One of the outcomes of the Champion format discussion in late 2023 was this variation proposed by William and Katherina:
Short version:
People who want to reign and people who want to fight are paired up randomly, up to the number of fighters participating (we’re likely to have more people wanting to reign than able to fight)
That makes it more inclusive, but it could result in some awkward situations, so:
- there’s a way for fighters to fight for themselves
- there’s a way for fighters to discreetly decline fighting for someone
The system
(Many details could be changed, of course. That is fine!)
Before the event
The Coronet calls for letters of intent - from those who wish to contest the tournament (the fighters) and from those who who wish to reign (the candidates, who would enter as a pair). You can enter both lists.
At the event (or possibly before)
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Candidates (up to the the number of fighters participating) are drawn from a hat (does not have to be a literal hat)
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Each fighter privately looks at the name - only they know who they have drawn. That is who they will champion, with two exceptions:
- If they’ve drawn another fighter, they swap. So if Grim draws ‘Bernard and Madeleine’ and Madeleine draws ‘Ed and Bess’ - Grim offers to swap, and now Madeleine is fighting for herself and own consort, and Grim is champion for Ed and Bess.
- A fighter can decline (and withdraw from the tournament) - if they feel they could not fight for the people they’ve drawn. (No need to ever say who it was, or why)
- Who is fighting for whom is announced with great fanfare
At the event
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The tournament proceeds in the normal way.
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The winner/champion crowns their candidates as heirs.
What if there are more candidates than fighters?
This is the most likely scenario; the draw means everyone gets an equal chance of having someone fight for them.
What if there are more fighters than candidates?
Interesting question, I’m sure we can think of something. Double-elimination until there are the same number of fighters as candidates?
What if someone wants to fight and also be candidates themselves?
Yes! You can enter, and if your name is drawn as a candidate, you get to fight for yourself.
Can someone be a fighter and have someone else be their champion?
This would create an conflict of interest when they faced each other on the field. Do you fight for your candidates (and jeopardise your own chances of reigning), or would you be tempted to throw the bout in order to have your champion win ‘for you’? So probably best avoided? But maybe?
Won’t it be terribly awkward/toxic if a fighter turns someone down?
Most of the time, only that fighter would ever need to know who they drew. Most of the time, as a candidate, if you have no champion the likely reason is “your name never came out of the hat”.
Can anyone enter?
Probably? We could impose entry requirements if we want to (length of membership, residence in NZ, AoA... whatever).
Keeping the tournament has a bunch of advantages:
- it's a really big nod to tradition
- it retains the tournament as the central spectacle - exciting
- it retains the central *ceremonial* position/importance of fighting
- it allows us to broaden franchise meaningfully without the fear that a system purely chosen by lot will be dry/naff/boring/uninspiring
There are a few underlying assumptions:
- Lots of people would like to reign. So the pool of candidates will often be significantly bigger than the pool of fighters.
- Most people are ok. So most fighters would (I hope) have at most a short list of people they’d turn down, and a long list of people they could see themselves fighting for (albeit maybe some with extra enthusiasm).
Any thoughts or comments about this idea? Please use the feedback form and/or post on the NZ-wide Althing mailing list.