ShadowGPW
Jan 25, 2006, 01:34 PM
Here is a column i've editted, inspired and ideas stolen from Godsmurf's original column at ClanBase.com. Read here what double elm is and how it works.
Almost all recent duel competitions have used a double elimination scheme. PGL, CPL, XSi (and recently also on ClanBase) are the biggest examples. Still, a lot of people don't seem to understand how double elimination works. This column will explain it all.
If you're reading this and are wondering "What needs to be explained about double elimination? It is dead simple!" then don't read on coz there's nothing new here. You're right, it is very simple. I'm writing this column because I was asked to by some guys who are playing in the Belgian Quake 3 Trophy (BQ3T) 1on1 league but don't really understand how the double elimination scheme, which I recommended to the BQ3T organisers, works. Now don't start making jokes about the average Belgian IQ :) Last weekend I was checking Barrysworld's coverage of the CPL qualifier in London and I noticed how they kept editing their news items every 5 minutes because they didn't have a clue about how double elimination works, so there's obviously more people out there that don't understand it.
Okay, let's first look at an ordinary tournament. To keep things simple, our imaginary tournament has only 8 players. These players are all imaginary as well, any resemblance with real players is entirely coincidental and involuntary:
http://www.clanbase.com/miscfiles/GScol_wb.gif
This is a tournament where you have 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals and a final, much like in tennis tournaments. In such a tournament, if you lose once, you're out. That's why they are called single elimination tournaments. A single defeat is enough to eliminate you from the tournament.
The problem with single elimination is that the best two players can meet each other in an early round already. The player who loses that match is already eliminated then and finishes in a low position. In our example, the imaginary player Fatal1ty seems to deserve better than to finish in the last 4.
In double elimination tournaments, this can't happen. As the name suggests, you have to be defeated twice before you are eliminated from such tournaments. How does this work? First of all, the same matches as above are played, and the above scheme is called the winners' bracket because only the winners survive there. The difference with single elimination is that the players who lose a match are not eliminated, but are transferred to the losers' bracket:
http://www.clanbase.com/miscfiles/GScol_lb.gif
Uh what's this? Let's start on the left and see what happens step by step. On the left we have the four players that lost in the first round of the tournament, i.e. the first set of losers. They have to play each other first to halve their numbers. The players who lose this match have lost a match for the second time, so they are eliminated from the tourney. The two players that win - Fatal1ty and Dark - remain in the tournament. Meanwhile in the winners' bracket the semi-finals have been played. Kane and Lakerman, who have lost these semi's (hey we've seen a Kane vs. Lakerman final already), are transferred to the losers' bracket where they have to play against the two remaining first-round losers. The winners of these matches are Fatal1ty and Kane. They then play each other so only one remains - Fatal1ty. Meanwhile the final of the winners' bracket has been played, and the loser of that match, Shub, is transferred to the losers' bracket, like all losers before him.
He has to face the one remaining loser, Fatal1ty, in a match that is called the final of the losers' bracket. Fatal1ty wins once again, Shub loses and gets the third place of the tournament.
Both the winners' and losers' brackets are now finished. The two remaining players now have to face each other in the tournament final. This is a match unlike any other and that's why people are often confused about it. Suppose it is a normal match and Fatal1ty wins. Then Godsmurf has lost a match for the first time. Does that mean he finishes 2nd? Hell no! Like every other player, he has to lose twice before he is eliminated. That's why this match is unlike any other; Fatal1ty has to play against Godsmurf <b>again</b>. If Fatal1ty wins again, then Godsmurf loses for the second time and is therefore eliminated, and Fatal1ty wins the tourney. If however this time Godsmurf wins, then Fatal1ty loses for the second time (because he also lost that first round match remember?) so he is eliminated and Godsmurf is the winner of the tournament. In short, in the tournament final the winner of the losers' bracket has to beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice in a row, otherwise he loses.
That's how double elimination works. The nice thing about it is of-course that everybody gets two chances. One weak moment or one stroke of ill fortune can never eliminate a potential winner. If you want an example of double elimination in a larger tournament than the example used above, then look at http://www.netgamesusa.com/ngTCS/Frag3/scoreboard.html the scoreboard of the Frag 3 event. Note that they only started using double elimination from the final 32 onwards (because of lack of time).
Has it ever occurred that a player lost in an early round but then won all matches in the losers' bracket and beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice to win the whole tournament? Why yes! In fact, someone has done it twice. His name is Thresh, you may have heard of him. In the 4th PGL season (Q2), he lost to Immortal in the first round, but he won all his matches in the losers' bracket and in the final beat Immy twice in a row to take the tournament. He had done the exact same thing in the 2nd PGL season (Q1). If the PGL had used a single elimination scheme, Thresh would never even have reached a semi-final and would probably not have become as famous as he did. This column is sponsored by Thresh Inc. btw.
In the two most recent CPL events and in the XSi tourney, double elimination was used as well but noone came back from the losers' bracket to win the tournament. Wombat, Hakeem and Fatal1ty won those three tournaments without a single defeat.
Well that's it for this column, cya next time!
Almost all recent duel competitions have used a double elimination scheme. PGL, CPL, XSi (and recently also on ClanBase) are the biggest examples. Still, a lot of people don't seem to understand how double elimination works. This column will explain it all.
If you're reading this and are wondering "What needs to be explained about double elimination? It is dead simple!" then don't read on coz there's nothing new here. You're right, it is very simple. I'm writing this column because I was asked to by some guys who are playing in the Belgian Quake 3 Trophy (BQ3T) 1on1 league but don't really understand how the double elimination scheme, which I recommended to the BQ3T organisers, works. Now don't start making jokes about the average Belgian IQ :) Last weekend I was checking Barrysworld's coverage of the CPL qualifier in London and I noticed how they kept editing their news items every 5 minutes because they didn't have a clue about how double elimination works, so there's obviously more people out there that don't understand it.
Okay, let's first look at an ordinary tournament. To keep things simple, our imaginary tournament has only 8 players. These players are all imaginary as well, any resemblance with real players is entirely coincidental and involuntary:
http://www.clanbase.com/miscfiles/GScol_wb.gif
This is a tournament where you have 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals and a final, much like in tennis tournaments. In such a tournament, if you lose once, you're out. That's why they are called single elimination tournaments. A single defeat is enough to eliminate you from the tournament.
The problem with single elimination is that the best two players can meet each other in an early round already. The player who loses that match is already eliminated then and finishes in a low position. In our example, the imaginary player Fatal1ty seems to deserve better than to finish in the last 4.
In double elimination tournaments, this can't happen. As the name suggests, you have to be defeated twice before you are eliminated from such tournaments. How does this work? First of all, the same matches as above are played, and the above scheme is called the winners' bracket because only the winners survive there. The difference with single elimination is that the players who lose a match are not eliminated, but are transferred to the losers' bracket:
http://www.clanbase.com/miscfiles/GScol_lb.gif
Uh what's this? Let's start on the left and see what happens step by step. On the left we have the four players that lost in the first round of the tournament, i.e. the first set of losers. They have to play each other first to halve their numbers. The players who lose this match have lost a match for the second time, so they are eliminated from the tourney. The two players that win - Fatal1ty and Dark - remain in the tournament. Meanwhile in the winners' bracket the semi-finals have been played. Kane and Lakerman, who have lost these semi's (hey we've seen a Kane vs. Lakerman final already), are transferred to the losers' bracket where they have to play against the two remaining first-round losers. The winners of these matches are Fatal1ty and Kane. They then play each other so only one remains - Fatal1ty. Meanwhile the final of the winners' bracket has been played, and the loser of that match, Shub, is transferred to the losers' bracket, like all losers before him.
He has to face the one remaining loser, Fatal1ty, in a match that is called the final of the losers' bracket. Fatal1ty wins once again, Shub loses and gets the third place of the tournament.
Both the winners' and losers' brackets are now finished. The two remaining players now have to face each other in the tournament final. This is a match unlike any other and that's why people are often confused about it. Suppose it is a normal match and Fatal1ty wins. Then Godsmurf has lost a match for the first time. Does that mean he finishes 2nd? Hell no! Like every other player, he has to lose twice before he is eliminated. That's why this match is unlike any other; Fatal1ty has to play against Godsmurf <b>again</b>. If Fatal1ty wins again, then Godsmurf loses for the second time and is therefore eliminated, and Fatal1ty wins the tourney. If however this time Godsmurf wins, then Fatal1ty loses for the second time (because he also lost that first round match remember?) so he is eliminated and Godsmurf is the winner of the tournament. In short, in the tournament final the winner of the losers' bracket has to beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice in a row, otherwise he loses.
That's how double elimination works. The nice thing about it is of-course that everybody gets two chances. One weak moment or one stroke of ill fortune can never eliminate a potential winner. If you want an example of double elimination in a larger tournament than the example used above, then look at http://www.netgamesusa.com/ngTCS/Frag3/scoreboard.html the scoreboard of the Frag 3 event. Note that they only started using double elimination from the final 32 onwards (because of lack of time).
Has it ever occurred that a player lost in an early round but then won all matches in the losers' bracket and beat the winner of the winners' bracket twice to win the whole tournament? Why yes! In fact, someone has done it twice. His name is Thresh, you may have heard of him. In the 4th PGL season (Q2), he lost to Immortal in the first round, but he won all his matches in the losers' bracket and in the final beat Immy twice in a row to take the tournament. He had done the exact same thing in the 2nd PGL season (Q1). If the PGL had used a single elimination scheme, Thresh would never even have reached a semi-final and would probably not have become as famous as he did. This column is sponsored by Thresh Inc. btw.
In the two most recent CPL events and in the XSi tourney, double elimination was used as well but noone came back from the losers' bracket to win the tournament. Wombat, Hakeem and Fatal1ty won those three tournaments without a single defeat.
Well that's it for this column, cya next time!