Competitive online gaming platform ‘GamerSaloon’, in collaboration with our very own site contributor ‘No Sleeves’, announced that they will be running the first official NHL 20 esports event.
The ‘Elite 8’ is an online competitive leaderboard that will feature the best 1v1 players in North America going head-to-head in an 8-week long leaderboard. Games will be played in Online Versus using PS4 only, and the event is open to Canadian and American gamers – sorry again, Euros.
Players competing in the Elite 8 leaderboard will earn points based on their standing each week – the point system is broken down in detail below. The ‘Elite 8’ players that have earned their spot in each week’s tournament will be divided into two groups to face off in a round-robin. The two winners of each group will then move on to play each other in a Bo3 series that will determine that week’s champion. The 2nd and 3rd-placed players in each group will earn their points and will return to the Elite 8 the following week. The 4th place players in each group will be relegated and will have to play through online qualification to earn their spot back in future weeks.
A visual overview of the weekly tournament format can be viewed below:
The winner of each week will win $100, and at the end of 8 weeks, the top 12 players that have accumulated the most points during the event will earn a spot in the Grand Finals Bracket where they will compete for a piece of the $500 grand prize pool.
The event begins on September 22, 2019, and runs for 9 consecutive weeks (8 weekly tournaments + Grand Final) until the Finals that will be held on November 17, 2019.
‘No Sleeves‘ will host the weekly tournaments on Sunday nights and viewers can watch the action at twitch.tv/GamerSaloon. The competitors will also live-stream their games and viewers can watch their streams by visiting NHL 20’s Twitch page.
The full event schedule, format and point system are also outlined in detail below.
This tournament is hosted by GamerSaloon, so make sure to head over to the Elite 8 official webpage to keep up-to-date on the latest results and sign-up for weekly online qualifiers!
Key Information
Event Schedule
| EVENT | FORMAT | TYPE | DATE | START TIME (EST) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | September 22, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 2 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | September 29, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 3 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | October 6, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 4 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | October 13, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 5 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | October 20, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 6 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | October 27, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 7 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | November 3, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Week 8 | Round Robin + Bo3 | Online | November 10, 2019 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Grand Finals | Single Elimination (Bo3) | Online | November 17, 2019 | 7:00 PM |
Point System
| PLACE | POINTS | STATUS |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 80 | Hold |
| 2nd | 70 | Hold |
| Division 2nd-Place | 50 | Hold |
| Division 3rd-Place | 30 | Hold |
| Division 4th-Place | 10 | Relegated |
Event Prizing
| PLACE | PRIZE |
|---|---|
| 1st | $400 |
| 2nd | $100 |
Qualification Process
The Elite 8 uses a weekly promotion/relegation system to determine the players that will be competing in the upcoming week’s tournament. Each week, the 4th place finishers in each Division will be knocked out of the Elite 8. Therefore, starting in Week 2, there will be two open spots in the Elite 8 leaderboard per week that players can qualify for. Weekly online qualifiers open up every Tuesday and run until Saturday at 7PM CT. There is only space for 32 players in each weekly qualifier, so make sure you sign up fast!
There are two ways to qualify for the Elite 8 leaderboard:
A) winning the weekly GamerSaloon Elite 8 Qualifier, or
B) being selected to compete by the Elite 8 Selection Committee
Tournament Format
Each week, the ‘Elite 8’ players that have earned their spot in the Top 8 will be divided into two groups of four to face off in a round-robin. The two winners of each group will then move on to play each other in a Bo3 series that will determine that week’s champion.
The 2nd and 3rd-placed players in each group will earn their points and will return to the Elite 8 the following week.
The 4th place players in each group will be relegated and will have to play through online qualification to earn their spot back in future weeks.
After the 8 weeks, the 12 players with the most accumulated points will earn a spot in the Grand Final Bracket to compete for $500. This will be a Best-of-3, single-elimination bracket, with the winner earning $400, and the runner-up earning $100.
Key Eligibility Requirements
- Must be depositing member on GamerSaloon – click here to create an account
- Must be 18 years of age or older to participate
- Must be a legal resident of Canada or the USA
Have questions? Ask us anything in the comment section below.
