Adaptive Waterfall Phase (20+ Players)

Players compete through a seeded winner path with a linked loser path. Lower seeds start earlier; higher seeds enter later. In every winner round, the top performers advance on the winner path while the rest drop into the corresponding loser round. In every loser round, only the top performers survive and may climb back toward the main event. If a tie affects advancement, a tiebreaker song is played at the designated tiebreaker level for that round.

Winner rounds (main path)

• Each winner round is played in a single pool (typically 10 players when possible).
• Players play a set of songs (usually 3 songs) at the round’s listed difficulty ladder.
• Placement points are awarded per song; totals determine that round’s ranking.
• Top performers advance to the next winner round.
• The remaining drop into the linked loser round.

Loser rounds (second-chance path)

• Each loser round pool is formed from:
  • players who dropped from the relevant winner round(s), plus
  • players who advanced from the previous loser round.
• Players play the listed song set (usually 3 songs) using the same scoring method.
• Only the top performers advance to the next loser round; all others are eliminated.

End of phase (cutoff to Top 10)

• The final winner round advances a fixed number of players directly.
• The remaining players from that final winner round drop into the final loser round.
• The final loser round advances the remaining fixed number of players.
• Together, these produce the Top 10 who move on to the next phase.

Quarter Finals Phase – Brackets (Top 10)

The remaining 10 players compete together in a single group of 10. 

Players will play 3–4 songs of higher difficulty than in the previous phase. Placement points are awarded per song, and rankings are determined by total placement points earned during this phase only. After all songs have been played, the top 4 players advance to the Finals. All other players are eliminated.

Advancement:

Top 4 players advance to the finals. All remaining players are eliminated.

Finals (top 4)

For the finals, the remaining 4 players will play the semifinal round, which will determine who will play for 1st/2nd place in the final and who will play for 3rd/4th place for the podium. During this round, each of the 4 remaining players will choose a song from that division’s pack within a specified difficulty range.

After the semifinal is done, the final matches are 1v1 with a special points system: for every song 1st gets 2 points, 2nd gets 1 point. Failing awards 0 points, even when intentional. 3rd/4th place will play a best of 3 round. 1st/2nd place will play a best of 5 round.

During these direct matches, players pick a song each within the specified difficulty range from that division’s tournament pack. If the players are tied after 2 or 4 matches respectively, the last song will be a random pick from the highest difficulty in that division.

It is allowed to pick from other packs and exceed the specified difficulty only if both players agree to it.

Tournament Structure

• The tournament is single elimination. There is no losers bracket.
• Matches are played on a stamina difficulty ladder with gradually increasing BPM and difficulty.
• The ladder consists of one pre-selected song per difficulty.
• The full playlist will be finalized and published before the tournament begins.
• All players advance through the same ladder in the same order.

Ladder Splits

• If there are 10 or fewer participants, one ladder will be used.
• If there are more than 10 participants, the ladder will be split into two overlapping segments:
  • Lower Segment: Difficulties 11–17
  • Upper Segment: Difficulties 16–33

Win Condition

• The winner of a match is the player who clears the highest difficulty. 
• The tournament follows a last player standing format.
  If only one player remains after a song, that player wins the match immediately.

Fails & Retries

• Each player is allowed one (1) retry total during the ladder.
• After a retry has been used:
  • Any subsequent failure results in an instant loss.
• If a player fails a song but still has their retry available:
  • The player may choose to continue to the next song in the ladder, or retry the song.

Match Flow & Breaks

• Players may take a break of up to 3 minutes after completing a song.
• A break may be shortened or skipped only by unanimous agreement of all players in the match.
• Failure to return within the allotted break time may result in forfeit of the next song at staff discretion.

Gameplay Settings

• C-mod is allowed.
• Song rate is locked for all players.
• No other gameplay modifiers are permitted unless explicitly approved by tournament staff.

Equipment Rules

• Players may bring their own pad and/or bar.
• Personal equipment must be compatible with and connect to the tournament cabinets.
• All pads brought from home must be ADP-compatible.
• Players are given 30 minutes before Round 1 to:
  • Adjust and test their pad
  • Configure bar height or placement (if using a separate bar) 
• Any remaining setup time may be used for warm-up play.
• No pad adjustments are allowed after Round 1 begins, except for emergency repairs approved by staff.
• If ADP adjustment is required between songs, players may be granted up to one (1) additional minute between songs at staff discretion.

Pad Failure & Technical Issues

• In the event of a pad malfunction:
  • The affected player must step off the pad immediately and notify staff.
• After maintenance:
  • The player is granted one (1) retry of the affected song.
• If the pad fails again:
  • The player must continue after one additional ADP adjustment, or switch to a tournament-provided pad or forfeit the match.
• Abuse of retries or false failure claims may result in disqualification.

General Conduct

• Players must follow all tournament staff instructions.
  Unsportsmanlike conduct, intentional stalling, or interference may result in warnings, match loss, or disqualification.
• Tournament staff decisions are final.

PUMP IT UP – King of the Hill (Side event)

This is a simple King of the Hill side event played on the Pump It Up machine. Players compete in a drop-out race format: everyone plays the same song(s), and the best scored player remains as the “king” for the next round. The lowest players drop out every few songs. Song/difficulty rules will be announced on-site and may be adjusted by staff to keep the event moving.

STEPMANIAX – King of the Hill (Side event)

This is a simple King of the Hill side event played on the StepManiaX machine. Players compete in a drop-out race format: everyone plays the same song(s), and the best scored player remains as the “king” for the next round. The lowest players drop out every few songs. Song/difficulty rules will be announced on-site and may be adjusted by staff to keep the event moving.