How Cream of the Crop (Set Partners) works
In Cream of the Crop (Set Partners), players keep one partner for the whole event. Pairs play a round robin in pools of four, then the whole field is regrouped by where each pair finished: every pool winner goes to the top pool next round, then every runner-up, and so on. It is the fixed-pair version of Cream of the Crop, where players enter alone and change partners every game.
A round
Every pair in a pool plays every other pair in it once. A pool of four pairs plays three times, two games at a time, so each pool takes two courts.
Most pools have four pairs. When the number of pairs isn't a multiple of four, some pools have five, and one pair sits out each slot.
You need at least 4 pairs to generate a round. A player whose partner isn't playing that round is left out.
When you've set courts on the division, pools go on them in order: the top pool on the first two courts, the next pool on the next two, and so on.
Pairs in a pool are placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on by win percentage, then average point differential. Pairs still level keep their seat, so the higher seed places first.
The regrouping
You choose how pairs move in Cream of the Crop Settings, under Player Movement:
Top performers to top courts (the default): every pool winner is ranked first, then every runner-up, and so on, and that list is cut into pools from the top. Winning the bottom pool can put you in the top pool next round.
Up to two courts: 1st in a pool moves up two pools, 2nd up one, 3rd down one and 4th down two. In a pool of five, 3rd stays, 4th moves down one and 5th down two. When the pool a pair would move to is full, the pair stays where it is.
The rules match the individual format. See How Cream of the Crop works for how ties across pools are broken.
What's different from Cream of the Crop
Edit Groups isn't available. Moving players between pools by hand would split pairs. To change pools, regenerate the round with a fresh seeding.
Round 1 seeding offers Random, By DUPR Rating and Snake by DUPR Rating. A pair is rated on both partners' ratings together.
No Absence Penalty and no Partner Match Configuration. A pair always plays the same partner, so there is no partnership to repeat.
Who wins
Outside a league, the champion is the pair on top of the last round's top pool. The Final Courts standings view lists everyone the same way: the top pool from the top down, then the next pool. In a league, standings follow the season record instead.
You can finish with a knockout from the KNOCKOUT tab. It is seeded from the final pools in the same order unless you choose random seeding, and when you generate one, its results decide the placements. See Viewing Final Placements.