The ALttP Randomizer Tournament Update!

The ALttP Rando Roundup: Episode #01

The Hero that Shouted “I” at the Heart of the Dark World.

Welcome Link to the Past Randomizer fans and newcomers, the first round of both the Main and Secondary Randomizer Tournaments are in the books. Nearly 600 races took place over the last month, and the competition has been whittled down to 40 competitors in the Main Draw and 60 in the Secondary Draw. Starting today, the next round of the tournament begins with a round robin group stage in the Main, and a traditional bracket in the Secondary. More on what’s to come for sure, but before we get to that, let’s take a look back at the month of Rando action that got us here.

[For those unfamiliar with the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Randomizer, find out all about it here.]

The Main Tournament! Decisive Battle in Zelda-3!

The first round of the Main Draw was a Swiss style setup, which paired players of similar skill levels against one another, and as the rounds progressed we began to see how even this field of 100 was. By the end of six rounds of competition, we were left with only two perfect 6-0 records. Runners Acktheboker and eLmaGus were the only competitors to make it out unscathed, and will be top seeds going in to the next round. For reference, over Acktheboker’s six races, his average time was 1:44:52 which, to be clear, is a very good average, though one of the fastest runs of the tournament came from the 5-1 ZeroRush, clocking in at 1:21:20 against AmazingAmpharos.

Much of what makes the Randomizer so exciting is exactly this. Acktheboker was consistent through his runs, and is certainly deserving of being a top seed, but he was miles away from being the fastest finisher. That someone can go on an absolute tear, make all the right plays, and put in a time well below the tournament average is why any Randomizer race can become the stuff of legends.

Also among the top finishers, daily Randomizer runners Kyle_LPN, TGH, and acmlm are part of the small group at 5-1 with the speedy ZeroRush and a few others. Finalists in the Spring Tournament ChristosOwen and ajneb174 finished the Swiss stage with 4-2 records and will be moving on to the group stage. They even raced in the Swiss stage against one another in a hotly anticipated rematch of the Spring Finals. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/179681291

By the end of the six rounds, there were 34 racers with a 4-2 record or better, and with 40 spots up for grabs in the group stage, the remaining six places would be determined by a thrilling race-off between the 29 competitors with a 3-3 record. Top 6 would move on. It came down to the wire, and is worth a watch. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/187646224

If you’re looking for a great race that features a lot of back and forth, and shows you all that the Randomizer has to offer, look no further than the race between FW Bronaugh and Rywek https://www.twitch.tv/videos/182506671?t=01h45m47s

And if execution is your thing, then take a look at two top tier runners going head-to-head. eLmaGus (one of the two 6-0 runners) and Tairr light it up for your viewing pleasure. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/186788163

--End Part A--

--Begin Part B--

The Secondary Tournament! Dance Like You Want to Win!

Created in response to the overwhelming interest in the Main Tournament, the Secondary Tournament was open to any who did not qualify for the main draw, a place where Rando fans could feel the same thrill of tournament racing. There were no guarantees of any coverage, or restreaming, or commentary but remarkably the ALttP community stepped up and showed the Secondary Tourney some love.

The Secondary Tournament had 273 of the 302 races on the schedule restreamed on RandomizerMania as well as occasionally on SpeedGaming, a whopping 90% of the races run. Initially, there was only a slight chance that secondary races would be restreamed heading in to the tournament, but as more volunteers emerged to take on commentary, tracking, and restreaming duty, the tournament was able to broadcast more Randomizer action, and give the Secondary runners their moment in the spotlight.

We had some groups’ final standings determined by tiebreakers, of note, the group P 3-way tiebreaker where only one would advance to the bracket stage. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/186911280

A nailbiter from start to finish in a battle to stay out of last place in group G between runners Maligord and DukeFireBird. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/184738165

And a race that actually ended in a TIE between Tater and Sailor Jade. A ruling had to be made, as this was unprecedented in Rando Tournament history, and it was decided that a rematch between the two competitors was needed. Finishing a two-hour race at exactly the same time? Phenomenal. https://clips.twitch.tv/BumblingSteamyOrcaCurseLit

The Beginning and the End, or 'Knockin' on Hyrule's Door'

Looking ahead, there is much more Randomizer coming your way. Hot off the presses, the group stage in the Main Draw has been finalized, and as the groups were revealed, it was made abundantly clear that each one has its share of talented runners. Some truly brutal groups include Group E which features acmlm, G3rd0, and AmazingAmpharos all of whom have hovered at the top of the official ALttP Randomizer leaderboard for quite some time. Group H features TGH, who wins over 1/3 of all Randomizer races he enters, Kyle_LPN, who finished a solid 5-1 in the group stage as well, and the man who needs no introduction, ChristosOwen.

At this stage in the tournament though, you can point to any group and see danger. These are 40 of the best runners of this game, and anything can happen. In Group C, we find SpootyBiscuit who ran the third fastest time recorded on SRL for this version of the Randomizer just a few weeks ago. Do they get hot again and advance to the next round? Or Monoci, over in Group F, who might be riding a wave of momentum coming off their strong performance in the race-off? It’s all still up for grabs at this point. The top two from each group will move on to the final bracket stage.

[Coverage of the Main Tournament will continue on the SpeedGaming channels on Twitch.]

In the Secondary Draw, the bracket has been set. With the top four runners from the group stage given a bye, the 56 in this first round of the bracket have been seeded based on performance in the group stage (yours truly is moving into the bracket stage ranked #55 out of 60, so clearly, I’m killing it). Each round of the brackets will be run over a ten day period, and the runners will face off in a best of 3 to advance.

In the mix are Randomizer developer Veetorp, and everyone’s favorite commentator AdirondackRick. But, what is worth noting, is that while not everyone left in the bracket stage is some well-known legend of the speedrunning community, during the bracket reveal on Twitch, the chat lights up for every single person still standing in the tournament. Showing support for a runner they may have seen run a race, or perhaps talked to in the Randomizer Discord, there is this inescapable sense of community that once again shows itself here.

As the Secondary Tournament moves towards the finish line, it is worth noting that the top 4 will be given invitations into the main draw of the next Randomizer tournament, so there is something to play for here.

[Coverage of the Secondary Tournament can now be seen on the ALttPRandomizer channel on Twitch]

So, that about does it for this episode of Rando Roundup. If anyone has any questions about the Tournaments or about the Randomizer in general, leave a comment! I’ll be sure to answer any queries you may have!

LOOK WHO CAME:

Sab0tender   

Michael Giff   20