The Skullgirls 3/5 Experiment

MyLifeIsAnRPG

So. A new tourney venue opened in NJ and me, being an absolute SG fanatic, decided to run SG there. However, I ran it slightly differently. Since Marvel at this time has become excepted in a three out of five format, I tried running Skullgirls in a three out of five format as well.

Verdict? It runs AMAZING 3 out of 5. People were learning mid-match all the time, and it encouraged smart counter-picking. Made matches way more hype. Honestly, I think that SG just runs better 3 out of 5... frankly I think, at this point, any VS style game runs better 3 of 5. The only reason we didn't play Marvel 2 that way is cause we didn't try it.

Also, it ran faster than AE, which had a similar bracket size and equal setups to run on as SG. It also ran nearly twice as fast as Marvel which had a 20 person bracket (SG had 13). The game's built in tournament mode REALLY helps.

So yeah, 3/5 just seemed correct. Gave people more time to play. Made matches more hype. I would say the experiment was a success.

I urge other tournament organizers to give this a try. It barely takes much more time and everyone had lots of fun.

Kawalorn

Huh... I was sure 3/5 is a standart for all fighters without sets (I don't really watch or play many tornies). Well frankly from the matches of SG I did see IMO they take short enough to make them 3/5 and a 1v1 match is VERY rare..

Pizzarino

There are other things to consider as a organizer when choosing for 2/3 or 3/5:

Does the game take a long time to button config, character select, and load before a match (SF4, MVC3)? If so you want a 2/3 format.

Can the game have explosive/one sided matches that don't distinguish player skill (MVC3)? If so you want a 3/5 format.

Do individual rounds of the game run especially long (CVS2, SFxT)? If so you want a 2/3 format, or possibly even 1/1.

Can individual rounds of the game run especially short (SG, ST)? If so you can consider a 3/5 format.

Are you in Japan? If so forced 1/1, no exceptions.

MWisk_2

I think this is a good thing to test it out. There might be a problem with the 1v1 matches but they shouldn't be all that common in higher level tournaments.

pali

3/5 is the only way.