# Elimination

**Elimination** is the classic knockout: lose once and you are out. Use it as the start mode of a discipline
when you only want a bracket, or add it after a qualifying stage to play out the final placings.

Entry types: **Single**, **Doubles**, **Team Name**.

## How the bracket works

1. The bracket has 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 or more slots, the next power of two above the number of participants. If the field is smaller, the best-seeded participants get a bye in the first round: with 12 participants in a bracket of 16, seeds 1 to 4 skip the first round.
2. Seeding follows the ranking of the previous stage: 1 plays the last, 2 plays the second to last, and so on. The two halves of the bracket are built so that 1 and 2 can only meet in the final, 1 to 4 only from the semi-finals on. With 8 participants the first round is 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 3 vs 6, 2 vs 7.
3. After a group stage all group winners are seeded above all runners-up, and participants from the same group are placed as far apart as possible, so they meet as late as possible.
4. Rounds are named by size: 1/8 Finals, 1/4 Finals, 1/2 Finals, Final. The optional **Match for Third Place** is played between the losers of the semi-finals.
5. The table shows the **Rank** per participant. **Preliminary Stage Result** shows the placing before the knockout.

As a start mode without a previous stage, the seeding is the entry order, shuffled by **Randomize entries
before tournament start** unless you turn it off.

## Create an elimination after a qualifying stage

1. Open the discipline and click **Create Elimination** in the header. Make sure all matches of the qualifying stage have a result: the bracket is seeded from the current ranking.

2. Choose the number of brackets. With more than one bracket the default names are Profi, Amateur, Hobby and Newbie, each taking the next range of places. You can rename them.

3. Set the **Placing** per bracket, for example places 1 to 8 for the first bracket and 9 to 16 for the second. Places you leave out do not play a knockout.

4. Pick the **Elimination Mode**: Single Elimination, [Double Elimination](/kickertool/modes/double-elimination/), [Direct Playoffs](/kickertool/modes/direct-playoffs/) or, for singles, [Lord Have Mercy](/kickertool/modes/lord-have-mercy/). Every bracket can have its own mode.

5. Decide on the **Match for Third Place** and check the match settings. Goals, sets and quick entry can differ from the qualifying stage, for example best of three in the knockout after single games in the qualifying.

6. Click **Start Elimination**. The bracket is drawn and the first matches are ready for a table.

:::caution
The bracket is drawn from the ranking at the moment you click **Start Elimination**. Check the table first;
a wrong result in the qualifying stage means a wrong seeding.
:::

## Draw teams from a singles qualifying

If the qualifying stage was played with single players, you can either continue as **Single** or choose
**Draw Teams** and let Kickertool form doubles from the ranking. The **Team Seeding** decides who plays with
whom. With 8 players ranked 1 to 8:

- **Highest + Lowest**: 1 with 8, 2 with 7, 3 with 6, 4 with 5. The most balanced teams; the classic DYP final.
- **Highest + Middle**: 1 with 5, 2 with 6, 3 with 7, 4 with 8. Balanced, but the top players do not get the weakest partners.
- **First + Second**: 1 with 2, 3 with 4, 5 with 6, 7 with 8. Strong teams stay strong; the ranking is confirmed rather than mixed.
- **First Half + Random**: 1 to 4 are set as the first players of the teams, 5 to 8 are drawn randomly to them.
- **Random**: everyone is drawn randomly.

The teams are then seeded into the bracket in the order they were formed, so the team of the best player is
seed 1.

## Several brackets

More than one bracket lets everybody play a knockout at their level. A common setup after a Swiss stage with
32 teams: places 1 to 8 play the Profi bracket for the title, 9 to 16 Amateur, 17 to 24 Hobby, 25 to 32
Newbie. Each bracket has its own elimination mode, third-place option and match settings.

## Running the stage

- Matches become playable as soon as both participants are known. The second round can start while first-round matches are still running.
- If a participant does not show up, enter the match as lost with the configured goals.

## Next steps

Give everybody a second chance with [Double Elimination](/kickertool/modes/double-elimination/), or play out
every single place with [Direct Playoffs](/kickertool/modes/direct-playoffs/).