ESL explains live-rating system

After releasing the live-rating system last week, ESL has further detailed the key changes introduced with the system. The concept of live-rating was first introduced at IEM Katowice 2019 Major, and after receiving positive feedback from the community, ESL has implemented it again at Pro Leagues with improved changes.

The teams will be given a baseline rating which will be used to determine the first round matches, following the format of highest seeded team versus lowest seeded team and so on. The second round matchups will be determined by the win-loss record and the live rating with no rematches allowed.

How does the algorithm work?

• Teams can only play in the same result-pool

• No rematches are allowed in the same Swiss system

• Ideal opponents are chosen based on their deviation from the average live rating

• Match Quality is determined by squaring rating differences, prioritising smaller gaps for balanced matchups.

An example
Suppose FaZe is in the 2W 1L pool, and has a live rating of 5. Suppose the average of rating of the map pool is 8, meaning FaZe has a rating of 3 less than the average. Thus, the ideal opponent for FaZe will be the opponent with the live-rating of 3 more than the average 8 which equals 11. Now, if after four games, with the difference of the ratings being 0,0,0, and 2. The quality score for FaZe would be calculated by the sum of squares, which turns out to be 4 here.