Amateur Dota 2 League

For those of us not as good as Helmets On.

FAQs:

- Pre-season starts Dec 6th. Final day to register and pay will be Jan 2nd so we can get things started.

- Final format will be decided based on number of teams (Swiss if many teams, round robin if fewer or around number of weeks)

- Individual matches are BO2 (play two games, both worth one point). Captains may agree to assign both points based on one game.

GENERAL

Anytime you have a question about rules, or what you should do in a situation first make sure you're following Wheaton's Law - "Don't cause problems." This is a fun league, and many of these rules should only be enforced when absolutely needed and no amicable agreement is possible. Everyone wants to play DotA...try and make it work!

Almost all of the issues sent for AHGL review are a side effect of teams attempting to deviate from the official rules. We STRONGLY advise that you stick to the rules, even when you want to be nice. If you do decide to agree on alternate rules:

Changes must be discussed in writing (chat or emails work), and the whole conversation saved in case issues arise.

Requests to change rules must stay friendly. Pushing or criticizing a team for sticking to the rules may result in a penalty.

Changes must use decisive, quantitative language. Assume anything that could be misunderstood will be.

I. TEAM STRUCTURE

1. Roster Size: 6+ Players, must be full-time employee (35+ hrs/week). Up to one intern, contractors, or other part-time are allowed. If employment ends during AHGL season, player must leave the team.

2. Roster Availability: Players must be available for games on Sundays.

3. 1 Captain who acts as the main point of contact for the team. Must be on the team.

4. Accounts used for tournaments must belong to the player. Borrowed accounts or alts are not allowed, be honest.

5. Roster changes may be made up to playoffs, all changes should adhere to the above rules.

6. When crafting a roster, please be mindful of your roster strategy. If you do not plan to play your entire roster, set the appropriate expectations with your players.

II. MATCH RESCHEDULING

Reschedules must be completed and agreed to on the AD2L website. If teams cannot agree on an alternate time the match must be completed at the “Official” time.

III. SCORING AND RANKING

1. The teams will be ranked by number of games won.

2. Ties will be broken by points, which are # of games won - # of games lost.

3. Remaining ties will be broken by head-to-head results to the extent possible.

4. Circular ties from this point will be broken by additional round robin matches or coin flips at the league’s discretion.

IV. STREAMING RULES

1. Players from either team may privately stream their games on their own channel. If doing so, they must use at least a 2 minute delay.

2. Streams of the match should be announced and shared between the captains and both teams.

3. Don’t stream snipe.

4. No one may be in the lobby who is not playing or an authorized league streamer / admin

V. BANNABLE OFFENSES

Includes, but is not limited to-

1. Intentionally allowing opponents to win a game in order to accomplish a more favorable tournament bracket seeding.

2. Programs that allow for cheating or map hacking

3. Unsportsmanlike/disruptive behavior and unprofessional actions towards other players/officials/shoutcasters

4. Use of a game bug determined by the administrators to be unfair

5. Use of an ineligible player

6. Use of a smurf account to allow for inappropriate placement into B League.

7. Starting or contributing to flame wars.

If unfair play is discovered by any player, the offending player may receive a warning, forfeit/loss, or disqualification from the tournament. If an entire team is discovered to be involved, the company may be banned from participating in AHGL for the subsequent season for the respective game. Admins will have the final say in all disputes even to the point of going outside the above rules.

VI. DISPUTES

Contact the admins.

VII. UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES

1. AHGL League administrators reserve the right to make additional decisions outside the defined ruleset if necessary. These decisions will require the unanimous agreement of all the league administrators. Rule changes will be posted on the AHGL blog and all relevant parties notified.

2. Most in-game rules may be changed with the written consent of both captains. Please note this on the match page. Examples include: Playing on EU Servers, changing mode to CD from CM, Playing BO3, pre-banning heroes, etc.

DOTA 2

II. MATCH STRUCTURE

1. 5 v 5, Captain's Mode

2. Regular season matches are played in a best-of-2 series. Playoff matches and grand finals are played in a best-of-3 series.

3. Upon completion of a series, the team captain of the winning team should compile all the results and enter them into the AHGL website. In the event that either team has a dispute about the match, the team captain should now submit that dispute to the AHGL organizers (see the General "Disputes" section for details).

4. The winning captain should also enter into the website a short summary of the games. Summaries may be used to choose games for a highlight package.

5. Home/Away team: During the season, home and away teams will be assigned. During playoffs, the team with the higher seed is considered home team.

6. Roster: Players are allowed to switch during a set (e.g. in the middle of a series).

8. Spectator slots: Only admins or players should occupy the slot.

9. Team chat: Only the 5 players involved in the starting lineup may be in a voice chat together. No other players, including other members on the team roster, can be in the same voice chat.

10. Streaming: See streaming rules in the General section above.

11. Scheduling/Forfeits: The first game of each round must begin at the specified time. If both teams agree to reschedule via the website, that is the official time.

12. If an entire team fails to show up within fifteen (15) minutes of the scheduled game start, the team automatically forfeits the set. Screenshots must be taken and sent to an admin (email listed above).

13. If a team partially fails to show up by fifteen (15) minutes of the scheduled game start, they must choose between: 1) playing without the absent members or 2) forfeiting the first game (regardless of Bo1 or Bo3). Choosing to forfeit the first match in a Bo3 will provide the partially-present team an additional 15 minutes for the rest of their team to arrive. If players still don't show up by game 2, the team may again choose to play with the currently present members or forfeit the entire match.

14. The time period for no-shows may be extended at the agreement of the opposing team. However once a game is started, it must be played.

15. Forfeits and withdrawals unrelated to no-shows may be declared at any time by team captains with the consent of their team's members.

16. Reporting Results: The winning team’s captain from each game should submit all replays, screenshots of the post-game lobby victory screen, and results to the AD2L website. Failure to submit results will lead to a warning for the winning team.

17. Ticketing: All matches should be ticketed. Captains and admins have this privilege. If this is forgotten pre-minute 0. Please remake the game with the same heroes.

IV. GAMEPLAY

1. There will be an in-game channel that can be used for chat: AHGL.

2. Game series: The official format will be a best of 2, however, both captains may agree to another format (BO3 / BO1)

3. Logistics: There will be defined home and away teams. The home team gets to choose from four options: pick/ban order, faction/side choice, server choice (US West or East), or can choose to defer. The away team selects the other two options, or in the event the home team defers, only chooses one, and the home team gets to choose the last two settings. When playing a multi-game series (i.e: bo3), the losing team becomes the Home team.

V. STOPPAGE OF PLAY

1. The following events may cause stoppage of play, the list is not exhaustive: unintentional disconnection (losing connection due to game problems or internet), intentional disconnection/game leaves (players quitting the game), server crashes.

2. Intentional disconnects without a specified reason will not be considered stoppage of play and the game will continue as normal.

3. Pausing: Players may pause first and explain second, but don’t abuse the pausing system.

4. In the rare case that a Valve server crashes, and players cannot load in, the game must be remade (loading currently not available)