FAQ: Pairings, Tiebreakers & Strength of Schedule
How tiebreakers, Head-to-Head, Best Overall and Strength of Schedule decide the standings.
Quick answers on how standings are worked out inside one event. The organiser picks which tiebreakers an event uses, so the standings columns show what applies to yours.
What is the difference between Pairing Metrics and Event Rankings?
Both live in Setup > Scoring > Pairings / Rankings and use the same list of metrics, but they do different jobs.
- Pairing Metrics decide who plays whom in Swiss rounds 2 onwards. They only ever use battle results.
- Event Rankings decide the standings and final placings. They are the tiebreakers.
Switch a metric on or off and drag it to set its priority. The top enabled metric is checked first.
How are players ranked when they have the same points?
OWR applies the event's tiebreakers in order until the tie is broken. The default order is Wins (W-L-D), then Tournament Points (TP), then VP Differential (VP±), then Strength of Schedule (SoS).
The ones that are easy to misread:
- Wins (W-L-D): win = 1, draw = ½, loss = 0, so 2-0-1 beats 2-1-0.
- Swiss Points: win = 3, draw = 1, so one win beats two draws.
- Tournament Points (TP): battle points plus any bonuses, and soft scores when the organiser counts them toward overall.
- Head-to-Head: if you beat the players you are tied with, you rank above them. See Understanding the Head-to-Head Tiebreaker.
- Common Opponents: better record against opponents all the tied players faced.
- Random: a fixed dice roll when everything else is equal.
The others (VP Scored, VP Differential (VP±), Secondaries) are totals across all your games.
Why is a player ranked above someone with more points?
The event probably uses Head-to-Head. Tied players are ordered by their results against each other first, so a player who beat the others in the tie can finish above someone with more Tournament Points. The H2H column shows the score that decided it. Understanding the Head-to-Head Tiebreaker has a worked example.
How do Best Overall and Best General work?
The organiser picks one as the official final ranking. Best General is battle results only. Best Overall adds the soft scores the organiser counts toward overall, such as painting and sportsmanship, so a well painted army with a middling record can finish above a stronger record.
A trophy icon on the standings marks the official column. Only the official ranking decides the final placings and ranking points.
How is Strength of Schedule calculated?
SoS is your opponents' total wins divided by the number of opponents, rounded to 2 decimals. It uses their current wins, so it rises as your opponents keep winning. Opponents with 4, 3, 2 and 0 wins give an SoS of 2.25.
- Battle Points SoS: the same, using your opponents' Tournament Points instead of wins.
- Adjusted SoS and Adjusted BP SoS: the same again, but ignoring the wins or points your opponents scored against you, so beating someone does not lower your own SoS.
Is Strength of Schedule the same as Strength of Field?
No. Strength of Schedule is a tiebreaker inside one event. Strength of Field is a bonus some regions add to an event's Masters ranking points when last season's top players attend. See How Masters Ranking Points Are Calculated.
Do soft scores affect Swiss pairings?
No. Pairings only use battle results. Soft scores can change the final rankings, never who you play.
What if two players are still tied after every metric?
They share the same rank. The table lists them alphabetically.
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