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18 team double elimination bracket
18 team double elimination bracket: winners and losers bracket with 34 matches (35 if the grand final resets) and 14 first-round byes. See the full layout, then customize it free.
Bracket layout
How the 18-team double elimination bracket works
Every team has to lose twice to be knocked out. Winners stay in the winners bracket (5 rounds); a first loss drops you into the losers bracket (8 rounds), where a second loss ends your run. The winners-bracket champion meets the losers-bracket survivor in the grand final - and if the losers-bracket team wins that match, a reset final decides it, since both teams then have one loss.
For 18 teams that adds up to 34 matches, or 35 if the grand final resets.
How byes and seeding work
The winners bracket rounds up to 32 slots, so the top 14 seeds get first-round byes. Byes ripple into the losers bracket too - early elimination rounds with an open slot auto-advance, which is why the losers bracket below shows some slots already waiting. Seeding is balanced, with seed 1 placed against the lowest seed so the favorites can only collide late - see how bracket seeding works and how byes are assigned.