Dylan 718
22 · Dynamite · From New York
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MK8DX Underground Mario Kart League 2024 | October 4th, 2024 - October 25th, 2024
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Dylan 718
22 · Dynamite · From New York
Staff member
Moderator
SUMMIT Staff
Event Organizer
Media Staff
Site Supporter
Founding Member
REGISTRATIONS
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 @ 11:59:59 PM UTC
DRAFT DATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 @ 8:00 PM EDT
TOURNAMENT DATES: OCTOBER 4, 2024 → OCTOBER 25, 2024
Introduction
Yes, that's right! After three years, the Underground Mario Kart League (UML) will be making a surprise return! Just like UML 2020 and UML 2021, this tournament will be split into two events: one for North America, South America and Oceania and one for Europe. Both events will be ran simultaneously and will feature a schedule that is specifically catered to that region's players. This tournament is a great way for players to play and interact with other community members, so we encourage as many players as possible to sign up! Please do not hesitate to ask MK8DX Staff if you have any questions or concerns.
This tournament thread is for American UML, so if you are looking for European UML, then please click here.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that the success of UML depends on the total number of player registrations. The total number of player registrations actually controls many aspects of the tournament, such as:
- The player cap (how many players the tournament can accommodate before staff are forced to create a sub list).
- The number of captains / the number of draft teams available.
- The roster size of each draft team (how many players can be drafted onto one team, excluding the captain).
- The format of the tournament (based on all the above, what is a format that can reasonably accommodate every team all while remaining fun and competitive throughout).
UML Specifics — Overview, Eligibility, Registrations & Draft Details
What is the Underground Mario Kart League (UML)? Unlike any other tournament on MKCentral, teams in UML are created by captains, who draft competitors from a pool of players to build their "dream" roster. The premise of this tournament is very similar to Fantasy Football leagues and MKU Fantasy; unlike those cases, however, the players you select are directly recruited to your cause to compete on your draft team. As UML is among the most unique tournaments on MKCentral, there are a lot of rules and procedures to go over, so please read the tournament thread in its entirety.
To partake in American UML, players must meet the following requirements:
- A player must be a citizen of and currently reside in a North American, South American or Oceanic country.
- If a player has dual citizenship between an American/Oceanic country and a European country but currently resides in an American country, then that player will only be eligible for American UML.
- A player must have participated in at least one MKCentral MK8DX tournament within the last eight months (e.g. since the start of 2024).
- This includes, but is not limited to, Mario Kart Universal, MKCentral Frontier/Paradigm, 200 League, Low Div Cup, Mid Div Cup, MKCentral SUMMIT or any one of the FFAs hosted by MK8DX Staff.
- If a player does not have any MKCentral tournament history, but does actively participate in MK8DX 150cc Lounge, then please talk to MK8DX Staff and provide us with your Lounge profile and history to become eligible for UML.
For American UML registrations, players simply need to register on the tournament registry page as if they were signing up for an FFA. To be considered as a captain for American UML, please make sure you say "Yes" to being a host while registering.
If you don’t want to be a captain, simply say “No” to being a host while registering. Captains will be chosen on a variety of factors (e.g. have they acted as a captain before, will they be able to attend the live draft, are they responsible enough to lead and organize a team with minimal or no issues, etc.). Players who are selected to be a captain must be able to attend the live draft, as well as being responsible for the creation and organization of their draft team. Staff will be looking for sixteen (16) captains; thus, there will be sixteen draft teams in total. Please do not be discouraged if you are not selected to be a captain. Staff will purposely choose new captains to give other people a chance when UML returns in the future, so there will always be a next time.
Once a player registers for American UML, they will enter a verification queue where they must wait for a member of MK8DX Staff to process and verify them: this is to make sure that everyone who signs up meets the eligibility criteria. Once a staff member verifies a player, they will then be officially added to the UML player registry. After registrations have closed, the list of players who have signed up will be entered into a pool; come draft day, the captains will draft players from this pool. Unlike MKU Fantasy or other fantasy leagues elsewhere, every player who signs up for UML will be drafted onto a UML team, provided there is no sub list.
The draft for American UML will take place one week before matches are scheduled to begin. The draft is currently scheduled for Friday, September 27th at 8:00pm EDT, however, it is important to note that the date and time is subject to change based on the captains' availability. This week gives captains time to draft players to their team, think of a team name and tag, set up their personal UML team Discord server, and organize practice scrimmages against other UML teams. At the start of the draft, all sixteen captains will be randomly sorted to determine the draft order. For the first round of the draft, captains will have a chance to draft one player in order (e.g. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16). For all subsequent rounds of the draft, captains will continuously draft players via the snake format (e.g. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1-2-...) until all registered players have been drafted onto a UML team.
By the end of the draft, American UML teams will consist of ten players — nine drafted players and the captain. Based on these numbers, the player cap will be 160 players — sixteen captains and 144 total players to be drafted. Just like other aspects of the tournament, all of these numbers are subject to change.
Players who register after the player cap has been reached will be placed on the sub list. If a registered player drops from the tournament after registrations close but before the draft commences, the next player on the sub list will be added to the player pool and may be freely selected during the draft. If a registered player drops after the draft (e.g. they were drafted to a UML team), the next player on the sub list will act as their replacement and will automatically join the UML team that the registered player was previously a part of. The subbed-in player has a few hours to confirm their newfound status (whether it's being added to the draft pool or being added to a UML team); if the subbed-in player fails to respond or denies entry into the tournament, then their spot will be forfeited and the next player on the sub list will take their place. Captains cannot select a specific player from the sub list if they are in need of a sub, as they will automatically be given the next player on the sub list.
Tournament Information
American UML is a two-stage tournament. The tournament will last for four weeks (four days in total). Below is a brief overview of the tournament structure. All matches will take place at either 9:00pm EDT or 10:00pm EDT.
Stage 1 — Group Stage
Stage 1 will feature multiple Round Robin pools with four teams each. Over the course of the first two days of the tournament, teams will face off against the three other teams in their group. Compared to other tournaments on MKCentral, teams will play all three matches. The two teams with the higher Group Stage score (W-D-L record) will advance to the Premier Bracket. Likewise, the two teams with the lower Group Stage score (W-D-L record) will be regelated to the Consolation Bracket.
Stage 2 — Single-Elimination Bracket Stage
Stage 2 will be two single-elimination brackets, one for the Premier Bracket and one for the Consolation Bracket. Over the course of the final two days of the tournament, teams will face off against other teams based on their seeding. Teams eliminated in this stage are eliminated from the bracket and therefore, are eliminated from the tournament. This stage is winner-takes-all, and the winner of the Premier Bracket will be declared the winner of the tournament. All matches, including the Finals, are Best of 1.
Schedule
American UML 2024 will begin on October 4, 2024 and will end on October 25, 2024.
TO SIGN UP FOR AMERICAN UML 2024, CLICK HERE
REGISTRATIONS
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 @ 11:59:59 PM UTC
DRAFT DATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 @ 21:00 CEST
TOURNAMENT DATES: OCTOBER 4, 2024 → OCTOBER 25, 2024
Introduction
Yes, that's right! After three years, the Underground Mario Kart League (UML) will be making a surprise return! Just like UML 2020 and UML 2021, this tournament will be split into two events: one for Europe and one for North America, South America and Oceania. Both events will be ran simultaneously and will feature a schedule that is specifically catered to that region's players. This tournament is a great way for players to play and interact with other community members, so we encourage as many players as possible to sign up! Please do not hesitate to ask MK8DX Staff if you have any questions or concerns.
This tournament thread is for European UML, so if you are looking for American UML, then please click here.
Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that the success of UML depends on the total number of player registrations. The total number of player registrations actually controls many aspects of the tournament, such as:
- The player cap (how many players the tournament can accommodate before staff are forced to create a sub list).
- The number of captains / the number of draft teams available.
- The roster size of each draft team (how many players can be drafted onto one team, excluding the captain).
- The format of the tournament (based on all the above, what is a format that can reasonably accommodate every team all while remaining fun and competitive throughout).
UML Specifics — Overview, Eligibility, Registrations & Draft Details
What is the Underground Mario Kart League (UML)? Unlike any other tournament on MKCentral, teams in UML are created by captains, who draft competitors from a pool of players to build their "dream" roster. The premise of this tournament is very similar to Fantasy Football leagues and MKU Fantasy; unlike those cases, however, the players you select are directly recruited to your cause to compete on your draft team. As UML is among the most unique tournaments on MKCentral, there are a lot of rules and procedures to go over, so please read the tournament thread in its entirety.
To partake in European UML, players must meet the following requirements:
- A player must be a citizen of and currently reside in a European country.
- If a player has dual citizenship between a European country country and an American/Oceanic country but currently resides in an European country, then that player will only be eligible for European UML.
- A player must have participated in at least one MKCentral MK8DX tournament within the last eight months (e.g. since the start of 2024).
- This includes, but is not limited to, Mario Kart Universal, MKCentral Frontier/Paradigm, 200 League, Low Div Cup, Mid Div Cup, MKCentral SUMMIT or any one of the FFAs hosted by MK8DX Staff.
- If a player does not have any MKCentral tournament history, but does actively participate in MK8DX 150cc Lounge, then please talk to MK8DX Staff and provide us with your Lounge profile and history to become eligible for UML.
For European UML registrations, players simply need to register on the tournament registry page as if they were signing up for an FFA. To be considered as a captain for European UML, please make sure you say "Yes" to being a host while registering. If you don’t want to be a captain, simply say “No” to being a host while registering. Captains will be chosen on a variety of factors (e.g. have they acted as a captain before, will they be able to attend the live draft, are they responsible enough to lead and organize a team with minimal or no issues, etc.). Players who are selected to be a captain must be able to attend the live draft, as well as being responsible for the creation and organization of their draft team. Staff will be looking for twelve (12) captains; thus, there will be twelve draft teams in total. Please do not be discouraged if you are not selected to be a captain. Staff will purposely choose new captains to give other people a chance when UML returns in the future, so there will always be a next time.
Once a player registers for European UML, they will enter a verification queue where they must wait for a member of MK8DX Staff to process and verify them: this is to make sure that everyone who signs up meets the eligibility criteria. Once a staff member verifies a player, they will then be officially added to the UML player registry. After registrations have closed, the list of players who have signed up will be entered into a pool; come draft day, the captains will draft players from this pool. Unlike MKU Fantasy or other fantasy leagues elsewhere, every player who signs up for UML will be drafted onto a UML team, provided there is no sub list.
The draft for European UML will take place one week before matches are scheduled to begin. The draft is currently scheduled for Friday, September 27th at 21:00 CEST, however, it is important to note that the date and time is subject to change based on the captains' availability. This week gives captains time to draft players to their team, think of a team name and tag, set up their personal UML team Discord server, and organize practice scrimmages against other UML teams. At the start of the draft, all twelve captains will be randomly sorted to determine the draft order. For the first round of the draft, captains will have a chance to draft one player in order (e.g. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12). For all subsequent rounds of the draft, captains will continuously draft players via the snake format (e.g. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1-2-...) until all registered players have been drafted onto a UML team.
By the end of the draft, European UML teams will consist of twelve players — eleven drafted players and the captain. Based on these numbers, the player cap will be 144 players — twelve captains and 132 total players to be drafted. Just like other aspects of the tournament, all of these numbers are subject to change.
Players who register after the player cap has been reached will be placed on the sub list. If a registered player drops from the tournament after registrations close but before the draft commences, the next player on the sub list will be added to the player pool and may be freely selected during the draft. If a registered player drops after the draft (e.g. they were drafted to a UML team), the next player on the sub list will act as their replacement and will automatically join the UML team that the registered player was previously a part of. The subbed-in player has a few hours to confirm their newfound status (whether it's being added to the draft pool or being added to a UML team); if the subbed-in player fails to respond or denies entry into the tournament, then their spot will be forfeited and the next player on the sub list will take their place. Captains cannot select a specific player from the sub list if they are in need of a sub, as they will automatically be given the next player on the sub list.
Tournament Information
European UML is a two-stage tournament. The tournament will last for four weeks (four days in total). Below is a brief overview of the tournament structure. All matches will take place at either 20:00 CEST or 21:00 CEST.
Stage 1 — Group Stage
Stage 1 will feature multiple Round Robin pools with four teams each. Over the course of the first two days of the tournament, teams will face off against the three other teams in their group. Compared to other tournaments on MKCentral, teams will play all three matches. The two teams with the higher Group Stage score (W-D-L record) will advance to the Premier Bracket. Likewise, the two teams with the lower Group Stage score (W-D-L record) will be regelated to the Consolation Bracket.
Stage 2 — Single-Elimination Bracket Stage
Stage 2 will be two single-elimination brackets, one for the Premier Bracket and one for the Consolation Bracket. Over the course of the final two days of the tournament, teams will face off against other teams based on their seeding. The top two teams in each bracket will be granted byes and will be floated to the Semifinals. Teams eliminated in this stage are eliminated from the bracket and therefore, are eliminated from the tournament. This stage is winner-takes-all, and the winner of the Premier Bracket will be declared the winner of the tournament. All matches, including the Finals, are Best of 1.
Schedule
European UML 2024 will begin on October 4, 2024 and will end on October 25, 2024.
TO SIGN UP FOR EUROPEAN UML 2024, CLICK HERE