Having 1v1 is a great start. Personally I would be fine with just available characters because I don't main unlockable characters, but a few calgarians do. From my prospective, I've just never thought about it because it's always been standard since the beginning of the game from casual to top players. In this case unlocked characters are nothing "special" or great, they are just like regular available characters. I'm curious if there is any particular reason as to why unlocked characters wouldn't be allowed? Stagelist and stagelist method of selection for a match is something that you should look at. I'd say as long as you don't allow stages with infinites/abuses you'll be OK. An example of an infinite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipKBGW_TjII (funny thing is Fox is responsible for quite a lot of the infinites). Of course I'd be fine with it because one of my mains is Fox and I can infinite/abuse stages haha
. All in all, if there is time and enough setups, there is no reason not to do a few of the things such as double elimination or bo3 bracket /bo5 final s& grand finals. In the end, I think it will end up being something in-between. As for attendees, everyone is generally interested, the issue is usually whether they are free and see that it's worth going to. If your goal is to maximize attendees then including Brawl (maybe for the future?) is probably a smart move. Since this is the first time you are hosting melee, I wouldn't aim high. I'd be surprised if there are more than 30 players, but I'd also be surprised if there is less than 10. These are just guesstimates from recent tourneys so don't take my word for it.
I will say that the prize pool is attractive and might convince more people to show. That's why I highly suggest posting it in the Canadian tourney listings on smashboards once the rules are finalize (I'm probably reducing my chances of finish top 3
).Lastly, I forgot the most touchy subject, which is items. The only thing that is true about the old joke of "No items, Fox only, Final Destination" is the no items (for obvious reasons). Whatever is decided for the final rules, let me know how it goes! Also, a VERY NICE and simpler compact explanation of current ruleset for reference (not the proposed tentative 2012 one but the currently most used to one and most recommended at the moment):
http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=8981808&postcount=1