30 Team Double Elimination Bracket

A blank 30 team double elimination bracket: upper bracket, lower bracket, grand final and reset, 59 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 30 team double elimination bracket: upper and lower brackets, grand final and reset game, 59 numbered games

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How a 30 team double elimination bracket works

The upper bracket (winners bracket) is a normal 30 team single elimination bracket, so seeds 1 and 2 get a bye into round 2. It has 5 rounds and 29 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 8 rounds and 28 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 (G58). If the lower bracket team wins, both teams have one loss, so a reset game (G59) decides the title. That is why a 30 team double elimination bracket has 58 games, or 59 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 8 v Seed 25
G3Seed 9 v Seed 24
G4Seed 4 v Seed 29
G5Seed 13 v Seed 20
G6Seed 5 v Seed 28
G7Seed 12 v Seed 21
G8Seed 15 v Seed 18
G9Seed 7 v Seed 26
G10Seed 10 v Seed 23
G11Seed 3 v Seed 30
G12Seed 14 v Seed 19
G13Seed 6 v Seed 27
G14Seed 11 v Seed 22
Upper round 2G15Seed 1 v Winner of G1
G16Winner of G2 v Winner of G3
G17Winner of G4 v Winner of G5
G18Winner of G6 v Winner of G7
G19Seed 2 v Winner of G8
G20Winner of G9 v Winner of G10
G21Winner of G11 v Winner of G12
G22Winner of G13 v Winner of G14
Upper round 3G23Winner of G15 v Winner of G16
G24Winner of G17 v Winner of G18
G25Winner of G19 v Winner of G20
G26Winner of G21 v Winner of G22
Upper round 4G27Winner of G23 v Winner of G24
G28Winner of G25 v Winner of G26
Upper finalG29Winner of G27 v Winner of G28
Lower round 1G30Loser of G2 v Loser of G3
G31Loser of G4 v Loser of G5
G32Loser of G6 v Loser of G7
G33Loser of G9 v Loser of G10
G34Loser of G11 v Loser of G12
G35Loser of G13 v Loser of G14
Lower round 2G36Loser of G1 v Loser of G22
G37Winner of G30 v Loser of G21
G38Winner of G31 v Loser of G20
G39Winner of G32 v Loser of G19
G40Loser of G8 v Loser of G18
G41Winner of G33 v Loser of G17
G42Winner of G34 v Loser of G16
G43Winner of G35 v Loser of G15
Lower round 3G44Winner of G36 v Winner of G37
G45Winner of G38 v Winner of G39
G46Winner of G40 v Winner of G41
G47Winner of G42 v Winner of G43
Lower round 4G48Winner of G44 v Loser of G26
G49Winner of G45 v Loser of G25
G50Winner of G46 v Loser of G24
G51Winner of G47 v Loser of G23
Lower round 5G52Winner of G48 v Winner of G49
G53Winner of G50 v Winner of G51
Lower round 6G54Winner of G52 v Loser of G28
G55Winner of G53 v Loser of G27
Lower round 7G56Winner of G54 v Winner of G55
Lower finalG57Winner of G56 v Loser of G29
Grand finalG58Winner of G29 v Winner of G57
Reset (if needed)G59Rematch of G58, played only if the lower bracket team wins it

30 teams in other formats

30 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
30 team single elimination bracket291 to 55
30 team double elimination bracket58 or 592 to 1110 or 11
Round robin4352929
Swiss system7555

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 29 team double elimination bracket or the 31 team double elimination bracket, or pick any size below.

Questions

How many games are in a 30 team double elimination bracket?

58, or 59 if the grand final goes to a reset. Every team except the champion loses exactly twice, which makes 58 games; the reset is the one extra game, played when the champion has also lost once.

Who gets a bye in a 30 team double elimination bracket?

Seeds 1 And 2. 30 teams go into a 32-slot bracket, which leaves 2 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 30 team double elimination tournament take?

With one court and 30-minute games, the 58 games take 29 hours back to back (29.5 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.