Introduction

The tournament will run for a total of x weeks. x will be determined by the number of teams signed up to the tournament by the official 'closure of sign-ups' date. If at that time, more than 12 teams are entered in to the tournament, the tournament will last for half that number of weeks. If there are less than 12 teams, it will last for that many weeks.

Once the tournament has ended, the top 50% of teams based on their ranking will participate in the finals. Some finals matches will allow the losing team to play again before being given a ranking, and other will be knock-out matches.

Before the tournament starts, all teams will be matched up against all other teams over the duration of the tournament. Each week of the tournament, matches will be played on a different game-type to the last. All matches are to be played on a set rotation of maps, which will also change from week to week.

Matches will consist of up to three (3) 20 minute rounds, or two (2) 15/15 minute rounds, depending on the game-type

Best efforts will be made to have a tournament official present at all matches, but all participating players are required to record demos, and if requested by a tournament official, submit them.

Registering A Team

All teams must be registered with a tournament administrator before the official 'Closure of Sign-ups' date. This date will be announced before sign-ups begin. A team cannot be entered in to the tournament once sign-ups have been closed. The only exception that could possibly be made to this rule is if an entire team drops from the tournament half way through, and another team wishes to take their place. Schedules and scoring will not be altered if this occurs.

Teams must consist of at least one (1) captain and five (5) members. There is no limit on the number of members a team can invite, but prizes will not change based on your team size.

Throughout the duration of the tournament, each team will be allowed to make up to three (3) modifications to their team. A modification is considered to be the addition of a player, not the dropping of one.

A player may only be registered for, and play for, 1 team in the tournament. If a player is found to have played for another team in a match, they will be removed from the tournament. Any team caught with an unregistered player or ring-in will forfeit any match they participated in. It is the responsibility of team captains to know who is playing for them.

Tournament Scheduling

Once sign-ups are closed, the tournament administrators will assign a game-type to each week of the tournament. All matches that are scheduled to be played during that week must be played on the set game-type.

After game-types have been set, teams will be matched-up randomly for the entire length of the tournament. These schedules are final and will not change once initially made.

Each week will have 3 set maps. The maps will be assigned to map 1, map 2 and map 3. They must be played in the order stated in the schedule.

It will be up to team captains to organise exact dates and times for tournament matches. All matches must occur within set dates (their set weeks). Match dates should be chosen up to a week in advance. If no decision on a date has been reached by the starting date of the competition week, contact a tournament administrator and they will intervene and schedule the map to the best of their ability. If you can show proof of one team deliberately being difficult in scheduling the match, that will be taken in your favour.

All match dates and times must be submitted to a tournament official before the match is played.

Match Game-Types

All matches are to be played on their set game-type. The rules will change slightly depending on what the game-type is for any particular match.

Game-Types available include:

Team Survivor - A Team Survivor match will consist of three (3) 20 minute maps. Each map will consist of as many two (2) minute rounds as it takes to fill 20 minutes. The total number of points will be added together across all three maps to reveal the final score for the match.
Capture the Flag - A Capture the Flag match will consist of two (2) 30 minute maps, each with two (2) 15 minute halves. Teams will swap sides each map at half time. The total number of flag captures will be added together across both maps to reveal the final score for the match.
Bomb Mode - A Bomb Mode match will consist of two (2) 30 minute maps, each with two (2) 15 minute halves. Each half will consist of as many two (2) minute rounds as it takes to fill 15 minutes. Teams will swap sides each map at half time. The total number of points will be added together across both maps to reveal the final score for the match.
Team Deathmatch - A Team Deathmatch match will consist of two (2) 30 minute maps, each with two (2) 15 minute halves. Teams will swap sides each map at half time. The total number of points will be added together across both maps to reveal the final score for the match.

Scoring

A leaderboard will be viewable through out the duration of the tournament. This will rank all teams based on their tournament score.

A maximum of five (5) points can be earned per match. Points are award as follows:

Win - 4 points
Draw - 2 points
Loss - 1 point
Forfeit - 0 points
Tripling your opponents score - Additional 1 point

Match Information

Tournament Officials

Best efforts will be made to make sure a tournament official is present for every match through-out the tournament. All players must abide by the tournament official's instructions at all times, their word is final. Should your team be disruptive during the game after repeated requests by a tournament official to stop, you will forfeit the game. Should you continue to do this then your team will be removed from the tournament.

If a match server is not organised by a tournament official, the rcon password must be supplied to them.

Match Mode

Match Mode must be enabled for all tournament matches. Each Captain, upon entering the server, needs to join their respective team and type "/captain" in the console. This needs to be done at the start of each new map. If a captain needs to relinquish their role at any stage, they can remove themselves as captain by typing "/captain" once more in the console.

When a team is ready to commence play, the Captain should type "/ready" to signal that their team is ready. When both Captains have signalled their team's readiness in this manner, Matchmode will commence a countdown to the start of gameplay.

Spectators & Substitutes

Spectators are not permitted during a tournament match. However, each team may have substitute players present. In order to be a substitute, a team member should join their respective team and then type "/sub" in the console. They will then be listed as [SUB] on the scoreboard. This enables them to view only their teammates and talk only with their teammates. In order to remove themselves from being a substitute, players should type "/sub" once more in the console.

Teams may substitute players at any time during a match and there is no limit to the number of substitutions that may occur. Substitutions must be performed quickly so as to cause minimum interference to gameplay.

Player Rules and Team Numbers

The tournaments default number of players per side in a match is six (6). The minimum starting number allowed for matches is five (5). In the event that one team has only the competition minimum, the opposing team is not obliged to play with equal numbers.

Should a team lose a player or players via connection drop-out, they must continue playing, as the match will not be paused. If the number of players on a team in the server at any time during the course of a match falls below four (4), that team has five (5) minutes for a fourth player to connect otherwise that team will forfeit the match.

Screenshots and Demos

It is a requirement of the tournament that all players take screenshots upon completion of all maps. These can be requested by tournament officials at any time.

All players are strongly encouraged to record demos. If a team has not recorded a demo and a tournament official requests it, that team may forfeit the match. Demos are important as they may help to prove your teams' innocence in the event of a dispute.

Demoing is a function built into Matchmode. After both Captains ready their teams, a countdown will commence to the start of the map. At the same time, Matchmode will automatically begin a demo for each user. It is recommended that all players not stop this demo until the map has finished.

To stop the demo after the map ends, open the console and type "/stoprecord" or press the default bind of F12.

Personal Conduct

Players will be held to the highest standard of personal conduct at all times during the tournament. Simply put; be nice.

Any players back-chatting tournament officials will be immidiately suspended from the tournament. Teams are expected to treat each other with respect at all times, regardless of scenario. Abusive behaviour or accusations are totally unacceptable and will result in consequences against the player and team in question.

Messaging

All team discussion will be done in team chat only. If there is consistent public chat during a tournament match it will be considered as game disruption and may lead to the team's forfeit from the match. Only team captains are allowed to use public chat to conduct match business. Inappropriate commentary or rude/offensive remarks and unsportsmanlike behaviour made in public chat are grounds for forfeit loss.

All match participants are able to use public chat prior to the match commencing, during map breaks and after the match. Personal conduct rules still apply.

Cheating

No cheating will be permitted during the tournament. Any player caught cheating will be instantly removed from the tournament. It is up to the tournament administrators to decide whether the team will be allowed to continue participating in the tournament following the players removal.

Disputes

In the event that one team may believe the other team guilty of rule violations (including cheating), they may file a dispute with a tournament official.

Any member who is not a team captain is not permitted to report a dispute and will be summarily ignored. Only designated team captains are allowed to sit in on the dispute process unless a tournament official specifically requests the presence of other players.

Both teams involved in a dispute must take the following steps:

- A formal dispute must be filed with a tournament official within one day of the match being completed.
- Calmly and politely explain the situation and reason for the dispute in detail.
- The disputing team must have proof in the form of console logs, demos, screenshots, etc.
- If necessary, a tournament official will request the demos, screen shots, console logs from the opposing team.

False accusations are completely unacceptable and very annoying for tournament officials to deal with. Repeat false-accusers will be punished.