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@MAT
lets face it, most game/tournament formats in polo don't make much sense...we still mix up way too many formats...league, round robin, swiss, single/double elim, best of 3 games, first to 5 goals, timed and unltd...etc
every tournament final cosmic has played in has been based on double elim and we've dealt with it accordingly. sometimes we've had the luxury of an "extra" life and known we can play the potential 1st game safer. othertimes we've had to give it our all from the start. knowing your position into a game def changes your mind set and tactics needed to get the win. Therefore, when you enter a tournament it should be clear from the start the format rules.
how you get to a final isn't easy any way...winners bracket means playing only hard teams and staying focused in between long breaks...going through the loser bracket means you not only have a 2nd chance but you potentially play easier teams or at least till nearer the end and you've also played more games which could be a positive or a negative, as you could have more momentum or be more tired into the final vs the team from winners bracket. Overall, on paper it sounds unfair that the team who made it into the final by not losing any games can potentially be knocked out by a team whos already lost once (possibly by the winner bracket team). so on that thinking playing a double elim final makes sense and is fair.
personally for a tournament format, i like a round robin group stage to seed into a single elim knockout with all games timed, team who scores most goals wins, only one final, team who wins all games is the proven best!