> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.squads-space.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Roadmap Builder

> Build multi-stage tournaments with Elimination and Round Robin formats.

The Roadmap Builder is where you define your tournament's stages and how teams progress through them. Once created, the roadmap is locked — so plan your structure before building it.

## Building Your Roadmap

From your tournament's manage page, open the Roadmap Builder. For each stage you add:

1. **Stage name** — e.g., "Open Qualifiers", "Semifinals", "Grand Finals"
2. **Stage type** — Elimination or Round Robin
3. **Slots** — how many teams in this stage
4. **Advancement** — how many teams advance to the next stage (for Elimination)
5. **Invited slots** — whether this stage has directly invited teams

The system calculates everything automatically — group counts, how many need to advance from prior stages to fill remaining slots, etc.

## Stage Types

### Elimination

Teams are divided into groups, and matches happen within each group. Top performers advance to the next stage.

* Each group contains teams based on the game mode (e.g., 12 squads per group, since a custom room holds 12 squads)
* Each group plays up to 8 matches
* Points accumulate across matches within the group
* Top teams from each group advance to the next stage

**Best for:** Early stages where you need to narrow down a large number of teams quickly.

**Example:** Open Qualifiers — 192 squads in 16 groups of 12. Each group plays 4 matches in their own custom rooms. Top 4 from each group advance to Semifinals.

### Round Robin

Teams are split into groups, but unlike Elimination, matches happen in pairings — not within individual groups. Each group plays every other group once.

* Groups are created first (e.g., 3 groups of 6 squads)
* Pairings are configured after the roadmap is created, from the stage's manage page
* The system auto-generates pairings based on your configuration (group names, seeding strategy, etc.)
* A pairing is where two groups face each other — that's where the actual matches take place
* Combined leaderboard across all pairings determines final standings

**Best for:** Final stages where you want the fairest possible evaluation across all remaining teams.

**Example:** Grand Finals — 18 squads in 3 groups of 6. Group A vs Group B, Group A vs Group C, Group B vs Group C — 3 pairings total. Combined leaderboard across all pairings determines the champion.

## Mixing Formats

Different stages in the same tournament can use different formats. This is how major events like FFIC and FFWS operate.

**Example tournament:**

* **Stage 1: Open Qualifiers** — Elimination, 192 squads in 16 groups of 12, top 4 advance
* **Stage 2: Semifinals** — Elimination, 64 squads in 8 groups of 8, top 3 advance
* **Stage 3: Grand Finals** — Round Robin, 24 squads in 4 groups of 6, pairings determine the champion

## After the Roadmap Is Created

Once your roadmap is set, it's locked. You'll see all your stages on the manage tournament page. From each stage you can:

* Configure groups
* Configure pairings (Round Robin stages only)
* Manage matches — both group pages (Elimination) and pairing pages (Round Robin) share the same layout: Schedule, ID/Password, Results, and Announcements

## Downloading Your Roadmap

You can download your roadmap as a shareable image using one of the free demo templates, or as a PDF. Share it in your WhatsApp and Discord groups so players can see the full tournament journey.

More templates coming soon.

## Related

* [Creating a Tournament](/organizer/tournaments/creating-a-tournament)
* [Group Creation](/organizer/tournaments/group-creation)
* [Invited Slots](/organizer/tournaments/invited-slots)