How to Run a LAN Party Tournament Bracket

Step 1 — Choose Your Game Format (1v1 vs Team)

The first decision is whether your tournament is 1v1 or team-based. Both work well on Brackly — each bracket slot is simply a player name or a team name.

1v1 formats are the most common at LAN parties. They work for any game — fighting games, RTS, FPS 1v1 custom lobbies, racing games. Every player competes individually and it is straightforward to manage.

Team formats (2v2, 5v5) are great for team games like CS2, Valorant, or League of Legends. Form teams in advance, give each team a name, and run the bracket exactly like a 1v1 bracket. You will need to coordinate which players form which team before generating.

If you are running multiple games, create a separate bracket for each one. Brackly lets you create as many brackets as you need.

Step 2 — Choose Your Bracket Size

Count your confirmed participants and pick a bracket size. Powers of 2 (4, 8, 16, 32) fill the bracket cleanly with no empty slots. If you have an odd number — say 10 or 13 — Brackly handles it automatically by adding BYEs.

For most living-room or small venue LANs with 8–16 people, an 8 or 16 player bracket is ideal. Consider double elimination if you want everyone to get more play time.

Step 3 — Seed Your LAN Players

Good seeding keeps early rounds interesting and ensures the finals feature the two strongest players. At LAN parties, use any of these methods:

• In-game rank. MMR, ELO, rank tier, or leaderboard position from the game itself. The most objective method available.
• Previous LAN results. If your group has LAN'd before, use past results as seeds. The returning champion gets seed 1.
• Short qualifier round. Run a quick round-robin warm-up before the main bracket. Seed players based on win rate in the qualifier.
• Random draw. If this is the first event or all players are at roughly the same level, a random draw is fair and drama-free.

Step 4 — Run Multiple Matches Simultaneously

One of the best things about a LAN tournament is that all the hardware is already set up. You do not need to wait for one match to finish before starting another. Run all first-round matches simultaneously — every station plays at once.

Plan your station setup in advance. For an 8-player bracket with 4 first-round matches, you need 4 simultaneous setups. For team games, make sure enough machines are grouped together for each team to play side by side.

Have a clear signal for when matches are called — a countdown timer on a shared screen or a simple announcement over a headset. Keeping match starts synchronised prevents some games from running far ahead of others.

Step 5 — Display the Bracket on a Secondary Monitor or TV

This is what separates a great LAN tournament from a chaotic one. Pull up the Brackly shareable link on a secondary monitor, a projector, or a TV visible to the whole room. As you enter results on your phone or laptop, the display updates live — everyone can see who won, who is playing next, and who is on the verge of elimination.

Use a browser in full-screen mode (F11) for the cleanest display. If you are projecting, make sure the resolution and font size are readable from across the room.

This live bracket display creates real atmosphere — players crowd around to check results and trash talk the upcoming matchups. It makes the event feel like a real tournament, not just a series of casual games.

Step 6 — The Final and Champion Ceremony

Build up the grand final. Announce it to the room, make sure everyone has finished their other games, and if possible gather people around the competing stations. A small audience transforms the final into a real event.

After the final, display the completed bracket showing the champion. Take a screenshot for your group chat or Discord server. For returning events, keep a record of past champions — a simple pinned message with each LAN's winner builds history and motivation for future events.

Consider a small trophy or symbolic prize: the winner gets to pick the next game for the group, gets a custom "Champion" role in your Discord, or simply earns the right to talk endlessly about how they won. Even symbolic prizes drive surprisingly intense competition.

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