Tiebreaker

In Magic: The Gathering tournaments, a tiebreaker is used to determine a winner from among players or teams when their scores are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests.

Order of tiebreakers

The following tiebreakers are used to determine how a player ranks in a tournament:

1. Match points
2. Opponents’ match-win percentage
3. Game-win percentage
4. Opponents’ game-win percentage

Not all of these tiebreakers may be used in formats with single-game matches.

Definitions

Match Points

Players earn 3 match points for each match win, 0 points for each match loss, and 1 match point for each match ending in a draw. Players receiving byes are considered to have won the match.

• A player's record is 6–2–0 (Wins–Losses–Draws). That player has 18 match points (6*3, 2*0, 0*1).
• A player's record is 4–2–2. That player has 14 match points (4*3, 2*0, 2*1).

Game Points

Game points are similar to match points in that players earn 3 game points for each game they win 1 point for each game that ends in a draw, and 0 points for any game lost. Unfinished games are considered draws. Unplayed games are worth 0 points.

• A player wins a match 2–0–0, so they earn 6 game points, and their opponent receives 0 game points from the match.
• A player wins a match 2–1–0, so they earn 6 game points, and their opponent earns 3 game points from the match.
• A player wins a match 2–0–1, so they earn 7 game points, and their opponent earns 1 game point from the match.

Game points are not used in team tournaments; only the overall result of the match is used for tiebreakers.

Match-win percentage

A player’s match-win percentage is that player’s accumulated match points divided by the total match points possible in those rounds (generally, 3 times the number of rounds played). If this number is lower than 0.33, use 0.33 instead. The minimum match-win percentage of 0.33 limits the effect low performances have when calculating and comparing opponents’ match-win percentage.

Examples: These three players competed in an 8-round tournament, although only the first player completed all rounds.

Tournament Record	Match Points	Rounds Played	Match-win Percentage
5-2-1	16	8	16/(8*3) = 0.667
1-3-0, then withdraws	3	4	3/(4*3) = 0.25, so 0.33 is used.
3-2-0, including a first-round bye, then withdraws	9	5	9/(5*3) = 0.60

Game-win percentage

Similar to the match-win percentage, a player’s game-win percentage is the total number of game points they earned divided by the total game points possible (generally, 3 times the number of games played). Again, use 0.33 if the actual game-win percentage is lower than that.

These two players competed in a four-round tournament:

Game Record by Match	Game Points	Games Played	Game-win Percentage
Round 1: 2 wins (6 game points) Round 2: 2 wins and 1 loss (6 game points) Round 3: 1 win and 2 losses (3 game points) Round 4: 2 wins (6 game points)	21	10	21/(3*10) = 0.70
Round 1: 1 win and 2 losses (3 game points) Round 2: 1 win and 2 losses (3 game points) Round 3: 2 losses (0 game points) Round 4: 1 win and 2 losses (3 game points)	9	11	9/(3*11) = 0.27, so 0.33 is used.

Opponents’ match-win percentage

A player’s opponent’s match-win percentage is the average match-win percentage of each opponent that the player faced (ignoring those rounds for which the player received a bye). Use the match-win percentage definition listed above when calculating each opponent’s match-win percentage. Examples:

• A player’s record in an eight-round tournament is 6–2–0. Her opponents’ match records were: 4–4–0, 7–1–0, 1–3–1, 3–3–1, 6–2–0, 5–2–1, 4–3–1, and 6–1–1, so her opponents’ match-win percentage is:

Opponents’ game-win percentages

Similar to opponents’ match-win percentage, a player’s opponent’s game-win percentage is simply the average game-win percentage of all that player’s opponents. And, as with opponents’ match-win percentage, each opponent has a minimum game-win percentage of 0.33.

Byes

A bye is the transfer of a competitor directly to the next round of competition in the absence of an assigned opponent.

When a player is assigned a bye for a round, they are considered to have won the match 2–0. Thus, that player earns 3 match points and 6 game points. A player’s byes are ignored when computing their opponents’ match-win and opponents’ game-win percentages.