ESL’s senior product manager Michael “Cynil” Parsons has revealed that the tournament organization will change in relation to the grand finals in 2023. Looking around the Counter-Strike world, one aspect that divides the community is Bo5 games.
Some love long CS:GO matches, while others prefer the good old Bo3 series. Are best-of-five matches too long and boring? Or do they bring even more excitement to big events?
ESL tournaments without Bo5
On Sunday, Vitality defeated Heroic 2-0 to become the champion of the IEM Rio 2023. The final was a best-of-three final and not a best-of-five final, like many other IEM tournaments, including IEM Dallas last year.
Following the IEM Rio Grand Final, ESL’s Senior Product Manager Michael “Cynil” Parsons took the floor to update the community that the tournament organizer has changed their approach to the 2023 Finals. He stated:
“EPT Masters tournaments like the IEM Rio, IEM Dallas, and IEM Fall will be Bo3. ESL Pro Tour Championship events like IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne will remain in ESL Pro League Bo5 alongside the EPT Masters tournaments.”
This is something we changed heading into 2023.
ESL Pro Tour Championship events such as IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne will remain Bo5 alongside EPT Masters tournament ESL Pro League.
EPT Masters tournaments such as IEM Rio, IEM Dallas and IEM Fall will be Bo3. https://t.co/rO7JfRKTIC
— Michael (@Cynil_) April 23, 2023
HLTV contributor Josip “brcho” Brtan has been trawling through the numbers for some recent Bo5 elite finals and found that the average broadcast time for a four-map Bo5 is five hours and 10 minutes, with a five-map series increasing that number to seven hours and 14 minutes (although the sample is admittedly very small).
There has been much discussion in the community for years about the merits of best-of-five grand finals. Critics point out the immense amount of time they take, and proponents say they test a team’s stamina and map pool.
Went through LAN BO5 matches (min 3star) from 2022 and 2023
Broadcast length is calculated from the start of the 1st round until the trophy lift (tech issues and breaks between the maps are not deducted) pic.twitter.com/kbfijas2Kz
— Josip Brtan (@brcho_) April 24, 2023
What do the pros say about Bo5?
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen asked the community for their opinion after winning the ESL Pro League Season 16 Grand Final last October, played in Bo5.
Jason “Moses” O’Toole, Caster and CS expert responded that it’s just “far too long” and should be saved only for championship events such as IEM Koln and Katowice for “extra prestige”.
It's far too long… imo ESL should reserve bo5's for cologne and katowice (championship events) to add additional prestige to winning those events.
Also it's simply impossible for fans (except for the most extremely hardcore) to carve 7+ hours out of their day.
— Jason O'Toole (@MosesGG) October 3, 2022
On the other hand, FaZe Clan’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken defended the Bo5 format:
Every bo5 final this year has delivered, I think that says a lot already
— Russel van Dulken (@Twistzz) October 3, 2022
Caster Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat, explained his opinion, pointing out that the ESL is likely aiming to “maximize viewer minutes”.
Viewership peaks during the 3rd map, then starts to taper off from there.
7h long series are a big ask. I imagine that for ESL it's about maximizing viewer minutes for sponsors, so the longer the better.
— Semmler (@OnFireSemmler) October 3, 2022
He also added:
“From a gameplay point of view, I think the Bo3 format gives a better match because the focus on the 4th and 5th maps decreases and we see more mistakes. Some see that as a good thing, I see it as a bad thing. I want to see the best CS. Bo3 delivers that.”
Header: ESL
