Eliminations

Eliminations are the matches the alliances play after alliance selection to decide the event champion. Once you finalize the alliances, Create Elimination Matches on the Alliance Selection page builds the matches from the seeded alliances. They appear on the Matches page after the qualification matches, and you queue and score them like any other alliance match. Each saved score advances the bracket on its own. See Alliance Selection and Field Control and Scoring.

The shape of the eliminations depends on your program. Achieve, Inspire, and Aerial Drone Competition Pro play a single elimination bracket. Engage plays exhibition finals. Aerial Drone Competition flies rounds where every alliance races the field.

Formats by Program

Single Elimination Bracket (Achieve, Inspire, and Aerial Drone Competition Pro)

Alliances are seeded into a bracket sized to the next power of two that fits them (2, 4, 8, 16, or 32). Rounds are named Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final. When the alliances do not fill the bracket, the highest seeds receive byes and skip the first round. Inspire alliances are single teams, so its bracket pairs individual teams.

Each pairing is a series, won by the first alliance to reach the Wins to Advance count for that round. You set this count per round (Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final) in the Elimination Matches section of the Matches setup page, and each defaults to 1. Any whole number of 1 or more is accepted. Each series opens with exactly that many matches, so a value of 2 means a best-of-three that runs 2 or 3 matches. Matches are named by round, series, and match number, so QF 2-1 is the first match of the second Quarterfinal series. Set the counts before you create the bracket, because changing them afterwards does not add or remove matches. See Creating Matches.

Exhibition Finals (Engage)

Every alliance plays one final on its own, named F followed by the alliance seed. Matches run from the lowest ranked alliance up, so the top seed plays last with a score to beat. The highest score is named Alliance Champions. If alliances tie for first, only the tied alliances are sent back out for another match until the tie breaks. On the Matches setup page, the Elimination Matches section describes this format instead of showing Wins to Advance.

Rounds Against the Field (Aerial Drone Competition)

Each alliance flies its own match in each round, and the highest scores advance. The starting round depends on the number of alliances: 10 alliances start at the Quarterfinal, 4 at the Semifinal, and 2 at the Final. The top 4 advance from the Quarterfinal and the top 2 from the Semifinal. An alliance tied with the one on the cut line advances too.

Within a round, matches run from the lowest ranked alliance up. If alliances tie for the win in the Final, they replay: the first replay is decided on score alone, a second also compares the earlier Stop Time, and a third also compares each alliance's total from the earlier rounds.

Creating the Bracket

Creating the bracket requires the Admin role. Elimination matches are timed from the start of the Elimination Bracket block on your schedule and spaced by its cycle time, then rotated across your alliance fields. Without the block they are created with no scheduled time, and without an alliance field they have no field and cannot be queued. Changing the block after the matches exist does not move them. See Schedule and Fields.

1. On the Alliance Selection page, click Finalize Alliances and read the notice about how many matches the bracket will play. If it warns Only time for X matches, but the bracket needs Y, lengthen the block or shorten its cycle time first. Tiebreaker matches are not part of the estimate.
2. Click Create Elimination Matches. Competition Control opens the Matches page, where the elimination matches appear with their round, alliances, scheduled time, and field. Only the matches the bracket needs right now are created; later rounds appear as earlier rounds are decided.

[Screenshot: Matches page showing the first round of elimination matches with alliances assigned]

Scoring Elimination Matches

Queue each match from the Queue page, run the field timer, and save the score as usual. See Queueing. Queuing and scoring use the same roles as qualification matches. Qualification rankings are not affected by elimination results.

In a single elimination bracket, a tie counts for neither alliance, and a disqualification counts as a loss for that alliance. If a series is played out without a winner, another match is created for it automatically; after more than 2 ties in one series, the higher seed advances instead. As soon as a series is decided, the winner is placed into the next round. If a later-round match shows no alliances, the series that feeds it is still open. Continue until the Final is decided.

To take a saved score back, open the match from the Matches page and click Unfinalize in the scoring dialog. Taking a score back can un-decide a series, so Competition Control removes any unplayed later-round match built on that result. Played matches are never removed. You must work backwards from the latest round: while a later round has been scored, the request is refused with a message such as The SF matches have already been scored. Unfinalize those first, then this match.

The Elimination Bracket display screen shows the live bracket, or for Engage and Aerial Drone Competition the finals rankings, so teams can see who plays next. The Elimination Bracket printout gives you the same information on paper, including the champion once the Final is decided. See Display Screens and Reports and Printouts. After the Final, go to the Finalize page and click Auto-fill performance awards. See Finalize and Awards.

Rebuilding the Bracket

Alliances are never changed underneath an existing bracket. To change who is in an alliance after the matches exist:

1. Unfinalize every elimination match that has a saved score, starting from the latest round.
2. On the Alliance Selection page, click Unfinalize Alliances. This deletes every elimination match.
3. Change the alliances, then click Finalize Alliances and Create Elimination Matches.

Important

Unfinalizing the alliances deletes all elimination matches, including their scheduled times and field assignments. It is refused while any elimination match still has a saved score, so you cannot lose official results by accident.