Rules
OVERWATCH RULESET
These rules are specific to Overwatch. Please refer to the general rules for information about tournament format, substitutions, rematches and sportsmanship.
Contents
- Player and Team Eligibility
- Match Rules
- Penalties
- Spirit of the Rules
Player and Team Eligibility
1.1. Player eligibility
1.1.1. To be eligible to compete in the British Esports Student Champs, each player must have satisfy all of the following conditions:
1.1.1.1. Be registered in full-time education at an Institution of Secondary or Further Education as defined in sections 1.1 and 1.2 within the General Rules.
1.1.1.2. They must have a EU account on Overwatch.
1.1.1.3. A Players account name must not be offensive and if the BEA considers this to be the case, that player will be required to change their name.
1.1.1.4. A Player must be aged 12+ to compete.
1.2. Ineligible Students
The following students are ineligible to participate:
1.2.1. BEA tournament admins
1.3. Team eligibility
1.3.1. Each team must have a designated Leader that satisfies the following conditions:
1.3.1.1. A registered staff member at the Institution that the team represents. In exceptional circumstances, a student with written permission from their school or college may be designated leader, subject to British Esports Association approval.
1.3.1.2. Must act as representative and point of contact for BEA.
1.3.1.3. Must supervise all online interaction between Players at that Institution. This can include before and after games as well as during.
1.3.1.4. The leader cannot participate, only supervise.
1.3.2. A team must consist of between 6 and 8 players from the same Institution.
1.3.3. A player must be only on one team at once, however players may change teams throughout the season.
1.3.3.1. Players must only play for one team per week, although they can change teams throughout the season.
1.3.3.2. Each substitute player can be used on multiple team rosters at the same time. Even if they are on multiple rosters at once, rule 1.3.3.1. still applies to subs.
1.3.3.3. Each team can have max 2 subs on the roster at once. This can be updated throughout the season if necessary.
1.3.4. If a team splits up, the majority of the team has right to ownership of the team and any seedings/qualification spots it has earnt.
1.3.5. A team may request a name change at any point during a season. To change a team’s name an admin must be contacted with desired change.
1.3.6. A Teams name must not be explicitly offensive and if the British Esports Student Champs considers this to be the case, that team will be required to change their name.
Match Rules
2.1. Match Setup
2.1.1. All games must be played on the European server.
2.1.2. Players must use the Battle.net account associated to their British Esports Student Champs profile. If this account information is not up to date it will lead to a loss of map pick in the first incident with increasing penalty for repeat offence.
2.2. Map choice.
“Home” team is the one displayed on the left of the fixture list. “Away” team is on the right. “Home” team get choice of Control map, then the loser of each of the subsequent maps chooses the next map. Winners choose the starting side (attack or defense).
2.2.1. Maps must be chosen from a pool of 8 containing: 2 “Control”, 2 “Hybrid”, 2 “Escort”, 2 “Assault”.
- Control: Busan / Oasis
- Hybrid: Blizzard World / Hollywood
- Escort: Dorado / Watchpoint Gibraltar
- Assault: Volskaya Industries / Temple of Anubis
- Control: Busan / Oasis (whichever wasn’t picked first)
2.2.2. Fixtures will be Best of 5. First to win 3 maps.
2.2.3. In the event of a map draw (e.g. 3-3 on Hollywood), one round of a “Control” map will be played to determine the winner of the drawn map. This map must be played immediately after the tied map before moving on. For Spring, this tiebreaker will be Lijiang Tower.
2.2.4. Either team may create the lobby and the captain of the opposing team must be contacted and invited to the lobby. PH353 is the lobby code for Overwatch fixtures. This code once inputted will help with ensuring the right settings are turned on, but teams will still need to choose the correct maps from the map pool.
The lobby should be set up as follows:
2.2.4.1 Preset: Competitive
2.2.4.2. Lobby.
- Map rotation: after a mirror match
- Return to lobby: after a mirror match
- Team balancing: off
- Swap teams after match: yes
- Team 1 max players: 6
- Team 2 max players: 6
- Max FFA players: 0
- Max spectators: 2
- Match voice chat: disabled
- Pause game on player disconnect: yes
- 2.1.4.3. Click ‘Modes’ then ‘All’
- Enemy health bars: enabled
- Game mode start: all slots filled
- Health pack respawn time scalar: 100%
- Kill cam: disabled
- Kill feed: enabled
- Skins: disabled
- Spawn health packs: determined by mode
- Allow hero switching: enabled
- Hero limit: 1 per team
- Limit roles: 2 of each role per team. This enforces 2-2-2 lock.
- Respawn as random hero: disabled
- Respawn time scalar: 100%
2.2.4.3. Maps
Disable all but the one to be played next. E.g. if Hanamura is next, turn all but Hanamura to “OFF”.
2.2.4.4 Click ‘Heroes’ then ‘Hero roster’
All heroes enabled, unless new (see 2.2.6, 2.2.7)
2.2.4.5. All skins and cosmetics are allowed.
2.2.5. Once both teams have joined the lobby and stated they are ready, the lobby leader must click Start.
2.2.6. New heroes may not be used until they have been available in Competitive play for at least one week.
2.2.7. Heroes which have been majorly reworked may not be used until one week has passed since patch date.
2.3. Casting of Games
2.3.1 Champs matches can only be streamed if agreed by both teams. Those wishing to stream should reach out to the opposing staff leader and team ahead of the match to gain permission. If one of the teams in a fixture does not agree to be streamed, then the match must not be streamed.
2.3.2. Tournament admins and people that are explicitly permitted to spectate by British Esports Student Champs (e.g. shoutcasters or streamers) may ask to spectate. You cannot refuse to invite a tournament admin.
2.3.3. Players must wait for casters to declare they are ready before starting.
2.3.4. Coaches, managers or anyone not explicitly permitted to spectate may spectate with permission from both teams.
2.3.4.1. Spectators such as coaches and managers must be locked to the side of their affiliation e.g. a coach for the blue team must be “locked to blue side”.
2.3.5. Spectators wishing to cast and stream may request permission from both teams to not be ‘locked’ to the side of their affiliation.
2.3.6. Stream delay of at least 180 seconds must be enabled in the streaming software to prevent cheating.
Penalties
3.1. Any person found to have engaged in or attempted to engage in any act that British Esports Student Champs believes, in its sole and absolute discretion, constitutes unfair play, will be subject to penalty. The nature and extent of the penalties imposed due to such acts shall be in the sole and absolute discretion of the British Esports Student Champs.
3.2. If any team or player is suspected of breaking any rules, admins should be informed by the Leader. At this point admins may ask for screenshots or other evidence of misconduct.
3.3. Upon discovery of any team member committing any violations of the rules listed above, the British Esports Student Champs may, without limitation issue the following penalties to a team:
3.3.1. Loss of a map pick. In this instance, the opponent is given the map choice.
3.3.2. Issue of a warning on the team’s permanent record.
3.3.3. Forfeit of a match.
3.3.4. Temporary suspension of a player. If this results in <6 players on the team, the team will become ineligible (according to 1.3.2) unless a substitute is brought in.
3.3.5. Permanent ban of a player.
3.3.6. Deduction of points or seeding for the current or next tournament. Penalties are carried over with the majority of the offending team for the full academic year.
3.3.7. Disqualification of team from a tournament.
3.3.8. Disqualification of team from the British Esports Student Champs.
Spirit of the Rules
4.1. These Rules may be amended, modified or supplemented by the British Esports Student Champs, from time to time, in order to ensure fair play and the integrity of the British Esports Student Champs.
4.2. All decisions regarding the interpretation of these rules lie solely with the British Esports Student Champs, the decisions of which are final.