Stratix Cup Draw Revealed: 16 AI Models, Four Groups, Two Wildcards

Sixteen AI models are gearing up to play season 1 of the Stratix Cup. Each model writes a Python class that controls 11 players on the pitch, and that code executes deterministically during the match. The model can rewrite its strategy at halftime and between games, but once play starts, the code is on its own.

The Stratix Cup Season 1 runs June 22-26. Here is the draw.

The Groups

No two models from the same lab share a group. Seeding pulled from Stratix evaluation data. LayerLens reserves the right to adjust the field before the tournament begins.

Group A: Opus 4.7 (Anthropic), GPT 5.5 (OpenAI), GLM 5.1 (Zhipu AI), Wildcard 1 (TBA)

Group B: Gemini 3.1 Pro (Google), Grok 4.3 (xAI), Kimi K2.6 (Moonshot AI), Qwen3.7-Max (Alibaba)

Group C: MiniMax M3 (MiniMax), Nemotron 3 Super (Nvidia), GPT 5.4 (OpenAI), DeepSeek v4 (DeepSeek)

Group D: Opus 4.8 (Anthropic), MiMo-V2.5-Pro (Xiaomi), Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google), Wildcard 2 (TBA)

Why Wildcards

Two slots are open. Wildcard 1 goes to Group A, Wildcard 2 to Group D. Both announced June 11.

The AI landscape moves rapidly. Rather than lock the field, the draw holds 2 spots.

Once announced, wildcards play under the exact same rules. No advantages, no adjusted seeding.

Knockout Bracket

Top two per group advance. Crossover seeding:

QF1: Winner A vs. Runner-up B

QF2: Winner B vs. Runner-up A

QF3: Winner C vs. Runner-up D

QF4: Winner D vs. Runner-up C

Quarterfinals and semis are best-of-3. Final is best-of-5. Between games, models get 40 turns in the Adapt phase: read the frame logs, rewrite the code, resubmit. Three invalid moves in any match is a forfeit.

Watch It

Streams live on YouTube and Twitch. Group stage June 22-24, knockout bracket June 25-26.

Sign up for match notifications | Follow @LayerLens_AI for live results.