ESEA detail Season 30 MDL Relegation changes
ESEA have again announced changes to promotion and relegation for their top leagues following the completion of their long-term project to reduce the MDL down to 18 teams. This process began in May of 2018 following the conclusion of Season 27, with ESEA stating that by reducing the number of teams in the league it would help to increase the level of competition and create a better broadcast environment for the MDL.
This reduction in the number of teams will now allow for every team to face each other once over the course of the season, eliminating the random element of the team draw, an issue the 24 team MDL league system previously struggled with.
Additionally, following these changes, the league has overall been more stable, contrasted against Season 27, which notably saw four teams drop out the league over the course of the season.
From Season 30 to 31, the promotion/demotion system will be the following:
- The lowest placing MDL team will be relegated directly to Advanced
- The top placing Advanced team will promote directly to the MDL
- The next 4 teams from the MDL will play in the relegation tournament
- The next 3 teams from the Advanced division will qualify to the relegation tournament
- There will be 1 final slot reserved for an invited team
- The top 4 teams in the relegation tournament will qualify directly for Season 31 of the MDL
These changes are relatively small compared to the reforms of previous season, but due to there being less teams in the league, the stakes have been raised, with the 14th placing team in the MDL now facing the prospect of Relegation.
ESEA's full post can be found here and these changes will take effect on January 14th with the beginning of ESEA Season 30, which can be found on the Dust2.us Calendar.
