Exlor
I can't wait for the moment Ketis's breakthrough to Journeyman, she will have so many sword related insights that the cristalization of her design philosophy will impress even Ves. Also, I'm pretty sure she will set some kind of precedent bc her mechs will be unusually strong for a journeyman, similar to Ves. Also, rooting for Ketis and Ves to make a masterwork/masterpiece mech, probably for Sendra (if I'm not mistaken she's a mech pilot)
Wait, wouldn't it be "top 125"? Single-elimination. Which means that if Top 1000 is a goalpost, then each of those 1000 fight in a 1-on-1 duel, that's 500 left. Then 250. Then 125. Then it would have to change structure or have a "bye" match (automatic win for 1 random candidate) for each subsequent round.