Within the
SCA , the
tournaments held two or three times per year in each
kingdom to determine who will reign for the next period. Such tournaments are generally, but not always,
double-elimination lists , where each combatant may lose two combats before being eliminated. Generally conducted with a great deal of ceremony, because there is a prize accorded to the victor, the right to reign, these lists are the greatest tests of virtue in the spectrum of SCA tourneys, they are either affairs where great
honor and
renown are won or lost. They are the pinnacle of
prize tourneys in the SCA.