The Return of the 49th Parallel: TOURNAMENT CONCLUDED

That's right... the biggest event of 2018 is coming back this year, albeit in a different format, a much smaller one this time around. Well, I say "much" smaller, but it's only scaling back one round, essentially... from 64 edits down to 32. In addition, rather than the "Get all the states/provinces involved" from last year's event, this year will be a bit simpler to fill.

Sixteen American edits. Sixteen Canadian edits. Two sides of the bracket, culminating in one final USA vs. Canada final with pride on the line.

This event will be run much the same way as it was last year: Once I've gotten the signups completed, I'll form the bracket, and pre-record the whole tournament ahead of time. I'm being up front with it this year, though obviously by now I know this isn't an issue. :P

I'm planning to run this year's tournament in July, so there will be plenty of time to sign up for this one, and with any luck, we won't have any overlap by the time it rolls around. Yes, that means you have THREE MONTHS to prep for this thing.

Guidelines are as usual. Don't be a dick. Just like last year, this is a showcase tournament, so while the victory might be the ultimate goal, if your edit puts on a crappy match every time, I'll probably drop them to the wayside in favor of another edit that's more fun to watch. That's the main point, here: we are here to assemble for an event that is going to be fun first and foremost! Nobody likes to see their edit get completely blown out in the first round and not get to show what they can do.

- 200 or fewer point value (And I'm probably going to be paying very close attention to those pushing up against that)

- Let's try to avoid the big Skills: Hardbody, Guts, and those that include them. It's probably better that way.

- And finally, nothing to do with the edit: but I am very much against taking shots at other people or their edits, at this point. Yes, I have my own opinions, everyone does, but so long as this event is running, there will be no judging other people and there will sure as hell be no accusations of an edit being "cement" or "OP" or any of that. I know I'm being pretty hard on this point but honestly, I want this to steer clear of some of the not-so-great bits of the community that (no naming names) have been rearing their head lately. OK? OK.

Now, I mentioned last night during Phoenix Rising that I'd be posting this today, and Senator's already offered up the first Canadian edit for the bracket: none other than Canadian Grizzly, back from last year's run (Because who ELSE would it be?!) In addition, I'll be adding Rilantha De Nav in as my entrant in the USA bracket. Thirty slots now remain: fifteen USA, fifteen Canada.

We're gonna start with one per person. If we're getting close to July and we're still not full, I'll open it up to a second, first-come, first-served. We'll play that by ear as we come to it.

Canada Bracket