March Madness 2023: 32 Enter, 16 Leave

by Charlie Plaine, Director of First Edition

15th March 2023

Hello all! We're through the 1st week of First Edition March Madness, and it's been a very strong start. 108 different souls voted in our polls, with an average participation of just over 101 people per poll. That means we've doubled the prize pool for the week! Everyone that works on 1E is extremely grateful to all of you that have voted and/or spread the word about this contest over the past week. Let's keep it up! So, first things first, here are the winners for Week 1:

• Armus (Random 1E Borderless Promo)
• Rancour@gmx.de (Random 1E Borderless Promo)
• The Guardian (Random 1E Promo)
• flo190283 (Random 1E Promo)

Congrats to this week's winners; your promos should be shipping very soon. And now, before we get to the polls for the next round, here are the results of the first round of voting:

Gamma Quadrant (Upper Left) Bracket
Starbase 375 (1) was never in any danger from The Water Guardian (16), winning 77-31.
Repel Invasion (9) was too much for U.S.S. Saratoga (8) to handle in a 60-48 upset.
The Ancestral Arena (5) kept Kodos from any executions in a 65-43 victory.
Loskene (13) proved to be too much for the double act of Bashir and O'Brien (4), upsetting them 58-50.
Femme fatale Doc Crusher (6) put Fermat's Last Theorem (11) to sleep with the fishes, winning 65-43.
Lower Decks: Fleet Operations (3) kept Primitive Worf (14) from advancing with a 74-34 victory.
Destroy Production Facility (7) kept Wesley Crusher (10) from traveling further in the competition in a 65-43 win.
Group of Individuals (2) sent Flotter (15) packing back to the Forest of Forever with a convincing 80-28 win.

Alpha Quadrant (Lower Left) Bracket
Grand Proxy Neelix (1) charged more than One Happy Privilege (16) could pay, winning 62-39.
Ten Forward (9) put an end to Temporal Causality Loop: Future Tense (8) in 56-45 upset.
Decode Genetic Message (12) convincingly put an end to The Doctor as B'Elanna's hopes with a 71-30 upset victory.
Kosst Amojn (4) was more than Admiral Krell (13) could handle, cruising to an easy 71-30 win.
The Infamous Facepalm (11) caught Ambassador Gral unawares in 71-30 upset.
Lt. J.G. Palmer (3) soared in a 59-42 win over Corbomite Device.
Senior Staff Poker Game (7) rendered Suder's Sacrifice (10) moot in a commanding 75-26 victory.
Recover Assimilated Crew (2) put an end to Calvin Hutchinson's small talk in a 63-38 win.

Delta Quadrant (Upper Right) Bracket
Holoprogram: Starfleet Command (1) didn't show weakness in their 67-34 win over Trident Scanner (16).
Elder Jadzia (9) leveraged the experience of age to win over T'Mir (8) in a 54-47 nail biter.
Planet Meridian (5) gave no openings to Infiltrator Sisko (12) in an impressive 64-37 victory.
Treacherous Sisko (4) showed no mercy to family in his defeat of Joseph Sisko (13), 54-47.
Transporter Duplication (6) held on to win against Holoprogram: Make-out Point (11), 56-45.
In a down to the wire match, U.S.S. Nova (14) pulled past Violate Prime Directive (3) to win, 52-49.
Holoprogram: Niners vs. Logicians (7) didn't strike out against T'Pau (10), winning 61-40.
Holoprogram: Loyalty Test (2) grounded A.G. Robinson (15) in a 62-39 win.

Beta Quadrant (Lower Right) Bracket
In a stunner, Support Coup (16) had what it needed to knock out Bridge Officer's Test (1), 53-45.
Utopia Planetia Fleet Yard (8) had what it needed to win over The Dreamer and the Dream (9), 58-40.
Annorax (5) held off a late-game charge from The Warrior's Anthem (12) to win 53-45.
Race to the Gomtuu (4) stayed sober and focused to win against Kanar (13), 53-45.
I Love You (11) took on the double-act of Ornara & Brekka (6) in a 54-44 upset.
Protect Innocent Culture (14) had the plan to upset The Barge of the Dead (3) with a 52-46 win.
Voth City Ship (7) held fast against Lirpa (10) with a 58-40 win.
Acting Captain Beverly (2) had the answer to Legal Proceedings (15) challenges, holding on to win 57-41.

And thus we have seen the end of the road for 32 of these card concepts - or have we? Each of the 2 polls in this week's bracket come with a bonus question allowing you to pick a small number of the eliminated concepts for a shot at surprise redemption. You can vote this week, and you'll find out the surprise next week! But in the mean time, it's your chance to halve the field again taking us from 32 to 16. Here are the brackets for this round:

Vote in the Left Bracket

Vote in the Right Bracket

Now it's up to you. Remember, you can vote in each match based on any criteria you like - the choice is literally yours. Good luck and have fun! Voting will be open until NOON Pacific on Monday, March 20th. And don't forget to join the discussion on our Gameplay (1E) forum to speculate on what might happen next!

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