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General Rules

1 - League Rules​

  • 1.1 - Treat everyone with respect.
  • 1.2 - Reading the rules ensures understanding and greatly helps with understanding decisions made.
  • 1.3 - Respect authority. Admins put their time in to try and allow everyone to have a good time, so please respect them. They’re human after all.
  • 1.4 - Game integrity is a number one priority in all matches. Failure to do so may lead to suspension and/or bans from players found to be taking part in.
  • 1.5 - Unsportsmanlike activity of any kind is pushable, including but not limited to racism, homophobia, religiophobia.

2 - Sign Up Rules​

  • 2.1 - Sign ups take place on our website.
    • 2.1.1 - Players must have a valid steam account to sign up through the website.
  • 2.2 - Teams will not know what division they are a part of until sign ups close. An admin will determine what division your team is in based on your team's previous competitive history. Check 7 - Division for more details.
  • 2.3 - Players must not have a VAC ban/Game ban on their account unless cleared by an admin in order to participate in the cup.
  • 2.4 - Players that have league related cheating bans will not be allowed to play. Players with suspensions will be evaluated by an admin on a case by case basis.
  • 2.5 - By signing up, you are agreeing that all players/leaders/subs in your signup request will follow all CLTF2 rules. Breaking rules may result in medal loss, ban from current/future seasons, or ban from Discord.
  • 2.6 - You may not play on multiple teams. You may not play in multiple divisions. You may not play in multiple regions.

3 - Match Rules​

  • 3.1 - League Rules still apply within matches.
  • 3.2 - Servers should take place on a dedicated server. Serveme.tf servers take priority over any other dedicated servers. Teams may choose to play on other dedicated servers if both team leaders accept it.
    • 3.2.1 - Default server locations are Chicago, Illinois for North America, and Netherlands for Europe.
  • 3.3 - Players must record their POV’s (Point of View) every game without fail. Failure to do so will result in a penalty against both the team and player.
    • 3.3.1 - Please check this video if you need help.
  • 3.4 - Cheating/Exploiting is strictly prohibited.
    • 3.4.1 - If caught cheating/exploiting punishments will be given out for severity of exploit; and in the cheating case banned from future competition and team removed from season.
  • 3.5 - Teams have 15 minutes after match start time to ready up. Teams who fail to comply will be forced to start the match if minimum team members are left or give the opposing team a forfeit win.
    • 3.5.1 - Admins may give teams extra time given the situation and ability for teams to play. A game being played holds higher weight than a forfeit.
  • 3.6 - Teams may pause for 5 minutes total per map. Pausing during high intensity moments (i.e. Ubers or pushes) may result in round results overturned, or worse match results. If a team does pause during a high intensity moment please contact an admin immediately if you believe it affected the outcome.
  • 3.7 - Teams that forfeit more than 2 matches throughout the regular season will be removed from competition.
  • 3.8 - Teams will receive 1 match point per map win in the regular season.
  • 3.9 - Bye teams may be put into the competition if too few teams are in the division. Teams will receive 2 match points when placed against a bye team.
  • 3.10 - Teams must play at least 4 matches to receive a medal, with the attempt at completing all their required matches.
  • 3.11 - Teams must send all map information after pick/ban and logs after game.
  • 3.12 - Teams may choose to play with a ringer/merc if they cannot find enough players for their match. The opposing team leader must accept the ringer/merc.
    • 3.12.1 - Low/Open (ETF2L)/Amateur or Newcomer/Amateur (RGL) cannot be denied.
    • 3.12.2 - If a Ringer/Merc is denied by the other team, you may contact an admin if you believe it is an unfair denial of a ringer. Admins may veto the denial if they believe it is a fair Ringer/Merc
  • 3.13 - Players must not exceed 120+ ping. If ping is affecting gameplay another server should be used.

4 - Regular Season, Playoffs, & Grand Finals​

  • 4.1 - Regular season takes place over 5 weeks.
  • 4.2 - Regular season matches take place on a round robin or swiss style format, depending on division sizes. Which type will be confirmed before the season starts.
  • 4.3 - Tie breakers for the regular season are decided by the following ranks in order.
    • Match wins vs. tied participants (Direct Encounter)
    • Median Buchholz
    • Total map wins
    • Win difference (Total points earned minus total points lost)
  • 4.4 - Teams are recommended to select match times that work for both teams. If both teams cannot come to an agreement they may use the default match time of Saturday at 9:30 PM EST/EDT (NA) and 21:30 CET/CEST (EU).
    • 4.4.1 - Depending on sign ups, OZ, SA, and Asia divisions may be made. Their respective default times are Saturday at 9:30 PM AEST/AEDT, 21:30 UTC-3, and 9:30 PM GMT 8+.
  • 4.5 - Regular season matches are played BO2 maps per week. (See 3.8 for match point values). The home team is team A. The pick/ban list for maps is as follows:
    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team B removes one map.
    • Team B removes one map.
    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team A picks one map; Team B chooses the starting side.
    • Team B picks one map; Team A chooses the starting side.
  • 4.6 - Playoff matches take place in 4 team double elimination. The top two seeded teams start in the upper level of the bracket, with the third and fourth place teams starting in lower.
    • 4.6.1 - Example of bracket
    • example-of-bracket
  • 4.7 - Playoffs, with exception to grand finals, is played BO3 maps. The score line is 2-1 or 2-0. The upper seeded team may choose to be team A or team B. The pick/ban list for maps is as follows:
    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team B removes one map.
    • Team A picks one map; Team B chooses the starting side.
    • Team B picks one map; Team A chooses the starting side.
    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team B picks one map; Team A chooses the starting side.
  • 4.8 - Grand Finals is played BO5 maps. The upper seeded team will start with an extra map point. Upper seeded teams will only need to win two maps, while lower seeded teams will have to win three. The upper seeded team may choose to be Team A or Team B. The map picking and banning is as follows:
    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team B removes one map.
    • Team A picks one map; Team B chooses the starting side.
    • Team B picks one map; Team A chooses the starting side.
    • Team B picks one map; Team A chooses the starting side.
    • Team A picks one map; Team B chooses the starting side.

5 - Cup Rules​

  • 5.1 - Cups are run in a two-day format with the first day consisting of three games, and the second day being a double elimination bracket.

    • 5.1.1 - Playoff matches take place in a four-team double elimination. The top-seeded teams from each group start in the upper level of the bracket, with the second-seeded teams starting in the lower bracket.
    • 5.1.2 - Example of bracket: example-of-bracket

  • 5.2 - First-day cup matches take place in a round-robin format of four teams per group.

    • 5.2.1 - The top two teams move onto day two, where they play against the top two of another equally skilled group.

  • 5.3 - Tiebreakers for the regular season are decided by the following ranks in order:

    • Score Difference
    • Direct Encounter
    • Median Buchholz
    • Round Wins

  • 5.4 - First-day matches are played BO1, with maps chosen in advance.

  • 5.5 - Playoffs, with the exception of grand finals, are played BO1. The upper-seeded team gets to be Team A. The pick/ban list for maps is as follows:

    • Team A removes one map.
    • Team B picks one map.

  • 5.6 - Grand finals are played BO3 maps. The scoreline is 2-1 or 2-0. The upper-seeded team gets to be Team A. The pick/ban list for maps is as follows:

    • Team A picks one map.
    • Team B picks the remaining two.

6 - Casting Rules​

  • 6.1 - Teams must arrive on time to their respective matches.
  • 6.2 - Players must use their official names within casts.
  • 6.3 - Casted matches are held to a higher standard of player behavior. Harsher punishments will be given if breaking rules.

7 - Division Rules​

  • 7.1 - Divisions are made to try and keep a fair and competitive focus for each player.
  • 7.2 - Team will be split up based on previous competitive experience. The division names, in order of highest to lowest:
    • Premiership
    • Division 1
    • Division 2+
    warning

    Amount of divisions will be made depending on level of competition and number of team sign ups

  • 7.3 - Players will be placed in divisions depending on previous competitive experience.

8 - Admin Rules​

  • 8.1 - Do not abuse power.
  • 8.2 - If you are unsure on how to handle a situation, please get another Admin or get the owner.
  • 8.3 - If you would like to contribute anything about rules, pugs, or config. Please message the owner.
  • 8.4 - Admins and Moderators are still allowed to play in the cup.
  • 8.5 - Admins have the ability to interpret rules in any way they see fit to the situation.