Setup & Group Stage

This guide covers everything from creating your first tournament through completing the group stage and advancing to knockouts.

Creating Your Tournament

/bracket create

/bracket create name:[tournament name] groups:[4-12]

Parameters:

• name (required) - Tournament name (e.g., "The Shudder Discord Gore Cup")
• groups (optional) - Number of groups (4-12, default 8). Each group has 4 entries.

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Features:

• Ephemeral response - Only visible to the admin/moderator who created it (keeps channel clean)
• Use /bracket announce when ready to share tournament with the entire server
• Only one tournament per server at a time
• Tournament enters "setup" phase
• Flexible sizing: smaller tournaments for quick events, larger for epic competitions
• Wildcards calculated automatically based on group count
• Type determined by first /bracket add-title command

Examples:

/bracket create name:Quick Horror Showdown groups:4
/bracket create name:Monthly Movie Madness groups:8
/bracket create name:The Shudder Discord Gore Cup groups:12

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Adding Titles

/bracket add-title

/bracket add-title group:[A-L] type:[movie/tv/game/boardgame/book] title:[title] image:[attachment]

Parameters:

• group (required) - Group letter (A through L)
• type (required) - Tournament type: movie, tv, game, boardgame, or book
• title (required) - Title to search for
• image (optional) - Custom image file or URL to use instead of API poster

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Features:

• Smart search integration: Automatically searches TMDB, RAWG, BGG, or Google Books based on type
• Selection menu for precision: When multiple matches found, shows dropdown menu to choose exact title
• Single result auto-add: If only one match found, adds it immediately
• Custom images: Optionally provide a custom image (upload file or paste URL) that overrides the API poster
• Metadata storage: Stores IDs, years, poster URLs, and ratings
• Progress tracking: Shows how many titles added (e.g., "2/4 titles")
• Duplicate prevention: Won't let you add same title twice to a group
• Type validation: Prevents mixing different types in same tournament
• Add 1-4 titles per group: Flexible - add titles one at a time until group has 4

Examples:

/bracket add-title group:A type:movie title:The Exorcist
/bracket add-title group:A type:movie title:Halloween

# With custom images
/bracket add-title group:D type:movie title:Akira image:[upload file]

Tips:

• Run command 4 times to fill each group (one title at a time)
• Can be more general with titles - selection menu lets you pick exact match
• Progress indicator shows "1/4 titles", "2/4 titles", etc.
• Use image parameter to provide your own images instead of relying on API posters

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Managing Setup

/bracket remove-title

/bracket remove-title group:[A-L] position:[1-4]

Remove a title from a group during setup phase.

Parameters:

• group (required) - Group letter (A through L)
• position (required) - Position of title to remove (1-4)

Examples:

/bracket remove-title group:A position:3

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/bracket resize

/bracket resize groups:[4-12]

Expand or contract the tournament during setup phase.

Parameters:

• groups (required) - New number of groups (4-12)

Features:

• Expanding (e.g., 8 → 12): Adds new groups (I, J, K, L) for more titles
• Contracting (e.g., 8 → 6): Removes groups if they're empty
• Smart validation: Prevents data loss by blocking contraction if groups being removed have titles
• Only during setup: Cannot resize once voting has started

Examples:

# Expand from 8 groups to 12 groups
/bracket resize groups:12

# Contract from 12 groups to 8
/bracket resize groups:8

Use Cases:

• Tournament grows larger than initially planned
• Want to reduce empty groups before starting
• Need more groups after starting to add titles

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/bracket announce

/bracket announce message:[custom message] image:[banner image]

Share the tournament with your entire server.

Parameters:

• message (optional) - Custom announcement message to the server
• image (optional) - Tournament banner or promotional image

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Features:

• Public announcement - Visible to entire server (unlike create which is ephemeral)
• Custom messaging - Add your own hype text or instructions
• Tournament banner - Upload or link to promotional images
• Auto-generated details - Shows tournament type, groups, entry count, and current status

Examples:

# Simple announcement
/bracket announce

# With custom message
/bracket announce message:🎬 The Ultimate Horror Tournament is HERE! Vote for your favorite scary movies and help crown the champion! 🏆

# With custom message and banner
/bracket announce message:🔥 Monthly Movie Madness starts NOW! image:[upload banner]

When to Use:

• After setup - When all groups are filled and you're ready to start voting
• Voting opens - To remind members when group voting begins
• Knockout phase - To generate hype for playoff rounds

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/bracket list-groups

/bracket list-groups

Display a simple text overview of all groups and their titles.

Features:

• Shows all groups with their 4 titles
• Includes years and metadata
• Quick text-based reference
• No images - perfect for mobile or quick checks

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Group Stage Voting

/bracket open-groups

/bracket open-groups groups:[group letters] duration:[time]

Open groups for voting.

Parameters:

• groups (required) - Comma-separated group letters (e.g., "A,B,C,D")
• duration (optional) - Voting duration (default: 24h, range: 5m-30d)
  • Format: Number + unit (m=minutes, h=hours, d=days)
  • Examples: "5m", "2h", "24h", "3d", "7d", "30d"

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Features:

• Open multiple groups at once
• Posts embed showing all titles in each group with balanced layout:
  • 4 or fewer groups: 2x2 grid
  • 5-9 groups: 3 groups per row
  • 10+ groups: 4 groups per row
• Customizable voting duration (5 minutes to 30 days)
• Displays time remaining and exact deadline in embed footer
• Voting opens immediately
• Members can vote for top 2 in each group

Examples:

# Default 24 hour voting period
/bracket open-groups groups:A,B,C,D

# 48 hour voting period
/bracket open-groups groups:A,B,C,D duration:48h

# Week-long voting
/bracket open-groups groups:I,J,K,L duration:7d

Recommended Strategy:

• Open 4 groups per day to maintain engagement
• Default 24h works well for most communities
• Use longer periods (48h-7d) for slower-paced tournaments
• Use shorter periods (1h-6h) for live events

Automatic Voting Closure:

• ⏰ 1-hour warning - Bot sends reminder when <1 hour remaining
• 🔒 Auto-close at deadline - Voting automatically closes when time expires
• 📊 Results posted - Final vote counts and advancing titles announced
• 🚫 Buttons disabled - Voting message updated to show CLOSED status
• No manual intervention needed - Tournament progresses automatically

Benefits:

• Consistent tournament pacing without admin monitoring
• Members get advance warning to cast final votes
• Immediate results when voting ends
• Reduces admin workload

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Group Stage Voting

How Members Vote

When an admin opens groups with /bracket open-groups, the bot posts an interactive voting message with buttons for each title.

Voting Process:

1. Click the button for a title to select it (button turns green)
2. You'll see a blue confirmation embed showing "✅ 1 of 2 Selected" with a reminder to pick one more
3. Click a second title to complete your vote (2 selections required)
4. You'll see a green confirmation embed showing both your selections
5. Click a selected title again to deselect it
6. You can change your votes anytime before voting closes

What first-time voters see when they start voting

Features:

• ✅ No commands needed - just click buttons
• ✅ Visual feedback - selected buttons highlight in green
• ✅ Confirmation embeds - See your selection progress (1 of 2, 2 of 2) in color-coded embeds
• ✅ Real-time counts - see vote totals update live
• ✅ Change anytime - modify your selections before deadline
• ✅ Clear constraints - can only select 2 titles per group
• ✅ Pro tip reminders - Each confirmation reminds you that you can change votes

Example:

Group A
1. The Thing (15 votes)
2. Alien (12 votes)
3. Event Horizon (8 votes)
4. The Fly (10 votes)

[Button for each title - click 2 to vote]

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/bracket my-votes

/bracket my-votes

See your voting status and history.

Features:

• Shows which groups you've voted in
• Shows available votes remaining
• Displays time remaining for open voting
• Lists knockout matchup votes
• Ephemeral - Only you can see your voting status

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/bracket close-groups

/bracket close-groups groups:[group letters]

Close group voting and calculate results.

Parameters:

• groups (required) - Comma-separated group letters to close

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Features:

• Closes voting and calculates results
• Determines top 2 and third place for each group
• Random tiebreaker for tied positions
• Posts results publicly with vote counts
• Shows medals: 🥇 First, 🥈 Second, 🥉 Third

Examples:

/bracket close-groups groups:A,B,C,D
/bracket close-groups groups:E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L

Results Display:

🏁 Group A, B, C, D Results

Group A
🥇 The Exorcist (45 votes)
🥈 Halloween (38 votes)
🥉 Night of the Living Dead (22 votes)

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Advancing to Knockout

/bracket advance-knockout

/bracket advance-knockout
/bracket advance-knockout duration:"48h"

Generate the knockout bracket from group results and automatically start voting.

Who can use: Administrators and Moderators only

Parameters:

• duration (optional): How long voting stays open (e.g., "24h", "3d", "45m")
  • Default: 24 hours

Features:

• Calculates best third-place finishers (wildcards)
• Generates Round of 32 (or smaller) matchups
• Pairs group winners with non-winners from different groups
• Randomized seeding for fairness
• Posts wildcard announcement
• Automatically opens voting with customizable duration
• Sends voting buttons for all first-round matchups
• Full bracket tree generated - All rounds created upfront with TBD placeholders

Requirements:

• All groups must be closed
• Can only be used once per tournament

Output:

🏆 Round Of 16 - Knockout Stage Begins!

16 matchups created • 32 titles remain
The tournament advances to single elimination!

🗳️ Voting is now open!
Vote for ONE title in each matchup below.

⏰ Voting closes in: 24 hours

🎟️ Wildcards (Best 8 Third-Place)
1. The Thing (12 votes, Group E)
2. Alien (11 votes, Group C)
...

[Voting buttons for each matchup appear below]

What happens next:

• Voting starts immediately (no need for /bracket open-knockout)
• Members vote by clicking buttons for each matchup
• Personal voting dashboard appears for each member showing all matchups with checkmarks
• Dashboard updates in real-time as they vote (✅ = voted, ⬜ = not voted)
• Voting auto-closes when deadline is reached
• Use /bracket close-knockout if you need to close early

→ Continue to Knockout Rounds

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Quick Reference

Command	Purpose
/bracket create	Start new tournament
/bracket add-title	Add title to group
/bracket remove-title	Remove title from group
/bracket resize	Change group count
/bracket announce	Share tournament publicly
/bracket list-groups	Text overview of groups
/bracket open-groups	Start group voting (button-based)
/bracket my-votes	Check voting status
/bracket close-groups	Close voting and show results
/bracket advance-knockout	Generate bracket + start voting

Note: Group voting is now button-based! Members vote by clicking buttons - no commands needed.

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