Introduction

Welcome to Heroes Lounge!
This guide will assist you on important aspects of being the captain of a team:

• Planning the date and time for your matches.
• Scheduling your matches.
• Setting up and playing your match.
• Submitting results on the website.

For a complete list of the rules, see the official ruleset.

1. Finding Your Opponent

Every Monday, the website will assign you a new opponent. There are several places to find this info:

• On the page for your division, there is a complete overview for each round.
• On your team page, you can find a list of all your own matches (including ones you have yet to play, but not the ones you have yet to receive).

Once you have found your opponents, the next step is to get in contact with the opposing captain. This is best done via Discord. You can find your opponent's Discord-tag on this website and in the pinned overview of captains per team in your division channel in our Discord.

2. Scheduling the game with your opponents

Reaching out

As captain, it is your responsibility to find a time for the match in collaboration with the opposing captain. Depending on several factors, this can sometimes be a lengthy and difficult process of back and forth between you and the other captain.

It is recommended that you try to be proactive and reach out to your opponents early. Just remember to be open and cooperative with the other captain.

Issues with planning

Sometimes, you and your opponents might have difficulty finding a time that suits both of your teams. When that is the case, look towards the following solutions:

• If you need to stall the planning, you can create placeholder. More on placeholders later.
• One/both of your teams can play with a substitute player. Even if your roster only consists of 5 people, it is still possible to find and play with substitutes (e.g. on the Discord server).
• If you can't come to an agreement or are completely unable to get in contact with your opponents after multiple attempts, contact a moderator for help.

Any substitute has to comply with the rules regarding substitute players. This includes the captain declaring the substitute to the opposing team as well as a moderator before the match.
On top of that, anyone who participates in Heroes Lounge (including subsitute players) must have an account on the Heroes Lounge website, along with a linked and visible profile on Heroes Profile.

Remember to stay open and cooperative throughout planning. It is both of the captains' responsibilities to schedule the match.

3. Entering the match on the website

You need to be aware of two deadlines:

• You have exactly two weeks to play each match, but will receive a new opponent each Monday regardless.
  This means that you can play your first match during weeks 1 or 2, your second match during weeks 2 or 3, and so forth.
• You have exactly one week to schedule your match on the Lounge website.
  By going to Team → Matches on the website, each captain can enter your agreed upon time and date for your match.

This means that you should strive to find a time for the match within the first week, be it for the first or second week.
If you fail to schedule your match in time, your team will automatically be rendered inactive, and you want to avoid that.

If you are unable to find a time for your match within the first week, you ought to put in a placeholder. Simply enter the date and time normally, but make the placeholder obvious by putting it a some ridiculous time (like Sunday on week two at 3.23 AM). Also, make sure to place it far into the second week so that you don't pass the time for the placeholder before you find a new time for your match.
If you cannot get in contact with your opponents, do not make a placeholder. Instead, ask a moderator for help.

After a time has been entered onto the website, matches can be rescheduled by either captain on the team page https://heroeslounge.gg/team/match/YourTeamSlugHere

4. Setting up and playing the match

Match Lounge

Shortly before (e.g. 15ish minutes) the time comes for your match, you meet up with the opposing captain in one of the designated match_lounges (text channels on the Discord server). There is no ruling on which to use, just try to find one that seems vacant and there you can ping the other captain.

Here, you will initiate the match. This is done by writing /match in one of the match_lounges.
When done, a bot will randomly assign one of the teams first map pick and the other team first hero pick.
From here on, the map draft continues until you are ready to play the first game.

Try to keep your official communication in this match_lounge until your match is over, e.g. announcing delays or other issues. This is to make sure that communication is open and can be reviewed if necessary.

Lobby

Once you have chosen your first map, one of you will have to create an in-game lobby for a custom game. To link the game to your opponents (or potential casters), you need to /join heroeslounge.
In this chat, you simply write [lobby] (the word "lobby" inside brackets) to create a link to your current lobby, along with what teams are participating. Example: GbG vs NJ [lobby].

It is important to use "Tournament Draft" and it is custom to use "No match history". Even if you need to remake a game, use "Tournament Draft".
Furthermore, try to organize the teams so that the side match the one listed on the website (i.e. the the team that is on the left on the website should also be on the left in the lobby).

All matches are best of 3 (2 map victories to win a match). After each game, the losing team decides if they want to choose the map for the next game, or if they want to have first pick for the next game.

Casting

Some of your games will be cast and some of your games won't. When looking at the match on the website (either from scheduling-window or from the calendar) you can see if casters have chosen to cast your game.

When your match has an assigned caster, make sure the caster gets pinged in your match_lounge (or they might ping you in one to suggest it), and make sure that they are in the game lobby before starting. 

If casters are late to your match, you are not obliged to wait for them if you don’t wish to.

5. Reporting the results

Once the match is over, a member of one of the participating teams has to report the result. This is done by uploading a copy of the replay-files to the website. After you selected the replay file click save, and then repeat the process for every map. When all the maps have been saved you need to save the match itself which is done by clicking on the floppy disk save icon.

Once the replays have been uploaded and saved on the website, you should see that the score is updated automatically, and then you don't need to do anything else regarding this match.

If you are ever unsure about rules, code of conduct, or just need assistance, make sure to contact a Heroes Lounge moderator. Best of luck in your endeavours!