Tournament Format and Draw
League, group and knockout formats; draw rules, presentation draw, finalising and undoing.
- What is the Tournament Format and when is it chosen?The Tournament Format decides how the tournament is played. There are five main options: League, Group Stage, Groups + Knockout, League + Knockout and Direct Knockout. It can be changed until the draw is official.
- What is a league? What do single and double round mean?In a league all teams play each other in one table. In a single round each pairing is played once, in a double round twice. You can add a knockout stage after the league.
- What are the Group Stage and Groups + Knockout formats?In a group stage teams are split into groups and each group plays within itself. In Groups + Knockout a set number of teams from each group advance to a knockout stage.
- What is Direct Knockout? Single leg, two legs and byesIn Direct Knockout teams are paired from the first round and the loser goes out. Ties can be single or two-legged. If the number of teams is not a power of two, some teams get a bye or a preliminary round is played.
- What is the advancement rule and how do I change it?The advancement rule decides how many teams move from one stage to the next. In groups it means “per group”, in a league it means “in total”. It can be edited as long as the target stage has not started.
- What is the draw and when is it made?The draw distributes teams into groups or into a knockout order. The result is always produced by the server. It is shown as a draft first and does not reach the outside world until you make it official.
- Draw rules: random, seeded and pot drawsThe draw rule is the sporting logic of the distribution. A random draw applies no constraints. Seeding keeps strong teams apart. In a pot draw teams are grouped into pots and each group receives one team from each pot.
- What is the draw participant list?Before the draw you confirm which teams enter it. Once the list is frozen the draw is made from it. If no draw has been made you can reopen the list.
- What is the Automatic Draw and how do I use it?The Automatic Draw is the manager’s fast path, with no animation. You make the draw, review the draft, redraw if needed, then make it official.
- What is the Presentation Draw and how do I use it?The Presentation Draw is the live experience you show an audience: teams are revealed one by one, stay on screen for the time you choose, then slide into their group. It has three presentation formats — Timed draw presentation (the system advances), Scheduled draw presentation (a timed draw presentation that starts automatically at the date and time you set) and Manager-controlled draw presentation (Start/Stop for each team).
- What is a Scheduled draw presentation?You set a time and a presentation pace. When the time arrives the draw is presented live: teams are revealed one by one at the pace you chose, and the draw becomes official automatically once the last team is placed. There is no approval step and your browser does not need to be open.
- What does making the draw official do, and what happens next?Finalising turns the draft into the tournament’s real draw. The result appears on the public page, the participant structure is settled, and only then can fixtures be generated.
- What does undoing the draw do, and until when can I do it?Undoing removes the official draw and restores the result as a draft. If fixtures exist the draw cannot be undone; reset the fixtures first. Draw history is never deleted.
- Why can I not make the draw or move on to fixtures?A disabled draw button usually means a precondition is missing: no format chosen, the participant list not confirmed, or the draw already official. Fixtures require an official draw.
Questions about this topic
Where is the “Lock draw” button?
The current name of that action is “Make the draw official”. It does the same thing: it turns the draft into the tournament’s real draw, publishes it on the public page and unlocks fixture generation.
What does making the draw official do, and what happens next?
Why can I not make the draw?
The usual reasons: the Tournament Format has not been chosen, the draw participant list has not been confirmed, the team count does not fit the chosen structure, or the draw is already official. The screen always states the reason.
Are fixtures generated automatically once the draw is official?
No. Finalising only unlocks fixture generation. You generate the fixtures yourself from the Fixtures page.
What does making the draw official do, and what happens next?
I made the draw official — can I draw again?
Yes, as long as no fixtures exist. Undo the draw first, then draw again. If fixtures exist you must reset them from the Fixtures page first.
What is the difference between seeding and pots?
A seed marks a single team’s strength and says “teams of the same level must not share a group”. A pot clusters teams by level and says “every group gets one team from every cluster”. A pot draw is the clustered form of seeding logic.
Why can I not see my earlier draws in the history?
The draw history records official draws only. Draft attempts are not written to it and the attempt counter is not shown; you can redraw as often as you like until the draft is finalised.
Does changing the presentation speed affect the draw result?
No. The tempo is a presentation preference only (1–15 seconds, 5 by default). The server produces the result before the presentation opens; the animation is decorative.
What happens if I draw before the scheduled time?
The pending plan is deactivated. Your manual draw stands; when the time arrives the plan does not run and does not overwrite your result.
Is a new draw made when moving from groups or a league to the knockout?
No. In chained formats the draw exists only for the first stage. The knockout pairings follow from the standings — with eight teams advancing they are 1–8, 2–7, 3–6, 4–5.
What happens if the groups are not equal in size?
If the team count does not divide evenly the groups differ in size, and the system distributes as evenly as it can. The one thing to watch is that the number advancing stays meaningful for the smallest group.
What happens in a Direct Knockout with 3, 5, 6 or 10 teams?
A bracket works with 2, 4, 8, 16 teams. If your count is not one of those, some teams play a preliminary round and the rest go straight to the next round. No fake empty opponent is created.
What is a bye?
A bye is when a team advances to the next round without playing. In a Direct Knockout the draw decides it; in chains arriving from a league or group table it goes to the team at the top of the standings.
What happens to advancement if a team withdraws?
If the number of eligible teams remaining equals or falls below the target, all remaining teams advance and the next stage is built with the real participant count. If more remain than the target, the advancement rule keeps selecting normally.
Can I change the tournament format after the draw?
Not directly, because the official draw was produced for that format. Reset the fixtures if any exist, undo the draw, change the format and draw again. The advancement rule, however, can be edited separately from a narrow correction surface.