the number 1 (currently Dave) seed from the DKOs could be playing seed 30, Hank Chien = )
LOL. Definitely a good thought.
I haven't asked Richie about how the seeding will be determined. I'm guessing it will be some combination of a scoreboard (TG, DKF, etc.) and the online tournaments. For KO1 (before Jourdan/RK were involved with TG), seeding was based on witnessed/live scores. I believe RK is supportive of the current TG ownership, so those scores may continue to count. A related but separate issue is RK will probably continue to favor arcade scores over MAME scores in which case players like Dean will be seeded lower than their true skill level. In a "high score wins all" format, this was less of an issue-- as long as you were in the top 12, all players were on even ground.
Unrelated thought: If you do face someone tough early and get knocked out, it's not necessarily a disadvantage if those players are eligible to enter the wildcard tournament as a few have suggested here.
Obviously in 1 game anything can happen. Just look at this year's NH tournament-- so many upsets already. Although regular DK is less random than NH, it's still pretty random.
P.S. Vincent and I plan on duking it out this weekend. Jeff and Dean have participated before but I don't know what their plans are this year. But you're correct, players like Wiebe will probably never play in an online tournament.