With Major League Gaming and the GSL have teaming up, it should come as no surprise that GOMtv is hard at work changing the format of the GSL. Today, GOMtv revealed some of the major changes that will be happening over the next few seasons.
The biggest change that will be coming is that the Team League (GSTL) will be expanded. Currently a short four day side event, the new GSTL will now feature ten teams, split into two groups of five. These ten teams will play in a format similar to the group stages in Code S, with the top three spots of each group advancing to the playoffs.
GOMtv is also making some changes to the Code A/Code S formats as well. These changes include:
Code S Group League Match Format Change
- Pre-existing GOMTV League Format -> Dual Tournament Format
- Group stage games will always have 5 sets and the last game will be the deciding game for 2nd and 3rd Place.
- From each group, 3rd Place will stay in Code S and 4th Place will go through Up and Down Match.
- 1st and 2nd Place from each Group will advance to Ro16
Code A Morning Time Broadcast
- For the 5 days of the first week, Code A games will be broadcasted at 1:10 PM.
- Starting from the second week, Code A game will only be broadcasted at 7:10 PM.
Up & Down Match Format Change
- Code A Winner will automatically advance to Code S without going through Up & Down Match
- MLG Winner will receive a GSL Code S seed for the following month. (Even if the winner is a Korean player, the seed will be provided). If the winner turns down the Code S seed or is already a Code S player then the runner-up will be given the seed.
- Code S 4th Place Players (8) + Code A Top 7 = 15 players
- Players will be divided into 3 groups of 5.
- One group per day will be broadcasted. Each group’s 1st and 2nd Place will advance to Code S.
GSTL 2 Group Full League
- Every Thursday and Friday, GSTL 2 Group Full League will be held.
- The current 10 SC2 pro teams will be divided into 2 groups of 5.
- Each team will go through a full league and top 3 teams from each group will advance to the playoff (20 matches / twice a week = will be broadcasted for 10 weeks).
- Playoff will be played with the following format: Group A 1st Place vs. (Group B 2nd Place vs. Group A 3rd Place) / Group B 1st Place vs. (Group B 3rd Place vs. Group A 2nd Place)
On top of all these changes, GOMtv has also completely shifted the schedule of their weekly broadcast. Mondays will now be Code A, Tuesday and Wednesday will be Code S, and Thursday and Friday will now feature the GSTL.