Organizing a tournament

Anyone signed in can run an event. "Create tournament" on the Tournaments hub opens a five-step wizard ("Basics", "Format", "Rules", "Prizes", "Invite") with a live preview beside the form. You can edit everything up until you start the bracket.

Step 1: Basics#

Name, format ("Single Elim" / "Double Elim" / "Groups → Playoff"), default match length (Bo1 through Bo9), bracket size (up to 128 entrants; the edit form accepts up to 256), and visibility ("Public" or "Invite-only", and invite-only events are invisible to outsiders, not just locked).

Seeding options: Random, Ladder MMR, Pro Ladder, Aligulac, OSC Ranking, or Manual. You can join your own event ("Join as a player").

Check-in is optional: a window in minutes before start, plus a minimum checked-in player count so a ghost bracket never launches.

Step 2: Format#

The per-round grid lets each round override the base series length: "Grand Final", "Semis", "Quarters", "Ro16", and so on, with double-elim adding the lower bracket rounds. Double elim also offers upper-bracket advantage: the winners' champion starts the grand final 1-0 instead of playing a bracket reset.

Groups mode adds group count, how many advance per group, group match length, and the playoff bracket shape.

Step 3: Rules and maps#

• Map pool: type one map per line, or press "Use ladder pool" to take the current season's pool.
• Map veto: players alternate bans in the lobby. Map order after bans can be player-picked (higher or lower seed first) or automatic pool order with no pick step.
• Lobby host: who creates the SC2 custom lobby each game (higher seed, lower seed, alternate, or loser hosts).
• Server selection: none, fixed, higher seed picks, alternate per game, or players agree in the lobby.
• Pacing: rolling rounds (a match starts as soon as both players exist) or synchronized rounds, plus three timers that pace the on-site match room: when the room opens, the ready timer, and a separate round 1 ready timer. As the wizard itself puts it, these pace the on-site room, not the in-game SC2 lobby.
• Extras: allow casters, spoiler-embargo results until you publish, manual-results-only mode, and the replay visibility policy (private / supporters / public) that decides who can pull the event's replay pack.

Step 4: Prizes#

Prize handling can be fully on Vespene, hybrid, or fully external:

• On Vespene, the pool is crowdfunded in vespene and paid out in Minerals, the cash-out-only currency (100 = one dollar; there is no platform fee, so the whole pool goes to the winners). Choose "Auto-pay players" and the platform settles the moment the bracket completes, or "I settle it" to handle payouts yourself.
• Splits: winner-take-all, 70/30, 50/30/20, or a custom split in whole percentages that sum to exactly 100 (up to 16 places).
• You can seed the pool yourself, set a goal and stretch goals, and viewers can contribute through the "Fuel the prize pool" widget on the event page. Contributions refund automatically if you cancel the event.
• External prizes (cash or hardware elsewhere) get a USD figure and a "what / where" description.

This step also holds broadcast dressing: a 1200x400 header banner and featured stream channels.

Step 5: Invite#

Search users, bulk-add by email, and send. Invites go out the moment the tournament is created. The success screen hands you copyable signup links; opening one signs the player in and registers them in one step.

Roles: staff and casters#

Add staff from the event's management panel. Two levels: admin staff share your full powers (settings, start and cancel, casters, results); moderator staff manage casters, results, and chat but cannot touch settings. Casters are a separate track: verified casters (site-wide badge, granted after an application) can be approved into your event's caster pool, or you can leave the pool open. Approved casters see the casting board, can claim matches, and get access to the lobbies and spoiler-embargoed results they need.

Match night#

The organizer tools live where the problems happen:

• In every lobby: hold or release a match for casting, open the lobby early, extend the shot clock, mark "MUST BE CAST", set a game winner directly, or resolve the series.
• On the match page: enter game results by hand, award a walkover when the ready window elapsed, undo a result (locked once the next round played), hide or reveal individual results, and bulk-attach replays ("Choose replays…" fills games 1, 2, 3 in order).
• Result convergence is centralized, so whether a game arrives via player report, replay auto-detection, Companion upload, or your own override, bracket advancement and the next round's lobby stay consistent.

If a player is stuck, they have a "Call admin" button in their lobby that pings you with a direct link. Expect it to be used.

Practice first#

"Test-drive" creates a private sandbox with bot opponents that plays through your exact configuration: check-in, vetoes, ready-up, results, recap. It costs nothing, is invisible to everyone else, and deletes itself after a day. If you are about to run your first paid event, run its dress rehearsal here first.