Draft System

The draft system allows tournament captains to pick players for their teams. Three draft styles are available, each with different pick order mechanics.

Snake Draft	Shuffle Draft
Full Video	Full Video

Draft Styles

Snake Draft

The classic snake draft where pick order reverses each round.

Pick Pattern (4 teams):

Round 1: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4
Round 2: Team 4 → Team 3 → Team 2 → Team 1
Round 3: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4
Round 4: Team 4 → Team 3 → Team 2 → Team 1

Characteristics:

• Predictable pick order
• First pick team gets picks 1, 8, 9, 16
• Last pick team gets picks 4, 5, 12, 13
• Good balance between first and last pick advantage

Normal Draft

Standard draft where pick order stays the same each round.

Pick Pattern (4 teams):

Round 1: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4
Round 2: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4
Round 3: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4
Round 4: Team 1 → Team 2 → Team 3 → Team 4

Characteristics:

• Simple, predictable order
• First pick team has significant advantage
• Last pick team may struggle with player availability

Shuffle Draft

Dynamic draft where the team with the lowest total MMR always picks next.

How It Works:

1. Before each pick, calculate total MMR for each team (captain + all picked members)
2. Team with lowest total MMR picks next
3. If teams are tied, a dice roll determines who picks

Tie-Breaking:

When multiple teams have the same lowest MMR:

1. Each tied team rolls a d6 (1-6)
2. Highest roll wins and picks next
3. If rolls tie, re-roll only among still-tied teams
4. Continue until one winner

Example:

Team A (15,400 MMR) rolls: 4
Team B (15,400 MMR) rolls: 4
Team C (15,400 MMR) rolls: 2

→ Team C eliminated, A and B re-roll

Team A rolls: 3
Team B rolls: 5

→ Team B wins, picks next

Characteristics:

• Self-balancing - weaker teams get priority picks
• Unpredictable order until draft starts
• Tie-breaker adds excitement
• Cannot simulate final team MMRs in advance

Draft Style Modal

The Draft Style modal allows admins to:

1. View all draft style options
2. Compare predicted team balance for Snake vs Normal
3. See that Shuffle is dynamic and cannot be predicted
4. Select and apply a draft style

Data Models

Draft

Field	Type	Description
tournament	ForeignKey	Associated tournament
draft_style	CharField	snake, normal, or shuffle

DraftRound

Field	Type	Description
draft	ForeignKey	Parent draft
captain	ForeignKey	Captain making the pick
pick_number	Integer	Sequential pick number (1, 2, 3...)
pick_phase	Integer	Phase/round of the draft
choice	ForeignKey	Player selected (null until picked)
was_tie	Boolean	Whether tie-breaking was needed
tie_roll_data	JSONField	Tie resolution details

tie_roll_data Structure

When a tie occurs in Shuffle draft, the tie_roll_data field contains:

{
  "tied_teams": [
    {"id": 1, "name": "Team Alpha", "mmr": 15400},
    {"id": 2, "name": "Team Beta", "mmr": 15400}
  ],
  "roll_rounds": [
    [
      {"team_id": 1, "roll": 4},
      {"team_id": 2, "roll": 4}
    ],
    [
      {"team_id": 1, "roll": 3},
      {"team_id": 2, "roll": 5}
    ]
  ],
  "winner_id": 2
}

API Endpoints

Pick Player

POST /api/tournaments/{id}/draft/pick/

Request:

{
  "player_id": 123
}

Response (Shuffle Draft with tie):

{
  "success": true,
  "tournament": { ... },
  "next_pick": {
    "captain_id": 5,
    "team_id": 2,
    "team_name": "Team Beta",
    "team_mmr": 15400
  },
  "tie_resolution": {
    "tied_teams": [...],
    "roll_rounds": [...],
    "winner_id": 2
  }
}

Update Draft Style

PUT /api/drafts/{id}/

Request:

{
  "draft_style": "shuffle"
}

Frontend Components

TieResolutionOverlay

Displays when a tie occurs during Shuffle draft:

• Shows all tied teams with their MMR
• Displays each round of dice rolls
• Highlights the winner
• "Continue" button to proceed

DraftStyleModal

Allows selecting draft style:

• Snake Draft option with predicted MMR balance
• Normal Draft option with predicted MMR balance
• Shuffle Draft option (dynamic balance, no prediction)
• Apply button to change style

Implementation Notes

Snake/Normal vs Shuffle

Aspect	Snake/Normal	Shuffle
Round creation	All rounds created upfront	First round only, rest created dynamically
Pick order	Predetermined	Calculated after each pick
Predictable	Yes	No
MMR simulation	Can predict final team MMRs	Cannot predict

Team total_mmr Calculation

total_mmr = captain.mmr + sum(member.mmr for member in members if member != captain)

The captain is always included, and members exclude the captain to avoid double-counting.