Format
You can view dates & times for every stage of the tournament on the Schedule page.
Here's how Gridlock's tournament works, from signing up all the way to the Finals:
1. Signing up (June)
Once the signup window opens, you'll be able to sign up to compete. You'll need:
- a Discord account;
- a paid, legitimate Minecraft: Java Edition account;
- a streaming service account for Twitch or YouTube
You'll also need to agree to our Code of Conduct before you can invite a duo to pair up with you. Once your duo partner has accepted your invite, you'll be ready to compete once the qualifiers begin. Signups are only open for 5 days so be sure to sign up in time if you'd like to compete!
2. Practice Weekend (June)
All registered duos will have the chance to compete in an optional practice weekend, held in the same format as the Open Qualifiers. Each region will have an 8 hour window in which duos can compete in 7 matches, but with no stakes and no eliminations at the end of the day. It's entirely optional, but is a good chance to practice and strategise!
3. Open Qualifiers (July)
Over three weekends (EU playing Saturdays, NA playing Sundays), duos will compete in 7 matches in an 8 hour period.
- After Weekend 1, the top 256 alliances (based on the below metrics) will advance to Weekend 2
- After Weekend 2, the top 64 alliances (based on the below metrics) will advance to Weekend 3
- After Weekend 3, the top 16 alliances (based on the below metrics) will advance to the Bracket Stage
Ranking Metrics: The metrics used to determine the top duos at the end of each weekend are (in order) are as follows:
- Win Count
- Matches Played
- Average Win Count of all opponents faced (excluding one with the lowest win count)
- Average Proportional Point Differential in matches won
- Calculated by taking away the losing alliance's score by the winning alliance's score.
- If an alliance has 0 wins, this metric will be 0
- Random Choice
Ranking Metrics are not carried over from previous weekends. They may be evaluated throughout the session, but only the ranking that is calculated after all matches are complete will be final.
Matches that start before the 8 hour session concludes, but continue after it has ended, will be allowed to complete.
Important: Each round is 30 minutes, so to be sure you have enough time to complete all matches, plus any wait time while queuing, you will need to start playing within the first 4 hours of your region's window.
If a team disconnects at the start of the match, that is counted as a win for the remaining team. If they disconnect during, the game can be manually paused and they have a 5-minute grace period to reconnect before the game automatically ends early.
If an alliance that places in Top 256 or 64 in Weekend 1 or 2 respectively decline to play in the next weekend, the next session will simply be run with a lower alliance count.
4. Bracket Stage (August)
The top 16 teams from each region then compete in Best-of-3 matches over 2 weekends, competing for one of the eight spots in the Circuit. These matches are seeded based on the teams' win/loss ratio from the qualifiers. Four matches will be played per region per weekend (4 for EU on Saturday, 4 for NA on Sunday).
5. The Circuit (August-November)
From August to November, the last two weekends of each month will be Circuit matches. The first weekend has a Swiss format, where the 8 teams are separated into round-robin groups of 4 to play Best-of-3 matches. The top 2 teams from each group will compete in a Bracket-style tournament in the second weekend, with the winner getting the largest share of that month's $15k total prize pool.
6. The Finals (December)
From each region, the top 2 teams of each Swiss format group will compete for the final prize pool. In the first weekend, each team will a play a Best-of-3 match against each other to decide the seeding for the final bracket. The second weekend is the Final Bracket, with Best-of-3 matches in the semifinals, and a Best-of-5 match for the final to earn the grand prize from their region's prize pool.