Beginning with week 5, the tournament will now be double-elimination as opposed to single-elimination. The tournament will also be two weeks long instead of one. Registration for each tournament will be open for the duration of the preceding tournament. The competitor limit is 32, and we will be seeding by official mean if you have one, otherwise we will use your official single*. However, if you have never competed in FMC, you may still participate! In this case, you must complete a seeding scramble before we begin the tournament (the scramble will be emailed after submitting the form)**. The seeding scramble is due by the time the tournament starts.
*In the event that official means are tied, we will use official single as a tiebreak for seeding. If those are tied as well then we will use second best official mean. If it's tied past that we'll figure it out :P
**If you have an official single and no mean, you are welcome to do the seeding scramble if you wish.
For each round, you will be put head to head against another competitor for a best of 1 match. Normal WCA FMC rules will apply (1 hour, 3 cubes, etc). You will be required to submit both your solution and a reconstruction. The competitor with the shorter solution will proceed to the next round, and the other will be eliminated. In the event of a tie, the competitor with the better official mean will win. If the mean is tied or if one or both people don't have a mean, it will go to single.
The schedule for the double-elimination knockout tournaments will be as follows (each day is 12:00 AM to 11:00 PM EDT):
Monday: Winner's Bracket Round 1
Tuesday: Loser's Bracket Round 1
Wednesday: Winner's Bracket Round 2
Thursday: Loser's Bracket Round 2
Friday: Loser's Bracket Round 3
Saturday: Winner's Bracket Round 3
Sunday: Loser's Bracket Round 4
Monday: Loser's Bracket Round 5
Tuesday: Winner's Bracket Round 4
Wednesday: Loser's Bracket Round 6
Thursday: Winner's Bracket Semifinals/Loser's Bracket Round 7
Friday: Loser's Bracket Round 7
Saturday: Winner's Bracket Finals
Sunday: Winner's Bracket Finals 2nd Match (if necessary)
This schedule assumes a full 32-person bracket, so if there are less than 32 people registered, the schedule may change slightly. The final schedule for the tournament will be in the email for round 1.