League Rules

FOREWARD


Our intention for this league is to provide a highly competitive and highly organized outlet for players under diamond SR to play Overwatch as it was meant to be played. For Season 1, most teams will be coming from the Scrub Cup. The goals of the Scrub Cup, are to teach players the fundamentals of organized play. Our league is meant to utilize those fundamentals over a longer season. In order to keep this league as competitive as possible, prize pools will be added in coming seasons. Season 1 is mostly to test the leagues infrastructure and to insure its strength before prizes are on the line.
	In making these rules, we borrowed a lot from both Scrub Cup and the Overwatch League. We want to find a balance between being flexible and fun as well as fostering serious competition. We want you to test these rules and give us feedback on what you think works and doesn’t work. As mentioned, Season 1 is a trial season, it is meant to solidify the rules. By participating in Season 1, you will be able to help shape the future of this league. It also provides security for your teams, as in future seasons we will be selective when it comes to expanding to include new teams.
	For broadcasting, the plan is to run this league during Overwatch League’s offseason so that we may stream our matches during weekends. We are working to put together broadcasting duos to regularly cast matches. Use these broadcasts as well as your own VODs to scout teams and help elevate the level of play on a week to week basis.
	This league will be more of a marathon than a sprint. We want to provide everyone the chance to play while also understanding real life does get in the way. That’s why we’ve decided to include larger rosters as well as an inactive list. This will allow players and teams to adjust for burnout or availability issues. At the end of the day we want everyone to really look forward to participating and be hungry to compete without feeling overwhelmed. This league will be a commitment; but if you ever wanted to play or coach in a super organized and competitive environment, this is your league.
As we gear up for the inaugural season, take some time to read through what’s here and give us any feedback or ideas you may have to help improve these rules. We also are needing to name this league so any suggestions for that are more than welcome. We plan to start the preseason in early June moving into our regular season as OWL ends. If you know anyone who would like to be a part of this in any capacity (player, coach, referee, league official, or caster) let us know.










1.0 ROSTERS
1.1 Level and SR requirements
1.2 Roster size
1.3 Roster requirements
1.4 Substitutes
1.5 Roster changes
1.6 Player Pool
1.7 Coaches
1.8 Inactive list

2.0 SEASON STRUCTURE
2.1 Divisions
2.2 Scheduling
2.3 Regular Season
2.4 Playoffs
2.5 Preseason
2.6 Prize Pool
2.7 Blizzard Tournament License
2.8 Broadcasting

3.0 PLAYING THE GAME
3.1 Regulation Match
3.2 Map pools
3.3 Substitutions
3.4 Pauses

4.0 IMPROPER PLAY AND MISCONDUCT
4.1 Smurfing
4.2 Bug Exploits
4.3 Tardiness
4.4 Cheating Programs
4.5 Collusion

5.0 REFEREES
5.1 Authority
5.2 Scoring Matches
5.3 Roster Verification






1.0 ROSTERS

1.1 Players in the league must not be lower than level 100. There is no minimum SR. However, at signup, no player’s SR can be above 2600. During the course of the season, players SR may rise to 2999. If a player’s SR reaches 3000+ they will be rendered ineligible to complete the season. They will, though, be allowed to finish the remainder of the stage currently being played.

1.2 Roster size is capped at a maximum of 10 players.Official rosters must be submitted prior to the first match. Players may be on multiple rosters only in the preseason, For regular season matches, players may not be on multiple rosters. Teams must adhere to an average SR for their roster at the beginning of a each half of the season, this will be decided prior to the preseason.

1.3 In order to remain on a roster players must participate in at least 5 maps during a stage. Players who do not meet that requirement will be removed from the roster and placed in the available player’s pool.

1.4 Non-roster substitutes will be available for scrims and preseason matches only.

1.5 Roster changes, ie adding or dropping players from a roster, may only occur between stages.

1.6 The league will accept new player sign ups indefinitely. Teams may only add registered players to their teams during the breaks in between stages. After being approved, new players will be eligible to be picked up by teams. Players removed from rosters (by their own choice or by their teams) will be added back to the player pool where teams will have access to sign them during the appropriate phase.

1.7 There are no restrictions for coaches. Teams may employ however many they would like. There must, however, be a head coach. The head coach will also serve as the main representative of his or her team to the league. The primary responsibility as a representative is to make sure rosters are kept in order and up to date with the league. Teams may choose to forgo having a coach entirely but must elect one person to serve as the representative.

1.8 Teams may keep an inactive list of up to 3 players. These lists must be submitted to the league prior to every stage. Players on the inactive list are still considered a part of their team but will be ineligible to play during a stage where they are marked inactive.






2.0 SEASON STRUCTURE

2.1   The league will divided into two divisions. The first criteria for dividing the league will be time zones. If there aren’t enough teams to divide by time zones, teams will be divided randomly.

2.2 Teams will play two matches a week on separate dates. Dates and times TBD.  Teams will play each team in their own division 4 times a season or once a stage. Each team will also play 1 interdivisional match each stage.

2.3 The league will mirror that of the Overwatch League wherein it is divided into 2 halves each containing 2 stages. Each stage will have a distinct map pool. In a 12 team league, each team will play 6 matches in a stage. Each stage will last 3 weeks with a week in between. There will be a break of 10-14 days between the two halves to mitigate burnout. Standings reset after the 1st half. The total season length is estimated at 4 months, in this case June-September.

2.4 Playoffs will occur at the end of the regular season. The winners of the first and second halves will receive automatic #1 seeds in the playoffs as well as a first round bye. The remaining playoff pool will be decided by overall season standings. In a 12 team league, 6 teams will make the playoffs. 3 from each division. The #2 and #3 seeds will play a match to determine who faces the #1 seed in the semi finals. In the event of a tie, map differential will serve as the first tie break and head to head score will be the second. The winners of the semi final round will face off in the championship.

2.5 The Preseason will occur 1 week before the start of the regular season. Teams may choose whether or not to participate. These matches will essentially be highly organized scrims. Aside from player requirements, there are no restrictions on rosters or thier size. This gives teams a chance to trial players in an organized manner.

2.6 There are plans to incorporate a prize pool in the future. Season 1 will not have a prize pool.

2.7 We will be working to acquire a custom Blizzard tournament license for no later than the start of Season 2.

2.8 There will be an effort to have each match streamed on twitch by the official league page. Teams and players may broadcast their matches as well as long as a delay of no less than 3 minutes is applied.






3.0 PLAYING THE GAME

3.1  Similar to the Overwatch League, a regulation match will consist of 4 maps. In the event of a tie, a previously selected KoTH map will played. Only players, referees, and up to 2 coaches will be permitted in the lobby. Teams with rosters larger than 6 are permitted to have their additional players spectate.

3.2 Map pools will be predetermined and stage specific. They will contain one of each map type as well as a KoTH tie breaker. Playoff map pools will be round specific and decided by random draw.

3.3 Substitutions may occur between maps only. Teams are allowed and encouraged to cycle players throughout a match. No substitutes will be permitted once a map loads or in between rounds.

3.4 Pauses will be granted by the referees for disconnections, technical difficulties, or any other immediate issue in which a player is unable to play. Pauses may last no longer than 5 minutes. Referees will give a one minute warning prior to resuming the match.  Each team is limited to 3 pauses in a match. These pauses may not be used during team fights or for strategic purposes.








4.0 IMPROPER PLAY AND MISCONDUCT

4.1 Smurfing is strictly prohibited. Teams will be responsible for vetting and evaluating their players. Any suspicions should be reported to officials for further evaluation. Any teams found to be knowingly harboring a smurf or smurfs will be stripped of any compromised matches. In the case of a previously unknown smurf being detected, the league will evaluate transparently on a case by case basis.

4.2 Bug exploits are strictly prohibited. Players found using bug exploits will be suspended for one stage for the first offense followed by a permanent suspension for any repeated violation.

4.3 Teams and officials are expected to the begin their matches on time. A grace period of 15 minutes will be granted. Teams may agree to extend that period if they so choose. A team that is more than 15 minutes late will forfeit the map of their opponents choosing. After 25 minutes, the offending team will forfeit the entire match.

4.4 Cheating programs or software is strictly prohibited. Any player found using an illegal program or software will be banned from the league. Any teams found complicit will vacate all wins that came as a result of said programs and software.

4.5 Teams are forbidden from trying to acquire players off of other teams’ rosters in the league. They are also forbidden from fixing matches with other teams. The punishment for player collusion is a suspension for the player and restricted access to the player pool as well for the team. For match collusion the punishment will be the vacating of wins.






5.0 REFEREES

5.1 Referees are present for enforcement of the rules. Those rules include roster verification, cheat or exploit identification, and match management eg pauses. The decisions of referees cannot be challenged during a match. If there are concerns matches may be played under protest for the league to review after the conclusion of the match.

5.2 Referees will record the match scores as well as map score for every map played. Those scores will be used to dictate season standings as well as playoff seeding.

5.3 Before a match can begin referees must verify each teams entire roster to ensure all players in the match are eligible.