I've always been intrigued with the idea of using
power matching / ladder play / Swiss tournaments,
mostly because as a student, I was on a team that never
fared very well at most tournaments (we were usually
ecstatic to come away with a winning record).
My
question to those in opposition is this: the main reason I
keep seeing cited is that you don't want to play
against the same team more than once. If that team is
roughly the same caliber as yours is, what's the problem
with playing them multiple times? If ladder play works
as it should, then you should be properly challenged
each game, as your team should have roughly the same
ability to win as your opponent.