2023 BSC NEWS
Regions and New sub regions!
Christmas came early this year, and we were given information on the 2023 regions for the Brawl Stars Championship (BSC)! Sub-regions were introduced to the broad regions of North America, South America, and Asia.
Under the 2022 system, the whole of North America has 3 guaranteed slots for worlds. Tribe Gaming, Vatra Gaming, and Stamina Esports currently hold these spots. Under the new 2023 system, North America will be split into two sub-regions: NA East and NA West.
Both sub regions, NA East and NA West, will each have one guaranteed slot for Worlds and one Last Chance Qualifier slot. This means that NA as a whole will have two guaranteed World Finals slots and two Last Chance Qualifier slots.
Last Chance Qualifier and the New World Finals
The 2023 BSC format introduces a new type of slot to fight for: the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) slot. Each region and sub-region are given a specific amount of LCQ slots, adding up to 16 LCQ slots in total. The 16 teams that play in the LCQ will be fighting for a World Finals slot, and only 4 of the 16 teams will earn the ticket to Worlds. The LCQ will be an offline, in person LAN event!
The 2023 BSC World Finals will feature a total of 12 teams. 8 teams will come from the guaranteed slots, and 4 will arrive from the LCQ. Additionally, the single elimination BSC World Finals format that has been used since 2019 will be done away with to make room for group stage play!
Info is not yet known regarding 2023 BSC prizing. Will the World Finals prize break one-million dollars? Will there be prizing at the Last Chance Qualifier? Nobody knows these answers yet.
Pushback from NA Pros
Getting "ping diffed" has been a complaint amongst pros for the longest time in North America, with NA East players often blaming West players for getting server priority. The split has been taken positively so far, but there are some professionals who already have gripes with the system.
BobbyBS claimed on twitter that he would "quit" if the changes are real. He stated that he was frustrated with World Finals having less slots in the future (12) compared to this year (16), feeling like the changes were putting NA "backwards [and] not forwards."
The sub-region split also has some implications on current teams. Notably, Sans (W) from STMN (E) and Juan Carlos (W) from Vatra (E) are expected to part ways from their respective teams in 2023, as they would have better connections to a different sub-region's server when compared to the rest of their team.
Players looking to gain a stronger hold in the competitive scene were also forced to change their plans. Pollosauriooo (W) and INS (E) laughed at their prior plans to take ESL and BSC 2023 by storm shortly after the West/East split announcement. They both made new posts announcing their free-agencies in their respective subregions.
What Subregion should I join?
Players are expected to choose their desired region at the start of the 2023 BSC season. This means that you have to do some research before choosing what sub-region you belong to! It's reported that the NA East server will be located in Virginia (USA), and the NA West server will be located in Los Angeles, CA (USA).
We recommend using cloudping.info to test your speed, in relation the the AWS Virginia and California locations, before making your decision.
Final Thoughts
There's still so, so much that we don't know about the 2023 BSC. The ideas put forth by the BSC admin team are a step in the right direction, but you can't blame players for wanting to know more when the full picture is awfully blurry at the moment. We're just going to have to wait for more information regarding the 2023 BSC. In the meantime, the 2022 World Finals have SO much to offer us this weekend!
If you're not yet caught up in the overall world of Brawl Esports, we recommend watching the official World's Brawl Time here: Brawl Time - World Finals Edition