This is the draft of the problems of the 3rd Universal Cup Finals. We expect to officially release a version of this document in a few months. If you find an error, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or a private message to me (@Qingyu) about it.

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The 3rd Universal Cup Finals Warm Up Game

The Universal Cup Finals is coming! To build excitement and get everyone in the spirit, we are launching a special Warm-Up Game for The 3rd Universal Cup Finals. The game will run in the lead-up to the Finals and is open to all Universal Cup participants and supporters.

Visit the game event at: https://qoj.ac/event/ucup-finals

How does the game work

Every participant starts with an initial 100 points. From there, you can earn — or wager — more points by taking part in the three activities below. Climb the leaderboard to win prizes from the Universal Cup!

1. Solve Problems

A set of problems will be regularly posted by the Scientific Committee (SC). These tasks come from a curated mix of sources:

• Past Universal Cup events
• Original problems authored by our SC or judges
• Problems recommended by task authors from the community

Each problem has an associated point reward. Browse the problem list, give them a try, and click the "Claim!" button once you've solved one to collect your points. Problems remain claimable for the entire duration of the warm-up, so you can solve them at your own pace.

You're welcome to discuss problems, read tutorials, or ask for help in the community — that's part of the fun. However, do not cheat by copying other people's code or submitting AI-generated solutions. The SC will review the leaderboard and inspect submissions, and anyone caught gaining points through cheating will be banned.

We understand that problems from recent Universal Cups, ICPC contests, and training camps may have been used as training material for contestants. To keep things fair, we will not use any problems from the 2024, 2025, or 2026 ICPC or Universal Cup contests.

2. Prediction & Betting

A series of prediction questions will be released throughout the warm-up period, covering contest outcomes, problem-solving statistics, and other Finals-related events.

• Place wagers from your point balance on the outcomes you believe in.
• Odds will be displayed for each option — higher odds reward bolder calls, while safer bets pay out smaller but steadier.
• Accurate predictions earn points proportional to your stake and the odds at the time of betting.

Whether you prefer careful analysis or bold gambles, the prediction board is your playground.

3. Additional Activities

You can also earn points by participating in various UCup-related activities — community challenges, live activities, and surprise events held in the run-up to the Finals. Further details will be announced in our future posts.

The 3rd Universal Cup Finals Prediction Game

Following our tradition, alongside the Warm-Up Game we are also hosting the UCup Finals Prediction Game. In the prediction game, you are asked to predict the final ranking of the top 12 teams of The 3rd Universal Cup Finals.

Make your predictions at: https://qoj.ac/voting_game/ucupf3/vote

The deadline to update your prediction is May 10th, 2026 at 10:00 (UTC +8) — that is, the start of the contest session.

Medal tiers at the Finals are:

• Gold: 1st ~ 3rd place
• Silver: 4th ~ 7th place
• Bronze: 8th ~ 12th place

You predict the 1st through 12th place teams. Each team can be nominated only once. For each team you nominate, let $r$ be its actual final rank and $R$ be the rank you predicted:

1. Proximity: you earn $\max(0, 5 − |r − R|)$ points — full 5 points for an exact match, partial credit if you're within 4 ranks, 0 otherwise.
2. Medal bonus: if you correctly predicted the team's medal tier (gold / silver / bronze), you earn an additional +3 points on top of rule 1.
3. Champion bonus: if you correctly predicted the champion (1st place), you earn a further +2 points on top of rule 2.

Participants will be ranked first by their final score, then by the time of last edit — earlier edits rank higher in case of a tie. The final leaderboard will be posted after the contest is over.

We are finalizing the problem set for the Universal Cup Finals, and we are going to release the decision for all task proposals in the next week.

To check your decision status, you can visit the proposal page at https://qoj.ac/proposals. A "Status update" will be shown once the decision of your task released.

We are looking forward to seeing your tasks in the ucup finals!

The 3rd Universal Cup Finals are approaching! The top teams from the third season of the Universal Cup will soon gather in Shanghai to compete for title of the 3rd Universal Cup Champion.

In accordance with The 3rd Universal Cup Finals Qualification Rules, the Scientific Committee has officially concluded the invitation process for the Finals. The top 10 teams from the Online Stages and the top 8 teams (including 2 replacement teams ranked 9th and 10th, following the withdrawal of two qualified teams) from the Semifinals have been invited based on their outstanding performances. Congratulations to their outstanding performance!

We also want to deeply acknowledge the support from our entire community, which enables us to thrive and host so many exceptional contests worldwide. We received 7 applications for the Contributor slots. Following the review, discussion, and a vote by the Scientific Committee, the two Contributor Slots for the 3rd Universal Cup Finals have been awarded to When anton saw this team he reacted with 😩 and Absolute Advantage. We extend our sincerest gratitude to them, and to everyone who has supported the Universal Cup over the past three years!

Finally, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, we are able to offer three Bonus Quota slots for the Finals. In alignment with the qualification rules, the Scientific Committee has decided to extend invitations to eungeum gang (Semifinals Rank 11), 飞带不长队 (Rating Rank 11), and Amstelpark (Rating Rank 14, Semifinals Rank 13).

Please join us in celebrating the final lineup of 23 teams:

根据传统，QOJ 将举办 EC-Final 2025 Crystal Ball Contest。

在 EC-Final 正式赛开始前，你可以在 https://qoj.ac/voting_game/ecf2025/vote 来投出你对 EC-Final 的预测。排名最高的选手将会获得 EC-Final 预言家奖🔮，且本场比赛会计入 QOJ 预言家年度排名的 GP30 分数。

在这次 Prediction Game 中，你需要预测以下内容：

1. 出线学校预测：除已有的 7 所已出线学校外，额外预测 9 所出线学校（包括 RCD 保送名额与港澳名额）。
2. 队伍排名预测：预测最终排名前 10 名的队伍（包括打星队伍）。
3. 奖牌分数线预测：预测最终冠军、金牌、银牌、铜牌的过题数分数线。

此外，还有 6 道关于一些热度较高的队伍的附加问题，回答正确也可以获得额外加分。

比赛期间，预测榜单将随 EC-Final 实时榜单同步更新。赛后我们将根据最终预测积分，为表现优异的预言家们送出 Universal Cup 的精美周边：

• 排名 1：预言家大赛冠军（共 1 位）
  • 大青鱼徽章
  • Universal Cup 背包
  • Universal Cup 棒球帽
  • Universal Cup 咖啡杯
  • 由 EC-Final 冠军队伍签名的 Universal Cup 鼠标垫
    • 注：若签名不可用，则我们将通知获奖者以其他形式兑换此奖项。
• 排名 2～3：预言家大赛金奖（共 2 位）
  • Universal Cup 背包
  • Universal Cup 棒球帽
  • Universal Cup 鼠标垫
• 排名 4～8：预言家大赛银奖（共 5 位）
  • Universal Cup 咖啡杯
  • Universal Cup 鼠标垫
• 排名 9～15：预言家大赛铜奖（共 7 位）
  • Universal Cup 鼠标垫
• 此外，我们会在所有未获奖的选手中均匀随机地抽取 5 位幸运选手，赠送幸运奖：
  • Universal Cup 鼠标垫

以上奖品的获奖选手可通过在 EC-Final 现场领取或是邮寄的方式领取奖项。邮寄仅限中国大陆地区。

本活动由 QOJ 与 Universal Cup 联合主席举办。由 Universal Cup 科学委员会、组织委员会监督与发放奖项。