Getting Started

Check Up is a verified-match league for NBA 2K26 players who want real competition and tracked stats. Joining takes about five minutes. Here is what you need before you start: a copy of NBA 2K26 on Xbox or PS5, a Discord account, and a gamertag you actually play on.

Step one: head to the Check Up Discord and grab the Player role from the welcome channel. The bot will DM you a link to the Check Up site. If it does not, go straight to checkup.gg and hit Sign In with Discord.

Step two: link your gamertag. From your player panel, open Settings and paste your Xbox Gamertag or PSN ID. The platform stores this so your box scores can be matched to your account automatically. You can link one gamertag per console. If you play on both Xbox and PS5, link both.

Step three: Discord verification. After linking your gamertag, the bot assigns the Verified role in Discord. This unlocks matchmaking channels, stat commands, and the ability to submit match results. Verification usually happens in under a minute.

Step four: play your first verified match. Find an opponent in the matchmaking channel, play a standard Pro-Am or Rec game, then upload the box-score screenshot through the Upload page in your player panel. The OCR system reads the stats and logs the match. Both players get an initial MMR rating after their first game.

That is the full signup flow. No tryouts, no applications, no waiting list. Show up, link your tag, and play. If you run into trouble, drop a message in the support channel and a staff member will sort it out.

Every player in Check Up has an MMR (matchmaking rating) that reflects their skill level based on match results. MMR is not a vanity number. It drives matchmaking, determines your tier, and feeds into Draft Night seeding.

New players start with a provisional MMR of 1000. Your first ten matches are calibration games where your rating moves faster than normal. Win against someone rated higher and you gain more points. Lose to someone rated lower and you drop more. After calibration, the swings settle down and your rating stabilizes around your actual skill level.

Check Up uses five tiers based on MMR ranges. From bottom to top: Bronze (below 900), Silver (900 to 1099), Gold (1100 to 1299), Platinum (1300 to 1499), and Diamond (1500 and above). Your tier badge shows up on your profile, in Discord, and on the public rankings page.

Tier placement updates after every verified match. If you cross a threshold mid-session, your badge changes immediately. There is no promotion series or gatekeeper. Hit the number, get the badge.

Rank decay exists to keep the leaderboard honest. If you go 14 days without a verified match, your visible rating starts dropping by 15 points per week. Your true MMR is stored separately and does not decay, so when you come back and play, your rating snaps back quickly. Decay only affects the leaderboard display.

The full rankings are public at checkup.gg/rankings. You can filter by platform, position, and tier. The History tab shows rating movement over time so you can track your progress across a season.

Your gamertag is how Check Up connects your in-game stats to your account. Without a linked gamertag, your matches cannot be verified and your stats will not track. Linking takes about a minute and you only have to do it once per console.

To link your tag, go to your player panel and open Settings. You will see fields for Xbox Gamertag and PSN ID. Type your gamertag exactly as it appears on your console, including any special characters, underscores, or spaces. If you play on both Xbox and PlayStation, you can link one gamertag per platform.

Once you save, the system stores your gamertag and begins the verification process. Verification ties your gamertag to a stable platform identifier (your XUID on Xbox, your PSN Account ID on PlayStation). This stable ID is what the system actually uses to match box-score screenshots to your profile. Even if you change your display name later, the platform ID stays the same.

The OCR verification process kicks in when you or an opponent uploads a box-score screenshot. The Claude Vision engine reads the gamertags from the screenshot and matches them against linked accounts in the system. If your gamertag on the screenshot matches your linked tag, the match is attributed to you automatically. If the OCR cannot parse a name or finds no match, the result is flagged for manual staff review.

If you change your gamertag on Xbox or PlayStation, the system detects the drift automatically. It compares the gamertag tied to your stored XUID or PSN Account ID against what the platform API returns. When a mismatch is found, your account is flagged and a staff notification fires. You will need to update your gamertag in Settings to restore normal match processing.

Gamertag changes are not free. After your initial link, changing your gamertag in the Check Up system costs $2.99 per change. This fee exists to prevent abuse, not to generate revenue. Players who swap tags frequently make it harder for the OCR pipeline to attribute matches correctly. One free change is allowed per month. After that, the fee applies. If a charge is reversed or disputed, the change reverts and your account is re-locked until the situation is resolved.

Check Up has two progression systems that run side by side: the season pass (XP-based, resets each season) and membership tiers (account-level, permanent until changed). Both are optional. Free players get full access to matchmaking, stat tracking, and tournaments. Paid options add cosmetic perks, bonus rewards, and priority features.

The season pass is a 10-tier progression track. You earn season XP by playing verified matches, attending Draft Nights, winning tournaments, completing quests, and contributing to the wiki. Each tier unlocks a reward: coins, rings, tournament tickets, or cosmetic items. The tiers run from Bronze I (100 XP) through Champion (7,500 XP). Progress resets when a new season starts, but any rewards you earned are kept permanently.

There is also a premium season pass available for $4.99 per season. Premium does not give you a separate track. It doubles up on the same tiers, adding a bonus reward at each level on top of the free reward. Premium tier rewards are richer: more coins, more rings, and exclusive cosmetic items like the Champion Crown at tier 10. You can buy the premium pass at any point during the season and retroactively collect bonus rewards for tiers you already cleared.

Membership tiers are separate from the season pass. Every player starts as a Hooper, which is the free tier. The paid tiers are Pro Member and Elite Member. These correspond to Discord roles that unlock additional channels and features. Membership is tied to your account, not to a season, so it persists until you cancel or change it.

Pro Members get access to advanced stat exports, priority queue for tournaments, and exclusive Discord channels. Elite Members get everything in Pro plus early access to new features, priority support from staff, and a visible badge on the public leaderboard. Exact pricing and perks may shift between seasons as the platform evolves, so check the membership page on the site for current details.

To upgrade your membership, visit the Settings page in your player panel. Payment is handled through Whop's hosted checkout. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period. If you cancel, you keep access through the time you already paid for and then drop back to Hooper.

You signed up, linked your gamertag, and now you want to play your first real match. Good. The whole process from finding an opponent to seeing your stats logged takes less than ten minutes if you follow these steps.

Start in the Check Up Discord. Head to the matchmaking channel for your platform (Xbox or PS5) and post that you are looking for a game. Include your position and your gamertag so opponents can find you quickly. Most players get a response within a few minutes during peak hours (evenings Eastern, weekends). You can also check the free-agent board on the site if the Discord channel is quiet.

Once you and your opponent agree to play, load into a Pro-Am game using default settings. No custom sliders, no shortened quarters. Both players must be registered and gamertag-linked in Check Up for the match to count. If your opponent is not in the system, ask them to sign up first. It takes five minutes and saves you both the trouble of an unverifiable game.

When the game ends, grab a screenshot of the box score. The screenshot needs to show the full stat screen with both teams, all player names, individual stats, and the final score. Do not crop anything out. You can screenshot directly from your console or snap a photo with your phone. Either works as long as the text is readable.

Go to your player panel on the site and open the Upload page. Drag your screenshot into the drop zone or tap to select it from your device. The OCR engine reads the image, extracts the stats, and matches the gamertags to linked accounts. If everything parses cleanly, the match verifies automatically. You will see a green confirmation within seconds.

After verification, check your Stats page. Your first match sets your provisional MMR at 1000 and begins the ten-game calibration window. Your match history now has its first entry, and your season averages start tracking. That is it. You just played your first verified Check Up match. Find another opponent and run it back.

Draft Night is the biggest event on the Check Up calendar. Teams get built from scratch, captains get elected, and the competitive season kicks off. If you want to be part of it, here is exactly how to get in.

First, make sure you are eligible. You need to be a verified player with a linked gamertag and at least one completed match on record. If you just signed up today, go play a match and get it verified before Draft Night signup closes. Unverified accounts cannot enter the draft pool.

Watch for the announcement. Staff posts the upcoming Draft Night date and time in Discord and on the site at least one week before the event. A poll goes out asking players to vote on preferred time slots. Once the schedule locks, the signup window opens on the Draft page in your player panel.

Sign up through the Draft page. Hit the Sign Up button and confirm your entry. You will see a confirmation message and your name will appear in the registered players list. Signup stays open until check-in begins, usually 30 minutes before the draft starts. There is a minimum player count (default 10) that must be met for the event to proceed. If the minimum is not reached, staff will announce a postponement.

On the night of the event, check in. This is separate from signup. Even if you registered days ago, you must confirm attendance when the check-in window opens. Check in through the Draft page or use the Discord bot command. If you signed up but do not check in, you are dropped from the pool. No exceptions.

After check-in closes, captain election runs. Players vote for who they want leading each team. The top vote-getters become captains. Then the snake draft begins. Captains take turns picking players from the pool in alternating order. You will watch it happen live in the Phaser draft room on the site. When your name gets called, you are on that team for the rest of the night.

Once rosters are set, a short trading window opens, then bracket play starts. Show up on time, check in, and be ready to compete with whoever drafts you. That is the Draft Night experience.