All College Season teams and players must be associated with an accredited higher learning institution (“School”) in the United States or Canada, including four-year colleges, two-year colleges, universities, and graduate schools. A list of accredited United States institutions can be found on the website of the U.S. Department of Education. A list of accredited Canadian institutions can be found on the website of the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials.

Schools vs. Campuses

For the purpose of determining team and student eligibility, College Season officials default to treating individual campuses of a school as unique institutions. This means that they are each allowed their own teams, and their students are not permitted to play for other institutions. Campuses can be ruled as a unified school by written request from a school official or submission of official school materials to College Season officials.

In order to be eligible to compete in the College Season, players must be at least 17 years old at the time of competition. Players who turn 17 during the season are allowed to compete once they turn 17.

Enrollment Status

Players must be currently enrolled in a degree program lasting at least two years and in academic good standing at the school they are competing for as either a (a) full-time student, or (b) part time student that is a former full-time student within one academic year of their expected graduation, and was a full-time student for the majority of the time at their present institution. For the avoidance of doubt, students on a sabbatical, “gap semester,” or other kind of temporary leave of absence are not eligible to compete until their return to classes. Players must additionally be eligible to participate in school sanctioned club or competitive sports, as defined by the respective institution.

Disciplinary Status

Players may not have any current disciplinary suspension from Publisher-affiliated competitions. Suspensions from Publisher or international leagues will be upheld by College Season officials

Eligible Account

Players must have a game account in good standing and eligible for Competitive games in order to compete. This same account must be used for all matches during official competition. Players may not have more than one account each listed on the roster.

Sportsmanship Checks

Upon registration, all players will have their game accounts reviewed to ensure that they uphold good conduct and sportsmanship in their games during the current school year. Players who do not do so may be subject to warnings or loss of eligibility at any point during the season.

Account Bans

If a player receives a ban due to in-game behavior or Terms of Service violations, that player is not eligible to participate in the season until the ban is lifted. If a player receives a permaban during the season, they are no longer eligible for the rest of the season. This rule applies to all accounts owned by a player, not just their registered account. College Season officials have the right to include or discount account bans on a case-by-case basis.

Loss of Eligibility

Teams are responsible for being aware of any player’s loss of eligibility for any reason, and must take appropriate proactive action to change their roster or otherwise notify College Season officials of any such loss of eligibility.

One School Per Player

Players are only allowed to compete for one school during the course of a single College Season.

Player Mobility

Players may change rosters or teams only after completion of Season.

No Publisher Employees

Players may not be employees of any Publisher that they are competing in or any of their respective affiliates during any point during any phase of the College Season.

Team Management and Roster Rules

Roster Size

Teams will be required to have at least a full roster and up to 100% additional substitutes (see game specific rules for clarity). There are no restrictions on designation of starter or substitute. These players are collectively referred to as the Active Roster.

Roster Listing

The Active Roster will be displayed on an official competition website or spreadsheet, to be shared publicly with teams. The Active Roster on that website will be updated upon proper filing of documentation. Once an acquisition is confirmed, the acquisition will be placed on the website. The Active Roster on that website will be considered the most up to date roster that could be applied within a reasonable time. Roster eligibility is still at the discretion of College Season officials.

Team Positions

All teams must be composed of at least a full roster of players and 1 designated team manager or Point of Contact (POC). A team may additionally include 1-2 additional team staff members. Players, manager, and staff are collectively referred to as Team Members.

Team Manager

Each team must designate a Team Manager, who may be but does not need to be a player on the Active Roster. The Manager will be the primary Point of Contact (POC) for all College Season officials, must be present in any official communications channels (e.g. Discord), and will also be the signatory authority for any documents which cause changes to the Active Roster, as outlined in Section 2.7 and 2.8. The manager must be identified before the start of the season, and a successor must be immediately identified if the Manager leaves the team (for any reason). The manager must be fully eligible in accordance with Sections 1.1 (School Association), 1.5 (Disciplinary Status), 1.8 (Sportsmanship Checks), and 1.12 (No Publisher Employees), but does not need to meet other eligibility criteria.

Additional Staff

Teams are allowed to have any number of additional staff members serving any role without restriction. Additional staff members do not need to be declared to College Season officials and do not need to meet any eligibility requirements to work with the team in any role or function.

Manager Overrule

At the sole discretion of College Season officials, student team managers may be overruled or replaced due to negligence, malice, or other reasonable suspicion of malfeasance. In the event of a conflict between team management and players of a student-run team, College Season officials will allow for team members to replace their manager at their sole discretion. This rule does not apply to faculty, paid staff, or other school-appointed positions.

Substitutions

Teams may freely field any eligible rostered players from their active roster for the start of the match. Teams may freely substitute players between games, but their opponents must be allowed at least 5 minutes between notification of substitution and start of the next game. For avoidance of doubt, 5 minutes starts from when the substituting team notifies their opponent of the change in writing.

Roster Changes

Teams may make roster changes after the start of a conference, but are required to submit roster changes 72 hours before a scheduled match. Rosters lock at the end of the regular season for each conference season. Season Officials are able to make exceptions for unforeseen circumstances.

Name Restrictions

User Names and Team Names may not contain: vulgarities or obscenities; Publisher game name derivatives or other similar character names; or derivatives of products or services that may create confusion. These restrictions will be applied solely at the discretion of College Season officials.

Name Approval

College Season officials reserve the right to modify Team Tags, Team Names, or User Names if they do not reflect the standards sought by the College Season officials. A team or player will be notified by a College Season official if their name must be changed and be permitted to change to an acceptable name. Team Members are permitted to change their User Name during the season for any reason no more than once per round.

Team Name

Teams must list their common school name first on all official registration materials. If desired, teams can include a team named after the school name. For example, “University of California, Irvine - UCI Esports” is an acceptable team name, but “UCI Esports” on its own is not. In the event that a team is not permitted to use their school’s name, College Season officials may allow exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

Sponsorships

College Season rules do not restrict any team’s ability to acquire and represent sponsors. However, teams may not acquire “title sponsors”. If the sponsor falls under the ensuing limited categories then the sponsorship may not be displayed by the players during the use or play of any season matches, adjacent to game related material, the College Season, or any Publisher-affiliated events. The College Season officials have the ability to update the category list at any time.

The following is a nonexclusive list of limited sponsor categories:

Gambling Websites: defined as any website that aids or abets the wagering of funds on a sporting/esporting event and/or allows for the wagering of funds in casino games including poker

Non-“over-the-counter” drugs

Account sharing/skin selling websites

Firearms, handguns, or ammunition providers

Websites displaying or related to pornographic imagery or products

Tobacco, smoking, or vaping products

Alcoholic beverages

Cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or cryptocurrency exchanges

Match Process

Competitive Patch & Server

College Season will be played on the dedicated North America, Chicago or US-East, depending on game title. As such, the current live patch will be used for all competitive play. Teams are able to mutually agree to play on a different server than listed above.

Setup & Player Responsibilities for Online Matches

All players will be expected to be ready to join the game lobby at the time specified by the College Season officials. Readiness includes, but is not limited to, five rostered players having joined the game lobby, completed client patching, and configuration of in-game settings.

Schedule Adjustments by Officials

College Season officials, in their sole discretion, have the right to adjust the match schedule at any time to preserve the pacing of the tournament or to remedy such circumstances as may detract from the viewer experience.

Lateness Penalties

A team will automatically forfeit their match if they are not ready to play within 15 minutes from their official or agreed-upon match time, or within 10 minutes of the start of additional maps (e.g. maps 2 or 3 in a best of three series). Intentionally delaying the lobby or game start will still subject the team to penalties.

Pause Process

Teams or players may pause the game for any reason. After a pause, the pausing team must use /all to share the reason for the pause and the estimated time to unpause. When a team is ready to unpause, at least one player from both teams must declare their readiness in /all chat (e.g. “ready” or “r”) before the pausing team is allowed to unpause the game.

Pause Allowance

Teams may pause the game for a maximum of 10 minutes over the course of a single game. Pausing beyond allowance time will be considered unfair play and penalties will be applied at the discretion of tournament officials.

Player Equipment Responsibility

All players are responsible for ensuring the performance of their chosen setup, including computer hardware, peripherals, internet connection, and power. A problem with player equipment is not an acceptable reason for lateness or pausing beyond a team’s allowance, regardless of the root cause of the problem.

Spectators, Streaming, and Recording Matches

There will be no out of conference broadcasting for the entire season. Unified will be the sole proprietor of any and all streaming, spectating and recording of College Season Matches unless given specific approval.

Game Lobby Creation

College Season officials will provide Tournament Codes to join official game lobbies to all competing teams. Matches played without the use of a tournament code count as a double forfeit no-show by both teams. College Season officials, in their sole discretion, may instruct players to join a Custom Game lobby instead of a Tournament Code.

Directed Pause

College Season officials may order the pause of a match or execute a pause command at any time for any reason, at their sole discretion.

Game Restart

If a game experiences a critical bug at any point during the match that significantly alters game stats or gameplay mechanics, or the external environmental conditions at a live event become untenable then a restart may occur. Certain circumstances must be met before a restart may occur. College Season officials must determine that the bug is critical and verifiable. For the bug to be considered critical, the bug must significantly damage a player’s ability to compete in the game situation. The determination of whether the bug has damaged a player’s ability to compete is up to the sole discretion of the College Season officials. In order for a bug to be considered verifiable, the bug must be conclusively present and not possibly attributable to player error. The spectator must then be able to replay the instance in question and verify the bug. If a player believes s/he has experienced a critical bug, s/he must pause the game and alert a referee in a timely fashion. If it is believed that a player is attempting to delay reporting of a bug to wait for a possible restart at a more advantageous time, then a restart will no longer be granted. If College Season officials determine that the bug is critical and verifiable and that the player followed the pause protocol, then the disadvantaged team will be presented with the option for a restart. If the team accepts, the game will immediately be restarted. If the restart occurred due to a champion bug, then settings no longer will be retained (including picks and bans) regardless of Game of Record status and the champion will be made ineligible for at least the remainder of the day’s matches unless the bug can be conclusively tied to a specific game element that can be fully removed (i.e. a skin that can be disabled) or prohibited (i.e. the purchase of items).

If a team is offered a restart and declines, then the team will be ineligible to request a restart on the bug that caused the potential restart for the remainder of the match. However, College Season officials reserve the right at all times to force a game restart if the game environment reaches a level of instability that compromises the competitive integrity of the game.

This section is applicable if the pause is directed as per Section 3.10 and does not limit the ability of a College Season official to institute a restart.

Controlled Environment

Certain conditions may be preserved in the event of a restart of a game that has not reached GOR, including, without limitation, Champion Select, rune selection, or Summoner spells. If, however, a match has reached GOR, College Season officials shall not retain any settings.

Player Confirmation of Settings

Each team captain shall verify that every player on his/her team has finalized their intended game settings (including runes, masteries, controls, and GUI settings) before GOR is established. Any error in verification is not grounds for a game restart after GOR is established.

Mid-Match Break

Teams are entitled to a break of at least 10 minutes between games of a match. Teams can agree to a longer or shorter break, but if no agreement can be reached, lateness time will begin counting at 10 minutes exactly. Teams are subject to lateness penalties per Section 3.4 if they are not ready to begin after the break time ends.

Results of Forfeiture

Matches won by forfeit will be reported by the minimum score it would take for one team to win the match (e.g. 1-0 for best-of-one matches, 2-0 for best-of-three matches, 3-0 for best-of-five matches). No other statistics will be recorded for forfeited matches.

Team Member Conduct

Code of Conduct

All players and team managers must read and accept any and all official Publisher Code of Conducts as part of the registration process prior to competing in any matches or engaging in any official season activity. Teams are responsible for ensuring that anyone associated or affiliated with their team in a formal or informal capacity abides by the Code of Conduct. Players must also be abiding by the Conference specific code of conduct and Player Adherence.

Reporting Violations

Conduct violations of any kind may be reported to any College Season official by Discord or email, or by submission of the online reporting form.

Competition Conduct

Unfair Play

The following actions will be considered unfair play and will be subject to penalties at the discretion of College Season officials.

Collusion

Collusion is defined as any agreement among two (2) or more players and/or confederates to disadvantage opposing players. Collusion includes, but is not limited to, acts such as:

Soft play, which is defined as any agreement among two (2) or more players to not damage, impede or otherwise play to a reasonable standard of competition in a game.

Pre-arranging to split scholarship money and/or any other form of compensation.

Sending or receiving signals, electronic or otherwise, from a confederate to/from a player.

Deliberately losing a game for compensation, or for any other reason, or attempting to induce another player to do so

Hacking

Hacking is defined as any modification of the game client by any player, team or person acting on behalf of a player or a team.

Exploiting

Exploiting is defined as intentionally using any in-game bug or any feature not working as intended, at the sole discretion of College Season officials, to seek an advantage.

Ringing

Playing under another player’s account or soliciting, inducing, encouraging or directing someone else to play under another player’s account.

Cheating Device

The use of any kind of cheating device and/or cheat program (e.g. scripting).

Official Discretion

Any other further act, failure to act, or behavior which, in the sole judgment of College Season officials, violates these Rules and/or the standards of integrity established by College Season for competitive game play.

Profanity and Hate Speech

A Team Member may not use language that is obscene, foul, vulgar, insulting, threatening, abusive, libelous, slanderous, defamatory or otherwise offensive or objectionable; or promote or incite hatred or discriminatory conduct, in or near the match area, at any time. This rule additionally applies to public social media, live streaming, or player comms during live events such as the College Championship.

Disruptive Behavior / Insults

A Team Member may not take any action or perform any gesture directed at an opposing Team Member, fan, or official, or incite any other individual(s) to do the same, which is insulting, mocking, disruptive or antagonistic.

Abusive Behavior

Abuse of College Season officials, opposing Team Members, or audience members will not be tolerated. Repeated etiquette violations, including but not limited to touching another player’s computer, body or property, will result in penalties. Team Members and their guests (if any) must treat all individuals attending a match with respect.

Unprofessional Behavior

Responsibility Under Code

Unless expressly stated otherwise, offenses and infringements of these Rules are punishable, whether or not they were committed intentionally. Attempts to commit such offenses or infringements are also punishable

Harassment

Harassment is forbidden. Harassment is defined as systematic, hostile, and repeated acts taking place over a considerable period of time, or a singular egregious instance, which is/are intended to isolate or ostracize a person and/or affect the dignity of the person.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is forbidden. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances. The assessment is based on whether a reasonable person would regard the conduct as undesirable or offensive. There is zero tolerance for any sexual threats/coercion or the promise of advantages in exchange for sexual favors.

Discrimination and Denigration

Team Members may not offend the dignity or integrity of a country, private person, or group of people through contemptuous, discriminatory, or denigrating words or actions on account of race, skin color, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, financial status, birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason.

Statements Regarding College Season and Publishers.

Team Members may not give, make, issue, authorize, or endorse any statement or action having, or designed to have, an effect prejudicial or detrimental to the best interest of College Season, Publishers or its affiliates, as determined in the sole and absolute discretion of College Season.

Player Behavior Investigation

If College Season officials determine that a Team or Team Member has violated the Conference Bylaws, College Season officials may assign penalties at their sole discretion.

Cooperation with Investigation

If a College Season official contacts a Team Member to discuss an investigation, the Team Member is obligated to tell the truth. If a Team Member lies to a College Season official, creating obstruction of the investigation then the Team is subject to punishment.

Ban Evasion.

A team may not attempt to roster or start a player that is not eligible due to disciplinary action (see 1.5), or account bans (see 1.8) by use of a smurf or alternate account. A Team Member may not engage in any activity which is prohibited by common law, statute, or treaty and which leads to or may be reasonably deemed likely to lead to conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Moral Turpitude.

A Team Member may not engage in any activity which is deemed by College Season officials to be immoral, disgraceful, or contrary to conventional standards of proper ethical behavior.

Confidentiality.

A Team Member may not disclose any confidential information provided by College Season officials or any affiliate of Publishers, by any method of communication, including all social media channels.

Bribery.

No Team Member may offer any gift or reward to a player, coach, manager, College Season official, Publisher employee, or person connected with or employed by another College Season team for services promised, rendered, or to be rendered in defeating or attempting to defeat a competing team.

Non-Compliance.

No Team Member may refuse or fail to apply the instructions or decisions of College Season officials.

Match-Fixing.

No Team Member may offer, agree, conspire, or attempt to influence the outcome of a game or match by any means that are prohibited by law or these Rules.

Document or Miscellaneous Requests.

Documentation or other reasonable items may be required at various times throughout the College Season as requested by College Season officials. Penalties may be imposed if the documentation or items requested are not received and/or completed at the required time or do not meet the standards set by the College Season.

Association with Gambling

No Team Member may take part, either directly or indirectly, in betting or gambling on any results of any Publisher competition or match.

Subjection to Penalty

Any person found to have engaged in or attempted to engage in any act that College Season officials believe, in their and absolute discretion, constitutes unfair play, will be subject to penalty. The nature and extent of the penalties imposed due to such acts shall be in the sole and absolute discretion of the College Season

Penalties

Upon discovery of any Team Member committing any violations of the rules listed above, the College Season may, without limitation of its authority, issue the following penalties:

Verbal Warning

Game specific punishment (see game rulebook for clarity)

Scholarship/Prize Forfeiture

Match Forfeiture

Player Suspension

Team Disqualification

Repeated infractions are subject to escalating penalties, up to, and including, disqualification from future participation in the College Season. It should be noted that penalties may not always be imposed in a successive manner. College Season officials, in its sole discretion, for example, can disqualify a player for a first offense if the action of said player is deemed egregious enough to be worthy of disqualification by College Season officials. Penalties that state a listed amount of time for discipline will only apply to competition months.

Cross-League Penalties

College Season officials reserve the right to honor penalties incurred in other Publisher-sanctioned competitions.

Right to Publish

College Season officials shall have the right to publish a declaration stating that a Team Member has been penalized. Any Team Members and/or team which may be referenced in such declaration hereby waive any right of legal action against Publishers., partner conferences, and/or any of their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, champions, or contractors.

Spirit of the Rules

Finality of Decisions

All decisions regarding the interpretation of these rules, player eligibility, scheduling and staging of the College Season, and penalties for misconduct, lie solely with College Season officials, the decisions of which are final. College Season decisions with respect to these Rules cannot be appealed and shall not give rise to any claim for monetary damages or any other legal or equitable remedy.

Rule Changes

These Rules may be amended, modified or supplemented by College Season officials, from time to time, in order to ensure fair play and the integrity of College Season.

Best Interests of the College Season

College Season officials at all times may act with the necessary authority to preserve the best interests of the College Season. This power is not constrained by any lack of specific language in this document. College Season officials may use any form of punitive actions at their disposal against any entity whose conduct is not within the confines of the best interests of the College Season.

League of Legends

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 5

Roster Maximum 10

Match Process

New & Reworked Champions

Champions who have not been available on the live service for more than five days before the beginning of the scheduled round will be automatically prohibited from use. Champions that have undergone a Visual & Gameplay Update (VGU), or Mid-Scope Update in the patch notes are considered a rework for the purposes of this rule.

Example: Champion A was released Wednesday January 1, so Champion A becomes eligible to be used in all College Season matches on or after Tuesday, January 7.

Champions that are released or updated in the middle of a round of the Regular Season will not be available for selection until the next round begins. Champions that are released during Regional Playoffs or College Championship will not be available until the next phase of competition.

4v5 Play

Teams are required to field a full team of five players to be considered ready to start any match. If a player disconnects from the lobby or champion select, the team is no longer ready to play, and lateness time begins. If a player disconnects from the game, the game may continue as 4v5 or be paused per Section 2.6-2.7.

Role Assignments & Role Swaps

Teams are expected to join the game lobby in their most likely position order: Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, Support. Players are free to swap roles during Champion Select for any reason.

Champion Trade Cutoff

Players are not allowed to trade champions with less than 10 seconds on the time before the end of Champion Select and the start of the loading screen. In the event that this occurs, the other team has the right to dodge champ select or restart the game, preserving the same picks and bans.

Game Setup

Map: Summoner’s Rift
Team Size: 5
Allow Spectators: Lobby Only
Game Type: Tournament Draft

Side Selection
During round robin phases, first side choice is manually assigned by College Season officials and will be reflected on the match schedule. During playoff phases, the higher-ranked seed will have side selection for the first game of the match. For all games after the first, the team who lost the most recent game will have side selection for the next game. Other format side select options are solely determined by College Season Officials.

Regular Season

During conference regular season matches, the team with side selection must inform their opponents of their side choice no less than 10 minutes before the game is scheduled to begin. If the side choice is declared late, the opposing team may request to delay the start of the match to allow for 10 minutes to prepare.

Playoffs and Championship

The team with Game 1 selection will be required to submit their final decision 24 hours before the match is scheduled using the message board on the match webpage or discord server. If no decision is submitted, selection will default to blue side. Teams with side choice for all games after game 1 will have 5 minutes after the nexus explodes to select their side for the next match. In the event that a team’s playoff match does not end until after the side selection deadline for their next match, the deadline will be moved to one hour from the scheduled end of last match or actual end of their match, whichever is later.

Champion Select Process

Fearless Draft.

Once a champion is selected by either team, it is removed from the champion pool for the remainder of the series. Neither team may pick a champion that has been played in any previous game of the current match.

Draft Procedure

Game 1: Standard Tournament Draft. All champions are available.
Game 2+: Standard Tournament Draft, but all champions picked in previous games (by Team A OR Team B) are globally ineligible.
Bans: Teams retain their standard 5 bans per game.

Administrative Protocol

Tracking: It is the responsibility of Team Captains and Admins to track the "Global Exhausted Pool" (all champions picked in the series so far).
Client vs. Tool: Drafts should be conducted in an external tool to ensure visibility. If drafting in the LoL Client, teams must confirm eligibility before locking.

Penalties

Draft Violation: If a team locks a restricted champion during the draft, the draft is reset. The offending team forfeits two (2) ban slots in the restarted draft.
Game Violation: If a game enters the loading screen with a restricted champion selected, the game is terminated, and the offending team receives an automatic Game Loss.

Restrictions on Gameplay Elements.

Restrictions may be added at any time before or during a match, if there are known bugs with any items, Champions, skins, runes, masteries, or Summoner spells, or for any other reason as determined at the discretion of the College Season.

Selection Error.

In the event of an erroneously-selected Champion pick or ban, the team in error must notify their opponents before the other team has locked in their next selection. If so, the process will be restarted and brought back to the point at which the error occurred so that the team in error may correct its mistake. If the next selection is locked before the team in error gives notice, the erroneous selection shall be deemed irrevocable.

Alternative Drafts.

Teams may use alternative forms of draft mode if necessary to avoid technical problems or missing champions.

Placeholder Champions.

A player may draft a champion they do not own by selecting a different champion and immediately notifying the opposing team of the intended pick. Teams will complete the pick/ban process as normal, then the player will dodge and redo Champion Select with the correct champions.

Prodraft.

Teams may use the online draft tool located at http://prodraft.leagueoflegends.com/ to conduct the draft.

Game Start.

A game will start immediately after the pick/ban process is complete, unless otherwise stated by a College Season official. Players are not allowed to quit a game during the time between the completion of picks/bans and game launch.

No Substitutions During Champion Select.

Once Champion Select begins, both teams’ lineups for the current game are locked. No substitutions may take place until the game ends. If a player has technical difficulties during Champion Select, the affected team may pause Champion Select for up to ten total minutes to attempt to resolve the issue, with Champion Select resuming with the same picks and bans that were locked in up until that point. If the player cannot resolve the issue, the team must forfeit the game.

Controlled Game Start.

In the event of an error in game start or a decision by College Season officials to separate the pick/ban process from game start, a College Season official may start the game in a controlled manner using Blind Pick. All players will select Champions in accordance with the previous valid completed Champion Select process.

Game Rules

Game of Record

A game of record (“GOR”) refers to a game where all ten players have loaded and which has progressed to a point of meaningful interaction between opposing teams. Once a game attains GOR status, the period ends in which incidental restarts may be permitted and a game will be considered as “official” from that point onward. After the establishment of GOR, game restarts will be allowed only under limited conditions (see Section 3.11-3.1.4). Examples of conditions which establish GOR:

Hostile contact.

Any attack or ability is landed on minions, jungle monsters, structures, or enemy Champions.

Vision.

Vision established between players on opposing teams.

Invasion.

Setting foot, establishing vision or targeting skillshot ability in opponent’s jungle by either team, which includes either leaving the river or entering brush connected to enemy jungle.

Time.

Game timer reaches two minutes (00:02:00).

Awarded Game Victory

In the event of a technical difficulty which leads College Season officials to declare a restart, the College Season may instead award a game victory to a team. If a game has been played for more than 20 minutes on the game clock (00:20:00), College Season officials, in their sole discretion, may determine that a team cannot avoid defeat to a degree of reasonable certainty. The following criteria may be used in the determination of reasonable certainty.

Gold Differential. The winning team has more than 133% of the losing team’s gold.

Remaining Turret Differential. The difference in the number of remaining turrets between the teams is more than seven (7).

Remaining Inhibitor Differential. The difference in the number of standing inhibitors between the teams is more than two (2).

SSBU

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 4

Roster Maximum 8

Match Process

New & Reworked Characters

Characters who have not been available on the live service for more than 14 days before the beginning of the scheduled round will be automatically prohibited from use. Characters that have undergone Gameplay Updates will be subject to College Season officials’ discretion. Example: Character A was released Wednesday, January 1, so Character A becomes eligible to be used in all College Season matches on or after Tuesday, January 15.

New Stages

New Stages will be automatically restricted for four weeks from their release on the Competitive queue. Example: Stage A was released on February 5, so Stage A will become eligible to be used in all Matches on March 5.

Lobby Creation

The team captain from the higher-seeded team of the matchup must add the team captain from the lower-seeded team to their in-game friends list. They will then create a Custom Game lobby and invite the other team captain. Each team captain is responsible for inviting the rest of their teams to the lobby.

Server: Unless both teams agree to play on a different server, the region’s Primary Game Server must be used.

Crew Battles Flow

Each team starts out with the same number of stocks, divided evenly amongst each member (three per player).

Players from the opposing teams then take turns fighting in 1v1 matches, with the winner of a match carrying their remaining stock(s) to face the next member of the opposing team.

Stocks lost by the winning player in a previous match are subtracted from the player's stocks by self-destructing at the beginning of the next match.

Restrictions may be added at any time before or during a Match, if there are known or suspected bugs with any characters or stages, or for any other reason as determined at the discretion of Conference Officials.

Game Rules

Players (characters) are selected. A double blind selection can be requested.

Double blind means that both teams reveal their players/characters at the same time, with a third party holding both players accountable to their decision.

Starter stage striking is used to determine the first stage.

Stage strike order is 1-2-2-1 (player who strikes first bans one stage, player who strikes second bans two, player who strikes first picks from the remaining two).

The first game is played.

The losing team will declare their next player, following which, the winning team will ban two stages. The losing team selects a stage.

The losing team is to declare their next player before stage bans are declared. This is to ensure that stage bans don’t get circumvented by cherry picking an individual after being seen.

The next game is played. The player on the winning team manually self-destructs to adjust for previously lost stocks. Both players taunt in their starting locations to signal they’re ready to begin.

Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all remaining games until the match has concluded and a winner has been declared.

Official Map List:

Starters:

Battlefield
Pokémon Stadium 2
Small Battlefield
Smashville
Town and City

Counterpicks:

Final Destination

Battlefield and Final Destination variant forms may be used in the counterpick phase, with the exception of flat stages (Duck Hunt, Flat Zone X, Dream Land GB, Hanenbow, Super Mario Maker, Mute City (SNES) and Pac-Land).

Hollow Bastion
Kalos Pokémon League

Match Set Up

Stock: 3
Timer: 10:00

In an offline setting, crew battles are run with a 99 minute timer to prevent timeouts; 10 minutes is the maximum allowed for arenas.

Handicap: Off
Team Attack: On
Launch Rate: 1.0x
Items: Off and None
FS Meter: Off
Damage Handicap: Off
Custom Balance: Off
Spirits: Off
Pause: Off
Stage Selection: Choice
Stage Hazards: Off
Stage Morph: Off
Underdog Boost: Off
Score Display: Off
Show Damage: Yes

Communicate Arena names and password to the coach before the match begins.

Max players are set to 4 to allow the 2 competing fighters and 1 spectator per school (for streaming purposes). Whenever possible, minimize the number of players in the arena to reduce lag.

Match Restrictions

Amiibos are not allowed in competitive play, otherwise, all currently available DLC fighters are allowed.

Mii Fighters ARE allowed in competitive play, but the moveset needs to be listed on the roster next to the player’s name who plans on using the Mii Fighter and communicated to the opposing team. Finally, before a game begins, the Mii player must demonstrate their moveset before play starts. When the demonstration is over, both players will “taunt” to indicate they are ready and then play can begin

Stalling

Stalling is banned. The act of stalling is the act of intentionally making the game unplayable, such as becoming invisible, continuing infinites, performing chain grabs past 300%, using uninterruptible moves past 300%, or securing a position on the stage that your opponent can never reach. Any action that can prevent the game from continuing (i.e., freezing, disappearing characters, game reset, etc.) will result in a forfeit of that match for the player that initiated the action. You are responsible for knowing your own character and must be wary about accidentally triggering one of these effects.

Self - Destruct Moves

If a game ends with a self-destruct move, the results screen will determine the winner. If a sudden death occurs as the result of a self-destruct move, a standard sudden death play-off game will be played (see 1.9.)

Sudden Death

If a game goes to Sudden Death, the winner is determined by stocks and percentage at the time the game ends. If both players are tied in stocks, the player with the lower percentage is the winner. In the event of a percentage tie, or a game in which both players lose their last stock simultaneously, a 1-stock tiebreaker will be played with a 3-minute time limit on the same stage and with the same characters as the tied game. The results of an in-game 300% Sudden Death do not count. If Sudden Death occurs in a Sudden Death game, this process is repeated.

Color Change Request

A player may request their opponent to change their character color if it affects gameplay (harder to see on a black background, blends into the stage, etc.)

Ethernet Requirement

Mandatory Connection: All SSBU matches must be played using an Ethernet connection.

Prohibited Connections: Wi-Fi, satellite, and cellular connections are strictly prohibited for match play.

Same Console Requirement

Mandatory that all players must play on the same Nintendo Switch Console. Players on the same team, playing on separate consoles during a match is strictly prohibited. Violation of this rule will result in a forfeit of match.

Marvel Rivals

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 6

Roster Maximum 12

Match Process
New & Reworked Heroes

Heroes who have not been available on the live service for more than five days before the beginning of the scheduled round will be automatically prohibited from use. Heroes that have undergone a Visual & Gameplay Update (VGU), or Mid-Scope Update in the patch notes are considered a rework for the purposes of this rule.

Example: Hero A was released Wednesday January 1, so Hero A becomes eligible to be used in all College Season matches on or after Tuesday, January

Heroes that are released or updated in the middle of a round of the Regular Season will not be available for selection until the next round begins. Heroes that are released during Regional Playoffs or College Heroeship will not be available until the next phase of competition.

5v6 Play

Teams are required to field a full team of six players to be considered ready to start any match. If a player disconnects from the lobby or champion select, the team is no longer ready to play, and lateness time begins. If a player disconnects from the game, the game may continue as 5v6 or be paused per pause allowance

Game of Record

Hostile contact.

Any attack or ability is landed on any Heroes.

Time.

Game timer reaches two minutes (00:02:00).

Map Selection Rules

The higher seed (closest to 0) will create the lobby, invite the opponents and choose the first map. The loser of the previous map will choose based on the list below, while the winner will choose a side (attack/defense). The same map cannot be played twice within a best of 3/5.

Map Pool

Domination

Birnin T'Challa (Wakanda)
Royal Palace (Yggsgard)
Hell's Heaven (Tokyo 2099 / Yggsgard)
Krakoa (Hellfire Gala)
Celestial Husk (Klyntar / Hydra)
Hydra Charteris Base (Empire of Eternal Night)

Convergence

Hall of Djalia (Wakanda)
Shin-Shibuya (Tokyo 2099)
Symbiotic Surface (Klyntar)
Central Park (Empire of Eternal Night)
Heart of Heaven (K'un-Lun)

Convoy

Yggdrasill Path (Yggsgard)
Spider-Islands (Tokyo 2099)
Midtown (Empire of Eternal Night)
Arakko (Hellfire Gala)
Museum of Contemplation (Will unlock Feb 12)

Best of 3

Map 1 - Domination
Map 2 - Convergence
Map 3 - Convoy

Best of 5

Map 1 - Domination
Map 2 - Convergence
Map 3 - Convoy
Map 4 - Domination
Map 5 - Convergence

Cosmic Selection Sequence

All matches in this Tournament follow a captain ban & lock process, which occurs as follows:

Faction A bans a hero;
Faction B bans a hero;
Faction B locks a hero;
Faction A locks a hero;
Faction A bans a hero;
Faction B bans a hero;
Faction B locks a hero;
Faction A locks a hero;
Faction A bans a hero;
Faction B bans a hero;

Locked heroes cannot be banned later.
Once the draft sequence concludes, the remaining 4 players on each team simultaneously select their heroes from the remaining pool.
The 2 hero picks locked during the draft cannot be mirrored by the enemy team.

The "leader" responsible for bans and locks will be selected from the Participants in the following order:

Faction captain;
Faction coach;
The first Participant in the preparation room;
Randomly decided; If the "leader" responsible for bans and locks goes offline during this process, the system will randomly assign another Participant as the new "leader". Therefore, all Participants should remain attentive during the process. Note: Even if the original "leader" reconnects, the ban & lock duty will remain with the newly assigned Participant.

Valorant

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 5

Roster Maximum 10

Match Process

Overtime

In the event that a Map goes into overtime, and a team is unable to win the Map by securing two consecutive Round wins over their opponent, the first team that wins 25 rounds will be declared the winner.

New & Reworked Agents

Agents who have not been available on the live service for more than 14 days before the beginning of the scheduled round will be automatically prohibited from use. Agents that have undergone Gameplay Updates will be subject to College Season officials’ discretion. Example: Agent A was released Wednesday, January 1, so Agent A becomes eligible to be used in all College Season matches on or after Tuesday, January 15.

New Maps

New Maps will be automatically restricted for four weeks from their release on the Competitive queue. Example: Map A was released on February 5, so Map A will become eligible to be used in all Matches on March 5.

4v5 Play

Teams are required to field a full team of five players to be considered ready to start any match. If a player disconnects from the lobby or agent select, the team is no longer ready to play, and lateness time begins. If a player disconnects from the game, the game may continue as 4v5 or be paused per pause allowance.

Game Settings

Players are required to have Blood and Bodies turned off for tournament matches.

Lobby Creation

Lobby Settings

Mode: Standard

Options

Allow Cheats: Off

Tournament Mode: On

Overtime: Win By Two: On

Play Out All Rounds: Off

Hide Match History: Off

Server: Unless both teams agree to play on a different server, the region’s Primary Game Server (see 3.1) must be used.

Definition of Game Terms

“Round”

A Round is an instance of competition in a VALORANT map that is played until a winner is determined by one of the following methods, whichever occurs first:

Spike detonation

Spike defusal

Team eliminated before planting or defusing the spike

Round timer expired

Team forfeit

“Map”

A Map means a set of Rounds that is played until one Team wins 13 Rounds, provided that a Map will continue past the 13-Round limit until a Team wins by a margin of at least two Rounds, or wins a total of 25 rounds, whichever comes first.

“Match”

A Match means a set of Maps that are played until one Team wins a majority of the total maps (e.g., winning two maps out of three in a best-of-three series).

Coaches

Teams may have one coach that is designated as the main coach that is allowed to communicate with the Team’s Players during the Agent and Map selection process for each Match, timeouts, half-times, in between regulation and overtime, and in between Maps (if applicable). Additional coaches may observe the game via the use of “Coach Slots” in the Custom Game lobby.

Map Pool

The map pool consists of the current VCT Map Pool. Any additional maps released on live will be added to the map pool in accordance with VCT Challengers Rule.

Map Selection Process

Once both teams are in the lobby and confirm they are ready to begin play, the map selection process will begin. Under no circumstances may a map be played twice in one Match unless all other available maps have been played.

Map Selection Process for Best-of-One Matches

The better-seeded team will decide if they are either Team A or Team B. If the tournament in question has no predetermined seeding, the “better-seeded team” for purposes of this Section will be determined at Coin Flip. When instructed in the Map Selection Process, the Team must ban a map and cannot choose to skip the map ban. Team A starts the process and the map for the Match will be selected according to the following procedure:

Team A bans one Map

Team B bans one Map

Team A picks Map 1

Team B picks side for Map 1

Map Selection Process for Best-of-Three Matches

Team A bans one Map

Team B bans one Map

Team A picks Map 1

Team B picks side for Map 1

Team B picks Map 2

Team A picks side for Map 2

Team A bans one Map

Team B bans one Map

Map 3 is only Map remaining

Team A picks side for Map 3

Map Selection Process for Best-of-Five Matches

Team A bans one Map

Team B bans one Map

Team A picks Map 1

Team B picks side for Map 1

Team B picks Map 2

Team A picks side for Map 2

Team A picks Map 3

Team B picks side for Map 3

Team B picks Map 4

Team A picks side for Map 4

Map 5 is only Map remaining

Team B picks side for Map 5

In the Grand Finals, the Team entering the Grand Finals from the Winners Bracket will decide if they are either Team A or Team B. The Map Selection Process will remain the same as the above, with the exception of the Map bans, which will both be determined by the Winners Bracket Team.

Agent Selection Process

Once Agent Select has started, Players will have 85 seconds to pick their Agent, with both Teams picking simultaneously. If a Player picks an Agent by mistake during this phase, the Player must quit the game via Alt+F4. Their team must then immediately notify their opponent of the intended selection using the lobby chat. In this case the Agent Select process will be restarted with the same Picks up until the mistake occurred, after which the Player must choose their intended Agent. In the case the Player notifies the other team after the timer has expired, the Agent Select process will not be restarted and the Player will be required to play through.

Match Start After Agent Selection

A Match will start immediately after the Agent/Map Selection process is complete, unless otherwise stated by a Tournament Official. Players are not allowed to quit a Map during the time between the completion of picks/bans and Map launch, also known as “Free Time.”

Game Rules

Game Restart

Certain circumstances must be met before a restart may occur. College Season officials must determine that the bug is critical and verifiable. For the bug to be considered critical, the bug must significantly damage a player’s ability to compete in the game situation. The determination of whether the bug has damaged a player’s ability to compete is up to the sole discretion of the College Season officials. In order for a bug to be considered verifiable, the bug must be conclusively present and not possibly attributable to player error. The spectator must then be able to replay the instance in question and verify the bug.

If a player believes they have experienced a critical bug, they must pause the game and alert a referee in a timely fashion. If it is believed that a player is attempting to delay reporting of a bug to wait for a possible restart at a more advantageous time, then a restart will no longer be granted.

If College Season officials determine that the bug is critical and verifiable and that the player followed the pause protocol, then the disadvantaged team will be presented with the option for a restart. If the team accepts, the Map will immediately be restarted.

If a team is winning with a Round score differential of +4 or higher when the technical difficulty occurs, the game will be restarted at the last half. Teams will retain their Round scores from the beginning of the half. If the technical difficulty occurs before the Switch, then the Map will be fully replayed.

If a team is offered a restart and declines, then the team will be ineligible to request a restart on the bug that caused the potential restart for the remainder of the match. However, College Season officials reserve the right at all times to force a Map restart if the game environment reaches a level of instability that compromises the competitive integrity of the game. This section is applicable if the pause is directed as per Section 4.1, and does not limit the ability of a College Season official to institute a restart.

Controlled Environment

Agent selection will be preserved in the event of a restart of a Map that has not started the Active Phase of the first round.

Awarded Game Victory

In the event of a technical difficulty which would lead to a partial or full restart, but there are significant constraints that make it impossible to restart the game in the sole discretion of College Season officials, officials may instead award a game victory to a team.

Overwatch 2

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 5

Roster Maximum 10

Match Process

Hero Pool

The heroes that are eligible for the tournament will be communicated by the Season Officials.

Hero and Map Bans

In case of a bug existing within the current patch of Overwatch, the tournament administrator may enforce a hero or map ban for any duration of time in by the Season Officials sole discretion.

Available Map and Mode Pool

The maps and modes pool for use in any OWCS associated competition are listed below. The Administration holds the right to adjust the Map Rotation, Order, and Pool at any time. The current maps and mode list are as follows:

Control - Busan, Ilios, Lijiang Tower
Hybrid / Flashpoint - Blizzard World, Midtown, Numbani, Aatlis | Suravasa
Push - Esperanca, Runasapi
Escort - Havana, Rialto, Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Series Structure

First to Two - Control, Hybrid, Escort

Tiebreaker: Flashpoint

First to Three - Control, Hybrid, Push, Flashpoint, Escort

Tiebreakers: Control, Push

Map Select Process

Home Team will be determined in the following ways.

Double Round Robin

The team on the “left” side of the matchup will be considered “home”

Round Robin

Coin flip will decide “home”.

Bracket

Higher seeded team will be considered “home”.

Best of 3 Series

Home team will choose the first map in the appropriate map pool
Away team will choose their starting side
In all subsequent games, the loser of the previous game will select the next map from the unplayed map pools, with the winning team choosing their starting side.
In the event of a tie, a map will be selected from the unplayed map pool.

Best of 5 Series

Home team will choose the first map in the appropriate map pool
Away team will choose their starting side
In all subsequent games, the loser of the previous game will select the next map from the unplayed map pools, with the winning team choosing their starting side.
In the event of a 5th game the loser of the previous game chooses the remaining unplayed Control, Flashpoint or Push maps.

Game Rules

New & Reworked Heroes

Heroes who have not been available on the live service for more than five days before the beginning of the scheduled round will be automatically prohibited from use. Heroes that have undergone a Visual & Gameplay Update (VGU), or Mid-Scope Update in the patch notes are considered a rework for the purposes of this rule.

Example: Hero A was released Wednesday January 1, so Hero A becomes eligible to be used in all College Season matches on or after Tuesday, January 6.

Heroes that are released or updated in the middle of a round of the Regular Season will not be available for selection until the next round begins. Heroes that are released during Regional Playoffs or College Championship will not be available until the next phase of competition.

Rocket League

Roster Requirements

Roster Minimum 3

Roster Maximum 6

Match Process

Hosting and Team Colors

“Blue” and “Orange” team are dictated by the colors on the schedule as well as “Team 1” and “Team 2”

Re-Hosts

Between Games in a Match, Teams may request that the Match be re-hosted on the same server region due to connection issues. In Regular Season Play, Teams may mutually agree to cancel the current Game of the Match and re-host the Match with approval from Tournament Officials. Tournament Officials reserve the right to suspend and invalidate the current Game of the Match for a re-host at any time.

Servers

“US-East” servers will always be used for all conference matches unless requested by a competing team. Tournament Officials must approve server changes in writing.

Game Start

Players may not join their designated side until three Players from each Team have joined the Game.

Substitutions

A “Substitution” is defined as changing the Player line-up after a Match has started. Substitutions may only occur in between Games in a Match, and Teams are limited to one (1) Substitution per Match.

Observers

In-game observers are not allowed except for Tournament Officials and their designees.

Technical Issues

Due to the nature and scale of online competition, except as otherwise determined by Tournament Officials in their sole discretion, Matches will not be restarted or made null due to bugs, intentional disconnections, server crashes, or unintentional disconnections. Except as otherwise determined by Tournament Officials in their sole discretion, any technical issues or bug encounters must be played through. If a Team calls for a rematch due to a technical issue or bug encounter, such Team must save the replay and submit it to the Tournament Officials for review.

Game Rules

Game Settings

Default Arena: DFH Stadium
Team Size: 3v3
Bot Difficulty: No Bots
Mutators: None
Match Time: 5 Minutes
Joinable By: Name/Password
Server: US-East

Hardware

All standard controllers, including mouse and keyboard, are legal. Macro functions (e.g., turbo buttons) are not permitted. Note that wireless controllers are not permitted at LAN Events.

Directed Pause

College Season officials may order the pause of a match or execute a pause command at any time for any reason, at their sole discretion.

Timeouts

For any Best-of Match, Teams may request one (1) timeout (each, a “Timeout”) between Games during such Match. Each Timeout will last for two (2) minutes. A Team must notify a Tournament Official immediately after the conclusion of a Game if it elects to use a Timeout. Tournament Officials reserve the right to deny a Team a Timeout if such Team fails to make its election in accordance with the deadlines set forth. At the conclusion of the Timeout, Tournament Officials will confirm that each Team is ready to continue the series before Gameplay can resume.