This article explains all the necessary information about the HSEL Playoffs, such as days/times of matches, where to find the bracket, how many teams qualify, etc.
Looking for regional Rocket League or Valorant playoff Information? See the Regional Playoff Guide.
Looking for League of Legends playoff information? See the League of Legends Playoff Guide.
How Many Teams/Players Make the Playoffs?
Playoff brackets will be generated during the week of April 3, prior to the end of business April 6th. Team administrators will be notified of qualification via email to the address they use to log in.
- The amount of teams/players qualifying for playoffs is determined by the number of active participants after the first four weeks.
- Most competitions will have at least two playoff brackets: a "Championship" (Champ) bracket for the top-seeded teams, and a secondary "Redemption Road" (R.R.) bracket for strong-performing teams/players that did not qualify for the "Championship" bracket.
- Depending on participation, an additional "Bounceback Invitational" bracket may be added.
- Rainbow 6 Siege (Console) will only have a Championship bracket.
Championship Bracket
| Game | Participants | Max. # of Rounds |
| Brawlhalla | 64 (Seeds 1 - 64) | 6 |
| Chess | 64 (Seeds 1 - 64) | 6 |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 12* (Seeds 1 - 12) | 4* |
| Halo: Infinite | 16 (Seeds 1 - 16) | 4 |
| Minecraft | 72** (Seeds 1 - 72) | 3** |
| Rainbow 6 Siege (Consoles) | 6* | 3* |
| Rainbow 6 Siege (PC) | 16 (Seeds 1 - 16) | 4 |
*1st round bye for top 2 (R6 console) & top 4 (CS:GO)
**No players will be eliminated round-to-round. The winner will be determined after the culmination of all 3 rounds. Minecraft will still use the queue system. Please see the Minecraft Troubleshooting Guide to ensure players are properly set up to compete.
Redemption Road (R.R.) Bracket
| Game | Participants | Max. # of Rounds |
| Brawlhalla | 32 (Seeds 65 - 96) | 5 |
| Chess | 32 (Seeds 65 - 96) | 5 |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 8 (Seeds 13 - 20) | 3 |
| Halo: Infinite | 12* (Seeds 17 - 28) | 4* |
| Minecraft | 72 (Seeds 73 - 144)** | 3** |
| Rainbow 6 Siege (Consoles) |
n/a | n/a |
| Rainbow 6 Siege (PC) | 12* (Seeds 13 - 24) | 4* |
*1st round bye for top 4
**No players will be eliminated round-to-round. The winner will be determined after the culmination of all 3 rounds. Minecraft will still use the queue system. Please see the Minecraft Troubleshooting Guide to ensure players are properly set up to compete.
Schedule
- Default match times for all games listed above will be 8:00 pm Eastern Time.
- Playoffs/finals are manually seeded; players will not use the queue system*.
- *Minecraft will still use the queue system.
- You may only reschedule a playoff match if you meet all of the following criteria:
- Your competitor agrees to the new time in the match chat on the Generation Esports platform.
- You notify and receive approval from HSEL admins for the new time here.
- The match score is reported before midnight Pacific Standard Time the day prior to the next round (i.e. reschedules must not impede the bracket from advancing).
- Finals matches cannot be rescheduled.
- Your opponent must agree to the rescheduled time in match chat on the Generation Esports platform or the default time will remain.
- The 3rd Place & Redemption Road finals will occur on the same day as the tournament's Champ bracket finals match but at the default match time of 8:00 pm ET.
Week 1
| Mon 4/10 | Tue 4/11 | Wed 4/12 | Thu 4/13 | Fri 4/14 | |
| Brawlhalla (Champ) | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||
| Brawlhalla (R.R.) | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||
| Chess (All) | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||
| CS:GO (Champ) | Round 1 | Quarterfinals | |||
| CS:GO (R.R) | Quarterfinals | ||||
| Halo (All) | Round 1 | Quarterfinals | |||
| Minecraft (All) | Round 1 | ||||
| R6 Siege PC (All) | Round 1 | Quarterfinals | |||
| R6 Siege Console | Quarterfinals |
Week 2
| Mon 4/17 | Tue 4/18 | Wed 4/19 | Thu 4/20 | |
| Brawlhalla (All) | Quarterfinals | Semis | ||
| Chess (Champ) | Round 3 | Quarterfinals | ||
| Chess (R.R.) | Quarterfinals | Semis | ||
| CS:GO (All) | Semis | |||
| Halo (All) | Semis | |||
| Minecraft (All) | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||
| R6 Siege (All) | Semis | |||
| R6 Siege Console (All) | Semis |
Week 3
| Mon 4/24 | Tue 4/25 | Wed 4/26 | |
| Brawlhalla (Champ) | Streamed Finals* | ||
| Brawlhalla (R.R.) | Finals | ||
| Chess (Champ) | Semis | Finals | |
| Chess (R.R.) | Finals | ||
| CS:GO (All) | Finals | ||
| Halo (All) | Streamed Finals* | ||
| Minecraft (All) | Final Round | ||
| R6 Siege (All) | Streamed Finals* | ||
| R6 Siege Console (All) |
Finals |
*See "Finals Match Times" below for streamed matches. Only Championship bracket matches are streamed.
Finals Match Times
The following FINALS matches for Championship brackets will be live-streamed on HSEL Twitch. These times can not be rescheduled.
- Monday 4/24 Brawlhalla Championship Finals - 8:00 pm EDT
- Wednesday 4/26 Halo Championship Finals - 7:00 pm EDT
- Wednesday 4/26 Rainbow 6 Siege Championship Finals - 9:00 pm EDT
How to Qualify
- A roster must:
- Play at least 6 matches in order to be eligible for playoff qualification.
- End the season at a high enough leaderboard placement (see tiebreakers below).
- Note: Any unplayed regular-season matches will be counted as a loss against the player's/roster's record at the end of the regular season, per rule 2.11.7.1.
- The tiebreaker system will be run as a tiered protocol that will be used if multiple teams finish the regular season with the same overall record, pursuant to rule 2.11.8.1:
- Wins. (Forfeit wins and bye wins are scored as a full series undefeated win)
- Head-to-head record. (If the two tied teams have played each other, their match record against each other is compared)
- Overall game-win percentage. (e.g. winning a match 3-0 is better than 3-2)
- Valorant, CS:GO, and R6 only: Round differential. (A team with 15 rounds won and 10 rounds lost will have a round differential of +5 for that match. A higher positive value is better)
- Higher opponents’ game-win percentage. (e.g. it is better to beat an opponent who consistently won 3-0 than 3-2)
- Fewer forfeit losses.
- Fewer bye wins.
- The team which had a higher number of wins before their first loss.
- If the first loss is received after the same number of wins, then the team which lost to the stronger opponent (as defined by game win percentage) will be ranked higher.
Where can I view the playoff bracket?
- Select "Tournaments" from the left-hand menu.
- Under "My Tournaments", choose the tournament whose playoff bracket you want to view.
- Find the “Leaderboard” section and click “Playoffs”.
- Click the “Bracket View” button to open the playoff bracket for that specific game.
Roster Rules and Substitutes
- Per HSEL General Competition Rule 2.8.4: "Roster changes may be made at any point during or in-between seasons except during the time a team has queued for their match, during live matches, or once the playoffs have begun. Roster changes are prohibited for single-player and partnered (duo) game tournaments."
- In the case an emergency substitute is needed, the Team Administrator must reach out to competition@highschoolesportsleague.com to request permission.
- If you have not heard back after 24 hours of making an emergency substitute request, please contact support here.
Things to know
- Prizing information can be found here.
- Information about HSEL Nationals can be found here.
- Your admin will be emailed a form to fill out to ensure you receive any potential prizing. Forms will be sent out within 5 business days after the tournament's conclusion.
- Any admin with a team/player who made it to the playoffs will be notified via the email they use to sign in to Generation Esports.
- The match format is located in the specific tournament overview. You can find the overview in the HSEL community section of our help site.