Brink Competition Round-up: The First Two Weeks
May 25, 2011
Welcome to an all-new series of community-penned blog entries here on the site, letting you get a regular look at the competitive side of Brink. Put together by the crew over at Brink TV, it’ll cover what’s happening in the eSports scene for the game, including upcoming tournaments and exhibition matches, as well as shoutcasts and Brink TV’s ever-growing video on demand library. Take it away, guys!
We’ve survived the first two weeks since our veins were first pumped full of Brink goodness. The game and the community are growing stronger each day. Below, you’ll find a quick summary of some events Brink TV hosted with the hope of kicking off the competitive scene and nearly a dozen upcoming tournaments and events already planned and underway by other organizations, including ESL (EU) and National ESL (NA)’s maiden forays into Brink that bring over $25,000 in combined prizes to the table. This roundup focuses quite a bit on our project, Brink TV, but that’s only because we were crazy enough to run events from day 1. In future updates, Matt and I will try to round up the news that keeps everyone on the edge of Brink’s competitive scene.
For our part, Brink TV hosted a Day 1 Launch Event that surpassed our expectations of reception by the community. The core staff: Mattc0m, stlava, Jehar, RottenRose, Retsy and myself (GreasedScotsman) worked tirelessly to make sure things ran smoothly. After a podcast introduction of the Brink TV staff and a live roundtable discussion with several community members, we began streaming pickup games. Our very first match came down to the last 30 seconds, with a team barely holding an escort just inches from the escape point on Aquarium. Be sure to check out the highlights or watch the full video on demand.
The following day, Brink TV went live again with a panel discussion and live podcast to get deeper insight from players, league administrators, broadcasters and key community members, including representatives from Team F8, Team hubris, havok eXtreme, NationalESL, TWL, CSN and TGBF. You can watch the VOD of the event in case you missed it.
On May 18 and 19, Brink TV hosted a 5v5 tournament. We had a solid 47 teams sign up for the event but decided to limit the brackets to 32 teams in the interest of time and efficiency. After a grueling series of matches over two nights, the finals’ tie-breaking match had to be rescheduled to ensure competitors wouldn’t have to play until the wee hours of the morning. That match is still pending, but Brink TV will be there to cover it when it happens!
Operatives hacking away on ShipyardPlanning for Competitive Brink
One of the struggles with any new game is deciding on what competitive rules should be in place. In an effort to avoid a fragmented community, loneB from the Cyber Sports Network and Kn1ghT from the Team Warfare League have taken the initiative to gather league administrators and other actors in the competitive scene in an attempt to work out the details of a competition configuration through a collaborative process. We are very excited about this “by the community, for the community” approach and are eager to see the efforts pay off.
Please join the discussion! Gameplay changes, suggestions, and critiques are continually brought up in the Clans & Competition Board. We’re hoping that combining input from the competitive community, league admins, and team leaders will create a single, unified rule set for all competitive leagues, ladders, and tournaments and keep the community focused and infused with activity.
Upcoming Tournaments, Leagues and Ladders
Below is a list of tournaments, leagues and ladders that have already sprung up to embrace and shape Brink’s nascent competitive gameplay. Even the console versions of Brink have sparked a competitive itch for gamers. We hope to stream as many of these events as we can so that all can experience the fresh intensity that Brink has to offer.
- May 24-26
- May 31 – June 2
TWL – Brink Stopwatch Ladder, Brink 6v6 — Inaugural Season, Brink EU StopWatch Ladder
Dates: TBA
CSN – 32 team tournament ($300 USD to winner), On The Brink Tournament Series
Dates: TBA
ESL – Brink Championship: The European Elite – €15.000 Prize money
- May 15th – Signups Open
- May 23rd – Start of the Qualifcation Cups
- June 13th – Start of Group Stage
- July 4th – Start of Playoffs
- August 17th – 21st – Grand Final at Gamescom 2011
NationalESL – $4000 in prizes – Brink Launch Cup
- May 26 (Seedings for Fight For The Ark Tournament)
- June 2011 (Fight for the Ark Brink Tournament – $1000)
- September 2011 (First Season of League play – $1500)
- January 2012 (Second Season of League play – $1500)
Cybergamer.Com.AU – Australian Ladder/League
Dates: TBA
GlobalWarfighter Ladder
Dates: TBA
Gamebattles.com XBOX & PS3 Ladders
- Regular Season – 05/11/2011
- Playoffs Begin – 07/04/2011
CEVO – Unannounced Plans
ESL Italy – Unannounced Plans
The grenade that very nearly almost saved the day.
The Final Word
Check back next week for a collection of reactions by various community members, team leaders and league admins to the latest patch changes, a roundup of the competitions launching throughout the week, and some opinions about Brink competition at the 3 week mark.
Have any news or announcements regarding the competitive scene? Be sure to drop us a tip at contact@thebrink.tv.
Brink TV is a community-run broadcasting organization founded by Matt ‘Mattc0m’ Richards and Steve ‘GreasedScotsman’ Huff. Its core staff, Slava ‘stlava’ Markeyev, Alex ‘Jehar’ Popa, Krista ‘RottenRose’ Popa and mystery woman and community manager extraordinaire, ‘Retsy’, work harder than anyone should for a volunteer job to bring high caliber broadcast entertainment and Brink competition coverage to the masses.