Events in the Stellar Crisis consist of one of three types: Single Elimination Medal Tournaments, Double Elimination Qualifying Tournaments, and Double Elimination Medal Tournaments. The type of tournament used for each event varies with the type of event and the size/scope of each game. The three types of tournaments are explained in detail below.

Single Elimination Medal Tournament

A single elimination tournament is one in which there is head-to-head competition between two empires, and when the winning empire proceeds onto the next round and the loser is knocked out of the tournament. An example of the draw sheet for an 8-person single-elimination tournament with a play-off for 3rd is as follows:

Match 1
Empire A
vs
Empire B		 Winner 1
Match 2
Empire C
vs
Empire D		 Winner 2
Match 5
Winner 1
vs
Winner 2		 Winner 7
Match 3
Empire E
vs
Empire F		 Winner 3
Match 4
Empire G
vs
Empire H		 Winner 4
Match 6
Winner 3
vs
Winner 4		 Winner 6
Match 7
Winner 5
vs
Winner 6		 Gold medal: Winner 7
Silver medal: Loser 7
   
Match 8
Loser 5
vs
Loser 6		 Bronze medal: Winner 8

As you can see from the draw sheet above, a single loss at any stage means that you are eliminated from the tournament, with one exception: because we establishing a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners, the losers of the semi-finals compete for the Bronze medal.

Double Elimination Qualifying Tournament

In the double elimiation qualifying tournament, players must lose twice in order to be knocked out from the competition. This means that the tournament draw is divided into a "winner's side" and a "loser's side". If you are playing on the winner's side, and lose a game, you move over to the loser's side and continue competing. If you are playing on the loser's side and lose, then you're out of the competition.

The winner of the winner's side (no losses) moves onto the medal round, as does the winner from the loser's side (only 1 loss). The winner's side looks exactly like the single elimiation draw shown above, without a Match 8. The winner's side is therefore:

Match 1
Empire A
vs
Empire B		 Winner 1
Match 2
Empire C
vs
Empire D		 Winner 2
Match 5
Winner 1
vs
Winner 2		 Winner 7
Match 3
Empire E
vs
Empire F		 Winner 3
Match 4
Empire G
vs
Empire H		 Winner 4
Match 6
Winner 3
vs
Winner 4		 Winner 6
Match 7
Winner 5
vs
Winner 6		      Qualifier: Winner 7

The loser's side is a bit more complicated -- losers from the winner's side shown above come over to this side of the draw to compete. Note too that every attempt is made to avoid player from re-playing a previous opponent. This half of the draw looks like this:

Match 8
Loser 1
vs
Loser 2		 Winner 8      Match 10
Winner 8
vs
Loser 6		 Winner 10
Match 9
Loser 3
vs
Loser 4		 Winner 9      Match 11
Winner 9
vs
Loser 5		 Winner 11
Match 12
Winner 10
vs
Winner 11		 Winner 12      Match 13
Winner 12
vs
Loser 7		      Qualifier: Winner 13

The winners of Match 7 and Match 13 qualify for the next round.

Double Elimination Medal Tournament

The double elimination medal tournament is run like the double elimination qualifying tournament with the following two modifications:

  1. The loser of Match 13 wins the Bronze Medal.
  2. Match 7 is a 3-game match where the winner of Match 13 plays the winner of Match 7. The match starts with the winner of Match 7 ahead in games, 1 to 0. This means that the winner of Match 13 must win twice in order to win overall. The winner of Match 7 need only win once and then the match is over. The winner of this mini-series wins the Gold Medal; the loser takes the Silver Medal.