ICMTM wrote:I don't think power pools should be allowed in an open format. It's just not a true open tournament. You're telling a power pool team you basically get four scrimmage games before their tournament starts versus a team like an MVP that has to pretty much go undefeated throughout to prove their worth.
The power pool games determined seeding, so they're more than scrimmages.PDad wrote:Teams that didn't deserve to be put in a power pool probably had a rough tournament and there undoubtably was some overlap between the brackets.
I think that is my biggest issue with the power pool. The top 16 teams or so are a no-brainer. It's the other 16 or so teams that are probably deserving, but teams 24-32 are usually as good as team 32-48. Sometimes it's the coach that does/does not apply for the power pool that is the problem as teams 24-48 can be sometimes very close in competition.
TCS tries to account for that by taking the regular pool winners. The Gold bracket consisted of 35 power pool teams and 19 regular pool winners. The regular pool winners were seeded equivalent to a 4th place power pool team. The teams that finished 5th in a power pool had to face a 2nd or 3rd place power pool team in the initial round. The regular pool winners went 1-2 against 4th place teams and 2-9 against the 1st and 2nd place power pool teams (Stealth Mason had both wins over 2nd place teams). BTW, only 2 power pool teams went 0-4 and one of them won their first 2 bracket games over 3rd and 4th place teams.
Regardless, there is always some disparity between pools. It extended down to also affect which teams got into the silver and bronze brackets.
TCS power pools have evolved from their original purpose of qualifying teams to play in a televised Fireworks-Sparkler showdown. I believe TCS's intent with them at this event is simply an extension of their Gold/Silver/Bronze brackets - i.e. separate the stronger teams for pool play so they can play more competitive games instead of beating up on weak teams.
