College Deadlock On-Season Rulebook

1. All times posted by College Deadlock in official channels are Eastern Standard Time (EST) unless otherwise noted, and are given as a Discord timestamp where possible.

1. Tournament staff should be contacted via the Tickets Bot. Email contact@collegedeadlock.com for other inquiries.

1. All rulings are final. Rule interpretation rests solely with tournament officials.

1. This rulebook applies to all College Deadlock Events.
2. Where this rulebook conflicts with the rulebook of a specific Event, the Event rulebook overrules this rulebook.
3. Where an Event rulebook is silent, this rulebook applies.

1. Each Team must have a Manager and/or Captain who acts as the Point of Contact for staff communications.
2. Rosters must include a minimum of 6 eligible players (a full Starting Lineup) at all times.
3. Teams may have up to 2 Substitute players, subject to the limits in section 2.5.

1. Team names must follow the format [Institution Name].[Optional Identifier] with a 3--6 character code for streams and Discord threads (e.g., Purdue University Black → PDU.B).
2. Team logos must comply with the represented Institution's code of conduct.
3. AI-generated logos are not permitted.

1. No roster changes are permitted after Roster Lock.
2. Emergency situations may be discussed with College Deadlock staff.

All players must meet the following requirements:

1. Players must be in good standing as determined by their Institution.
2. Players may not compete for more than one Team per Event.
3. Players must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 (4.0 scale) or 2.5 (5.0 scale).
4. Players must be enrolled at least half-time at their represented Institution or participating in an approved co-op, work-study, or employment program that fulfills a degree requirement.
5. Proof of enrollment may be requested from the Point of Contact by staff at any time. Accepted documentation includes enrollment letters, transcripts, or equivalent. This data will not be stored past verification.
6. Official requests for documentation will only come from support@collegedeadlock.com.
7. Players must compete on a single Steam account, declared at the start of the Event and linked to their account on College Deadlock's platform. The declared account must be in good standing, with no VAC bans.
   1. Players must link all Steam accounts used during the Event to their College Deadlock profile. The highest-ranked linked account determines the player's rank for seeding purposes.
   2. Smurfing or use of an undisclosed alternate account is treated as cheating (see section 4.3) and results in forfeiture of affected Games and disciplinary action.
   3. Account sharing results in forfeiture of the affected Game and disciplinary action.
8. All active roster players must have their Discord account and primary Steam account linked to the Discord bot.
9. Players must be 18 years of age or have a signed parental consent form at registration.
10. Players must be enrolled at their Institution before the close of registration.
11. Players may not compete under a different username or in-game name without prior College Deadlock approval. Names must be readable, free of excessive special characters, contain no spaces, and remain consistent throughout the Event. A pronunciation must be provided for non-English names.
12. If a player is found to have been ineligible while competing, the impact on prior results is determined at staff discretion.

1. Substitutes must be registered and approved before Roster Lock and must meet the requirements in section 2.4.
2. Any substitution, and the return of the regular player it covers, must be announced to the opposing Captain before the Draft for each Game of a Series begins. A substitution may not be introduced or reversed once the Draft has begun.
3. Players may not be substituted during an ongoing Game. Only players declared at Check-In may play in the Series.

1. In emergency circumstances, Teams may request an Emergency Substitute. The substitute may be approved at staff discretion, and must meet the criteria in 2.6.1.i and 2.6.1.ii.
   1. The Emergency Substitute must meet the eligibility requirements documented in section 2.4.
   2. Staff must conclude that the Emergency Substitute's skill is equal to or less than that of the player being replaced.
2. If an Emergency Substitute is approved, use of said Emergency Substitute is penalized with forfeiture of your first ban in each Game where the Emergency Substitute competes.

1. Check-In opens 60 minutes before the scheduled Series time in the Series Thread. Teams have until 30 minutes before the scheduled start time to confirm they are checked in.

1. A Team's Point of Contact must confirm their roster as part of Check-In, no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled start time, listing the six players who will start the Series and any Substitute players that may be used.

1. Failure to check in by the deadline results in a forfeit of the Series.

1. Teams must field 6 players at all times. A Team that cannot field 6 eligible, checked-in players by the Check-In deadline forfeits the Series.

1. The Draft for Game 1 must begin by the scheduled start time.

2. It is the higher-seeded Team's responsibility to create the Draft lobby (via Statlocker) with the following settings:

   • Draft Access: Public
   • Lobby Visibility: Hidden
   • Require Authentication: Yes
   • Lobby Type: Casual
   • Team Setup: Leave Default
   • Timer Settings: Hybrid Timer
     • Time per Round: 30s
     • Reserve Time: 120s
   • Draft Order: Competitive (2 Bans)

3. The Draft order should look like the following:

   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Archmother --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Hidden King --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Hidden King --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Archmother --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Pick

4. The higher-seeded Team chooses Hidden King (first pick) or Archmother (second pick) for Game 1. In subsequent Games of a Series, the losing Team makes the side selection.

5. All Draft actions are final once confirmed; incorrect picks or bans may not be corrected.

6. Once the Draft concludes, Teams have 5 minutes to ready up and enter the Game.

7. If a Team is not ready within 5 minutes, they forfeit one Game.

8. If a Team is not ready within 10 minutes, they forfeit the Series.

9. It is the higher-seeded Team's responsibility to create the Game Lobby (as a custom game) with the following settings:

   • Server: US South Central
     • Both Teams may agree to a different region; staff must be notified of any deviation
   • Mode: Normal
   • Bots: Disabled
   • Lane Assignments: Specify Lane Assignments enabled
   • Visibility: Visible to Everyone
   • Duplicate Heroes: Disabled
   • Cheats: Disabled

10. Teams are allowed a 10 minute rest period in between Games in a Series. Failure to be ready for the subsequent Game's Draft by the end of this rest period is considered forfeiture of the subsequent Game.

1. Each Team has up to 3 Technical Pauses per Game, with a combined maximum of 15 minutes per Series.
2. Each pause may not exceed 5 minutes; two consecutive pauses may be combined for a single 10-minute pause.
3. Players may not communicate with teammates during a pause. Violations are subject to staff review (see section 6.5) and disciplinary action.
4. If a player disconnects and cannot reconnect, an automatic remake is issued if the disconnect occurred within the first 5 minutes of the Game. After 5 minutes, the Game continues.
5. If the game server crashes, the Game is automatically remade.
6. All other situations where a remake may be warranted are at staff discretion.

1. The winning Team is responsible for recording the result of each Game by submitting a screenshot of the end-game scoreboard (which includes the Game ID) in the Series Thread. The losing Team is responsible for verifying this recording.

1. Only College Deadlock staff and approved production staff may join the Game Lobby as a spectator. Streamers, casters, coaches, and other third-party coverage must watch via the in-game Watch tab or the official stream rather than the lobby.

1. Checked-in players must use a voice channel created in the official College Deadlock Discord for the Series. External voice channels are not permitted during a Series.
   1. Checked-in players who are not playing in the current Game (i.e. Substitutes) must be muted for Games they are not participating in.
2. Coaches may join the voice channel. They may speak to players during the Draft and lobby setup, and must mute prior to Game start and during timeouts.
   1. Violations will result in loss of the Game. Repeated violations may result in permanent revocation of in-Game voice privileges.
3. Teams may not join another Team's voice channel. College Deadlock staff may join any voice channel at any time.

1. Harassment, hate speech, and disruptive behavior are prohibited. The code of conduct extends to public communications including social media, Discord, and other public channels. Public statements that bring College Deadlock into disrepute are subject to the same penalties as in-Game violations.

1. Unsportsmanlike behavior includes but is not limited to:

   • Harassment or verbal abuse
     • This includes alternative forms of in-game communication (i.e. teabagging).
   • Intentionally throwing Games
   • Collusion between Teams
   • Placing bets on any College Deadlock Game or Series, or attempting to manipulate results

2. Penalties range from a warning to indefinite disqualification from College Deadlock Events.

1. The copy of the game players compete on for official Games must be the official, unaltered, up-to-date version of Deadlock. Unofficial modifications of the game are forbidden for play. Examples include, but are not limited to:

   • Mods
   • Scripts
   • Config file editing
   • Macros
   • Third-party software
     • Live Trackers
     • Data Aggregators
     • Timers

2. Use of these, or other external software or hardware that grants an unfair advantage is prohibited; what constitutes such an advantage is at staff discretion. Accessing live broadcast footage or any outside information source during a Game to gain a competitive advantage is prohibited. Competing on an undisclosed alternate ("smurf") account (see section 2.4.7) is treated as cheating.

1. Known exploits are designated as allowed or banned in the official College Deadlock exploit list.
2. Use of a banned exploit voids the Game result regardless of whether the exploit affected the outcome, and carries the same player penalties as cheating.
3. An unlisted exploit is any bug, glitch, or unintended game interaction that is not on the official exploit list. Use of an unlisted exploit is subject to the same penalties as using a banned exploit at staff discretion.
4. Any unlisted exploit used in a Game must be reported to staff for review and classification.

1. Any Series that is part of a College Deadlock Event may be streamed by College Deadlock.
2. Official streams will be on the official College Deadlock Twitch channel (twitch.tv/collegedeadlock).
3. All official streams will have 1 minute (60 seconds) of delay.

1. College Deadlock may have a secondary broadcast team that runs additional coverage of other Series each week. These streams may be live or based on replays.
2. If you would like to be considered for the B-Stream, you must post your confirmed Series time in the #b-stream channel in the College Deadlock server.
3. Series are chosen based on staff discretion and broadcast team availability.

1. Teams reserve the right to record Games they play from their perspective.
2. Publicization of these recordings can be done with consent from all people recorded, including players on both Teams.

1. Players may stream their perspective during official Games if and only if they meet the following requirements:

   1. All streaming players must post links to their streams in the #player-streams channel on the College Deadlock Discord server.

   2. All players involved in any streamed Game must consent to being streamed.

   3. All streams must have a minimum of 2 minutes (120 seconds) of delay.

   4. Stream title must include these parameters: Team Name Event Name Event Stage

      • Example: UofT Captain POV DCS Season 3 --- Week 3

   5. Offensive, explicit or controversial content is not permitted at any part of a stream that includes footage of College Deadlock Events.

   6. You must be willing to submit stream analytics for any stream that includes footage of College Deadlock Events.

   7. Players who stream take responsibility for information they release on stream, including but not limited to: game state, team communications, and Draft information.

1. Institutions can apply to produce their own show for their Teams' Games by filling out the School Stream Application form.
2. School Streams must follow the requirements listed in section 5.4.
3. Institutions must consent to having their streams advertised on College Deadlock's platform.
4. Content within a School Stream is free for College Deadlock to use and edit for marketing purposes.

1. Immediate issues (such as failure to follow schedule, unsportsmanlike behavior, or tech issues) can be reported via the College Deadlock website or the Tickets system on Discord. Reports are handled confidentially.

1. Disciplinary actions are determined by staff based on the severity of the offense and include but are not limited to: forfeiture, suspension, disqualification, or future tournament bans.
2. We have included some common rule violations, and their most likely punishments for reference. Note: these are not binding relationships, and rulings are always evaluated based on the circumstances at hand.
   1. Code of Conduct violation --- 1 week suspension, warning
   2. Playing on a fraudulent account ("smurfing") --- Immediate player disqualification
   3. Cheating --- Immediate Team disqualification, 1 Event suspension

1. Misconduct, be it from managers, players, or College Deadlock staff, can be reported by emailing support@collegedeadlock.com. Reports are handled confidentially.
2. Disputes concerning an in-progress or just-completed Series must be reported to staff through the above channels within 1 hour of Series completion. For an issue arising during an active Game, the Game must be paused immediately and the assigned admin must be contacted.
3. A report must identify the Series, the rule or incident in question, the desired resolution, and any evidence per section 6.4.
4. Staff may take the time necessary to investigate before ruling, including delaying a ruling that does not affect the current week's standings or pairings.

1. Evidence provided must be sufficient to substantiate the incident in question.
2. Evidence considered in a ruling includes, but is not limited to: Game VODs and replays, in-game or Discord screenshots, chat and voice logs retained by staff, and the official Series record.
3. Reports should include direct evidence. Staff may request additional evidence from either Team.

1. Staff review disputes and rule based on available evidence. A ruling may be appealed only once.

1. Appeals are submitted by emailing support@collegedeadlock.com, and must present new evidence not previously considered. Staff reserve the right to disregard any appeal.

1. Rules may be modified at any time. Changes will be communicated through Official Channels.

1. Circumstances not covered by this rulebook are resolved at staff discretion.

1. Staff reserve the right to make decisions outside the scope of this rulebook when necessary to maintain the competitive integrity of the competition.