Double elimination
How it works:
- All teams start in the upper bracket (also called the winners' bracket).
- A team that loses in the upper bracket drops to the lower bracket (losers' bracket) and keeps playing.
- A team that loses in the lower bracket is out.
- The winner of the upper bracket meets the winner of the lower bracket in the grand final.
The upper bracket advantage: the upper bracket team has lost nothing and has played fewer matches. Some tournaments give it an extra edge in the grand final, such as a one-map lead or the first map pick. The exact rule is in each tournament's format.
Compared with other formats:
- Single elimination: one loss and you are out, as in the playoffs of a Major.
- Swiss: teams play opponents with the same record, as in the Major stages. See CS2 Major Format: Swiss System Explained.
Learn about series lengths in BO1 vs BO3 vs BO5.
Related guides
BO1 vs BO3 vs BO5: Match Formats in CS2BO1 is one map, BO3 is first to two maps, BO5 is first to three. What each CS2 format means, where tournaments use them and why upsets happen more in BO1.
BuchholzBuchholz seeds CS2 Major Swiss stages: the sum of the win-loss difference of every opponent a team has faced.
DeciderThe decider in CS2 is the last map of a series: map 3 of a BO3 or map 5 of a BO5.
Open qualifierAn open qualifier in CS2 is a qualifying tournament any team can enter.
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