GAME OF TILES (Premier Division)

Game of Tiles is an elite 8-player premier division at the 2026 Canadian Scrabble Classic — a high-stakes competition built for streaming where top CSW contenders battle for the crown itself.

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who plays?

Placement is automatic — the top 8 CSW registrants are seeded into the Game of Tiles.
Seeding order:
1. WGPO CSW rating
2. WESPA rating (backup)
Game of Tiles has the same entry fee as the main event.

FORMAT Overview

Game of Tiles has a three-day hybrid format:

Day 1: Preliminary Qualifying (8 games)
Day 2: Semifinals (Best-of-8)
Day 3: Finals (Best-of-7)

DAY ONE: Preliminaries (RR+KOTH)

All eight players compete in an 8-game qualifying phase that determines semifinal placement.

Day One Schedule

7-game round robin
1 King-of-the-Hill round

Day One Standings determine your semi-final bracket:

Top 4 → Championship Bracket
Bottom 4 → Consolation Bracket

Unique feature:

Seed 1 selects their semifinal opponent (from seeds 2, 3, 4)
Seed 5 selects their semifinal opponent (from seeds 6, 7, 8)
Remaining players automatically form the second semifinal in each bracket

DAY TWO: best of 8 Semifinals

Four Best of 8 semifinals take place simultaneously — two in the Championship bracket and two in the Consolation bracket.

Championship Semifinal A: Seed 1 vs chosen opponent
Championship Semifinal B: Remaining two top-4 seeds
Consolation Semifinal A: Seed 5 vs chosen opponent
Consolation Semifinal B: Remaining two bottom-4 seeds

Players will alternate who goes first each game, with the highest seed going first in the first game.

Day Two Results detemine Day Three match-ups

Championship winners → 1st/2nd Final
Championship losers → 3rd/4th Match
Consolation winners → 5th/6th Match
Consolation losers → 7th/8th Match

DAY THREE: best of 7 Finals

Four Best of 7 Finals take place simultaneously — two in the Championship bracket and two in the Consolation bracket.

1st / 2nd — Game of Tiles Final
Championship semifinal winners play for the title, the top prize, and the ceremonial Game of Tiles trophy.
3rd / 4th Match
Championship semifinal runners-up
5th / 6th Match
Consolation semifinal winners
7th / 8th Match
Consolation semifinal runners-up

*Note: in order to accommodate a best of 7 match on a day where the rest of the field plays 6 games, we may start these finals 30min early, may adjust clock settings to 22min, etc

Final rankings are determined by these head-to-head best-of-7 finals.

TIE BREAK POLICY

The following procedures will be used to resolve ties at different stages of the Game of Tiles competition.

Day 1 — Round Robin / Seeding

At the conclusion of Day 1, if two players are tied in standings, ties will be resolved as follows:

Head-to-Head Record
The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head result between the tied players from rounds 1–8. The player with the superior head-to-head record receives the higher seed.
Draw from the Bag
If players remain tied after head-to-head comparison, the higher seed will be determined by a draw from the tile bag. The player drawing the tile closest to A receives the higher seed.

These tiebreakers determine seeding into the championship and consolation brackets for Day 2.

Day 2 — Best-of-8 Semifinals

Semifinal matches are played as best-of-8 series.

If a semifinal series ends tied at 4–4 (plus 0), advancement will be awarded to the player with the higher seed established at the end of Day 1.

No additional tiebreak procedure will be used, as seeding has already been determined through Day 1 results.

Day 3 — Best-of-7 Finals

Day 3 determines final placements (1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th place) through best-of-7 matches.

If a final placement match ends tied at 3–3–1 (plus 0):

The players will be declared co-finishers for that placement (including co-champions where applicable).
Any prize money associated with that placement will be shared equally between the tied players.

PRIZES

1st place guaranteed prize of $3,350 CAD ($2,500 USD) + Trophy (Game of Tiles Crown)
2nd place $1,000
3rd place $500
5th place $250

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