Knockout Rounds
Knockout rounds are single elimination, from Round of 32 through the Finals. A straight bracket is knockout from the start. A groups tournament reaches it when every group is closed and you run /bracket open (see Starting the Knockout).
Most of the time you only need two commands:
/bracket open # open the current round
/bracket close # close it and move the winners onFor finer control, /bracket open-matchup and /bracket close-matchup work on single matchups or one region at a time.
Regional Labels
Each round is split into 4 regions, March Madness style. A matchup's label is its region number plus a letter:
| Round | Matchups | Labels |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 32 | 16 | 1A–1D, 2A–2D, 3A–3D, 4A–4D |
| Round of 16 | 8 | 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B |
| Quarterfinals | 4 | 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A |
| Semifinals | 2 | 1A, 3A |
| Finals | 1 | Finals |
/bracket status shows the labels of open matchups. The button pickers described below show them too.
Opening a Round
/bracket open
/bracket open duration:<time>Opens every matchup in the current round that has both titles in place.
Parameters:
duration(optional) - How long voting stays open, from 5m to 30d. Examples:30m,24h,3d.
If duration is left out, the bot uses the default voting duration set in the setup form. If the form didn't set one, the default is 24h.
Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only
Rounds with more than 5 matchups (Round of 32, Round of 16) are too many for one voting session. /bracket open tells you to open them by region with /bracket open-matchup instead.
Examples:
/bracket open
/bracket open duration:48h
/bracket open duration:30mHow members vote
Opening a round posts the voting message:
The voting message, posted in the channel
Its Start Voting button opens a personal voting dashboard (only that member sees it):
- Every open matchup, with a button for each title (your picks are purple)
- Your votes: every matchup you've voted in this tournament, your pick ticked, under a heading per round (Round 1, Round 2… then the Final). Where a round has more than one matchup per region, each region gets its own heading and its matchups go by letter:Only you see this list; it's on your own ballot.
Round 1 · Region 1 A: ✅ Session 9 vs A Nightmare on Elm Street B: Chucky vs ✅ Halloween (1978) Round 3 1A: ✅ Session 9 vs Halloween (1978) - Your voting streak
- Choices save right away and can be changed until the matchup closes
A member's own voting dashboard: their picks in purple, their streak, and every vote they've cast
Live vote counts are visible to everyone:
Live standings, updated as votes come in
Once the bot's own emoji are uploaded (it does this itself on its first start; see Installation), the bars are drawn with them instead of squares: a bar under each title, with its votes and share, when there's room; one bar per matchup, split between the two titles' counts, when more matchups are open; and the squares above for a whole round of long titles. The card picks its look once, for the matchups it's showing, and keeps it until they close, so it never changes shape between votes. The totals underneath read 🗳️ 12 votes · 👥 6 voters · ⚔️ 2 matchups.
Opening Part of a Round
/bracket open-matchup
/bracket open-matchup matchup:<labels> duration:<time>
/bracket open-matchup region:<1-4> duration:<time>
/bracket open-matchup duration:<time>Parameters:
matchup(optional) - One label or several, comma-separated:1A,2B,3A,Finalsregion(optional) - 1 to 4. Opens every matchup in that region of the current round.duration(optional) - 5m to 30d. Same default as/bracket open.
Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only
With nothing but duration, the bot shows buttons:
- More than 5 matchups in the round: one button per region.
- 5 or fewer: one button per pending matchup.
Buttons expire after 15 minutes.
Open by region
Use this for Round of 32 and Round of 16, or to spread a round over several days:
/bracket open-matchup region:1 duration:24h
/bracket open-matchup region:2 duration:24hWARNING
Opening a region only opens its matchups that haven't been voted on yet. Matchups already voting keep their votes, and decided ones keep their results; the reply lists them.
Open single matchups
/bracket open-matchup matchup:1A
/bracket open-matchup matchup:1A,1B,2A duration:24h
/bracket open-matchup matchup:Finals duration:3dGood for a "match of the day", or for spacing out the semifinals and final.
Closing a Round
/bracket close
/bracket close tiebreaker-duration:<time>Closes every open matchup in the current round and moves the winners into the next round.
Parameters:
tiebreaker-duration(optional) - How long a tiebreaker vote runs, from 5m to 7d
If tiebreaker-duration is left out, the bot uses the default set in the setup form. If the form didn't set one, the default is 1h.
Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only
What happens:
- The title with more votes wins each matchup.
- A tied matchup starts a tiebreaker vote. The winner moves on when it resolves, at its deadline or through
/bracket resolve-tiebreaker. Its bars show each option's share of the votes: gold for the one ahead (or every one sharing the lead), blue for the rest. - When every matchup in the round is closed, the tournament moves to the next round. Run
/bracket opento start it. - Closing the Finals ends the tournament and names the champion.
Voting also closes by itself at the deadline, with a reminder posted beforehand.
Examples:
/bracket close
/bracket close tiebreaker-duration:30mOutput:
✅ Quarterfinals Closed
Closed 4 matchups
🏆 Winners
• 1A: The Thing (15 vs 8)
• 2A: Alien (12 vs 11)
...A matchup's results card, posted as it closes
Each matchup's result card shows the vote split as one bar between the two counts (the winner's share in green from the left, the runner-up's in orange; gold on both sides when a tie went to the higher seed).
Under it is a picture of the matchup, drawn in the bot's own style:
- The two posters face off across a crackling lightning VS.
- The winner's poster is larger, in a gold-and-jade frame under a red WINNER sash with a trophy. The runner-up's is dimmed.
- The vote split is a gold bar from the left and a blue one from the right, with each side's share and votes above it.
- An UPSET! stamp marks a worse seed beating a better one. "Tied: higher seed advances" marks a tie the higher seed took.
- A title with no poster (or one that didn't load in time) gets a carved placeholder with its name instead.
If the picture can't be drawn within 5 seconds, or the bot can't attach files in that channel, the card posts without it and shows the winner's poster as a small thumbnail in its corner, as it used to. Tiebreaker results and /bracket close-matchup show the winner's poster as a thumbnail.
Opening the next matchup closes earlier ones
When you open matchups, any others in the round still voting close first, exactly as their deadline would: winners are announced, and ties get a tiebreaker vote. Running a round one matchup at a time (/bracket open-matchup matchup:1A, then 1B, …) therefore always has exactly one matchup voting, and earlier votes are locked in. To keep several voting together, open them in one go: matchup:"1A,1B", or region:1.
The matchup option suggests the current round's matchups that haven't been voted on yet, with both titles, so you don't need to remember labels.
How much time is left?
Ballots and the live standings show a countdown ("closes in 2 hours") that Discord keeps up to date. Anyone can also run /bracket status to see every open matchup and its time left, or /bracket my-votes for their own votes. /bracket status shows each open matchup with the same coloured bars as the live standings. If the voting card has scrolled out of sight, /bracket voting-post posts it again with its Start Voting button, and brings the live standings down with it (once every 10 minutes per channel; admins and mods any time).
/bracket close-matchup
/bracket close-matchup matchup:<labels> tiebreaker-duration:<time>
/bracket close-matchupCloses one or more open matchups and moves their winners on.
Parameters:
matchup(optional) - One label or several, comma-separated. Leave it out to pick from buttons showing each open matchup and its vote count.tiebreaker-duration(optional) - 5m to 7d. Same default as/bracket close.
Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only
Examples:
/bracket close-matchup matchup:1A
/bracket close-matchup matchup:1A,2A tiebreaker-duration:30m
/bracket close-matchupWhen the last matchup of a round closes, the tournament moves to the next round.
Tournament Status
/bracket statusShows the current phase, each open matchup with the same vote bars and closing time as the live standings, and how many matchups are done. It's a snapshot; the live standings card is the one that keeps updating.
Who can use: Everyone
/bracket status during a round
View the Bracket
/bracket viewDraws the tournament as an image.
Who can use: Everyone
- During the knockout: the bracket tree, with each round, winners highlighted, and the champion once there is one.
- Before the knockout: an overview of the tournament's groups and titles.
Posted for you as the tournament goes. Whenever knockout matchups are decided, the bot posts the bracket as it now stands, under the results: Bracket So Far, then the Final Bracket with the champion. Matchups closing together (a whole round at its deadline) get one image, not one each. A tie posts its bracket once its tiebreaker decides it.
Fixing a Bracket
Groups tournaments only: /bracket regenerate rebuilds the knockout bracket from the group results. Seeding, wildcards, and matchups are worked out again, and any knockout voting already under way is discarded.
Quick Reference
| Command | Purpose | Who Can Use |
|---|---|---|
/bracket open | Open the current round | Admins/Mods |
/bracket close | Close the current round and move winners on | Admins/Mods |
/bracket open-matchup | Open one region or specific matchups | Admins/Mods |
/bracket close-matchup | Close specific matchups | Admins/Mods |
/bracket resolve-tiebreaker | Settle a tiebreaker early | Admins/Mods |
/bracket extend-voting | Set a new deadline for the round | Admins/Mods |
/bracket status | Progress and live vote counts | Everyone |
/bracket view | Bracket image | Everyone |
| Start Voting button | Vote in open matchups | Everyone |
Related Pages: