Pokemon Draft Tournament 2.0
 

Because the original coordinator was banned, I've decided to take the helm myself and run this thing. It's my idea, so it kinda makes sense, you know?

This is a Draft Tournament. It is unlike other Pokemon tournaments because each participant will have a completely unique team.


This is as simple as posting in this thread and declaring your intent to participate. I will add your name to the list of participants. All you need to do is wait patiently until the next step begins.

The deadline for signups will be Saturday July 5th, 11:59 PM, EDT. This gives people one week to decide.


Once sign-ups have finished, everyone will be randomly assigned a number in sequence, using Chocodecide. Using this assigned order, the draft process will begin.

The person with the lowest number will draft first. He or she will select three different Pokemon to use in competition. These Pokemon will be consider "drafted" and will no longer be available for selection by subsequent players. By this method, each player will have a unique team! Once a Pokemon is selected, it will be noted in this thread. If you do not see a certain Pokemon listed, you can choose it!

The draft will progress numerically, with each person selecting three available Pokemon in order.

When the last person - the person with the highest number - chooses, that person will select all six of his or her Pokemon at once. This is the compensation for going last: the opportunity to build a cohesive team at one time.

The draft will then proceed backward numerically, choosing three at a time, until each participant has chosen a total of six Pokemon apiece.

For the same of timeliness, I will send you a Private Message when it's your turn to draft. You will have 48 hours to make your choice. Please be as swift as possible, for you are holding up the tourney if you procrastinate. 48 hours is more than ample time to respond. Please consult this thread to know which Pokemon have been taken. If I ask you to select again, you will not be granted an extension.

If you fail to respond or have failed to make legal choices by the deadline, you will be skipped. You will be granted a make-up opportunity later on, but only after all other players have finished drafting in one direction. If you miss the make-up deadline also, you will be ejected from the tourney.
(Note, that if a player is ejected, any Pokemon that he or she has drafted up to that point will not be returned to eligibility. This is the only way to avoid a lengthy debate over who should've had access to the same Pokemon, and when.)

The following Pokemon will be forbidden for drafting due to their power:
Tips:

• Having a low number is obviously good. But you may find a considerable lack of balance between your first and last choices, so consider this.
• Work with what you have. Some Pokemon are strong but if you haven't raised a certain one, it may be a lot of extra work.
• Pay attention to what people are selecting before you. If you notice that Water types are popular choices, then an Electric or Grass type may be advantageous.
• Don't select a Pokemon just to make sure nobody else chooses it. That's not always an effective strategy.

Once all players have chosen their team, the preparation period begins. You will have one week to assemble the necessary Pokemon and raise them if necessary. This period will end on July 12th, at 11:59 PM EDT.

• It is not necessary to raise them all to Level 100. We will be fighting in the Level 100 battle rooms, anyhow, so the game will make all the proportional adjustments.
• It is not necessary to EV train either, as this may take more time than is allotted. If you can, then do so but don't make it a priority.
• It is a wise decision to draft Pokemon you've already raised or know you can easily acquire and train with the desired moveset.

During this week, players may also negotiate trades if they desire. By this, I mean that if player A has drafted Raticate, and Player B has drafted Furret, they may exchange "ownership." Player A would then use Furret during the tournament, and Player B, Raticate.

If you intend to swap, both parties must send me a Private Message indicating the change. This change will be noted in this thread in the respective players' rosters. Changes must be made on a one-for-one basis; no others will be approved.


This is the good part.

Each player will battle each other player once. This battle will consist of a "Best of Three" match.

• The first match will be 6 vs.6. Bring out your entire bench.
• The second and third matches (if necessary) will be 3 vs. 3. Choose wisely!

Between matches, players may adjust held items. Nothing else may be changed on a Pokemon.

Sleep Clause will be in effect. If you don't know, the Sleep Clause states that you may not place two members of an opponent's party to sleep at the same time, resulting either from a move or an activated Pokemon ability such as "Effect Spore". If you’ve already slept one of their Pokemon, you can not use a sleep move again until that particular Pokemon is awake. If an opponent uses something like Rest to put himself to sleep, then it’s fair game. Otherwise, any player using either of these moves will be disqualifed on the spot.

Each player must keep a tally of how many of each player's Pokemon were KO'd, in total, throughout all the battles fought. This information will be used to settle tiebreakers, if necessary.

It is up to you to contact each other player for battle. Do not sign up if you are unwilling to make this effort. If players report that you are unresponsive, or do not appear for scheduled battles, then you will be removed from the competition.

Once all players have successfully fought each other, the player with the highest win-loss record will be declared the winner. If there is a tie, the player who lost the lowest number of Pokemon throughout all his or her matches will be the winner. If this still results in a tie, there will be a sudden death match: One battle, 3 vs.3. The victor will be declared the winner of the tourney
If this still somehow results in a draw, screw you guys, I'm going home.

There will be no convoluted system of modifiers based upon cumulative stats, type advantages, or whatever, to determine scoring. The field of selection is wide open and each player has the same initial opportunity to assemble a strong team. This tourney is for amusement purposes only, so delving into such complexity is just silly.

That's the basics. If you have questions, which you might, please post them. I'll do my best to clear things up. Please sign up early if possible; the appearance of involvement may entice others to join also.

Good luck!

This saves me a lot of work, thank you Crash =D
If you do need help in anything for this tournament just let me know.

In any case, sign me up!

Once again, I'll be up for this.

Why not, I'll join in this time.

I wanted to participate in the last tourney, but when it started I still didn't have a single gym badge. I've got six now, and I'm sure I can get together a pretty decent draft before this begins. Already have a couple of ideas.

Actually, I'm not so handy with the charts. I can draw them on paper but making them nice and shiny for viewing online, not my forte.

If you'd be willing to assist there, I'd appreciate the help.

Yep, sign me up. :D

This seems a lot simpler [this is a good thing] than the other tournament. Thanks!

Yep, yep, yep.

I have a question about one of the rules. About the whole draft swapping half, I'm a bit confused by it. Are we allowed to only trade one pokemon and that's it? Or as many as we want but only with one player?

Sure, of course! I assume you want a chart similar to the one I did for the first tournament hosted here. But this time I think I'll try including colorful bar or pie graphs. Because everyone likes pie graphs =D

I would like to join

Actually, you know what? I'm going to sit this one out. Sorry guys!

I signup I

As far as I care, you can make as many trades as you like as long as both sides notify me of the agreement. And yes, you can swap with more than one person if you wish.

Sorry to hear that. I've removed your name from the list. Hope to see you in other events, though.

I'm going to say no to this because frankly, I'm suspicious. The person who first took charge of this tournament was banned from Gamingforce. You registered today and your first post was in this thread. You are also using a proxied IP. The chance that you're an impostor is simply too great. Sorry.

I forgot my first account because I wasnt using it for awhile,I think my ip is like that because Im using a router and Im positively not the guy that was banned

What was the name of your first account?

I'll send a password reminder to the e-mail address associated with that account.

Seems to be relatively unchanged, minus the lack of extra baggage and complexity. Good move, I say.

Anyways, I'm still in. Should be great fun.

I dont remimber my first account if I did I would be able to log in because I use the same password all the time:(

Then there's not a lot I can do. The burden of proof is on your shoulders.

This kinda sucks that Im cant join from some guy getting banned :( but I'll get over it

Crash: I may still sign up, depending on how I feel by the deadline. The last few days though I've been really sick, and just don't feel up to it. I know the actual battling is a ways off though, so we'll see. For now though, I'm out. :/

Sign me up!

Sign-ups for this end tonight at 11:59, EDT. Currently, we have eight people signed up. While this is enough to run the draft, I think it'd be far more interesting with some additional participants.

Only a handful of hours remain. Once midnight rolls around, I'll begin drawing random numbers for draft placements.

Sorry to disappoint, but I think I'm gonna sit out on this one. Maybe next time though!

FFTA2 happened, among other things. :eagletear:

Gives the rest of you a chance at trying the birdie of doom, at least.

Okay, the deadline has passed. We have eight participants, fewer than hoped but enough to get something going. There will be a total of 48 Pokemon drafted, so the odds of constructing a solid team are quite good. The battles should be tight.

Using Chocodecide, I've determined the order in which players will be selecting Pokemon.

















The order has been determined, and the drafting shall now begin. NinjaguyDan has 48 hours to make his selections. People in the next couple slots should also begin considering their picks, as there's a good chance your preferences will be immediately available. Please try not to hold things up if you know what you want.

Good luck!

Good luck, everyone! I'm poke'd out, so I decided not to commit to something I may not be able to finish. But I will be watching intently!

Great, just what we need. Icy getting a good spot in the draft. :(

5th ain't bad, and god hope I get something good in this.

Yikes. Second to last?

Oh well, so it goes. It'll be depressinginteresting to see what's left.

At least I have the option of drafting my entire team at once. Of course, I'd hoped to at least be in the middle of the stack. 21 of the best Pokemon will be gone before it even comes around to me.

Do we just post our choices here or pm you crash?

I don't think it will matter for the tournament itself. Crash will be posting the drafted Pokemon as everyone makes their selection. But if you want to make the thread less cluttered I'd PM him your choices.

It is essentially up to you, sir. If you like, you may PM them. I'll edit the choices into the opening post.

I don't mind.

tyranitar
Shuckle
Ramparados

In the interest of moving things along, I'll list my choices.

Salamence
Charizard
Skarmory

Enjoy your Dragonite, Kairyu.

Oh god, Icy got Skarmory. Somebody kill it with fire!

Alright, alright. I'll keep the pattern going:
Dragonite
DragoniteMiltank
DragoniteMamoswine

Hmm, I expected a lot of those to go early. I knew I'd never get Skarmory. Miltank, Shuckle and Rampardos were early surprises, however.

radcliff13 is up now. He has 48 hours to draft.

Shuckle is has the best defense (both ways) in the game. If Ninja over there didn't choose him, I would've taken him in a heartbeat.

Ramparados, on the other hand, has the best base attack stat in game.

Oh, I'm well aware of their advantages. I merely expected other options to go first.

I'll go with Gardevoir, Weavile and Lucario

Chaotic, it's now your turn.

Tritoch, you're on deck.

GOD DAMMIT, RADCLIFF. YOU TOOK THE ONE POKEMON I WANTED.

Metagross
Aerodactyl
Garchomp

Ugh, I had a feeling that someone would take Lucario JUST before I chose. :><:

well if it'll make you feel better kairyu took dragonite, the only dragon pokemon I wanted to use...

But with Kairyu, that's kind of expected of him to actually take Dragonite. You know, since Dragonite in Japanese is Kairyu.

Ahh, didn't know that, but ryu does mean dragon...just never made the connection/ never saw the japanese name. Thanks for the info! But I'm still down about Dragonite being picked... ;(

I would've been shocked if Kairyu hadn't chosen Dragonite. Now, as for my picks:

- Vaporeon
- Hypno
- Bastiodon

I'm not well-versed in EVs or stats, so there's a decent chance this will end horribly. :tpg:

Guess that makes it my turn. I'm actually quite surprised at some of the Pokemon that are left.


-Blissey
-Starmie
-Infernape

Aww, you took Starmie and Blissey! Now I have to think some more.

I'll edit my choices in momentarily. I will be drafting all six, after all.

Why in gods name would you want Blissy.. it's like 1HKO practice.

Do you have any idea what those things are capable of?

Aside form being the best special wall in the game it's pretty good at absorbing attacks. It's only real weakness is physical sweepers. But if planned right you can get around that, too.

You should fear Blissey. Seriously, it's downright nasty.

Anyhow, I choose the following six Pokemon:



So, the first half of drafting has concluded. The following Pokemon are no longer available: Tyranitar, Shuckle, Rampardos, Salamence, Charizard, Skarmory, Dragonite, Miltank, Mamoswine, Gardevoir, Weavile, Lucario, Metagross, Aerodactyl, Garchomp, Vaporeon, Hypno, Bastiodon, Blissey, Starmie, Infernape, Heracross, Magnezone, Alakazam, Drapion, Milotic, and Electivire.


Black Mage, it's your turn once again.

Hah hah, you got me back by taking one I wanted. ;)

Here's my last three:

-Gyarados
-Weezing
-Gliscor

Ah crap, you had to go and pick Gyarados. Alright, time to improvise.

- Leafeon
- Gengar
- Floatzel

This is getting harder. ;_;

- Flygon
- Umbreon
- Crobat

Why hello there common weakness!

Not amongst all three, there isn't. Umbreon only has two, none of which are shared by Crobat and Flygon.

Anyhow, yeah I think it is getting tougher now. There are still a handful that I expect to be claimed but that's no longer a guarantee.

I think this means that radcliff13 is next.

Yeah, I meant that as my whole team collectively. I have Dragons and Flying Types. Let's figure out what can strike this team down!

At least my team is pretty damn fast. o_o

Radliff? darn we had a speedy thing going so far with picking..

Actually I consider using umbreon a few times because of his sp def and moonlight, but I'm not super into dark types anymore... absol still looks 1337 to me though.

Eh, it kinda gives me a reason to keep this signature while I think up of another, but on top of that, I have Umbreon prepared already.

Sorry for the delay...but before I make my choice, is there a sleep clause? And if so what is it?

There you go.

Thanks for the info! And the last pokemon that I choose are:
Primeape
Feraligatr
Rotom

Quick question... we still get a full week to prep after the draft is over? B/c the rules state that the prep time ends on the 12th...

Rotom? Hmm interesting choice. I'll need some time to consider my last three picks (lot's of my initial choices suddenly got swiped!) I'll try not to take too long.

Primape and Rotom? Interesting. o_o

I pretty much have half my team set up as it is, so prep time shouldn't be as long as the other tournament was for me.

Probably the only ones I gotta set up are Garchomp, Flygon, and Aerodactyl. Shouldn't take me very long at all.

My team needs a lot of prep work, but I can just marathon play a couple times. Vaporeon is pretty much my only one I'd consider ready. I've been meaning to train up a new team anyway since I don't care for my current regulars.

Yeah, I'll amend that once the draft has concluded. I posted dates more as a general guide than a hard schedule.

Either way, it's more important that you have the moveset set up and the Pokemon ready. The Internet will do the rest for you by booting them up to level 100.

Yes, definitely. I've got a few of my choices finished already (hence the pick), but I will be sure not to take nearly as long as I did in the last tournament.

One week, from today even, should be plenty of time for me to be up-and-ready.

Ack, so few choices. But I think this will work:
Jolteon
Spiritomb
Togekiss

Time to train a couple pokes.

My turn!

Staraptor
Xatu
Jumpluff

Bleh, it was difficult figuring out what my sixth was, but I see Chaotic is hogging up some of my air space. :mad:

Have at you, Icy. It's time to call in an air strike. :3:

Jumpluff? Now I'm insanely curious.

Anyhow, this leaves NinjaguyDan with the last three. This should be quite interesting.

Haha, the Aviary of Doom™ is complete. I hope your insurance covers lightning damages because I will call down the thunder. Along with a typical ice storm or two.

I have to say this, too. Jumpluff?! It doesn't even fly under its own power :U

I knew I drafted right against Icy.

Lol Jumpluff :D Nice pick on Feraligator though.
If anyone doesn't want to waste all their time training I have an AR and I could just make the pokemon for you (I can literally catch them at 99) so pm me or something.

Otherwise:
*drumroll*
*curtain*

Rhyperior

Bronzong

Magnezone

Magnezone was already taken (by me). You'll need to make another selection.

*cymbal crash*

So much for the perfect draft without anyone mentioning a repeat.

crap wasn't paying attention

crap! that was picked too... 1 sec

Forretress

Helloooo status effects! I'll be extremely interested to see how well he can pull it off.

Okay, the drafting has ended! The teams stand as follows:

NinjaguyDan: Tyranitar, Shuckle, Rampardos, Rhyperior, Bronzong, Forretress
Identity Crisis: Salamence, Charizard, Skarmory, Staraptor, Xatu, Jumpluff
Kairyu: Dragonite, Miltank, Mamoswine, Jolteon, Spiritomb, Togekiss
radcliff13: Gardevoir, Weavile, Lucario, Primeape, Feraligatr, Rotom
Chaotic: Metagross, Aerodactyl, Garchomp, Flygon, Umbreon, Crobat
Tritoch: Vaporeon, Hypno, Bastiodon, Leafeon, Gengar, Floatzel
Black Mage: Blissey, Starmie, Infernape, Gyarado, Weezing, Gliscor
Crash Landon: Heracross, Magnezone, Alakazam, Drapion, Milotic, Electivire

We can see that a few strategies are obvious, though no less threatening. There may be a theme in one stable, while a few others have some rather surprising selections (Rampardos, Bastiodon, Jumpluff, Primeape). Will these wind up being advantageous?

Pokemon curiously left out:
Breloom - Guaranteed sleep with good speed and tons of power?
Hippowdon - Powerful tank with Stealth Rock/Roar capabilities?
Dusknoir - Strong defenses and status-giving?
Gallade - Good type combo with nasty sweep potential?
Empoleon - Tons of resistances; Special powerhouse?
Shedinja - Potential gamebreaker?
Arcanine - Super fast, super strong, super evil?
Yanmega - Two fantastic abilities; great leadoff Pokemon?
Swampert - Resistant/immune to most common moves/strategies?
Medicham - Insane strength and movepool, lethal with a Choice Scarf?
Porygon-Z - Special sweeper with enhanced STAB?
Scizor - Great movepool, great Baton Passer?
Roserade - Special beast that gets better in all kinds of weather?
Machamp - Devastating attacks that never miss?
Kingdra - Great type combo with plenty of powerful attacks?
Donphan - Popular Rapid Spinner with beefy attack/defense?
Smeargle - Expect the unexpected?



Okay, so now there will be a week to raise and refine Pokemon for battle. It's more important to have the correct movesets prepared than to worry about stuff like EV training and being fully levelled up. We'll be battling in the Level 100 rooms, so the game will correct your stats before the fight begins.

If people wish to negotiate trades, now is the time. Trades are on a one-for-one basis. You may not trade for a Pokemon that wasn't drafted by any other player.

The training period will last until next Wednesday, July 16th. After that point, battles will commence.

Get to work, folks!

I haven't considered using some of those. Oh well, from what I did consider:
Kingdra - The one I have is way too slow. Probably has VERY poor IVs, its neutral nature doesn't help much either.
Hippowdon - If Hippowdon could actually take a special attack I'd consider it. Mamoswine seems to be a slightly more appropriate choice anyway.
Empoleon - Whoops! I meant to take it but I thought someone else already did. Maybe next time~
Swampert - This one was about to be added to my team. But I wanted more speed so I opted for Jolteon. I already got a couple sturdy tanks anyway.
Machamp - lol 100% effective Dynamic Punch. It's too bad it falls flat at the first sign of a flying or psychic attack. I blame my bad luck with stats, EV training can only do so much.
Shedinja - This guy tends to be loads of fun but I'm paranoid that someone will use Spikes, Stealth Rock, Hail or Sandstorm before I can even bring it out. I might have picked it if the draft selection wasn't public =p.

I honestly would've taken Arcanine considering next to Lucario, he's next in line for my favorite Pokemon.

The only problem is that his move set isn't extremely deep. :><:

Same with Kingdra. I was expecting him to get taken somewhere, but I'm surprised there were no biters.

Would anyone be overly annoyed if I wasn't available until next sunday it would only be like 3 additional days after the training period ended.

Chaotic, did you make that ava?

I think Shedinja doesn't really stand much of a chance in a traditional tournament. Too many entry hazards, too many teams with a full variety of pokemon (meaning everyone is going to have at least one clear counter). Maybe if you guys do an Uber-friendly tournament.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted Swampert wasn't chosen though, and I'm a little sad that Empoleon and Breloom didn't find homes. :(

Ah, the training part wasn't as time consuming as I thought. Anyway, just letting everyone know that I am ready to battle by this evening. If not earlier *I'm at work.*

So expect a PM from me some time today.

Still doing some last minute touch-ups and I should be ready by tomorrow or Thursday.

A few of mine still need extensive work, but I should have them ready by tomorrow night for battling.

I'm done with classes for the remainder of the day, and my team's ready to go. Just be sure to PM me or catch me on Messenger for the match.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'll need your friend code if I haven't already faced you.

Yep, I'm all-set and good to go as well.

My internet connection is still a little flaky, so we'll have to kind of play it by ear here, but I'm good to go as early as, well, now.

I think I'm set to go too. Had to reraise one Pokemon and make tweaks to two others.

We're going to need Friend Codes from Tritoch and NinjaguyDan, though.

ok I was done raising and everything, but i accidentally released a pokemon that I was going to use... So I should be able to battle by friday night. Sorry for the delay!! I'm working my arse off trying to get a decent one again!

Hahaha, I finally did it! I destroyed Icy in a Pokemon match.

Though I'll admit his obvious weakness to certain attacks is the reason I won so handily. Still, it was mostly a good match. Probably not so much for Icy. Sorry bud!

(See Icy's post for the juicy details.)

First results up!



I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next tiiiiiiiime! :argh:

Alright, it looks like the wireless I have access to in my apartment is going to be inconsistent this week. So, I will make use of an establishment with WiFi tomorrow.

However, I don't want to make the trek if no one is going to be available tomorrow. So, if anyone will be available to battle, let's say, from 1pm - 8pm PST tomorrow drop me a line. If there's a time tomorrow not in that range you'll be available, let me know too and I'll see what I can do.

I'll make sure to confirm the times I'll be free tomorrow before I make any promises later tonight.

Go-Go gadget counteroffensive!

Awesome. I'll make myself available around that time then. I've got my msn and miranda/AIM IM online as well in case you (or anyone) decides to contact me for a match.

I feel terrible doing it, but I'm going to have to go back on that plan and make it Sunday instead of Saturday. I'm sorry about the short notice here Kairyu, but something I have to take care of came up.

I will, concretely this time, be available for the same times (1pm - 8pm PST) this Sunday. Just let me know if/when you'll be free during that time and we can work it out from there.

Sorry again for the change of plans. :-/

I put my code on the wiki a few weeks ago, but here it is.

0860-4525-6999

I should be set to battle tomorrow night.

Bah, I knew I jumped the gun after reading your plans more carefully. There's a good chance I won't be available on Sunday since I'm needed to help install a sub for a car. I don't think it will take long so I should be able to make it home and start some matches. I hope.

Second results!

Third results have arrived.

Ok my code is 1719 4998 0830

I am free for most of today

sorry for the disappearance!! There was a huge thunder storm in my area and it knocked out power and screwed my internet up and I just got it fixed today!! So I should be around in 3 hours or so, just PM me!!

~so how do I work those hide tags?

Battle Vs Radcliff:

6v6:
Radclif had a 1HKO on my Tyr which was rough, but then I started doing well... Then he sent Lucario out. End of story for me, he had 4 left.

3 v 3:
I strategized better on this one and I managed to edge him out with 1 pokemon left.

3 v 3:
Battle went similarly except I managed 2 1HKO's and won.

Battle vs Black Mage:

6 v 6
Man I have to say I had no idea what kind of strats he was going to put out and they paid off
I did everything I could but I was eventually taken out buy a dreadful mix of Blissey and Weezing.
BM had 1HKO and won with two pokemon remaining.

3 v 3
I came at BM with everything I had for this one and even though it got pretty darn close I only managed to
knock out one of BM's pokemon before he finished me off.

Great Fights both of you! That was some tough stuff, and I definately learned alot from those battles.

Hey, some results!

The results continue to come in.

Good game, radcliff :)

Ugh, I apologize not replying to PMs for battling. I've been busy as of lately and by the time I had received the PMs, it would've been too late for me to battle.

I'm ready to fight around 11 PM EST to about 3 AM EST. So if anyone wants to catch me around that time, feel free to PM me.

Icy, you're first since we've been holding off our battle for too long and I apologize for that as well.

Well, this seems to have died down a bit. I'm going to be out of town from Thursday til Monday, so to anyone who still needs a battle with me the next two days would be ideal. I'm usually available any time after 7pm EST.

It sure did. I haven't had much time to play either. I'm just too busy at work or planning for that trip. I'll be able to get off early tomorrow so we can get our match out of the way~ that is, if you don't have any other matches planned.

Nope, haven't heard from anyone since I battled Black Mage. Since you're taking off work early tomorrow for it we'll definitely have our match.

Another match completed!

If anyone is up for a battle tonight from now until midnight est pm me.

One more match report.



So, um, Chaotic, when's our match going to get started, eh? :eye:

Damn, I usually don't resort to this but I think I will have to drop out of this tournament. Starting tomorrow I will be unavailable to do any matches for the next 12 days or so, going traveling. To another country. I was hoping I'd be done well before that but that's what happens when we're slacking.

I have no idea if Crash wants to extend this tournament any longer. If he doesn't then I will automatically step down to help keep this game moving.

I don't know, as slowly as these matches are progressing I doubt you need to drop out for a 12 day absence. With classes starting back in the next week or two the delays will likely only get worse anyway.

I don't mind waiting. I'm getting ready for college so it's not like I'm rushing out to make a match.

Well, I'm back on the East Coast again, with a reliable internet connection.

I see there's been no real activity for some time, so can we assume this tournament dead or is there interest in picking back up?

I wouldn't mind finishing this tournament. But if more than half of us is too busy, lost interest, etc then maybe the tournament should be dropped. I'm slightly more on the "too busy" reason myself but I can make time for matches, when asked.