HYPE: Tournament Grand Slam Open Preview!

While Championships have given sequential linearity to the quest for dominance over competition, there is a unique satisfaction associated with the domination of a tournament bracket. Tournaments have been the backbone of The Great Arena since its inception, beginning with the bold 128-fighter bracket that contained many byes during Tournament 1.

Since then, competition has hosted six more tournaments of varying length and design, including the first ever tandem tournament -- Tournament 6: The Duo Championships! Beginning August 29, a fortnight of competition will see Tournament 8 and Tournament 9 run simultaneously, delivering both singles and doubles brackets!

Tournament 8: Grand Slam [Singles] will dominate the entirety of the two week sprawl, unleashing a standard one hundred and twenty-eight randomly drawn fighters into single elimination brackets. For the first time ever, however, sixteen seeds will be planted at each end of mini brackets, offering the top fighters maximum opportunity to meet in blockbuster finals encounters! Based on win/loss records of the League Rankings, the sixteen seeds will be:

• #1 Cr0w (30-6-0) (c) [T2, T5]
• #2 Ratt (30-15-0)
• #3 Hokey (28-11-0) (c)
• #4 Kron (23-8-0)
• #5 Toryn (23-15-0)
• #6 Ninja_Mime (22-11-0) (c)
• #7 ElJobber (22-11-0)
• #8 Genku (21-12-0) [T1]
• #9 The_Purple_Bunny (18-8-0) [T7]
• #10 TonyTheTiger (18-15-0)
• #11 Mimik (17-10-0) [T3]
• #12 DaMo (17-10-0)
• #13 DeathScepter (17-11-0)
• #14 Porygonix (17-19-0)
• #15 DECEPTION (14-11-0)
• #16 Pink_Ranger (14-14-0) [T6]

Tournament 9: Grand Slam [Doubles] will begin September 4, sharing the second week of competition with the Third Round and beyond of the Singles version. Thirty-two tandem duos will make-up the single elimination bracket, with eight carefully selected teams seeded at the top and bottom of each section. Like their solo counterparts, the top teams will be given maximum opportunity to meet in the final rounds, adding a never before offered structure to the tournament system. Competitors may appear in both Singles and Doubles events. The seeds are:

• #1 Hokey & Ninja_Mime (8-1-0) (c)
• #2 DECEPTION & Onryo (6-2-0)
• #3 DaMo & DeathScepter (5-2-0)
• #4 Scott-Howell & Murdoink (5-6-0)
• #5 Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon (4-3-0) [T6]
• #6 SubMan799 & Casselman (4-5-0)
• #7 Artanix & foahchon (3-3-0)
• #8 kororaa & DigbyRigby (2-1-0)

Brackets have already been randomly drawn, but for the first time in competition history, they will remain unknown until the preceeding round has been completed. With many dark horse competitors lurking within the randomly drawn ranks, seeding will by no means decide guaranteed outcomes, with the prospect of upsets and shock eliminations just as likely as ever.

Stay tuned for updates as we count down to the Grand Slam!