L4D League Rules

Format

This is a double elimination Left 4 Dead tournament. Each team has a chance to win until they lose twice.

Commissioner and Captains

The league commissioner is Chilly. Captain status is 100% voluntary.

All major decisions will be voted on by the commissioner and captains. Captains will also be responsible for organizing any pre-tournament practices with their team and selecting their team name.

Eligibility

All players are welcome to participate in league assuming one thing:

They aren't a jerk.

Teams

Captains will select teams playground style, with the order reversing on each pass. So with four captains the order will be A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A, A, B, C, D, D, C, B, A. The number of teams will be determined by the number of players. Teams will have exactly 4 players each. The total number of players will be capped at a multiple of 4, so the earlier people sign up, the more likely they are to make the cut.

Substitute Players

If a player is unavailable for a single game, his team may find a player of equal or lower skill to replace them. Player skills will be determined using an online skill calculator that uses the official L4D stats. If no player is available that fits the skill criteria, the team captains may either agree upon a higher skill replacement OR the team will be forced to play with a bot player.

If two players are unavailable from a team they may find two replacements of equal or lower skill OR a single player of higher skill plus a bot player. Exceptions will be agreed upon by the captains.

If three or more players are unavailable from a team, the team forfeits.

Schedule

Matches will be scheduled at 9pm CDT Monday through Friday. The total number of games will be based on the total number of teams, but the entire league will not last more than 2 weeks and will start mid-July 2009. If two teams want to play at other times, both captains must agree on a time, inform the commissioner, and post in the league's forum thread. The bracket for an 8 team tournament is on the official league page. It will be modified if there are a different number of teams.

Matches

Maps: All four official maps will be used and will be filled in on the bracket before the teams are selected. If a suitable custom map comes out before the league begins, the captains/commissioner may vote to have it replace one of the official maps.

Screenshots: Players are required to take a screenshot of the final match score.

Admin Abuse: No players are allowed to use admin controls unless both captains agree on it.

Sportsmanship: Any players found being malicious toward other players (excessive swearing, asshattery, etc) will be disqualified from all future matches. Players ragequiting in the middle of matches will be disqualified as well. If you crash or have to leave, let someone know via Steam. If a player is disqualified, his team must play the rest of that match without him/her, but is welcome to find a permanent replacement (of equal or lower skill) for future matches.

Ties: In the event of a tie in a match, the following tiebreakers will apply sequentially:

The team with more players disqualified during that match loses.
The team with more actual players loses (so a team that ties with only 3 players against 4 will win).
The team with higher average skill loses.

ProMaps

The ProMap modifications will be enabled for the tournament. This will be a slightly adjusted configuration that leaves invisible walls and has a slightly more open finale for DA5. The configuration will be available for play testing well before teams are selected.

Auto-shotgun and assault rifle will not be in the stage 4 or 5 safe rooms, but rather available later in the map.

Cheating and Exploits

Cheating is not allowed. This includes racing ahead of panic events to prevent the director from spawning infected, but does NOT include instant-kill smoker locations or corner camping. Rule violations will be discussed by the commissioner and captains. Any violations may be subject to disqualification from one or more remaining matches AND future leagues.

Technical Problems

If there are server issues, the teams should reschedule their match as soon as possible. If the average ping of all players is over 100, the captains may choose to play on an official Valve server (extra healthpacks, no ProMaps).

Left 4 Dead League Rules