Project Storm 2026 – StepManiaX Main Bracket Rules

CEO 2026 | StepManiaX

[REGISTER FOR ALL EVENTS HERE]

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

Events featured at CEO to be determined, based on cab availability / interest.

Please note pool sizes, times, and slight ruleset modifications may be made once registration numbers are finalized. Check back regularly for updates!

All rules are subject to change.

PLACEMENT SET (OPTIONAL)

The below image is a reference 

Pick 3 songs:

Do U Love Me Hard 17

Meant 2 Be Hard 18 

High On Your Love Wild 19

My X Wild 20

Temple of Love Wild 21

Need You Wild 22

Dolphin Talk Wild 23 

RAD Wild 24

[SUBMIT HERE]

Qualifying for StepManiaX is OPTIONAL, but recommended if:

  • You have a Wild leaderboard ranking of 100+ (rankings 101 and above)
  • You are new to the game
  • You do not have access/limited access
  • You primarily play another dance game
  • You do not have a play on all of the Wild charts 

Players will be seeded manually in their pools based on prior tournament performance, StepManiaX leaderboard ranking and score data from the past year. 

You are not required to play the set! However, this process will help us place you with players at similar levels.  

In the event we do not have sufficient player data, we will use the placement set to determine seed order. 

You may submit your score via the StepManiaX app in advance starting [DATE TBD]. All scores must be in no later than [DATE TBD] unless onsite qualifying is needed. 

A preliminary seeding list will be published the <2-3 weeks?> before the event. If you do not agree with your seed number or would like to discuss placement, you may do so until [DATE TBD]. 

How to submit your scores:

  • Submit a screenshot from the StepManiaX App that shows the timestamp like the below example:
  • You may submit as many times as you want!
  • Please submit scores via Discord to emcat or via this form.

*Please contact the Tournament Organizer prior to the end of the submission date if you must play your qualifying set on-site. 

OPEN TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

Format/Rules Overview: 

  • Bracket Format: Double Elimination & Pool Play (Pools with Players of Similar Levels)
  • Song Pick Format: Card Draw
    • Best of 3: For the majority of matches.
    • Best of 5: For Winners Finals & Losers Finals in each division.
    • Winner of a song is determined by highest machine score. 
    • First song is randomized. <WIP depends on outcome of Love Arcade 3>
    • Loser picks next song (see below for details).
  • Division Pools: Players will be placed in a division pools based on past tournament performance, recent scores (past year of data), and score comparison tools. Qualifying set performance. 
  • Current cap: 32 entrants.
  • Prizes (subject to change):
    • Top 4 placements for the final Pool will receive a cash prize from the prize pool. Projected Payout: 50% / 25% / 15% / 10% (Subject to change)
    • The players who advance from their pools and Top 8 may receive a prize as well!
  • Songlist: All content, excluding paid DLC if not available. Recent content updates are valid, no matter how close the song drop is to the event date!
  • Machine: StepManiaX DX Cab
  • Bar usage is allowed.
  • BG 25% and disabling announcers are to be used at all times unless both players agree.
  • Participants will be required to follow Round1 house rules at all times while on the premises.
  • If you indicate that you concede (i.e. stepping off the pad completely, or verbally announcing you concede), then your opponent wins the song.
  • All other situations including pad or machine issues will be arbitrated at TO discretion.

Players will be given an automatic match loss under the following conditions:

  • Player absence hinders tournament progress.
  • Player fails to communicate with staff on their whereabouts.

If at any point you do something deemed unsportsmanlike, such as verbally/physically interfering with someone while playing a match, damaging venue property, assaulting another person, violating Round1 GLC house rules or policy, or any other malicious behavior, you will be immediately disqualified from the tournament, and may be subject to additional penalty or removal from the premises at the discretion of Round1 staff.

DIFFICULTY RANGES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE with Pool Sizes)

Pool 1: Hard/Hard+ 17 – Wild 19

Pool 2: Wild 19 – Wild 21

Pool 3: Wild 20 – Wild 23

Pool 4: Wild 21 – 24

Uppers Top 8: Wild 22 – 26

Songs will be drawn with the following weights (subject to change):

Pools 1 & 2: 25%, 50%, 25%

Pool 3 & Pool 4 First Round: 17%, 33%, 33%, 17%

Uppers Top 8:  25%, 30%, 30%, Top Levels Grouped Into Buckets 15%

Card Draw Actions 

This tournament will use a set and song veto system. 

Prior to each match’s card draw, the following preferences will be will be determined for both players in the match based on seed order:

  • Protect order (1st or 2nd protect)
  • Veto order (1st or 2nd veto)
  • Pad side (Player 1 (Left) or Player 2 (Right)

The higher seeded player will get first choice of their preference between these actions, the lower seeded player will get second choice of their preference, and finally, the higher seeded player will choose their preference of the remaining action.

Song/Chart Selection – DDR.Tools Card Draw

After card draw actions have been selected, three sets for the match will be randomly drawn using the ddr.tools SMX card draw app.  Players will then perform their card draw actions in the determined order to select the songs they will play during the match.  

  1. The lower seed will veto the first set, and the higher seed will veto the second set until one set remains. 
  2. Each player will choose one chart to protect unless they use a special action.*
  3. Each player will choose one chart to veto.
  4. Lower seed chooses the first song to play (their protect, their opponents protect, or the remaining song (s). 
  5. The loser of each song picks the next song to play. 

Card Draw Example:

Player 1 is the higher seed.

Player 2 is the lower seed. 

Player 1 decides to protect 2nd. 

Player 2 decides to veto 1st.

Player 1 chooses the left side. 

Three sets are drawn:

As the lower seed, Player 2 must decide to veto a set first. They get rid of the middle set starting with Electronic City Pops.


Two sets remain:

Player 1 decides to get rid of set 1, starting with Just Do It.

The final set is selected:

Player 2 protects first, and chooses Sunshine

Player 1 protects second, and decides on Dance. 

Player 2 vetoes 1st, and they decide to get rid of Blackstar.

Player 1 vetoes 2nd, and they get rid of Over the Top. 

This is the final set: 

The first song of the match is determined randomly using a random number generator. 

The number is “4”, so “Boomerang” is the first song played. 

After a close match, Player 2 loses.

Since they lost, they get to pick the next chart.

They decide to play their protect, Sunshine…and win!

This means that it’s 1-1, and Player 1 decides which song to play next! They go with their protect, Dance and win their pick.

Everybody Dance and Pop4 did not get played. 

Tiebreaker Card Draw Example (Best of 5):

After an intense match, the score is 2-2, and 3 songs remain. How do we determine the tie?

The player with the most recent loss will select the final song out of the remaining 3. 

Notes: 

  • Best of 3 matches will draw 7 cards.
  • Best of 5 matches will draw 9 cards. 
  • “Force Expected Distribution” option will be enabled for all draws.
  • “Group Cards into Buckets” option will be enabled for all draws, with the two highest levels of each range being sharing one bucket (e.g. For Upper Top 8, the level buckets would be 22, 23, 24, and 25-26). 

Score Ties

If both players attain the same score on a song, the song is a tie. A win for this song will not be given to either player, and the song is removed from the draw. The next song will be chosen from the remaining song pool in the same manner as the tied song was chosen, whether that is random selection (as song 1 would normally be drawn), or the most recent loser of a song in that set.  Match play will continue from here as normal.

If all drawn songs are exhausted by score ties, 3 new cards will be drawn in the current level range. The player with the most recent win will veto a song first, then the other player will veto a song.  Players will play the remaining song as a tiebreaker.  If necessary, further tiebreakers will be drawn by repeating this process, with 1st veto alternating each time until a match result is achieved.

*Special Actions

In this tournament, there are 2 types of special actions you may use once per event. Choose wisely, as there is only enough power to use each ONCE (even between pools).

Pocket Picks 

Every player has the opportunity to select and use a “pocket pick” once during the card draw phase of any match of the tournament. A pocket pick is a chart that can take the place of any drawn card in place of a player’s protected action during the card draw phase.

  • Pocket picks must be within the valid level range for the current match.  E.g. a level 24 chart cannot be pocket-picked in a pool with levels 19-22, but would be a valid pick in an Upper Grand Finals match.
  • TOs will keep track of pocket pick status for all players. 
  • If both players use their pocket picks in the same match, the same song may not be played twice. The player who reports intent to use their pocket pick first will have priority to use the song in place of their protect, and the other player will need to choose a different song for their pocket pick. 

Single Song Redraw 

Players also get the opportunity to redraw one song in their set during their protect phase. The chosen song will be replaced with a random song within that same difficulty. This will redraw any song within the set before vetoes take place. However, already protected songs can not be redrawn.