Tournament Contest Picks

[Don Boyer]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your tournament schedule:

DECK NAME	FIRST ROUND	QUARTER-FINALS	SEMI-FINALS	FINAL	CHAMPION
01. Tally Ho Titanium	01.	01.	01.	01.
02. Bee Stingers
03. Bohemia	02.
04. Tally Ho Black
05. Bicycle Masters	03.	02.
06. Bicycle Karnival Dead Eyes
07. Bicycle Brimstone & Bicycle Quicksilver	04.
08. Mana
09. Bicycle Gold Seal New Fan Back	05.	03.	02.
10. Bee Erdnase 216
11. Monarchs	06.
12. Bicycle Ghost
13. Artifice Tundra	07.	04.
14. NOC
15. Sultan Republic (original)	08.
16. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3
17. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 4-6	09.	05.	03.	02.
18. Legends No. 852
19. Aurum	10.
20. Fulton's Chinatown (both versions)
21. Madison Rounders	11.	06.
22. Bicycle Americana
23. Vortex	12.
24. Mechanic Deck
25. Split Spades Lions	13.	07.	04.
26. Ultimate Deck
27. Tally Ho Viper	14.
28. Fathom
29. Dr. Leon	15.	08.
30. Vintage Plaid (U.S. Regulation)
31. Silver Split Spades	16.
32. Bicycle Actuators

To participate in the contest, choose the winner of each match-up in each round.  Leave no blanks.  If it's easier for you, instead of using the tables, you can simply list each round's winners, round after round, to the champion.  You have until Wednesday 15 May at 03:00 UTC to submit your entries in this topic to be eligible.  After that, the contest is live and the matches go on the usual one-every-two-days schedule until we have a champion.

[volantangel]

ROUND 1
01 Bee Stingers
02 Bohemia
03 Karnival Deadeyes
04 Brimstone/Quicksilver
05 Gold Seal NFB
06 Monarchs
07 Artifice Tundra
08 S&M V1-3
09 Legends
10 Aurum
11 Americana
12 Mechanic
13 Ultimate Deck
14 Tallyho Vipers
15 Dr Leon
16 Actuators

Quarter Finals
01 Bohemia
02 Brimstone/Quicksilver
03 Monarchs
04 S&M V1-3
05 Aurum
06 Americana
07 Ultimate Deck
08 Actuators

Semifinals
01 Bohemia
02 S&M V1-3
03 Aurum
04 Actuators

Finals
01 Bohemia
02 Aurum

Champion
BOHEMIA !

[xela]

Damn, that's a sexy layout. I'd post a prediction, but I have stakes in it! Naturally, Vortex is #1

[The Quadfather]

So, just to clarify, this bit is just to predict what decks are going to win each round based on our own preferences? We still have to vote in the battles between the two randomly drawn decks? Am I missing something here? I don't quite understand.

[RandyButterfield]

I'm surprised none of the Ornates ever turned up for the Deck Battles!

I know I should've suggested them, but figured they would come up eventually.

thanks, Randy

[Nurul]

ROUND 1
1. Bee Stingers
2. Bohemia
3. Karnival Dead Eyes
4. Brimstone & Quicksilver
5. Gold Seal NFB
6. Monarchs
7. Tundra
8. S&M v1-v3
9. Legends
10. Aurum
11. Rounders
12. Vortex
13. Ultimate Deck
14. Fathom
15. Vintage plaid
16. Actuators

QF
1. Stingers
2. Brimstone & Quicksilver
3. Gold Seal NFB
4. S&M V1-V3
5. Legends
6. Rounders
7. Ultimate Deck
8. Actuators

SF
1. Stingers
2. S&M V1-V3
3. Legends
4. Actuators

Final
1. S&M v1-v3
2. Legends

CHAMPION
S&M V1-V3

[Don Boyer]

Damn, that's a sexy layout. I'd post a prediction, but I have stakes in it! Naturally, Vortex is #1

Thanks, as usual.  Go ahead, post away - but you have to predict what everyone ELSE will vote for, so it's not so easy...

So, just to clarify, this bit is just to predict what decks are going to win each round based on our own preferences? We still have to vote in the battles between the two randomly drawn decks? Am I missing something here? I don't quite understand.

Pretend this is NCAA basketball and I'm a sports book.  Your task is to predict the winners - not your favorites, but the ones that will be voted as best of the two in each of the 31 rounds of the tournament.  For example, the first battle of the first round will be Tally Ho Titanium vs. Bee Stingers.  It doesn't matter which you prefer - it matters which will be voted as better than the other.  That deck will go on to the next round, as described in the chart.

I just did a little math in my head and realized there's a possible issue - but it has a solution.  I will refrain from voting in any of the rounds.  When a battle ends, in the event of a tie, I'll cast the tie breaking vote, meaning there will be no ties.  I will not be participating in the contest, to keep things fair.

I'm surprised none of the Ornates ever turned up for the Deck Battles!

I know I should've suggested them, but figured they would come up eventually.

thanks, Randy

I was, at one point, practically desperate for suggestions!  But you can add them in the suggestions topic and I'll toss them into the next competition.  I'm going for individual deck suggestions this time instead of matches, then matching them up at random from a pool.  Your decks could be facing off against Jerry's Nuggets or Chinese-made Mavericks... 

[The Quadfather]

Thanks don! I may be British, but I love basketball! So good choice of metaphor! Right, here's my guess:

Round One
01. Bee Stingers
02. Bohemia
03. Bicycle Karnival Dead Eyes
04. Bicycle Brimstone & Bicycle Quicksilver
05. Bicycle Gold Seal New Fan Back
06. Monarchs
07. NOC
08. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3
09. Legends No. 852
10. Fulton's Chinatown (both versions)
11. Madison Rounders
12. Vortex
13. Ultimate Deck
14. Tally Ho Viper
15. Vintage Plaid (U.S. Regulation)
16. Silver Split Spades

Quarter Final
01. Bohemia
02. Bicycle Brimstone & Bicycle Quicksilver
03. Monarchs
04. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3
05. Legends No. 852
06. Vortex
07. Tally Ho Viper
08. Silver Split Spades

Semi Final
01. Bohemia
02. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3
03. Legends No. 852
04. Silver Split Spades

Final
01. Bohemia
04. Silver Split Spades

Champion
Silver Split Spades

[Don Boyer]

Hey, Quad - bold pick, the Silver Split Spades for the win!  Good luck!

I've also decided on something to speed the contest up a bit and keep the interest going.

I'm breaking the 32 combatants into "divisions".  1-8, 9-16, 17-24, 25-32 are my divisions.  Yeah, the names just rollllllll off the tongue, right? 

For the first round of fights, I'm going to run the usual two-day schedule, but I'll be running FOUR matches at once, each in a different division.  This will get the 16 First Round survivors in eight days.  To get to Quarterfinals, I'm going to run two matches at once in different divisions, so the 8 QFs will be reached in another eight days.  After that, I'll bring it back to a match every two days.  This will shorten the tournament's run time by about a month.

[The Quadfather]

Hey, Quad - bold pick, the Silver Split Spades for the win!  Good luck!

Thanks! I don't own a lot of the decks, so it's purely guess work based on reputations, with a personal opinion at the end!

[KPopFever605]

Round 1
1. Stingers
2. Bohemia
3. Dead Eyes
4. Mana
5. New Fan Back - Gold Seal
6. Monarchs
7. Artifice Tundra
8. Smoke & Mirrors v1-v3
9. Legends
10. Aurum
11. Rounders
12. Vortex
13. Split Spades Lions
14. Fathom
15. Vintage Plaid
16. Silver Split Spades

Quarter Finals
1. Stingers
2. Mana
3. Monarchs
4. Smoke & Mirrors v1-v3
5. Legends
6. Vortex
7. Lions
8. Silver Split Spades

Semi-Finals
1. Stingers
2.Smoke & Mirrors v1-v3
3. Legends
4. Split Spades Lions

Finals
1. Smoke & Mirrors v1-v3
2. Split Spades Lions

Champion
Split Spades Lions

[MrMollusk]

Round 1
1) Bee Stingers
2) Bohemia
3) Karnival dead eyes
4) Mana
5) Bee erdnase 216
6) Monarchs
7) NOC
8 ) Smoke & Mirrors V1-3
9) Smoke and Mirrors V4-6
10) Aurum
11) Madison Rounders
12) Vortex
13) Split Spades Lions
14) Tally Ho Viper
15) Vintage Plaid
16) Bicycle Actuators

Quarterfinals
1) Bohemia
2) Karnival Dead Eyes
3) Bee Erdnase 216
4) Smoke & Mirrors V1-3
5) Aurum
6) Vortex
7) Split Spades Lions
8 ) Bicycle Actuators

Semifinals
1) Bohemia
2) Smoke & Mirrors V1-3
3) Aurum
4) Split Spades Lions

Finals
1) Bohemia
2) Aurum

Winner
Bohemia

[Don Boyer]

Round 1
1) Bicycle Actuators
2) Bohemia
3) Aurum
4) Mana
5) NOC
6) Vortex
7) Bee Stingers
Silver Split Spades
9) Dr Leon
10) Smoke and Mirrors V1-3
11) Smoke and Mirrors V4-6
12) Legends No. 852
13) Split Spades Lions
14) Karnival Dead Eyes
15) Vintage Plaid

Quarterfinals
1) Bicycle Actuators
2) Bohemia
3) Aurum
4) NOC
5) Silver Split Spades
6) Smoke and Mirrors V1-3
7) Legends No. 852
Split Spades Lions

Semifinals
1) Split Spades Lions
2) Aurum
3) Actuator
4) Bohemia

Finals
1) Split Spades Lions
2) Aurum

Winner
Aurum

MrMollusk - please re-edit.  You're short one pick in First Round.  And an "8" with a ")" makes sunglasses smiley-face

[MrMollusk]

Round 1
1) Bicycle Actuators
2) Bohemia
3) Aurum
4) Mana
5) NOC
6) Vortex
7) Bee Stingers
Silver Split Spades
9) Dr Leon
10) Smoke and Mirrors V1-3
11) Smoke and Mirrors V4-6
12) Legends No. 852
13) Split Spades Lions
14) Karnival Dead Eyes
15) Vintage Plaid

Quarterfinals
1) Bicycle Actuators
2) Bohemia
3) Aurum
4) NOC
5) Silver Split Spades
6) Smoke and Mirrors V1-3
7) Legends No. 852
Split Spades Lions

Semifinals
1) Split Spades Lions
2) Aurum
3) Actuator
4) Bohemia

Finals
1) Split Spades Lions
2) Aurum

Winner
Aurum

MrMollusk - please re-edit.  You're short one pick in First Round.  And an "8" with a ")" makes sunglasses smiley-face

Whoops. thanks.

[Soliloquy]

1. Titanium
2. Bohemia
3. Masters
4. Mana
5. Gold Seal
6. Monarchs
7. Tundra
8. Smoke and Mirrors
9. Legends
10. Aurum
11. Americana
12. Vortex
13. Lions
14. Fathom
15. Dr. Leon
16. Split Spades

Quarter finals

1. Bohemia
2. Mana
3. Monarchs
4. Tundra
5. Aurum
6. Americana
7. Fathom
8. Split Spades

Semi-finals

1. Bohemia
2. Tundra
3. Americana
4. Fathom

Final
Bohemia vs. Americana

Champion
Bohemia

[flyers3003]

1. Bee Stingers
2. Bohemia
3. Karnival Dead Eyes
4. Brimstone & Quicksilver
5. Gold Seal New Fan Back
6. Monarchs
7. Tundra
8. S&M v1-3
9. Legends
10. Aurum
11. Americana
12. Mechanic
13. SS Lions
14. Tally Ho Vipers
15. Vintage Plaid
16. Actuators

Quarterfinals
1. Bohemia
2. Brimstone & Quicksilver
3. Monarchs
4. S&M v1-3
5. Aurum
6. Americana
7. SS Lions
8. Actuators

Semifinals
1. Bohemia
2. S&M v1-3
3. Aurum
4. SS Lions

Finals
1. Bohemia
2. Aurum

Winner
Bohemia

[Joker and the Thief]

Round 1:

1. Bee Stingers
2. Bohemia   
3. Bicycle Masters
4. Mana
5. Bee Erdnase 216
6. Monarchs
7. Artifice Tundra   
8. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3
9. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 4-6   
10. Aurum   
11. Madison Rounders
12. Vortex
13. Split Spades Lions   
14. Fathom
15. Vintage Plaid (U.S. Regulation)
16. Silver Split Spades

Quarter Finals:

1. Bee Stingers
2. Mana

3. Monarchs
4. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 1-3

5. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 4-6   
6. Madison Rounders

7. Split Spades Lions   
8. Silver Split Spades

Semi finals:

1. Bee Stingers
2. Monarchs

3. Smoke & Mirrors, v. 4-6   
4. Split Spades Lions   

Finals:

1. Monarchs
2. Smoke and Mirrors v.4-6

Champion:

Smoke and Mirrors v.4-6

[Don Boyer]

Excellent work, gang.

A notice to anyone still on the sidelines - you have just under 20.5 hours from now to enter!

[Don Boyer]

I've just locked the topic, and your choices are set.  Good luck and let the games begin!

BTW: I realized that the round labeled "First Round" is actually the second, because the decks have to battle just to get there!  Rather than renaming something and adding confusion, the first round of fights, which lead to the "First Round", will simply be called the Opening Round.

First battles of the Opening Round:
Tally Ho Titanium vs. Bee Stingers
Bicycle Gold Seal New Fan Back vs. Bee Erdnase 216
Smoke & Mirrors v. 4-6 vs. Legends No. 852
Split Spades Lions vs. Ultimate Deck

[Don Boyer]

So, now that we're into the first round, let's see how everyone's doing after the opening round...

The opening round winners were:
Bee Stingers
Bohemia
Bicycle Karnival Dead Eyes
Mana
Bee Erdnase 216
Monarchs
Artifice Tundra
Smoke & Mirrors 1-3
Smoke & Mirrors 4-6
Aurum
Madison Rounders
Mechanic
Split Spades Lions
Tally Ho Viper
Dr. Leon
Bicycle Actuators

As I tally up the picks, here's where we stand in order from most to least correct picks out of 16 matches.
MrMollusk: 13
volantangel: 11
flyers3003: 11
Joker and the Thief: 11
KPopFever605: 10
brownmagician: 9
Soliloquy: 8
The Quadfather: 7

Very impressive MrMollusk, very impressive.  But it's too early to rule most of you out just yet.

PLEASE, double-check your count.  Yes, I am human...

[Don Boyer]

I burned through the First Round very quickly - so let's see where things stand as the Quarterfinals begin.

The First Round winners are:
Bohemia
Mana
Monarchs
Smoke & Mirrors v.1-3
Aurum
Madison Rounders
Split Spades Lions
Bicycle Actuators

Checking the totals for just the eight First Round picks, here's where we stand.
flyers3003: 6
MrMollusk: 5
volantangel: 5
Joker and the Thief: 5
Soliloquy: 4
brownmagician: 4
KPopFever605: 4
The Quadfather: 3

Adding these to the previous round totals give us this.
MrMollusk: 18
flyers3003: 17
volantangel: 16
Joker and the Thief: 16
KPopFever605: 14
brownmagician: 13
Soliloquy: 12
TheQuadfather: 10

Thus far, it's a tight contest.  MrMollusk might end up keeping his donated prize, though flyers3003 is creeping closer to his total.

Now, doing a little quick math, I'm checking to see the total possible wins each of you has left, based on whether for the later rounds you've chosen decks that have already been eliminated, just to see if anyone's been mathematically eliminated from winning.  The maximum remaining wins would be seven and anyone whose total is under the current first place of 18 correct picks is mathematically unable to win the contest.
MrMollusk: 7, total of 25
flyers3003: 7, total of 24
volantangel: 7, total of 23
KPopFever605: 5, total of 19
Joker and the Thief, 3, total of 19
brownmagician: 4, total of 17
Soliloquy: 3, total of 15
The Quadfather: 3, total of 13

So, to brownmagician, Soliloquy and The Quadfather, I want to say thank you very much for playing and I'm sorry that you are unable to win the contest!  I hope that you enjoyed playing as much as I enjoyed creating the tournament, and please continue to vote - you might not be the "kings" but you could be the "kingmakers".

[Don Boyer]

OK, the Quarterfinals are DONE, the Semis are up and running - let's see where we stand.

The QF winner decks were:
Bohemia
Monarchs
Aurum
Split Spades Lions

Let's check the totals on the QFs for those who are still "in the money":
MrMollusk: 3
flyers3003: 3
volantangel: 2
The Joker and the Thief: 2
KPopFever605: 1

Add this to the prior totals and this is where we stand for the whole tournament:
MrMollusk: 21
flyers3003: 20
volantangel: 18
The Joker and the Thief: 18
KPopFever605: 15

With three matches remaining, maximum possible winning score is 24, minimum is 21 - minimum to remain in the running is 18.  KPop, thanks for playing, and please keep voting!

I won't post another update until the finals are finished, so good luck to the rest of you!

[Don Boyer]

Silly me, I didn't declare the contest winner after the finals!

Let's see what we've got.

There were three possible wins remaining: the two semi-finals and the final.  Let's see what correct picks the remaining competitors submitted, added to their existing totals at the end of the quarterfinals.

MrMollusk: 3 + 21 = 24
flyers3003: 3 + 20 = 23
volantangel: 3 + 18 = 21
The Joker and the Thief: 0 + 18 = 18

Our contest winner is MrMollusk!  Ironically, since he donated the prize for the contest, he doesn't even need to mail it to get it to the winner...