Rulebook: Valorant

Last Modified: September 3, 2025.

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

I. Season Schedule

CEA Fall 2025 Season Calendar
REGULAR SEASON
September 6th Week1
September 13th Week 2
September 20th Week 3
September 27th Week 4
October 4th Week 5
October 11th Week 6
October 18th Week 7
October 25th Week 8
November 1st Week 9
PLAYOFFS
Playoffs for every weekend November 1st moving forward

II. Valorant Overview

  1. Player Eligibility: All players participating in Valorant competitions must have an active Riot Games account on the North American “Region Shard” that is in good standing displayed on their PlayCEA profile. Only registered team members playing under their own account are allowed to play for a team.
    1. Coaches: Coaches are allowed as long as they are registered as a player on the team. Coaches are also allowed to play since they are recognized as a member of the team.
      1. Coaches are not allowed to talk during the live game. Coaches can only communicate with the players before the map starts, during tactical timeouts, and between maps.
    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 playCEA 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 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.
        1. 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:
        1. 2-3 Teams: 2 Floaters
        2. 4-6 Teams: 4 Floaters
        3. 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.
  2. Half/Joint Team: Please refer to the Playing on Multiple Teams or Companies (Floaters) rules for a Half/Joint Valorant Team
  3. Registration: The Valorant registration fee will be $200 per team. 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.
  5. 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).
      1. The CEA observes Daylight Saving Time.
      2. 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.
    3. Sunday: All matches must be finished and recorded in #scoreboard-screenshots in the CEA Discord by 11:59pm PST (2:59am Eastern).
Failure to report match scores will apply a penalty of an additional “13 Rounds Lost” and forfeiture of map bans the following week. Repeated failure to report will apply additional penalties and potential action from CEA Staff.

III. Season Format

  1. Stage 1: Regular Season (4 weeks)
    1. Stage 1 is all about locating and isolating the best of the best teams and advancing them to the playoffs as early as possible. This is done by grouping teams that have demonstrated recent success and have remained intact season-to-season and letting the winning teams from that group advance.
    2. Stage 1 will be composed of two groups:
      1. “Legacy” group
        1. Legacy will be composed of UP TO the top 16 teams from the previous season (based on playoff results). To be eligible, teams must also return at least 50% of the previous season’s roster.
      2. “Contenders” group.
        1. The Contenders group will contain every other team registered for the current season that is not eligible for Legacy placement.
    3. Standings will be determined by Swiss points, round differential, and game differential.
  2. Stage 2: Regular Season (4 weeks)
    1. Stage 2 is focused on seeding for Stage 3. Records from Stage 1 are not continued into Stage 2. Stage 2 will maintain its own records for standings.
      1. Stage 2 will have 3 groups
        1. Playoff Group (Top 8 Teams)
          1. The top 8 teams from Stage 1, Legacy group
          2. These teams are secured a seed in the playoff bracket in Stage 3 and will play 4 weeks of Swiss to determine Seeds #1-8.
        2. Group A (~20 teams)
          1. The bottom 8 teams from the Legacy group, plus the top ~12 teams from the Contenders group.
            1. Please note these numbers will changed based off the amount of teams in the league.
        3. Group B (Remaining Teams)
          1. The remaining teams from the Contenders group.
    2. Playoff Advancement:
      1. The entirety of the Playoff Group will advance to the playoffs in Stage 3 with seeds #1-8.
      2. The top ~16 teams from Group A will advance to the playoffs in Stage 3 with seeds #9-24*.
      3. The top ~8 teams from Group B will advance to the playoffs in Stage 3 with seeds #25*-32.
  3. Stage 3: Playoffs
    1. A single-elimination, 32-team bracket based on seeding determined during Stage 2.
      1. Top 16 onward is double-elimination

Visual Explanation:

Animated Explanation: https://youtu.be/EHz5eo6k9ss

IV. Rules

       Competition Method

  • Valorant Custom Game Lobby
  • Server should be picked by the lowest average ping between two teams,
    • Default server is either Texas, Illinois, or Georgia
    • If both teams have a lower average ping on another server, and both team captains agree to it, another server may be used.
  • Match Settings
    • Mode: Tournament
    • Cheats: Off
    • Overtime: Win by 2
    • Hide Match History: Off
  • Timeouts
    • Each team is allowed two (2) sixty (60) second tactical timeouts per map. If the map goes to overtime, each team is given one (1) sixty (60) second timeout for the rest of overtime.
    • Unused Timeouts do not carry over from standard gameplay to overtime.
  • Spectator Slots
    • Non-players may only join the match as part of the “coach” slot.
    • The only exception to this is for broadcasting the game. See Broadcasting for more details.

       Match Length

  • Matches will be a best-of-two (2) during the standard season.
  • Matches will be a best-of-three (3) during the standard season

       Map Selection

  • The tournament follows the standard Ranked Map Pool as set by Riot Games.
  • As of 2025-09-03, the map pool is:
    • Abyss
    • Ascent
    • Bind
    • Corrode
    • Haven
    • Lotus
    • Sunset
  • Should the Ranked Map Pool change by having a map added or removed from the Ranked Map Pool. The prevailing status of the Ranked Map Pool will supersede the maps listed.
  • If a map is removed from the Ranked Map Pool under a temporary adjustment (due to an issue identified by Riot Games or the CEA), the map will not be valid to play in the tournament.

       Substitute Players

  • Teams are allowed to swap out players between maps.
  • Players to be swapped in, must be registered to the roster of the team, and must not have played for another team the same week.
  • Teams are not allowed to swap players during live gameplay.

       Coin Flip

  • The home team is always the team listed on the left side of the PlayCEA match page.
  • Coin Flips are done in the #match-coin-flip channel on the CEA Discord.
  • The home team decides if they want to either call heads or tails, or to flip the coin (using /flip in the channel).
  • The away team will perform the choice that the home team did not pick.
  • The winner of the coin toss will determine who will be Team A or Team B for the purposes of the map pick/ban phase below.

       Map Pick/Ban Phase

  • Regular Season
    1. Team A – Bans 1 Map
    2. Team B – Bans 1 Map
    3. Team A – Picks Map 1
    4. Team B – Picks Starting Side for Map 1
    5. Team B – Picks Map 2
    6. Team A – Picks Starting Side for Map 2
  • Playoff Matches
    1. Team A – Bans 1 Map
    2. Team B – Bans 1 Map
    3. Team A – Picks Map 1
    4. Team B – Picks Starting Side for Map 1
    5. Team B – Picks Map 2
    6. Team A – Picks Starting Side for Map 2
    7. Team A – Bans 1 Map
    8. Team B – Bans 1 Map
    9. Team A – Picks starting map on remaining map

       Game Win Conditions

  • The winner is decided by whichever team is displayed as the victor at the end of the match, according to the game.

       Scheduling and Forfeits

  • The first game of each round must begin no later than 15 minutes after the default starting time
  • Scheduling changes and/or forfeits must be reported by the team captain(s) in the #reschedule-and-forfeit channel on the CEA Discord.
  • Rescheduled Games must be finished by 11:59pm (PST) on Sunday.
    • Failure to report the game, including forfeits, will result in both teams receiving a -13 round loss, as well as forfeiting any map bans for the next week.

       Broadcasting

  • A team-affiliated broadcaster is allowed to broadcast any game, pursuant to Riot’s Terms of Service, and Legal Jibber Jabber agreements, and barring any restrictions placed by CEA administration.
    • By default, a team-affiliated broadcast may only have a single user in the game, and must use the coach slot for the team that they are affiliated with.
    • With approval from both team captains, the broadcaster may use the observer slots.
    • For any broadcast, the broadcaster  must share the following information with both team captains:
      • (Before the start of the game) The URL/Channel to view the live stream
      • (Before the start of the game) Any delay that is imposed on the broadcast
      • (After the match) Any recorded VODs, including unlisted links.
    • If either team captain requests that you do not broadcast their game, a broadcaster must not broadcast the game.
    • The team-affiliated broadcaster must not be in contact, direct or indirect, with either team during a live match.
      • This includes streaming on Discord in a channel available to other non-broadcast affiliated people.
  • The CEA may elect to have a CEA-appointed broadcaster for particular games.
    • Restrictions for team-affiliated broadcasters do not apply to CEA-appointed broadcasters.
    • If either team captain has reservations with a CEA-appointed broadcaster, they may raise those concerns to the Game Lead and CEA Administrators.

V. Game Integrity & Penalty System

  1. Penalty System: Starting Fall 2022, we will be introducing a penalty system. The application of a penalty onto a competing team is determined by the Valorant Game Lead and the CEA Administration team. If a team acquires multiple penalties throughout the season, the CEA Administration may step in.
    1. If you believe that the team you are playing against has committed one of the following infractions listed below in this section, please have your team captain direct message the Game Lead or contact a CEA Admin with:
      1. Photo or Video proof of the infraction being broken.
      2. Relevant game chat or system logs.
      3. A written summary of what occurred during the time of the infraction.
    2. The penalty system and punishments are as follows:
      1. First Occurrence: Warning
      2. Second Occurrence: Loss of Map Ban(s) in the following week
      3. Third Occurrence: Loss of Map Ban(s) in the playoffs (plus prior punishments)
      4. Fourth Occurrence: Loss of Round Differential and/or Playoff Seeding (plus prior punishments)
      5. Fifth Occurrence: Further Action by the CEA
  2. Repeated Late Forfeiting:
    1. It is the team captain’s responsibility to report a forfeit before gametime. It is unfair to the other team to not show up, or cancel last minute.
      1. The CEA understands that emergencies can happen, and teams will only be punished if the no show or late forfeit is intentionally due to team captain or other players’ laziness.
  3. Toxicity:
    1. First and foremost, banter is allowed and encouraged if done correctly.
    2. Toxicity has no place in the CEA. The following are some examples, but not an exhaustive list, of toxicity:
      1. Personal attacks on a player
      2. Doxing
      3. Hate Speech
        1. Racism
        2. Sexism
        3. Homophobia
      4. Slurs
      5. Threatening
      6. Sexual Harassment
    3. All reports of toxicity will be investigated and reviewed by the Game Lead, and CEA Admins may be brought in if needed.
  4. In-game Exploits:
    1. In-game exploits that give an unfair advantage are not allowed in the CEA. This may include but is not limited to:
      1. Unbreakable cypher cams
      2. Walls that can be shot through one way (ex. Bind B Site Spawn Wall)
      3. Under the map Skye flashes
      4. Thrown objects that go through walls
    2. If you are unsure if a certain setup or lineup is an exploit, please reach out to the game lead to determine.
  5. Cheating:
    1. Any software or hardware that gives you an unfair advantage is not allowed in the CEA. This may include but is not limited to:
      1. Aimware
      2. Wall Hacks / ESP
      3. Speed Hacks
      4. Damage Hacks
      5. Anti-aim
Please refer to the CEA’s general rules about cheating.

VI. Contact Info

Discord Server: discord.gg/cea

  1. Valorant Game Lead’s Discord: 

  2. Email Contacts: [email protected]