THE MEGA DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Mega Drive Championship is the name given to the league competition at each tournament. It is the oldest of all tournament competitions having been in existance since January 2001. The league was split into two divisions at the Ninth Tournament and promotion and relegation were introduced to the competition. The original Second Division lasted just two tournaments before it reverted to a single league before, again, being split at the Fourteenth Tournament. Members play each other twice on a game randomly selected from a pool of ten. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat. The league is the focal point of each tournament and the competition that holds the most prestige. The winner of Division One is crowned the Mega Drive Champion.

THE TOURNAMENT KNOCKOUT

The Tournament Knockout was introduced at the Ninth Tournament when the league competition was split into Divisions One and Two. It provided the oppourtunity for all members to go head-to-head regardless of overall ability and has produced a number of shocks over the years. Members are paired off and drawn to play on a randomly selected game with the winner advancing into the following round while the loser is eliminated. A series of byes are awarded to prevent there being an uneven number of members in the final, these are decided based upon the performances from the previous knockout. The Tournament Knockout is the senior of all knockout competitions.

THE CHALLENGE

The Challenge has one of the most varied histories of all the tournament competitions. Spanning back as far as the Twelfth Tournament - August 2004 - the Street Fighter Challenge sewed the seeds for the fighting focused mini-knockout. The Challenge has declined in recent tournaments through predictablity and a Division One bias, however, the competition is set to be revamped before the Eighteenth Tournament and it is hoped this will return it to its former glory, not that the Challenge has ever previously been considered glorious. The Challenge is the only tournament competition that employs a system of qualification - with only the top four ranking members of each division participating.

THE DIVISION TWO CUP

The Division Two Cup is the newest tournament competition having been introduced at the Sixteenth Tournament. The premise of its introduction was that the Division Two games are, on average, shorter than their Division One counterparts It is a knockout style competition in which only members in the Second Division are allowed to participate. It is a straight knockout system with members ranked highest from the previous Mega Drive Championship awarded byes from Round One.