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Enter the season length and each team's win-loss record. Get the leader's magic number, every challenger's elimination number and best possible finish, with the tiebreaker taken into account.
Any combination of 9 River Hawks wins and Bay Bears losses clinches.
| Team | W-L | GB | Left | Max wins | E# | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Hawks | 92-58 | — | 12 | 104 | — | Leader |
| Bay Bears | 88-62 | 4 | 12 | 100 | 9 | Alive |
| Timber Wolves | 84-66 | 8 | 12 | 96 | 5 | Alive |
E# is each challenger's elimination number: leader wins plus that team's losses until it can no longer finish ahead. The headline magic number is the largest of them.
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Magic number = games in the season + 1 − the leader's wins − the challenger's losses. With this race:
162 + 1 − 92 (River Hawks wins) − 62 (Bay Bears losses) = 9
Each River Hawks win and each Bay Bears loss takes one off. Other challengers have their own number; the leader has only clinched once every one of them reaches zero. For the full table with games back, run differential and tiebreakers, use the games back calculator.
The magic number is how many more leader wins and chaser losses, combined, it takes to clinch. Every leader win and every chaser loss takes one off. When it reaches zero the leader has clinched, because the chaser can no longer finish ahead.
Magic number = games in the season + 1 − the leader's wins − the chaser's losses. With a 162-game season, a 92-58 leader and an 88-62 chaser, it is 162 + 1 − 92 − 62 = 9. If the leader already holds the tiebreaker, drop the + 1, because finishing level is then enough.
The elimination number, sometimes called the tragic number, is the same count seen from the chaser's side: how many more chaser losses and leader wins, combined, until the chaser can no longer catch the leader. At zero the chaser is eliminated.
Because the team in second is not always the most dangerous. When teams have played different numbers of games, a team lower in the table can have more games left and a higher ceiling. The leader has only clinched when it is out of reach of every challenger, so the headline number is the largest one.
Since 2022 MLB breaks division ties with tiebreakers such as head-to-head record instead of a Game 163. If the leader already owns the tiebreaker, finishing tied is enough, so the magic number is one smaller. Tick the tiebreaker box once the season series is decided in the leader's favour.
Yes. Set the number of games each team plays and enter the win-loss records. Ties do not count toward the magic number, so leave tie games out of the wins and losses.
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