I've never heard of anyone doing this, but I think it could make a cool side event. You seed everyone into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seed. All the best players (who are first seeds), are team captains. They go from 1st seed A to 1st seed F (or however many first seeds you have). F would be the stronger 1st seeds while A would be the weaker first seeds. Then going in alphabetical order, captain A would draft a 2nd seed player to his team. Then B, then C, and so on. Then once each team has 2 players, the cycle would be repeated starting with captain F this time. Captain F would draft a 3rd seed, then E, then D, etc.
Then once you're done you'd have 6 teams of 3 players. Just doing a simple single elimination bracket, you would have each mini-crew face off against other mini-crews. The 1st seeds would play each other, then the 3rd seeds would play each other, and the 2nd seeds would play each other for the tie breaker. I like this order because:
- It guarantees you will get to see the top players play.
- The 3rd seeds will get to experience "grand finals"-esque pressure if their crew is down 1-0.
- If it goes to the third game between the 2nd seeds, they will be a little more competent so it won't seem as jank as the 3rd seed match, but you are still giving players who don't normally advance far in tournament a fun opportunity to experience that "grand finals" pressure.
I think this kind of event would really be nice for locals because it really encourages players of different skill levels to support each other. Having new players teamed up with players they probably look up to is always cool, but unlike standard crew battles, there won't be any huge mismatches that take away from that excitement, and one good player can't carry his team to victory. The good players will feel motivated to help out the new/worse players in a friendly rivalry with other mini-crews.