Phase Types

Constructed phases are the standard tournament mode where each match is played 1 vs 1. Players bring pre-built decks. Four phase types are available:

Swiss

The Swiss system pairs players with similar records against each other. No player is eliminated — everyone plays every round. After all rounds, players are ranked by match points and tiebreakers.

• Round 1: Players are paired randomly.
• Round 2+: Players with the same (or similar) number of points are paired together.
• The system avoids rematches — two players should not face each other twice.
• If there is an odd number of players, one player receives a bye (an automatic win without playing).

Single Elimination

A bracket where each match eliminates the loser. Players are seeded based on their standings from the previous phase (or randomly if it is the first phase). The bracket follows standard seeding: the #1 seed faces the lowest seed, #2 faces the second lowest, and so on.

Double Elimination

Similar to single elimination, but a player must lose twice to be eliminated:

• Winners Bracket — Players who have not lost yet.
• Losers Bracket — Players who have lost once. Losing again means elimination.
• Grand Final — Winners bracket champion vs losers bracket champion. If the losers bracket champion wins, a Bracket Reset occurs for the decisive match.

Round Robin

Every player plays against every other player exactly once. The schedule is generated using the Berger method (Circle method), ensuring a balanced and fair schedule. Best for smaller groups.

Booster Draft is a format where players open booster packs, pick cards one at a time, and build a deck from the cards they drafted. Players sit in pods (usually 8 players), and the draft and play happen within or across these pods.

Phase Type

• Swiss — All players play every round. Configure the number of rounds manually (typically 3 for a single 8-player pod).
• Single Elimination — Bracket-style tournament within or across pods. Losers are eliminated each round.

Scoring

Draft phases use standard 1v1 scoring (default: Win = 3, Draw = 1, Loss = 0, Bye = 3). Point values are editable. Choose between Best of 1 or Best of 3.

When creating a draft phase, choose how pods are sized:

Pod Numbering

• First Pod Number — Starting number for pod labels (default: 1). Useful when running multiple drafts in the same venue.
• First Building Table — Starting table number for the deck building phase (default: 1).

Building Duration

The time allocated for deck building after the draft, in minutes (default: 30, range: 1-120). This timer is displayed to players and staff.

A draft phase follows two main steps:

Step 1: Pod Setup

1. Click "Generate Pods" — players are shuffled randomly and assigned to pods with seats.
2. Review pod assignments. Move players, swap seats, or shuffle as needed.
3. Optionally check "Building Seating" to see the deck building table assignments.
4. Print pod seating charts for display at the venue.
5. Click "Lock & Start Rounds" — pods are locked and building seating is auto-generated. The build timer starts.

Step 2: Rounds

1. After building time, generate Round 1.
2. Players are paired based on the chosen pairing scope (inside-pod or cross-pod).
3. Report results, complete rounds, generate next rounds — same as Constructed.

If no rounds have been generated yet, you can click "Unlock Pods" to go back to the pod setup step.

The pairing scope determines whether matches are played within pods or across the entire tournament.

Inside-Pod Pairing Algorithm

When pairing scope is Inside-Pod, the algorithm adapts per round:

Swiss — Round 1:

Players are paired by opposite seats within the pod. In an 8-player pod: Seat 1 vs Seat 5, Seat 2 vs Seat 6, Seat 3 vs Seat 7, Seat 4 vs Seat 8. If the pod has an odd number of players, one random player receives a bye.

Swiss — Round 2:

The system attempts bracket-style advancement: winners from Round 1 match against each other (winner of match 1 vs winner of match 3, winner of match 2 vs winner of match 4). If a Round 1 match ended in a draw, both players fall into standard Swiss pairing within the pod. This combines bracket progression with Swiss for unresolved matches.

Swiss — Round 3+:

Standard Swiss pairing within the pod. Players are grouped by match points (highest first), shuffled within each group, and paired while avoiding rematches. If rematches are unavoidable, they are allowed as a fallback. Byes go to the lowest-scoring player who hasn't already received one.

Elimination — Round 1:

Seats are paired with maximum circular distance:

• 8-player pod: 1v5, 2v6, 3v7, 4v8 (standard bracket).
• Smaller pods (4-7): Enough matches to reduce to 4 survivors. Remaining players receive a bye.
• Larger pods (9-11): Enough matches to reduce to 8 survivors. Remaining players receive a bye.

Elimination — Round 2+:

Previous round winners are ordered by their original seat number (bracket position). Winners are paired top-half vs bottom-half: winner 1 vs winner 3, winner 2 vs winner 4. This continues until the finals (2 remaining players).

Table Assignment

Tables are assigned by interleaving across pods: Pod 1 Match 1 gets table 1, Pod 2 Match 1 gets table 2, Pod 3 Match 1 gets table 3, then Pod 1 Match 2 gets table 4, and so on. This spreads pods across the venue. Byes receive table number 0 (no physical table needed).

During deck building, players should sit away from their pod-mates to prevent card sharing. The Building Seating system automatically assigns building tables that separate players from the same pod.

Two players share each building table. The algorithm varies based on the number of pods:

• 1 pod — Each player sits alone at their own table.
• 2 pods — Players are paired cross-pod by seat number: Pod 1 Seat 1 sits with Pod 2 Seat 1, Pod 1 Seat 2 with Pod 2 Seat 2, etc.
• 3+ pods — Players are queued in a continuous interleaved sequence (all Seat 1s from each pod, then all Seat 2s, etc.) and paired two-by-two across the queue. This ensures no two players from the same pod sit at the same building table.

Building seating is automatically generated when you lock pods. You can also regenerate it manually from the Building Seating view. The printable view shows all building table assignments.

The draft management page provides all the tools needed to set up and manage pods.

Pod Setup Actions

• Generate Pods — Shuffle all enrolled players randomly and assign them to pods based on the chosen pod size mode (Optimal or Fixed).
• Clear All — Delete all pods and unassign all players. Destructive — use with caution.
• Shuffle All Seats — Randomize seat assignments across all pods without changing pod membership.
• Building Seating — Navigate to the building seating view to see or regenerate deck building table assignments.
• Print — Open a printable page with pod seating charts, an alphabetical player list with pod/seat info, and building seating assignments.
• Lock & Start Rounds — Lock pods (no more changes), auto-generate building seating, and move to the rounds step. The build timer starts.

Per-Pod Actions

• Shuffle Pod — Randomize seat assignments within a single pod.
• Swap Seats — Click a player to select them, then click another player in any pod to swap their positions.
• Move Player — Move a player to a different pod or unassign them completely.
• Remove Player — Remove a player from their pod and return them to the unassigned pool.

Unassigned Players

Players not in any pod appear in the "Unassigned" section. Click a player to see a dropdown of all available pods and assign them to one.

Unlock Pods

If pods are locked but no rounds have been generated yet, you can click "Unlock Pods" to go back to the pod setup step and make changes.

Building Seating View

A dedicated page showing all building table assignments with:

• Table number, Player 1 and Player 2 at each table, with their pod and seat of origin.
• Search by player name, filter by pod, pagination controls.
• Sortable columns (table number, player name, pod/seat).
• Regenerate button to recalculate assignments.
• Printable view for display at the venue.

Table Numbering

• First table — Tables are numbered starting from this value, going up.
• Last table — The highest table number is this value, others count down.

Default Visibility

• Pairings visible by default — Whether players can see their pairings as soon as rounds are generated.
• Standings visible by default — Whether players can see the live standings.
• Open decklists — Whether all decklists are visible to all players.

Multiplayer phases are designed for games where 3 to 5 players sit at the same table (pod) and play together. Commonly used for Commander (Magic: The Gathering). Two phase types are available: Swiss (pool rounds) and Single Elimination (top cut).

Phase Type

• Swiss — All players play every round. Pairings are based on score, and standings determine the final ranking. Configure the number of rounds manually (typically 4-6).
• Single Elimination — Top cut bracket for the best players after Swiss rounds. Pod winners advance each round until a champion is determined. Choose a cut size: 4, 10, 13, 16, 40, or 64 players. The number of rounds is calculated automatically.

When creating a multiplayer phase, choose one of two scoring systems. This determines how points are calculated and how players are ranked.

MMTA (Multiplayer Magic Tournament Association)

The standard and recommended scoring system for competitive multiplayer events. Each match result awards a fixed number of points.

These values are editable — you can set your own win, draw, loss, and bye points to fit your house rules or community conventions.

Standings are ranked by this tiebreaker chain:

1. Match Points (MP) — Total accumulated points.
2. Match Win Percentage (MWP) — Your win rate, floored at 20%.
3. Opponent Average Match Points (OppAvgMP) — Average match points of all your opponents. Measures strength of schedule.
4. Opponent Match Win Percentage (OMWP) — Average win rate of all your opponents, each floored at 20%.

Hareruya

A wager-based scoring system where players start with a point pool (default: 1000) and bet a percentage of their current score each round (default: 7%).

• Win — The winner collects all opponents' wagers. Score increases by the sum of every loser's wager.
• Loss — The player loses their wager.
• Draw — All wagers are pooled and split equally among all players in the pod.

Early wins compound — a player who wins early wagers more in later rounds, creating wider point gaps. Rankings use final score, then match wins as tiebreaker.

Hareruya options:

• Starting Points (100–10,000) — Initial score for every player. Default: 1000.
• Wager % (1–50%) — Percentage of current score wagered each round. Default: 7%.
• Round Shuffling — When enabled, the final score is the average across all possible round orderings. This removes bias from the order wins/losses occurred. For 8 rounds or fewer, all permutations are calculated; above 8, 50,000 random samples are used.
• Bye Method:
  • Fixed Wager (default) — The bye player gains wager x 2 (as if they won against one opponent).
  • Average Performance — Bye value is calculated after all rounds, based on the player's average gain per game played. More fair for players who performed poorly.

Pod Size

Choose how many players sit at each table: 3, 4, or 5. Default is 4 (standard for MMTA). If the player count is not perfectly divisible, the system creates full-size pods first, then smaller pods (target size minus 1), and assigns byes only as a last resort. At most 2 byes per round.

Pairing Method

Determines how players are assigned to pods each round. Round 1 is always random regardless of the method chosen.

Avoid Repeating Seats

By default, the highest-seeded player in each pod is always assigned Seat A, and the remaining seats are optimized to minimize repetition globally.

When "Avoid repeating seats" is enabled, the system uses a sliding window equal to the pod size. Within that window, no player receives the same seat twice. If it becomes unavoidable, the least recently used seat is preferred, with ties broken randomly. The "best seed = Seat A" rule is also disabled.

Number of Rounds

For Swiss phases, set the number of rounds manually. Typically 4-6 rounds for multiplayer events. For elimination phases, the number of rounds is calculated automatically based on the cut size.

When the player count does not divide evenly into pods, some players receive a bye — an automatic win without playing.

• The system minimizes byes (at most 2 per round) by mixing full-size and smaller pods.
• Lowest-ranked players are prioritized for byes.
• A player who already received a bye in the same phase is deprioritized.
• If multiple players are tied at the lowest score, the bye recipient is chosen randomly.
• A bye awards the configured bye points (default: 5 for MMTA). For tiebreaker calculations, fictional opponents are added at the tiebreaker floor (20%).

Table Number

Set the table numbering for your venue. Two modes are available:

• First table — Tables are numbered starting from this value, going up (e.g. 20 → 20, 21, 22...).
• Last table — The highest table number is this value, others count down (e.g. 100 → ...98, 99, 100).

Default Visibility

• Pairings visible by default — When enabled, players can see their pod assignment and seat as soon as pairings are generated. Can be toggled per round.
• Standings visible by default — When enabled, players can see the live standings. Can be toggled per round.
• Open decklists — When enabled, all players' decklists are visible to everyone.

Self-Reporting

When enabled, players can report their own match results from the Player Portal. One player reports the result, and the others confirm. If there is a disagreement, the result is flagged as disputed for the organizer to resolve.

The pairings view is the main control center during an active multiplayer round.

Reporting Results

Each pod card shows all players with their seat (A, B, C, D, E) and current total points. To report a result:

• Click the trophy icon next to the winning player, or
• Click "Tie" to mark all players as drawn.
• Use "Random Result" (dice icon) to assign a random winner — useful for testing.

Once all pods are reported, click "Complete Round" to finalize and recalculate standings.

Filters

• Search player — Find a specific player across all pods.
• Table # — Jump to a specific table number.
• Missing — Show only pods with pending results.
• Disputed — Show only pods with disputed results that need admin attention.

Multiplayer Admin Tools

Click "Edit Pairings" to enter edit mode, or use the "More" dropdown menu for additional actions:

• Swap Players — In edit mode, click a player to select them, then click another player to swap their positions. A warning appears if they have already faced each other.
• Add Player — In edit mode, add an unassigned player to a pod.
• Remove Player — Remove a player from a pod and return them to the unassigned pool.
• Shuffle Seats — Re-randomize seat assignments within a single pod (per-pod button).
• Shuffle All Seats — Re-randomize seat assignments across all pods for the round.
• Create Empty Pod — Create a new empty pod and manually assign players to it.
• Assign Bye — Give a bye to a specific unassigned player.
• Remove Bye — Cancel a player's bye and return them to the unassigned pool.
• Match Slips — Open a print-friendly page with physical match slips for each pod (table number, player names, seats, result checkboxes).
• Export CSV — Download the round's pairings as a CSV file.
• Random All Results — Assign a random winner to every pending pod. Useful for testing.
• Recreate Pairings — Delete all pairings in the current round and regenerate them. Destructive — use with caution.
• Delete Round — Remove the entire round. Destructive — use with caution.

The typical multiplayer round workflow:

1. Start the phase (or generate the next round if already in progress).
2. Pairings are generated — players are assigned to pods with seats.
3. Publish pairings so players can see their table and seat.
4. Wait for matches to finish. Track progress with the reported counter.
5. Complete the round — standings are recalculated.
6. Generate the next round, or complete the phase.

End-of-Phase Options

After all rounds are completed, a panel appears with these options:

• Add Another Round — Add an extra round beyond the configured count. A warning is shown that this may cause inconsistent pairings.
• Complete Phase — Mark this phase as finished.
• Advance to Next Phase — Complete this phase, apply the cut if configured, and start the next phase (e.g. Swiss → Top Cut).
• Complete Phase & End Tournament — Mark the phase and the entire tournament as finished. Shown only for the last phase.

Multiplayer Elimination (Top Cut)

After Swiss rounds, create a Single Elimination phase to determine a champion. Players are seeded using snake seeding (seed 1 placed with the lowest seeds, seed 2 with the next lowest, etc.) to create balanced pods. Higher seeds may receive byes in round 1 for certain cut sizes. Each round, only pod winners advance. Valid cut sizes: 4, 10, 13, 16, 40, 64.