Starting with Season 57 in Europe we’re making a pretty big change to how the league groups work. Instead of dumping hundreds of teams into one giant starting group like we used to, we’re splitting them into smaller sub-groups. Each sub-group will run its own full regular season and its own playoff bracket, and then the winners from those will head into the Season Finals to decide the overall champion.
The old setup had some real issues that were hurting the experience. With groups getting up to 500 or even 1,000 teams, the skill gap between the top and bottom rosters was just too wide.
That’s why we came up with this revised system. The whole point is to create smaller, more balanced pools so Swiss pairings actually feel fair and competitive from the very first week. More teams will now have a realistic shot at making playoffs and hitting goals like moving up to higher groups, and the whole thing is built to handle 1,000+ rosters (per group) without losing match quality.
All calculations for sub-grouping and playoff qualification follow the formulas below. Any participant may independently verify the results using the registered number of teams.
Sub-groups are formed according to the following formula based on the total number of registered teams (N) divided by 64:
- If N / 64 > 4 → 4 sub-groups
- If 2 ≤ N / 64 ≤ 4 → 2 sub-groups
- If N / 64 < 2 → No sub-groups shall be formed (single main group only)
The total number of teams shall be divided as evenly as possible across the determined number of sub-groups.
Everything kicks off right after registration closes, so the balancer isn’t affected. First we seed all the teams by the average Elo of their top five players, with the highest becoming Seed 1. Then we spread them out snake-style across the sub-groups to keep the skill level balanced in every one.
Once the season starts, each sub-group runs a normal Swiss pairing. Because the pools are so much smaller now, matches should feel competitive right away instead of waiting until the second half of the season.
Playoff advancement is set up to be predictable and fair. We’re targeting about half the teams in each sub-group to move on, using these clear brackets:
The number of teams advancing from each sub-group to the playoffs shall target approximately 50% of the teams registered in that sub-group, rounded to produce the following tiered structure based on the number of teams in the sub-group:
- 0 – 48 teams → 24 teams advance
- 49 – 64 teams → 32 teams advance
- 65 – 96 teams → 48 teams advance
97 or more teams → 64 teams advance
We’ve written all the exact formulas into the rulebook so anyone can double-check the numbers themselves.
Overall, this should mean a lot fewer blowouts, a much clearer sense of progress for everyone, and a season that stays fun and meaningful way longer.