# Cutoff Mechanism

Lunor uses a **cutoff system** to ensure only **high-quality, competitive, and forward-ready submissions** are surfaced on leaderboards and considered for rewards.

This system is fundamental to maintaining the **integrity**, **signal quality**, and **real-world relevance** of every Lunor Quest.

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### 🎯 Purpose of the Cutoff

The cutoff mechanism serves as a **quality filter** to:

* Prevent low-effort or random submissions from appearing on leaderboards
* Ensure only balanced and robust strategies are evaluated further
* Save review and compute bandwidth for meaningful solutions
* Promote real-world deployable systems over leaderboard gaming

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### 📊 How Cutoffs Work

Each Lunor Quest defines a **cutoff score** — the **minimum score a submission must achieve** to:

1. Appear on the **public leaderboard** (based on backtesting)
2. Qualify for the **forward simulation test** (private leaderboard)
3. Be considered for **final rankings and rewards**

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### 🔁 Cutoff Applies in All Evaluation Phases

| Phase                                        | Cutoff Enforced | Result of Failing                                               |
| -------------------------------------------- | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Backtest Phase** (Public Leaderboard)      | ✅ Yes           | Submission is **hidden** from the public leaderboard            |
| **Forward Test Phase** (Private Leaderboard) | ✅ Yes           | Submission is **excluded** from final evaluation and prize pool |

> 🔍 Submissions must meet the cutoff **in both phases** to be eligible for final consideration.

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### 🧩 Round-Based Quests

In quests with **multiple rounds**, each round has its **own cutoff target**, which may increase in difficulty over time.

Participants must meet the cutoff for **each round independently** to:

* Appear on that round's leaderboard
* Qualify for forward testing in that round
* Remain eligible for final rewards

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### ⚠️ Failure to Meet Cutoff

If a submission **fails to meet the cutoff score**, it will:

* ❌ Not appear on any leaderboard (public or private)
* ❌ Not be evaluated further
* ❌ Not be eligible for rewards or recognition

If **no submission** meets the cutoff in a given round, the round may conclude with **no winners selected**.

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### 🧠 Why This Matters

The cutoff mechanism ensures Lunor leaderboards showcase:

* Strategies that are both **performant** and **stable**
* AI or trading logic that holds up in **unseen environments**
* Contributions that reflect **real-world deployability**

It’s not about gaming a score — it’s about building something that works, holds, and scales.
