The following rules apply for all Dota 2 competitions that are organized and profesionally broadcasted by Freaks 4U Gaming.

Besides these general regulations for professional tournaments, there are several individual rules for each competition. You will find these on the particular tournament website.

Current competitions in this category include (but are not necessarily limited to) joinDOTA League (Division 1-2), MSI Dragon Battle (Day 3).


1. General



1.1 Administration & Announcements

1.1.1 Everybody who is authorized by Freaks 4U Gaming to administrate the competition based on its rules and regulations will be called an "admin" or “referee" in the following, the collectivity of all admins will be called the "administration". A list of the current referees can be found on the joinDOTA Staff Page and - if existing - on the website of the competition.

1.1.2 Any news article posted on joinDOTA.com and/or the official competition website serves as an official announcement for the competition.

1.1.3 Official announcements as well as statements of referees at any place (e.g. competition website, support ticket reply, skype, steam) can ignore or overrule the following rules in order to make the competition as fair as possible. In case of contradicting declarations, the most recent announcement or admin statement counts.

1.2 Participants & Teams

Every real person - unless officially banned - with a valid steam account is allowed to participate in the competition and will be called "participant" in the following. Participants joining a team in order to fulfill the minimum required amount of team members will be called a "team" in the following.

1.3 Commitments

1.3.1 By attending the competition participants acknowledge without limitation to comply with the rules and regulations, official announcement, and with the statements and decisions made by the referees.

1.3.2 Every participant acknowledges the right for the administration to modify the rules and regulations for adjustments at any time without notice.

1.3.3 Every participant has to show the needed respect towards referees and other participants. Insults and unfair or disrespectful behaviour towards anyone are not tolerated and will be punished.

1.3.4 Every participant must always have the newest version of Steam and Dota 2 installed and has to check for updates in time before each match. Unless a new version comes out right before the match, patching is not a valid reason to delay it.

1.3.5 Every team accepts the official schedule of the competition and declares its ability to be available during these times.

1.3.6 Every team and participant has to try to win every game at every stage of the competition. Purposefully losing for any reason is strictly forbidden.

1.4 Communication

The primary communication platform is skype. At least one member of each team has to be available as much as possible, and - if there is one - stay inside the official skype group until the team gets eliminated from the competition.


2. Teams & Players



2.1 Team Size

A Team has to consist of at least five participants. Those persons will be called "team members" or "members" of the team in the following.

Note: The administration highly recommends a lineup of at least 6 or 7 players. Unexpected issues for one single player are not a valid reason to postpone matches.

2.2 Lineup Info

2.2.1 All teams have to provide the administration the following information upon request:
  • full names of all members
  • steam accounts of all members
  • primary nicknames of all members
  • nationality of all members
  • identity of the captain and optionally of the manager
  • clan logo (100x100px or bigger)
  • Skype account of the captain and/or manager
2.2.2 The team's official lineup for the competition is its teamprofile on joindota.com and can be found in our team database

2.3 Lineup Changes

2.3.1 Team members can be removed anytime as long as at least five members are left. To request a removal, the captain or manager of the team or the affected member himself has to contact an admin about it.

2.3.2 A new member can only be added during the competition, if he hasn't played a game for another team inside the competition. To request an addition, the captain or manager of the team has to provide the administration all additional information to comply with rule 2.2

2.3.3 If any data about the team needs to be changed, the captain or manager of the team can request this towards an admin at any time. If any data of a specific team member needs to be changed, the participant or his captain or manager can request this towards an admin at any time.

2.3.4 If another team member than before should be declared captain or manager of a team, this has to be confirmed by either the current (old) captain/manager or at least four other members of the team.

2.4 Stand-ins

2.4 Stand-ins are persons used by a team as a player during a match, without being an official team member.

2.4.1 A stand-in may not be member of another team or have played a game for another team within the same or a higher stage of the competition

Explanation: Some competitions are clearly split into multiple stages (e.g. open qualifier stage => main stage, or groupstage => playoffs) in the format section of the individual competition rules. The later stage counts as the "higher" one, meaning members from teams invited to the higher stage, may not help out in the previous stage; meanwhile players from teams that were defeated in a previous stage are legal stand-ins later on. If a competition is not clearly split into multiple stages or divisions, the whole competition counts as one stage, not allowing any stand-ins from within the competitionn at all.

2.4.3 The maximum of stand-ins used by a team within one game is 2

2.4.4 Further limitations to the usage of stand-ins may be declared in the individual rules of the competition.

2.5 Ingame Names

2.5.1 If the competition is running on an official DotaTV ticket, each player has to have his official info setup (also called competitive profile) properly in Dota 2. Every players has to be correctly marked as either stand-in or member of the team.

2.5.2 If the competition is not running on an official DotaTV ticket, each player has to have a clan tag as part of his steam name during all matches. Stand-ins must not do the same and instead wear a "Stand-in"-Tag, so members and stand-ins can be distinguished easily. What counts as a clan tag is for the administration to decide.

2.5.3 If the competition is not running on an official DotaTV ticket, each player and stand-in has to have his primary or secondary nickname or something very similar as part of his steam name during all games to be easily identifiable for referees, broadcasters, and viewers. What counts as similar is for the administration to decide. The primary and secondary nicknames can be found in the player's profile.


3. Schedule & Punctuality



3.1 Game times

3.1.1 The official schedule of the competition will be announced on joinDOTA.com and/or on the competition's website. The teams will also be informed about it via skype. This schedule includes the time of each match which represents the start time of game 1 of the match.

3.1.2 If a delayed end of a previous match prohibits a match to start on schedule (due to either one of the involved teams still playing or the official broadcaster still streaming the previous match within the same tournament), the match time is changed to 5 minutes after the end of the previous match.

3.1.3 In a match consisting of more than one game, the official start time of each following game is set to 5 minutes after the end of the previous game.

3.2 Rescheduling

The change of a match time is only possible under exceptional circumstances and has to be confirmed by the administration.

3.3 Punctuality

3.3.1 If a team is not ready to start a game in time, the following punishments will be applied by the referee:
  • 5 minutes late => Level 1 Draft Penalty
  • 10 minutes late => Level 2 Draft Penalty
  • 15 minutes late => Level 3 Draft Penalty
  • 20 minutes late => Forfeit of the game (not the whole match)
X minutes late means that the team is not ready to start until X minutes after the official start time of the game.

3.3.2 If a team is partly present, but decided to run the draft without full lineup (followed by an AP remake), the following is done:

Short version: The time late of the team is set to the delay of draft start plus 5 minutes (the estimated cost of the remake), and the draft penalty is set accordingly. If the remake turns out to cost more than 5 minutes, the draft penalty might afterwards be raised to a forfeit loss, or a draft penalty for the next game might be added (depending on the overall delay).


Time late = X + Y + Z with...
  • X = time after the official game start time until the team signalizes to be ready to start the draft
  • Y = time after the end of the draft until the team is fully ready to start the actual game
  • Z = delay time transfered from previous games (in most cases 0)
If X + Y + Z exceeds 20 minutes, the game is forfeit in any case. Otherwise a draft penalty is applied as usual.

Since Y is not yet known at the time of the draft, Y is ASSUMED to be 5 minutes and the draft penalty is set accordingly. If Y turns out to be more than 5 minutes later on (but the time late doesn't exceed 20 minutes overall), that additional delay (time on top of the already punished minutes) is transfered as delay time Z for the following game.

Example:

The official start time of game 1 in a best of 3 between Team A and Team B is 18:00. Team B is ready in time. Team A is missing a player. At 18:08 Team A requests to start the draft with 4 players.
=> X1 = 8 min
=> Y1 assumed to be 5 min
=> Time late (with Z1 being 0) estimated for 13 min
=> Game 1 draft is started with a level 2 draft penalty

The draft concludes at 18:20. A new lobby is hosted. Yet the last player of Team A is still missing. He finally arrives at 18:29.
=> Y1 = 9 min
=> Time late = 17 min
This means Team A is just short of getting a forfeit loss. Yet they should have received a level 3 draft penalty instead of level 2.
=> The time late is transfered to game 2. Z2 = 7 min

Game 1 concludes at 19:15. This means the official start time of game 2 is now 19:20 (according to 3.1.3). Team A is ready in time.
=> X2 = 0 min
=> Y2 = 0 min
Yet they receive a level 1 draft penalty due to the transfered time late Z2 = 7 min.


3.3.3 In case of extraordinary circumstances, the referee may decide to abstain from the punishment.


4. Hosting & Settings



4.1 Lobby Hosting

4.1.1 Every game gets hosted by a referee. The teams receive the password from him about 15 minutes before the match time in Skype. At least one member of each team has to be present iat that time to communicate with the opponents and administration.

4.1.2 Participants are not allowed to pass the password on to anyone but the other members of his team and the stand-in(s) for the match.

4.2 Spectators

Only referees, official broadcasters, joindota staff members, anyone authorized by a referee, and the ten players are allowed to be inside the game. Team managers may join the lobby, but have to leave before the game starts. Everyone else has no permission to enter.

4.3 Server Location

The server location is chosen by a referee based on the server policy of the competition. The server policy is specified in the competition's individual rules.

4.4 Sides & Drafting Order

4.4.1 Selection priority for the first game of a match is decided by a cointoss done by the match admin. If there is a second game, the other team will get selection prority. The same process is repeated with a new cointoss for game 3 (if existing) and so forth.

4.4.2 Before each game, the team with selection priority may either select a side or a draft order. The opposing team can choose the remaining factor.

4.5 Game Settings

The referee has to put the following settings to the lobby:
  • GAME MODE - Captains Mode, unless stated otherwise by the individual competition rules
  • LOBBY PASSWORD - see 4.1
  • SERVER LOCATION - see 4.3
  • STARTING TEAM - see 4.4
  • PENALTY-RADIANT - chosen by the referee
  • PENALTY-DIRE - chosen by the referee
  • SERIES TYPE - chosen by the referee
  • Enable cheats - No
  • Fill empty slots with bots - No
  • All Chat - No
  • BOT DIFFICULTY - free choice
  • VERSION - Tournament, unless chosen otherwise by the referee
  • SPECTATORS - chosen by the referee depending on the competition
  • DOTA TV DELAY - 2 minutes, unless chosen otherwise by the referee

5. During a game



5.1 Picks & Bans

The hero pool always consists of all heroes the game mode allows and might therefore change several times during the competition. The game must not be paused during the draft, unless a drafter disconnects.

5.2 Pauses

Each team has the right to pause the game for an acceptable duration, if a player announces it at least three seconds in advance and calls a coherent reason (exception: not necessary, if someone disconnects). The game must not be resumed before both teams agree with it. When the number or the duration of breaks becomes too high or long, the administration may force the continuation of the game.

5.3 Disconnects & Reconnects

If a player disconnects, the game is to be paused instantly. Everyone has up to ten minutes to reconnect to the game (if the same person disconnects more than once, all times get added up). If this time is passed, the opposing team may continue the game, unless an admin demands the opposite. The affected player is in this case still allowed to rejoin later on.

5.4 Broadcasting

5.4.1 Every authorized spectator (according to 4.2) inside the game is allowed to provide a video stream with a delay of at least two minutes.

5.4.2 Spectators from DotaTV are allowed to broadcast a match with any delay. Upon request from the administration or joindota management these streamers have to use proper overlays and possibly fulfill additional requirements.

5.4.3 The players are not allowed to watch or listen to any of these video streams or DotaTV at any time during their match. Furthermore they are not allowed to provide a stream themselves, unless there is no official broadcaster inside the game.

5.5 Bugs

If any serious bugs occur, the game has to be paused immediately and the administration decides how to continue. Knowingly abusing a bug is strictly forbidden.

5.6 Tools / Hacks

The usage of any Dota-related tool aside from Steam and Dota 2 during a match is strictly forbidden.

5.7 Ending

A game is finished, when an Ancient Fortress is destroyed, when the majority of a team leaves on purpose, or when the administration decides on it. (note: A game is not forfeited, when a player types "gg" or "ff". Always wait for the ancient to be destroyed!)


6. Rule Violation & Punishment



6.1 Breaking of the rules or ignoring the order of an admin may result in a punishment for a whole team or a specific player. Type and amount is chosen by a referee.

6.2. Possible Team Punishments
  • Default Loss for one game
  • Default Loss for the whole match
  • Time Penalty for the next draft
  • Score Reduction (during a group stage)
  • Prize Money Reduction
  • Temporary or permanent ban from the competition
  • Ban from other joinDOTA competitions
6.3. Possible Player Punishments
  • Temporary ban from the competition
  • Permanent ban from the competition
  • Ban from other joinDOTA competitions
6.4 Rule violations in other tournaments

Heavy rule violations on external Dota 2 leagues or tournaments may also result in punishments for joinDOTA competitions.


7. Prize Money Distribution



All prize money transfers are handled via PayPal or bank transfer. Under certain circumstances a transfer via Western Union is also possible but needs the approval of a Tournament Supervisor. Other payment methods are not accepted. The prize money will only be transferred to the team leader. The team leader has to make sure every member of his team will get his adequate percentage of the prize money.


8. Legal Process



Legal proceedings are not permitted.

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Last Update: June 24th, 2016