Tournament of Champions Introduction

For most sports fans, March is the month of crazy, intense bracket-making. I might not be a bracketologist when it comes to college basketball, but this month, I’m going to break down what promises to be the perfect tournament for a blog like this: The Tournament of Champions!
You’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Well, my RA here at William and Mary has devised a 128 seed tournament in which characters from our favorite nerdy franchises. From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Harry Potter to Marvel’s finest superheroes to the Lord of the Rings, nearly every franchise corner of nerdom is represented here. Fighters were randomly assorted into one of four regions (named after the top seeded fighter in the region), and each were seeded from there. Not all 8 seeds are created equal, after all. Sometimes, it’s the luck of the draw.

For the next four weeks, I’m going to be breaking down the first round match-ups in each region and telling you who I think should win it all. Anyone who likes can vote in the comments to determine the actual winners of these match-ups.

Before we look at the regions, there are some ground rules we should establish first:

1. All battles are fought on neutral territory (Think Final Destination from Super Smash Brothers Brawl)
2. Characters that are overwhelmingly overpowered (ex. Superman) or have limits that would never come into effect in a battle like this (ex. any of the Green Lanterns)
3. If there are two characters of the same fighting style with different levels of technology (i.e. lightsabers vs. swords), they each get the same level of weapon, ensuring the victory is for skill, not tech.
4. I’m nerfing the Force powers of the Star Wars characters, because otherwise it’s too easy to just force choke their opponents to death. I’m instituting the rules established for Star Wars fighters in Soul Calibur IV; to use the force, they need to build up combos with their sword, and even then, there are no instant death abilities. This will still give them a bonus against other fighters without breaking the game.
5. Kratos is not a god yet, and Goku does not have his Super Saiyan powers.
6. Harry Potter characters can’t use any of the unforgivable curses (Yes, even Voldemort), because otherwise, they’d break the fight completely.
7. All characters should be assumed to be at the height of their power unless otherwise noted.

Now that the rules have been established, you can check out the brackets below:

Kanto Region: http://challonge.com/tournament/bracket_generator?ref=LEGJIJVQMM
Tatooine Region: http://challonge.com/tournament/bracket_generator?ref=SBPQRRMQTB
Mordor Region: http://challonge.com/tournament/bracket_generator?ref=JHMFRBWSHD
Hogwarts Region: http://challonge.com/tournament/bracket_generator?ref=RDUWRPORKH

Some quick thoughts:

1. Despite Mewtwo being a top seed, Pokemon seem to be really undervalued in the seeding. Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur are all in the late twenties. Pikachu, the second highest seeded Pokemon, is a twenty-one seed. I think some upsets are possible here if the fans come out to support them.

2. The Mordor region is incredibly top heavy and bottom light. When Spider-Man is an eight seed, you know the top is going to be tough. That being said, they have seven fighters that could have been 32 seeds, so there you go.

3. Magneto has a good shot in the Hogwarts region thanks to the number of high powered fighters in it that are based on metallic powers. Look at this madness: Optimus Prime, Iron Man, Samus, Captain America, and Dr. Doom all have metal in their bodies. Look for Magneto to have a pretty easy run to the Elite 8.

I’ll save the rest of my thoughts for the match-ups. Until tomorrow, this is MaristPlayBoy, signing out.