August 14, 2024/Digital Steel, My Events

NOTE: COMING SOON

DartConnect’s Digital Steel tournament software now supports the Double Elimination Knockout format.  This format is most popular in North America and commonly used for “Blind Draw” events, but can be applied to any knockout bracket.  Prior experience with this format is recommended but not required.

See instructions below for how to manage DE in Digital Steel.

How to Request Double Elimination for Your Event:

• For Digital Steel Certified Members:, Select Double Elimination as an option in My Events (coming September 2024)
• When filling out DartConnect’s Event Request Form: When attaching an event flyer, document or website link, make sure that it clearly shows which competitions require Double Elimination and mention this in the “Comments” section.

What is Double Elimination?

In Double Elimination formats, every participant must lose 2 matches before they are removed from the competition. This is facilitated by placing players who lose a match in the Main KO Bracket automatically into the 2^nd Chance KO Bracket to face the remaining players who have also lost a match.

Note:

• Operating the bracket program for Double Elimination is not very different from managing a standard KO bracket
• The biggest change is having three separate brackets to manage that are all part of the same competition
• The process for assigning boards and recording results is the same

Example Main Bracket:

Note:

• Switch between bracket types by clicking the respective link in the table above it

Example 2nd Chance Bracket:

Note:

• The 2nd Chance and Finals brackets will display which player/team will be inserted once their prior match is finished

In addition, the Winner of the 2^nd chance bracket plays the Winner of the main bracket in a “Grand Final Match” to determine the overall competition winner.

Example Grand Finals Bracket:

Note:

• Grand Final 2 match will only appear if the option is selected during event set up

Definitions:

• DE Main Bracket: The KO bracket that everyone must start in. EVERYONE, except the Winner of this bracket, will eventually lose a match and be automatically placed into the 2nd chance bracket.
• DE 2nd Chance Bracket (also known as loser bracket): Once a player loses a match in this KO bracket, they are removed from the competition as this represents their second loss.
• DE Grand Final: This is where the Winner of the Main Bracket competes with the Winner of the 2nd Chance Bracket to determine the overall winner of the competition.
• Optional DE Double Grand Final: This option requires the Winner of the 2nd chance bracket to win TWO “Grand Final” matches, to win the entire competition. The Winner of the Main Bracket is still only required to win ONE Grand Final Match. This is sometimes referred to as the “revenge match”, with the logic being that every player must lose two matches before they are eliminated.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

• FAQ1: Can DE events have a different match format for the 2nd Chance bracket and Finals? Example:  Main bracket is “501-Cricket-Choice, Best of 3 Legs” and 2nd Chance format is “701, Best of 1 leg”

Yes, 2nd chance brackets can have a different match format, but with 2 important considerations:

1. GAME MENU:  All brackets from the same event must use identical game selections.  In the above example, 701 must be available in the Main Bracket and the Finals Bracket in order to be available in the 2nd Chance bracket.   Players must be informed to NOT select a game that is not used in the format of the bracket in which they are playing.
2. LEG COUNTS:  The Main Bracket and Finals Bracket can have leg counts that are specific to each round.  The 2nd Chance bracket can have a different leg count, but must be the SAME for all rounds.  See picture below

• FAQ2: Can players or teams be added or removed in the event AFTER the bracket has been generated and saved?  Example:  A player or team is left out of the draw but this is not discovered until play has already  begun.

YES, players may be added or inserted into a BYE and the 2nd Chance Bracket will be automatically regenerated, but with the following conditions:

1. If a match may has been played or has a board assignment in the 2nd Chance Bracket, player additions are not allowed without a REDRAW.
2. Player/Team Additions without a redraw will be allowed if the following conditions are met:
   1. If a board has been assigned to any match in the 2nd Chance Bracket but no matches played, remove the board assignment(s) to allow the addition.
   2. If matches have been played in the Main Bracket but not the 2nd Chance Bracket, then player additions can be made. 
   3. Note: if completed matches in the 2nd Chance Bracket are “reset” and board assignments removed, then you will be able add a player/team without a redraw

Note: If the event is a Blind Draw, the redraw will also require all players to be randomly re-paired with a different player.

IF A REDRAW IS NECESSARY, DO THE FOLLOWING:

1. Redraw the event using the Tools Menu or Virtual Assistant
2. From the Event Hub, select “View/Edit Player List”
3. On the top of the player list, click the red button “Enable Player Selection”
4. Add or remove players, then click “Create Competition” to recreate the event

Example Leg Count Modifiers: