LobbBS

this format has been lurking for a while now in the background but there's one big issue with it that I stated when I first saw it from the draft to the final version: Challengers their goal for 2027 is to establish a league format at the top level (let's call it tier 1) and turn Challengers into a proper T2 league. From their blog post, they said "The idea for 2027 is pretty simple: make Brawl Esports easier to get into, easier to follow and seriously tough at the top!" and this actively is hurting that in my opinion because the current format literally allows anyone to make a monthly final on a whim, you can now play an entire split of Challengers and not even qualify to your regional finals. But more than that, the issue for me is that teams playing in split 2 have NO direct pathway to worlds which for me is a big problem - this format is something I personally dub Ascension as it's what val's franchise has used for the past 3 years, but it is important to note that BSC is NOT franchising despite being a league format. Playing an entire split for a CHANCE to promote to t1 and then wait THREE MONTHS to play again is horrible, and even then you're probably going to have pieces of your roster poached because you did well in 2027 -> mid teams in t1 will want to upgrade -> pieces of the puzzle get cooked by big orgs paying good salaries. Additionally, you're not even guaranteed one year at the top level as there's biyearly promo/relo whereas in val you were at minimum given a year, some 2, to try things in t1 and improve. It's an incredibly brutal format for anyone not at the tippy top of t1 and while overall this is positive there are some glaring negatives here too, in my opinion at least...