Women’s Car Ball Bracket Rules

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  1. League Format and Schedule
  1. Regionals.

    WCB Season 5 will be split between North America and Europe Regionals. 
  1. Qualifiers.
  1. Open Qualifiers
  1. All teams that sign up for a Regional will play in the respective Open Qualifier.
  2. Open Qualifiers will be a Best of 3 Double Elimination format where the top 8 teams advance to the Closed Qualifiers.
  3. In the first Regional, the top 16 teams from Open Qualifier will automatically advance to the Closed Qualifier. 
  4. In the event of not enough teams signing up for the Open Qualifiers, the format will be adjusted accordingly.   
  1. Closed Qualifiers
  1. Closed Qualifiers will be a Best of 5 Swiss Format of 16 teams; composed of the Open Qualifier top 8 teams and the 8 teams that made it to the previous Main Event.
  2. The Top 8 teams in Closed Qualifiers will advance to the Main Event, therefore securing their spot at the next Regional’s Closed Qualifier.
  1. Main Event.
  1. Main Event will be sets of Single Elimination format where the top 4 teams of the Regional will be awarded according to Section 6 (Prize Structure) of this rulebook. 
  2. Quarter-finals Best of 5.
  3. Semi-finals and Finals will be a Best of 7.
  4. All Main Event teams secure a spot in the next Regional’s Closed Qualifier.
  5. Teams performance in each Regional will award them points that accumulate throughout the Season according to the Point System.
  1. Point System

1st Place: 16 points 

2nd Place: 12 points 

3rd-4th Place: 9 points 

5th-8th place: 6 points 

9th-11th place: 4 points

12th-14th place: 3 points
15th-16th place: 2 points

  1. WCB Championship.
  1. The teams with the most points gathered throughout the Season will qualify for the Championship.
  2. Format to be decided.
  1. Challengers Event.
  1. Teams that place 9th-16th in overall standings in both regions would be invited to the Challengers Event. 
  1. Event and format to be decided.
  1. Season Schedule
  1. Schedule will be divided by Regionals (North America and Europe) and played Friday through Sunday as follows:

EU Regional:

Open Qualifier 7pm UK / 2pm ET / 11am PT

Closed Qualifier 6pm UK / 1pm ET / 10am PT 

Main Event 3pm UK / 10am ET / 7am PT

NA Regional:

Open Qualifier 7pm ET / 4pm PT 

Closed Qualifier 6pm ET / 3pm PT 

Main Event 3pm ET / 12pm PT 

Events Schedule:

Regional 1 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, October 14th, 2022

Regional 1 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, October 15th, 2022

Regional 1 EU (Main Event): Sunday, October 16th, 2022

Regional 1 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, October 21st, 2022

Regional 1 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, October 22nd, 2022

Regional 1 NA (Main Event): Sunday, October 23rd, 2022

Regional 2 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, November 11th, 2022

Regional 2 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, November 12th, 2022

Regional 2 EU (Main Event): Sunday, November 13th, 2022

Regional 2 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, November 18th, 2022

Regional 2 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, November 19th, 2022

Regional 2 NA (Main Event): Sunday, November 20th, 2022

Regional 3 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, December 9th, 2022

Regional 3 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, December 10th, 2022

Regional 3 EU (Main Event): Sunday, December 11th, 2022

Regional 3 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, December 16th, 2022

Regional 3 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, December 17th, 2022

Regional 3 NA (Main Event): Sunday, December 18th, 2022

Regional 4 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, January 13th, 2022

Regional 4 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, January 14th, 2022

Regional 4 EU (Main Event): Sunday, January 15th, 2022

Regional 4 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, January 20th, 2022

Regional 4 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, January 21st, 2022

Regional 4 NA (Main Event): Sunday, January 22nd, 2022

Regional 5 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, February 10th, 2022

Regional 5 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, February 11th, 2022

Regional 5 EU (Main Event): Sunday, February 12th, 2022

Regional 5 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, February 17th, 2022

Regional 5 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, February 18th, 2022

Regional 5 NA (Main Event): Sunday, February 19th, 2022

Regional 6 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, March 31st, 2022

Regional 6 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, April 1st, 2022

Regional 6 EU (Main Event): Sunday, April 2nd, 2022

Regional 6 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, March 17th, 2022

Regional 6 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, March 18th, 2022

Regional 6 NA (Main Event): Sunday, March 19th, 2022

Regional 7 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, April 21st, 2022

Regional 7 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, April 22nd, 2022

Regional 7 EU (Main Event): Sunday, April 23rd, 2022

Regional 7 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, April 14th, 2022

Regional 7 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, April 15th, 2022

Regional 7 NA (Main Event): Sunday, April 16th, 2022

Regional 8 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, May 12th, 2022

Regional 8 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, May 13th, 2022

Regional 8 EU (Main Event): Sunday, May 14th, 2022

Regional 8 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, May 19th, 2022

Regional 8 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, May 20th, 2022

Regional 8 NA (Main Event): Sunday, May 21st, 2022

Regional 9 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, June 9th, 2022

Regional 9 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, June 10th, 2022

Regional 9 EU (Main Event): Sunday, June 11th, 2022

Regional 9 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, June 16th, 2022

Regional 9 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, June 17th, 2022

Regional 9 NA (Main Event): Sunday, June 18th, 2022

Regional 10 EU (Open Qualifier): Friday, July 14th, 2022

Regional 10 EU (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, July 15th, 2022

Regional 10 EU (Main Event): Sunday, July 16th, 2022

Regional 10 NA (Open Qualifier): Friday, July 21st, 2022

Regional 10 NA (Closed Qualifier): Saturday, July 22nd, 2022

Regional 10 NA (Main Event): Sunday, July 23rd, 2022

  1. The Leadership Team will determine all home and away Teams, days, start times, and other scheduling details. The Leadership Team will communicate these scheduling details to Teams. The Leadership Team reserves the right to adjust match scheduling at any time before or during the season and will communicate to the teams as soon as possible if a change occurs.
  1. Tiebreakers. Should teams have the same amount of match wins at the end of the season, tiebreaker rules will apply to determine playoff seeding in order as follows:
  1. The Team with the better head-to-head match record, local to the event.
  2. The Team with the better game winning percentage, local to the event.
  3. The Team with the higher total goal count, local to the event.
  4. The Team with the higher goal average, local to the event.
  5. The Team with the better game winning percentage during the entire Season. 

4. If a tie is unable to be broken using 1-5, the 2 remaining tied teams will compete in a best of 5 tiebreaker match to determine seeding.

  1. Playoffs.
  1. The top 4 teams based on Standings will be invited to the League Playoffs.
  2. Playoffs will be a double-elimination tournament. 
  3. All matches will be a Bo5 format. The first to win 3 games will be declared the winner and move forward. 
  4. Grand finals will be a Bo7 with the team coming from the winners bracket gaining a 1 game advantage.
  1. Match Structure
  1. Players. Teams will compete with no more and no less than 3 members at a time in any given game. Should a team not be able to field a team of 3 players they will be disqualified for that game.
  2. Time. Each match will be 5 minutes in length. If there is a tie at the end of 5 minutes Golden Goal overtime will start until one team scores.
  3. Server.  For the NA region NAE will be the default server. For the EU region the EU server will be the default server. 
  4. Spectators. Only Leadership Team personnel are permitted to spectate matches. No other spectators are allowed in the game lobbies without League approval and will result in a DQ for that game.
  5. Mutators. There will be no mutators used in league matches.
  6. Substitutions. A team may bring in their sub between games but not during a game. Teams may not substitute more than 1 time a match. 
  7. Forfeits. Teams may not voluntarily forfeit a match without prior authorization from Match Admins/Leadership Team members. In the event of it not being authorized, such Teams will be subject to disciplinary actions as further described in Section 6.
  8. Pauses. A team may only request a pause due to a player disconnecting or having connection issues. If this occurs the team must type “Pause” or “p” to the admins in-game chat and they will pause the match as soon as possible.
    1. Should a team request a Pause for any other reason they will forfeit that game.
    2. Matches will not be paused for a player experiencing lag during a game. The team must play out that game and request either a new server or a 5 min delay to the start of the next game to try to improve their latency issue.
  9. Disconnects. If a player disconnects during a game the game will be paused. The player will have 8 minutes to reconnect or the game is a forfeit.
    1. If the team cannot field 3 players 5 mins after the last played game they will forfeit the match.
  1. Remakes. If a player disconnects within the first 60 seconds of a match and no goals have been scored the lobby will be remade. Should a situation occur where it is difficult to obtain if a player was disconnected within the remake rules, the Leadership Team will make their best determination on whether to remake or not. Servers can be remade between games in series or upon mutual agreement by both teams as long as 60 seconds have not passed.
  2. Conflicts. Should a problem arise mid-series, the responsible Match Admin and/or Leadership Team member will have to address and take care of the situation before any other match is to be played.
  3. Server health and remakes. A server test will take place before the match goes live to ensure server stability. If the server is found to be unsuitable for a team they can request a new server. Teams may also request a new server after a game has been played if they feel the server has become unstable.
    1. Once Kickoff has happened a remake of the server due to server health cannot happen until that game is complete except in extreme circumstances.
  4. Timeliness. It is requested all players be ready and in the lobby 5 minutes prior to kick-off time.
    1. If a team is not in the lobby 10 minutes after kick off time they will be DQ’d for that game. 
    2. After an additional 5 minutes if the player has not shown up the match will result in a DQ for the series.
  5. End of Match etiquette. All players must stay in the lobby until the scoreboard screen of every match. 
  6. Arena Selection. The Leadership Team will determine the available maps for all matches. The Leadership Team will determine the specific maps played for all matches.
    1. Approved Map Pool.

DFH Stadium (Day)

Forbidden Temple

Mannfield

Mannfield (Night)

Neo Tokyo

Urban Central

Utopia Coliseum

Utopia Coliseum (Dusk)

Sovereign Heights

Urban Central

  1. Game 5’s or Game 7’s will always be played on Champions Field.
  1. Roster Requirements
  1. Regions. A team must consist of 2 members from the home region. 1 import player from outside the teams primary region is permitted.
  2. Players. Each roster may consist of a maximum of 4 players. 3 players and a substitute. Coaches and Managers do not count towards the number of players per roster.
    1. Player tags in game:
      1. A player’s in-game name on match days must be the same as the name they signed up with to keep professionalism and production confusion at a minimum.
  3. Point of Contact. Each team must designate a Team Captain or Point of Contact. This will be the primary contact for the league. A manager or coach may also be designated the Point of contact.
  4. Roster Change. A team may only make 2 roster additions after the season starts. A roster addition solely encompasses adding a new Player to an existing roster. A Player leaving a roster will not count as a roster addition, only the adding of a Player will.
    1. Aforementioned roster additions may only occur during designated “Transfer Windows” as indicated below in 5.4.1.1 & 5.4.1.2.
      1. December 21, 2022 @ 12:00 AM EST to January 5, 2022 @ 11:59 PM EST
      2. April 23, 2022 @ 12:00 AM EST to May 4, 2022 @ 11:59 PM EST
    2. Only 1 roster addition may be made during each Transfer Window.
    3. All roster changes must be sent into the Leadership Team 1 week prior to the start of their next match.
    4. Short notice roster changes (under 1 week) may be approved by the Leadership Team in extreme circumstances.
    5. Teams must indicate which Players are Starters & Sub on the roster.
    6. In order to retain points, teams must maintain ⅔ of the initial roster prior to any roster additions.
  5. In Game Items. Players may use any decals, banners, wheels, or any other items of an Esport or Sports organization.
    1. If said organization is in the league and you are not representing them you may only use their decals if you are not playing against them in your match.  
  1. Disciplinary Action
  1. If a Match Admin or a Leadership Team member decides that a Player has violated the Code of Conduct or any term of the Rules, the Leadership Team may take the following disciplinary actions (as applicable): 

● Match restart; 

● Loss of Game; 

● Match forfeiture; 

● Issue a private or public warning (verbal or written) to the Player;

● Loss of all or any part of the prizes previously awarded to the Player or Team; 

● Disqualify the Player from participating in one or more Matches and/or Games at the Tournament; or 

● Prevent the Player from participating in one or more future competitions hosted by Women’s Car Ball.