Match formats

A match format says how many games a match between two sides has and when it ends. It applies to single and double elimination, round robin and Swiss. Race, Points and Battle Royale do not use it.

The two kinds

In a best of, you need 1 win in a best of 1, 2 in a best of 3, 3 in a best of 5 and 4 in a best of 7.

Where the format is set

The organizer sets a match format on the stage and can override it per round on the stage's "Round settings" tab. For example, play every round as best of 3 and the final as best of 5.

The third place match has its own setting. Left unset, it follows the stage's format, never the final's.

A round's format can still change while the stage runs, but never for a match that already has a report or a result. Revert the match first.

The main score decides

A match is decided by its main score. Over several games this is the number of games won, such as 2:1 or 4:3. For a single game, it is that game's own score, such as 13:9. Where a game has no scores, it records only who won.

Each side reports the main score once. When both sides have reported, matching scores complete the match, and different scores make it disputed. A dispute is not a lock: both sides can keep correcting their own report until they agree, or staff can set the result. A completed match takes no more reports; staff correct it.

The format limits which scores are allowed. In a bracket, a best of 3 ends 2:0 or 2:1. In round robin and Swiss a map can end drawn, so a best of 3 can also end level, such as 1:1 after a drawn map. A fixed 3-game match plays all three.

Results entered as. On a stage of a game that has scores, the organizer chooses:

• Score for every game: players enter each game's score and the higher one wins.
• Winner, score optional: players pick who won and can add the score.

This is fixed once the stage starts. A game without scores has no choice.

Map details

Players may also report what happened on each map: which map, who picked it, and each map's result and score. These details are optional. They never decide the match and never cause a dispute. Where both sides give the same detail it is used. Where they differ, the detail is left blank and the match is flagged for staff. Players can add or fix their map details at any time while the stage can be edited, even after the match is settled.

Draws and level series

• Round robin and Swiss: a level main score is a draw, worth the draw points of the stage. If a match tiebreak is set, it can decide the winner instead. With "Higher seed advances" in the chain, a level match always goes to the better seed.
• Single and double elimination: a bracket cannot move on from a draw. A best of can never end level, so players cannot report a drawn game there. A fixed-games match in a bracket needs a match tiebreak chain, and a level result must name the winner through it.

Match tiebreaks

A match tiebreak chain decides a match that ends level on game wins. The organizer can list up to three rules. They are tried in order, and a rule that cannot separate the sides passes to the next:

1. Score difference: the side with the higher total score over all games played. It needs a score for every game.
2. Higher seed advances: the better seed wins. Not available where nobody is seeded, such as the first stage of an elimination bracket.
3. Extra game: one more game is played and counted in the main score. A level 2-game series it settles reads 2:1. Used at most once per match.

If the chain runs out in round robin or Swiss, the match is a draw. See Tiebreakers for how participants in a table are separated, which is a different thing.

Map veto

A stage with a map pool can run a map veto, where each side bans and picks maps before the match. The organizer chooses who goes first, the time per step and what happens when a step runs out. Once a step is taken, the match format is locked.