Roulette Rivals events are hosted in three main formats: Double Elimination, Swiss, and RRWC. The upcoming tournament, Roulette Rivals 19, uses the Swiss format. You can read about the Double Elim format here, while the RRWC variant of the page will be added in the future.
¶ Overview
The Swiss format in Roulette Rivals is a two-stage competition, consisting of a Swiss Stage followed by a Knockout Stage. In the Swiss Stage, every player is guaranteed to play six matches, with matchups becoming progressively more even each round. After these six rounds, the top 16 players advance to the single-elimination Knockout Stage.
Unlike other Roulette Rivals formats, Swiss does not use pre-tournament seeding. Round 1 is drawn completely at random, and after each round in the Swiss Stage, players are paired against others with the same or similar score, while avoiding rematches. These pairings are generated using a Buchholz-balanced system, where within each score bracket, players with the highest and lowest opponent difficulty are matched against each other.
Each match awards 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a tie to both players. At the end of the six rounds, the following tiebreakers are used to determine the final Swiss Stage standings:
- Map Point Differential: The average of map points scored minus map points conceded
- Buchholz Score: The weighted total of opponents’ scores, excluding forfeits
- Direct Comparison: Head-to-head result between tied players
- Sonneborn-Berger Score: The weighted total of defeated (and half of tied) opponents’ scores, excluding forfeits
- RRStats Elo: Player Elo according to the current model on RRStats
In the Knockout Stage, players are arranged into a semi-seeded single-elimination bracket, placed into four pots of four for the draw. Winners advance, while losers are eliminated from the tournament, with the exception of a potential third-place playoff. The Grand Final is played between the winners of the two Semi-Finals. The winner of the Grand Final, the longest and most prestigious match of the tournament, is crowned Roulette Rivals Champion.
¶ Matches and Scheduling
Every match in the Swiss Stage is Best-of-5, meaning the match ends once one player reaches 6 points, or with a 5-5 draw.
- Both players ban one map each, then pick one map each.
- Upon scheduling, three additional random maps are revealed.
- Once a player picks or bans a map, that player cannot pick or ban it again in the Swiss Stage.
Every Knockout Stage match before the Grand Final is First-to-8, meaning the match ends once one player reaches 8 points.
- Both players ban one map each, then pick two maps each.
- Upon scheduling, four additional random maps are revealed.
- Once a player picks or bans a map, that player cannot pick or ban it again until the Grand Final.
The Grand Final is First-to-10, meaning the match ends once the champion reaches 10 points.
- The final draft follows a fixed order designed to give no player an advantage.
- The Grand Final features a mappool reset, removing previous restrictions. However, each map can only be selected by one player.
¶ Deadlines and Inactivity
Roulette Rivals tournaments using the Swiss format typically last 6.5 weeks. The main tournament deadlines for Roulette Rivals 19 are as follows, while detailed round deadlines are shared in the #info channel on Discord:
- Signups open: Monday, 13 April 2026, 12:00 CEST
- Signups close: Thursday, 23 April 2026, 18:00 CEST
- Start of Swiss Stage: Friday, 24 April 2026, 12:00 CEST
- Knockout Stage draw: Sunday, 24 May 2026, 22:00 CEST
- Grand Final: Sunday, 7 June 2026
The Swiss Stage lasts 4.5 weeks and consists of six rounds, each lasting five to six days. These are hard deadlines, meaning players are required to complete their match within the round window. If a match cannot be played, it will result in a forfeit for the player or players deemed at fault. Players who are unavailable may also choose to opt out of a round in advance by contacting a Roulette Admin.
The Knockout Stage lasts 2 weeks and uses several soft deadlines to ensure the bracket progresses smoothly. In general, players are expected to play one match every four days. Soft deadlines do not have to be met exactly. However, admins may step in if matches fall significantly behind schedule due to lack of availability or repeated no-shows. Players are asked not to fall more than two days behind schedule, and if they do play late, they should aim to catch up as quickly as possible, for example, by prescheduling with potential next-round opponents. If a match delays the bracket too much, admins may issue a forfeit to the player deemed at fault.