22 Team Double Elimination Bracket

A blank 22 team double elimination bracket: upper bracket, lower bracket, grand final and reset, 43 numbered games in all. Every lower bracket slot says which game its team drops from. Print it, or fill it in online.

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Blank 22 team double elimination bracket: upper and lower brackets, grand final and reset game, 43 numbered games

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How a 22 team double elimination bracket works

The upper bracket (winners bracket) is a normal 22 team single elimination bracket, so seeds 1 to 10 get a bye into round 2. It has 5 rounds and 21 games, and its winner reaches the grand final without a loss.

A team that loses in the upper bracket drops into the lower bracket (losers bracket). The lower bracket has 7 rounds and 20 games. Teams that lose later in the upper bracket join later in the lower bracket, and the drop order is reversed to make early rematches less likely. A loss in the lower bracket knocks a team out. The bracket image labels every drop, for example "Loser of G1".

The lower bracket winner has one loss and the upper bracket winner has none. They meet in the grand final (G42). If the lower bracket team wins, both teams have one loss, so a reset game (G43) decides the title. That is why a 22 team double elimination bracket has 42 games, or 43 with the reset.

Every team plays at least 2 games, because a team is only out after its second loss. The most any team can play is 11: a team that loses once in the upper bracket, wins the lower bracket, then wins the grand final and plays the reset.

For the rules that apply at every size, see how a double elimination bracket works.

Order of play

Every game in the bracket, numbered as on the printable sheet. Upper and lower bracket games can run side by side once the games that feed them are finished.

RoundGameMatchup
Upper round 1G1Seed 16 v Seed 17
G2Seed 13 v Seed 20
G3Seed 12 v Seed 21
G4Seed 15 v Seed 18
G5Seed 14 v Seed 19
G6Seed 11 v Seed 22
Upper round 2G7Seed 1 v Winner of G1
G8Seed 8 v Seed 9
G9Seed 4 v Winner of G2
G10Seed 5 v Winner of G3
G11Seed 2 v Winner of G4
G12Seed 7 v Seed 10
G13Seed 3 v Winner of G5
G14Seed 6 v Winner of G6
Upper round 3G15Winner of G7 v Winner of G8
G16Winner of G9 v Winner of G10
G17Winner of G11 v Winner of G12
G18Winner of G13 v Winner of G14
Upper round 4G19Winner of G15 v Winner of G16
G20Winner of G17 v Winner of G18
Upper finalG21Winner of G19 v Winner of G20
Lower round 1G22Loser of G1 v Loser of G14
G23Loser of G2 v Loser of G12
G24Loser of G3 v Loser of G11
G25Loser of G4 v Loser of G10
G26Loser of G5 v Loser of G8
G27Loser of G6 v Loser of G7
Lower round 2G28Winner of G22 v Loser of G13
G29Winner of G23 v Winner of G24
G30Winner of G25 v Loser of G9
G31Winner of G26 v Winner of G27
Lower round 3G32Winner of G28 v Loser of G18
G33Winner of G29 v Loser of G17
G34Winner of G30 v Loser of G16
G35Winner of G31 v Loser of G15
Lower round 4G36Winner of G32 v Winner of G33
G37Winner of G34 v Winner of G35
Lower round 5G38Winner of G36 v Loser of G20
G39Winner of G37 v Loser of G19
Lower round 6G40Winner of G38 v Winner of G39
Lower finalG41Winner of G40 v Loser of G21
Grand finalG42Winner of G21 v Winner of G41
Reset (if needed)G43Rematch of G42, played only if the lower bracket team wins it

22 teams in other formats

22 teams in each format. Time slots: rounds that must be played one after another, with enough courts for every ready game.
FormatGamesGames per teamTime slots
22 team single elimination bracket211 to 55
22 team double elimination bracket42 or 432 to 1110 or 11
Round robin2312121
Swiss system5555

Fill it in online

Open this bracket in Easy Bracket Maker to type in real team names, keep this seeding or shuffle it, and enter scores as games finish. Winners move on automatically and losers drop to the right lower bracket game. Export it as SVG, PNG, CSV or a printable sheet, or send players a link. It runs in your browser and saves on your device; there is no account.

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Other sizes

For a different number of teams, see the 21 team double elimination bracket or the 23 team double elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 22 team double elimination bracket?

42, or 43 if the grand final goes to a reset. Every team except the champion loses exactly twice, which makes 42 games; the reset is the one extra game, played when the champion has also lost once.

Who gets a bye in a 22 team double elimination bracket?

Seeds 1 To 10. 22 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 10 empty slots. The byes go to the top seeds, who start in round 2, so a higher seed earns an easier path.

How many games does each team play?

At least 2 and at most 11.

How long does a 22 team double elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 42 games take 21 hours back to back (21.5 hours with a reset). With enough courts to play every ready game at once, it takes 10 rounds (11 with a reset), because each game waits for the games that feed it.

What is a grand final reset?

The upper bracket winner reaches the grand final unbeaten. If the lower bracket team wins it, both teams have one loss, so one more game decides the champion.