Deprecation of Little Cup Tier

[Darkshade]

I understand this may come as a disappointment for some, but after much discussion it has been decided that Little Cup will be removed from the tier list next update. 
We don't believe that it's in the best interest of the game to try to keep it alive in an official capacity anymore.

 

It is unlikely that the tier has any significant growth potential, due to its gimmick-y nature and the difficulty of building for it without a guide or stat calculator, it stands little chance of gaining a large enough player-base to keep matches running consistently if given a matchmaking slot.

 

We also believe that at this point in the game, the tournament slots it is occupying are better spent on other tiers/formats that players are more likely to invest in. We often see 16-man tournaments failing to fill, and when 32-man tournaments at more favorable times of day do fill, the people in them are often the same.

 

To give it proper send-off, we'll be having one final tournament for it with a nice prize, but after its conclusion and the tier's slot in the January team tournament, there will be no more.

 

For the players who enjoyed the tier, with the ability to set custom level scaling, it can still be kept alive unofficially as it largely has been already; as well as in our hearts.

 

Thank you to all those who have shown their support and put effort into keeping the tier alive over the years, we hope to see you in the other tiers too!