Tag-Team: A Crackpot Format Idea

[L.H.O.O.Q.]

Once in a while, inspiration will strike a random quizbowler while they are reclined and lazily sipping their beverage of choice (statistically speaking, Mountain Dew Voltage for me). I'll see the way that teams led by one solitary 100-ppg scorer will stomp their way to tournament victories over teams whose fourth-scorers are putting up 20, and something will tickle the back of my head. If quiz bowl is a team sport, why does it reward the monomaniacal individual who studies everything just as much as the full team that meticulously coordinates their studying to divide and conquer the distribution? How can we change the game to reward teams for balance and cohesion while simultaneously mitigating the power of the individual super-player in a maximally-obnoxious and obstructive way?

TAG-TEAM
You probably already know what the word means, so you probably have an idea of what's going on here. Here's a basic run-down of this hypothetical new quiz bowl format that I have not mentioned to anyone nor tested in any capacity:

Team Size: 2-6 (never 1)
Active Players: 1
Bonuses: No
Substitutions: Mandatory after every tossup

Each tossup will be clearly labeled with its intended subdistribution, down to "auditory fine arts" or "mathematics" but no further. After hearing the subdistribution, each team decides which single player will be active on the buzzer for that question. The team MUST make a substitution after every tossup; if they put their history/geo player in for a history tossup, and the next tossup is geo, they'll be forced to swap in their second-best geo player. As such, a team can only play its best player for a maximum of 10 tossups per game.

WHY SHOULD I PLAY TAG-TEAM?
You shouldn't. I just want this idea out in the world for people to ruminate on and enjoy a sensible chuckle. I'd be open to hosting an online open tournament in this format in case anyone is into the idea of "playing only a few tossups per game and watching your teammates play quiz bowl while you cannot help them," but I'm not vain enough to expect that kind of interest.

[Cheynem]

I would probably require each team to have a set number of players to avoid things where a 4th player still only comes in for one question.

[modernhemalurgist]

This is kind of the idea behind the Sammarinese format, which I think has been quite well received.

[Somewhere in the Stratosphere]

TJ is romping every tournament run on this format I would think