How to run a ladder league with "By Event Rank"
A plain-English guide to running your weekly ladder league where every player has one number—their rank.
What it is
"By Event Rank" is a sorting method where every player carries a single rank number. Rank 1 is the best player in the league, rank N is the bottom. Each week, players are grouped into courts of 4 based on their rank, play a round-robin (each pair partners once), and their rank moves up or down based on where they finished.
Think of it like a giant numbered ladder. You climb or slide each week.
How players move each week
Every court has 4 players. They play a 3-match round-robin. At the end of the night:
Finish in your court | What happens to your rank |
|---|---|
1st | Move up 3 spots |
2nd | Move up 1 spot |
3rd | Move down 1 spot |
4th | Move down 3 spots |
Then the system reshuffles everyone into the new ranking and groups them into next week's courts.
Example
Week 1, 20 players (5 courts of 4):
You started at rank 8 (top of Court 2).
You finished 1st in your court.
Your rank moves up 3 → you're now around rank 5, which puts you in Court 1 or the top of Court 2 next week.
Set up your league
1. Player count must be a multiple of 4
The minimum is 8 players. You can run 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32… If 17 people opt in for Week 1, event_rank won't let you generate matches because there's no clean way to make courts of 4.
If the opted-in count isn't right, you'll see:
Cannot Generate Matches: Event Rank requires exactly a multiple of 4 players (minimum 8). Currently 17 players.
Fix: Get one more or one fewer player opted in.
2. (Optional) Turn on Auto-Generation
If you don't want to manually press "Generate" each week:
From the league's match screen → tap the Admin button → Auto-Generation.
Toggle enabled, pick "By Event Rank" as the method.
(Optional) Set "Round Limit" — leave blank for unlimited.
Save.
Now, as soon as you've entered scores for the last match of a week, the next week generates automatically, with everyone in their new courts. For more on auto-generation, see Auto-generation in Ladder formats.
3. Generate Week 1 manually
For the first round:
Tap Generate Week 1.
In the "Start Games – Select Method" dialog, pick "By Event Rank".
Tap Continue.
Behind the scenes: Week 1 is a random seed. Everyone gets a starting rank between 1 and N. Court assignments follow from there (rank 1–4 in Court 1, rank 5–8 in Court 2, etc.).
For the general Start Games workflow, see Starting games in Ladder formats.
4. Play the night, enter scores
Play normally. Enter scores as matches finish.
5. Next week — automatic or manual
If auto-gen is on: the next week appears automatically once the last score is entered.
If not: tap Generate Week 2, pick "By Event Rank" again. The system applies the +3/+1/−1/−3 movement from last week, reshuffles, and creates the new courts.
6. Standings tab
A new view called "By Rank" shows up automatically. It lists every player in rank order with their current number — handy for players who want to see their position this week.
What happens when…
A player skips a week
Under event_rank specifically, if a player skips a week and comes back, they go to the bottom of the ladder. This is a deliberate difference from other sorting modes like "By Standings," which keep players near their previous court. If you don't want the penalty, manually edit their rank back before generating the new week.
A player joins mid-event
Brand-new check-in → they start at the bottom rank. They have to climb.
A player no-shows or drops out
Toggle them off (uncheck "Opted In" for that week). Their rank is preserved for when they come back. For more on opt-in, see League opt-in.
Your opted-in count changes between weeks
Event rank needs a multiple of 4 every week. If you had 16 last week and 14 want to play this week, you need to recruit 2 subs (back to 16) or sit 2 out (down to 12) before generating.
You toggle "Restrict to Courts"
If you turn it on, your configured court count must equal players ÷ 4. So 16 players → exactly 4 courts. If your court config doesn't match, you'll get a clear error telling you what to change. Easier path: just leave "Restrict to Courts" off — event_rank figures out the right court count automatically.
For more on court setup, see Court management in Ladder formats.
What it does NOT do
No partial weeks. You can't run event_rank with 10 or 14 or 18 people. Multiples of 4, every time.
No DUPR/skill seeding. Week 1 is random. It does not use DUPR ratings for the initial seed. After Week 1 the ladder shapes itself based on who wins.
No carryover from other formats. If you ran the league as "By Standings" for 3 weeks then switched to event_rank for Week 4, the system will say "no rank data yet — generate Week 1 with event_rank first." You'd need to reset and start the ladder fresh.
Player-facing cumulative standings
Players can view their running point differential and overall league standing across all nights using the Standings View toggle. The host controls the default view that everyone sees first.
Quick mental model
Every player carries a single number. Each week the top of your court goes up 3, second goes up 1, third goes down 1, last goes down 3. Then we resort everyone and stack them into courts of 4 again.
For how movement compares across formats, see How court movement works in Ladder formats and Ladder formats overview.