Lincoln-Douglas Debate which boasted support by its proponents for inclusion in the Tournament of Champions, Public Forum Debate faced strong opposition against joining TOC competition from supporters and opponents of the event alike. However, it was introduced in 2004 but took place as a round robin unlike its peer events. In 2007, the round robin format was abolished Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, Congressional Debate was added to TOC after three years as an independent event. Notable champions include Gregory Bernstein, who was the first and only competitor to win the tournament twice (doing so in 2012 and 2013) and Will Mascaro, who won by the largest margin since the event was added. In 2012, Tournament of Champions added two Speech Round Robins—in Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory. In 2012 and 2013, admission to the Round Robins was by application. For 2013-2014, invitations to compete in the two Round Robins was extended to the finalists of a number of strong national and regional tournaments. And in 2015 the Tournament of Champions abolished the round robin format. Tournament procedure Qualification The Tournament of Champions uses a bid system, in which placing high enough in certain nationally or regionally respected tournaments earns debaters a bid, with at least 2 bids needed to compete. Some popular bid tournaments include Greenhill (TX), Harvard (MA), and UC Berkeley (CA). In addition to attaining 2 bids, competitors can automatically qualify by placing high enough at last year’s Tournament of Champions (or one of the two other national tournaments). Or, if they do not automatically qualify or earn 2 bids, they may be accepted as an "at-large entry", where they must apply to receive a bid after the season finishes. At-large entries need to attain one bid and have made it to many "bid rounds," the round before a team would receive a bid, to be considered for an at-large entry. Elimination procedure In Lincoln-Douglas debate and Policy debate, The Tournament of Champions has six preliminary rounds and clears to octafinals. All entries who won at least 4 prelim rounds have the opportunity to advance into the outrounds. Congressional Debate and Speech, employs the National Circuits standard way of advancing. Competitors are placed in rooms, where they have several opponents and are ranked against each other. The top competitors after preliminary rounds advance to an elimination round determined by entry numbers. Location Since its inception, the