
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
In a friendly 4-team football tournament, played over a weekend, each team plays one match on Saturday. Team E plays Team F, and Team G plays Team H. A draw in any match leads to a penalty shootout to determine a winner. Then on Sunday, the winners of the Saturday matches play in the final for the first and second place, while the losers play for third place. Given this setup, where matches could end in a draw but must produce a winner in a shootout, what is the total number of possible four-team ranking sequences at the end of the tournament?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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