How to run a group stage and knockout tournament
Create a tournament with a group stage and a knockout in the Meeplay app, add the players, generate the matches, enter the results and follow the standings all the way to the final.
21 steps with screenshots of the app
In this format, players are split into groups, everyone plays everyone else in their group, and the best of each group go through to a knockout. This guide runs a Carcassonne tournament for 8 people from start to finish: two groups of four, semi-finals and a final.
- Have the Meeplay app installed and be logged in to your account.
- Manage an organization on Meeplay. If you don't have one yet, follow the How to create your organization guide first.
- It helps to have read the How to create a tournament guide first: this one only explains the steps that change in this format.
In each screenshot, what you need to tap is outlined in yellow and pointed out with an arrow.
- Step 1 of 21
Start creating the tournament
On your organization's dashboard, tap Create Tournament and fill in the name, game, date and places as in the How to create a tournament guide. In this example, Carcassonne and 8 places. Then tap Type of competition.
- Step 2 of 21
Choose the format and set up the groups
Choose Groups to elimination. In Number of groups, set how many groups there will be (here, 2 groups of 4), and in Qualifiers per group, how many go through from each one to the knockout (here, the top 2). With Number of rounds set to 1, each player plays everyone in their group once; with 2, twice.
- Step 3 of 21
Adjust the knockout and the scoring
Further down you choose what the knockout will be like (Single elimination), how many play each game and over how many games each tie is decided (Best of). For the group standings, choose Points per result: 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.
- Step 4 of 21
Publish the tournament
Tap Publish, confirm it and tap Done, as in the How to create a tournament guide.
- Step 5 of 21
Go to the players
The tournament page sums up the format under Details. To add the participants, tap the Players tab.
- Step 6 of 21
Add players
Tap the + button at the bottom right.
- Step 7 of 21
Choose the list
Tap Confirmed so they go straight in as confirmed. If the tournament is already full, you can add them to the Waitlist.
- Step 8 of 21
Tick the participants
Tap each person to tick them. At the top you can search for anyone with a Meeplay account by name or nickname; if someone doesn't have one, add them with Create player. When everyone is ticked, tap Add 8/8 players.
- Step 9 of 21
Go to the results
The players now show up as confirmed. Now tap the Results tab.
- Step 10 of 21
Generate the matches
Tap Generate plays. The app splits the players into the groups and creates every game of the group stage.
- Step 11 of 21
Confirm
Tap Generate and then Done in the next message.
- Step 12 of 21
The games in each round
Each card is a game, with its group and its two players. Use the Round 1 drop-down to move from one round to another.
- Step 13 of 21
Enter each result
When a game finishes, tap the pencil on its card. Games that already have a result show the points and who won: in this example only one is left, in the last round.
- Step 14 of 21
Points and winner
Enter each player's Points, mark the Winner and tap Save.
- Step 15 of 21
Save the result
Tap Save to confirm.
- Step 16 of 21
Check the group standings
Under Classification you see each group ranked by points, with wins (W), draws (D), losses (L) and the Buchholz tie-breaker (Bch). Once every group game has a result, Generate plays appears: tap it to create the knockout.
- Step 17 of 21
Generate the knockout stage
The app suggests checking the standings first. Tap Generate and then Done.
- Step 18 of 21
The knockout ties
Under Results, the Semifinal tab shows the ties: the winner of group A against the runner-up of group B (1A vs 2B), and the other way round. Enter their results just like in the groups.
- Step 19 of 21
The final
Once the semi-finals are over, the winners move on to the Final automatically. Tap the pencil to enter the result.
- Step 20 of 21
Enter the final result
Just like before: enter the points, mark the winner, tap Save and confirm.
- Step 21 of 21
You have a winner!
Under Classification, the Semifinal and Final tabs show the bracket with every result and who won the tournament.
All done!
You have finished the guide. If something did not go as in the screenshots, tell us which step you got stuck on and we will help you.
