The Mortal Kombat XL one on one Open Cup #106 North America begins November 20 for PlayStation 4 players. Broadcast through the ESL Gaming Network, Mortal Kombat is one of many regularly seasoned leagues on ESL such as the Clash of Clans Clan War Leagues, Counter Strike, virtual reality games, and Dota 2 competitions. Players continue to clash in these tournaments while NetherRealm Studios has started to focus heavily on Mortal Kombat Mobile with regular events.
So far, seventy-two players have signed up to participate in the November 20 tournament and the number of participants in past Open Cups typically is in the seventies or eighties. Players will move through a usual bracket format that starts with a first round then Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and finally a Grand Final. A player is eliminated after four losses.
To sign up, players must enter their PlayStation Account ID, must be at least seventeen years old, and live in either the United States, Mexico, or Canada. A majority of Open Cup competitors are residents of the United States. These one on one matches take place online with a ninety second timer in a best of five games scenario. Every character is available for selection as well as any level with Stage Interactables turned on. Here is a full description of the rules.
The Open Cups use a Swiss tournament system, which means that in each round, contestants are paired up against another with the same win-loss record. When there are an odd number of contestants with the exact win-loss record then a contestant will be randomly paired against a contestant from the next best win-loss record. This is the case in every round except for the first.
The exact schedule and matchups have yet to be released since players are permitted to check in up until the day of the competition. The ongoing league will continue with the next Open Cup on November 27 and worldwide Cups also in South America and Europe. The game has seen some decreased popularity lately as it ages and other fighting games like Injustice 2, Tekken 7, and Soul Calibur 6 have been released.