About This Format
Single Elimination is the most straightforward bracket format: players are seeded into a bracket, matched head-to-head, and the loser of each match is immediately eliminated from the tournament. The winner advances to the next round until only one player remains.
How It Works
Players are organised into a bracket based on their qualifying seed. In each round, two players face off. The winner advances to the next round and the loser is eliminated. The bracket continues until a champion is crowned. Additional placement matches can be played — for example, a bronze match between the two semifinal losers, and a 4-player game to determine 5th through 8th place.
Best-of Formats
Each match in the bracket can be played as a single game (best of 1) or as a multi-game series: best of 3 (first to 2 wins), best of 5 (first to 3 wins), or best of 7 (first to 4 wins). Longer series reduce the impact of luck on any single game and give the stronger player more opportunities to prove themselves, but they also take significantly more time to complete.
Bracket Sizes and Byes
Brackets support 4 to 128+ players. If the player count isn't a power of 2, the bracket is padded to the next power of 2 and top seeds receive first-round byes (automatic advancement without playing). Byes give higher-seeded players an advantage by reducing the number of matches they need to win.
TGP Calculation
Meaningful games are determined by looking up the player count and best-of format in the IFPA's reference table. More players and higher best-of values yield more meaningful games. The number of meaningful games represents the competitive experience of the player who finishes last among those who played at least one match.