There could even be “Tiers” of tournaments ranking in how competitive each one was. IE: Call one expert, intermediate, and beginner. Put yourself where you see fit.
Suddenly, everybody is a "beginner".
If some kind of ranking system were implemented, sandbagging (or what's the online game term, smurfing?) is just one of the things people would do.
For one thing, it's going to generate all kinds of drama. Just look at what happened with the SDL. There was no money at stake there. It's only going to be worse with this.
More importantly than the drama, this is only really a benefit to the top 1%ers. There are about a couple dozen people who would have a reasonable chance of taking a dueling tournament unless they happen to really play over their head on the day. It seems to me it's a bit more important at the moment to bring in new people than to encourage vets to play.
Now someone new might see "Cash Prize!" and join because of that, but if winning tournaments is the reason they're here, unless they're some kind of savant they're likely to just get crushed and quit. If that's the reason they're here, they're also not terribly likely to get involved with the community because the other people are potential opponents that could take the win away from them.
I'm just not seeing a lot of upside to it for anybody other than the top echelon people who've been here for a long time.
Wiley.