Tournaments BWLTL - Format Discussion Thread

Nara · Saturday at 11:15 PM

With BWLTL finally getting ready to start it's inaugural season, we have the post for this year's format!

This year, due to the timing of the tournament and the prize being 5k likes (a banner for those uninitiated), staff has elected to have the tournament be smaller this year, with plans to expand the tournament in 2027. That being said, this tournament will be 6 teams, and 8 slots.

Proposed format for 2026
BW Draft
BW Ubers
BW UU
BW RU
BW NU
BW PU
BW ZU
BW LC

Nara · Saturday at 11:17 PM

We understand there might be some shock not seeing OU in the initial format discussion! Alternate proposals to include OU in the smaller format were considered prior to this, but in interest to gauge the lower tier community primarily with this year's tournament, the plan being to expand to 10 slots with 2 OUs the following year.

Incognition · 2026-11-01T09:26:55-0500

Nara said:
We understand there might be some shock not seeing OU in the initial format discussion! Alternate proposals to include OU in the smaller format were considered prior to this, but in interest to gauge the lower tier community primarily with this year's tournament, the plan being to expand to 10 slots with 2 OUs the following year.

I'm glad this is going to be a tournament in BW, I'm also not sure why people would be shocked that OU wouldn't be included, as this is primarily for lower tiers.

Assuming we are following the similar principle to ADVLTL, would BW DOU be considered as a slot, if not this year, in the next edition? I don't think OU should be included generally.

Aleksanteri · 2026-11-01T09:47:34-0500

Incognition said:
I'm glad this is going to be a tournament in BW, I'm also not sure why people would be shocked that OU wouldn't be included, as this is primarily for lower tiers.

Assuming we are following the similar principle to ADVLTL, would BW DOU be considered as a slot, if not this year, in the next edition? I don't think OU should be included generally.

Not opposed to the idea, especially with the tournament moving to a set slot format. However, especially next year, our custom avatars are primarily allocated for OU. My personal opinion (not the moderator teams as a whole) is that tournaments with CA:s included should have OU slots. I am from this standpoint against having potential CA tours with no OU slots.

Incognition · 2026-11-01T09:56:32-0500

Aleksanteri said:
Not opposed to the idea, especially with the tournament moving to a set slot format. However, especially next year, our custom avatars are primarily allocated for OU. My personal opinion (not the moderator teams as a whole) is that tournaments with CA:s included should have OU slots. I am from this standpoint against having potential CA tours with no OU slots.

That's understandable, and it was something I personally suggested when the hosts for ADV were discussing introducing a CA for the next edition of ADVLT:

Announcement Thread 'ADV Subforum Tours - Current Direction and Discussion'

Sep 24, 2026

With ADVLTL II's conclusion, we are approaching the end of the calendar year. We have two tournaments to round it out that I want to talk to you, the community about. Additionally, I want to get feedback on some significant changes coming to our flagship tournaments next year!

ADV Slam

ADV Slam is rapidly approaching (early October), and before Joaf stepped down from mod he had a tentative plan to remove the cups and turn this tournament into something more easily approachable for the community, and an easier hosting experience. Here is what it currently looks like:

- No more...

My comment would stand for this format as well - I would like to see lower tiers represented more, and introducing a CA would potentially gatekeep people who genuinely invest/enjoy these tiers despite having more sign ups.