Format
Gauntlet
Winner stays. The next seed challenges.
A king-of-the-hill bracket. Seed 1 plays seed 2. The winner stays on and faces seed 3, then seed 4, until the list is done. The champion is whoever wins the last challenge.
Match count
n − 1
Every participant except the opening champion gets one challenge, so the event is n − 1 matches.
Example: 8 players → 7 matches, all on the same station.
Live demo
An 8-team gauntlet bracket
Generated in your browser by the same engine that powers every tournament on Bracket.
Live demo · 8 sample teams · 8 matches
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Third place
How it works
- 1
Participants are ordered by seed.
- 2
Each match is the current champion against the next challenger.
- 3
A loss ends that challenger’s run. The winner keeps the court.
When to use it
- Arcade and fighting-game sessions.
- One court or one station all day.
- Small fields where a full bracket would be too many matches.
FAQ
Gauntlet questions
Other formats
Single elimination
Lose once and you are out.
Double elimination
Everyone gets a second chance.
Round robin
Everyone plays everyone.
Swiss system
Big fields, few rounds, no eliminations.
Groups + knockout
World-Cup style two-stage tournament.
Free for all
Placement-based events for many players at once.
Leaderboard
Several scoring events, one cumulative table.
Racing formats
Time trials, single races and Grand Prix series.
Custom bracket
Your list order is the bracket.