Tournament formats explained

The format decides how many matches a team plays and how much one bad game can hurt. Always read the event's own rules, because details vary.

Single elimination

Lose once and you are out, so a single bad match can end a strong team's run.

Double elimination

Teams play in an upper and a lower bracket. A loss in the upper bracket moves a team to the lower bracket, and a loss there eliminates it. A team has to lose twice to go out, so it is more forgiving.

Round robin

Each team in a group plays every other team, so nobody goes out after one bad match. The standings then decide who advances.

Swiss

Teams with similar records play each other each round, without every team having to play all the others. Traditional Swiss events do not eliminate anyone, but some esports events do. At Counter-Strike Majors, three wins advance a team and three losses eliminate it.

Battle royale points

Many teams share one match, so teams usually play several matches and earn points. BGIS 2026's in-game qualifiers, for example, gave 10 points for a win and 1 for each elimination. Standings then decide who advances or wins, and rules vary by event.

Match lengths

• Best of 1: one game decides the match.
• Best of 3: the first team to win two games takes the match.
• Best of 5: the first team to win three games takes the match.