TF2F Brawl Tourneys

As you may or may not know, TF2F (And by that I mean me) has begun hosting regular Brawl tourneys, for those of us who love a good SMASHing. This thread is here for all the basic info about the fun times.

WHEN ARE THE TOURNEYS?
TF2F Brawl tourneys are biweekly events. Currently, the official time is Sunday, 9 PM EST. We'll meet in the Steam group chat room at that time, and I'll get the ball rolling.

WHAT IF I CAN'T MAKE 9 EASTERN?
Unfortunately, past tourneys have shown that trying to change the schedule to fit around people's availability doesn't work. If you want to play, you'll have to show up on time.

THE RULES
These are the standard rules for the tourney. Keep in mind I'm still trying out new twists now and then.

Double Elimination
3 stock, Best of 3 until the finals, where it's best of 5
No items
The first round of each match is played on one of five randomly chosen neutral stages: Final Destination, Battlefield, Smashville, Lylat Cruise, or Yoshi's Island (Brawl).
COUNTERPICKING: The "counterpick" system works thusly: The loser of the previous round chooses the stage for the next round, then the winner chooses his character, then the loser chooses his character. Online, this means you'll have to communicate with your opponent between rounds. Any stage may be chosen as a counterpick, excluding the following:

BANNED STAGES
75m
Big Blue
Bridge of Eldin
Flat Zone 2
Hanenbow
Hyrule Temple
Mario Bros.
Mario Circuit
Mushroomy Kingdom
New Pork City
Pictochat
Rumble Falls
Shadow Moses Island
Skyworld
Spear Pillar
Summit
Warioware

ON ITEMS AND STAGE SELECTION
For whatever reason, when playing an online match the game will randomly choose one player's item settings and one player's stage settings to use in a match. Meaning you both have to have the proper settings. This also means you should turn off all stages except the five neutral ones in random stage selection for the first match, and preferrably give your opponent your losing stage choice beforehand so you both choose it.
FOR ITEMS, THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TO SET ALL ITEMS TO "OFF" AND SET ITEM FREQUENCY TO "NONE"

CAN ANYONE JOIN?
Of course. These are more for fun then they are competitive, and fresh faces are always a welcome.

WHERE CAN I SIGN UP?
New rules mean "Signing up" happens when the tournament starts. Be in the Steam group chatroom at 9 PM Eastern and I'll put you in.

AND LASTLY, THE LINKS
Our Steam Group
Post your friend codes and find those of others here
And a couple of links from Nintendo that are very helpful for reducing your lag.

That's it. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE, as we're apparently doing these again:

• Sign ups now happen on the spot. I'll make the bracket then once I know who's in.
• Lylat Cruise added to neutrals.
• Bridge of Eldin and Mario Circuit are now banned. (King Dedede is why we can't have nice things.)
• Counterpicking is a bit different now.