Greetings!

My (nick)name is VainQueur, real name Jeroen Meuleman. If you don't know me, or have forgotten about me: I was rather active on mk5.org over the past months (and will soon be again). What kept me inactive the last few weeks was an extremely busy schedule. I'm a student of English and German at the University of Ghent, Belgium and I'm twenty years old.

Since Europe seems to be in dire need of competition in Mortal Kombat and no tournaments exist, I have taken it upon myself to host one. This is a general invitation for it, for those I didn't send a personal one but may have forgotten to do so. Now, you may have a few immediate questions about this:

° "what will be played?"

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Other MK games will also be played, but purely for fun, unless we decide to throw a spontaneous tourney if enough people feel like it.

° "when will it be played?"

Saturday April 3 and April 4. In Belgium this is the first weekend of the Easter holidays. It's still about half a year, so you will have oceans of time to make up your mind, to prepare or whatever you want to do.

° "where will it be played?"

To reduce expenses, it will be staged at my house. It is a fairly large house. We have three television sets to use (so matches could be played simultaneously) and enough space to accommodate a lot of people or give them the opportunity to play or watch others playing in the same room.

° "how much will it cost me?"

Virtually nothing. It will only cost you your trip, either by train or by car. All the rest will be taken care of by me. My house is very easy to reach since I don't live far from Ghent in a central, long street. More information will follow if you are interested in participating. Self-evidently, you do need to bring your own sleeping bag, sanitary equipment and a controller.

° "who's invited?"

All European players interested, but people living in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom get personal invitations. More than likely four to five Belgian players will be present and about three Luxembourg players, among whom the current European champion of Mortal Kombat. So if you know any friends who play Mortal Kombat, please ask them along (but let me know beforehand if they are coming).

° "what will the tournament look like?"

There will be three play modes. One is a classic arcade mode. A second one pits all players against each other individually. Finally the third mode will be a country vs country mode. As to the versions that will be played: at home we have a PlayStation 2 and an X-Box. Each time the version that fits both players best will be chosen.

° "what level of skill am I expected to have?"

None. Although this is a tournament, it's mainly a fun experience to meet other Kombat players. If you think you're not that good, you can just join in for fun or even better, you may be amazed to find out you're not that bad at all. And if you think you're good, remember that there's always bigger fish. The only skill you're expected to have is at least a basic understanding of the game mechanics and not to be a sore loser.

° "what language will be spoken?"

English will be used as a vernacular, but Dutch is my mother language. I can also speak German and I understand French.

If you have additional questions, remarks or ideas, please hit me back or mail me at jeroen.meuleman AT pandora.be and I'll give you more details, such as rules, a more detailed description of where I live etc etc. Name it you got it, I'll try to help you out as good as I can. In any case, this is a unique opportunity to meet Mortal Kombat players from across Europe for very little effort. I guarantee you it will be a very pleasant experience.

Until April then?

Cheers,
VainQueur / Jeroen Meuleman