Rulebook: Starcraft II

Last Modified: August 26, 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 Spring 2025 Season Calendar

Mandatory Practice Week

September 6: Week 0

Unranked Team Games

September 13: Week 1

Regular Season

September 20: Week 2

September 27: Week 3

October 4: Week 4

October 11: Week 5

October 18 6: Week 6

October 25: Week 7

November 1: Week 8

Playoffs

November 8: Week 9 Quarterfinals

November 15: Week 10 Semifinals

November 22: Week 11 Grand Finals + 3rd Place Decider

CEA Season Format Overview

Practice Week: 1v1, does not affect placement, no penalties for organizational mistakes/technical issues
Unranked Team Games- 2v2 Bo5, does not affect placement
Regular Season – Swiss 1v1 Bo5 mixed with Collegiate teams
Playoffs: Single Elimination, Bo7 (Optional games once eliminated)

Weekly Structure of the League

Matches will be distributed each week on Monday.
On Wednesday, lineup submissions are due.
Default match time is 12:00 pm (noon) Pacific time on Saturday.
Replay requests must be made by Wednesday. If requested, Replays must be produced by Friday 8pm Pacific.
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.

II. Starcraft II (SC2) Overview

Player Eligibility: All players participating in StarCraft competitions must have an active (Americas) account in good standing. Only registered team members playing under their own account are allowed to play for a team.
1. In-Game Names:
  1. Player are encouraged to set their in-game names onto the CEA Tournament Manager. This can be done from the Settings menu in the top right hand corner drop down within the Tournament Manager.
  2. During lineup submission, unless ALL players in the lineup have set their in-game names alongside their race, the player submitting the lineup must include the races of all participants alongside in-game names. These names must match the match participants in-game or the CEA reserves the right to revoke match and/or game results.
    1. Example: Player A submit a lineup for their team of PlayerB, PlayerC, PlayerD, PlayerE.
      Unless all 4 players have set their ingame name along with race, the accompanying message should read:
      PlayerB_SC2Name (Z), PlayerC_IngameName (T), SomeNamePlayerDUsesInGame (P), PlayerEsInGameDisplayName (T)

Team Roster: A team may start the season with 4-10 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 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. Joint Teams.
  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. 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.
4. Floater
Registration:The StarCraft II registration fee will be $200.00 per team. The captain pays this fee during registration on the CEA website. Collegiate teams are exempted from this fee, but are not eligible for charity contributions for placement.
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.
  1. Maps will be posted in a weekly discord announcement.
2. Wednesday:
  1. Lineups: Teams 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). No player shall play more than once in the first 4 maps, however, any player may play the “ace” map, even if they have played already in the first 4 maps. The lineup message should be used to indicate player races.
  2. Map Swaps: Teams may optionally submit 1 Map Swap for a non-ace map alongside their lineup submission in the form of the lineup message.
  3. Example lineup messages containing relevant information:
    1. “Swapping Steppes of War. Players: Zero (P), MrNovember (Z), Charlie (P), Mestaman (P)”
    2. “No map swap. Players: Slum (T), DarkZero (P), Taeho (P), Kisa (R)”
3. Saturday: All matches are played starting at 11am Pacific (2pm Eastern). Teams submit results after the match.
4. 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 (9pm Eastern) is the deadline for rescheduled matches to be completed.
5. 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 teams. There will be two at minimum two stages: Non-elimination Regular Season (~8 weeks) and Elimination Playoffs.

In general, any player may play on any single team at that player’s company, in a single tournament.

Playing on more than one team of the same game is forbidden except under the following conditions:

All teams must meet the minimum team size without counting any players who are listed on multiple teams.
Shared players still count towards a team’s maximum roster size.
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.
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. Company has 2-3 teams – Max 1 Floater
2. Company has 4-6 teams – Max 2 Floaters
3. Company has 7+ teams – Max 3 Floaters

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. Minimum latency difference – Within the preferred server of the SC2 client, there is an indicator providing the current latency to each server. The server with the smallest latency difference between each player to the server will be used.
  1. Example:
    1. Player A latency to USEast is 100ms, Player B to USEast is 200ms. Latency difference is 100ms (200-100=100)
    2. Player A latency to USWest is 50ms, Player B to USWest is 300ms. Latency difference is 250ms (300-50=250)
    3. Player A latency to USCentral is 325ms, Player B to USCentral is 330ms. Latency difference is 5ms (330-325=5)
    4. In this example, players will play on USCentral.
2. Captains may come to a different agreement as long as it is determined at the beginning of the match and MUST REMAIN CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE MATCH. It is recommended to PAUSE THE GAME IMMEDIATELY and reach out to your Game Lead if there are disputes.
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, Game Speed: Faster), and on the latest SC2 game patch. Observer-only mods, such as Gameheart or equivalent, are acceptable. It is strictly prohibited to use any other mod that would affect gameplay for the players in any way.
Format. Regular season matches are played in a team best-of-5 series, with a single 1v1 game per map. Playoff matches and grand finals are played in a team best-of-7 series.
Maps.
1. Map Pool. Unless otherwise stated by Game Leads or CEA Administrators, the map pool for any scored matches will be based on the current Ladder map pool, the latest relevant Team Liquid Map Contest, and Mapper’s Delight maps.
2. Map Swaps. Every week, the entire map lineup will be released. The Team Captain may submit inside their lineup message a Map Swap.
  1. Map Swaps are optional – a Captain may forfeit their Swap by indicating this in the lineup message. Doing so will not incur any penalties.
  2. ACE maps can NOT be swapped
  3. 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: Pillars of Gold LE – B: Ice and Chrome LE
      Map 4 – A: Oxide by themusic246 – B: Lightshade by Marras
      ACE: Submarine LE
      
      Map Swaps:
      Team 1 Map Swaps Deatharua LE
      Team 2 Map Swaps Eternal Empire LE
      
      The current week for the 2 teams will be:
      Map 1: Golden Wall LE
      Map 2: Ever Dream LE
      Map 3: Pillars of Gold LE
      Map 4: Oxide by themusic246
      Map 5 ACE: 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 on the team roster can play an ace map, including players from the first 4 maps. However, no player 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. Late Lineup Submissions: Each day late will incur a 1 match point penalty. Submissions are considered late after 11:59 PM Wednesdays Pacific time.
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 players from each match is to save all replays.
1. Replays may be requested by the opposing team latest by Wednesday, and must be produced latest by Friday 8pm Pacific.
2. Failure to produce replays may lead to a Point penalty.
Technical Issues.
1. Players are responsible for their own technical issues including hardware and internet.
2. Matches will not be rescheduled because of player side technical issues and will continue after pauses (as provided in game specific rules) are exhausted even if the issue is not yet resolved.
  1. Pauses may not be used to grief opponents or to strategically provide an advantage. Remember to take screenshots and video if you believe pauses are being abused.
  2. In the event of technical issues with the game servers an attempt will be made or reschedule and replay the match. The CEA organizers may assign a tie (half-win) if, at their sole discretion, the match cannot reasonably be rescheduled.
Unforeseen Circumstances. The CEA reserves the right to change these rules and to make additional decisions outside the defined rule set as necessary. Rule changes will be posted on the CEA Discord and all relevant parties notified.

III. Stoppage of Play

Team that requested a pause must announce the reason before or immediately after pause.
Each team 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 team refuses to resume the game, the opposing team 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. Cheating And Misconduct

If you, as a Player, sincerely believe that your opponent:

– cheated,

– exhibited behaviour that was hostile, toxic, vulgar or otherwise unacceptable,

– or infringed on either these rules

Please follow this step by step process:

– Take screenshots or make a desktop recording the behaviour in question. Either through use of screenshot tools like Gyazo, or video encoders, such as OBS (both of which are free to use).

– Contact your Team Captain and present your evidence to them.

– Your Team Captain should then contact the Game Lead and make the case clear to them.

– The Game Lead and the CEA team will then decide what action needs to be taken, if any.

Finally, take a deep breath and take a step back. Many players in the CEA are filled with good will and a desire to have fun. Often an incident of cheating is an accident or an honest misunderstanding of the rules.

The CEA investigates thoroughly all claims of cheating. If the CEA determines that a player deliberately and knowingly violated rules set out by the CEA, the game publisher, or game platform in order to achieve an in-game advantage, that player will be removed from all CEA events for the remainder of the season. In addition:

All games in which the cheating player participated will be marked as a loss for the cheating player’s team.
Other penalties will be applied as appropriate.

V. Contact Info

Discord Server: discord.gg/cea
Email Contacts:
1. Game and Rules related: [email protected]
2. Business, money, and sponsorship related: [email protected]
3. Other: [email protected]