FAQ - Pairings, Tiebreakers & Strength of Schedule
Quick answers to the questions players most often ask about how standings are calculated.
How are players ranked when they have the same points?
OWR breaks ties using a list of metrics applied in order. The Tournament Organiser picks which metrics are enabled and how they are prioritised. The default order is:
Wins (W-L-D) - pure record. Win = 1, Draw = ½, Loss = 0. 2-0-1 beats 2-1-0 because fewer losses wins the comparison.
Tournament Points (TP) - total battle points from match outcomes plus any battle criteria bonuses.
VP Differential (VP±) - Victory Points scored minus VP conceded across all games.
Strength of Schedule (SoS) - average wins of your opponents (see formula below).
TOs can also enable VP Scored, Battle Points SoS, Secondaries, Head-to-Head, Common Opponents, or a Random dice-off. Always check the event's standings columns to see which tiebreakers apply.
How is Strength of Schedule calculated?
SoS = (total wins of all your opponents) ÷ (number of opponents), rounded to 2 decimals. We use each opponent's current win count - so as your opponents win more games later in the event, your SoS rises with them.
Example: you played 4 games. Your opponents finished with 4, 3, 2, and 0 wins. SoS = (4 + 3 + 2 + 0) ÷ 4 = 2.25.
If you somehow played the same opponent twice, they only count once. Higher SoS means tougher field - it rewards players whose record came against stronger competition.
What is Battle Points SoS?
Same idea, but using opponents' Tournament Points instead of raw wins:
BP SoS = (sum of opponents' Tournament Points) ÷ (number of opponents), rounded to 2 decimals. This is finer-grained than SoS because it rewards facing opponents who scored highly even when matches were close.
Do soft scores (sportsmanship, painting) affect Swiss pairings?
No. Swiss pairings only ever consider battle results. Soft scores can affect the final event rankings (if the TO has configured Tournament Points to include them), but never the opponent you get matched against in a round.
What if two players are still tied after every metric?
The list is shown in alphabetical order so the table is deterministic, but those players are genuinely tied - they share the same rank.