How tournament bracket generator works
Enter participant names (one per line) and choose single or double elimination. The generator pads the field to the next power of two and positions seeds classically — seed 1 versus seed 8, seed 4 versus seed 5, and so on — which also places byes where tournaments traditionally put them: against the top seeds. A field of 6 becomes an 8-slot bracket where seeds 1 and 2 advance straight to the semifinals while the other four play round 1. An optional shuffle randomizes the seed order before pairing; with a seed value entered, the shuffle is reproducible, so the same seed always regenerates the identical bracket.
Single elimination produces n−1 played matches: each match eliminates one entrant until one champion remains, and an optional third-place match pairs the two semifinal losers so bronze can be decided. Double elimination adds a losers bracket: round-1 losers pair off, and each later losers round feeds the survivors against the losers dropping down from that round of the winners bracket, until one challenger emerges to face the winners-bracket champion in the grand final — 2n−2 played matches in total. The grand final is winner-take-all in this simplified structure, a common convention for casual events.
Matches whose participants are not yet decided show placeholders like "Winner of R1M2" or "Loser of R1M1" so the full structure is visible before any results exist; a bye shows as an automatic advancement. Print the page, or copy the round-by-round text into a group chat or spreadsheet, and fill results in as matches complete. Everything is computed in your browser — no accounts, no uploads — so you can generate a bracket for an office pool, a classroom, a gaming night or an esports event and share it however you like.