In the last two tournaments I've played in, there have been some very serious server problems. The server even temporarily shut down for me on the regular site, so I had to play my games on kongregate.
I would like to know if the increased PvP activity during tournaments is causing the servers to perform worse than usual. I would like somebody (or a few players - more is better) who is very active in PvP to take statistics on how frequently games desync and fail to connect during Round 1 of PvP Tournaments, as opposed to during non-tournament hours. Basically, play a few PvP duels at the very start of a tournament and record how frequently they desync or fail to connect. Then, do the same for when you are playing while there is no tournament going on. This is a long task, and it will probably require at least three or four weeks of testing, but any data you can provide with would be helpful. If it is indeed true that the servers cannot handle a large number of games at once without desyncs, then it may be best for the Elements community to shift away from the weekly tournaments and more towards PvP events.
If I have not made myself clear, feel free to ask questions.