The time has come for the best damn forum game to rear it's much loved, controversy-causin' head once again. MKO Idol is back for it's sixth installment, but before I let ya'll start voting, lemme clear up some things so that everybody is on the same page:

WHAT IS MKO IDOL?
A glorified popularity contest, for lack of a better word. Normally these types of threads aren't allowed, but since I've been doing it for the past couple of years, the mods/staff trust me enough to whip it out (the competition, you perv) every once in a while.

WHO GETS TO PARTICIPATE IN MKO IDOL? CONVERSELY, WHO DOESN'T PARTICIPATE?
I think it would be easier to start off explaining who won't participate. The only peeps who cannot participate are the 5 previous winners (in order, they are Hyuga, Ghaleon, IOLKW/SOLIDUS, Blade-Tsung, and Pink_Ranger), the current runner-up (Tgrant), those who specifically said they didn't wanna participate (noob_sareena, Hikari715, Kyobu, SicilyzBabe86, and ~Crow~), myself, and Shingo (he's just cool like that). The ones who will participate are the 63 that signed up, plus 37 personal picks (some of which you will be pleasantly surprised with). As for who gets to vote, anybody and everybody can vote (only once per matchup, 'natch*) except for me, and you cannot vote for yourself if you're in a matchup. You can (though I don't know why you'd want), however, vote for your opponent.

SO THERE ARE 100 PARTICIPANTS. HOW DOES ONE PLAY MKO IDOL?
The 100 participants are all randomly divided into 10 groups courtesy of my trusty ziplock bag. Each group contains 5 matchups. Let's say one matchup was "noob_sareena versus Hikari715". Over the next (roughly) 48 hours (which is how long each voting period lasts), people will vote for the person they would like to see advance to the next round. This will happen until one person is left standing (though I should add that in one latter round, people vote for the person they want out). Also, each group will have certain matchups that I personally consider "interesting", and these matchups will be called "Featured Bouts".

SO HOW DO I KNOW WHICH ARE THE CURRENT MATCHUPS I'M SUPPOSED TO VOTE ON?
The "easiest" way would be to check out the latest page of this thread. If not, you can use my sig. My sig will display icons I requested from each participant, and by looking at them you should be able to get an idea of who's facing who. In case you don't know who the icon is supposed to represent, my sig will have 3 links: One link will have the names of all 100 participants (the names in white are not participating; the names in red are current NORMAL matchups; the names in yellow are featured bouts; after each group, the winners will be in green, while the ones who were eliminated will be removed from the list). A second one will replace the icons with the names. The third link will take you to the page where the latest/current group was announced.

*ARE THERE ANY OTHER NEW SURPRISES IN THIS SIXTH VERSION OF MKO IDOL?
I'm glad you asked. From now on, there will no longer be any more tie-breakers, at least not in the sense of how they used to be. In case there is a tie in any matchup, here's what will happen: You know the names of those I mentioned before that wouldn't be participating, right? Well, excluding the 5 that said they didn't want in, the fate of the tie-breaker lies in the hands of past winners, Tgrant (current runner-up) and Shingo. They will all be taking turns with this, and the order is the same one I mentioned above. I doubt Hyuga will come back, but I do talk with Ghaleon, IOLKW, and Shingo outside of the forums (Blade might not be back in time, and I'd ask PR via PM), Tgrant will probably be voting in every group, so I'll ask 'em to help me out. In case they don't want to, I'll ask the next person on the list. This way, it's (sorta) random and we don't waste 24 hours (or more) simply breaking a tie.

ANYTHING ELSE?
I've pretty much covered everything, and all I can add is to HAVE FUN. Please don't take this seriously. If people don't vote for you, it means NOTHING. NO DPs are awarded, nothing is gained. Also, I'd really appreciate that when you vote, simply put the name of the person who your vote is for and leave it at that. Don't put crap like "My vote's for ____ 'cause so-and-so sucks ". Even if you are joking, not everybody might know that and it might lead to others doing the same.


And now, without further ado, here's Round 1's Group A:

-REDSCORPION versus Shadaloo
-Toxik versus Sponge-Zer0 (Featured Bout)
-Subscorptile versus Kamionero
-|CHAM| versus Ermackdaddy
--A-nubis versus ermacmaster

Let the voting...begin!

P.S. On a personal note, if you notice, my sig ain't showing up how I want it to. Can anybody help me out so that the "Participants" link appears on the right bottom side of my sig?