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MLP (Major League Pickleball) is a team-vs-team pickleball format where rosters of 4–10 players (balanced male/female) compete in a single match. Each match consists of 8 doubles events: Men's Doubles ×2, Women's Doubles ×2, and Mixed Doubles ×4.
The strategic depth comes from roster management — captains choose which players to deploy in each event, saving their strongest lineups for critical moments while rotating through all roster players across the match. The first team to win 5 events wins the match. If events are tied 4–4, a DreamBreaker mixed-doubles tiebreaker decides the match.
Key Concept: Every match has 8 doubles events (MD1, MD2, WD1, WD2, MX1–MX4). A team wins the match by taking 5 events — the match can end early before all 8 are played. If teams split 4–4, a DreamBreaker mixed-doubles tiebreaker decides it. That's the magic of MLP.
Every MLP match consists of 8 doubles events, plus a DreamBreaker tiebreaker if needed. The team that wins 5 events wins the match.
2 men from each team compete per event (two separate men's doubles events). Captain chooses each pair.
2 women from each team compete per event (two separate women's doubles events). Captain chooses each pair.
1 man + 1 woman from each team in four separate mixed-doubles events, rotating different pairings.
A mixed-doubles tiebreaker when teams split events 4–4. Each team fields one mixed pair in a winner-take-all game.
Important: With 8 doubles events, a balanced roster rotates through all players. Captains assign pairings for each event, ensuring everyone contributes as the team works toward 5 event wins.
Here's a real-world example showing how two MLP teams build balanced M/F rosters and deploy them strategically across the 8 events of a match.
Men (5)
Women (5)
Men (5)
Women (5)
Why 4–10 players? MLP rosters range from 4 to 10 players with a balanced male/female split. With 8 doubles events, captains rotate pairings so every player contributes toward reaching 5 event wins — creating deep strategy around matchups and fatigue management.
In an MLP match, a team wins by taking 5 of 8 events. The captain strategically assigns players to each event. Notice how the full balanced roster rotates across the 8 doubles events.
| Event | 🔥 Austin Ignite | 🔥 Phoenix Fire |
|---|---|---|
| Men's Doubles 1 | Zane Navratil & Matt Wright | Ben Johns & Tyson McGuffin |
| Men's Doubles 2 | Jay Devilliers & Collin Johns | JW Johnson & Riley Newman |
| Women's Doubles 1 | Simone Jardim & Lea Jansen | Catherine Parenteau & Anna Leigh Waters |
| Women's Doubles 2 | Callie Smith & Jorja Johnson | Anna Bright & Jessie Irvine |
| Mixed Doubles 1 | Zane Navratil & Simone Jardim | Ben Johns & Catherine Parenteau |
| Mixed Doubles 2 | Matt Wright & Lea Jansen | Tyson McGuffin & Anna Leigh Waters |
| Mixed Doubles 3 | Jay Devilliers & Callie Smith | JW Johnson & Anna Bright |
| Mixed Doubles 4 | Collin Johns & Jorja Johnson | Riley Newman & Jessie Irvine |
| Event | 🔥 Austin Ignite | 🔥 Phoenix Fire |
|---|---|---|
| DreamBreaker (Mixed Doubles) | Zane Navratil & Simone Jardim | Ben Johns & Catherine Parenteau |
Men's & Women's Doubles: Captains assign distinct pairs for each of the two men's and two women's doubles events, spreading court time across the roster.
Mixed Doubles: Four separate mixed pairings rotate through the remaining roster, introducing different matchup dynamics with each event.
By the end of the match (and DreamBreaker if needed), the balanced roster has contributed to the team's push toward 5 event wins. That's what makes MLP a true team sport.
Brakto supports multiple roster configurations (4–10 players). All events are always 2v2 doubles regardless of roster size. Larger rosters enable more strategic rotation across the 8 events.
| Roster Size | Composition | Rotation Depth | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 players | 2M + 2F | None — same 4 play every event | Quick club nights |
| 5 players | 3M + 2F or 2M + 3F | 1 alternate | Compact roster with a sub |
| 6 players | 3M + 3F | 1 sub per gender | Substitutes for fatigue |
| 8 players | 4M + 4F | Full second lineup | Deep bench for multi-match series |
| 10 players | 5M + 5F | Two full lineups + flex picks | Pro MLP — full strategic depth |
Pro Tip: With a 10-player roster, captains can field distinct pairings across all 8 doubles events, rotating players so everyone contributes toward 5 event wins.
Brakto gives you full control over how events are scored. Choose the settings that match your event style:
How many event wins a team needs to win an MLP match.
Each match has 8 doubles events (MD1, MD2, WD1, WD2, MX1–MX4). The team that wins 5 events wins the match.
The target score for each individual doubles event (DreamBreaker plays to 21).
When ON, a point is scored on every rally regardless of which team served. This is the MLP standard and makes events faster. When OFF, only the serving team can score (traditional side-out scoring).
Two key settings control what happens when teams are tied 4–4 after 8 events within a match:
When enabled, only the 8 doubles events are played per match. No DreamBreaker tiebreaker is played even if events are tied 4–4.
Best for: Casual events, shorter time slots, or purely doubles play.
When enabled (and Skip DreamBreaker is off), a mixed-doubles DreamBreaker tiebreaker is played whenever events are tied 4–4. Each captain fields one mixed pair for a winner-take-all contest.
Best for: Competitive events that need a decisive winner every match (MLP standard).
| Skip DreamBreaker | Dreambreaker | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| OFF | ON | 8 events + mixed-doubles DreamBreaker if tied 4–4 (standard MLP) |
| OFF | OFF | 8 events only, tie if split 4–4 |
| ON | N/A | 8 events only, no DreamBreaker played at all |
Go to Create Tournament, select Pickleball as the sport, and fill in name, dates, and location.
Go to Manage Divisions and create a new division. Set the Division Format to MLP Team Format. This unlocks MLP-specific settings: roster size, rally scoring, Skip DreamBreaker, and Dreambreaker.
Choose your roster size (4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 players), Points per Event, Rally Scoring, and whether to enable the Dreambreaker. For the full MLP experience, use 10-player rosters with all 8 doubles events and first-to-5 scoring.
Go to Import Players and download the MLP Format sample CSV. The sample includes columns for player name, email, division, gender, team name, and role. Fill it in with your full rosters and upload.
name, email, division, rating, skillLevel, phone, gender, team, role
Assign teams to pools. Brakto auto-generates the team-vs-team schedule within each pool, creating matches with 8 events each (+ DreamBreaker if enabled) for every team matchup.
Captains set their lineup for each match, choosing which players to deploy for that round. Enter scores for each event. Brakto automatically calculates match winners (first to 5 events), pool standings, and advancement to playoffs.
Top teams from each pool advance to a single elimination playoff bracket. Playoff matches follow the same MLP match structure with roster-based lineups.
| Teams | Players (10/team) | Format | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 teams | 40 players | Round Robin | Small club night |
| 8 teams | 80 players | 2 pools of 4 → playoffs | Most popular amateur MLP |
| 12 teams | 120 players | 4 pools of 3 → playoffs | Medium events |
| 16 teams | 160 players | 4 pools of 4 → playoffs | Large events & pro circuits |
Tip: 8 teams (80 players at 10 per team) is the sweet spot for most amateur MLP tournaments. Each team plays 3 pool matches before playoffs. Smaller rosters (4-6 players) work great for club nights with fewer participants.
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