[Zeldor]

Hmm... why do you want to go with different nations anyway? It'd be more fair to use same nation. X vs X, ex. Ashdod vs Ashdod. Nation for each round could be random. It's quite easy to clone nation with a mod afaik.

Also - why eliminate defeated players? Let's do it like in normal tournaments in other games [I think MtG uses that] - first round can be random. Next round people with 1 victory play against random opponent with 1 victory, those with 0 play against 0. Repeat every round, winner is the one with highest score at the end. You can always use that as preliminary sorting [3-4 rounds?] and play elimination ladder later to determine winner.