It's a new game though. Everyone is going to have the same issue as you - nobody has a head start here. Which is awesome. (: Here's to this format (and prize!) not being the last of its kind.It's a fabulous contest, though I can't imagine myself getting that good at anything in that time span.
I have to agree it's better to have in the end the top N players participate in a well observed tournament against each other. Otherwise it becomes too difficult to prevent abuse, when there's such an attractive prize on the line.
