1. Rules

1.1.1. Eligibility

Eligible players are those ranked Gold or lower. Consideration will be given to those placed in a higher rank due to a matchmaking error at the Admin's discretion. Consideration will also be given to those who placed higher in the past but have not played for an extended period of time. Eg. A player who placed Platinum in 2013 and hasn't played since will be considered for the tournament.

1.1.2. Requirements

All players must play with their main game account. The usage of alternate accounts aka smurf, barcodes, borrowed accounts, is not allowed.

1.1.3. Technical Issues

Players are responsible for their own hardware, software and internet connection. Matches will not be rescheduled because of technical issues.

1.1.3.1. Connection

All players are responsible to have a connection (ping) as good as possible for their region and technical situation. By default the game will be hosted on the following servers:

Americas: Default game server
Europe
Asia: Korea server

If it is possible to change the game server to a different one instead of the default one, both need to agree on the choice, the tournament administration needs to approve that change.

1.1.4. Unsportsmanlike Behavior

Players are expected to behave pleasantly and fairly. Breach of this rule will be punished by disqualification from the tournament. It is a competitive tournament for prizes, but that's no excuse to act poorly.

1.2. Tournament rules

1.2.1. Settings for the tournament

All players are expected to follow the given settings and rules. Different agreements between the players, beyond what is stated on the rules, are not allowed and tolerated unless approved by an admin through a protest.

1.2.2. No show

If a player is not ready to play the match after 15 minutes has passed then they should be reported for a no-show to the admin team. The 15-minute countdown starts from the moment both players have progressed to the match, and not at the time stated on the match page. Additional time will then be given by the admin team depending on the circumstances. Delaying the tournament will result in disqualification.

1.2.3. Forfeit

If a player chooses to forfeit a match, they will forfeit any points and prizes conquered through the competition. A player that chooses to forfeit his match in the competition can be replaced by their opponent in the previous round.

1.2.4. Match Results

An attempt will be made to stream all games to verify winners. In the case where that is not feasible, an agreed upon result must be done through Matcherino or submitted to an Admin directly. If there is a conflict in the match, contact the admin team or open a protest. The decision made by the admin team can also mean that both players are disqualified if there is not enough proof for either player to be the clear winner. Submit all tournament replays to the Replays section of the discord.

1.2.5. Disqualification

To keep the delay during the cup as low as possible we reserve the right to disqualify players from the tournament. This will only be done in cases where a player shows no real effort to get a match done or is even obviously stalling. In severe cases, this can even affect both players.

The disqualification of a player can also be issued for any other case which the admin team evaluates as appropriate and necessary to keep the integrity of the competition.

1.3. In-game

1.3.1. Player drops

If a player drops, the match must continue with the in-game tool "recovery from replay" once contact with the opponent is made. The match is considered “live” when all players find themselves in-game with their timer running.

Any player, on the first occurrence, has 15 minutes from the time of the disconnection to resume playing the series. Failure to do so will lead to map loss followed by match loss.

1.3.2. Re-host

If a situation that is not covered by this document presents itself, and a re-host is required, the players involved in the match must reach out the admin team through the proper channels.

In a re-hosted game each player has to choose the same race as they picked in the original game. In case of a race decided randomly by the game, the player should use the same race given.

1.3.3. Pausing the game

If a player pauses a game they must state the reason for the interruption and how long it will approximately last. The game can only be resumed by the player that paused the game after they receive a confirmation from their opponent. Violation of this rule are handled as unsportsmanlike behavior and can lead re-host through the “recovery from replay" feature.

A pause cannot extend the time of 15 minutes without approval by the admin team. Any extension of the pause time must be requested to the admin team for approval, if justifiable.

1.3.4. Surrender

The only way to surrender a match is to using the surrender function in-game. Saying "gg" or similar does not count as surrender. If your opponent types "gg" or similar while you believe they are at a disadvantage, you should continue to play to win, until the game is won, or until they have surrendered.

1.3.5. Illegal Actions

Any actions that result in an unfair advantage are illegal, including the usage of bugs or glitches of any kind. If a player is found to be intentionally using a bug or a glitch in a tournament it will result in a map loss, recurrent violations of this rule the will lead to disqualification.

1.4. Casting/Media

Casting will be done on the Twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/purple_goose.

VoDs of the tournament may be uploaded to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PGooseGaming.

1.5. Cheating

Accusations of cheating will need to be backed up with the following before they may be considered for review:

Name and account link of the accused player
The in-game nickname of the player you want to be checked
Sort, description and the name of the suspected cheat
Link and name of the video/photo evidence
Specific times of the demo which look suspicious, along with a reason for each (e.g. why it cannot have been a coincidence, luck, hearing or skill)

2. Tournament Settings:

Competition format:

Single Elimination with no third place match

Series size:

All rounds up to the Ro8 are Best of Three (Bo3)
The Semifinals and Finals are Best of Five (Bo5)

Map Veto:

Players take it in turns removing maps until the number of maps needed remain
Players take it in turns picking maps from the maps remaining
Maps are played in the order they were picked, the remaining map is played last, if needed

Map Pool:

2000 Atmospheres LE
Blackburn LE
Berlingrad LE
Curios Minds LE
Glittering Ashes LE
Hardwire LE
Pride of Altaris LE

Lobby settings:

Category: Melee
Mode: 1v1
Game Duration: Infinite
Game Speed: Faster
Locked Alliances: Yes
Game Privacy: Hide Match History