The Ordo Magna alliance has announced that they will host a small and informal open tournament on April 4th. Promoted as 'The Templar Tournament', the occasion has previously been reserved for alliance members only.
The Ordo Magna is an alliance formed from the Ordo Quaesitoris - a relatively old and secretive corporation that proclaimed loyalty to the Amarr Empire - and its sister corporations, Ordo Ars Scientia and Ordo Nigrorum Susurri. Previously, the tournament was run as a purely internal event, but since the declaration of the 24th Imperial Crusade, the Ordo Magna have broadened their circle of associates.
"Since it was fun for everyone, some of our members thought we should announce this and see if anyone is interested" said Ordo Magna member Sardoniac, on the decision to open the event to the wider capsuleer community.
The tournament matches are planned to take the form of one-on-one duels, with separate divisions for frigate and cruiser-class ships. Sardoniac also explained that it would be free to enter, and only tech 1 modules would be permitted in order to keep the competition accessible to the lowest budget.
"The basic idea is to keep it affordable to everyone," explained Sardoniac. "We want it to be casual and we cannot predict how many people are going to join us."
While frigates are usually minimally crewed, cruisers are fully manned vessels. Sardoniac explained that his alliance's intent was not to see the deaths of these crews:
"During [previous] Templar tournaments, only one ship has been blown up so far, and this was an accident. The judge ordered a cease fire when one combatant was bleeding into structure. Should the winner not stop shooting and indeed destroy the enemy vessel (despite the judge intervening with remote reppers), the loser wins the round."
The event will take place inside high security space within the Amarr Empire; Sardoniac declined to comment on the exact location as a security precaution. The event is likely to be popular among the Amarr loyalists and some have already publically declared an intent to attend, making the event a possible target for their political foes.
"This is to be a small, friendly evening," Sardoniac stated. ""[By letting pilots enlist] only through our channels, we want to sort out troublemakers beforehand.
"I am suprised that only a few minutes after voicing our intent of hosting a 'small and friendly evening,' we are getting swamped with people who are interested."
Pilots interested in competing can join the channel 'Quaesitor' to register for the event and recieve notification of the venue.