Formats and stage rules
Reference for multi-stage competitions, standings, series overrides, and bracket resets.
Use this page after you know your event’s field size and progression rules. For the full workflow, see Run a tournament.
Stages and advancement
The competition builder can arrange supported stages in sequence. Check the preview: each stage’s advancing count must produce a valid field for the next stage. Choosing a different preset replaces stage settings, while retaining the tournament name and entry settings.
For example, four groups with two qualifiers each produce eight entrants for the next stage. A GSL group requires exactly four entrants and qualifies two. This example explains the arithmetic; use the builder’s validation for the configuration you intend to run.
What each format records
| Format | How it progresses | Result to enter |
|---|---|---|
| Single elimination | A loss removes the entrant; a non-power-of-two field uses byes. | A two-sided score or series result. |
| Double elimination | An entrant leaves after a second loss; the grand final may have a reset. | A two-sided score or series result. |
| Gauntlet | Lower seeds face the next opponent in sequence; the winner continues toward the top seed. | A two-sided score or series result. |
| Groups into playoffs | Round-robin groups produce ordered qualifiers for the next stage. | Scores for each group match, including draws when allowed. |
| Round robin | Every pair meets the configured number of times. | Scores, with draws allowed unless a best-of rule is set. |
| Swiss | Each round pairs active entrants by record while avoiding rematches; a fair bye may be assigned. | Scores for each pair, then Generate next round. |
| GSL groups | Four-entrant double-elimination groups produce two qualifiers each. | Results for the group matches. |
| Custom bracket | The Organizer connects seed and result sources and defines final placement sources. | Finishing places for multi-participant matches, or scores for pairwise matches. |
| Free-for-all | Lobbies hold up to the configured size; the configured number of finishers advances. | Each participant’s finishing place. |
| Leaderboard | Participants submit scores for one or more rounds. | Each participant’s numeric score; choose higher or lower as better and sum or keep the best round. |
Free-for-all and leaderboard stages are unranked. A custom bracket is unranked only when it contains a multi-participant match; a pairwise custom bracket can be ranked. Ranked round-robin, Swiss, and group stages need a best-of rule so every result has a decisive winner. Unranked stages may accept draws where the format permits them.
Series rules
A pairwise stage can use a single scored game or an odd best-of series from 1 to 9. A best-of rule validates maps won: the winning side must reach the required majority, and the losing score must remain below it. Free-for-all and leaderboard stages use rounds or finishing places instead of series rules. Set per-round rules when, for example, the final should be longer than earlier rounds.
When more than one rule applies, precedence is:
- A specific bracket-and-round override.
- An all-brackets override for that round.
- The stage default.
In double elimination, grand-final round 2 is the reset. Check the reset rule as well as the first final.
Standings
Groups, round robin, and Swiss expose standings settings such as points for wins, draws, losses, and byes, plus ordered tiebreakers. Define these before play starts and explain them to entrants. Do not assume all events break ties using only wins or rounds.
The default standings points are 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, and 3 for a bye. Default tiebreakers use head-to-head, score difference, score for, and seed; Swiss uses Buchholz, Sonneborn–Berger, wins, and seed. Replace these defaults in the builder when your rules require a different order.
Round robin controls the number of meetings. Swiss controls the number of rounds. Keep the format’s validation messages visible while changing these values; field size constrains a valid schedule.
Swiss rounds are generated only after the current round is complete. If no rematch-free pairing with a fair bye can be found within the safety search, the round stays ungenerated and the Organizer must review the field or rule choices.
Custom brackets
Use the custom bracket editor when the standard formats do not express the event’s progression. Confirm that every source, destination, and advancement path is intentional before starting. A visually plausible diagram alone is not proof of a valid competition.
Every seed must enter the custom graph exactly once, every result place must feed one later match or final placement, and the graph cannot contain cycles. Canvas positions are presentation-only. Multi-participant custom matches cannot inherit head-to-head best-of rules.
Limits and locking
Advanced formats require the appropriate entitlement. Capacity and concurrent active events have their own limits. A plan supports up to eight stages, and the competition engine caps a field at 512 participants and 20,000 generated matches. The field and competition rules become fixed when the tournament starts, so save and review the draft first.