A 12 team bracket uses a 16-line draw with four byes: seeds 1 to 4 skip round 1, and seeds 5 to 12 play four games to reach the quarterfinals. That keeps the strongest teams apart until the semifinals and gives them a reward for their ranking.
First round and where the winners go
| Round 1 game | Winner meets |
|---|---|
| 8 v 9 | Seed 1 |
| 5 v 12 | Seed 4 |
| 7 v 10 | Seed 2 |
| 6 v 11 | Seed 3 |
The quarterfinals are then 1 v (8/9), 4 v (5/12), 2 v (7/10) and 3 v (6/11). The bye lines appear as dashed boxes with the seeded team already moved on, so the printed bracket shows exactly which slots are waiting for a first-round winner.
Time and courts
Eleven games in total. With two courts, round 1 takes two slots, the quarterfinals two, the semifinals one and the final one: six slots. The four seeded teams arrive later or warm up while round 1 runs, which works well for leagues where the top teams have earned the rest.
Without a ranking
If the 12 teams are equal, shuffle the list first: the shuffled order becomes the seeding, so the byes go to four teams at random. Or pick Pair in list order when you have already decided the first-round games yourself; the byes stay spread across the bracket either way.