> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://countertrade.gitbook.io/docs/leagues-and-seasons/standings-and-qualification.md).

# Standings and qualification

The STANDINGS tab's table and battle views, what each decision word means, the tie-break chain, how seats and the line work, reserves, and the last-chance battle.

How the **STANDINGS** tab ranks a season, and how a stage's table decides who goes on.

## The two views

The **STANDINGS** tab has two views:

* **TABLE** — the ranking for one stage, chosen in the stage bar beside it (**Qualifiers**, **Last Chance**, **Playoffs**, **Final**). Where a season has more than one scored stage before its final, **Season** adds them up.
* **BATTLES** — the record of every battle played: when it ran, its field, its winner, its prize, how you did, and its status. Open a battle to see its placings: **PLACE**, **TRADER**, **PTS**, **COUNTS**, **ROI**, **TRADES**, **PAYOUT**.

Once a season is over, the tab opens on **BATTLES**.

## Reading a stage's table

The head line states the stage's rule, for example "best 2 of 3 rounds · top 24 → Playoffs · reserves → Last Chance". A chip beside it gives the table's revision: **PROVISIONAL** while the stage is running, **OFFICIAL** once it is finalized.

| Column       | Shows                                                                                 |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **#**        | Rank after tie-breaks                                                                 |
| **TRADER**   | The trader, and on a wide screen how many results count, for example "2 of 3 counted" |
| **PTS**      | Points from counted results                                                           |
| **DECISION** | Where that rank leads                                                                 |

A last-chance table shows **PLACE**, **TRADER**, **Q RANK** (the qualifier rank) and **DECISION**. The final's shows **PLACE**, **TRADER**, **ROI** and **DECISION**.

Signed in, a strip above the table gives your own row, for example "You · #12", with **Locate row** to scroll to it.

Select any row to see **Why this place?** — the line, how many results count, the tie-break that separated two traders, and what changed since the previous revision — with **Their battles** below.

### Decision words

| While the stage runs | Once it is finalized | Meaning                                                                                                                                   |
| -------------------- | -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **In now**           | **Through**          | Inside the seats. While the stage runs, this can still change.                                                                            |
| **Reserve now**      | **Reserve**          | Outside the seats, in line for the last-chance battle or a released seat.                                                                 |
| **Out now**          | **Out**              | Outside the seats, with no way on from this stage.                                                                                        |
|                      | **Disqualified**     | A sanction from the season's organizer. The row stays, below everyone else, and takes no seat and no award. A paid entry is not refunded. |

The foot of a running table says it plainly: "Live order may change; nothing advances until the stage is finalized."

The table updates when a battle's result is imported, not while the battle is live. Your rank can move without you playing, as other results arrive.

## How ties break

Equal points are separated in this order, stopping at the first step that decides:

1. More wins.
2. More podiums.
3. Better average place.
4. Better median ROI.
5. Head-to-head: the counted battles both traders played.
6. Earlier registration.

Wins, podiums, average place and median ROI come only from counted battles you traded in — see [Season scoring](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/season-scoring.md#wins-and-podiums). A row of tied traders carries a note such as "3 traders at 170 pts · ranks 22–24 follow the official tie-break".

## How seats are won

A qualifying stage gives a fixed number of **seats** in the next stage: "top 24 → Playoffs". The **line** is the rank of the last seat. Finish on it or above it, and you go through.

On the Overview, the **YOUR SEASON** card shows where you stand against the line while the stage runs: **Inside the cut**, or **At risk** when you hold the last seat, with **To the line** giving the distance in points. **Inside the cut** on the Overview, **In now** in the table and "in the zone" on your profile all mean the same: you hold a seat right now.

When the stage is finalized, its table is frozen and the seats are given from it. Once a stage is finalized, its table never changes.

### Reserves

Everyone who traded in the stage but finished outside the seats becomes a **Reserve**, in rank order. If a seeded player is removed from the season or disqualified before the next stage, the next reserve takes the seat.

## The last-chance battle

Some seasons hold back a few seats for a **last chance**: one battle for reserves.

* **Who plays:** in a Creator Cup, everyone outside the top 24 who traded in a qualifier.
* **What it gives:** seats only, never points. "No points: only your place matters." In a Creator Cup, the 6 best finishers take playoff seeds 25–30.
* **The seats come out of the same total.** 24 seats from the qualifiers and 6 from the last chance make the playoffs' 30.
* If the last-chance battle is cancelled or voided, its seats go to the qualifier reserves in rank order.

## Related

* [Season scoring](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/season-scoring.md)
* [Playoffs and finals](/docs/leagues-and-seasons/playoffs-and-finals.md)