Starcraft 2 Rulebook: Collegiate Team League

Rulebook

Last Modified: September 12, 2020

These rules are subject to change at the administrator’s discretion. If rules should change, all captains will be notified accordingly.

The handbook’s General Rules apply to all CEA Collegiate Team League Series games, please read them first!

I. Starcraft 2 Collegiate Team League Rule Book

Player Eligibility: All players participating in Starcraft competitions must have an active (Americas) account in good standing.
1. Collegiate Players
  1. Players must either:
    1. Be actively enrolled in an accredited post-secondary academic institution during the duration of the tournament.
    2. Be a graduate within the last calendar year of the post-secondary academic institution.
2. Championship (corporate) Players
  1. Players must have either:
    1. Playing in a current season of CEA Championship Series
    2. Played in the past 2 seasons of CEA Championship Series (Fall 2019 or Spring 2020)
3. Players may play in both the Collegiate Team League as well as the Championship Series.
4. All players must provide either their academic institution email or their corporate email upon registration in order to qualify.
Team Roster: A team may start the season with 3-9 participants. Rules for qualifications for rostered members can be found in CEA general rules.
1. Teams must have one captain, who may or may not be a player
2. At least ⅔ of your team must be eligible via Collegiate Player eligibility (rounding down), with remaining players qualifying via Championship Players eligibility.
3. Players may be added up to a limit of 9 players during the Regular Season
4. Collegiate Players must come from the same school.
  1. Example minimum team: A school must have a minimum of 2 players to form a team, then recruit 1 (corporate) Championship Series players to flesh out a team.
5. Players may not play on multiple Teams within the Collegiate Series Team League.
Registration: Registration for the Starcraft 2 Collegiate Team League is free to all eligible players.
Game Version: All players must have their game up to date with the latest patch.
Weekly Structure:
1. Sunday: Matchups for the week are released (assuming all previous match results have been reported). Additionally, maps will be published alongside matchups.
2. Wednesday:
  1. Lineups: Team captains submit a starting lineup of players for each of the first 4 maps (note: the final “ace” map(s), if necessary, will follow a special selection process on the day of the match; see section II.11).
    1. Player game participation limits:
      1. Collectively a player may only play a total of 2 times per format (1v1, 2v2).
        
        Specifically, a player may play one 1v1 map in the first 4 non-Ace maps, then play again for a 1v1 Ace map. This same player may play in one player combination for one non-Ace 2v2 map, and then again in the same or different combination in one Ace 2v2 map.
      2. No player combination can be repeated during the 2v2 non-Ace maps. In addition, no player combination can be repeated during 2v2 Ace maps.
        
        Example:
        
        Players A and B may play during the Game 3 non-Ace map, but not Game 4 non-Ace 2v2 map because Games 3 and 4 are both non-Ace
        
        Players A and B may play during Game 3 non-Ace 2v2 map as well as Game 6 Ace 2v2 map because Game 3 is non-Ace and Game 6 is Ace.
        
        Players A and B may play during Game 3 non-Ace map, AND Players A and C may play during Game 4 non-Ace 2v2 map because the player combination of Player A and C is not the same as Player A and B.
      3. Minimum 3 player team example:
        
        Best of 5
        
        Game 1 (1v1) - Player A
        
        Player A may no longer able to play Game 2, they have played their 1v1 non-Ace.
        
        Game 2 (1v1) - Player B
        
        Game 3 (2v2) - Player A + B
        
        Player combination A + B may no longer play Game 4, they have played their 2v2 non-Ace
        
        Game 4 (2v2) - Player B + C
        
        Game 5 (Ace 1v1) - Player A
        
        Player A is eligible to play Game 5 since they have not played any 1v1 Ace maps.
        
        Best of 7
        
        Game 1 (1v1) - Player A
        
        Player A may no longer able to play Game 2, they have played their 1v1 non-Ace.
        
        Game 2 (1v1) - Player B
        
        Game 3 (2v2) - Player A + B
        
        Player combination A + B may no longer play Game 4, they have played their 2v2 non-Ace
        
        Game 4 (2v2) - Player B + C
        
        Game 5 (1v1) - Player A
        
        Player A may no longer play in Game 7 since they have played a 1v1 Ace map.
        
        Game 6 (2v2) - Player A + C
        
        Game 7 (1v1) - Player C
  2. Map Swaps: Team captains may optionally submit 1 Map Swap for a 1v1 map, as well as 1 Map Swap for a 2v2 map.
  3. Software limitations
    1. For 1v1 matches, teams should have a "Placeholder" team member on their team to be used as the placeholder non-player:
      Example:
      The current week’s match will show:
      
      Game 1 (1v1):
      Team 1 - Player A, Placeholder vs Team 2 - Placeholder2, Player C
      This means that Player A is playing Player C
    2. For Playoffs where there is more than 1 ACE match, please submit any player(s) you wish. Matches 5-7 will have players determined before the match starts at match time.
3. Thursday: Remaining Map Swaps due. All lineups are made public. In the event that a team does not submit a lineup on time, the opposing team’s lineups will remain hidden until the late submission is complete. Late lineup submissions are due for penalties (see section II.12).
4. Saturday: All matches are played starting at 1pm Pacific (4pm Eastern). Captains submit results after the match.
5. Thursday to Sunday: Team captains of opposing teams may independently coordinate a different match time for any map of their series to accommodate the players. The captain does not need to be present for each map. Note that the default time is heavily preferred and captains should be looking to field alternate players if their players cannot make the default time. Reschedules must be mutually agreeable. If there is no agreement, all matches will be played at the default time. Failure to show up for a scheduled match will result in an automatic loss and a warning. Sunday 6pm Pacific (3pm Eastern) is the deadline for rescheduled matches to be completed.
6. See General Rules in the handbook for rescheduling rules and post in the #reschedule-reporting channel if a reschedule is agreed upon. Forfeits will be reported to the #forfeit-reporting channel in the CEA Discord server by the team captain.
Season Format: Exact season format will be announced before the season begins when we know the exact number of players. This section will be updated along with an announcement for all captains. There will be, at minimum, two stages: Non-elimination Regular Season (~8 weeks) and Elimination Playoffs.
1. Regular Season will be Best of 5
  1. Map 1: 1v1
    Map 2: 1v1
    Map 3: 2v2
    Map 4: 2v2
    Map 5: ACE 1v1
2. Elimination Playoffs will be Best of 7
  1. Map 1: 1v1
    Map 2: 1v1
    Map 3: 2v2
    Map 4: 2v2
    Map 5: ACE 1v1
    Map 6: ACE 2v2
    Map 7: ACE 1v1
3. Schedule - Dates beyond Regular Season are tentative:
  1. September 5: Last day to register
    September 9: Preseason matches announced
    September 12: Preseason
    September 19: Week 1
    September 26: Week 2
    October 3: Week 3
    October 10: Week 4
    October 17: Week 5
    October 24: Week 6
    October 31: Week 7
    November 7: Week 8
    November 14: Week 9 - float
    November 21: Playoffs Week 1
    November 28: No Matches (Thanksgiving)
    December 5: Playoffs Week 2
    December 12: Playoffs Week 3
    December 19: Grand Finals

II. Rules

Players may not look at an opposing player’s monitor or projected screen.
Players may not chat in-game unless they are engaging in pre-game sportsmanship or surrendering the game.
Players who quit out of a game before it has ended, without referee’s permission, will lose the game.
Player Disconnects. If a Player loses their connection to the Host during a game, the game must be resumed from replay. If it is impossible to resume from replay, immediately contact the Game Lead.
Observer Disconnects. If an observer loses their connection to the game, but both players remain in the game, the game must continue.
Hosting. Unless agreed upon by both Captains, the hosting server will be minimized for average latency for both players.
1. Hosting on a specific server is accomplished by having the game host not be in a party, setting their preferred server, and creating the lobby. The game host must not be in a party until the game has started.
Draws. Draws are determined automatically by the game client. If a game results in a draw it should be entirely replayed. A player may propose a draw without needing to wait for the game client, and if both players agree then the game is a draw.
Lobby Settings. Games should be played with the default settings (Category: Melee, Mode: 1v1 or 2v2, Game Speed: Faster), and on the latest SC2 game patch.
1. WCS Gameheart is an optional mod that may be enabled.
Format. Regular season matches are played in a best-of-5 series, with a single 1v1 game per map. Playoff matches and grand finals are played in a best-of-7 series.
Maps.
1. Map Pool: Unless otherwise specified, maps will be either from the latest TLMCs (https://liquipedia.net/starcraft2/TeamLiquid_Map_Contest) or the current Ladder Season.
2. Map Swaps. Every week, the entire map lineup will be released. The Team Captain must submit inside their Guilded match channel a Map Swap.
  1. Captains are granted ONE 1v1 map swap as well as ONE 2v2 map swap.
  2. Map Swaps are optional - a Captain may forfeit their Swap by indicating this in the Guilded match chat. Doing so will not incur any penalties.
  3. The lower seeded team must declare their Map Swap first alongside lineup submissions via the Guilded match chat.
    1. If the team fails to submit their Map Swaps by the scheduled due date, the team forfeits their Map Swaps. See Weekly Structure in section I.5.
    2. The lower seed will be determined by the latest tournament ranking of the team.
      1. Ties will be determined by standing order of the team.
  4. ACE maps can NOT be swapped
  5. Swapped maps will be put onto the B map. Teams may not swap a B map back to an A map with additional swaps.
    1. Example for Bo5:
      Given current week maps as:
      Map 1 - A: Deathaura LE - B: Golden Wall LE
      Map 2 - A: Eternal Empire LE - B: Ever Dream LE
      Map 3 - A: Arctic Dream LE - B: Divergence LE
      Map 4 - A: Efflorescence LE - B: Emerald City LE
      ACE: Submarine LE
      
      Map Swaps:
      Team 1 Map Swaps Deatharua LE, but no 2v2 Map Swap
      Team 2 Map Swaps Eternal Empire LE and Efflorescence LE
      
      The current week for the 2 teams will be:
      Map 1 (1v1): Golden Wall LE
      Map 2 (1v1): Ever Dream LE
      Map 3 (2v2): Arctic Dream LE
      Map 4 (2v2): Emerald City
      Map 5 ACE (1v1): Submarine LE
3. Ordering. The first 4 maps may be played out of order, or even in parallel, according to player preference (default is serial and in order). Maps played out of order will be scored as though they had been played in the published order.
Ace maps. If neither team has won the match after the first 4 maps, the final map(s) should be played in order until the match winner is determined.
1. Eligibility. Any player/player combination on the roster can play an ace map, including players/player combination from the first 4 maps. However, no player/player combination may play more than 2 maps total during a match.
2. Selection process. Before playing an ace map, each team captain privately submits their team’s player and race to the referee (or neutral third party if no referees are available). Once both teams have submitted, the referee reveals the players and races. (Note: an ace player’s race need not match their race on previous maps.
Penalties for Late Lineup and Substitutions. These penalties can be forgiven by Captains should both teams agree.
1. Day 1 of a late submission: Late team forfeits their Map Swap
2. Subsequent late submission: Game forfeit. Opponent will start by default with 1 map win, series will still be played in order. This rule applies per instance of the penalty being invoked.
3. Lineup substitutions. Captains may replace a player in their lineup after lineups are revealed with a different player from their roster who was not in the original lineup. This will incur the same penalty as if the lineup were submitted 1 day late as explained above.
  1. If the team submitting a substitution has forfeited their map swap OR have already performed a map swap, then the Subsequent late submission of a Game forfeit will be enforced.
Referee and arbitration. Captains may request Game Lead assistance in acting as a referee for their match, dependent on availability and situation.
Replays. The CEA requires the winning player from each match to save and submit all replays. There will be a form provided for replay submission prior to match day.

III. Stoppage of Play

Player that requested a pause must announce the reason before or immediately after pause.
Each player is granted a total of 5 minutes pause time during the match.
When resuming the game from pause, both players must confirm in chat that they are ready to continue.
If total pause time runs out, the game must be resumed. If one player refuses to resume the game, the opposing player will receive a win for that game.
The Game Lead holds the right to request teams to pause during the match in case of any other issues. This time will not count against either team (regardless of who pauses the game client).

IV. Prizing

While this season is mostly for fun, there will be:

Weekly casted games
Finals will be casted by professional casters within the SC2 community!

V. Contact Info

Discord Server: discord.gg/cea
Guilded Server: guilded.gg/cea
Email Contacts:

Game and Rules related: tournaments@cea.gg
Business, money, and sponsorship related: business@cea.gg
Other: administrator@cea.gg

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