Tournament structure - Revision history

Kevin Wang: /* ACF-style final and advantaged finals */

2026-05-25T04:59:14Z

ACF-style final and advantaged finals

Kevin Wang: /* ACF-style final and advantaged finals */

2023-08-11T02:04:13Z

ACF-style final and advantaged finals

Jonah Greenthal at 17:29, 21 July 2023

2023-07-21T17:29:03Z

Matt Weiner: /* Elimination tournaments */

2023-07-21T04:16:41Z

Elimination tournaments

Kevin Wang: /* ACF-style final and advantaged finals */

2022-08-26T16:00:00Z

ACF-style final and advantaged finals

Kevin Wang: /* Power-matching */

2022-04-07T15:15:16Z

Power-matching

Kevin Wang: /* Round robin */

2022-04-07T15:14:48Z

Round robin

Gregory Gauthier: /* Elimination tournaments */ add reasons for choosing single-elimination for a TV tournament

2018-07-21T17:07:28Z

Elimination tournaments: add reasons for choosing single-elimination for a TV tournament

Jonah Greenthal: /* ACF-style final and advantaged finals */ cleanup and clarification

2018-07-21T14:36:22Z

ACF-style final and advantaged finals: cleanup and clarification

Jonah Greenthal: /* Advantaged final */

2018-03-14T11:54:52Z

Advantaged final

@@ Line 108: / Line 108: @@
 ===ACF-style final and advantaged finals===
-:''"Two-game final" and "advantaged final" redirect here.''
+:''Main page: [[advantaged final]]''
 Many tournaments typically use the following scheme for finals:
 * If the top team by record (in the singular top pool) is at least two games ahead of the second-place team(s) (in the same pool), the top team is the winner of the tournament; they are said to have '''cleared the field''' by obviating the need for a final
 * If there is an exact tie in record for first place, a single-game final occurs (the winner of which is the winner of the tournament)
 * If the top team by record is exactly one game ahead of the second-place team(s), an '''advantaged final''' occurs: Up to two matches will be played; if the team that was originally in first place wins the first, it wins the tournament, while if the team that was originally in second place wins the first game, a second game is played and the winner is the winner of the tournament. This is equivalent to a best-of-three series in which the initially-first-place team is considered to have already won the first game, and is therefore said to be "advantaged" (and the initially-second-place team is said to be "disadvantaged).
 ==External Links==

@@ Line 108: / Line 108: @@
 ===ACF-style final and advantaged finals===
-:''"Two-game final" redirects here.''
+:''"Two-game final" and "advantaged final" redirect here.''
 Many tournaments typically use the following scheme for finals:
 * If the top team by record (in the singular top pool) is at least two games ahead of the second-place team(s) (in the same pool), the top team is the winner of the tournament; they are said to have '''cleared the field''' by obviating the need for a final

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 ===Power-matching===
 :''See also: [[power-matching]]''
-'''Power-matching''' is a scheme similar to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament Swiss pairing], but without using results throughout the day to inform re-seeding. Typically, teams always face opponents who have the same record as them, or as similar a record is possible. Power-matching is often implemented by means of a [[card system]], though there are other ways. Power-matching on its own is logically equivalent to an elimination tournament with built-in consolation games.
+'''Power-matching''' is a scheme similar to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament Swiss pairing], but without using results throughout the day to inform re-seeding. Typically, teams always face opponents who have the same record as them, or as similar a record is possible. Power-matching is often implemented by means of a [[card system]], though there are other ways. Power-matching on its own is similar to an elimination tournament with built-in consolation games (though there are differences in some of the specific pairings).
 ===Elimination tournaments===

@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 '''Double-elimination''' is a system in which a team is eliminated from contention as soon as it has lost ''two'' matches. After each round, winners face winners in the next round in a "winners' bracket", while losers drop down into a "losers' bracket". Play proceeds until either one team is left in the winners' bracket and one is left in the losers' bracket, in which case they play an advantaged final (the winners' bracket team can win the championship by winning one game; the losers' bracket team would have to win twice consecutively to claim the championship), or there are two remaining teams both in the losers' bracket, in which case they play a single championship match. Double-elimination is rare in quizbowl because unless there are very many teams, it takes more rounds than round robin-based playoffs, but it is used at several [[NAQT]] national championships.
-(Triple-elimination and higher-order elimination formats are theoretically possible, but unheard of in quizbowl.)
+Triple-elimination and higher-order elimination formats are theoretically possible, but almost unheard of in quizbowl - as a true "playoff phase" of a tournament it takes so many rounds for any field size that you could just do pooled playoffs instead, and there is no realistic scenario where it is a practical solution.  The only near-exception was the format used at [[ASCN TOC]], in which teams played randomly drawn prelim games until all but a neat number (e.g. 16 or 24) had 3 losses, at which point all teams with fewer than 3 losses were seeded into a single-elimination playoff bracket. Thus, the tournament was "triple elimination" for the cut from prelims to playoffs only.
 The [[HSNCT]] uses a hybrid single/double-elimination playoff format: after each team plays 10 preliminary games, all teams that went 6-4 or better in the preliminary rounds participate in a double-elimination tournament. However, teams who went 6-4 in the preliminary rounds start in the losers' bracket. That is, teams who went 6-4 will be eliminated on their first loss, while teams who went 7-3 or better will be eliminated on their second loss.

@@ Line 108: / Line 108: @@
 ===ACF-style final and advantaged finals===
 Many tournaments typically use the following scheme for finals:
 * If the top team by record (in the singular top pool) is at least two games ahead of the second-place team(s) (in the same pool), the top team is the winner of the tournament; they are said to have '''cleared the field''' by obviating the need for a final

@@ Line 85: / Line 85: @@
 Some tournaments have teams play games against essentially (or absolutely) random opponents, without any pooling scheme.
-===[[Power-matching]]===
+===Power-matching===
-'''[[Power-matching]]''' is a scheme similar to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament Swiss pairing], but without using results throughout the day to inform re-seeding. Typically, teams always face opponents who have the same record as them, or as similar a record is possible. Power-matching is often implemented by means of a [[card system]], though there are other ways. Power-matching on its own is logically equivalent to an elimination tournament with built-in consolation games.
+:''See also: [[power-matching]]''
 ===Elimination tournaments===

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:14, 7 April 2022
Line 40:		Line 40:

	===Round robin===		===Round robin===
		+	:''See also: [[round robin]]''
	A '''round robin''' is a format in which every team plays every other team. This extends to formats where each team plays every other team the same number of times: '''double round robin''', '''triple round robin''', etc.		A '''round robin''' is a format in which every team plays every other team. This extends to formats where each team plays every other team the same number of times: '''double round robin''', '''triple round robin''', etc.

@@ Line 88: / Line 88: @@
 ===Elimination tournaments===
-'''Single-elimination''' is a system in which a team is eliminated from contention as soon as it loses a match. Meanwhile, winners go on and face other winners. This format is moderately popular for playoffs (generally after preliminary games, often by means of pools) and very popular for [[television tournaments]]. It is often criticized for giving teams relatively few games (which can be considered a waste of money, lead B teams to have nothing to do but wait while the A team is still competing, etc.), but it is very efficient in terms of getting to a winner in a minimum number of games and rounds.
+'''Single-elimination''' is a system in which a team is eliminated from contention as soon as it loses a match. Meanwhile, winners go on and face other winners. This format is moderately popular for playoffs (generally after preliminary games, often by means of pools) and very popular for [[television tournaments]] (because it guarantees a specific number of games and allows as many teams to participate as possible given that the games are not played concurrently). It is often criticized for giving teams relatively few games (which can be considered a waste of money, lead B teams to have nothing to do but wait while the A team is still competing, etc.), but it is very efficient in terms of getting to a winner in a minimum number of games and rounds.
 '''Double-elimination''' is a system in which a team is eliminated from contention as soon as it has lost ''two'' matches. After each round, winners face winners in the next round in a "winners' bracket", while losers drop down into a "losers' bracket". Play proceeds until either one team is left in the winners' bracket and one is left in the losers' bracket, in which case they play an advantaged final (the winners' bracket team can win the championship by winning one game; the losers' bracket team would have to win twice consecutively to claim the championship), or there are two remaining teams both in the losers' bracket, in which case they play a single championship match. Double-elimination is rare in quizbowl because unless there are very many teams, it takes more rounds than round robin-based playoffs, but it is used at several [[NAQT]] national championships.

@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 The [[HSNCT]] uses a hybrid single/double-elimination playoff format: after each team plays 10 preliminary games, all teams that went 6-4 or better in the preliminary rounds participate in a double-elimination tournament. However, teams who went 6-4 in the preliminary rounds start in the losers' bracket. That is, teams who went 6-4 will be eliminated on their first loss, while teams who went 7-3 or better will be eliminated on their second loss.
-===Advantaged final===
+===Final===
-In many tournaments, when one team is exactly one game ahead of a second-place team, an '''advantaged final''' occurs. This means that up to two matches will be played. If the team that started ahead wins the first game, it is the champion. If the team that started behind wins the first game, the second game is "winner-take-all". This is equivalent to a best-of-three series in which the initially-leading team is considered to have already won the first game, and is therefore said to be "advantaged" (and the initially-trailing team is said to be "disadvantaged").
+Tournaments generally need some sort of finals format.
-The term "advantaged finals" typically entails the practice that a team in first place and two or more games ahead of the second-place team(s) will be declared the winner of the tournament without playing any final matches. Such a team is said to have '''cleared the field'''.
+Elimination playoffs have the final built in.
-If the top team is exactly one game ahead of multiple teams tied for second place, [[tiebreaker|tiebreaking procedures]] will be necessary to determine which of the second-place teams faces the first-place team; this requires additional rounds and questions. If time is short and/or questions are not available, the top team may be declared the winner because there is no fair way to determine which second-place team should have the opportunity to play for first, or [[statistical tiebreakers]] may be used to determine which second-place team has that opportunity, though the latter is not a best practice.
+One can simply declare that the top team after playoffs is the winner of the tournament, but that entails defining "top team", including defining a scheme for breaking ties.
-When there are multiple second-place teams one game behind the leader, typically [[tiebreaker matches]] occur to determine which of them will face the leader in an advantaged final.
+Sometimes finals procedures are applied recursively to identify lower-down places, e.g. for awarding trophies.
-The term "advantaged final" was coined by [[Robert Hentzel]].
+===ACF-style final and advantaged finals===
 ==External Links==