How a Skirmz match works: check-in, votes, results and ratings
What happens from the moment a match is created, covering check-in, pre-match votes, reporting the winner, disputes, and how your rating changes.
Every match on Skirmz, whether it comes from a queue or from a tournament bracket, follows the same sequence. Skirmz organizes the match, and you play it in the game itself.
1. Check-in
When a match is created, every player has a short window to confirm they are there. If someone does not check in, normal play does not start. Queue matches can return eligible players to the queue; tournament matches follow the tournament's no-show handling, which can mean a forfeit or a void match.
2. Pre-match votes
The community that runs the game can set up votes before play, such as which map to play. Players vote, each vote has its own time limit, and the result is shown to everyone. If a game has no vote stages, this step is skipped.
3. Play the match
Play in the game as normal. Skirmz does not host the game servers or the lobby, so one side creates the match in the game and the other joins, the same as for any custom game.
4. Report the result
When you are done, each player says whether they won or lost. The result process waits for every participant's report. If all reports identify the same winning team, that result is accepted; conflicting reports go to moderator review.
5. Disputes
If the reports disagree and no result can be settled, the match goes to moderator review. A moderator opens a case, looks at what happened and decides the result. After a match you also have a short window to raise a dispute yourself.
6. Summary and rating
After the result, a summary shows the outcome and an estimate of how each player's rating will change. Ranked play uses an Elo-style rating: you gain more for beating a stronger opponent and lose more for losing to a weaker one. Skirmz attempts to save the result and ratings when the summary opens; cleanup retries rating persistence if needed and closes the match chat. The displayed estimate is separate from the saved rating.
Matches in tournaments
A tournament match works the same way, and the result moves the winner forward in the bracket. See Tournaments.