The Final Cut Invitational

Tournament rules

Top 16 · Single elimination

At a glance

Eligibility
Top 1,000 on the official overall Pumbility leaderboard
Qualifying
Best 4 of 6 charts. Only the top 300 scores on each chart’s official leaderboard count.
Qualifying deadline
Score updates
Daily at midnight ET, plus a final update at the qualifying deadline
Bracket
Top 16 advance to single elimination. Best-of-5, first to 3 chart wins.
Difficulty
Singles 23–25+ · Doubles 23–26+
Venue fee
$40 per player
Prizes
Top 8 are paid. A third-place match decides 3rd and 4th.

· – ET

Chinatown Fair Family Fun Center in NYC (Google Maps Link)

Contact: jfung9021@gmail.com · Discord: @jonnipop

Detailed Tournament Rules

Qualifying

You must be in the top 1,000 on the official overall Pumbility leaderboard to join. Enter your PIU name on the website to join qualifying. Your qualifying total is the sum of your best 4 scores across these 6 charts. Only the top 300 scores on each chart’s official leaderboard count. Scores update daily at midnight ET.

New entries close on . The final score update starts at that deadline and may finish shortly afterward. Standings are then frozen.

Iolite Sky90 BPMS23Dead End212 BPMS23Awakening150 BPMD24ESP175 BPMD24Full Moon190 BPMD241948240 BPMD24
  1. Top 1,000Official overall Pumbility leaderboard
  2. Best 4 scoresYour qualifying total
  3. Top 16Advance to the bracket

The venue fee is $40 per player. Joining qualifying adds your tag to the standings; attendance and fee payment details will be announced separately.

Qualify for the tournament →View the leaderboard →

Tournament format

The top 16 qualifiers enter a single-elimination bracket. Win your match to advance; one loss ends your run for the title.

Win charts to win the match

Every match is best-of-5. Stop when one player has won 3 charts.

The higher chart score earns one match point. Equal chart scores award neither player a point. Match results use chart wins, not a sum of raw scores.

Example match3 – 1Player A wins
Example of a best-of-5 match won by Player A, three charts to one.
ChartPlayer APlayer BPoint
1990,000985,000A +1
2978,000988,000B +1
3995,000982,000A +1
4987,000980,000A +1
Each higher chart score earns one point. The match ends at 3 chart wins; the fifth chart is not needed here.

Advancing through the bracket

  1. Round 116 players8 matches
  2. Quarterfinals8 players4 matches
  3. Semifinals4 players2 matches
  4. Grand final2 players1 match
  5. Winner1 championWins the grand final
Four rounds decide the champion. No losers bracket or bracket reset.

The grand final is one best-of-5 match on two cabinets. There is no bracket reset.

Chart draw and selection

Chart pool

Arcade-length charts, Full Songs, Remixes, and Shortcuts can all be drawn.

ArcadeFull SongRemixShortcut

PUMP IT UP R!SE charts are enabled, except direct chart imports.

Difficulty distribution

Draw 17 charts from the round’s distribution: 5 Singles and 12 Doubles. Difficulty ranges may change at organizer discretion based on participant skill.

These are chart-draw slots. Up to 5 charts are played from the initial draw; an unresolved match uses the match tiebreaker. S25+ and D26+ are open-ended difficulty ranges.

Cards drawn per match by bracket stage and difficulty. Blank cells mean no cards are drawn at that difficulty.
Bracket stageSinglesDoubles
232425+23242526+
Round 15No chartsNo charts66No chartsNo charts
Quarterfinals32No chartsNo charts66No charts
Semifinals & third placeNo charts32No chartsNo charts66
Grand finalNo chartsNo charts5No chartsNo chartsNo charts12

Ban and protect

The higher seed is the player with the better qualifying position; the lower seed is their opponent.

A ban removes a chart from the draw. A protect reserves a chart for play and prevents it from being banned.

Follow the numbered seed order: 12 bans and 4 protects leave one remaining chart. A protected chart cannot be banned later.

17 drawn12 banned4 protected1 decider
  1. 1Lower seedBan
  2. 2Higher seedBan
  3. 3Higher seedBan
  4. 4Lower seedBan
  5. 5Lower seedProtect
  6. 6Higher seedProtect
  7. 7Higher seedBan
  8. 8Lower seedBan
  9. 9Lower seedBan
  10. 10Higher seedBan
  11. 11Higher seedProtect
  12. 12Lower seedProtect
  13. 13Lower seedBan
  14. 14Higher seedBan
  15. 15Higher seedBan
  16. 16Lower seedBan
Each step selects one chart.

Play order

Play the protected charts in the order they were protected: lower seed, higher seed, higher seed, lower seed. The remaining chart is the decider if needed.

  1. Chart 1Lower seedProtected chart
  2. Chart 2Higher seedProtected chart
  3. Chart 3Higher seedProtected chart
  4. Chart 4Lower seedProtected chart
  5. Chart 5Remaining chartDecider, if needed
Play in protection order. Stop when a player wins 3 charts.

If five charts leave the match unresolved

If the match is unresolved after all 5 charts, draw 17 new charts. Follow the same seed turns as the best-of-5 procedure, replacing every protect with a ban: 16 bans, no protects. The remaining chart decides the match. If its scores are equal, repeat with a fresh 17-chart draw and the same bans until there is a winner.

  1. 15 charts played

    The match is still unresolved.

  2. 2Draw 17 new charts

    Start a fresh chart draw.

  3. 3Ban 16 charts

    No protects in this draw.

  4. 41 deciding chart

    The last chart decides the match.

Same seed turns as the main sequence. Every action is a ban.

  1. 1Lower seedBan
  2. 2Higher seedBan
  3. 3Higher seedBan
  4. 4Lower seedBan
  5. 5Lower seedBan
  6. 6Higher seedBan
  7. 7Higher seedBan
  8. 8Lower seedBan
  9. 9Lower seedBan
  10. 10Higher seedBan
  11. 11Higher seedBan
  12. 12Lower seedBan
  13. 13Lower seedBan
  14. 14Higher seedBan
  15. 15Higher seedBan
  16. 16Lower seedBan
If the deciding chart also ties, repeat with a fresh 17-chart draw and the same 16 bans until there is a winner.

Match setup

Two cabinets, every round

Every match uses two cabinets, from Round 1 through the grand final.

Each player uses a separate cabinet. Singles has no higher-seed pad-side preference. Doubles uses both pads on each player’s cabinet.

Cabinet 1One player
Left sideRight side
Cabinet 2One player
Left sideRight side
Each player uses a separate cabinet. Singles has no higher-seed pad-side preference. Doubles uses both pads.

Warm-up

One Singles warm-up chart is allowed before each match. Do not use any chart in that match’s draw, including charts later banned.

Settings

Allowed

All Speed, Noteskin, and Display category mods are allowed.

JT and NT are allowed in tournament play.

DR is allowed throughout the tournament.
Restricted

Path and Alternate category mods are prohibited, except DR, which is allowed throughout the tournament.

Use BGA Dark unless both players in the match agree to BGA on.

Equipment & physical play

Footwear

Shoes, Skinners, socks, and other footwear are allowed. Barefoot play is not allowed.

Bar & hands

Support bar use and hands on panels are allowed. External physical assistance is prohibited.

Surface products

Apply baby powder off the pads. Windex and Febreze are allowed.

Scores & pad calls

Normal run

Displayed score counts

Use Free Play where possible. A chart clear is not required for the displayed score to count, subject to the 51-miss exception.

Exception

51 consecutive misses

If a run ends after 51 consecutive misses, that player’s raw chart score becomes 0. This is not an automatic chart loss; compare the resulting scores normally.

Pad calls

Reproduce the issue on a specific sensor. A 15 lb test weight is used to test it. The organizer decides whether the malfunction materially affected the result and whether to grant a replay. Otherwise, no replay is issued.

  1. 1Report

    Identify the sensor.

  2. 2Reproduce

    Show the issue on that sensor.

  3. 3Test

    Use the 15 lb test weight.

  4. 4Decision

    The organizer decides on a replay.

A replay requires organizer approval after assessing whether the malfunction affected the result.

Placements & prizes

Third-place match

The semifinal losers play a best-of-5 match on two cabinets for third place, using the semifinal difficulty distribution. The winner finishes third and the loser fourth. Quarterfinal losers share fifth place and receive equal payouts.

Semifinal losersThird-place matchWinner: 3rd · Loser: 4th
16 matches in total, including the third-place match.

Prize distribution

Top 8 are paid. Percentages apply to the final prize pool, including matching.

Prize shares per player, with example payouts at the $3,000 goal.
PlacementShareCurrent Prize PoolAt $3,000
1st—$1,200.00
2nd—$600.00
3rd—$360.00
4th—$240.00
5th–8th (each)—$150.00

Loading the current prize pool… The $3,000 column shows example payouts at the goal.

The third-place match decides 3rd and 4th. Quarterfinal losers share 5th place and each receive 5%.

Readiness & conduct

More than 10 minutes late

Players more than 10 minutes late to their match are disqualified.

Event policies

No disruption. Do not intentionally disrupt players during matches.

Respect players and staff. Violence, discrimination, and other misconduct toward competitors or staff are prohibited. Organizers may remove players who break the rules.

Organizer decisions. Tournament organizers may change the rules.