Double Elimination seems to be the format of choice in America. Seems like its almost the standard format. I guess tournament organisers are big fan of it, because it gives all players a 2nd chance, and by most big tournament using the same format it creates some consistency for the players, so they know what to expect when entering tournaments.
Now my problem with double elimination is that round robin format is infact far superior to double elimination it comes to number of games and matches, which in turn gives better value for money to the participants.
Lets take a 64 man tournament comparing double elimination and round robin as an example. All matches are best of 3 (first to 2 wins).
For Reference:
Double Elimination = 126 Matches (252-381 games)
Examples:
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Round Robin - 16 groups of 4 players, top 2 qualify from each group into double Elimination = 126 Matches (252-381 games*)
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Round Robin -16 groups of 4 players, winner of each group goes into winner bracket, runner up into losers brackets of double elimination = 110 Matches (220-333 games*)
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Round Robin - 16 groups of 4 players, top 2 qualify from each group into Single Elimination = 96 Matches (192-288 games)
*Takes into account in the grand final, the winner of the loser bracket may win the first match, forcing a 2nd match)
Things of note here:
-In example 1, you can give everyone a garuanteed minimum of 3 matches each whilst keeping the same number of total games and matches.
-In example 2, you can give everyone a garuanteed minimum of 3 matches, whilst slightly decreasing the number of matches. Its also possible to greatly decrease the number games aswell whilst keeping the double elimination format for the knockout stage.
-In example 3, you can give everyone a garuanteed minimum of 3 matches, whilst greatly decreasing both matches and games (even possibly to half the number of games, however that is highly unlikely), at the sacrifice of double elimination for knockout in favor of single elimination.
Now lets try and give players even more value for money whilst keeping the number of matches and games lower than that of a regular double elimination tournament.
Lets come back to the 64 man tournament, but this we have a round robin of 8 groups each with 8 players. This gives each player 7 matches each in the group phase. But to keep the game count down we make all group matches best of 1 rather than best of 3. The once back into the knockout phase games become best of 3 again.
For reference:
Double Elimination = 126 Matches (252-381 games)
Examples:
-
Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, top 2 qualify from each group into double Elimination = Double Elimination = 254 Matches (284-317 games)
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Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, winner of each group goes into winner bracket, runner up into losers brackets of double elimination = 246 Matches (268-293 games)
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Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, top 2 qualify from each group into Single Elimination = 240 Matches (256-275 games)
Things of Note:
In all examples, the total number of matches has increased, but the total number of games can be kept significantly lower, even though theres slightly higher number of minimum games. Overrall depending on the format chosen from the examples, theres a high chance that the tournament will have significantly less matches whilst giving everony at least 7 games (matches) before being knocked out.
Finally if 4 players went through from each group of 8 rather than 2 you would end up with:
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Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, top 4 qualify from each group into double Elimination = Double Elimination = 286 Matches (352-417 games)
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Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, top 2 of each group goes into winner bracket, next 2 into losers brackets of double elimination = 270 Matches (316-365 games)
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Round Robin - 8 groups of 8 players, top 4 qualify from each group into Single Elimination = 256 Matches (288-323 games)
Things of Note:
-Whilst all examples excede the minumum number of games of that of a standard double elimination tournament, their maximum number of games are still comparable, especially examples 2 and 3 where maximum number of games are still lower than that of standard double elimination( in the case of 3, much lower)
-All players still have the minimum number of 7 games, aswell as half the group having a chance of making the knockout stages.
In conclusion, the standard double elimination format is not as good as it appears when compared to round robin. As proven through my examples, more matches and games can be given to each individual player whilst keeping the overall matches and games lower or at least comparable to that of standard double elimination tournament.
Using a round robin tournament could therefore reduce the length of a tournament aswell, depending on the format chosen. Not just from the examples above, but theres many round robin formats that can be used, 5, 6, 7 players can used in a group, however, I don’t reccommend going over 8, as that does then to increase the number of matches and games of groups by quite abit.
I am not saying people should stop using double elimination, as theres lots of variables that could mean that would be better. You have to account for things such as space, time, how many setups are avaliable, additional rules, such as tie breakers etc. Also its about what the players want. It wouldn’t be right to force them into a format no one is happy with, but when are players not happy with good value for money 
If you have resources necessary to dump double elimination and go with round robin, then I reccommend you give it a try and see how it works out.
Finally, I hope this little study opens up some possibilities for tournament organisers who feel that their only option is double elimination, and those who don’t know of possible superior formats that could be utilised. Anyway, this was probably a boring read to 99% of the people on here, so I’ll shut up now. Congrats to anyone who finished it.
Final note: My math isn’t as good as it used to be, so there could be some mistakes, in which case I am sorry and please correct me, but working outs must be given also. If you just post, thats wrong, or it shud be XXX, without explaining how you came to that number then I’ll simply ignore it.
