Best N of M

Averages only your best N finishes out of M played — the dropped-scores rule that racing series use.

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Averages of where you finish — fair across uneven schedules. The formula and explanation below describe Best N of M.

How it works About 1 min read

Best N of M averages only your best N finishes out of M total matches. Bad games? They simply don't count if you have enough good ones.

How it works: With default settings of best 3 of 5: play at least 5 matches, take your 3 best placements, and average them. A player with finishes [1, 1, 2, 5, 8] would be ranked on (1+1+2)/3 = 1.33.

When to use it: Longer sessions or seasons where you want to reward peak performance while forgiving the occasional bad outing. It mirrors real-world racing series that drop worst results.

Watch out for: Requires a minimum number of matches to work (defaults to 5). Players with fewer matches won't qualify. The N and M values need to be chosen carefully for your session length.

Will it fit your results?

Works well with

Games whose results this method reads cleanly

Mario Kart Formula D Azul

Also in Average & Percentile

Averages of where you finish — fair across uneven schedules.

Average PlacementA balanced, instantly readable reading when your matches are roughly the same size.Median PlacementMeasuring someone's typical evening rather than their worst one.Average PercentileMixed field sizes and uneven attendance; the fairest reading in this family, and comparable enough between groups to travel to a global board.Geometric Mean PercentileGroups who believe one catastrophe should count for more than one triumph.Trimmed MeanA balanced reading that neither a lucky win nor an unlucky collapse can swing.