cubenerd74
Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2022
- Messages
- 750
- Location
- 108th largest country in the world
- WCA ID
- 2022HASE01
Recently, a new format for the Korean Championships was announced. I wanted to discuss if this is better or worse than the 'Phases' system used in WC2025 and a few other championships.
tldr
-The new format for the Korean Championship splits it into an Open and a Championship.
-The Open is for everyone, with relaxed time limits/cutoffs and a larger competitor limit.
-The Championship is for top cubers only, with strict qualifying times.
-Pros: Creates a more competitive environment while preserving community roles(meeting other cubers).
-Cons: Hosting 2 comps instead of one is a lot of work, and logistics may be tricky.
The Format
This revamp stems from the same idea as the phases system-top cubers shouldn't be locked out of championships just because they didn't register fast enough.
The new format splits the current Korean Championship(KC) into two comps: Korea Open and KC.
As the name suggests, Korea Open is an open competition, with cutoffs and time limits more relaxed than previous KCs. The competitor limit for Korea Open 2025 has also been greatly expanded to 400, making it the largest comp in Korea excluding WC2023. This comp is expected to carry out the 'community' role of previous KCs, where you can meet many other cubers in person.
On the other hand, The new KCs will have much stricter qualification limits than before, making it only accessible to top Korean cubers. It has also been announced that the livestream will be worked on more, so that many more people can enjoy the Championships.
Comparisons
I think the main advantage of this format is that it creates a more competitive championship environment, while not sacrificing the community role of championships too much. The Korea Open having such a high competitor limit and relaxed cutoffs/time limits means that this is a great opportunity for newer cubers to meet many other cubers, compete in a big comp, and overall become more excited about competing. Meanwhile, with only the top cubers, The KC will be a much more competitive comp, and it will also be much shorter, since there will be less competitors. So There'll be no more missing out due to school/work, since the whole thing could probably be done in the weekends.
For the downsides, I feel like the biggest thing is logistics. Hosting a 400 person comp is no easy task. Finding a venue that can hold that many people will be difficult, and scheduling might also be hard. Also, hosting 2 important events instead of one means a lot more work for the organizers, which means we might get fewer normal comps.
What are your opinions on this format?
tldr
-The new format for the Korean Championship splits it into an Open and a Championship.
-The Open is for everyone, with relaxed time limits/cutoffs and a larger competitor limit.
-The Championship is for top cubers only, with strict qualifying times.
-Pros: Creates a more competitive environment while preserving community roles(meeting other cubers).
-Cons: Hosting 2 comps instead of one is a lot of work, and logistics may be tricky.
The Format
This revamp stems from the same idea as the phases system-top cubers shouldn't be locked out of championships just because they didn't register fast enough.
The new format splits the current Korean Championship(KC) into two comps: Korea Open and KC.
As the name suggests, Korea Open is an open competition, with cutoffs and time limits more relaxed than previous KCs. The competitor limit for Korea Open 2025 has also been greatly expanded to 400, making it the largest comp in Korea excluding WC2023. This comp is expected to carry out the 'community' role of previous KCs, where you can meet many other cubers in person.
On the other hand, The new KCs will have much stricter qualification limits than before, making it only accessible to top Korean cubers. It has also been announced that the livestream will be worked on more, so that many more people can enjoy the Championships.
Comparisons
I think the main advantage of this format is that it creates a more competitive championship environment, while not sacrificing the community role of championships too much. The Korea Open having such a high competitor limit and relaxed cutoffs/time limits means that this is a great opportunity for newer cubers to meet many other cubers, compete in a big comp, and overall become more excited about competing. Meanwhile, with only the top cubers, The KC will be a much more competitive comp, and it will also be much shorter, since there will be less competitors. So There'll be no more missing out due to school/work, since the whole thing could probably be done in the weekends.
For the downsides, I feel like the biggest thing is logistics. Hosting a 400 person comp is no easy task. Finding a venue that can hold that many people will be difficult, and scheduling might also be hard. Also, hosting 2 important events instead of one means a lot more work for the organizers, which means we might get fewer normal comps.
What are your opinions on this format?
