[Billfred]

I forget what thread it was, but someone suggested a king of the hill format a year or three ago. Start with two alliances, play a match. Winner stays, losers (and everyone not playing that match) go back into the pool. Find two partners in the pits, queue up, take your shot to beat that alliance and take the hill. Lather, rinse, repeat.

(Practically speaking, you'd want to have two kings playing alternate matches. That creates the same cool-down period that playing in semifinals does.)