Swiss elimination: a stage like the CS2 Majors

Pools by record

Everyone starts round one at 0-0. After that teams only play opponents with the same record: 1-0 against 1-0, 0-1 against 0-1. Within a pool pairs are chosen by Buchholz — the strength of opponents already faced. Teams on three wins move to “Advanced”, teams on three losses to “Eliminated”.

What comes after the stage

The stage halves the field but does not produce a champion. So HoneyCup offers three versions of the format:

• “Swiss qualifier (no playoff)” — the stage only, the outcome is the list of qualifiers;
• “Swiss qualifier + playoff” — qualifiers play a single elimination bracket to a champion, like the Champions Stage at a Major;
• “Swiss qualifier + double elimination” — a bracket until two losses.

Groups + Swiss

The reverse layout: a round-robin group stage first, then a set number advance from each group, and all qualifiers play one shared Swiss for a chosen number of rounds. Good when you want more games after the groups than a knockout gives.

How to start

1. Create a tournament, pick the sport and the “Swiss qualifier” format — with or without a playoff.
2. Add teams. Sixteen is the classic stage size.
3. Enter round one results — the next round's pools are built automatically.
4. When the stage ends, qualifiers move into the knockout bracket automatically.