Subject Distribution

svg divider

We aspire to create question sets that reward a balanced variety of knowledge. Our team designed fixed distributions of topics so that players know what to expect and can strategize and prepare accordingly. Since different difficulty levels have different types of content that is reasonably asked about, we create different distributions for our various question sets (see which tournaments use which question sets here).

Our topics are subtopics are shown below. The first column shows the total number of questions on a particular topic that you will encounter in the entire set. The decimal value is the average number of questions in a given topic that you will encounter in a question packet. Since many of the averages have decimal values, not every packet will contain a question in every subtopic. Topic distributions are subject to change at any time.

Note that each packet contains 21 questions for the Easy and Difficult distributions since we include a tiebreaker tossup. We carefully select questions for our Moderate difficulty sets in order to appeal to a wide variety of teams, and use a broader and less stringent distribution to give our skilled editors room to craft questions that reward true knowledge and understanding.

Subcategory Easy Moderate Difficult
History 49 4.08 48 4 49 4.08
American 17 1.42 12 1 17 1.42
European 10 0.83 12 1 10 0.83
World 10 0.83 12 1 10 0.83
Ancient 5 0.42 12 1 5 0.42
Other 7 0.58 7 0.58
Literature 48 4 48 4 43 3.58
American 15 1.25 12 1 10 0.83
British 10 0.83 12 1 10 0.83
European 15 1.25 12 1 10 0.83
World 5 0.42 12 1 10 0.83
Other 3 0.25 3 0.25
Science 48 4 48 4 48 4
Physics 12 1 12 1 12 1
Biology 12 1 12 1 12 1
Chemistry 12 1 12 1 12 1
Mathematics 5 0.42 12 1 5 0.42
Astronomy 2 0.17 2 0.17
Computer Science 1 0.08 1 0.08
Earth Science 2 0.17 2 0.17
Other 2 0.17 2 0.17
Fine Arts 36 3 36 3 36 3
Great Composers and their Works 10 0.83 12 1 6 0.5
Music Theory 2 0.17 3 0.25
Painting 12 1 12 1 10 0.83
Sculpture 2 0.17 3 0.25
Opera 2 0.17 12 1 4 0.33
Dance 1 0.08 2 0.17
Architecture 3 0.25 4 0.33
Musical Theatre 3 0.25 3 0.25
Other 1 0.08 1 0.08
Religion 8 0.67 12 1 8 0.67
Judaism 1 0.08 12 1 1 0.08
Islam 1 0.08 1 0.08
Christianity 4 0.33 3 0.25
Other 2 0.17 3 0.25
Mythology 12 1 12 1 12 1
Greco-Roman 6 0.5 12 1 6 0.5
Norse 3 0.25 3 0.25
Egyptian 2 0.17 1 0.08
Other 1 0.08 2 0.17
Philosophy 7 0.58 6 0.5 8 0.67
Theology 1 0.08 6 0.5 2 0.17
Philosophy 6 0.5 6 0.5
Social Science 8 0.67 6 0.5 12 1
Anthropology 1 0.08 6 0.5 2 0.17
Sociology 1 0.08 2 0.17
Economics 2 0.17 3 0.25
Archaeology 1 0.08 1 0.08
Government/Political Science 1 0.08 1 0.08
Psychology 2 0.17 3 0.25
Geography 12 1 6 0.5 12 1
North American 8 0.67 6 0.5 6 0.5
Rest of the World 4 0.33 6 0.5
Current Events 12 1 6 0.5 12 1
US Politics 3 0.25 6 0.5 2 0.17
US Other 2 0.17 2 0.17
European 2 0.17 2 0.17
Rest of the World 3 0.25 3 0.25
Non-Political/Social 2 0.17 3 0.25
Pop Culture 12 1 12 1 12 1
Video Games 2 0.17 12 1 2 0.17
Sports 3 0.25 2 0.17
Movies 3 0.25 3 0.25
Other 4 0.33 5 0.42

See our guide on improving as a team for more advice on how to divide topics among your teammates to optimize your studying time and decrease redundancy. You can observe at a glance that some topics, like American history, appear often, but remember that other teams think the same thing. As a result, the field is inundated with history players and other experts in prominent categories. Balancing your workload between four players will help you win against teams that score most of their points in a single subject area.

Observe that at advanced difficulties, the number of social science questions increases, the amount and type of Mythology changes, and fine arts emphases change, but most aspects are similar. Moderate-difficulty events cover slightly less geography and current events. The larger change is the change in the types of people, places, and movements that are asked about frequently. See our guides on improving as a player and particularly our guide on how to select difficulty-appropriate practice questions.