For the Free IF Playoffs, players were invited to make their predictions for every match in Round 2 and beyond. This time, since the prediction game was planned in advance, the entire tournament will be covered starting with Round 1.
Following is the official prediction form, in glorious ASCII fill-in-the-blank format:
Official Prediction Form
PEOPLE'S CHAMPION TOURNAMENT 2025
Official Prediction Form
Entered by: [ ]
ROUND 1 DIVISION 1
01: Six vs Alabaster -> [ ]
02: Illuminismo Iniziato vs Everybody Dies -> [ ]
03: Tales from Castle Balderstone vs A Trial -> [ ]
04: Buggy vs The Abbey -> [ ]
05: Heretic's Hope vs Tapestry -> [ ]
06: The Bible Retold: Following a Star vs Submarine Sabotage -> [ ]
07: The Legend of Horse Girl vs Aisle -> [ ]
08: Winter Storm Draco vs Augmented Fourth -> [ ]
ROUND 1 DIVISION 2
09: Lime Ergot vs CC's Road to Stardom -> [ ]
10: Perdition's Flames vs Nightfall -> [ ]
11: A Dark Room vs A Change in the Weather -> [ ]
12: The Lost Labyrinth of Lazaitch vs Over Here! -> [ ]
13: Taco Fiction vs Eidolon -> [ ]
14: Inevitable (2003) vs Word of the Day -> [ ]
15: The Edifice vs Pogoman GO! -> [ ]
16: Sand-dancer vs The Mystery of Winchester High -> [ ]
ROUND 1 DIVISION 3
17: The Weapon vs Once and Future -> [ ]
18: The Dreamhold vs What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed -> [ ]
19: First Things First vs Christminster -> [ ]
20: Hunter, in Darkness vs Pick Up the Phone Booth and Aisle -> [ ]
21: All Things Devours vs The Golden Heist -> [ ]
22: Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. vs Never Gives Up Her Dead -> [ ]
23: Galatea vs To Hell in a Hamper -> [ ]
24: The End Means Escape vs Brain Guzzlers from Beyond! -> [ ]
ROUND 1 DIVISION 4
25: Delightful Wallpaper vs Babel -> [ ]
26: For a Change vs Search for the Lost Ark -> [ ]
27: Thin Walls vs Yes, Another Game with a Dragon! -> [ ]
28: The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Andersen vs Scroll Thief -> [ ]
29: The Moonlit Tower vs Bogeyman -> [ ]
30: Please Answer Carefully vs Scents & Semiosis -> [ ]
31: Things That Happened in Houghtonbridge vs Captain Cutter's Treasure -> [ ]
32: Winter Wonderland (1999) vs Metamorphoses -> [ ]
ROUND 2 DIVISIONS 1+2
33: [ w01 ] vs [ w02 ] -> [ ]
34: [ w03 ] vs [ w04 ] -> [ ]
35: [ w05 ] vs [ w06 ] -> [ ]
36: [ w07 ] vs [ w08 ] -> [ ]
37: [ w09 ] vs [ w10 ] -> [ ]
38: [ w11 ] vs [ w12 ] -> [ ]
39: [ w13 ] vs [ w14 ] -> [ ]
40: [ w15 ] vs [ w16 ] -> [ ]
ROUND 2 DIVISIONS 3+4
41: [ w17 ] vs [ w18 ] -> [ ]
42: [ w19 ] vs [ w20 ] -> [ ]
43: [ w21 ] vs [ w22 ] -> [ ]
44: [ w23 ] vs [ w24 ] -> [ ]
45: [ w25 ] vs [ w26 ] -> [ ]
46: [ w27 ] vs [ w28 ] -> [ ]
47: [ w29 ] vs [ w30 ] -> [ ]
48: [ w31 ] vs [ w32 ] -> [ ]
ROUND 3 ALL DIVISIONS
49: [ w33 ] vs [ w34 ] -> [ ]
50: [ w35 ] vs [ w36 ] -> [ ]
51: [ w37 ] vs [ w38 ] -> [ ]
52: [ w39 ] vs [ w40 ] -> [ ]
53: [ w41 ] vs [ w42 ] -> [ ]
54: [ w43 ] vs [ w44 ] -> [ ]
55: [ w45 ] vs [ w46 ] -> [ ]
56: [ w47 ] vs [ w48 ] -> [ ]
ROUND 4 DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS
57: [ w49 ] vs [ w50 ] -> [ ]
58: [ w51 ] vs [ w52 ] -> [ ]
59: [ w53 ] vs [ w54 ] -> [ ]
60: [ w55 ] vs [ w56 ] -> [ ]
ROUND 5 SEMIFINALS
61: [ w57 ] vs [ w58 ] -> [ ]
62: [ w59 ] vs [ w60 ] -> [ ]
ROUND 6 FINAL MATCH
63: [ w61 ] vs [ w62 ] -> [ ]
Here are instructions for filling out the form:
-
Everywhere you see matching square brackets (
[ ]), that’s a field for you to fill in. -
First enter your forum username in the “
Entered by:” field at the top. For a hypothetical playe with usernamdPCTFan, the top should look like this when complete:PEOPLE’S CHAMPION TOURNAMENT 2025
Official Prediction Form
Entered by: [ PCTFan ] -
The first four sections are for Round 1, labeled
ROUND 1 DIVISION 1throughROUND 1 DIVISION 4. Each section includes 8 matches, and each match has its own match number. For each match, the two contestants are shown, followe by an arrow then a field for you to enter your predicted winner. For example, if there were a match#00between two games called Terrific Game and Fantastic Game, the line for it on the form would look like this:00: Terrific Game vs Fantastic Game → [ ]
Put the name of the game that you think will win in the empty field. For example, if PCTFan thinks that
Terrific Gamewill win, the line would be completed as follows:00: Terrific Game vs Fantastic Game → [ Terrific Game ]
It is not necessary to enter predicted scores – these were optional for the Free IF Playoffs, but the chance of two people making the same predictions seems very low, so I’m not expecting the need for a method to break ties. [Note that if there is a tie, then the tie will be broken in favor of the person who first submitted the winning predictions, so don’t delay in sending yours in.]
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For Rounds 2 and beyond, the matchups haven’t yet been determined, so the line for a given match looks like this:
33: [ w01 ] vs [ w02 ] → [ ]
This type of line requires three entries:
w01should be replaced with your predicted winner for match#01,w02should be replaced with your predicted winner for match#02, and the empty field should be populated with the name of the game you predict to win this match (#33). (Since I don’t want to influence matches even a little, the following form completion example uses a match#99pairing the winners of match#00and match#65; none of these will be real matches, but the pattern is the same.) The original line would look like this:99: [ w00 ] vs [ w65 ] → [ ]
Since PCTFan has predicted a win for
Terrific Gamein match#00, PCTFan enters that game in the first field (w00) of this line:99: [ Terrific Game ] vs [ w65 ] → [ ]
Assume that match
#65is between Excellent Game and Superb Game, and that PCTFan has already made the following prediction for it:65: [ Excellent Game ] vs [ Superb Game ] → [ Superb Game ]
Since PCT predicted that Superb Game will win match
#65, then that game is entered in the second field (w65) for the line concerning match#99:99: [ Terrific Game ] vs [ Superb Game ] → [ ]
If PCTFan decides that Superb Game will be the victor in match
#99, the final state of the line for that match will be:99: [ Terrific Game ] vs [ Superb Game ] → [ Superb Game ]
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Winning games propagate through the ladder structure up to the final match, which is
#63. Your predicted winner of match#63is your predicted People’s Champion. -
When the form is complete, send your predictions to me by PM. I’ll confirm that they have been received and let you know if there are any problems. You will be able to send in updates to correct errors (or just change your predictions) up until the deadline; only your final entry will count for scoring, and its date and time will be the one that counts for tiebreaking purposes.
Please make sure that all fields are completed before sending in your form. Entries can be sent in between now and Friday March 07 at 11:59P UTC (i.e. the end of the day before matches start). It will not be possible to accept late entries, so you are encouraged to submit your predictions earlier rather than later.
If you have questions that aren’t answered by the instructions above, please post them on this thread.
Good luck!