StrikeLeague Squidroidia

StrikeLeague - Squidroidia
Current season, competition or edition:; Current sports event StrikeLeague Squidroidia Season X
Game	StrikeForce
Founded	2024
Owner(s)	Studio Polaris
No. of teams	32
Country	Squidroidia
Venue(s)	Various
Most recent; champion(s)	Calamari County FC Esports (1st title) ; (Season 7)
Most titles	Grizzco Games Club (2 titles)
Qualification	N/A
TV partner(s)	StrikeLeague TV
Level on pyramid	1

StrikeLeague Squidroidia (SLS) is the main domestic league for StrikeForce esports in Squidroidia. Contested by thirty-two teams, the league runs three major splits and one qualification split per year, serving as the direct qualification route for the annual StrikeLeague Squidroidia Finals. The SLS is owned and operated by StrikeForce developer Studio Polaris, who also run various other StrikeForce competitions within Squidroidia.

The competition was founded in 2024 after StrikeForce's release, aiming to give Squidroidia a serious Tactical FPS esports league and to capitalize on younger Squidroidians who would prefer watching competitive gaming. Initially starting with twelve teams in Season 1, by Season 6 it would expand to 32 teams, encompassing a 4 tier promotion and relegation system.

Format

Splits

StrikeLeague Squidroidia seasons consist of 4 splits, 3 majors, Finals Qualifying and the Finals. The first 3 splits determine qualification for the 3 Majors (Newton, Midnight and Calamari County), while the final split determines qualification for the Finals as well as Finals qualifying. The teams are put into a single group of 32 teams (From Seasons 4 to 8 it ran under a Promotion and relegation system), with top fixtures being held under LAN play at the StrikeLeague Studios in Inkopolis, while lesser-profile matches are conducted with online play. Each team plays 14 games amongst random teams, with the top teams in the rankings after the 14 games receiving qualification spots.

For Majors splits (Splits 1-3):

The quarter-finalists from the previous Major automatically qualify for the next Major.
The top 4 teams who haven't already qualified for the Major also qualify.
The next 8 best teams enter a major qualification series for the final 4 spots, held with best-of-5 map matches

For the Finals qualifying split (Split 4):

The winners of the three Majors regardless of league or position as well as the highest ranked League A team automatically qualify for the Finals and are allocated to the Seeding Group.
If one team wins more than one Major their Seeding Group spot goes to the highest ranked team in League A that hasn't qualified.
All remaining teams enter Finals Qualifying for the eight spots in the Finals. The teams ranked from first to eighth overall are put into Finals Qualifying, with the remaining teams (As well as the winners and runners-up of the High School and Collegiate SchoolStrike competition) going into Open Qualifying. Pot 1 consists of the top 8 of the remaining 20 Strike League teams, Pot 2 consists of the middle 6 and the SchoolStrike winners, and Pot 3 consists of the bottom 6 and the SchoolStrike runners-up.

For league titles and Major and Finals allocations that end in a tie after all conventional tiebreakers are exhausted (Wins, map difference, maps for, head-to-head map difference, head-to-head maps for and head-to-head wins) are decided by a best-of-five map playoff, with Red team allocation (Which includes two map bans and picks for maps one, three and five) based on who won the last match between the two teams. If three or more teams are involved in the tie, a single round-robin mini-league with best-of-three map matches is held.

Majors

The Majors are made up of two stages - The Group Stage and Knockout Stage. In the Group Stage, the teams are drawn from their pots into four groups of four. The teams play each other in a double round-robin format with best-of-three map matches, with the top 2 teams advancing to the Knockout Stage. If group stage qualification spots (Winners and/or runners-up) are tied after all tiebreakers are exhausted, a best-of-three map match will be played between the two teams involved in the tie. Like the Splits, if three or more teams are tied, a single round-robin mini-league with best-of-three map matches is held. Season 9 implemented a Casaran stage, which was not brought back for future seasons

The eight remaining teams are then drawn out of two pots for the Knockout Stage (Winners seeded, runners-up unseeded), with groupmates unable to rematch in the Quarter-Finals. The Majors Knockout Stage is single-elimination with best-of-five map matches. Whoever wins the final match is crowned Major Champions and qualify automatically for the Finals.

All Majors utilize LAN play for all matches.

Finals Qualifying

The twenty-eight teams that didn't qualify for the Finals and the four best SchoolStrike teams are assigned into Finals Qualifying, consisting of Open Qualifying and Closed Qualifying. Like the Majors, the teams play each other in a double round-robin format with best-of-three map matches.

For Open Qualifying, the twenty-four teams are put into 8 groups of 3. The group winners are placed into the Alpha Bracket and the group runners-up are placed into the Beta Bracket. Both brackets are split up into two single-elimination trees of 4 teams with best-of-five map matches. The Beta Bracket winners enter Closed Qualifying alongside the Alpha Bracket teams that didn't win their trees; the Alpha Bracket tree winners qualify for the Finals in Pot 2.

For Closed Qualifying, the eight teams who qualified via Open Qualifying are joined by the eight teams who qualified via Split 4 position. The group winners qualify for the Finals in Pot 1, while the 2nd and 3rd place teams in each group enter Last Chance Qualifying for the final two spots in the Finals, split up into two single-elimination trees of 4 teams like in the Alpha and Beta brackets, with the winners gaining those two spots.

Like the Majors, should qualification spots be tied after all tiebreakers are exhausted, a best-of-three map match will be played between the two teams involved in the tie. Should three or more teams be tied, a single round-robin mini-league with best-of-three map matches will be held.

All matches utilize LAN play, with games held in Ichimoto.

Finals

The four teams already qualified for the Finals before Finals Qualifying are placed into a Seeding Group, with the teams playing each other in a double round-robin format with best-of-three map matches. For this group only, no position will be tied; positions tied after all tiebreakers are exhausted will go into best-of-three map matches like described above.

The eight teams that made the Finals via Finals Qualifying are placed into two pots of four via how they qualified (Pot 1 for the Closed Qualifying group winners, Pot 2 for the Alpha Bracket tree winners and Last Chance Qualifying winners). The teams are drawn into two groups of four to play a double round-robin format with best-of-three map matches. Like before, any tie that involves group winners and/or group runners-up will be broken by best-of-three map matches (Single match if two teams, single round-robin if three or more teams).

The Knockout Stage draw, unlike the Majors, is decided by a team draft; the Seeding Group winners pick one of the two regular group runners-up and the Seeding Group third place team pick one of the two regular group winners. The matchups for the First Round are as follows:

Seeding Group 1st vs chosen group runner-up
Seeding Group 4th vs remaining group winner
Seeding Group 2nd vs remaining group runner-up
Seeding Group 3rd vs chosen group winner

The Knockout Stage is a double-elimination bracket, with all matches in both the Winners and Losers brackets being best-of-five map matches. The Grand Final, where the Winners Bracket champions play the Losers Bracket champions, is a best-of-seven map match with no resets. The winner of the Grand Final is crowned StrikeLeague Squidroidia Champions and, at least until an international competition is established, are recognized by Studio Polaris as the "multiversal" champions.

All matches utilize LAN play, with the Group Stage held at the StrikeLeague Studios, the Knockout Stage (Up to the Losers Semi-Finals) held at the Grizzco Soundstage, and Championship Weekend (Winners Final, Losers Final and Grand Final) held at Mako Arena, all in Inkopolis.