Elite Series

The  is a planned MCM-sanctioned tournament to take place as part of the Big Data Series. It will see 50 of the highest-matchmaking rated players face off in three stages to crown a single victor.

Format
50 players enter the tournament, being the top 50 players based on MMR.


 * Stage 1: There are 5 pots of 10 players seeded, according to MMR, in to 10 groups of 5. The groups are round-robin and each match-up features two games between the players, with scores aggregated. A match-up win grants 3 points for the winner, a match-up draw gives 1 point to each player, and a loss grants 0. The winner of each group advances to stage 2, the second-placed proceeds to byes, and positions 3rd-5th are eliminated.
 * Byes: The ten second-placed players are randomly matched and participate in a bye. The winners advance to stage 2. The losers' performances are ranked according to goal difference in the byes, then the group stage tie-breaking criteria. The player who placed last in this ranking is eliminated. The other four proceed to the play-off.
 * Play-off: The four players are randomly placed in to a four-player knockout bracket. The winner advances to stage 2, the losers are eliminated.
 * Tie-breaking criteria: Points; result of the match-up between the two players in question; goal difference; goals scored; MMR.
 * Stage 2: 4 pots of 4 players are seeded in to 4 groups of 4, according to their performance in stage 1. Each group participates in a double-elimination knockout bracket. The two top-placed teams advance to stage 3, the other two are eliminated.
 * Stage 3: The 8 advancing players are placed in to a second-chance knockout bracket (as described in MCM Royale). The winner is granted the title "Elite Series Champion", and all others in this stage are granted "Elite Series Finalist".

Stage 1
Groups A, B and C's top two finished in MMR order, expectantly. In Group D, fourth-in-seed Tracy Eggers impressed to finish second-best but didn't manage to advance through the play-off. The strong performance was in leiu of ]X[xXx.FarrukH.TRAMUnT.64.xXx]X.

 Adv 1: Advanced directly  Adv 2: Advanced via bye  Adv 3: Advanced via the play-off  Elim 1: Eliminated via the play-off  Elim 2: Eliminated via bye  Elim 3: Eliminated directly

Playoffs byes
All took place on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at 15:00. The 5 winners advanced, the 5 losers are compared in the "Rankings" table and the last-placed is eliminated, while the first- to fourth-placed proceed to a knockout.

Playoff knockout
The knockout is seeded from the four best losers of the byes. Only the winner of the knockout progresses – the rest are eliminated.