Amateur Dota 2 League

For those of us not as good as “the average conqueror player”.

**AD2L Leagues & Prize Pool**

Entry Fee per team is $5.00. 

Fee gets bumped up to $10.00 10 days before season start.

Register at https://dota.playon.gg/seasons

• Archon League - Prize Pool $15.00 (Badge max is Archon 5)

• Contender League - Prize Pool $25.00 (Badge max is Legend 5)

• Intermediate League - Prize Pool $35.00 (Badge max is Ancient 5)

• Divine League - Prize Pool $45.00 (Badge max is Divine 5) 

• Heroic League - Prize Pool $75.00 (No Badge Limits)

*Badge limits shown are initial caps for registration. Once the rosters are locked 1 week into the season, we will allow people to rank up past the badge limit, but will monitor players above the badge limit, and reserve the right to remove a player if we deem it necessary.

This is designed to allow people to feel free to improve and rank up, removing the pressure/incentive to sandbag your rank as you approach the cutoff point. Attempts at gaming the system are frowned upon, and punishable.

*-Games are scheduled for Thursday night 9pm est. 

Player Account Rules

• The account must be calibrated.

• The account must have matchmaking data public.

• The account must have a minimum of 500 games.

• If a player on your team has multiple accounts, please make sure all have public match making available and provide a dotabuff link to the admins so that they are aware.

• If we suspect a smurf account/cheating we have a right to remove teams or forfeit their matches at any time depending on the severity.

• A player may only play in one league

-For any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the admins via #admin-request in discord.

Team & Captain Rules

• Team rosters are limited to 5 people max, and should be kept up to date on the website.

• Team Captains must have their team tag in their nickname on discord.
  Players are also encouraged to identify which team they play for. Wave the banner with pride.

• Captains should notify the admins so they can be given the ticket as well as the captain’s role which will give access to the captain’s channel in discord.

• If you do not have your full roster listed on the site, you will not be allowed to play.
  Contact an admin via ticket if you can not field a full team week 1 or are having an issue that’s preventing you from listing your roster.

As a captain, you are expected to be responsible for the following things:
-Make sure your team can make it to the matches, or rescheduling/finding a stand-in in a timely fashion.
-Ensuring that the match settings are correct.
-Making sure your players are displaying good sportsmanship.
-Making sure your players are compliant with the rules.

Roster Lock

• Rosters will be locked 1 weeks into the season. This will be announced in the discord when the first week is scheduled.

• Before roster lock, the badge ceiling is firm at the initial cap.

• After 1 week, we allow people to rank up past the cap.
  This is to allow players room to improve and continue to play ranked without fear of becoming ineligible. We will monitor players above the limit, and reserve the right to take administrative action if we deem necessary.

• Replacing a player after roster lock must be handled by an admin via ticket.

-Teams that have played last season and wish to continue playing but have one player that is above the badge limit will be granted an exemption if their average rank is 3 stars or below for the division. (Ancient 3 for intermediate, Legend 3 for contender etc). Applies to a full roster only. If you will be changing the roster, this exemption is not guaranteed. Contact admins via ticket to confirm.

Season Structure

• Season will start with 6 weeks of groups. It will be played out in a pseudo-swiss style.

• Playoffs will be seeded based on the results of the groups stage. 

Stand-ins

• A team may not run more than 2 stand-ins in a game. 

• If you need a long term stand-in or a player replacement for your roster, contact an admin via ticket request.

• Stand-in must meet all the criteria listed in Player Account Rules in addition to the following ones. 

• Stand ins cannot be above 2 medal ranks lower than the specific league cap.

• Ie. Main roster badge limit = 5 stars, stand in badge limit = 3 stars.

• If you need to use a stand-in for a game, make a ticket with the following information: dotabuff of stand-in, and who you are playing against. We will include the opposing captain in the ticket and ensure that all protocols are followed.

• No stand-in may be pulled from a league above.

• You must notify the other captain that you will be using a stand in as soon as possible. 

•  Draft penalties for late announced stand-in at 1 hour, and 30 minutes before the scheduled game time, Level 1, 2 respectively.

We want teams to have the chance to prepare, and having a last minute stand-in appear is not ideal for anyone. Therefore we will now be penalizing teams that don’t give their opponents time to prepare. We also want to encourage teams to play with their registered rosters, which is why we are lowering the stand-in badge limits.

Scheduling

Games are scheduled every week on Thursday night 9pm est. Please do not register if Thursday nights are going to be a problem for you or your team. Reschedules are allowed in AD2L, but they are a courtesy and not mandatory. Teams can expect to play every Thursday night, no communication required.

To propose a reschedule, contact the other team via discord or steam. We will have Captains listed in the captain’s channel to aid you in contacting them. Once a reschedule is agreed upon, please update the match time on the website so that other people know. If both captains cannot agree on a new time to reschedule, the DEFAULT time IS the scheduled time. If captains agree to a rescheduled time they cannot later decide to change it back to the default time and catch a team/captain unaware. Each week’s schedule is generated Sunday night. Games have to be played before then or it becomes a forfeit in favor of the team that could play Thursday. Make sure you agree upon a reschedule before 9pm Thursday! Don’t try to work it out after the fact!

Please check your match pages frequently for comments or changes! Each match on the site will have a lobby password generated for it on the match page. The team that is hosting the series is listed on the match page (Home Team), and that team is expected to create the lobby with the team names as the lobby title. 

Forfeits

If all of your team’s players are not in the lobby 15 minutes after the scheduled time, you forfeit your series. If both captains agree to play late, you may no longer claim a forfeit win. Evidence of a no-show should always be captured (screen shot, etc) and submitted via ticket to an Admin in discord. If you forfeit 3 series then your team will be removed from the league for the season.

Score Reporting

We’ve also empowered captains to report scores on the website. It is the job of the captains to ensure your teams scores are accurate. Please report each match by signing into the website and editing the score on the match page after your game. 

Disagreements Or Issues

Please submit a ticket in the #admin-request and we will help you with any mmr problems on the opposing team or any bad behavior that is reported. Smurf need to be brought to the Admin’s attention so that they can be submitted to the #smurf-court if necessary. 

Contact

Please contact admins via ticket request and not via DM.

We have you contact the other captain ahead of time to ensure the time works and to coordinate on finding a caster or whatever else you might need for your games. Team Captains and their rosters will be listed in the #teams channel. However, should you be unable to communicate with the other team, contact AD2L admins via ticket.

Behavior In Games

We are a fun league, but we expect players to treat each other with respect. Unless you know the players on the other team and are good friends, please refrain from all chatting things like GG EZ or anything that would be considered bad mannered. Captains can submit cases to the admins to review. Admins have the right to issue forfeits and remove teams from the league depending on the severity of the violation.

The only thing that should be discussed in all chat is why a team is pausing. If you have to question if something is appropriate, it’s probably not. Tipping, and chat-wheel voice lines are allowed. 

Also please observe the usual common etiquette:

•    No politics/religion chat

•    No telling people to kill or harm themselves.

•    No spam.

•    No bullying.

•    No content which may be pornographic or otherwise unsuitable (nothing NSFW)

•    Doxxing anyone

•    No racist, homophobic, sexist or otherwise hateful speech or material.

If there is a case where a player is being toxic, take screenshots of the offense, either from ingame or from a pulled chat log, and submit them to admins using a ticket. Admins have the right to issue forfeits and remove teams from the league depending on the severity of the violation.

Game Settings

All games must be played on the ticket. If a captain doesn’t have a ticket for whatever reason please have the captain with the ticket host the lobby.

2 Game Series for the Group Stage, Best of 3 for the Playoffs, Best of 3/5 (players choice) for the Playoff Final.

Game Mode: Captains Mode

Side/Pick: Flip first game, loser of coin flip gets to have first pick next game. Repeat.

Server: US East

Spectators: Allowed

Cheats: Disabled

DotaTV Delay: 5 Minutes

Do not forget to set the AD2L ticket in the lobby settings!

Pauses

Teams are allowed to pause up to three times per match. The opposing team must respect this pause for a minimum of three minutes, but then are free to un-pause whenever they wish.

Casting and Streaming

Casters from the official #casters channel in discord are allowed to cast games. Captains have the right to refuse casters they are not comfortable with. If a captain refuses a caster they must cast the match from the watch tab.

Any streams of matches must be 5 minutes behind the actual game (live game with 5 minute stream delay, or 5 min dotatv delay with no stream delay). 

Please be professional and respectful with the casting and avoid flaming/bullying. A balanced cast that isn’t one sided to one team is the most enjoyable. If a team complains about the cast, punishments may be handed out, including but not limited to loss of the caster role in discord.

Questions?

Please ask questions any time via ticket and we are happy to clarify anything as necessary.