Tournament policy
How FACTION Play pairs, ranks and scores every event.
Swiss pairings
Everyone plays every round. Nobody is knocked out in Swiss. Round 1 pairs players in sign-up order. From round 2 you play someone on the same score where possible, and rematches are avoided. In a small or close field a rematch is sometimes the only pairing left, so it's allowed rather than leaving someone out. With an odd number of players, the lowest-ranked player who hasn't had a bye gets one (a free 1-0 win). A win is 3 match points, a draw 1 and a loss 0.
Standings and tiebreakers
Players on equal match points are split, in order, by:
- Opponents' match-win %. How strong your opponents were. Each opponent counts as at least 33%, so one of them having a bad night doesn't sink your score.
- Game-win %. Your own games won. Best-of-3 matches use the game score (report it on your phone or at the counter). Single-game matches count 1-0, and a drawn match counts as one drawn game.
- Opponents' opponents' match-win %. Used when everything above is level.
- If it's still tied, names break the tie alphabetically, so anyone can check the standings.
A bye counts as a won match, but it isn't counted when working out your opponents' strength.
Top cut
Events may cut to a top 4 or top 8 single-elimination bracket after Swiss, seeded 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5 (1v4, 2v3 for top 4).
Fixing mistakes
Organisers can correct any result, even from an earlier round, and the standings are recalculated from the corrected results. Wrong pairings can be fixed at the table, and players can be added or dropped during an event. The corrected result is the one that counts.
Championship points
Every finished event records your results against your player number. Points are calculated from those results, so they can always be checked. Your best 2026 results count toward Season 1 in 2027. Your running total is on My games. The public Season 1 ladder opens with the full set in 2027.
| Event tier | Playing | Winner | 2nd | Top 4 | Top 8 | Best results counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Store Night | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | - | 8 |
| Store Championship | 2 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 4 |
| Road to PAX | 2 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| PAX Launch | 3 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 |
| HQ Event | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | - | 8 |
| Digital Open | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 6 |
| Digital Championship | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Placing points need a big enough field: 2nd place needs 4 or more players, top 4 needs 8 or more, and top 8 needs 16 or more. Only your best results in each tier count each season, so playing more can only help. Points table s1-2027.draft-1. The values are a draft until Season 1 locks and may change. If they do, everyone's points are recalculated from their results, and we'll say so here.
2026: the runway
Until the full set launches, store events use the Starter Pack and Build & Battle formats. Online events use Starter Pack or Open Deck, where you bring your own deck built from cards you own in the FACTION game. There's no points race in 2026. Store champions earn winner flags, and your results count toward Season 1.
What we hold about you, and what we do with it, is in the privacy notice.