Bow before Margaret, all ye who come before her!
The most ancient nation never to have won a football tournament and eternal servant of Margaret, Spaam, has formed an alliance with the current Cup of Harmony champion and lover of rubber chickens, Qasden, to bid for the glorious privilege of hosting the most important tournament in the multiverse (for those that don’t qualify for the World Cup). But the 70th Cup of Harmony will be no ordinary football tournament. No! For this shall also be a TOURNAMENT OF THE GODS!
Yes, unlucky teams that failed to qualify for the World Cup shall first vie for the blessing of the gods of NS Sports in the group stage of this tournament. Then their champions shall battle each other TO THE DEATH in a knockout tournament in order to crown the ultimate glorious victor! Shall Mike, the god of foods you eat at sporting events, triumph over all? Or shall it be Sharon, the goddess of the sick day you fake so that you can go to the game? IT IS UP TO YOU!
So, come one, come all to QAAM: Cup of Harmony LXX!
Spaam
Many have read of the Spaam of old, an enormous and proud nation with a fanatical devotion to support and psychotic addiction to waffles (the pastry, not the national animal - they are totally different things). Alas, almost two hundred years ago, they descended into a terrible war which totally destroyed Spaam, and most thought they would never hear from them again. However, a tiny fraction of the population managed to escape and re-form Spaam as a kingdom in a neighbouring region, and they have grown to become a place that people actually want to visit again.
The Disunited Kingdom of Spaam is divided into three islands, and the majority of its people lives on the largest island, known as the mainland. Spaam has a population of over 13 million, and around a third of those live in the capital city of Paatukar, situated on an isthmus to the north. A bustling, multicultural metropolis, it is a mixture of new and old, fine dining and exotic street-food, humans, elves and others beside. The second largest city is Skaganes, situated on the south of the same island, bordered to the north by the large Lake Galaxy, with the two halves of the island separated by a large mountain range. To the south and west is the island of West Spaam, known for its elven populations, most living in its capital, and the third largest city, Nilmenas. To the east is the island of East Spaam, and its capital is Highbay, a smaller city known for its beautiful harbour and floating stadium. The one thing that unites all of Spaam, however, is its love of football, with every major urban centre sporting at least one team in National League or its Second Division.
Qasden
The Principality of Qasden is a sport-loving metropolis located in the southwestern portion of Atlantian Oceania. Under the authorities of Prince Franz-Pierre and PM Rees Häther, who govern from the capital, Turkish Van City (better known as T.V. City), the 'pality maintains relatively well relations with fellow regional nations. The economy is mostly entertainment and tourism-driven, while information and hospitality come close behind.
Citizens of Qasden enjoy frolicking amongst the streets of cities such as T.V. City, Port Harston, Taxson, Qad City, and so on. When it comes to sports, however, things start to get real. Nearly every Qasdonian plays or enthusiastically watches some form of sport, with athletic programs such as Association Football, Basketball, and Tennis leading the nation in popularity. The 'pality is home to many wonderful venues, such as the Royal T.V. Stadium, an all-around mecca for Qad sports, located in the heart of T.V. City. Citizens enjoy these friendly competitions in an almost eternal spring-like weather, with glorious rainy days and gloomy sunny days making up the usual forecasts. Certain places in Qasden, like the mountainous southwestern cities of Fyre and Destiny, experience more of an early spring and autumn pattern, with snow falling at least once every other month. Trains and planes are the best ways to travel between each of the venues, and stray cats on public vehicles are heavily common (so be aware of that, people with cat allergies).
Competition Format
While we are flexible with exact numbers, we are aiming to get 32 nations into the Cup of Harmony, though our prime objective is to make sure every nation that has roleplayed is included. The competition will be split into two halves, each to be hosted in Spaam and Qasden. Each half will be comprised of four groups of four (assuming 32 nations), competing in a single round-robin, with the top two nations progressing into a knockout tournament. The winners of the knockout tournament in each half will travel to Paatukar in Spaam for the Grand Final, while the runner-ups shall go to Qasden for the Third-Place Match.
The tie-breakers shall be, in order, Points, Goal Difference, Head-to-Head, Wins, Goals For, whoever can come closest to shooting an apple off Lord Gregory’s head.
Scorination and RP-bonus
We will be using xkoranate to scorinate the tournament, using the SQIS formula and additive styles. No home bonus shall be used, even if the hosts participate, and in that case, we shall be scorinating each other’s halves.
As the Cup of Harmony is essentially a battle of the best role-players that Margaret hates, we shall have a generous roleplay bonus worth up to
Experience
Spaam has already (co-)hosted four Cups of Harmony (including one on his own) and two Baptisms of Fire, including the most recent one. Over the years Spaam has also (co-)hosted a number of minor tournaments, such as the latest Quidditch World Cup. Spaam has much experience with scorinators, inventing some early and recent ones, and has scorinated over 50 years worth of his domestic tournament. Spaam is also a very experienced participant in NS Sports, with over 30 World Cups under their belt, and was the inventor of ‘spaaming’ - abusing the roleplay bonus system so much that caps were introduced just for Spaam.
Prior to the beginning of summer 2016, the user behind Qasden had strolled around NS for a year and a half, blindly unknown of the world of forums. After finally discovering it, he created the 'pality to avoid prejudice in his main country's no-forum region. After working with scorinators a bit and researching some of NS Sports' past events, Qasden finally said "screw it" and began his scorinating career just a few weeks after discovering NS Sports. Since then Qasden has hosted the Qasden Open (precursor to the NSAO), the Maple Leaf Bowl, the World Lacrosse Championships (solo), the International Basketball Championships and the domestic leagues and tournaments of the Qailpyme Sporting Alliance.
In short, this bid is a chance for both a newer nation to get experience hosting one of the major NS Sports tournaments and a (very) old hand to give back to the community that has given them so much over the years.
Questions
Like, ask them, yo.
