Back on the AO, March Madness referred to the annual Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament, and I’d like to welcome everyone to the 2021 version, the eighteenth such event, but the first one here at GoActuary!
First and foremost, thank you all for your great participation in the past! 
Since this is our first version on GoActuary, we’ll take up to the first 32 players in this tourney. The only prize you’ll get this year is the honor and glory of being an RPS champion (but frankly, do you really need anything else?).
The method of seeding this year will be based on the order of entering the game - the earlier you say you’re in, the higher your seed (and thus the better chance of getting an opening round bye).
All you need to do is post to this thread that you are interested, and you’re in the game! To be guaranteed a spot in the tournament, you must be one of the first 32 people to post in this thread by Sun, Mar 28th, 6 pm CT.
Normally I’d be reserving the #1 seeds for last year’s Final Four contestants, but I’m not sure who all has made the jump over here (and if they’re using the same usernames), so I’m not going to guarantee their spot in the tournament, but I do reserve the right to change my mind and move them up to a #1 seed if/when they arrive. The four players who may get moved up are: Defending champion Whiskey, runner-up MayanActuary, CindyLou Who and Feisty8888.
Other than that, everything will be the same as in the past.
Brackets will be announced no later than Monday, March 29th, at 10 a.m. CT, thus allowing for the first matches to occur that day. I’d like to get this rolling as quickly as possible, so again, please sign up ASAP.
The number of games in the matches will increase in the later rounds, so you can show off your true skill:
Round of 32: Best of 5 games
Sweet Sixteen: Best of 7 games
Elite Eight: Best of 7 games
Semi-finals: Best of 9 games
Finals: Best of 9 games
Be warned - you’d better come ready to play, or a slow start could lead to an early exit!
You must PM me at least one set of throws a day, unless your opponent is unknown. No throws for 2 consecutive business days will be deemed a forfeit of the tournament.
Once again, to say that you are in the tournament, simply post to this thread.
Details on the games themselves will be the same as in prior years:
The format is simple: This will be a simple “winner advances” bracket. You must win the series in each round to advance.
What will happen is for each game the two players will PM me their first 5 throws. I will resolve them, in order, and post the results of the game to the thread. (In the event of a tie - the 5 throws match exactly - both players would email me their next 5 throws for that game).
Example:
PlayerA PMs me: Rock - Scissors - Paper - Paper - Rock
PlayerB PMs me: Rock - Scissors - Rock - Scissors - Paper
I will only post the results up until the winning throw, so in this case I will post something to the effect of:
PlayerA defeats PlayerB in Game1, PlayerA leads (1-0)
R-S-P PlayerA
R-S-R PlayerBPlayerA and PlayerB then PM me with their throws for the 2nd game of the match.
Note in the example above it doesn’t matter that PlayerB would’ve won more throws head-to-head; it’s the first non-tie that determines the outcome.
For those of you who still can’t quite see how this works, you can look at any of the prior game threads to see how the game evolves… well, you used to be able to do that, anyways. 
This year we’ll just have to all help each other out a bit, ‘k? 
(And yes, I will warn you now that there will likely be hiccups on my end, so I ask for your patience in advance! 
)
It is my intention to update the game at least 2 times a day (midday and early evening), as long as there’s something to report. I will do my best to keep up with the PMs - each year is a little harried in the early rounds, but we manage to sort it all out, and a good time is had by all (although moreso by the winners, I suppose).
