Valorant Tournament Formats Explained: BO1, BO3, Swiss and More

The format of a tournament changes how you should prepare. Here's what the common Valorant formats mean.

Bracket types

• Single elimination: lose once and you're out. Fast, unforgiving.
• Double elimination: you need two losses to be out; losers drop to a lower bracket.
• Round robin: everyone plays everyone in a group; standings decide who advances.
• Swiss: teams with the same record play each other each round; common in larger events.

Best-of-one vs best-of-three

In a BO1 a single map decides the match, so map veto and your best map matter enormously. In a BO3 you need two map wins — depth of map pool matters more, and a bad first map isn't the end.

How to prepare

• Know your best two maps and your ban.
• Have a default and a backup plan per map.
• Practise pistol rounds — they swing BO1s.

Use the rank percentile checker to see where your team stands, then find a tournament at your level on HangOn.