Rulebook: Dota 2

Last modified: July 21st, 2025

These rules are subject to change and interpretation at the Tournament Organizer’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! However, any direct contradictions mentioned in this game-specific rulebook take precedence.

I. Event Structure

  • Overview: Introducing Fall Rush – Following ‘CEA Summer Games’, this fast-paced, 3-week regular season + 1-weekend playoff format, aims to provide a competitive format for some of our game communities.
  • Regular Season 
    • 3 weeks of BO1 round-robin matches where the top 8 teams will advance to the final day of the Playoffs. The scores will be used for seeding in the next stage. Each match win is worth 1 point.
    • If more than 8 teams register for the tournament, teams placing 9th and below will be eliminated prior to playoffs but given the chance to participate in optional for-fun matches if possible.
  • Playoffs
    • A single-elimination bracket where the top 8 teams will battle for glory. All matches are BO1.
    • Seeding will be as follows: (M1) 1st vs 8th, (M2) 4th vs 5th, (M3) 3rd vs 6th, (M4) 2nd vs 7th.
    • Round 2 matchups: M1 vs M2 winners and M3 vs M4 winners.
    • If there are fewer than 8 teams or a team drops out, the bracket will be adjusted with the remaining teams seeded 1–8. Any team without an opponent in Round 1 will automatically advance.
  • Registration: The event donation pool contribution is $100.00 per team. Registrations are possible until July 31st. Donation pool contributions are optional but encouraged. Message [email protected] if you prefer not to contribute.
  • Prizes: 100% of donation pool contributions are allocated to charities of winning teams’ choice (60%/30%/10% for 1st/2nd/3rd place). 
 

II. Team Rules Overview

  1. Player Eligibility: 
    1. All players participating in Dota2 competitions must have an active Dota2 North America account in good standing.
    2. Only registered team members playing under their main account are allowed to play for a team.
    3. Eligibility follows general CEA rules with players required to be of the same company (eligibility taken at the end of registration date) with the exception of Joint-Teams.
  2. Team Roster: Match roster of 5. You may register up to 8 players and substitute between matches.

III. Match Rules

  1. Game Version: All players must have their game up to date with the latest patch.
  2. Game Mode: 5 vs 5 standard lobby. Selection priority will be determined by Dota2’s automatic coin toss system. The team that wins the coin toss may also choose between US East or US West servers.
  3. Lobby Settings: Game Name: *Team1 vs Team2* Fall Rush 2025; Cheats: Off; Bots: Off; Gamemode: Captains Mode; Starting Team: Automatic Coin Toss; Dota TV Delay: 15 mins.
  4. Lobby Creation: The team listed on the left in the #Team1-vs-Team2 channel is responsible for creating the lobby. Captains must create an in-game team in the Dota client otherwise, the game won’t allow you to use the coin toss feature. Use the same in-game team for every CEA lobby throughout the season. Instructions here.: https://imgur.com/a/tVFi10q
  5. Game Winner: The game lasts until the winner is known. The game is over when either team’s Ancient Fortress is destroyed or when “GG” is called in all-chat. When “GG” is typed intentionally, it’s a final surrender of the game. The result will be based on the post-game summary screen. The captain of the winning team is encouraged to post a screenshot of this screen in their match channel on Discord.
  6. Replays: Teams are encouraged to review official matches from other teams, download replays, and scout upcoming opponents using the Dota 2 client or third-party websites. Make sure to save your own replay, as it may be requested by the Game Lead in certain cases. 
  7. Series Length & Format: All matches are BO1, including the Grand Finals.
  8. Priority Selection & Server: Selection priority will be determined by Dota2’s automatic coin toss system. The team that wins the coin toss may also choose between US East or US West servers.
  9. Substitute Players: Players are allowed to switch following the completion of a game.
  10. Scheduling: Matches will follow a “follow-by” system, meaning only the first BO1 round is scheduled to start exactly at 12 PM PDT. All subsequent matches will begin approximately 10 minutes after both teams are ready. 
  11. Spectators/Casters: Lobby settings for spectators should be set to “Yes” and Spectator Delay should be set to 5 minutes. In-game spectators from either team are not allowed. Casters who are not on either team may occupy a Broadcasting slot if both team captains agree to it. Casters must stream with at least a 2 minute delay and captains may request a longer delay, which is to be granted by default (Game lead may approve exceptions).
  12. Forfeits: If a team is unable to play within 20 minutes of the scheduled start time, they will automatically forfeit the match. This grace period may be extended at the discretion of the opposing team’s captain but must be confirmed in writing in the discord match channel. ​If only a portion of the team is present 20 minutes after the scheduled start time, captains should ensure that the situation is documented with screenshots and chat logs.
    1. Teams must choose between playing without the absent members if the game allows.
    2. ​In the event both teams have arrived to play, but one team fails to join the match lobby within the later of twenty (20) minutes after the scheduled match time and five (5) minutes after both teams communicated being ready to play, the opposing captain may submit documentation (screenshots and chat logs) to claim a victory by forfeit as follows:
      • The opposing captain should provide notice they will be submitting documentation for a victory by forfeit. At this time, the team may still elect to play short-handed.
    3. ​Teams may opt to forfeit a match at any time with the consent of their team’s members. In this case follow the standard reporting procedures and note that the match was decided by forfeit.
    4. Teams which forfeit multiple consecutive weeks and do not respond to messages from the organizers may be removed from the season without a refund.

       

  13. Match Reporting: The winning team’s captain must submit results to the tournament management platform no later than 4pm pacific time on Sunday. Failure to submit results will lead to a warning for the winning team and in some cases a double loss. We strongly encourage the winner of each game to record screenshots of the post-game lobby victory screen and save the replay if necessary.

  14. Lateness: If a team is unable to be ready in the lobby 5 minutes before game start (coin toss start time) the following punishments apply:

    • Time XX:XX is time when teams should be inside the lobby;

    • Time XX:XX + 3 min – Warning;

    • Time XX:XX + 5 min  – Draft penalty level 1 (loss of 30 seconds of reserve time);

    • Time XX:XX +10 min – Draft penalty level 2 (loss of 70 seconds of reserve time);

    • Time XX:XX + 15 min  – Draft penalty level 3 (loss of all reserve time);

    • Time XX:XX + 20 min – Forfeit the game;

  15.  

IV. Technical Issues

Pauses/Disconnects

  • Each team is allowed 10 minutes of in-game pause time per game. After this time has elapsed, the game must be unpaused and the team without remaining time may not pause again. A team reserves the right to lend their pause time to the opposing team if they are willing to.

  • In some cases, this time can be extended if the delay is the result of issues that are coordinated directly to the admin team / Game Lead.

  • The team that has paused should immediately write to the in-game chat or the team discord channel and explain the reason for the pause.

  • In cases where a game crashes or needs to be restarted, the Game Lead will exercise its best judgement to decide the correct course of action;

  • If a game crashes before players leave the base, the game will be rehosted starting with the draft that should be repeated.

  • For games crashes after the horn but before first blood, an CM Mode remake with all picks / bans remaining the same will be used;

  • If players had already purchased items, placed wards, secured a level 1 Roshan, or entered the lanes, the same actions must be taken for the remake. Changing lanes for a game which was remade after the laning phase began is only permitted after heroes / creeps have met in the lanes

  • If the game crashed after meeting the “Game of Record” conditions below, contact the Game Lead.

  • In all cases, the Game Lead has ultimate discretion as to how to address a game that has crashed or needs to be restarted.  

Cheating or using unauthorised programs

  • Teams found to be engaging in cheating, unethical behaviour, obtaining any form of unfair competitive advantage, or otherwise using unauthorised programs will forfeit all affected matches;

  • The Administration will have total discretion and final say over what counts as cheating; 

  • In extreme cases, and at the sole discretion of the Administration, cheating may result in a team being immediately disqualified from the Tournament or even being barred from future Valve Tournaments;

  • Macro scripts are expressly forbidden (including any DOTA 2 configuration file, third party program, or other script which allows multiple keystrokes to be input into the game client through a single keypress or no human input whatsoever).

Bugs and Glitches

  • Teams who abuse gameplay bugs may be assigned a forfeit loss;

  • If a team discovers a game-affecting bug (or potential exploit clearly outside of the developers’ intended game design) during a game, they are expected to pause the game and immediately inform their opponent as well as the match referee in all chat;

  • The Administration & Game Lead will evaluate alleged bug abuses and has full discretion to award a forfeit loss to any team found guilty of abusing a critical bug or exploit that affected the outcome of the match;

  • In all cases, the tournament administration has ultimate discretion as to how to address a game that has crashed or needs to be restarted.  

Game of Record

A game of record (“GOR”) refers to a game where all ten players have loaded, and which has progressed to a point of meaningful interaction between opposing teams. Once a game attains GOR status, the period ends in which incidental restarts may be permitted and a game will be considered as “official” from that point onward. After the establishment of GOR, game restarts will be allowed only under limited conditions and with a new draft.

Examples of conditions which establish GOR:

  • Any attack or ability is landed on enemy structures or heroes.

  • Line-of-sight is established between players on opposing teams.

  • Setting foot, establishing vision or targeting a skillshot ability in the opponent’s jungle.

  • Creep waves meet in the middle lane.

Game Restart

A game can be restarted only at the discretion of the Game Lead. Below are examples of acceptable reasons for a game restart, but an acceptable reason is at the sole discretion of the Game Lead.

  • If a referee determines that technical difficulties will not allow for the game to resume as normal (including a team’s ability to be in proper position for certain game events such as creep spawn).

  • If the game experiences a critical bug at any point during the match that significantly alters game state or gameplay mechanics.

  • If a referee determines that there are environmental conditions that are not conducive to fairness.

  • If one or multiple players crash before “Game of Record”

V. Misc

Conduct and Sportsmanship

  • Players are expected to exhibit good sportsmanship at all times.
  • Any disrespectful, offensive, or racist expressions towards opponents, administrators, or staff will result in immediate disqualification and potential future bans from CEA events.
  • Bad language or threats against staff or other players will lead to instant disqualification.
  • Exploiting known game glitches or bugs for an unfair advantage is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate team disqualification.
  • Third-party software or hardware that provides an unfair advantage (e.g., aimbots, speed hacks, macros) is strictly prohibited. Use of such will result in immediate team disqualification and a permanent ban for all involved players from CEA events.
  • Macro scripts are expressly forbidden (including any DOTA 2 configuration file, third party program, or other script which allows multiple keystrokes to be input into the game client through a single keypress or no human input whatsoever).

Additional Notes

  • Tournament matches may be streamed or recorded for promotional purposes. Participants agree to this upon registration.
  • Individuals are entitled to steam or record their own personal matches, given permission from the opposing player.

Contact Information

  • Discord Server: discord.gg/cea (for tournament announcements and support)
  • Email Contact: [email protected]