Disclaimer: The Tournament Administrators reserve the right to amend, update, or modify these rules at any time to ensure the integrity and fair play of the competition. All decisions made by the Tournament Administrators are final.

Section 1: General Rules & Code of Conduct

1.1. Player Eligibility

• All players must have a valid Steam account in good standing with Dota 2.
• Players must be registered as part of an official team roster before the roster lock deadline.
• Each team consists of five (5) starting players and may register up to two (2) official substitutes.

1.2. Code of Conduct

• Sportsmanship: All participants are expected to exhibit good sportsmanship and maintain a professional attitude. Harassment, discrimination, and toxic behavior towards opponents, teammates, or tournament staff will not be tolerated.
• Cheating: Any form of cheating, including but not limited to scripting, hacking, map-hacking, or using any third-party software that provides an unfair advantage, is strictly forbidden and will result in immediate disqualification and a potential ban from future events.
• Collusion: Participants shall not engage in any form of collusion, match-fixing, or intentionally throwing a game.
• Team Names & Logos: Team names, player aliases, and logos must be appropriate and inoffensive. Tournament Administrators reserve the right to demand changes to any that are deemed inappropriate.

Section 2: Tournament Format

The tournament will be played in two stages:

1. Group Stage: Round-Robin format.
2. Playoffs: Double-Elimination bracket.

2.1. Group Stage

Format: Teams will be divided into groups. All matches within a group will be played in a (Best-of-Two (Bo2) Round-Robin format, meaning every team plays every other team in their group once.

1. Scoring:

• 2-0 Victory: 3 points
• 1-1 Draw: 1 point
• 0-2 Loss: 0 points

1. Seeding:

• The top two teams from each group will advance to the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs.
• The 3rd & 4th teams from each group will advance to the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs.
• The remaining teams will be eliminated.

1. Tiebreaker Rules: If two or more teams are tied in points, the following tiebreaker rules will be applied in order:

• Head-to-Head Score: The results of the Bo2 match between the tied teams.
• Map Score Difference: The team's total maps won minus total maps lost across the Group Stage.
• Neustadtl Score (Sonneborn-Berger): The sum of the final scores of the opponents that a team has defeated.
• Tiebreaker Match: If teams are still tied after all other methods, a Best-of-One (Bo1) tiebreaker match will be played. Side and draft choice will be determined by a coin toss.

2.2. Playoffs (Double Elimination)

Format: The playoffs will be a standard Double-Elimination bracket.

• Upper Bracket: Teams that win continue in the Upper Bracket. Teams that lose drop to the Lower Bracket.
• Lower Bracket: Teams that lose in the Lower Bracket are eliminated from the tournament.

Match Format:

• All Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket matches will be Best-of-Three (Bo3).
• The Grand Finals will be a Best-of-Five (Bo5). The team advancing from the Upper Bracket Final will have no map advantage in the Grand Finals.

Section 3: In-Game & Match Rules

3.1. Lobby Creation & Settings

A Tournament Administrator or a designated lobby host will create all official match lobbies.

• Game Mode: Captains Mode
• Server Location: The server will be determined by the Tournament Administrator to provide the most balanced latency for both teams. If an agreement cannot be reached, a default server will be used.
• Spectators: Only Tournament Administrators, official casters, and production staff are allowed as spectators in the lobby.

3.2. Pre-Match Procedure

• Punctuality: Teams are expected to be in the game lobby at least 10 minutes before the scheduled match time.
• Tardiness: A team has a 10-minute grace period.
• 5 minutes late: Loss of reserve time for the first draft phase.
• 10 minutes late: Forfeit of the first game in the series.
• 15 minutes late: Forfeit of the entire match (Bo2, Bo3, or Bo5).

• Side & Draft Choice (Bo3/Bo5):
• Game 1: A coin toss will determine which team chooses either side (Radiant/Dire) or draft order (First/Second Pick). The other team gets the remaining choice.
• Subsequent Games: The loser of the previous game gets to choose a side or draft order.

3.3. Pauses & Disconnects

• Pause Allotment: Each team is allocated 10 minutes of tactical pause time per game.
• Pausing: A team may only pause the game when a valid reason is present (e.g., player disconnect, hardware issue). The reason must be stated in all-chat (e.g., "pause tech," "pause dc").
• Unpausing: A team may not unpause the game if the opposing team initiated the pause. The game can only be resumed by the pausing team or a Tournament Administrator once the issue is resolved and both teams have confirmed they are ready in chat.
• Disconnects: If a player disconnects, the game must be paused immediately. The player has up to 10 minutes of the team's total pause time to reconnect. If the player cannot reconnect and the team has no substitute available, the team must choose to either continue playing 4v5 or forfeit the game.

3.4. Bugs & Exploits

• The intentional use of any in-game bug or exploit to gain an advantage is strictly forbidden.
• If a significant, game-altering bug occurs, players must immediately pause the game and contact a Tournament Administrator. The administrator will assess the situation and may order a lobby remake, a save/load from a replay, or other measures as deemed necessary.

3.5. End of Game

• A game is officially over when one team's Ancient is destroyed, one team types "GG" or "gg" in all-chat, or a team forfeits to a Tournament Administrator.
• Typing "GG" is considered a binding concession of defeat.

Section 4: Penalties for Rule Violations

• Violations of any of the above rules may result in one or more of the following penalties, at the discretion of the Tournament Administrators:
• Verbal Warning
• Loss of Draft Time
• Game Forfeit
• Match Forfeit
• Disqualification from the Tournament
• Ban from future events organized by the tournament host.