Looking to join the tourney scene

By mondaymadetofall, in 3. AGoT Organized Play

Picked up a core set, played it once, then ordered two more and every faction expansion. This is a great game. Now I just need an outlet in which to play it. So I have a few expectedly noobish questions.

What is the standard format for competitive play? Is it 1v1 or 4-player?

Also, how often do regional events occur, or does it vary, depending on your location?

Also, how balanced is the game, faction to faction? I recently quit playing another faction based card game that boasted nine playable factions with two to four deck types per faction, but in reality there were only two or three decks worth playing, if you wanted to win.

Finally, how large is the player base? Looks like it's a global game, but is the base dense? I don't expect it to be magic, but I was just wondering what a standard, say, regional event turnout might look like.

Well, if you tell me where you live I can give you maybe some useful answers…

Not related to the OP, but if you lived in Vancouver, BC I guess you have to travel pretty far to get involved in a tournament ?