# Ladder elimination

Ladder elimination brackets are a playoff format that gives a large advantage to the top seeds. Players are placed on a "ladder" in order of seeding. The bottom four seeds play against each other and the loser is eliminated. A new match is created with the lowest seed on the ladder replacing the eliminated player. One player is eliminated after each match until a winner is found.

Once there are only four players remaining, one player continues to be eliminated after each game. Thus, there will be a game with three players and after that a final match with two players to find the winner.

This provides a substantial advantage to the top seeds. The top seeded player will not have to play until there are only four players remaining, and they are guaranteed a placement in the top four.

Ladder tournaments can take a long time to run and especially for the top seeds, the waiting time is significant. For that reason, Match Play also offers a **fast ladder** option. In a fast ladder, two players are eliminated after each match. Additionally, the tournament will end with the match for the final four; final matches with three and two players are not created.

## Configuration options

See also: [Common configuration options](/configuring-a-tournament/common-configuration-options.md).

**Ladder type**

Choose between a regular ladder and the fast ladder (see above).


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