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Finishing Positions

Overview​

Every matchUp in a draw carries a finishingPositionRange — a pair of numeric ranges that describe the possible finishing positions for the winner and loser of that matchUp. This value is the bridge between draw structure (where a participant finished) and ranking point calculation (how many points they earn).

type MatchUpFinishingPositionRange = {
  winner: number[]; // [minPosition, maxPosition]
  loser: number[]; // [minPosition, maxPosition]
};

For example, in a 32-draw single elimination:

RoundWinner RangeLoser RangeMeaning
Final[1, 1][2, 2]Champion vs. runner-up
Semifinal[1, 2][3, 4]Winner goes to final; loser finishes 3rd-4th
Quarterfinal[1, 4][5, 8]Winner advances; loser finishes 5th-8th
Round of 16[1, 8][9, 16]Winner advances; loser finishes 9th-16th
Round of 32[1, 16][17, 32]Winner advances; loser finishes 17th-32nd

The winner range narrows as the participant advances through the draw — a champion's final finishingPositionRange is [1, 1], meaning they definitively finished 1st.

How Finishing Positions Are Computed​

Finishing positions are computed during draw generation by the addFinishingRounds() function. The algorithm works backwards from the final round:

  1. Final round: The winner finishes at position 1, the loser at position 2
  2. Each earlier round: Positions are calculated based on how many matchUps remain and the structure size
  3. Offsets: Multi-structure draws apply a finishingPositionOffset to shift positions for consolation or playoff structures

The key inputs are:

ParameterPurpose
finishingPositionOffsetShifts all positions by this amount (used for consolation structures)
positionsFedNumber of positions fed into the structure from a linked structure
roundsCountTotal number of rounds in the structure

Draw Type Variations​

Single Elimination​

The simplest case. Each round produces a clear loser range:

32-draw:
  R1 losers:  [17, 32]  →  accessor 32
  R2 losers:  [9, 16]   →  accessor 16
  QF losers:  [5, 8]    →  accessor 8
  SF losers:  [3, 4]    →  accessor 4
  Finalist:   [2, 2]    →  accessor 2
  Champion:   [1, 1]    →  accessor 1
tip

Without a 3rd-place playoff, both semifinal losers get finishingPositionRange: [3, 4] with accessor 4. Key 3 in a ranking policy is only reached when a 3-4 playoff produces a definitive 3rd-place finisher with range [3, 3].

Feed-In Championship (FIC)​

FIC draws have a main structure and a consolation structure. The consolation structure receives finishingPositionOffset = baseDrawSize so its positions don't overlap with the main draw:

32-draw FIC (16-player base main):
  Main draw positions:        1–16
  Consolation positions:      17–32 (offset by 16)

Consolation accessors:
  Consolation R1 losers: accessor 32
  Consolation R2 losers: accessor 24
  Consolation SF losers: accessor 20 (or similar, depending on feeds)
  Consolation finalist:  accessor 18
  Consolation champion:  accessor 17

Because each consolation tier receives a distinct finishingPositionOffset, all accessors across the entire draw are unique. This means ranking policies can assign different point values to every finishing tier without ambiguity.

Round Robin​

In Round Robin structures, finishingPositionRange is less meaningful because all participants in a group play each other. Both winner and loser have identical ranges spanning the full group:

4-player group: winner=[1,4], loser=[1,4]

Final standings in Round Robin are determined by tally results rather than finishingPositionRange. When Round Robin groups feed into playoff structures via POSITION links, the playoff structure computes its own finishingPositionRange independently.

Compass Draw​

Each direction (East, West, South, North, etc.) is an independent elimination structure with its own finishingPositionRange. Positions are local to each quadrant.

Compass draws can be generated as a pre-defined COMPASS draw type or built as custom topologies using withPlayoffs.roundPlayoffs for full control over which branches exist and their naming. See Custom Playoff Topologies.

Qualifying Structures​

Qualifying structures use finishingPositionRange with special handling:

  • Qualifying winners don't receive position 1 (reserved for the main draw champion)
  • Instead, their minimum position is set to the qualifying round count
  • This prevents qualifying match wins from mapping to main draw finishing positions

The Accessor: Mapping to Policy Keys​

The accessor is the critical bridge between finishingPositionRange and ranking point policies. It is computed as:

const accessor = Math.max(...finishingPositionRange);

This value becomes the key used to look up points in a ranking policy's finishingPositionRanges object:

// Ranking policy
finishingPositionRanges: {
  1:  { level: { 1: 3000, 2: 1650, 3: 990 } },  // Champion
  2:  { level: { 1: 2400, 2: 1320, 3: 792 } },  // Runner-up
  4:  { level: { 1: 1800, 2: 990, 3: 594 } },   // SF losers (key 4, not 3!)
  8:  { level: { 1: 1200, 2: 660, 3: 396 } },   // QF losers
  16: { level: { 1: 600,  2: 330, 3: 198 } },   // R16 losers
  32: { level: { 1: 300,  2: 165, 3: 99 } },    // R32 losers
}

The Math.max() convention means the accessor always corresponds to the worst possible finishing position in the range. This is intentional — it ensures participants are awarded points based on the round where they were eliminated, not their best theoretical position.

Multi-Structure Draws​

For draws with multiple structures (FIC, Curtis Consolation, Compass), a participant may have structureParticipation entries in more than one structure (e.g., eliminated in main draw R2, then played consolation through to the consolation SF). The ranking points pipeline iterates all entries and takes the maximum position points across structures:

Main draw R2 loss:       accessor 24  →  75 pts
Consolation SF finish:   accessor 12  →  150 pts
Final position points:   150 pts (consolation finish is better)

This happens automatically — no special policy configuration is needed.

structureParticipation​

When participants are hydrated with getParticipants({ withRankingProfile: true }), each participant's draws array contains structureParticipation entries. Each entry includes:

{
  structureId: string;
  finishingPositionRange: number[];  // the resolved range (winner or loser, based on outcome)
  participantWon: boolean;
  winCount: number;
  rankingStage: string;             // 'MAIN', 'QUALIFYING', 'CONSOLATION', etc.
  participationOrder: number;       // 1 for primary, 2+ for consolation/playoff
}

The finishingPositionRange stored in structureParticipation is the resolved range — it's the winner range if the participant won their last matchUp, or the loser range if they lost. When a participant plays multiple matchUps in the same structure, the narrowest range is kept (smallest spread between min and max position).

playoffFinishingPositionRanges​

The getAvailablePlayoffProfiles method (available on the Query Governor) returns the available finishing positions for Round Robin playoff structures:

const { playoffFinishingPositionRanges } = engine.getPlayoffFinishingPositionRanges({
  structureId,
  drawId,
});
// Returns:
// [
//   { finishingPosition: 1, finishingPositions: [1,2,3,4], finishingPositionRange: "1-4" },
//   { finishingPosition: 2, finishingPositions: [5,6,7,8], finishingPositionRange: "5-8" },
//   ...
// ]

These ranges define how group finishers map to overall draw finishing positions and are used when configuring playoff structures.

Draw structures are connected via links that control participant flow. The finishingPositions field on link sources determines which participants advance:

// Group winners advance to Gold bracket
{
  linkType: 'POSITION',
  source: { structureId: 'rr-group', finishingPositions: [1] },
  target: { structureId: 'gold-bracket', roundNumber: 1 }
}

// Group runners-up advance to Silver bracket
{
  linkType: 'POSITION',
  source: { structureId: 'rr-group', finishingPositions: [2] },
  target: { structureId: 'silver-bracket', roundNumber: 1 }
}

See How Links Work for full details on link types (WINNER, LOSER, POSITION).