Metallic Madness returns for 2022: official details and where to vote

12 March 2022 – The quirky, inconsequential fandom tournament featuring your favourite Sonic the Hedgehog characters, media, and communities is back! It’s called Metallic Madness, and it’s returning to your Twitter feeds through 17 March to 4 April 2022.

What is Metallic Madness?

Metallic Madness is a community-led tournament established around a single-elimination knockout bracket. The tournament will feature 64 unique entrants from the vast world of Sonic the Hedgehog official and fan media.

Fans from around the world can determine the outcome of each match by voting in a series of polls on Twitter until one is crowned the winner, or the “King of the Ring.”

The community event was inspired by the original incarnation of Metallic Madness that ran from 2016 to 2020. Both events were off-shoots of a major college basketball tournament held in the United States, popularly known as March Madness.

Why should I be interested?

Short answer: it’s to have fun! The objective of the tournament is to unite the community with a quirky, inconsequential spin of a popular format. There will be unusual matchups, yes; but the point is to embrace the upsets, the victories, and the out of the ordinary.

How does it work?

This year’s Metallic Madness will feature 64 entrants handpicked by the Tails’ Channel team. The entrants are divided into four “divisions” based on a subject matter.

The divisions

1. The Games division will feature characters from the mainline Sonic the Hedgehog video games series.
2. The Comics division will be primarily centered around the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series, and well as one character from outside the series to honour the IDWSonicNews Discord community that merged into Tails’ Channel in 2021.
3. The Media division will feature characters from Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe, the Sonic Boom franchise, and a number of fan-related memes included in the original incarnation of Metallic Madness.
4. The Community division will include a number of well known fan communities, events and outlets. The division is measured out into four smaller categories, including one rotating category, for the purpose of classifying the applicable entrants.

The divisions will compete against each other in their respective areas of the bracket, and no entrant from another division will cross each other until the Final Four round.

The rounds

Similar in style to the March Madness college basketball tournament, there are six rounds in Metallic Madness, all of which were spread across a total of ten matchdays. The matchdays will be conducted between the times of 12:00 pm ET to as late as 9:45 pm ET.

• The First Round will feature a total of 32 matches. 16 matches will be played each in the two matchdays, and each division will play a total of 8 games.
• The Second Round will feature a total of 16 matches. 8 matches will be played each in the two matchdays, and each division will play a total of 4 games.
• The Divisional Semifinals will feature a total of 8 matches, 2 games per division. This is the final round where every side of the bracket will be played in each matchday.
• The Divisional Finals will feature 4 matches. The top half of the bracket (Games and Comics) will be played on the first matchday, while the bottom half (Media and Community) will be played on the second matchday.
• The Final Four will feature the winning entrants of each division in two respective games. This will be the first time the divisional entrants will cross each other in the bracket.
• The Championship Game will feature the winning entrants of the left and right sides of the bracket, and therefore the winner of the tournament.

Who am I voting for?

Each division will contain no more than 16 entrants. To determine their match up in the First Round of the bracket, the entrants are organized in a pool.

The pools

The pools are arranged in alphabetical order, with the exception of the Community pool, which was arranged first by category (of four) followed by alphabetical order.

How will they be drawn?

Each pool will have their entrants drawn at random order via the means of a random list generator. The entrants will be seeded sequentially in their respective division from 1 to 16.

Where to watch the draw?

The Selection Programme will be televised live on Tails’ Channel Twitch on Sunday 13 March at 5:30 pm Eastern Time.

The Community categories

The Community division has one additional caveat, as it organizes its 16 entrants into four smaller “categories”, each comprised of four entrants. The categories are solely for classification, and it will be automatically voided in the process of the draw, as the pool will be randomized.

Where do we vote?

All polls will be conducted live on the official Metallic Madness Twitter account, @MetalMadTour. Each poll will be two hours in length.

Due to the inherent random and flawed nature of the bracket, we do not endorse the idea of using Metallic Madness as a popularity content. It’s not an objective vehicle to gauge popularity between two subjects, nor is it technically possible to do so.

What are the dates and times?

1. First Round – Matchday 1
   Thursday 17 March from 12:00 pm to 11:55 pm ET
2. First Round – Matchday 2
   Friday 18 March from 12:00 pm to 11:55 pm ET
3. Second Round – Matchday 1
   Saturday 19 March from 12:00 pm to 11:30 pm ET
4. Second Round – Matchday 2
   Sunday 20 March from 12:00 pm to 11:30 pm ET
5. Divisional Semifinals – Matchday 1
   Thursday 24 March from 7:00 pm to 11:45 pm ET
6. Divisional Semifinals – Matchday 2
   Friday 25 March from 7:00 pm to 11:45 pm ET
7. Divisional Finals – Matchday 1
   Saturday 26 March from 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm ET
8. Divisional Finals – Matchday 2
   Sunday 27 March from 2:30 pm to 6:55 pm ET
9. Final Four
   Saturday 2 April from 6:00 pm to 10:30 pm ET
10. Championship
    Monday 4 April from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm ET

What are some other things I should know?

If you’re interested to read a little about Metallic Madness, here’s a look at the principal points that will guide the organizers through the event.

• Metallic Madness is not a serious tournament. With the notable exception of the seeding process, the tournament and its results should not be construed as an objective value.
• As the flagship character, applicable character variants of Sonic the Hedgehog will be automatically seeded #1 in their respective divisions.
• In an event of multiple character variants in one division, the most current or prevalent version will receive priority for the automatic seed. As such, Modern Sonic will receive priority in the Games division for the #1 seed over Classic Sonic, and Movie Sonic will receive priority over Boom Sonic for the #1 seed in the Media division.
• With the exception of the Community and Games division, each division can feature at least one character variant of Sonic the Hedgehog. This year’s bracket will feature Modern and Classic Sonic in Games, and Movie Sonic in Media. Modern Sonic and Movie Sonic are automatically the first seeds in their divisions.
• In the result of a tie, the tied game will be played at the end of the matchday.
• Those directly involved in the production of Metallic Madness are barred from entering the bracket. This includes Tails’ Channel and IDWSonicNews.
• To ensure the possibility of a new victor, previous Community division winners of the original incarnation of Metallic Madness are not eligible entrants of the bracket.

If a community entrant wins the tournament, what’s their prize?

Nothing, except gaining the immense gratitude of not losing to a fictional character. 😉

Conclusion

Those are all the details for this year’s Metallic Madness tournament! Make sure you tune in for the Selection Programme on Sunday 13 March on Tails’ Channel Twitch, and be sure to vote beginning 17 March on the official Metallic Madness Twitter.

Have fun!