Why you should participate in the WCO

Why you should participate in the WCO

 Previous blogposts about WCO:
WCO History
WCO Improvements and thoughts

The World Championships Online (WCO) take place a few weeks after the live WC has concluded. Not everyone will be able to make it due to various reasons. This year's live WC will be held in Sheffield, UK. Participating in either the online or live WC, does not exclude one from the other event. This means you have two shots at winning a world title ;).

The WCO uses the swiss pairing system which means that you'll be getting paired up against players that have gathered a similar amount of points, resulting in more equal and thrilling matches. More interesting may be even all players are put into one big group. As a newer player, you have a very good chance of getting to play against a top, experienced, player that you usually would not be matched up against.

In WCO #3 (2017-2018) I had to play against Major Nelson in the first round, who at that time, was a rather uknown player to me. Because of his solid results, he got to play against many other experienced players too. A successtory to remember. Of course, WCO participation does not ensure such a wonderful run, nor does it ensure growth, but it does offer a very nice opportunity for such things to happen.

Because it is played online, there is hardly any excuse for not participating. There is no travel involved, no difficult logistics etc. All that is required, is that you play one game per 2 weeks (336 hours). You can be assured that, unlike in ordinary rank games, your opponent wants to give you a run for your money (or vice versa if you happen to be the underdog).

Ultimately, the WCO hopes to make players enjoy the thrill of the competition, eventually leading to live tournament participation, but for those who just want to enjoy the online game, you are more than welcome too.

Benefits of the swiss system pairing is that everyone gets to play until the very end, and should be getting paired against players who have equal scoring results during this event. If you are a starting player, you may experience everything ranging from:

- Getting absolutely destroyed by a high level player;
- Playing many close battles;
- Pulling off an upset against a high level player;
- Destroying a new player (who then has the experience of getting absolutely destroyed by a high level player).

So, for those who want to participate, you can sign up here

 And for those who just want to enjoy the event without participating, we have The smiling scout, WCO Newspaper , WCO Discussion and also will be hosting "The wizard" which is a quiz-like event. In the past we've also conducted a few player interviews and will be doing so again.

Player interview overview (recent to oldest):
Josephwhite
Geo_Tsarpista
Texaspete09
Major Nelson
Great Manos
Losermaker


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