KPL adjusts the promotion system: take a brave step, never be blind

The KPL's temporary seat promotion system has been adjusted.

A few days ago, an announcement from the KPL Alliance attracted a lot of attention.

KPL officially announced that the temporary seat promotion system of the KPL has been adjusted: starting from the 2024 KPL Spring Tournament, the 2023 K League Summer Champion will receive a direct promotion quota and get a temporary seat in the 2024 KPL Spring Tournament; At the same time, another provisional spot will be selected by the two teams in the previous provisional seat and the runners-up and third runners-up of the K-League after the knockout round of the victory and defeat group.

K-League promotion rules.

Adjust the promotion and downgrading, where is the dispute?

Compared with the current situation, the biggest difference between the two previous temporary seat teams and the K League champion and runner-up competing for two temporary seats is that the K League champion will "go through" to next year's new season of KPL, while the temporary seat match has changed from the past four to four into one, and one of the previous two temporary seat teams is destined to be PKED in the seat match.

As soon as the news came out, it sparked extensive discussion. The controversy mainly comes from fans of the current two temporary seat teams, XYG and MTG, believing that this move directly weakens the probability of the home team remaining in the KPL, and XYG owner Zhang Daxian also expressed helplessness about "reform" in the live broadcast; Of course, there is no lack of supporters, in addition to the fans of the K League team cheering, many neutral industry insiders and viewers pointed out that the league's initiatives will better stimulate the secondary leagues and make the K League and KPL more closely linked, and on the whole, it is beneficial to the development of the entire king professional esports ecosystem.

KPL has entered the 7th year, from the small studio on Shanghai Huayuan Road all the way to the Asian Games e-sports venue Hangzhou E-sports Center, from the initial few a dozen offline audiences to now can easily fill tens of thousands of venues, as a benchmark of domestic mobile e-sports, dare to change, forge ahead has always been one of the most eye-catching labels on KPL, in which the continuous adjustment and innovation of rules is also unique.

Looking back, when KPL launched global BP in 2018, it caused fans to complain at the beginning, but after the test of event practice, the mainstream view is that global BP is "really fragrant".

There are more heroes, the routines are deeper, the suspense of the game has also risen sharply, many games have been played to the peak of the showdown, to this day, the audience must remember Hero Jiujing 4-3 Nick BA Black Pineapple, QGhappy 4-3 won eStarPro such finals...

As KPL officially expressed, the rule change is still for the fans' viewing experience. For the team, higher requirements are also put forward, from the past with strong heroes to play the entire hero pool, the competitive strength of the entire alliance is improving.

Looking at the Challenge Cup, there are not only KPL teams, but also teams from the K League, as well as teams from national competitions, teams at different levels compete on the same field, and teams on different tracks have the opportunity to challenge professional teams, which brings more possibilities to the event, breaks the barriers between the public and the profession, and is also a solid step for the national e-sports ecology.

The KPL forms a combination of 16 fixed seats + 2 temporary seats.

A grand vision of 16+2

Returning to the current high-profile promotion and promotion system, for King Esports, this is also a process of continuous optimization of the professional league system according to local conditions. Over the past six years, the KPL has undergone changes from relegation to fixed seats to temporary seats, which may seem volatile to some people's eyes, but in fact correspond to the development of the league at that time.

At the beginning of the establishment of the KPL, it was necessary to concentrate on ensuring the viewing and competitiveness of the top league, and the promotion and promotion system allowed better teams to move up the ranks, and under the trade-off of survival of the fittest, popular teams such as AG would also be relegated due to poor results; By the fall of 2018, after nearly two years of development, the basic plate of the league has been consolidated, the introduction of the fixed seat system has ensured the stability of the top league, and the interests of top league clubs have been guaranteed, which can better promote commercialization, and participate in the construction of the event ecology, which is also the most effective feedback for the team itself.

Looking at the field of professional esports, the fixed seat system has been unanimously recognized by most leagues, and there are also the most successful cases in traditional sports, such as the NBA, which also has no promotion or promotion, but the top league concentrates the most advantageous resources, and constantly transfuses the club through transactions and drafts, which does not damage the viewing of the league at all, on the contrary, it further becomes bigger and stronger.

Time to the spring of 2021, the relegation mechanism was restarted, the KPL formed a combination of 16 fixed seats + 2 temporary seats, and the K team got the opportunity to participate in the KPL. Instead of relegation and promotion, a more accurate positioning should be "only promoted but not reduced", some people may feel puzzled, it seems that the KPL fixed-seat team is still "lying to win", but this move is precisely the most suitable choice for the entire professional league system to a stage of development.

On the one hand, KPL clubs are still on the rise, the league market after several years of intensive cultivation has a greater carrying capacity, can release a larger platform space, more noteworthy is that with the increasing ecological attractiveness of king e-sports, more and more teams and resources are coming, among which the K League as a secondary league has gradually entered a mature period, among which the best have considerable competitiveness and desire for a higher platform.

On the one hand, bottom-up demand, on the other hand, the head event that can be further expanded, "16+2" can be described as the best of both worlds.

Objectively speaking, today's promotion and promotion system is an adjustment on the basis of the previous one, more inclined to the winner of the K A, in the reflection of some netizens, "guarantee" is not desirable, the original two temporary seat owners from 50% of the probability of promotion to 25%, but from a macro point of view, the K A champion's direct qualification is theoretically for all K A teams, and the third place of K A can also enter the seat qualification round, in the long run, for the development of K A and even the participants of the national competition have provided a grand vision, For the overall development of King Esports, it is clear which is more important and which is lighter.

XYG won a back-to-back KPL Final Four spot.

K armor is also fragrant

Since the establishment of the KPL temporary seat, a total of only 3 K A teams have scored the KPL, namely XYG, MTG and Fire Leopard, of which XYG and MTG have locked temporary seats for a long time, in the just-concluded summer temporary seat battle, XYG and MTG once again successfully passed, but it is undeniable that the growth of K A over the years is obvious to all, the competition within the league is fierce, and there are frequent surprises in the encounter with KPL teams.

In 2021, the K A team GOG defeated the KPL spring runner-up TTG in the World Championship, and the Challenger Cup was the stage for the K A team to shout "Wang Hou will have a kind of peace", KPL's TES, GK and other teams have fallen at the feet of the K A team, not to mention that XYG from the K League won the KPL Final Four in a row... KPL's official commentary bottle once said: "The strength of the K League head team makes KPL need to wake up." ”

Linked to the recently concluded K-A Spring Finals, TCG defeated the regular season leader HI 4-3, and some netizens called it "more enjoyable than the KPL Spring Final".

In addition, the atmosphere of the venue is also extremely hot, the Shanghai KPL E-sports Center, the venue of the finals, is crowded, many fans come from all over the country, and some related group photo autographs and support activities are also done... If you don't look at the opposing sides, you really can't tell if you're in the KPL or K Division.

Aside from the level of events, the current K A is very similar to a scaled-down version of KPL, with a mature format, its own star players and die-hard fans, and complete live broadcast channels such as B station and Huya... It is worth mentioning that K A has also played an important role in the strategy of regionalization of king e-sports in recent years, and has successively landed in Wuxi, Huizhou, Nanchang and other cities, while KPL is based on first-tier cities and provincial capitals, K A has explored the e-sports market more widely and deeply through its strong association with second- and third-tier cities, expanded the e-sports culture, and greatly driven the value of surrounding industries.

It can be said that with its own polishing and the prosperity of the king esports market, K A is also becoming a piece of fragrant food, which is a bridge from amateur to professional, and the main passage to the final stage of the KPL.

Fans watch the game.

Take a brave step, never go blind

The top league at the top of the pyramid can never exist in isolation, and its prosperity is inseparable from the support of the minor league and even more lower leagues, which not only provide a steady stream of blood transfusions for the top league, but also provide a field for some players who cannot play in the KPL and want to continue their careers. Sting, early morning are examples, in a word, giving the minor leagues more room for promotion, helping the entire professional competition system to further open up, forming a living water, in fact, in the latest announcement, the K League also retains one direct promotion place in the national competition and two places to participate in the K A qualifier.

It is foreseeable that with the K League champion directly connected to the KPL, the gold content of the event will be further improved, which can directly bring more attention and investment to the K League.

It is true that the temporary seat team still has a lot of advantage against the K League champion and runner-up in the past few seasons, but it is difficult to say that the temporary seat team's ability today has nothing to do with the training in the KPL, and even the commercial value and influence brought by the KPL temporary seat has contributed to the team's progress from another side.

From this point of view, why not be excited to give more K-League teams the opportunity to experience the top league and enjoy the dividends of the top league? How can you conclude that the future K-League champion will not be another XYG?

Changes are bound to lead to disagreements, and to this day, it is impossible to do everything in the adjustment of the temporary seat promotion system, but for the development of the minor league and the entire professional competition system, this brave step is not blind.