Grand Cup 2: Group Stage & Head-to-Head Bracket

You made the cut. Welcome to Stage 2 of Tradeify Grand Cup 2: The Outlaws — the head-to-head knockout bracket. This guide walks you through what changes on your dashboard, how matchups are scored, the bounty system, and the rules that decide whether you advance each round.

⚠️ Each matchup is a brand-new account

Every round of the bracket gives you a fresh Grand Cup account starting at $50,000. The account number uses the same GCUPXXXXXXXXXX format as your Qualifier account, but it's a different account — balances do not carry over between rounds. Win the round and you get another fresh $50,000 account for the next matchup. Lose, and you're out.

Stage 2 is a single-elimination tournament. 1,024 traders enter Round 1 — the top 1,000 finishers from the Qualifier, plus 24 Outlaws — and each round halves the field until one trader is crowned Grand Champion.

- Every round, you're paired with a specific opponent

- Each matchup lasts one trading session on a fresh $50,000 account

- Whoever has the higher balance when the session ends advances

- If both balances are equal, the trader with the higher win rate advances — meaning the percentage of closed trades in that matchup that were profitable

- The other trader is eliminated

- Rounds continue: 1 → 2 → 3 … → 9 → 👑 (Grand Final)

The numbered tiles on the right side of your dashboard track your progress through the bracket. The highlighted tile is the round you're currently in. Each round has a themed name (Shark Tank, for example) shown next to your account number.

24 featured traders, hand-picked by Tradeify, enter directly into Stage 2 with a target on their backs.

Bounty: any trader who eliminates an Outlaw in their head-to-head matchup earns a bounty of $5,000 or more — in addition to any standard prize they earn for their final placement. Most Outlaws carry the base $5,000 bounty, but a select few ride with higher rewards on their heads. Each Outlaw's exact bounty is visible on the bracket.

Special rule — if an Outlaw wins the tournament:** $200,000 goes to the winning Outlaw, and all other prizes are cut in half.

So if you draw an Outlaw, take them down. You collect the bounty, and you protect the rest of the prize pool for everyone else still in the bracket.

Your matchup card

The center of the dashboard is the head-to-head card:

- YOU — your username, flag, current matchup balance, and P&L for this round

- OPPONENT — same information for the trader you're matched against

- Progress bar — visual indicator of who's ahead

- Status pill — "You're ahead by +$X.XX" or "You're behind by -$X.XX"

Above the card you'll see this round's account number, the trading platform (Tradovate or TradeSea), and the round name.

The 1–9 + 👑 tiles on the right show the full path to the championship. The green tile is your current round. Below it, "View full bracket" opens the complete tournament tree so you can see who's left, what matchups are coming, and which traders are Outlaws (along with their bounties).

Below the bracket, the "Your Next Matchup" panel previews who you'll face next if you advance. It shows the two traders currently competing in the matchup that feeds into yours, along with their live scores. This updates as their session plays out.

"Day ending in:" at the top counts down to the end of the current matchup. When it hits zero, the round is scored and the winner advances to the next round with a new account.

Balance visibility — what you and your opponent see

This is the part most traders ask about, so read it carefully.

⚠️ The balance shown for your opponent reflects realized profit only. That means closed trades. Unrealized P&L from open positions is never visible on the matchup card.

- Your opponent could be up $100,000 or down $10,000 on open positions and you won't see any of it

- The same applies in reverse — your unrealized swings are invisible to them

- Balances on the matchup card only move when trades close

If your opponent's balance is sitting at $50,000.00, it doesn't necessarily mean they haven't traded. It means they either haven't closed any trades yet, or their closed P&L nets to zero. They could be holding a sizable open position you can't see.

You can always see your own true balance, including unrealized P&L, inside Tradovate or TradeSea. The matchup card is the public-facing scoreboard, not your live account.

When does the matchup balance update?

The matchup card updates four times during the session, at:

- 9:00 PM EST

- 8:00 AM EST

- 12:00 PM EST

- 3:00 PM EST

Between checkpoints, the published number is frozen — even if you or your opponent have closed trades since the last update. Your account in Tradovate / TradeSea is always live in real time; only the public scoreboard waits for the next checkpoint.

⚠️ You must place at least 3 trades longer than 10 seconds during the matchup.

This requirement prevents inactivity wins. A "trade longer than 10s" means the position was held for more than 10 seconds before being closed. If you don't hit the minimum by the time the matchup ends, you forfeit the round — even if your balance is higher than your opponent's. The requirement is shown directly below the matchup card as a reminder.

Trading rules (same as the Qualifier)

The trading constraints from Stage 1 apply on every Stage 2 matchup account, but the consequences are stricter:

- Max position size: 1 Mini OR 10 Micros. Combinations are not allowed.

- End-of-day review with disqualification: Every Grand Cup account is reviewed for max allocation breaches. Adding more contracts to a position than allowed — including by combining minis and micros — results in disqualification from the competition. There are no resets in Stage 2, so a position-limit breach means elimination, not just a failed account.

- 🔄 Fresh account every round. Each matchup runs on a brand-new $50,000 account. Profits don't compound across rounds — you're proving yourself on a clean slate every time.

- ❌ No trailing drawdown. The drawdown floor that existed in the Qualifier doesn't apply here. Your round is decided head-to-head, not by a fixed loss limit. You can lose any amount during a matchup without "failing" the account; you just lose the round if you finish below your opponent.

- ❌ No resets. The Reset button is disabled in the bracket. If you lose your matchup or get disqualified for a position-limit breach, you're out of the competition.

- ✅ Head-to-head scoring. Your overall rank doesn't matter — only your matchup does. You can have the second-best balance in the entire bracket and still lose if your specific opponent's balance is higher.

- ✅ Win-rate tiebreaker. If both balances finish equal at the end of a matchup, the trader with the higher percentage of profitable closed trades advances.

- 🤠 Bounties on Outlaws. Eliminate an Outlaw and earn at least $5,000 on top of your final placement prize.

- ✅ Themed rounds. Each round has its own name and identity. Check "View full bracket" to see what's ahead.

Do my profits from the previous round carry over?

My opponent's balance hasn't moved in a while.

My opponent shows $50,000.00 but I'm certain they've been trading.

The day timer hit zero but the round hasn't resolved.

I forgot the 3-trade minimum and the matchup is over.

My balance and my opponent's balance ended exactly equal.

My account was disqualified for going over the position limit.

I drew an Outlaw — what happens if I beat them?

I won my round but I don't see my new matchup account yet.

I see the full bracket but no matchup card on my dashboard.

Still stuck?

Reach out to support — we're here to help.