Create a custom tournament flow and finals schedule

Use Custom Schedule when the event needs deliberate bout order, separate sessions, selected finals mats, or different rules for different parts of the tournament.

Choose the right custom scheduling tool

Customized Match Scheduling has several guided tools:

• Use Traditional tournament to number the event and feed one shared queue across the selected mats. The wizard can also separate Finals or other medal matches without leaving them in the main queue.

• Use Auto-balance brackets to distribute individual brackets across selected mats while keeping every bracket on one mat.

• Use Schedule dual brackets to prepare multi-mat dual tournaments in round order, with one team-versus-team dual on each planned mat.

• Use Custom rule for deliberate filters such as a division, bracket group, session, tournament round, or placement-only schedule.

When you first switch to Custom Schedule, Snapdown leaves the rule list empty and asks how you want to schedule the tournament. It does not create an All matches rule for you. The guided choices appear only when they apply: dual scheduling requires a dual-tournament bracket and auto-balance requires individual brackets. Traditional tournament and Custom rule are always available.

Run one shared tournament queue

Choose Traditional tournament when every active mat should draw from the same assignment group:

1. Name the schedule and select the mats that should share the queue.
2. Keep Number all matches on to create one continuous bout-number sequence, or turn it off when matches are already numbered elsewhere.
3. Choose whether placement matches remain in the main queue.
4. To run Finals or other medal matches separately, select those placements and optionally plan a mat for each one.
5. Review the exact rules, then create the rule set.

Without a placement split, Snapdown creates one combined numbering and assignment rule. With a split, it creates one event-wide numbering rule, a main assignment rule that explicitly excludes the selected placements, and one assignment rule per placement. The assignment groups do not overlap, so their result does not depend on rule order. The main queue keeps four matches ready per mat and refills on demand. Separate placement queues use unlimited depth so the full Finals or medal-match schedule is prepared together.

Auto-balance excludes dual-tournament containers. Use Schedule dual brackets when a dual bracket has more than one team matchup in a round.

Auto-balance individual brackets across mats

Choose Auto-balance brackets from Add Rule:

1. Select the divisions to include. The wizard shows their bracket and match counts.
2. Select at least two mats.
3. Choose Balanced to minimize the difference in total matches per mat, or Sequential to keep division and weight-class order together as the mats fill.
4. Review the proposed columns. A bracket is atomic: all of its matches stay on the same mat. Move a bracket left or right when operational needs matter more than the displayed balance percentage.
5. Set the rule prefix, queue depth, and session number, then choose Create Rules.

The wizard creates one numbering-and-assignment rule per mat. Session 1 begins with mat-specific ranges such as 101 and 201. Later session numbers move into a new range so their bout numbers do not collide. If one mat has more than 100 matches, Snapdown automatically uses a larger numbering block.

Creating the rules does not put matches on live mats. The generated rules have planned mats and unlimited assignment depth. Choose Launch when those mats are ready. Snapdown applies any missing bout numbers, builds the assignment group, and loads the planned mat in that order. Existing bout numbers stay in place.

Auto-Balance optimizes match counts, not predicted duration, team travel, or spectator convenience. The adjustment step is where you keep a special division together or move a large bracket to a preferred mat.

Schedule a dual tournament across several mats

Choose Schedule dual brackets when one tournament round contains multiple team-versus-team duals. The wizard recommends the number of mats needed to run that round concurrently, creates one rule for the tournament, and prepares its dual queue in round-major order. It does not touch live mats until you choose Launch on that rule.

Schedule placement matches

The Traditional tournament wizard handles the normal case: choose which placement matches should run separately and Snapdown creates the complementary main and placement rules together. For an unusual staged or per-mat breakdown, create normal Custom rules manually.

For a custom staged plan, the normal rule editor describes what the current rule covers:

• All bouts includes everything allowed by the other filters.
• No placement bouts leaves every Final and medal match out of the rule.
• Placement bouts only targets the Finals or medal matches you select.

These scopes describe two independent facts. A Championship or Consolation bout describes the side of the bracket it comes from. A placement describes what the bout decides: Finals is place 1, Third place is place 3, Fifth place is place 5, and so on. The championship Final is therefore both a Championship bout and a place-1 bout; the third-place match is both a Consolation bout and a place-3 bout.

Use No placement bouts on the broader assignment rule whenever separate placement schedules will handle those bouts. The assignment groups then do not overlap or depend on rule order. You can combine a placement scope with bracket filters, so an event can send odd and even Finals or Third-place brackets to different planned mats after reducing the number of active mats.

For example, to run two rounds on eight mats, continue on six mats, and then split placement matches:

1. Create one numbering-only rule for All bouts. Apply it once so every bout keeps one event-wide number.
2. Create an assignment-only rule for Tournament Rounds 1 and 2. Plan Mats 1–8.
3. Create another assignment-only rule for the later rounds. Choose No placement bouts and plan Mats 1–6. Every placement match is held back automatically.
4. Create a Placement bouts only Finals rule, select the brackets in the first split, and plan its mat. Create another Finals rule for the remaining brackets and its mat.
5. Repeat step 4 for Third-place or any other held-back placement.
6. Launch each assignment schedule when that phase and its mats are ready.

Keep the tournament-round filters in steps 2 and 3 separate. Also keep the bracket selections in each pair of placement rules separate. The explicit placement exclusion in step 3 is what stops Finals and medal bouts from entering the six-mat queue early.

Overlapping assignment groups are supported when you want a ready alternative plan. Building one does not remove a bout from another group or change a live mat. Use explicit placement exclusions in this Finals workflow because the groups are meant to be mutually exclusive; use overlap intentionally when you are preparing a combined or fallback plan, then Launch it when you want the planned mats to switch to that group.

Number, build, or launch a custom schedule

Each rule can number matches, assign matches, or do both. The actions stay independent so the tournament director can use one event-wide numbering rule and narrower assignment rules without renumbering anything.

• Apply Numbering previews the bout order, then applies numbers. Use it for a numbering-only rule or when you want to number before mats are ready.
• Build Assignment Group previews and creates the rule’s queue. It does not load a mat.
• Launch is available when a rule has assignment and planned mats. It completes the missing steps: apply missing numbers if the rule also numbers, build the group if needed, then load the planned mats.

Select several rules to use the same actions in bulk. The same actions are also available from each rule’s three-dot menu.

Launch warns before adding work to a mat with unfinished matches. A numbering-only rule has no mat to launch; use Apply Numbering instead.

Repeat the rule steps for each part of the tournament. Before opening the Mat Control Center, verify that every built bracket has bout numbers and belongs to the intended assignment group.

Change a published custom schedule

Edit and rebuild only the affected bracket. Participant-only changes keep the surviving schedule. For a new or expanded bracket, use Apply Numbering on its intended numbering rule, then Build Assignment Group on the assignment rule. If the assignment rule has planned mats, Launch can complete both missing steps and load them. Existing bouts remain in place; new bouts are added to the selected group.

See How do I change brackets after publishing matches? for the task-by-task instructions and rebuild warning.