Double Elimination Brackets

A double elimination bracket is a draw format in which a player must lose twice before being out of the division. The participant may lose once and still win first place

Double elimination brackets are broken up into a winners bracket and a losers bracket, with the winner of the loser’s bracket playing the winner of the winner’s bracket for first place.

Losers of matches in the winners bracket dropdown into a spot and play another loser to see who advances in the loser’s bracket. Losers of later rounds in the winners bracket feed into later rounds of the losers bracket, so it is an advantage to continue winning as long as possible in the winners bracket, as losers have to play more matches.

To determine first place in a double elimination bracket, there is sometimes an optional IF match. If the winner of the winners bracket loses against the winner of the losers bracket, a final IF match can be played to determine the champion. This is a true double elimination bracket, otherwise when the IF match is not played and the winners bracket team loses, it would be their first loss. Sometimes the IF match is not played if the tournament is limited in available time.

A double elimination bracket would usually be used only in a tournament as opposed to a league. A round robin schedule is better for a league or season so teams can continue to play even after a few loses.

Advantages:

In double elimination brackets, third and fourth places are determined without having to play an extra playoff match. Also, if the tournament director seeded teams incorrectly in a way where top teams meet in an early round, the losing team has a chance to advance through the loser’s bracket and still compete for first place. A team having a bad game in an early round has a chance to make up for it and still win the title.

Disadvantages:

Almost twice the number of matches must be played in a double elimination bracket compared with a normal Single elimination bracket with the same number of players.

Scheduling a time for the IF match can be difficult in smaller venues because it may not need to be played. Fans and spectators may show up to watch a match that never takes place.