737009132765184|title={{Sm|Ned}}'s boycott}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/aidencalvin/status/1597728832299360256|title={{Sm|Calvin}}'s boycott}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Fizzi36/status/1597732567947804672|title={{Sm|Fizzi}}'s call for boycott}}</ref> and within a few hours, many players who had qualified for the finale (such as {{Sm|Lima}} and {{Sm|Axe}}) or had planned to attend the [[Tournament:Panda Cup Last Chance Qualifier|Last Chance Qualifier]] (such as {{Sm|Sparg0}} and {{Sm|Spark}}) announced that they were dropping out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/z8be4p/comment/iyatga3/|title=List of players who dropped out}}, {{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/smashbros/comments/zaxd75/list_of_players_confirmed_to_have_dqed_from/|title=second post}}</ref> Some players were unable to drop out due to being contractually required to attend (such as Panda-sponsored player {{Sm|Plup}}), though this proved not to be an issue after the event itself was canceled.

|{{Trn|DreamHack Atlanta 2022}}||November 18th-20th||196||{{Sm|SFOP|USA}}

|{{Trn|Panda Cup Last Chance Qualifier}}(cancelled)||&mdash;||&mdash;||&mdash;

|{{Trn|Panda Cup Finale}}(cancelled)||&mdash;||32||&mdash;

|{{Trn|DreamHack Atlanta 2022}}||November 18th-20th||415||{{Sm|ApolloKage|USA}}

|{{Trn|Panda Cup Last Chance Qualifier}}(cancelled)||&mdash;||&mdash;||&mdash;

|{{Trn|Panda Cup Finale}}(cancelled)||&mdash;||32||&mdash;

*{{Sm|Mew2King|USA}}

*n/a

*n/a

*n/a

*n/a

*{{Sm|ApolloKage|USA}}

*{{Sm|Anathema|USA}}

*n/a

*n/a

*n/a

*n/a

{{cleanup|Since this template will never be filled, we need to either get rid of it or repurpose it to explain that the event was canceled.}}

[[Category:Online tournaments (SSBU)]]