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Valorant Rulebook

Last Modified: July 3, 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 games, please read them first!

I. Valorant Overview

    1. Player Eligibility: All players participating in Valorant competitions must have an active Riot (North America) account in good standing displayed on their PlayCEA profile. Only registered team members playing under their own account are allowed to play for a team. COACHES: Coaches are allowed as long as they are registered with the team.
    2. Team Roster Size: A team may start the season with 5-12 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 in Guilded may not transfer to another roster within the same company for the same game with out 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 players 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. Floaters: Within the same company and within the same game's tournament, a player may play on multiple rosters with the following restrictions:
      1. All teams must meet the minimum team size without counting any players who are listed on multiple teams.
      2. Shared players still count towards a team’s maximum roster size.

      3. A player on multiple rosters may only play for one of those teams of each game in any given week. Violation of this rule will lead to disqualification from the CEA.

      4. If a company elects to have floaters for any of its games, a representative of the company should inform that game's Game Lead which rosters are affected, and inform the game lead each week which team that floater will play on.
      5. The maximum number of floaters allowed across a company's teams in a particular tournament depends on the number of teams that company has in the tournament as well as the minimum roster size for that tournament, and is as follows:
        • 2-3 Teams = 2 Floaters
        • 4-6 Teams = 4 Floaters
        • 7-9 Teams = 6 Floaters

      6. Each floater may be rostered on no more than 3 teams. Each team may have no more than 2 floaters.

      7. Cross-Game policy: Within the same company, players are typically discouraged from playing on teams across multiple games. Doing so may be allowed at Game Leads' discretion as long as the following criteria are met:

        1. All teams must meet the minimum team size without counting any players who are listed on multiple teams.
        2. Teams should understand that relying on a Cross-Game player's availability is not a suitable reason to reschedule a match (all matches occur at Noon Pacific on Saturday by default)
        3. A Cross-Game player should not plan to be a primary player on more than 1 team.

    4. Half-Team / Joint-Team Policy:

      1. A Joint-Team may consist of members from different companies if the following criteria are met:

        1. There are no more than 2 companies represented on the team.
        2. The companies represented are not represented in any other teams in a single game's tournament.
      2. A Joint-Team is subject to all other rules normally surrounding CEA teams.
      3. A Joint-Team may have 1 single captain from either company, or may have 2 captains total (1 from each company).
      4. Registering:
        1. Two Half-Teams may combine and register as a Joint-Team through the normal registration process without first consulting CEA. Please list both companies on the registration form.
        2. Half-Teams may also consult CEA for help with pairing, and upon being paired will register as a Joint-Team through the normal registration process.
    5. Registration: The Valorant registration fee will be $200 per team. The captain pays this fee during registration on the CEA website.
    6. Game Version: All players must have their game up to date with the latest patch.
    7. Weekly Structure:
      1. Monday: Matchups for the following weekend are distributed (assuming all previous round match results have been entered).
      2. Saturday : All matches are played on Saturday starting at 11am Pacific (2pm Eastern).
    8. Season Format: Exact season format will be announced before the season begins when we know the exact number of teams. This section will be updated along with an announcement email for all captains. There will be two at minimum two stages: Non-elimination Regular Season (~8 weeks) and Elimination Playoffs.
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II. Rules

    1. Competition Method: 5 vs 5 Custom Game on the NA Server
      1. Server should be picked based on lowest average ping. (Default Illinois and go from there.)
      2. 2 tactical timeouts per a team.
    2. Settings:
      1. Mode: Tournament
      2. Cheats: Off
      3. Overtime: Win by 2
    3. Home/Away Choices
      1. The team that is the home team decides whether they want to choose the map or choose attacker/defender roles. The away team chooses the other.
      2. The home team is always on the left side of the CEA website bracket.
    4. Map Selection:
      1.   Flip a coin to decide who will choose first ban.
      2. BO1
        A Ban -> B Ban -> A Ban -> B Ban
        A Pick Map / B Pick Side
        BO3
        A Ban -> B Ban -> A Ban 
        B Pick Map 1 / A Pick Side ->
        A Pick Map 2 / B Pick Side ->
        B Pick Map 3/ A Pick Side
      Role Determination:
      1. The team that did not choose the map will decide which team attacks and defends first.
    5. Game Winner: The result will be as shown on the post-game summary screen.
    6. Series Length: Matches will be best-of-one(1) during the regular season. Matches will be a best-of-three(3) for playoffs and elimination rounds with teams alternating sides after each game.
    7. Restrictions: There are currently no weapon or character restrictions.
    8. Substitute players: During playoffs, players are allowed to switch following the completion of a game. In other words, in a best-of-three series, Player 1 could play in game one, get switched for Player 2 for game two, and then come back to play game 3.
    9. Spectator slots: All games should be configured to allow spectators to accommodate CEA representatives and casters to participate in the game and address possible issues. Coaches are allowed in the spectator slot.
    10. Scheduling/Forfeits: The first game of each round must begin at the specified time. See [General Rules] in the handbook for rescheduling rules and email: Scheduling changes must be submitted CEA Discord server (discord.gg/cea) by the team captain in the #reschedule-reporting channel if a reschedule is agreed upon by both teams. Forfeits will be reported to the #forfeit-reporting channel in the CEA Discord server by the team captain.

III. Technical Issues

Stoppage of Play

  1. Stoppage of Play Procedure: A player experiencing technical issues on either team may call for a technical pause.
    1. The player requesting the restart must be experiencing one of the following: a hardware malfunction (e.g. any equipment malfunction), physical disruption (e.g. breaking furniture), or game configuration problems.
    2. The game should be paused and the Game Lead should be contacted immediately.
    3. In the event of a game server crash, the Game Lead will determine next steps.
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IV. Contact Info

  1. Discord Server: discord.gg/cea
  2. Email Contacts:
    1.  administrator@cea.gg

V. season structure

  • September 4: Pre-season
  • September 11: Week 1
  • September 18: Week 2
  • September 25: Week 3
  • October 2: Week 4
  • October 9: Week 5
  • October 16: Week 6
  • October 23: Week 7
  • October 30: Week 8
  • November 6: Week 9
  • November 13: Week 10
  • November 20: Week 11
  • November 27: OFF - THANKSGIVING
  • December 4: Week 12
  • December 11: Week 13

CEA Season Format Overview

  • Pre-Season: 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.
  • Regular Season: The Regular Season will be a non-elimination Swiss format.
  • Playoffs: Top teams will compete in a single elimination tournament bracket. Some matches later in the playoffs may be professionally cast.
  • The Grand Finals will 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

  • Matches will be distributed each week on Monday.
  • Each team plays one match per week with results due by Sunday at 4pm Pacific. The CEA observes Daylight Saving Time. 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.