You don’t join a main bracket until you select a clearance level and a end time. The amount of people in your bracket should be in a red band above the black band that states how much time is left in the event. It is easiest to just check the last post in the thread, to see what the latest info someone has provided. If the time zone settings in your user profile are correct, you should be able view the time the person posted, to see how current their info is. There is a possibility of multiple brackets filling side by side, so join a “fresh” bracket at your own risk.
Useful info to provide
1)Time slice and S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level you are in
2)Current amount of people in bracket
3)Leader in bracket with amount of points
4)Time you joined the event, if it was not right before posting in the thread.
Your S.H.I.E.L.D. Clearance Level - _________
Time slice - _______
Current bracket - _______ people
Leader - _______ (name) / _______ points
Slice 2 SCL 7 currently has 731 players. It was around 400 when I entered a little over an hour ago, so it should be full in another hour or so. No guarantees though.
The CL8 rewards are just sort of meh. Some folks feel the small drop in rewards in return for a slightly more relaxed event is worth the step down from CL8 to CL7.