Double elimination bracket generator
Lose twice and you are out: type the number of teams or paste your list in seed order, and the winners bracket, losers bracket and grand final appear instantly. No sign-up needed.
One loss and out? Make a single elimination bracket
What is double elimination?
Lose twice and you are out. A team beaten in the winners bracket drops into the losers bracket and stays alive. The losers bracket champion meets the winners bracket champion in the grand final. It is fairer, since one bad match does not end your day, but it takes almost twice as many matches.
If the losers side wins the grand final, both teams have lost once, so a bracket reset match can decide it.
When the count is not 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64, the bracket is rounded up and the top seeds get a bye through round 1.
Quick maths for matches and rounds
- Matches: 2n − 2, or 2n − 1 if the bracket reset is played. For example, 8 teams play 14 or 15 matches.
- The winners bracket has as many rounds as single elimination: 3 for 8 teams. The losers bracket has twice that minus 2: 4 for 8 teams.
- Byes: bracket size minus the number of teams. For example, 12 teams in a bracket of 16 get 4 byes.
Frequently asked questions
How many matches are in a 16-team double elimination bracket?
30 matches: 15 in the winners bracket, 14 in the losers bracket and the grand final. A bracket reset makes it 31.
Where does a team beaten in the winners bracket go?
Down to the losers bracket, against other teams with one loss. Every winners round sends a new group down, so the losers bracket has twice the rounds minus 2. One more loss there and the team is out.
What is a bracket reset?
The grand final is the winners bracket champion against the losers bracket champion. If the losers side wins, both have lost once, so one more match decides it. Switch the option off if your event plays a single final.
How does a bracket work with an uneven number of teams?
The bracket is rounded up to the next size (8, 16, 32 and so on) and the top seeds get a bye through round 1. Places a bye leaves empty in the losers bracket are skipped too, so the count stays 2n − 2.
What is the difference between single and double elimination?
In single elimination one loss puts you out. In double elimination it takes two, so there are almost twice the matches: 30 for 16 teams instead of 15. Double elimination needs no third-place match either: the team beaten in the losers final is already third.