We're planning a Tournament of Champions, using 8 squads that won tournaments this fall. The squads are here:
http://www.bloomilk.com/Forums/default.aspx?g=posts&t=29973

I was thinking that the Tournament of Champions would use the Squad Swap format we used the past few months, with the change that players would be using one of the 8 prior winning squads instead of creating their own. However, I'm hoping we get 8 players for this, so I wanted to get a feel for what formats people would be most likely to play. What would you most want to play? If you'd play any of these formats, let us know that, too. I'm not asking for any commitments right now (we don't even have a date yet). Just trying to get a feel for what format will attract the most players.

Please reply with answers to these questions:

1. Which format?
* Squad Swap (you play a new squad each round)
* Traditional (you have one squad that you use for the whole tournament)

2. We'll have 8 squads, so do we do Brackets or Swiss?
* 3 Swiss rounds and then declare a winner
* 3 Swiss rounds followed by playoffs (cut to either 2 or 4)
* Single elimination (3 rounds, but only winning squads continue playing)

3. How to choose who gets what squad?
* Random assignment
* If random, what about players playing their own squads? Encourage it? Disallow it?
* Alternatively, do we take turns picking squads?

4. When? What dates would work for you?

I’m flexible about all of these answers and I’ll be happy to participate regardless of how it finally works. Nevertheless, these are my personal preferences:

Format: I think I’d prefer the traditional pick-your-squad-and-keep-it style (but see below for Players and Squads)

Bracket or Swiss: I’d prefer Bracket...it’s like these squads have already made it through the massive months-long Swiss rounds and are now competing in a massive Top 8.

Players and Squads: I’d prefer to choose the squad that I like best. (But if we’re going to do a squad-swap style of event then I think it should be completely random squad assignments)

Dates: I’d also prefer some time in the next week or so, but I can most likely make January work too.

1. Which format?
* Squad Swap (you play a new squad each round)

this is my choice as it is more about the squads than the player in my opinion for this tournament.

2. We'll have 8 squads, so do we do Brackets or Swiss?

* 3 Swiss rounds followed by playoffs (cut to either 2 or 4)

i like the idea of a bracket and playoffs.

3. How to choose who gets what squad?
* Random assignment

i think to make it fair, everyone is assigned a random squad to start. you play with your squad first round, then winner swaps out squads in 2nd and 3rd round.

4. When? What dates would work for you?

I'm available on New years day and friday nights usually. i can do a saturday all of next month but i need advance notice to let my wife know. if we start on a friday night, it'd be preferable to start at around 6:30pm Central.

That is what I would suggest. Play your given squad in rd 1, then swap in all the other rounds with a bracket, as this is about the squads and not the players at this point.

Hardest part would be seeding the 8 squads IMO.

Pretty open with dates, and I will hope I can make it.

that day works great for me!

Count me in

Antares Draco forever!!!

Randomly assigned squads ends up interesting. It's not a pure test of what the best squad is, but that certainly factors in. Certain squads any decent player can just pick up and play. Other squads take a lot of seat time to really get the most out of.

When we did the 2013 top 8 rematch at GenCon a couple years ago, results were far from the same. In my estimation, the top 2 finishing squads (originally) were squads that took ample time to master. They were also 2 squad types that quickly got hated out of the meta by floor rules and errata and new counters, so nobody had played them since. So we saw the best squads go down in round 1. Players that had more recognizable squads, with similar mechanics that they were used to playing did better.

I think this effect will be less with this tournament, because there isn't a 5 year gap, and all squads are currently legal and we've all seen (or similar versions) played recently. That said - some are pretty straightforward and some require seat-time.

As always, matchups are a big factor as well.

For my 2 cents - the strongest squad in this tournament is seeded 5th. Will it win? Who knows. Depends on who pilots it each round and what it faces.


Regardless - I am just expressing some of my ponderings - none of it was meant to criticize anything about the tournament or the process. On the contrary - TJ, thank you for setting this all up and running it. Even though I plan on playing, I will also be watching in fascination to see how it all plays out.


Cheers!