Egg Shen Bot

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Tournament Bracket System ​

Run a bracket tournament in your Discord server for movies, TV shows, video games, board games, or books. Members vote with buttons; the bot tallies votes, settles ties, and moves winners on to the next round.

New to tournaments?

The Tournament Quick Guides walk through the most popular setups in a few steps each: a movie night bracket, one matchup at a time, a 32-title bracket and a groups tournament.

Quick FAQ ​

Q: What shapes of tournament are there?
A: Two:

  • Straight bracket - 2 to 32 titles, no groups. Head-to-head matchups from round one.
  • Groups tournament - 4 to 12 groups of exactly 4 titles. Members vote in groups first, then the qualifiers go into a knockout.

Q: How do I choose?
A: With max-titles when you create the tournament. 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 makes a straight bracket; 36, 40, 44, or 48 makes a groups tournament with 9–12 groups. You can change the group count later with /bracket-setup resize (4–12). A straight bracket doesn't have to be full: with 12 titles in a 16-title bracket, 4 titles get byes.

Q: Do I have to add titles one at a time?
A: No. The setup form lets you set up a whole tournament by uploading a CSV or JSON file, or by filling it in. Run /bracket-setup setup-link to get a private link to it.

Q: What types of tournaments can I run?
A: Movies, TV shows, video games, board games, or books. Each tournament is a single type.

Q: How does the search work?
A: /bracket-setup manage-titles action:add searches TMDB (movies/TV), RAWG (games), BoardGameGeek (board games), or Google Books. One match is added right away. Several matches show a menu so you can pick the right one.

Q: Who can create and manage tournaments?
A: Server administrators and moderators. Everyone can vote.

Q: How do wildcards work?
A: Groups tournaments only. The top 2 from each group go through. The best third-place finishers then fill the knockout up to the next power of 2 (4, 8, 16, or 32), at most one per group. For example: 12 groups = 24 + 8 wildcards = 32; 9 groups = 18 + 9 wildcards = 27. Leftover slots (5 of 32 in that case) become byes, and the group winners get them.

Q: What happens if there's a tie?
A: The bot starts a short tiebreaker vote (1 hour by default) with a button for each tied option. At the deadline it counts the votes and resolves the tie, picking at random if nobody voted. Admins can settle one early with /bracket resolve-tiebreaker: leave winner blank to go by the current votes, or give a number to choose the winner.

Q: Can users change their votes?
A: Yes, any time before the group or matchup closes.

Q: Can we run more than one tournament at once?
A: No. One tournament per server. Cancel or finish the current one before starting another.

🚀 Quick Start Guide ​

This walks through a small straight bracket from creation to a champion. For a groups tournament, see Setup & Group Stage.

Step 1: Create the Tournament (Admin Only) ​

/bracket-setup create name:"Horror Movie Showdown" max-titles:8

✅ Only you can see the reply, so you can set up privately.

Setting up many titles?

Instead of Steps 1–2, run /bracket-setup setup-link and use the setup form to upload a CSV or JSON file or fill the tournament in.

Step 2: Add Titles (Admin Only) ​

/bracket-setup manage-titles action:add type:movie title:"The Thing"
/bracket-setup manage-titles action:add title:"Alien"
/bracket-setup manage-titles action:add title:"The Exorcist"
/bracket-setup manage-titles action:add title:"The Shining"

Add up to 8. type is only needed on the first one.

💡 Tip: If several matches come up, pick the right one from the menu. Check what you've added with /bracket list-groups.

Step 3: Announce the Tournament (Admin Only) ​

/bracket-setup announce message:"🎬 Horror Movie Showdown starts NOW! Vote for your favorites!"

📢 Now everyone can see it.

Step 4: Open Round One (Admin Only) ​

/bracket open duration:24h

The bot builds the bracket (random seeding by default) and opens the first round.

→ Learn more about setup, seeding, and groups

Step 5: Members Vote (Everyone) ​

Click Start Voting on the voting message to get your personal voting dashboard.

Personal voting dashboard: your picks, your streak, and every vote you've cast, by round

  • Pick one title in each matchup.
  • Your choices are saved right away and you can change them before voting closes.
  • Check your votes any time with /bracket my-votes.
  • Can't find the voting card? /bracket voting-post posts it again, with its Start Voting button.

Step 6: Close the Round (Admin Only) ​

/bracket close

The bot closes every open matchup in the round and moves the winners on. Ties start a short tiebreaker vote. Voting also closes by itself at the deadline.

Check progress any time:

/bracket status

Tournament status showing active knockout voting with live vote counts

Step 7: Repeat for Each Round ​

Open → Vote → Close, until the final:

/bracket open
/bracket close

For finer control, open or close single matchups with /bracket open-matchup and /bracket close-matchup.

→ Learn about knockout rounds and regions

Step 8: Champion Crowned! 🏆 ​

🏆 Tournament Complete!

The Thing is the champion!
Congratulations! 🎉

💡 Pro Tips ​

Timing & Pacing:

  • Use duration:48h for slower tournaments and duration:1h for live events.
  • Open matchups one at a time or by region for drama.

Keep Members Engaged:

  • Announce when new groups or rounds open.
  • Remind members to check /bracket my-votes.
  • The bot posts the bracket as an image whenever matchups are decided; /bracket view draws it any time.

Manage Efficiently:

  • /bracket status shows progress and live vote counts.
  • /bracket list-groups gives a plain numbered list of titles.

→ See more tips and advanced features

Tournament Structure ​

Straight Bracket ​

  • 2 to 32 titles, no groups
  • /bracket open builds the bracket and opens round one
  • Seeding is random by default, or ordered (your list order) through the setup form

Groups Tournament ​

Phase 1: Group Stage

  • 4–12 groups (A through L), exactly 4 titles each
  • Members pick their top 2 in each group
  • Top 2 go through, plus wildcards if needed

Phase 2: Knockout

  • /bracket open starts it once every group is closed
  • Continues like a straight bracket

→ Complete setup guide

Knockout Rounds (both shapes) ​

  • Single elimination: Round of 32 → Round of 16 → Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Finals
  • Matchups are labeled by region (1A, 2B, …) across 4 regions
  • Open a whole round, one region, or single matchups
  • Winners move on automatically

→ Complete knockout guide

Key Features ​

✅ Search Integration - TMDB, RAWG, BGG, and Google Books with selection menus
✅ Setup Form - Upload a CSV or JSON file, or fill in a form
✅ Flexible Voting - Durations from 5 minutes to 30 days
✅ Regions - Matchups labeled by region for easy reference
✅ Auto-Advancement - Winners fill the next round automatically
✅ Visual Brackets - /bracket view draws the bracket as an image
✅ Deadline Tracking - Every voting message shows time remaining
✅ Voting Dashboard - Members see every vote they've cast, by round, with their pick ticked
✅ Granular Control - Open or close whole rounds, regions, or single matchups

Documentation ​

Need Help? ​

  • Check the Command Reference for command details
  • See Tips & Strategies for pacing ideas
  • Use /bracket status to check tournament progress
  • Use /bracket my-votes to see your own votes

Egg Shen — A Discord bot for movie, TV, video and board gaming, and book communities.

Copyright © 2026 Doug C. Hardester (known as r3volution11)