[@tipssyCalibrator] I think the forest of death should happen first. It's better for establishing grudges and relationships for the tournament, and will make it more climactic. However, I'm not too keen on pre-deciding the matches for the tournament. I think if players [i]want[/i] to pre-decide a match for dramatic flair, that can be an option to them, but I think it would be more fun to do it somewhat competitively. 

My suggestion (and this is just a suggestion btw), once the fights are set up, make a single post in the IC thread with setup and introduction and whatnot, then link to an Arena thread where the actual fighting will take place. This will help prevent chaos in the thread of multiple fights going on at once. The fight will go on for a set number of posts or time limit, or whatever is decided to be fair, and then a panel of mystery judges (players picked by the GM with no personal stakes in the fight) will assess the fight and decide who should logically win. The winner then gets to write a "finisher" post to put in whatever dramatic flair is needed for the story. 

It requires a bit more work than just pre-deciding the winners, but let's face it, I think everybody has their own desires for the tournament outcome, and I think it should come down to combat roleplaying ability.

Opinions everyone?