Atlas / tournament documentation
Breaks and elimination rounds
How a break is chosen and seeded, how to generate the first elimination round, advance the bracket round by round, and publish the bracket.
The Break tab turns the preliminary standings into an elimination bracket and runs that bracket to a champion. A break is the group of top entries that advance from the preliminary rounds, called prelims, into the elimination rounds, called elims, in which a loss ends an entry's tournament. The tab is the second of four under Standings in the left rail and opens at /tournaments/[id]/admin/standings with the Break view chosen. The same console also opens from Rounds, in its elimination view, and the older address /admin/breaks sends a director here. Use it once every prelim ballot is in, to generate the first elimination round, and again after each elimination round is released and decided, to advance the bracket.
The bracket drawing and the Publish bracket button are on the Standings tab, beside the standings table. This page covers both places. Standings themselves are in Standings. Releasing each round, seating judges and entering ballots happen in Rounds and Ballots; see Rounds and pairing and Ballots.
Who can use it
| Role | What it can do on this screen |
|---|---|
| Platform admin | Everything: generate a break, advance the bracket, change the break rule and publish the bracket. |
| Organization owner or admin | Everything, for tournaments the organization hosts. |
| Tournament admin seat | Everything. |
| Tab seat | Everything on this screen. Generating, advancing and publishing are all open to a tab seat. |
| Compliance seat | Cannot open the screen and cannot run any action. The seat is sent to Records with a read only notice. |
| Organization role Settings only | Cannot open the screen. |
| Coach, competitor, judge, observer | No access. The public bracket page shows them the published bracket. |
Terms
- Seed. An entry's place in the break, counted from 1 for the best prelim standing.
- Bye. A round in which an entry is not paired and advances without debating. In a bracket the entry on a bye is recorded as advancing.
- Panel. The group of judges who hear one elimination debate and decide it by majority. A panel has an odd number of judges.
- Scope. One event, or the tournament as a whole when no event is chosen. Each scope gets one break and its own run of elimination rounds.
- Outround. Another word for an elimination round.
Break rules
The form has two ways to decide who breaks. Both use the prelim standings with elimination results left out, and both consider active entries only. A dropped or waitlisted entry is never seeded.
| Rule | How it chooses entries | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| General break | The top N active entries by prelim standing, where N is the break size saved for the event or, failing that, for the tournament. N must be at least 2. There is no limit per school. | The break size is set in Setup, under Rounds and break, or with the Break buttons on the Standings tab. |
| A break category: standard | The top entries up to the category's break size, skipping entries marked not eligible for that category, and capping the number from one school at the category's institution cap. A cap of 0 means no cap. | A category is a row in the database. No screen in the product creates or edits a category. |
| A break category: aida-1996 | As standard, and an entry is also held out unless it is among the first three entries of its school in the standings. A school is matched without regard to capital letters or spaces at the ends. | Same. |
| A break category: aida-2016 | Starts as aida-1996. If fewer entries qualify than the break size, entries held out only by the three per school rule are promoted in standings order until the size is reached. The institution cap is never relaxed. | Same. |
A category also reads a list of entries marked not eligible. An entry in that list is skipped. The list and the categories are not editable in the app, so on a tournament that has none the Break rule menu offers only General break.
Rounds also has a Prepare step that can create the first elimination round from the same prelim standings. Prepare uses the saved break size only. It does not use break categories.
Seeding and byes
A break of N entries is placed in a bracket of the next power of two at or above N, which is 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on. The top seed meets the lowest seed, and the other seeds fold in so that the top two can meet only in the final and the top four only in the semifinals. In every debate the better seed is the affirmative side.
| Break size | Bracket size | First round debates | Byes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 1 v 2 | None |
| 4 | 4 | 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 | None |
| 6 | 8 | 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 | Seeds 1 and 2 |
| 8 | 8 | 1 v 8, 4 v 5, 2 v 7 and 3 v 6 | None |
| 12 | 16 | 5 v 12, 6 v 11, 7 v 10, 8 v 9 | Seeds 1 to 4 |
When N is not a power of two, the empty places fall to the top seeds, which receive byes. A bye pairing is stored with the entry on both sides and a status of bye, takes no room, and counts as a winner when the bracket advances.
Round names
| Entrants in the round | Name given when the round is created | Name drawn on the Standings tab |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Finals | Final |
| 4 | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| 8 | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals |
| 16 | Octofinals | Octafinals |
| 32 | Double Octofinals | Double octafinals |
| Any other size | Elimination Round followed by Top and the size | Round of and the size |
Each elimination round is numbered after the tournament's highest existing round number, so elimination rounds continue the prelim numbering.
The Break view
The view is a console with a header, a rail on large screens, a main column, and, once an elimination round exists, a Release gate. Every control is listed here.
Header and rail
| Control | What it does | Default or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Eyebrow line | Shows the tournament name followed by Rounds / elims. | Read only. |
| Elimination rounds | The page title. | Read only. |
| N elim rounds | Counts the elimination rounds in the scope shown. | 0 elim rounds before the first break. |
| Open rounds | A link to the Rounds screen. | Always shown. |
| Bracket rail | A column on the left, shown from the lg screen width up and hidden on narrower screens. Its heading is Bracket. | Hidden on phones. |
| Prelim standings | A rail link back to the standings table, with a count of entries. | Opens the Standings tab. |
| Round links | One per elimination round, each with a status dot and a word: Resolved when every pairing has a result, Released when every pairing is released but not all have a result, and Needs review otherwise. A link jumps to that round's rows in the Current bracket table. | Needs review includes a round whose pairings are not released. |
| Break size | At the foot of the rail. Reads Top N from the saved size, or Not configured. | Read only. |
The scope shown is the event named in the address of the page. With no event named, the console opens on the only event when the tournament has exactly one, and otherwise on the tournament wide scope. The Break tab has no event picker. The address carries the event after a break is generated or a bracket advanced, and when the console is opened from Rounds. The Event field of the form below chooses where a new break is created.
Banner
A line at the top of the main column reports the last action. It is read from the address of the page, so it stays until the page is opened again without those settings.
| Banner | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Broke to followed by a round name, the count of pairings, and the count of competitors seeded, then Release the round, then record each result. | After a break is generated. A red banner with the refusal appears instead when the break fails. |
| Advanced to followed by a round name and the count of pairings, then ready to release. | After the bracket is advanced. |
| Bracket complete followed by the champion's name and is champion. | After an advance that finds one winner left. |
Release gate
The gate appears once at least one elimination round exists. It states what stands between the current round and the next bracket, and it holds the advance button.
| Control | What it does | Default or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Release gate title | No pairings yet when the latest round has no pairings. N rooms unresolved when some pairings have no result. The bracket is clear when every pairing has a result. | A room is unresolved until a winner is recorded. A bye is resolved. |
| Release gate detail | For no pairings, it says to pair the round in Rounds. For unresolved rooms, it says every pairing needs a decision. For a clear bracket it says to advance, and when some pairings are not released it asks for the release first. | Read only. |
| Unresolved list | Up to four rows, each showing the room, the two entries and the label Needs result. | Four rows at most. |
| Not released row | A row with the count of pairings not released and the label Warning. | Shown when any pairing is not released. |
| Advance to next round | A button. It creates the next elimination round from this round's winners. A short line beside it says what is still needed. | Disabled until every pairing is released and has a result. Not offered for a round named Finals or for a round that is not the latest. |
The line beside the advance button reads Enter every panel decision before advancing the bracket, Release the round before advancing the bracket, or Every decision is in with a note that advancing pairs the next round from these winners.
Seed the bracket
A section headed Break the field and Seed the bracket holds the form that creates the first elimination round. Its status word reads Prelims available or Waiting on prelims.
| Control | What it does | Default or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Event, marked optional | Chooses the scope that the new break is created for. The first choice is tournament wide, set between double hyphens. Each event is a choice. A scope that already has a break is disabled and its name gains the words break created. | Shown only when the tournament has events. Defaults to the scope shown. |
| Break rule | Chooses General break or a break category. General break shows the saved size as top N, or a prompt to set a break size. A category shows its name, its size and its rule. | General break. Categories appear only when rows exist in the database. |
| Helper text | When the form can be used, it says the button creates one elimination round seeded top against bottom from the prelim standings, with byes to the top seeds for a field that is not a power of two, and that nothing is released automatically. When it cannot be used, it gives the reason. | The reason is the prelim gate message, or a note that the scope already has its break. |
| Generate break & create outround | Creates the elimination round and its pairings. While working the button reads Breaking. | Disabled until every prelim pairing in the scope has a decided ballot and every prelim round has pairings, and while the scope has a break. |
The reasons the form can give are: N preliminary ballot remains or N preliminary ballots remain before the break can be seeded; N preliminary round is not paired yet or N preliminary rounds are not paired yet; and, for a scope with a break, that the event or the tournament has its break and the bracket is advanced from the release gate.
Current bracket
A table of every pairing in every elimination round of the scope.
| Column | What it shows | Default or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Rm | The pairing's order within its round, written Match 1, Match 2 and so on. It is not the room name. | Read only. |
| Matchup | The affirmative entry, then vs, then the negative entry. A bye shows the entry vs Bye. | Read only. |
| Panel | The judge recorded on the pairing. A bye shows a hyphen. A pairing with no judge shows No judge assigned. | Read only. Panels are seated in Rounds. |
| Decision | The winner's name once a winner is recorded, or Unresolved. A bye shows the entry that advances. | Read only. |
With no pairings the table reads either The elimination round has no pairings yet or No elimination round has been created yet.
Prelim seed order
A table headed Prelim seed order lists the entries in standings order, up to the break size. Its columns are Seed, the entry word, Record, Speaks and Break. The Break column reads Breaking for an entry inside the saved size and a hyphen otherwise. The seed here counts every entry, including entries that are not active, so it can differ from the number on the Standings tab by the count of dropped entries above it.
The bracket on the Standings tab
The panel beside the standings table draws the bracket that the current break rule would produce. It is read only, apart from the publish button.
| Control | What it does | Default or limit |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination bracket | The panel heading. | Read only. |
| Provisional or Locked | A label. Provisional means no elimination round has been paired yet and the seeds still follow the table. Locked means an elimination round has been paired, so the seeds are what Rounds broke from. A provisional drawing has dashed boxes. | Locked once any elimination pairing exists in the event. |
| Publish bracket or Published | A toggle for the public bracket page. See Releasing the bracket. | Disabled when fewer than two entries are in the break, and while a save is running. |
| Open in Rounds | A link to the elimination view of Rounds. | Always shown. |
| Summary line | The rule name, the number of entries, the number of rounds with the first round's name through to the Final, and, when byes are needed, the bracket size and the number of byes. | Replaced by a note that no entries qualify yet when the break is empty. |
| Drawing | One column per round. Each box holds two seeds with their numbers and names. A bye shows the top seed advancing. A name too long for its box is cut and its full text appears when the pointer rests on it. Later columns fill from results already recorded in Rounds. | On a narrow screen the drawing scrolls sideways inside its own box. |
| Notes under the drawing | Say that seeds follow the table and move as ballots land, that the bracket locks when the last prelim closes, how many byes the field needs, how many prelims remain, and, under All winning records, how many entries have a winning record. | Read only. |
Tasks
Generate the first elimination round.
- Open Rounds and Ballots, and confirm that every prelim round is paired and every ballot is in. The Standings footer reads All prelims complete when this is true.
- Open Standings. Select the Break tab.
- Select the Event if the tournament has several events.
- Select a rule in Break rule. Leave General break for the saved break size.
- Select Generate break & create outround.
The console then shows a banner with the round name, the number of pairings and the number of entries seeded. The new round appears in Current bracket with every pairing unreleased. Nothing is released automatically.
Seat judges and release the round.
- Open Rounds and select the elimination round.
- Seat each room's panel at the size Setup gives for that bracket.
- Release the round when the check passes.
Released pairings are public. Judges enter their ballots, and each decision appears in the Decision column.
Advance the bracket.
- Wait until the Release gate reads The bracket is clear, and no row reads Warning.
- Select Advance to next round.
The console shows a banner naming the new round. Its entries are the winners, re-seeded by their prelim standing, so the best remaining seed meets the worst. Repeat the release, ballot and advance steps until only the final remains.
Finish the bracket. The final is the last round, named Finals, and it has no advance button. When its decision is recorded the gate reads The bracket is clear and the winner shows in Current bracket.
Publish the bracket.
- Open Standings. The bracket panel is beside the table.
- Select Publish bracket. The button changes to Published.
- Select Published again to take the bracket down.
The public bracket page then shows the bracket, or the message that it is not published, accordingly.
Advancing and re-seeding
The advance step reads the winners of the latest elimination round in the scope: each decided room's winner, and each bye's entry. It ranks those winners by their prelim standing, with elimination results left out, and builds the next round with the usual fold, so the highest remaining seed plays the lowest. The survivors of a round are always a power of two, so the next round has no byes.
Re-seeding means the drawing on the Standings tab can differ from the pairings Rounds creates. The drawing keeps the fold from the first round. When an upset puts a lower seed through, the two can pair differently, and a result for a pairing the drawing does not show is not drawn.
Only the latest elimination round of a scope can be advanced. A round whose later round already exists is refused. If one winner remains, no round is created and the banner names the champion.
New elimination pairings are given the largest available rooms first, ordered by capacity. A room with no capacity recorded sorts last. A bye takes no room.
Elimination rounds and panels
Setup, under Rounds and break, sets the panel size for each bracket size, from 1 to 9 judges in steps of 2. A bracket nobody sized seats 3. The size is chosen by the number of entrants in the round, so 2 is the final and 4 the semifinals, and a round with byes counts its bye pairings toward the bracket size. Panels decide by majority, which is why the size is odd.
Rounds seats the panels and refuses to release a round whose panel is short of the size. This console shows only one judge name per pairing. It counts a room as decided as soon as a winner is recorded, and the advance step uses the same test.
Releasing the bracket
Two separate switches make an elimination round public, and both must be on for the public to see a bracket.
- Releasing a round in Rounds makes that round's pairings public.
- Publish bracket makes the bracket page itself visible. Until it is on, the public bracket page reads The elimination bracket is not yet published for this tournament.
The button writes a single tournament wide flag, whichever event the standings table is showing, and logs a bracket published or bracket unpublished entry in Records. The public page then shows one bracket per event that is active, drawn from released pairings, with a name of To be decided where an entry is not known. If no elimination rounds exist it reads No elimination rounds have been scheduled yet. When Publish standings in Setup is set to Manually, publishing the bracket also publishes the public standings.
If the save fails, the button returns to its previous state without a message.
Troubleshooting
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You do not have admin access to this tournament. | The access check ran and refused the account. A compliance seat always gets this answer for an action. | Ask an admin for an admin or tab seat. |
| Could not check your admin access. Try again. | The access check could not run, which says nothing about the account's permissions. | Repeat the action in a moment. |
| Cannot generate the break: followed by a count of ballots that still need a decision and a count of earlier rounds that are not paired. | A prelim pairing has no decided ballot, or a prelim round has no pairings. | Finish the ballots in Ballots and pair the missing rounds in Rounds. |
| Could not verify preliminary ballots. | Reading the prelim rounds or pairings failed with no detail. | Try again. |
| An elimination round already exists for this scope. Use Advance to run the next outround. | The scope has its break already. A break is created once per scope. | Use Advance to next round on the Release gate. |
| Break category not found. | The chosen category is not in the database for this tournament. | Choose General break or reload the page. |
| No break size configured. Set 'Break to' in Tab settings, followed by the words must be at least 2, or pick a break category. | No break size is saved, or it is below 2. The words Tab settings are out of date: the setting is in Setup, under Rounds and break. | Set the break size in Setup or with the Break buttons on the Standings tab. |
| Fewer than 2 competitors qualify to break, followed by a note to check prelim results and break settings. | The rule selected a field of fewer than two entries, so there is nothing to bracket. | Check the prelim results, the break size and, for a category, the eligibility list. |
| The rooms could not be read: followed by a reason | The rooms the tournament has could not be read, so no round was created. | Try again. Nothing was created. |
| That elimination stage already exists. Refresh the bracket before trying again. | A round with that number already exists, for example after a double click. | Reload the page and check Current bracket. |
| Failed to create the elimination round. | The database did not create the round and gave no detail. | Try again, and report it if it repeats. |
| Round not found. | The round in the request does not exist in this tournament. | Reload the page. |
| Only elimination rounds can be advanced. | The request named a prelim round. | Reload and use the button on the Release gate. |
| A later elimination round already exists, followed by a note to advance that one instead. | Only the latest round of a scope can be advanced. | Advance the latest round. |
| This round has no pairings to advance. | The latest round has no pairings. | Pair it in Rounds first. |
| Release this round before advancing, followed by a note that all matches must be public first. | At least one pairing is not released. | Release the round in Rounds. |
| Every match needs a recorded winner before advancing. Enter results for all pairings in this round. | At least one room has no winner. | Enter the missing ballots in Ballots. |
| The break rule was not saved: followed by a reason | The Break buttons on the Standings tab could not save. | Read the reason and select the button again. |
| The elimination bracket is not yet published for this tournament. | Shown on the public bracket page while the publish flag is off. | Select Publish bracket on the Standings tab. |
Known mismatches
- Two labels still say Tab settings: the General break choice in Break rule, and the refusal that begins No break size configured. The break size is now set in Setup, under Rounds and break.
- The drawing names rounds Final, Octafinals and Double octafinals, and the rounds themselves are created as Finals, Octofinals and Double Octofinals. The advance button is hidden for a round whose name is Finals, in any capitals, so a final created under a different name shows an advance button that ends in the champion banner.
- The Prelim seed order table counts every entry in its seed, including entries that are not active, while the break itself seeds active entries only.
- The Event field of the form cannot be used to look at another event. Open the event from Rounds, or finish a break for it, to see its console.