Official Tournament Rules
Rules are subject to change.
Please ask your Coach or Program Administrators for any clarification.
Academic Eligibility
Participants are required to maintain a 2.0 GPA to stay eligible for the tournament. EVERY progress report counts. If a participant’s GPA drops below a 2.0 during the tournament, he/she will not be eligible to participate until their GPA is back above 2.0.
Team Rosters
A student can only participate on a team where he/she is currently enrolled in good standing.
Each team must have 6 players on the roster. A team will field 5 players for the matches, so the Team Captains will choose their lineups for each match. If a team loses a player, the alternate will play.
ONLY the roster on the master roster list will be considered for championship play or prizes. If a team loses more than one player and the coach approves a replacement player, they may only replace the starting lineup.
ANY roster changes must be approved by the Coach and reflected on the master roster list IMMEDIATELY upon their execution.
Schedule Change
It is the responsibility of the Team Captain to review the schedule and notify the team of any changes. Match dates and times are subject to change if the situation and time table allows it. Any team with a problem regarding a date change will need to provide a valid and reasonable excuse to demand a date change for the Coach to agree with the change.
Schedule Contingency
If a roster has an odd number of teams, there will be one team that will have one less game than the other teams. If the team with one less game is at the top of the rankings at the end of the tournament or has not played the other top teams, there will be a playoff match prior to the Championship between those teams to determine the advancing team.
Bad Behavior Policy
Cursing, rude gestures, and offensive (toxic) behavior will not be tolerated. Any player may submit video recorded evidence of toxic behavior for review. First violation will result in a warning and notification to the school’s faculty advisor(s). Second violation will result in a match forfeit and notification to the school’s faculty advisor(s). Third violation will result in the entire team being disqualified from the tournament.
Cheating Policy
No additional anti-cheat client is required for official matches. Any cheating of any form will result in immediate disqualification of the player and team involved. It is the responsibility as a Team Captain or teammate to make sure other teammates are not cheating.
Disqualification Policy
If a team is disqualified from the tournament for any reason, all of their scheduled matches will result in a forfeit, awarding a win to the other teams. Matches already played will change their final scoreline to reflect this as well. If applicable, each team that was not scheduled to face the disqualified team will be awarded an extra win to even the standings across the tournament.
Forfeit & Substitute Policy
Forfeiting a match is discouraged. Forfeiting will result in a penalty and is counted as a lost match. In addition, the forfeiting team will lose a match win for standings purposes. Each student must attend school on the day of his/her match or they will not be eligible to play. While not recommended, a team can play with a minimum of 4 players. If 5 players are available, the team must play with all 5 players. Any attempt to sit out a player because of his/her skill level will result in a team loss. Mercenaries will not be allowed.
Championship Eligibility
Every member of each team competing in the in-person Championship must physically attend the match (no remote play) to ensure a complete event and fairness to both teams. While a member can be excused due to an illness or family issue, they still cannot play remotely. This is subject to change if we are unable to have an in-person event.
Match Procedures
Blood Settings
Every participant must have the Blood feature turned off. To do this, go to Settings in the game and scroll down to the Other section. Look for “Show Blood” and select “Off”.
Starting Matches
Team Captains must sign into the match 15 minutes prior to match start time. The Home Team (listed first on the schedule) Captain creates the game lobby and invites all players, then invites the competing team.
Match Structure
Matches are played as a single match (first to 13) and best of 3 matches for the Championship. Format is subject to change.
Match Scheduling
Matches will be one day per week unless a team has a bye.
Map Pool (5 Maps)
The map pool consists of Bind, Haven, Split, Ascent, and Icebox.
Map Selection Process for Best-of-One Matches
The team listed first on the schedule in the bracket will be considered Team A. Team A starts the process and the map for the Match will be selected according to the following procedure:
Team A removes 1 map
Team B removes 1 map
Team A removes 1 map
Team B removes 1 map (leaving 1 left)
Team A picks sides
Timeouts
Each team is allowed to call two tactical timeouts per match. During these timeouts, the participating players may have a discussion with each other. Tactical timeouts may only be initiated by an in-game player.
Stoppage of Play
The game may only be paused for the following reasons:
Player drop
Player disconnect
Server crash
Technical issues
Score Reporting
Both the winning and the losing Team Captains must report their scores to their assigned coaches in the form of a screenshot. Coaches will upload these screenshots to their school’s associated Google Drive “Scores” folder.
Tournament Partners