Rules

League Operations

Tom "Gumpster" Gumbleton - League Ops Manager
George "Geo" Peters - League Ops Team Leader
Tom "Macphet" Macpherson - Lead Admin
Russ "Kaph" Bagot - Admin
Thomas "Elix" Johnson - Admin

Please also read the General Rules that apply to every single EPIC.LAN tournament.

Signups & Restrictions

Signups will close on Thursday 27th July at 16:00 local time to allow for seeding and group scheduling
You must be aged 16+ to take part in any EPIC.LAN tournaments
Games will start on Friday 28th July at 10:00 local time
Captains meeting will commence on Friday 28th February at 9.30 local time

Tournament Format

The exact format will be confirmed once all teams have signed up and final numbers are known. These formats will be used as a guide for our schedules but does not garuantee any listed format is used.

Schedule

The tournament schedule will be released as soon as the matches have been seeded. Players must join the EPIC.LAN Discord server for schedule updates.

Game Session Setup

Broadcasted Matches

An observer will contact teams in the event that their match will be streamed and they will set up all matches that are selected to be streamed live on the EPICLAN2 Twitch channel.

Teams will be notified prior to a match starting as to whether or not their match has been scheduled to be broadcast on stream via the EPIC.LAN Discord server in the relevant VALORANT channel. An Observer will invite a player from each team into the lobby, that member should then invite their teammates to join.

Non-Broadcasted Matches

The higher seeded team will host the game session and set up the lobby. To host the game session the hosting player must carry out the following steps.

The host must first open VALORANT
Once the game has loaded, select Play
Then select Custom Game

The host should then change the Party Status to Closed and select the correct map that was chosen in the map veto process (refer to your match vetoes).

The host should then invite their own teammates and at least 1 member of the opposing team to the lobby.

The host needs to apply the following game settings.

Mode: Standard
Server: Team captains can decide, if an agreement cannot be made teams are to play on Frankfurt servers.
Allow Cheats: Off
Tournament Mode: On
Overtime - Win By Two: On
Play Out All Rounds: Off
Hide Match History: Off
Show Blood: Off

The host must use the server location listed. Server changes can occur if discussed and agreed with tournament admins under certain cirumstances.

Maplist

Ascent
Fracture
Haven
Bind
Lotus
Pearl
Split

Agents

All current agents are allowed.

New agents will be prohibited from play until two weeks after their initial release. Tournament admin decisions are final on agent use.

The Veto Process

All map bans will be done through the in-game chat feature. Teams are responsible for taking screenshots of the map picks/bans process in case of dispute.

Please note, if seedings are not shown, then “Higher Seed” should be replaced with “Home Team” (i.e. the left-hand team on the match page). The Higher Seeded team gets to chose to act as either Team A or Team B in the following veto process.

Best-Of-One

Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Map Choice: The remaining map will be the map that is played
Team A: Picks map side selection

Best-Of-Three

The higher seeded team will choose to act as Team A or Team B during the veto process.

Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Team A: Picks map one
Team B: Picks map 1 side selection
Team B: Picks map two
Team A: Picks map 2 side selection
Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Map 3: The remaining map will be map three if needed
Team A: Picks map side selection

Best-Of-Five

Team A: Bans 1 map
Team B: Bans 1 map
Team A: Picks map 1
Team B: Picks map 1 side selection
Team B: Picks map 2
Team A: Picks map 2 side selection
Team A: Picks map 3
Team B: Picks map 3 side selection
Team B: Picks map 4
Team A: Picks map 4 side selection
Map 5: The remaining map becomes map 5 if needed
Team B: Picks map 5 side selection

The upper bracket advantage for the final is to be decided by tournament admins.

Tactical & Technical Pauses

Pauses will be enabled. Pauses can only be used during the prep/buy phase.

Technical Pauses

The player must announce the reason before or immediately after they have called the tech pause
If you need to take a technical pause you should write the following in-game: [Team Name] Tech
Each team has a max of (10) ten minutes per map

Tactical Pauses

If you need to take a tactical pause you should write the following in-game: [Team Name] Tac
Each team has two (2) thirty (30) second pauses per map

Lobby Issues

All players must join the lobby within 15 minutes after the map veto process has concluded. The host of the lobby can then start the match once all 10 players have joined the lobby and are on the correct side (attackers/defenders) for their team. Players do not necessarily need to indicate "ready" in order to start the match.

Any team that is not ready should be reported immediately to an admin on the EPIC.LAN Discord server through protest.

If a team has less than 4 players in the lobby 15 minutes after the map veto process has concluded: that team will be forfeit the map and the opposing team will be awarded the win for that map.

If a team only has 4 players present in the lobby 15 minutes after the map veto process has concluded: the match will begin without waiting for the 5th.

Delays by both teams will result in the whole match being forfeited and both teams being disqualified from the tournament (which may result in loss of attained prize money).

Substitues

Substitute players may only be used if they have previously purchased a BYOC ticket, signed up to the tournament, and therefore are listed as a member of the team. The player cannot be a participant in any other tournaments at EPIC.LAN or transfer from another team.

Substitutes are only allowed to be made before the match starts.

Protests

If a controversial situation occurs, whether or not it is described in this rule during a match, the team that has spotted it should capture evidence if possible and immediately stop the match and inform the admins via the tournament system.

If the team does not stop the match and continues to play until the maps conclusion, this will be taken as an acceptance of the situation. If the map is played in full both teams will lose all rights to file a protest concerning that situation after the game has ended. Protests must be made immediately, or they may be ignored depending on the circumstances.

Protests can be created via the match page on the EPIC.LAN website.

No Shows

Teams should immediately report any no shows via the VALORANT channel in the EPIC.LAN Discord server in the event that a team fails to show up after 15 minutes in the following situations.

A team fails to carry our their turn in the map veto process
One or more players have not joined the game lobby within 15 minutes from the map veto process
The hosting team does not start the match within 15 minutes from the map veto process

The countdown for each match starts from the fixed scheduled time of the match unless the previous match has been delayed.

Disconnects & Crashes

In the event of server or game failures, please contact a game admin who will advise further if needed.

If a match is interrupted for reasons beyond the control of the Players (e.g. server or player crash), the server host will restore the round using the in-game round restore feature.
If the issue takes place before any damage has occurred and the opponent or admin has been immediately notified, the round will be restored.
If the issue takes place during a round and after damage has been dealt and the outcome of the round can still be determined (e.g. a single player has dropped but others remain), then the round will not be replayed or restored. The round will continue to be played and will count. Special exceptions can be made if the damage dealt was ruled insignificant e.g. accidental teammate damage dealt at the start of the round or damage dealt to the opposing side by the team that was affected by the crash.
If the issue takes place during the round, after damage has occurred and the outcome of the round cannot be determined (e.g. due to server crash), the match will be restored to the beginning of the round.
If the issue takes place during the round after damage has occurred and the outcome of the round is obvious (e.g. one team is saving with 10 seconds remaining), but it cannot be continued due to for example a server crash, then the round can be awarded.
The matches will not be stopped and/or rounds will not be restored or replayed in cases where it is clearly a participant's fault (e.g. mis-buying a weapon).
In the event of a player disconnecting during the round the round should be completed as normal. Once the round has finished and the new round begins, the host should pause the lobby in the buy/prep phase to allow the disconnected player(s) to reconnect, once players have rejoined, the team with disconnect issues should inform the other team that they are ready to continue.

The Final & Match Coverage

During the Final, teams will be assigned their respective referee to administrate team communication during tech pauses and coach communication outside of tactical pauses.

Teams must abide by any change in playing environment (moving to a stage setting) and any regulations associated for tournament Finals.

Cheating & Game Bugs

It is forbidden to cheat, exploit bugs, modify the game files and/or use any third-party application which would give an unfair advantage against the other users.

All cheats are entirely forbidden to use under any circumstance whilst playing in any EPIC.LAN event. If a user is caught to be using any cheats this will result in bans and disqualifications. The following cheats include, but are not limited to.

ESP
Aim hacks
Speed hacks
Wallhacks
Radar hacks
Hitbox manipulation
Teleportation (any kind of teleportation, which is not possible in the game)
The use of any bug/bugs to gain an advantage against your opponents
Visual enhancement software such as Nvidia Vibrance

Anything that can be viewed as a bug or exploit will be reviewed by the admin team and judged on a case-by-case basis, most exploits/bugs are being hot-fixed regularly but examples of such are as follows and are not limited to.

Using cypher cameras on areas which allow you to see through walls
Sitting on areas which are not supposed to be used by map design. (Example: Map Exploit)
Going outside of the map boundaries. (Example: teleporting with the Omen outwith the playable area of the map)
Activating Sova’s Drone the way that it spawns clipping through the wall
Using Sova’s Arrow on areas, where they cannot be destroyed and they can spot players (Example: Fixed billboard on Split)
Bugging yourself into the doors on the Ascent map, so that you are able to see on both sides
Spamming between Omen Phaser with ultimate to be able to see through walls
Opening doors on Bind from outside. (Example: Using Cypher’s camera from the outside to open the doors)

If any player or team feels unsure on a new advantage they have found through their practice sessions, they are welcome to show this specific spot to the tournament team to review. Any player or team that does this will be treated to the strictest confidence as not to jeopardize your strategic advantage, however we can rule on whether it is legal. We strongly advise teams to give us plenty of time ahead of an event so we can review it in good time and make good judgement on it.

Forbidden on PC

Any third-party modifications that create an unfair advantage will result in the immediate removal of a team. These being but not limited to.

Multihacks
Wallhack
Aimbot
Coloured Models
No Recoil
No Flash
Sound Changes

Streaming

Players will need to submit this form to ask for specific permission to stream from the event.

Streaming is a key part of our events and our participants' / teams' own content and is something that we wish to encourage, however it's also important that any streams of our esports tournament do not compromise the competitive integrity of the event and also, in the case of some titles, match the standards required by those publishers.

Note that application for stream permission is intended only for those participating at the event streaming their own perspectives, we do not grant lobby access to spectators who are not at the event.

In certain cases we may offer increased bandwidth for streams, but this is not guaranteed.

We also ask that those granted permission to stream share some basic viewership figures with us after the event, these figures will be held confidentially and amalgamated as part of the overall event evaluation which will help existing and future partnership discussions, which in turn will help raise the quality and potential prize pools for the event. Your personal viewing statistics will never be shared.

Subject to the title being streamed (e.g. BEACON VALORANT for EPIC38) you may be required to use specified graphics packages for the duration of the event.

If you use the EPIC.LAN logo as part of your coverage, you should follow the guidelines set at https://www.epiclan.co.uk/brand.

Note that permission to stream does not imply any sort of official affiliation or coverage partnership with the event.

You may not stream your games if you are currently featured on the EPIC.LAN main streams.

Coaches & Team staff

Coaching will be enabled on for this tournament. Teams may have 1 coach in the spectator mode that is enabled for coaches(Coaches are to be on site at EPIC.LAN and cannot join the spectator slot remotely). Please note, that coaches are treated as "spectators" for this event, and will not be able to play for the team (if the coach needs to sub in) unless the coach has a participant ticket for the tournament and is registered to the roster for the event. Coaches are also asked to make themselves known to the admin team before the event so if necessary they can be submitted to external coverage sites.

If you are a coach or have any affiliation with a team you may not be positioned in a way where you can see or hear opponents to gain a tactical advantage

If you have any questions regarding coaches within the game, then please see the admins.

Support

Please feel free to contact the League Ops Team within the #support in the official EPIC.LAN Discord server.

*These rules are subject to change due to any game-related updates that cause issues to occur in different ways. The game admins and tournament team leaders have discretion to change & update rules within reason at any stage throughout a tournament. The Admins decisions are always final.*

Last Updated: 2nd July 2023