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Global CyberSports League Global CyberSports League: Paladins SEA branch GCSL: Paladins Tournament Official Tournament rules and guidelines Author: Kappa#9223 Approved by: Danishboy#2852 Bübba#2241 (Ericosaurs) Inspected on: 15.01.2020 Stoholm, 2020 Table of Contents Terminology list ............................................................................................................. 3 Section 1: Public information ......................................................................................... 4 1.1 GCSL Staff structure ................................................................................................ 4 1.2 GCSL: Paladins Tournament ................................................................................... 6 1.3 Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament ............................................... 8 1.3.1 Qualification Stage: Sign-up procedure ................................................................................. 10 1.3.2 Qualification Stage: Pre-match preparations ......................................................................... 13 1.3.3 Qualification Stage: In-game ................................................................................................. 16 1.3.4 Qualification Stage: Post-match ............................................................................................ 18 1.3.5 Qualification Stage: Additional regulations........................................................................... 19 1.4 Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament ....................................................... 23 1.4.1 Closed Stage: Roster changes ................................................................................................ 25 1.4.2 Closed Stage: Sign-up procedure ........................................................................................... 25 1.4.3 Closed Stage: Pre-game preparation ...................................................................................... 28 1.4.4 Closed Stage: In-game ........................................................................................................... 28 1.4.5 Closed Stage: Post-match ...................................................................................................... 29 1.4.6 Closed Stage: Additional regulations..................................................................................... 29 1.5 Playoff Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament ...................................................... 31 1.5.1 Playoff Stage: Roster changes ............................................................................................... 31 1.5.2 Playoff Stage: Sign-up procedure .......................................................................................... 32 1.5.3 Playoff Stage: Pre-match preparations................................................................................... 32 1.5.4 Playoff Stage: In-game .......................................................................................................... 32 1.5.5 Playoff Stage: Post-match ...................................................................................................... 33 1.5.6 Playoff Stage: Additional regulations .................................................................................... 33 2 Terminology list For the purposes of this document, the following definitions are assumed: Match – a set of games (between 1 and 9) between two teams. The winner of the match is determined once one of the teams accumulates an unsurpassable (within the amount of allotted games in the match) number of victories in games. 5 Game – is defined as one instance of siege as defined by Paladins: Champions of the Realm rules. A game is comprised of two (2) distinct phases: drafting phase, where each team take turns banning and selecting in-game characters; and a second phase, where the two opposing teams engage each other as per rules of the siege game mode of Paladins: Champions of the Realm. 10 Season – a time period which starts after an official announcement has been made regarding the start of GCSL: Paladins Tournament and ends upon the determination of the winner of the grand final. Team – a group of players, consisting of five (5) ”main roster” and up to two (2) sustitute players, that are eligible, able and willing to play the game Paladins: Champions of the 15 Realm and compete in GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Smurf – a secondary in-game account(s). The secondary nature of such an account is to be determined by it being created after the first in-game account of the player in question. A player may have more than two (2) in-game accounts. In this case, all accounts created after the first on are considered to be smurf accounts. 3 Section 1: Public information 1.1 GCSL Staff structure 20 The top-staff position in GCSL is occupied by two (2) Co-CEO’s with equal amount of authority within GCSL and the right to override any desicion(s) made by any other GCSL Staff at any time. Co-CEO’s of GCSL also posess the exclusive right to authorise a circumvention and/or override any rule of any GCSL league. Assisting the Co-CEO’s of GCSL is/are COO(s) of GCSL. COO of GCSL occupies the 25 second highest staff position in GCSL staff structure. The COO of GCSL has the right to override any desicion(s) made by GCSL Staff of lower rank. Both CEO’s and COO’s of GCSL are considered members of top management. Assisting members of top management is branch management of GCSL branches, such as, but not limited to GCSL: Paladins. Among branch management members are CEO of a 30 GCSL branch and his/her COO(s) of the same branch. The CEO of a GCSL branch has complete authority over the GCSL branch he/she is assigned to. This authority is only exceeded by GCSL top management. The CEO of a GCSL branch may appoint a COO of the same branch to assist in day-to- day operation of said GCSL branch. 35 Each GCSL branch may also have additional staff (distinguished by the Staff role in discord server(s)) and moderator(s) (distinguished by the Moderator role in discord server(s)) to assist the CEO and COO in the operation of a GCSL branch. Said staff members and moderators may be appointed by the CEO of the GCSL branch in question. GCSL: Paladins Staff are a group of people with the staff role assigned to them. There 40 may be more than one GCSL: Paladins Staff members. The purpose of additional (non- CEO/COO) staff members is to aid with the hosting of the tournament/league. As such, they 4 are authorised to resolve any conflict situations, grant technical defeats/victories etc, disqualify teams, etc. If a team participating in a GCSL tournament has encountered a situation that requires the attention of a GCSL: Staff member, they (the team) should contact 45 the staff member(s) with the @Tournament manager role first and foremost. The member(s) of GCSL: Staff with the @Tournament manager role is/are considered the primary GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative(s). In case(s) when the primary tournament representative(s) is/are unable to attend to the team’s issue in time, they (the team) may contact any other available member of GCSL: Staff. 50 GCSL: Paladins Moderators are a group of people with the moderator role assigned to them. There may be more than one moderator. The purpose of moderator(s) is to aid the staff with monitoring of all discord server activity, to ensure compliance with community and player rules. Moderators also aid with monitoring any official GCSL: Paladins streams. GCSL: Paladins Moderators are not considered staff and are not authorised to take part 55 in resolving any conflict situation(s) that may arise during the tournament. It is for this reason that moderators may take part in the tournament as players or team staff. 5 1.2 GCSL: Paladins Tournament GCSL: Paladins Tournament is a league-based tournament with a monetary prize pool run by Global CyberSports League (GCSL). The tournament is played in a multi-player, online, PvP, team-based first-person-shooter esports title Paladins: Champions of the Realm, 60 developed by Evil Mojo Games studios. GCSL: Paladins Tournament is played in three (3) distinct stages: 1. Qualification stage 2. Closed stage 3. Playoff stage 65 Qualification stage consists of a series of one-day, single-elimination tournaments, played over the span seven (7) to nine (9) weeks. Its purpose is provide a clear and well-defined barrier of entry into the league for willing teams. Winning teams of each individual qualification week move on to the closed stage. Winning teams of each individual qualification week are forbidden from participation in following qualification week(s) (if 70 applicable). Closed stage consists of ten (10) to eleven (11) one-day weekly events, during which teams that qualified to compete in a series of matches against each other (brackets as per appendix 1). The purpose of closed stage is to establish each team’s tournament rank (with respect to other teams). Top four (4) ranking teams at the end of closed stage move on to 75 playoff stage. Playoff stage consists of three (3) one-day events, during which GCSL: Paladins Tournament semifinals, loser’s final and grand final are played between teams that qualified to participate in playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament (as per appendix 2). The purpose of the playoff stage is to determine the winner of GCSL: Paladins Tournament 80 (winning team of grand final). 6 GCSL and its affiliates reserve the right to stream, cast, (pre)record, edit, save, store for an indefinite amount of time and upload any and all footage (including audio) collected during GCSL: Paladins Tournament. GCSL and its affiliates reserve the right to use participating team names, player names and their respective logos in marketing materials 85 (this includes GCSL merchandise) for GCSL: Paladins Tournament for an indefinite amount of time. 7 1.3 Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament consists of a minimum of seven (7) and a maximum of nine (9) competitive weeks. Each week, starting from the first week is assigned a serial number (1 through 9) and acts as a separate, small tournament. All matches 90 within each week are to be played in a single day. In case(s) where it is unreasonable to expect all matches to be completed in one day, a second competition day shall be announced by the official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative which will also be considered a part of the current competitive week. In order to be eligible to participate in Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament 95 or any and all later stages of GCSL: Paladins Tournament teams must comply with the following: 1. Teams must be comprised of 5 players and up to 2 substitute players as well as any number of tournament-side representative(s). This includes, but not limited to: manager(s), owner(s), coach(es), supporting staff authorised to represent the team at 100 tournaments. 2. At least 3 main roster players must be in the SEA region. Exceptions to this may occur, but only if authorised by the CEO/COO of GCSL: Paladins. 3. Teams must sign up within the allotted time frame, by filling in the sign-up form correctly. See section 1.3.1 for more information. 105 4. Team rosters are not subject to change after signing up, and must remain unchanged for the duration of the competitive week of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Please see section 1.3.1 for more information. 5. Team name is not subject to change after signing up, and must remain unchanged for the duration of the competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 110 6. Team names must be written with letters contained in the english alphabet and must not contain foul language, sexual/racist/sexist undertones and must be presentable (professional). Humorous names are allowed, as long as they are not deemed offensive. 8 7. Teams must conform to allotted tournament timelines (this includes, but is not limited to sign-up stage, game starting time). 115 8. Teams must conform to GCSL: Paladins Tournament rules and guidelines at all times during the tournament, in the official discord server of GCSL: Paladins, on any stream(s) of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, and all social media in any way associated with GCSL. 9. Teams and their representatives are not allowed to promote in any way (this includes, but is not limited to endorsement, product placement) products, services, legal and private 120 entities, political parties, etc in GCSL discord servers, on GCSL social media and official GCSL streams. Exceptions occur if the promoted entity is an official tournament sponsor/affiliate, or if this promotion is directly authorised by both the CEO of GCSL and CEO of GCSL: Paladins. 10.Teams should have at least one member with a PayPal account. The entire monetary prize 125 for the team (if applicable) will be sent to one person only (the team’s representative). It is then up to the team to distribute said winnings amongst themselves. GCSL will not be held liable for the way that team members distribute the winnings amongst themselves. In order to participate in GCSL: Paladins Tournament, teams must first sign up to Qualification stage. Teams must sign up in advance (before the closing of the sign-up stage, 130 see details in section 1.3.1) to participate in the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Each week has independant sign-up stages, and teams must sign up for each week individually. Due to the public nature of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, some or all of games/matches played as part of GCSL: Paladins Tournament may be streamed. Members of participating 135 teams, and all its representatives/managers/coaches/supporting staff etc are strictly forbidden to disclose any information regarding the tournament (this includes, but ont limited to: brackets, participating teams, match results, etc) with anyone outside of the current competitive event or members of GCSL: Paladins Staff. Failiure to comply may lead to severe disciplinary measures incurred by the individual and/or his/her team. This non- 9 140 disclosure clause is in effect until the corresponding competitive event’s stream has been concluded. By signing up teams confirm that their members have read and agree with the rules of the tournament and the community (found in #community-rules #player-rules #banned- content and in this document). 1.3.1 Qualification Stage: Sign-up procedure 145 Sign-up for Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is handled on a per-week basis, therefore teams wishing to participate in multiple weeks of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification Stage must sign up multiple times (individually for each week). Teams can sign up for Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament as early as three (3) days in advance, and no later than three (3) hours and one (1) minute before the 150 first round of games start. The sign-ups will close three (3) hours before the first game starts at which point no further teams will be allowed into the tournament. In order to sign up, a team representative (this can be: team owner, team manager, team coach, supporting team staff authorised to represent the team in tournaments or any other individual authorised to represent the team in tournaments) must follow the link in the 155 #team-signup channel and fill out the appropriate form within the sign-up duration declaring that the team wishes to compete in the upcoming competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Any sign-up declarations posted outside the allotted time-frame of the upcoming competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament are automatically void. All sign-up declarations posted by 160 individuals not authorised to represent their team are automatically void. Please note that the above is the primary method for signing-up to the GCSL: Paladins Tournament. In the event that the online form is (for any reason) unavailable, the team’s representative must contact an official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative immediately. In such an event, the team(s) may be instructed to use the #backup-team-sign-up channel (found on 10 165 GCSL: Paladins discord server) in order to sign-up. In this case, all sign-up declarations must be contained within a single message (one message per team), and must use the following formula: <Team name> would like to compete in week <week №>. Our roster is <list of main roster player’s Discord names and in-game names> with <list of substitute player’s Discord 170 names and in-game names> as subs. Our additional staff are <team owner discord name> - owner, <team manager(s) discord name(s)> - manager(s), <team coach(es) discord name(s)> - coach(es), <list of additional staff> - additional staff. Do not attempt at any stage, for any reason to duplicate your sign-up declarations. Do not use the #backup-team-sign-up channel unless specifically instructed to do so 175 by a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff. Any sign-up form that does not include five (5) in-game player names and their respective discord names (including discord tags #0000) are automatically void. All rosters must be declared during the sign up process and are not subject to change for the duration of the current competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins 180 Tournament. If the team does not have one of the staff positions listed in the formula, their representative is to leave the relevant field blank in the sign-up declaration (for e.g. if the team does not have a coach do not include anything regarding coaches in the declaration). Rosters of teams planning to participate in GCSL: Paladins Tournament must not contain 185 members of other teams, or other team’s staff. Only the following exceptions may occur:  a player listed as a substitute player of a non-qualified team may also be registered (and play) as a substitute player for another non-qualified team. This can occur in Qualification stage only; 11  a manager of a non-qualified team may be registered (and play) as a substitute player for 190 another non-qualified team. This can occur in Qualification stage only and only if said team manager is not a member of any of the two (2) team’s main roster. After the sign-up time-window closes an official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative or a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff will send a private message to whomever posted the sign-up declaration in the server, confirming the sign-up. 195 If the confirmation of sign-up has not been received, then teams may consider the sign- up denied. GCSL: Paladins Staff and/or Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative are not liable for denial of sign-up due to Discord privacy settings of the individual who posted the sign-up declaration. GCSL: Paladins Staff and/or Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative are not liable for any damage such a technical denial of sign-up 200 may cause. Team(s) that have been denied sign-up may contact a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff for the reason of denial. GCSL: Paladins Staff and/or Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative are free to revoke the denial of sign-up to any team at their discretion. As a general rule, smurf accounts are not permitted into GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 205 Exceptions may occur, but must be authorised by either the CEO of GCSL: Paladins, or the COO of GCSL: Paladins. The decision of whether to permit a player to compete on a smurf account is left to the discrection of the CEO/COO of GCSL: Paladins. If one or more player’s credentials change between the submission of the sign-up form and the the end of the current (or upcoming) competitive event’s sign-up window, a member 210 of GCSL: Paladins Staff must be notified of the change. The notified member of GCSL: Paladins Staff may ask the team captain in question to submit a new, corrected sign-up form. If a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff is not notified of any and all such changes before the sign-up window closes, the team in question is subject to automatic disqualification. 12 1.3.2 Qualification Stage: Pre-match preparations Upon receiving confirmation that the sign-up is accepted, the team in question is 215 considered a participant of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification Stage. This involves assigning @Player, @Team Owner and @Team Captain/Manager roles to its members (those present on the official GCSL: Paladins server). These roles are granted temporarily for the duration of the competitive event and are assigned as per the completed sign-up form. The roles in question grant access to tournament-related discord text and voice channels on 220 the official GCSL: Paladins server, allowing participating teams to compete in GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification Stage. Some clarification with regards to the @Team Owner, @Team Captain/Manager and @Player roles: @Team Owner is a role given to a member of highest authority within a participating 225 team. Every team must have one of its members assigned as @Team Owner. If the sign-up form field for “team owner” is left blank, then the @Team Owner shall be assigned to whomever filled in the sign-up form. @Team Captain/Manager is a role given to member(s) of a team with elevated authority within the team. Members assigned the @Team Captain/Manager role have the right to act 230 in place of the @Team Owner when he/she is unavailable. This role is not mandatory, and teams may choose to omit this position entirely. Teams are heavily discouraged from assigning more than one person as @Team Captain/Manager. A person cannot be assigned the @Team Owner and @Team Captain/Manager role at the same time. @Player role is assigned to members of participating teams that will compete in-game. 235 This role may be assigned in conjunction with the @Team Owner and @Team Captain/Manager roles. There is no distinction between main roster players and substitute players and both will be assigned the @Player role. 13 The seed of participating teams is to be determined by their past performance relative to each other, and takes the form of a positive integer value between 1 and n (n>1 being 240 assigned as the lowest seed value in any given competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Upper bound of the seed number (n) is only limited by the amount of teams participating in any given competitive week of Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament). In the event(s) that a new (yet unknown to the tournament staff) team joins, the team in question will be assigned the lowest seed value in the 245 tournament. In the event of multiple new (yet unknown to the tournament staff) teams joining, their seed will be determined by the average ranked elo+ rating of active roster players as displayed on https://paladins.guru/ at the time of seeding (disregarding substitute players), with the higher seed assigned to the team with the higher average elo+ rating. In the event(s) that the website https://paladins.guru/ is unavailable, or both teams in question 250 have the same average elo+ rating their seed order will be determined by alphabetical order of their team names (according to the english alphabet). Once the seed values of all teams participating in Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament have been determined, Qualification brackets for the current competitive week are created. The first round of games must be set up such that no matches should be played 255 by teams of adjacent seed (if at all possible). Additionally, no match should be played between teams of extremely differing seeds (for eg. The top seed team must not (if at all possible) play versus the lowest seed team). Starting brackets for the week will be announced two (2) hours before the first round of games start, and made available only to participating teams and their members. 260 Before starting games (joining custom lobby) both teams have the opportunity to ban up to two (2) maps. Teams may choose to ban less than two (2) maps, including refraining from banning any maps (banning zero (0) maps). This, however, does not restrict the opposing team to ban up to two (2) maps. Thus a situation where Team 1 does not ban any maps, and their opposing team bans two (2) maps of their choosing is allowed. Unused bans do not 265 accumulate, and every individual game is treated separately. 14 The ban and pick order are as follows:  Lower seed bans first map, teams then take turns banning after which lower seed picks the first map to be played and gets second pick.  Second game map is picked by higher seed. Maps for all ensuing games are then picked 270 by the losing team. The entire process of banning and picking maps is to be conducted in private messages. Matches played as part of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification Stage are to be played only upon being announced by an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative. After the announcement is published, teams are given up to fifteen (15) 275 minutes to get into a custom lobby, if technical difficulties occur please contact a member of GCSL: Paladins staff or the Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative. Teams may choose to complete the champion banning and selection phase (draft phase) of the first game in the match outside of the game (on a website such as https://www.paladins-draft.com/ ) before an announcement is made regarding the start of 280 the matches. If one of the participating teams is late to the game (arrives 15 minutes and 1 second after the game has been announced or later) or in case(s) where it is clear that one or both of the participating team(s) are not able to get into a game lobby within the allotted time, an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative must be notified immediately. The 285 Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative will then decide (at his/her discretion) on further course of action which may range from a re-scheduling of the game/match with no penalties for either party, to automatic game/match victories being granted. We expect teams to participate in their games as scheduled. In the event that (for any reason) a team cannot participate, the opposing team may be granted an automatic victory 290 in the game, or the match. Inability to participate in the current competitive week’s games will not lead to an automatic ban or disqualification from participating in next week’s games, 15 unless this keep occurring (the threshold of occurence rate is left up to the discretion of GCSL: Paladins staff, as well as GCSL: Paladins CEO/COO). After completing the draft phase of a game in a match, the owner/captain/official 295 representative of participating teams must post a screenshot image of the completed draft, including champion bans in #draft-report text channel on the official GCSL: Paladins Discord server. As soon as the image is uploaded to the correct channel, teams may start their games. Failiure to post a screenshot of the upcoming game’s draft in the correct channel 300 before the start of the game may result in penalties including but not limited to: replaying game, restarting game (counts as one of team’s available bug restarts, if applicable), disqualification (if this keeps occuring). 1.3.3 Qualification Stage: In-game All matches are to be played as BO3 (best of three (3) - meaning that a maximum of three (3) games can be played, and the team that first accumulates two (2) wins in the matchup is 305 declared the winner of the match). In-game lobbies must be set up with the following settings: 1. All games must be played on SEA servers of Paladins: Champions of the Realm. 2. All games must be played in siege game mode with ranked character picking/banning mode, third person view disabled, allowed spectators and no spectator password. 310 In the event that any team encounters a bug while playing in either Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament or the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, the procedure for dealing with the situation is as follows: In case of minor bugs/glitches (these include, but are not limited to Sha Lin FPS drops, 315 getting stuck on Warder’s Gate crystal, near-wall increased jump height not working, etc.) the teams are to ignore the issue and continue playing. 16 In case of major performance hindering/game-breaking bugs (including but not limited to game lobby switching regions mid-game, characters “teleporting” around the map, characters unable to move/use abilities for an extended period of time) the team suffering 320 from the bug(s) may choose restart the game, but no more than 2 restarts are permitted per match. Game restarts may occur at any point in the game, exceptions to this shall occur only during match-game, where restarts will be allowed until (and including) one team earns 2 in-game points. After that point any restarts will also involve a new map pick and a new draft. 325 Any and all restarts must be authorised by an official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative. In case(s), where the encountered bug is initiated/caused by a specific character/combination of characters the teams are permitted to restart not only the game but also re-complete the drafting phase (select a new draft for each of the teams). 330 In case(s) where a bug(s) is/are discovered which grant an unfair advantage to one of the teams, the game is to stop immediately (be paused) and an official tournament representative notified immediately. An official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative shall then evaluate the situation and decide on further course of action at their discretion. In case(s) where it is clear that the offending team exploited the bug knowingly they will incur a 335 penalty. The penalty shall be decided upon by the official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative, and can range from no penalty, to a full permanent ban from competing in the tournament again (at the discretion of the official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative). In case(s) where one or more players from one or both teams in a match are disconnected 340 from the game’s servers the in-game captains of the teams involved may choose to pause the game using the in-game tools provided. No more than two (2) pauses are to occur in any one given game, and the sum total of time paused must not exceed 5 minutes. The game may be paused at any point, regardless of the amount of points either of the participating 17 teams have gained. If the disconnected players fail to reconnect to the match lobby in the 345 allotted time, the game may be restarted (restart rules stated above still apply). If a restart of the game is impossible an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative will make a decision on the manner in which the match shall proceed which may range from allotting more pause time, granting an additional restart of the game or granting a technical victory in the game or the match to one of the teams involved. This decision is left to the Official 350 GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative’s discretion. If it is discovered that one or more participating team’s in-game rosters contain one or more players (main roster or substitute) who have not been included in the sign-up form of those teams, or whose in-game names do not match with the ones in the sign-up form the game/match results involving those teams are subject to becoming void. Additional 355 penalties may also occur (including but not limited to: disqualification, a temporary/permanent ban of the offending player or the offending team), as per the discretion of an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative. 1.3.4 Qualification Stage: Post-match After the match has finished, and the winner of the BO3 has been determined, either the manager(s)/owner(s)/authorised representative(s) of both participating teams must fill out 360 the google-form (link found in #end-of-game-results) with an appropriate screenshot of in- game results and draft phase. All screenshots must contain player stats from both teams, with match ID clearly visible. In the event(s) that the google-form is unavailable (for any reason), team manager(s)/owner(s)/authorised representative(s) of both participating teams must send 365 screenshots of end-of-game results of all games in the match to #end-of-game-results. All sent screenshots must be contained within one discord message, and must be clearly labelled in text, using the following formula: <Team name 1>: <№ of wins in match>; <Team name 2>: <№ of wins in match> (example: Fnatic: 1 win; Na’vi: 2 wins). All screenshots must contain player stats from both teams, with match ID clearly visible. Screenshots should be 18 370 attached to the message as pictures with the map picking/banning phase screenshot(s) being the first attached image(s). All other screenshots should be attached in chronological order. Any game/match results submitted without visible/reported match ID numbers are subject to being void. Any and all matches outcomes of which have not been properly documented and 375 submitted correctly are subject to being void. If discrepancies in end-of-game data are revealed or suspicion of altering the end-of-game data (in any way, shape or form) is raised, penalties will occur and punishment will be decided on by either the GCSL CEO/COO, GCSL: Paladins CEO/COO or a GCSL: Paladins staff member appointed by either the GCLS CEO/COO or GCSL: Paladins CEO/COO, and 380 can range from granting technical defeats to permanent bans of offending teams. 1.3.5 Qualification Stage: Additional regulations In case(s) where suspicion is raised that match-fixing has occurred (this includes but not limited to: pre-determination of a game/match outcome by two teams and/or their manager(s)/owner(s)/supporting staff etc.; losing the match by “intentionally feeding” the opponent; leaving the game (afk)) the offending team(s) shall incur the following penalties: 385 1. match fixing in Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament: 50USD fine. In addition the offending team is immediately disqualified and the players are banned for an additional season of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. This does not players not directly involved in fixed matches. 2. match fixing in Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament: 100USD fine. In addition 390 the offending team is immediately disqualified and the players are banned for two (2) additional seasons of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. This does not players not directly involved in fixed matches. 19 3. match fixing in Semifinals of GCSL: Paladins Tournament: 250USD fine. In addition the offending team is immediately disqualified and the players are banned permanently. 395 This does not players not directly involved in fixed matches. 4. match fixing in loser’s final of GCSL: Paladins Tournament: 500USD fine. In addition the offending team is immediately disqualified and the players are banned permanently. This does not players not directly involved in fixed matches. 5. match fixing in grand final of GCSL: Paladins Tournament: 1500USD fine or the current 400 prize-pool of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, whichever amount is larger. In addition the offending team is immediately disqualified and the players are banned permanently. This does not players not directly involved in fixed matches. If banned players attempt to participate in GCSL: Paladins Tournament their teams shall be fined 50 USD for every game played within GCSL: Paladins Tournament per banned 405 player. If at any point during any stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament any player of a team participating in the GCSL: Paladins Tournament is found to be using performance- enhancing software (including, but not limited to overlay crosshairs, aimbot, aimlock, wallhacks) and/or substances (this does not include sugar-rich drinks, energy drinks, coffee, 410 caffeine-supplemented drinks) the team that the offending player is a part of is immediately disqualified from the tournament. Additionally, the offending player is banned from ever participating in the GCSL: Paladins Tournament (banned for life) and fined in accordance with the match-fixing fine rates, per offending software piece/substance used. In the event that a team participating in any stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is 415 disqualified during the proceeding of GCSL: Paladins Tournament it shall from that point in time onwards be treated as a team that is unable to participate in further games/matches/stages of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. In the event that a player(s) participating in any stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament whilst being under the influence of alcohol or any substance considered a narcotic substance, 20 420 according to the player(s) local laws, the team of the offending player(s) is allowed to substitute the offending player immediately. This substitution can occur mid-match. Game restarts are allowed in this case, and do not count towards bug-related game restarts. In the event(s) that this situation keeps occurring within one team, the right to substitute the player(s) mid-match may be denied at the discretion of GCSL: Paladins Staff. 425 In the event(s) that one or more player(s) or team staff come forward with information and proof that the team they are a roster member of (or a staff/substitute player for) is planning to abuse in-game bugs/use performance-enhancing software/use performance- enhancing drugs/”fix” the outcome of the match, and this information is confirmed in-game (i.e. the team in question actually uses/abuses said in-game bugs/ performance-enhancing 430 software/performance-enhancing drugs/”fix” the outcome of the match) then the player(s) or any team staff that informed the official GCSL: Paladins Staff member will not be subject to the same punishment their team receives. This information and proof must be presented in advance of the team’s offence for this clause to take effect. In the event(s) that a player(s) or team staff come forward with information and proof 435 after the offence already took place and this fact goes unnoticed by official GCSL: Paladins Staff and GCSL: Paladins Moderators, that a team they are a roster member of (or a staff/substitute player for) used/abused any in-game bugs/performance-enhancing software/performance-enhancing drugs/”fixed” the outcome of the match, and this information is confirmed, an official GCSL: Paladins representative, the CEO/COO of 440 GCSL or CEO/COO of GCSL: Paladins may choose to re-evaluate the disciplinary action towards the player(s)/team staff that came forward. This may range from relieving the player(s)/team staff in question of any and all penalties, to the player(s)/team staff in question receiving the same punishment as the rest of the offending team. In case(s) where a team(s) is/are falsely accused of abusing bug(s)/performance- 445 enhancing software/performance-enhancing substances/match-fixing etc, the offending (falsely accusing) players/teams will incur a penalty. The severity of the penalty shall 21 loosely correspond to the severity of the false accusation, but is left to the discretion of the official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative. Each individual week of the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is played 450 in a play-off manner. The losing team in each individual matchup is “eliminated” from further participation in the current week, whilst the winning team will face the victor of the neighbouring match (addendum: in the event that the number of teams that sign up for the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament prevents them from being distributed in the starting brackets such that all teams have an opponent in the first round, the official 455 GCSL: Paladins representative reserves the right to place team(s) directly into the second or further stages of the week’s competition bracket as he/she sees fit). At the end of each week one “week final” will be held, between two (2) teams, resulting in the determination of one (1) winning team (henceforth referred to as: winner of week №X; where X – is the number of the week during which the team qualified). The winning 460 team of the week is automatically qualified to participate in the closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. No loser’s finals shall be held in the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Teams that have won a week in the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament in the current season of the GCSL: Paladins Tournament are forbidden to sign up for the 465 following (if applicable) weeks of the current season of Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. This resets upon the start of a new season of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Teams that have been eliminated in the previous week(s) are able to sign up for the following week(s) (if applicable) of the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 470 The winning team of the previous season grand final is automatically qualified into the closed stage as winners of week №1 of the GCSL: Paladins Tournament and do not participate in the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 22 1.4 Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament consists of a minimum of ten (10) and a maximum of eleven (11) weeks. 475 Each week consists of one (1) event at which three (3) matches will be played between teams that qualified for the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. For week and games schedule, please refer to appendix 1. Due to public nature of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, all members of all qualified teams, including substitute players, managers, coaches, etc must be present on the official GCSL: 480 Paladins Discord server. Due to the public nature of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, some or all of games/matches played as part of GCSL: Paladins Tournament may be streamed. Members of participating teams, and all its representatives/managers/coaches/supporting staff etc are forbidden to disclose any information regarding tournament brackets, participating teams, and match 485 results with anyone outside of the current competitive event or members of GCSL: Paladins Staff. Failiure to comply may lead to severe disciplinary measures incurred by the individual and/or his/her team. This non-disclosure clause is in effect until the corresponding competitive event’s stream has been concluded. All teams qualified to participate in the Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament 490 must have a team logo, and a team colour. These must be forwarded to one of GCSL: Paladins Staff before the start of Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. If a team qualified to participate in the Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament does not have a logo by the start of Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, their participation may be delayed, until a team logo has been sent to a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff. If the team(s) 495 in question have no access to a graphic designer, they may commission one an appointed GCSL: Paladins Staff member to create a team logo. All submitted team logos must: 23 1. at least 512x512 resolution; 2. must not contain any art/imagery/logos/other content copyright to which is owned 500 by a third party; 3. have a transparent background; 4. be contained in a .png, .psd or .ai file format; 5. use sRGB colourspace; 6. be advertiser-friendly. 505 In the event that a team(s) that has/have completed the Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament fail(s) to sign up for the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament in the allotted time, or withdraw(s) from participating in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament before its start (an) additional week(s) of Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament will be announced. 510 In the event of a team withdrawing from the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament after its start and already having played at least one (1) game in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament the offending team will incur a penalty in the form of a fee of 10 USD + 5 USD for every game played in closed stage. In the event of a team withdrawing from the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament after its start but before any games have 515 been played no fines will be incurred. An additional week of Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament will be announced to determine a replacement team. A re-match will take place of all matches (in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament) that the offending team played in. Match results that were not affected by the team in question withdrawing from the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament retain effect (unaffected 520 match results stay). 24 1.4.1 Closed Stage: Roster changes Teams that have successfully completed the Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament may change up to two (2) main roster players between the moment they qualify for the Closed Stage and the start of Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. This does not include substitute players. 525 Once the start Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is officially announced, the roster of all teams participating in the Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament must not change. Exceptions may occur only in case(s) where it is impossible to sustain current rosters due to an unforseen or an unmitigateble force(s)/circumstance(s). Such mid-stage roster changes must be authorised by a CEO of GCSL and the CEO of GCSL: Paladins 530 before taking effect. 1.4.2 Closed Stage: Sign-up procedure Each team qualified to participate in Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament must sign up for the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament no earlier than the moment the winner of the final week of Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament has been determined and no later than one day before the start of the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins 535 Tournament. Each team only has to sign up once for the entire duration of the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. In order to sign up, a team representative (this can be: team owner, team manager, team coach, supporting team staff authorised to represent the team in tournaments or any other 540 individual authorised to represent the team in tournaments) must follow the link in the #team-signup channel and fill out the appropriate google form within the sign-up duration declaring that the team wishes to compete in the upcoming competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Any sign-up declarations posted outside the allotted time-frame of the upcoming competitive week of Qualification Stage of 25 545 GCSL: Paladins Tournament are automatically void. All sign-up declarations posted by individuals not authorised to represent their team are automatically void. Please note that the above is the primary method for signing-up to the GCSL: Paladins Tournament. By signing up teams confirm that their members have read and agree with the rules of the tournament and the community (found in #community-rules #player-rules 550 #banned-content and in this document). In the event that the google form is (for any reason) unavailable, the team’s representative must contact an official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative immediately. In such an event, the team(s) may be instructed to use the #backup-team-sign-up channel (found on GCSL: Paladins discord server) in order to sign-up. In this case, all sign-up declarations 555 must be contained within a single message (one message per team), and must use the following formula: <Team name> would like to compete in week <week №>. Our roster is <list of main roster player’s Discord names and in-game names> with <list of substitute player’s Discord names and in-game names> as subs. Our additional staff are <team owner discord name> - 560 owner, <team manager(s) discord name(s)> - manager(s), <team coach(es) discord name(s)> - coach(es), <list of additional staff> - additional staff. Do not attempt at any stage, for any reason to duplicate your sign-up declarations. Do not use the #backup-team-sign-up channel unless specifically instructed to do so by a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff. 565 Any sign-up form that does not include five (5) in-game player names and their respective discord names (including discord tags #0000) are subject to be void. All rosters must be declared during the sign up process and are not subject to change for the duration of the current competitive week of Qualification Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 26 570 If the team does not have one of the staff positions listed in the formula, their representative is to leave the relevant field blank in the sign-up declaration (for e.g. if the team does not have a coach do not include anything regarding coaches in the declaration). After the sign-up time-window closes an official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative or a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff will send a private message to 575 whomever posted the sign-up declaration in the server, confirming the sign-up. If the confirmation of sign-up has not been received, then teams may consider the sign- up denied. GCSL: Paladins Staff and/or Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative are not liable for denial of sign-up due to Discord privacy settings of the individual who posted the sign-up declaration. GCSL: Paladins Staff and/or Official GCSL: Paladins 580 Tournament representative are not liable for any damage such a technical denial of sign-up may cause. Team(s) that have been denied sign-up may contact a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff for the reason of denial. As a general rule, smurf accounts are not permitted into GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Exceptions may occur, but must be authorised by either the CEO of GCSL: Paladins, or the 585 COO of GCSL: Paladins. The dicision of whether to permit a player to compete on a smurf account is left to the discrection of the CEO/COO of GCSL: Paladins. If one or more player’s credentials change between the submission of the sign-up form and the closing of the sign-up window, a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff must be notified of the change. The notified member of GCSL: Paladins Staff may ask the team captain in 590 question to submit a new, corrected sign-up form. If a member of GCSL: Paladins Staff is not notified of any and all such changes before the sign-up window closes, the team in question is subject to automatic disqualification. Upon receiving confirmation of sign-up confirmation, the team in question is considered a participant of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Closed Stage. This involves assigning 595 @Player, @Team Owner and @Team Captain/Manager roles to its members (those present on the official GCSL: Paladins server). These roles are granted temporarily for the duration 27 of the Closed Stage and are assigned as per the completed sign-up form. The roles in question grant access to tournament-related discord text and voice channels on the official GCSL: Paladins server, allowing participating teams to compete in GCSL: Paladins 600 Tournament Closed Stage. 1.4.3 Closed Stage: Pre-game preparation Matches played as part of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Qualification Stage are to be played only upon being announced by an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament Representative. After the announcement is published, teams are given up to thirty (30) minutes to get into a custom lobby, if technical difficulties occur please contact a member 605 of GCSL: Paladins staff or the Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative. Map banning/selection phase as well as champion ban/selection phase rules a guidelines are the same as in section 1.3.2. If one of the participating teams is late to the game (arrives 30 minutes and 1 second after the game has been announced or later) or in case(s) where it is clear that one or both of the 610 participating team(s) are not able to get into a game lobby within the allotted time, an Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative must be notified immediately. The Official GCSL: Paladins Tournament representative will then decide (at his/her discretion) on further course of action which may range from a re-scheduling of the game/match with no penalties for either party, to fines being incured by the offending team as defined by fine 615 rates of a team leaving the Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 1.4.4 Closed Stage: In-game All games in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament are to be played as BO3 (best of three (3)). For rules and guidelines regarding in-game bugs, please see section 1.3.3. 28 1.4.5 Closed Stage: Post-match End-of-match results reporting method is unchanged from the Qualification Stage, please 620 refer to section 1.3.4. 1.4.6 Closed Stage: Additional regulations Same match fixing/unauthorised software policies as described in section 1.3.5 apply. The Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is set up such that each participating team plays one match vs every other participating team in the duration of the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament (during the ten (10) to eleven (11) weeks it takes place). In 625 the unlikely event that this does not take place, the team(s) in question must contact a GCSL: Paladins Tournament official immediately. At the end of the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, each team will be given a tournament ranking in the form of a numerical value. This numerical value is equal to the number of match wins that the team has achieved during the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins 630 Tournament. In the event that two (or more) teams have the same number of wins, their relative rank (tournament position) shall be determined by the results of their matches in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament such that the team that has won a match versus another team with the same number of wins shall be ranked above the other team. In the unlikely event of 3 or more teams completing the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins 635 Tournament with same number of wins and no clear relative position with respect to each other, rankings will be assigned according to the week number(s) that the teams in question qualified in (for e.g. Winner of week 1 with N wins will be ranked higher that Winner of week 2 with N wins and so on, where N is any positive integer between 1 and 7). In the unlikely event of all teams completing the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins 640 Tournament with same number of wins an extra (eleventh (11)) week will be announced, with rules as per Qualification stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament brackets to determine their ratings, with the exception that all games in week eleven (11) of Closed stage of GCSL: 29 Paladins Tournament shall be played as BO1 (Best of 1 game). The results of week eleven (11) shall then be used to determine the tournament positions of all teams. 645 After tournament positions of all teams participating in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament have been determined, top four (4) teams shall proceed to the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. Bottom four (4) teams (teams ranking 5 through to 8) are eliminated from further participation in the tournament, barring the withdrawal of one of the top four teams from 650 participation in the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. 30 1.5 Playoff Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament shall be played according to the playoff brackets (see appendix 2), and take place over three (3) competitive days. Semifinals are to be played on the first competitive day. There must be a break of at least one calendar day between the semifinals and the second competitive day. Loser’s final shall be played on the 655 second competitive day. Grand final shall take place on the third competitive day. Second and third competitive days do not have to be consecutive calendar days. All three competitive days must take place in the span of at most 14 calendar days. Due to the public nature of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, some or all of games/matches played as part of GCSL: Paladins Tournament may be streamed. Members of participating 660 teams, and all its representatives/managers/coaches/supporting staff etc are forbidden to disclose any information regarding tournament brackets, participating teams, and match results with anyone outside of the current competitive event or members of GCSL: Paladins Staff. Failiure to comply may lead to severe disciplinary measures incurred by the individual and/or his/her team. This non-disclosure clause is in effect until the corresponding 665 competitive event’s stream has been concluded. 1.5.1 Playoff Stage: Roster changes Teams that have successfully completed the Closed Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament may change up to one (1) main roster player between the moment they qualify for the Playoff Stage and the start of Playoff Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament. This does not include substitute players. 670 Once the start Playoff Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament is officially announced, the roster of all teams participating in the Playoff Stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament must not change. Exceptions may occur only in case(s) where it is impossible to sustain current rosters due to an unforseen or an unmitigateble force(s)/circumstance(s). Such mid-stage 31 roster changes must be authorised by a CEO of GCSL and the CEO of GCSL: Paladins 675 before taking effect. 1.5.2 Playoff Stage: Sign-up procedure Teams qualified to participate in the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament must confirm their attendance by signing up no earlier than the moment all participating team’s (in the Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament) rank (tournament position) has been determined and no later than one (1) day before the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins 680 Tournament starts. The same sign-up procedure as described in sections 1.3.1 and/or 1.4.2 applies here. In the event that a team(s) qualified to play in the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament fails to sign up in the allotted time, or is/are unable/unwilling to participate in the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament the next highest ranking eliminated 685 team(s) in Closed stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament shall take their place. 1.5.3 Playoff Stage: Pre-match preparations Please refer to sections 1.3.2 and/or 1.4.3. 1.5.4 Playoff Stage: In-game The Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament consists of four (4) matches: two (2) semifinals, a losers final and a grand final.  The semifinals are to be played as BO5 (best of five (5)). 690  The loser’s finals are to be played as BO7 (best of seven (7)).  The grand finals are to be played as BO9 (best of nine (9)). The rest of in-game rules and guidelines apply as described in sections 1.3.3 and/or 1.4.4. 32 1.5.5 Playoff Stage: Post-match Please refer to sections 1.3.4 and/or 1.4.5. 1.5.6 Playoff Stage: Additional regulations Same match fixing/unauthorised software policies as described in section 1.3.5 apply. 695 The Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament consists of four (4) matches: two (2) semifinals, a losers final and a grand final. Teams that have lost in their respective semifinal matches, shall go on to play in the loser’s final. Teams that won in their respective semifinal matches shall go on to play in the grand finals. 700 At the end of the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament three teams shall be placed in first (1st), second (2nd) and third (3rd) places as follows:  1st - winner of the grand final.  2nd - loser of the grand final.  3rd - winner of the loser’s final. 705 In the event that one of the teams eligible to play in the losers final is unable to play in the losers final of the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, an automatic victory shall be granted to their opposing team. In the event that one of the teams qualified to play in the grand final is unable to play in the grand final of the Playoff stage of GCSL: Paladins Tournament, an automatic victory 710 shall be granted to their opposing team. Furthermore, the team in question (that is unable to participate) does not receive a Tournament ranking (does not take second place in the tournament). In such case(s) the other teams tournament rankings are not re-distributed, resulting in only a 1st place team and a 3rd place team being determined. 33