Seeding determines where each participant starts in a bracket. Done right, it prevents the two best teams from meeting in round 1 and keeps the bracket competitive all the way through. Done wrong — or not at all — you get lopsided brackets and early upsets that feel unfair rather than exciting.
Picking the right format is the first decision every organizer makes — and it's permanent. In Score7, the format is locked once you create your tournament. You can change participants, adjust the schedule, and tweak standings criteria all you want, but the format itself stays.
So it's worth getting it right. This guide covers every major tournament format, explains when each one shines, and gives you a straightforward way to decide which one fits your event.
Single elimination and double elimination are the two most common bracket formats in competitive events. Both use a bracket structure where participants are paired and losers are removed, but they differ in one critical way: how many chances you get.
In single elimination, one loss and you're out. In double elimination, you need to lose twice before you're eliminated. That one difference changes everything — the fairness, the match count, the drama, and the time commitment.