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League of Legends Rules

1. Anti-Cheat

No additional anti-cheat is required for official matches.

2. Match Procedure

All players participating in the tournament must be between the ages of 13 and 18 years old. Players who turn 19 during the course of the regular season or playoffs will be permitted to participate. Players are required to have at least 20 champions unlocked in order to participate in official matches. This is a game requirement and cannot be overruled.

Supported Platforms:

  • PC

2.1. Series Lengths

Matches are played as a best-of-1

2.2. Game Lobby

The home team (pre-determined) will create the lobby.

2.2.1. Lobby Formation

Both teams will have their players in the lobby in the following order.

  • Top
  • Jungle
  • Mid
  • Bottom
  • Support

2.3. Side Selection

2.3.1. Regular Season

The away team will choose their side for game 1

2.3.2. Playoffs and Finals

The away team will choose their side for game 1

The loser of game 1 will choose their side for game 2

The loser of game 2 will choose their side for game 3 (if needed)

2.4. Drafting

Coaches are allowed and encouraged to help players during draft selection. After the draft selection has ended, coaches may no longer communicate with players. During playoffs, tournaments, and multiple game events coaches may communicate with players between games.

All game drafts will be through the online drafting tool Draftlol. The following steps must be followed for each game’s draft:

  • The team with side selection will set up the draft and provide links to their opponent.
  • Blue and red team names should reflect the respective team names shown on the match page.
  • After drafting online the same picks and bans should be recreated in-game

If there is a mistake during the in-game drafting, reset the game lobby and go through the in-game drafting process again.

If there are multiple mistakes please reach out to an IEA Administrator.

3. Tournament Rules

3.1. Game Connections

  • All players taking part in IEA tournaments are required to have an active game account for the tournament they’re participating in.
  • All game connection information shown on a team’s roster must match the accounts in the game.
  • Players using different accounts or those not officially on the roster are prohibited from playing in matches.
  • Only one account connection is allowed per game, the use of alternate accounts is prohibited.
  • All account connections are prohibited from being changed after the team has participated in its first match of a tournament’s regular season.

If a player’s name does not match what is shown on their roster, please reach out to an IEA Administrator. Name discrepancy reports will not be accepted after a match has been completed.

3.1.1. Account Ownership

Game accounts used in official tournaments must belong to the student participating using that game connection. At no point in time may players share accounts with each other or use an account of another person, regardless of if they are in the tournament or not.

3.1.2. School-Purchased Accounts

Schools may create accounts or purchase game licenses for their students participating in a tournament if they do not already have an active one. These accounts will be considered the students’ personal account and may only be used by one student each. These accounts and licenses may not be transferred to another student upon the previous student’s graduation or leaving the team, as this would be against any publisher’s Terms of Service or End User License Agreement.

3.2. Match Streaming

3.2.1. Spectators

Spectators are permitted in game lobbies for the sole purpose of streaming their team’s match to the School’s Twitch or Youtube channel or to record the match. Spectators may not have any communication with team members while the game is currently being played and must not be a member of the roster participating in the match. At the end of the match, the stream vod or an unedited copy of the recording must be shared with the other team.

3.2.2. Player Streaming

Players may stream to their personal twitch or youtube channel if they are participating in the match. The match may only be streamed from the player’s in-game point of view and should have at least a 3-minute delay set to prevent possible incidents of stream sniping.

Players may not at any time stream another player or roster’s match on their personal channel.

3.3. Playoff Qualification

Teams must compete in and complete 75% of their Regular Season matches in order to be considered for playoff qualification. Teams who do not meet this requirement will be removed from qualification consideration regardless of their final record.

3.3.1. Unplayed Matches

Any match or queue that a team misses or does not complete will result in the match being counted as a loss against the team's record at the end of the regular season.

3.4. Playoff Qualification Tiebreakers

The tiebreaker system will be run as a tiered protocol that will be used if multiple teams finish the regular season with the same overall record.

  1. Wins. (Forfeit wins and bye wins are scored as a 0-0 win)
  2. Head-to-head record. (If the two tied teams have played each other, their match record against each other is compared)
  3. Overall game-win percentage. (e.g. winning a match 3-0 is better than 3-2)
  4. Higher opponents’ game-win percentage. (e.g. it is better to beat an opponent who consistently won 3-0 than 3-2)
  5. Fewer forfeit losses.
  6. Fewer bye wins.
  7. The team who has a higher number of wins before their first loss.
  8. If the first loss is received after the same number of wins, then the team which lost to the stronger opponent (as defined by game win percentage) will be ranked higher.

4. Restrictions

4.1. Disabled Content

Any champions, skins, wards, ward skin, chromas, or other game content currently disabled in the Ranked or Normal game modes will be prohibited from use in official matches.

4.2. New or Reworked Champions

New or Reworked champions released during the season are prohibited from use in official matches for a set amount of time determined by the IEA Administration. All other champions are permitted for use in official matches unless they're disabled per rule 4.2.1. A rework is defined as, when a champion has 50% or more of their gameplay kit changed, balance patches are not considered reworks.

4.2.1. Currently Banned Champions

4.3. Outside Apps and Other Programs

We encourage and strongly promote the use of any tools for help in practice or a recreational scrimmage.

Scouting programs, such as op.gg, are allowed to provide teams insight into their opponents and are allowed until the end of the draft stage.

Outside apps not found within the game itself are NOT to be used in matches. Any use of a program, script, or another item not found within the game client is strictly prohibited during match play.

Players, teams, or coaches found in violation of this rule may face disqualification or termination of the season.

Any paper notes or penciled ideas are welcome during draft for all levels.

5. Stoppage of Play

5.1. Game Pauses

Pause requests must be communicated in the match’s all chat and only may be called as long as there are no team engagements at the time of the request. A pause may be called only for the following reasons:

  • Player Disconnection
  • Game Breaking Errors/Issues
  • IEA Administrators may call for a match pause at their discretion

Stoppage of Play:

  • Shortly after a pause is initiated, a reason must be given via chat in game or in Discord.
  • Each team will have 5 cumulative minutes to pause. When 5 minutes have been exhausted, teams are required to continue play. Both teams should consider keeping track of time.
  • Each team is responsible for timing their pause (any issues should be discussed with the opposing team)
  • In the case of a player disconnect, after the 5 minutes are used, the team must continue the game (4 v 5)
  • If the player is able to reconnect, the player can rejoin the match.
  • No subs are allowed to be subbed in the middle of a match

5.2. Match Resets

Match Resets will be made at the discretion of IEA officials.

6. Team Rosters

League of Legends team rosters require a minimum of 5 players and are limited to a maximum of 10 players (5 starting players, and 5 substitute players). Rosters that do not meet the minimum or exceed the maximum number of players will not be allowed to participate in official matches until their roster size meets the set requirements. Player substitutions may be made between maps.