Rulebook: Marvel Rivals

Last Modified: Sept 5, 2025

These rules are subject to change at the administrator’s discretion. If rules should change, all captains will be notified accordingly. Rules are generally revised and updated around the start of any given season, so please make sure to check back for updates.

The Handbook’s General Rules apply to all CEA games, please read them first! However, any direct contradictions mentioned in this Marvel Rivals-specific rulebook take precedence.

I. Season Structure

CEA Marvel Rivals Spring 2025 Season Calendar

We will be operating a slightly different schedule this season since we have between 4 and 8 teams registered. 

  • September 6: (Registration ENDS/ No Preseason Matches)
  • September 13: Week 1 (Start of Round Robin Bracket)
  • September 20: Week 2
  • September 27: Week 3
  • October 4: Week 4
  • October 11: Week 5
  • October 18: Week 6
  • October 25: Week 7
  • November 1: Week 8 (Tentative Start of Double Elimination Playoffs)
  • November 8: Week 9
  • November 15: Week 10
  • November 22: Week 11 (Expected Grand Finals Week)
  • November 29: Week 12, Designated Off Week (US Thanksgiving) 
  • December 6: Week 13 (Flex Week)
    • Matches should be concluded no later than December 6th Weekend for Fall 2025 Season

 

CEA Season Format Overview

  • Pre-Season: Preseason matches will not be held this season for Marvel Rivals. The past blurb of preseason matches is still listed below:
    • One practice match which follows the same rules and weekly structure as the regular season. The pre-season is mandatory so that the CEA and teams can work out logistic kinks before charity prizes are on the line! Read the specific game rules for the weekly schedule.
  • A “Captain’s Meeting” will be held 30 minutes prior to the first week of matches for all teams/captains; it will be a brief intro for the season and what to expect.
  • Regular Season: The Regular Season will be a non-elimination Swiss format. This will consist of an approximately 7 Weeks of a seeding format (Swiss or Round Robin) bracket. The exact length of each stage will be determined by the number of teams registered. 
  • Playoffs: Top teams will compete in a single elimination tournament bracket. Some matches later in the playoffs may be professionally cast.
    • The top teams will be included in the play off bracket. The exact number is dependent on the total registration count and the given cutoff date for the end of the season.
  • The Grand Finals may be broadcast live on Twitch with professional commentators. Schedule and rough timing will be announced at the beginning of Playoffs.

Weekly Structure of the League

  • Monday: Matchups for the following weekend are distributed (assuming all previous round match results have been entered).
  • Saturday: All matches are played on Saturday starting at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern). The CEA observes US Daylight Saving Time.
  • Each team plays one match per week with results due by Sunday at 8pm Pacific. Reschedules may be approved if they are later than this time, but are left to the discretion of the game lead. If not enough players on your roster are able to make the default match time, contact the opposing captain as outlined in our ‘Match rescheduling’ section to see if they’re able to accommodate a reschedule.

II. Marvel Rivals Overview

  1. Player Eligibility: All players participating in Marvel Rivals competitions must have an active (Americas) account in good standing displayed on the CEA tournament management platform. Only registered team members playing under their own account are allowed to play for a team.
  2. Team Roster Size: A team consists of 6-14 participants. Rules for qualifications for rostered members can be found in CEA general rules.
    1. After the beginning of Regular Season play (Week 1 matches), a player rostered on a team may not transfer to another roster within the same company for the same game without the Game Lead’s approval.
      1. The main circumstance permitting a transfer would be a team losing players and falling below the minimum team size.
      2. Companies with multiple teams playing the same game may have one player on multiple rosters as outlined in the general rules under “Team Eligibility.” Being a floater is not considered transferring.
    2. After Week 5, removing players from the roster does not free up additional spots.
  3. Registration: The Marvel Rivals registration fee will be $240 ($300 for late registration) per team on a regular season. The captain pays this fee during registration on the CEA website.
  4. Game Version: All players must have their game up to date with the latest patch. PC and console players are all allowed given crossplay is functional, otherwise CEA will revert to PC players only.

III. Rules

  1. Game preparations: It is the responsibility of the team Captains to verify game settings prior to match start. Agreements between the teams/players must be made in writing and saved as a screenshot, or else the game lead will have to assume that it did not happen. The match will be played on a standard competitive ruleset based upon the current season, with the below adjustments made. Additionally, selections of interest due to the changes for Marvel Rivals are also noted:
    1. Series length:
      1. Pre-Season & Season: Best of 5 
      2. Playoffs:  Best of 5
      3. Grand Finals: Best of 7
    2. Visibility: Invite Only (Recommended)
    3. Bans: The team that gets “First Ban” is random according to lobby documentation. The bans follows the most recent official ban system, as determined by the game rules. A sample ban/lock order from Season 1 is as follows:
      1. Faction A bans a hero;
      2. Faction B bans a hero;
      3. Faction B locks a hero;
      4. Faction A locks a hero;
      5. Faction A bans a hero;
      6. Faction B bans a hero,
      7. * Locked heroes cannot be banned later. If a side times out, then they skip the chance to ban/lock a hero.
    4. Room Settings:
      1. Game Name: Any/does not matter, but be reasonable
      2. Join Access: Highly recommended to set to “Invitation Only”, but also technically does not matter
      3. Spectator Access: Default to “No Spectation”, but may be changed following the guidelines provided below and in the CEA General Rules Handbook.
      4. Ban/Pick Settings: Leader Only
        1. If not set to “Leader Only”, the bans will be run in a different manner; reset the lobby to fix.
    5. Maps:
      1. All maps must be selected in the Competitive tab.
        1. If a non Competitive map mode is selected, the game will not run as expected; reset the lobby to correct
      2. Maps are to be selected one at a time.
  2. Lobby Hosting:
    1. The team that is on the left side of the bracket will be responsible for setting up the lobby by default. If both teams agree, the lobby host duty can be passed off to another player.
    2. During the playoffs, the higher seed is the default host for the match.
  3. Map Selection: 
    1. Map Pool:
      1. All maps are allowed to be picked following these assumptions:
        1. The map is a Competitive mode map.
        2. The map is not disabled in regular play for gameplay related issues.
      2. The team on the left (or top) side of a generated matchup gets the first map pick. The team on the right (or bottom) side will have first server pick if and only if the teams are not in the same region AND not on opposite coasts.
      3. The Hosting team gets to pick either the map OR the server location in accordance within these guidelines:
        1. Server choice is to be the lowest possible ping for the lobby. Matches should be on NA servers; if teams are in the same region, please select the single best server.
      4. General Guidelines for settling server selection disputes are as follows:
        1. In the case of agreement, a single server of choice by both teams may be chosen
        2. If teams are on opposite coasts, please select the Dallas server.
        3. If one team is central and the other is East (Northern VA) or West (Oregon), the team selecting the map gets the server choice. In the case of the first map, the team that did not select the map gets their server preference in this case.
      5. For each subsequent map, the losing team of the previous map may pick one of the two following choices:
        1. Next map
        2. Server Location (following server selection guidelines above)
      6. After the losing team selects their first choice, the winning team selects the remaining option.
      7. No maps may be repeated.
    2. Swiss/Round Robin Stage:
      1. The first weeks of matches (all non-playoff matches) will nominally follow the Best of 5 format.
      2. The team on the left side of the bracket will be responsible for hosting the lobby.
      3. No maps may be repeated. The same type of map can be repeated; for example if the first map type is Domination, the second map type may also be Domination but must be a different map choice than the first map.
    3. Playoffs:
      1. In the playoffs, the format will be a Best of 5. For the grand finals match, a Best of 7 will be used.
      2. To determine the host of a playoff match:
        1. In a double elimination format for the Loser’s Bracket, the team that has most recently been knocked out from the winner’s side is to be the lobby host.
        2. In the case of a tie on the above rule, the team of the higher seed will be responsible for hosting the lobby.
      3. No maps may be repeated.The same type of map can be repeated; for example if the first map type is Domination, the second map type may also be Domination but must be a different map choice than the first map.
    4. Draws:
      1. If a game results in a Draw, the following steps are to be executed:
        1. Either the losing team of the last game or the host (only in the case of if the Draw was the first game of the series) must choose another map.
        2. The map chosen cannot be a map that has been already played in the series. The map can be the same map type but not the same map choice as the map the Draw occurred on. The map the Draw occurred on does not count as a win or loss for any Best-of series.
        3. This process can repeat itself if the next game is also a Draw(on a Convergence or Convoy map type). Repeat these two steps above until a game does not result in a Draw.
        4. In a Best of 7 series if all maps are played in a series due to multiple maps having a Draw result, teams must play the first Domination map again. The winner of this map is the winner of the Best of 7 series.
  4. Server Selection:
    1. Server selection is part of the Map Loser/Winner selection process so location may change in between maps.
    2. Choosing a server location to intentionally cause ping issues or otherwise grief an opponent will not be tolerated. If teams are suspected of doing so intentionally, please notify the game lead. Action taken may vary, but generally this will lead to loss of server selection for the instigating team.
      1. As most teams are based in North America, this usually means sticking to NA servers, but if a majority of players are in a separate location you may pick accordingly.
    3. If there are any disputes during a match contact the game lead.
  5. Substitute Players: There is no limit to the amount of substitutes used from your roster. Substitutes can only join in between maps. If a player disconnects in the middle of a map and is unable to reconnect, the map must be played out without subbing in a new player to fill the empty spot.
  6. Scheduling/Forfeits: The first game of each round must begin at the specified time. See [General Rules] in the handbook for rescheduling rules and post in the #reschedule-reporting channel on the CEA Discord server if a reschedule is agreed upon.
  7. Disconnects: In the case that a player(s) disconnects, the team is allowed to continue to play the match at a disadvantage.
    1. Currently, there is no way to pause a game in progress. This feature may be added in Season 4
  8. Re-host: A re-host can only be played with prior Game Lead approval. Please contact the Game Lead via Discord to receive approval. In a re-hosted game each participant must choose the same side as they picked at the start of the original match. Disconnects and lag issues will only qualify for a re-host if the issue occurs within the first 60 seconds of the game. In the event of a game server crash, the Game Lead will determine the next steps.
  9. Streaming:
    1. Streaming is allowed as per the CEA Handbook.
    2. Stream sniping or otherwise using external streams to cheat in game is not permitted. Streams must be on a delay to discourage this, unless both captains agree to allow streams without delay (2~3 minutes is suggested).
  10. Observing:
    1. Building upon the rules stated in the general handbook, we encourage (but do not force) teams to allow team-locked spectators. CEA’s community is built upon mutual trust among teams, so we expect teams to act ethically. Additionally, with both consent from both teams, spectators may be allowed to use third person spectating privileges.
    2. There is not an easy way to enforce the restriction of voice communication from any spectators (outside of locating recordings from offending teams). Due to this situation, if either team for any reason prefers to not allow spectators, then both teams must honor this and remove any persons not actively playing in the current round.
    3. Regardless of the observer’s perspective, teams are not allowed to communicate with observers while in-game (via text chat, voice chat, or anything else) with the exception of CEA staff, or CEA designated referees. In-game coaching is forbidden, and can result in forfeits of maps. Talking with team members in between maps while waiting for the next round to start is permitted, but do not let this hold up the out-of-game pace.

IV. Technical Issues

  1. If a technical issue arises, there is currently no way to pause in the middle of a game.

    1. It is important to note that if a technical issue arises after 60 seconds of game time, the game must continue as normal. If a team requests a re-host before 60 seconds of game time due to a technical issue, both teams must re-host the game.

    2. A feature to “Auto Pause” on player disconnect has been revealed for Season 4. Assuming there are no game breaking issues with this feature, we ask that teams use it on release.

  2. Admins hold the right to request teams to restart the match in case of any other issues.

V. Contact info

VI. Appendix

  • Map Pools:
    • Currently all maps available to play are allowed to be picked.
  • Best-of-X vs. First-to-Y Formats:
    • First-to-Y (shortened to FtY) refers to a series where the winner is the team to reach a score of Y points first. 
    • Best-of-X (shortened to BoX) refers to a series where at most X matches will be played, and ends once a team mathematically cannot be outscored by their opponent. This is the more commonly known format in many cases. In some scenarios, since the specified number is the “maximum” number of maps played, draw may result in odd outcomes.