I know, I’ve been making a lot of these threads. This is a fun one, though!
What would people think about adding a tour MVP to team tournaments? This wouldn’t be an additional trophy role or anything, just a fun way to recognize the really gamechanging or breakout players in a team tour. We could announce them on the forums or the smogcast/twitch stream, and include them in the Hall of Fame post for that season’s SPL/WCOP/TBD. We could even do a prize banner if people were interested, like the one we did for suapah for winning the Smogon Charity Bowl.
I know MVP awards are definitely subjective and prone to favoritism… but that’s true in IRL sports too, and the point is to do something fun. We can keep it from just being a complete jerk contest by restricting voters somehow. I discussed this a bit with Eo, Tony, TDK and pak and I think there are some fun options:
1. General poll. Just a general vote by all players and managers in the tour. Can do it the way NBA broadcasters do their MVP votes, where you pick the #1-5 players, and they get 10 points for being picked #1, 7 points for #2 and so on, or just a general majority-wins poll. MVP picks can either be open to anyone in the tournament or restricted to someone on one of the playoff teams.
2. Limited vote. Each team gets 1-2 votes, and can only select players from one of the four playoff teams (so we don’t run into a scenario where every team votes for their own player). Avoids the issue of potentially giving an outsized voice to teams with the most players.
3. Winning team only. The winning team (and no one else) votes on the MVP. Obviously they will probably just vote on someone from their team… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is something to consider. Means that we’re unlikely to see MVPs from not on the winning team, but on the other hand this is probably the least likely to turn into a popularity contest, and the most likely to result in a “hidden gem” pick where someone is picked more for their general support than for their prowess in winning games.
4. Curated vote. Similar to how we work up the power rankings, we create a panel of people who can vote. We can either have the panel just vote on and select the MVP themselves, or create a curated list of top players that then get sent to the rest of the participants to choose from when they vote.
Anyhow it’s a little thing that doesn’t really change anything at all, but it’s something I thought could be fun. I know early SPLs had awards, and while I don’t think we should necessarily return to full awards, MVPs are a classic part of team sports and I thought it could be a fun addition to our own team tour scene.
What would people think about adding a tour MVP to team tournaments? This wouldn’t be an additional trophy role or anything, just a fun way to recognize the really gamechanging or breakout players in a team tour. We could announce them on the forums or the smogcast/twitch stream, and include them in the Hall of Fame post for that season’s SPL/WCOP/TBD. We could even do a prize banner if people were interested, like the one we did for suapah for winning the Smogon Charity Bowl.
I know MVP awards are definitely subjective and prone to favoritism… but that’s true in IRL sports too, and the point is to do something fun. We can keep it from just being a complete jerk contest by restricting voters somehow. I discussed this a bit with Eo, Tony, TDK and pak and I think there are some fun options:
1. General poll. Just a general vote by all players and managers in the tour. Can do it the way NBA broadcasters do their MVP votes, where you pick the #1-5 players, and they get 10 points for being picked #1, 7 points for #2 and so on, or just a general majority-wins poll. MVP picks can either be open to anyone in the tournament or restricted to someone on one of the playoff teams.
2. Limited vote. Each team gets 1-2 votes, and can only select players from one of the four playoff teams (so we don’t run into a scenario where every team votes for their own player). Avoids the issue of potentially giving an outsized voice to teams with the most players.
3. Winning team only. The winning team (and no one else) votes on the MVP. Obviously they will probably just vote on someone from their team… which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but is something to consider. Means that we’re unlikely to see MVPs from not on the winning team, but on the other hand this is probably the least likely to turn into a popularity contest, and the most likely to result in a “hidden gem” pick where someone is picked more for their general support than for their prowess in winning games.
4. Curated vote. Similar to how we work up the power rankings, we create a panel of people who can vote. We can either have the panel just vote on and select the MVP themselves, or create a curated list of top players that then get sent to the rest of the participants to choose from when they vote.
Anyhow it’s a little thing that doesn’t really change anything at all, but it’s something I thought could be fun. I know early SPLs had awards, and while I don’t think we should necessarily return to full awards, MVPs are a classic part of team sports and I thought it could be a fun addition to our own team tour scene.
