Tournament Overview

• The Nexus Forces Tournament is played on the following dates (At least one match has to be played to get points):
  1. Qualifier 1: 06.03.2021 and 07.03.2021
  2. Qualifier 2: 03.04.2021 and 04.04.2021
  3. Qualifier 3: 01.05.2021 and 02.05.2021
  4. Finale:           12.06.2021 and 13.06.2021
     
     
• During the Qualifier each team is awarded the following points based on their placement:
  • 1.      Place - 12 pts.
  • 2.      Place - 9 pts.
  • 3-4. Place - 6 pts.
  • 5-8. Place - 4 pts.
• Current Standings:

• The 4 teams earning the most points during the qualifiers will play in the finale against the 4 lower teams of Masters Clash.

General

• Every team is expected to have read this ruleset if they participate in Nexus Forces Tournament.

  • If a team has any questions regarding this ruleset, they should contact:
     SgtHater#2696 or TyphoonHawk#2142

• Anyone who is not currently participating in Masters Clash is allowed to participate in the Nexus Forces Tournament.

• Each player is only allowed to participate on one team in each Qualifier and the finals.

• All games will be played on the EU Server.

• It is the responsibility of both captains to find a match lounge for their match.

• During the qualifiers, the next match in the bracket has to be played as soon as both teams are available and have had up to 5 minutes of break.

• The first match each day has to be played at the assigned start time. Captains need to show that their team is available to play the match at least 15 minutes before the start time in a match lounge.

  • All communicated times will be CET/CEST

• Teams have to sign up for the qualifier using the Heroes Lounge website.

  • After each match, the winner has to upload the replays of the match on the Heroes Lounge website before proceeding with the next match

Qualifier

• Each Qualifier will be a Single Elimination Bracket with Bo3 until the Final which will be a Bo5.

• The start time for each qualifier will be announced ahead of the day depending on the number of sign ups.

• The amount of rounds played each day will be dependent on the number of sign ups.

Finals

• The finals will be held on 12.06.2021 and 13.06.2021.

  • Starting on both dates at 13CEST.

• The teams should be ready at least 15 minutes before the first game starts.

• The finals will be a double elimination bracket with bo3 until the last match which will be a bo5.

• The team coming from the upper bracket will have first pick and map pick on the first map. 

Teams

• Every team competing in the Nexus Forces Tournament is responsible to have an active captain with the 'captain' discord role to relay important information to the rest of the team.

  • The Captain will be the single point of contact with each team.

  • The Heroes Lounge Discord will be used for communications.

  • The “Match Lounges” will be used to organise each match.

• Each team is allowed to use up to two substitute players per day.

  • Each captain must inform their opponents if they use a substitute player.

  • Substitute players must follow the same rules as normal players.

    • Especially that they are only allowed to play for one team per qualifier and in the finals.

• Each team is allowed to make two roster swaps between the first qualifier and the finals.

  • Any other roster swaps must be discussed and may be allowed tournament administration.

  • The tournament administration is not obligated to allow any more than the two initial roster swaps.

Match Details

• Starting side is based upon the order in the match listing on the website. The first team will be on the blue side, the second team will be on the red side.
• Map drafts and all match related communication must be done in the relevant Match Lounge.
• At match time start, one captain uses the !Match command in a Match Lounge and follows the instructions in the command.
• Each team bans one map and afterwards the first map for the match is picked.
• For the following maps, the losing team of the previous map decides if they want map pick or first pick.
• Each map is played with the “Tournament Draft” setting and can only be picked once.

 Banned Skins, Heroes and Mounts  

• The following Talents are banned:
  • Yrel - Bubble Hearth
  • Malfurion - Serenity
  • Johanna - Falling Sword
  • Lúcio - Mixing Fire
  • Deathwing - Gaze Onto Destruction
• The following bugs and interactions are banned:
  • Using the "Toy Train" Caboose mount.
  • Deathwing cannot use "Bellowing Roar" while his abilities are on cool down from landing
  • Picking "Ultimate Evolution" on Abathur when Qhira is on your team.
  • Picking "Stuck in a Loop" on Chromie while Temporal loop is counting down on a hero.
  • Deliberately blocking bosses and NPC objectives from advancing properly in lanes using Hogger's "Loot Hoard" and "Hoardapult"
  • Causing Hanzo's "Storm Bow" to instantly reach maximum range
  • Entering vehicles as Tracer with the Is That a Health Pack?! talent
• The following mounts and character mounts are banned:
  • Invisible Horse
  • Toy Train Caboose mount
  • Arthas - Bat Form
  • Kerrigan - Bat Transformation
• The following skins are banned:    
  • Maraudin' Muradin and all its variants:                 
    • Raider, Dominion, Umojan    
  • Striker Li-Ming and all its variants:                 
    • Canary, Champion, RCHS, Scarlet, Sapphire
  • Mecha Tyrael and all its variants:                 
    • Perfect, Strike, Deathreaper
  • Cuddle Bear Stitches and all its variants:                 
    • Honey, Snuggle
  • Techno Chromie and all its variants:                 
    • Vandal, Jade, Amber
• Each team is responsible to check this list before a match to make sure they are aware of all banned Heroes, Skins, Mounts and interactions.
• If a banned talent is picked mid game, you may continue the game as long as the talent does not give a passive benefit, and the ability linked to the talent is not used for the rest of the game.
• In any other case, the team picking the banned Hero, Talent or using a banned interaction will lose the map.
• The use of any bug or exploit not listed here will still lead to disciplinary action being taken against the team using the bug or exploit.

Delay of Map

• Each team has a 10 minute time pool for technical difficulties only.

• Once the 10 minutes have passed the team has to forfeit or continue even if their difficulties still exist.

• After a map ends, teams have a 5 minute time pool before starting the next map.

Code of Conduct

• B-stepping, trash talk, taunts and sprays are not allowed in the Nexus Forces Tournament.

• All relevant communication for a match has to be done in a match lounge and follow the rules of the Heroes Lounge Discord.

• All players must show fair play and good behaviour.

• Heroes Lounge may remove players from the Nexus Forces Tournament who break any of these rules without prior warning.

Observing, Casting and PoV Streaming

• Teams must allow assigned Heroes Lounge casters as observers to their matches.

  1. If there are any questions if a Caster should be allowed contact Heroes Lounge.

• Any other observers (such as coaches) are not allowed during matches.

• POV streams are allowed, if they follow the Nexus Forces Tournament Streamer Guidelines:

Prize Pool

• The Prize Pool for the Nexus Forces Tournament will be at least 800€:

  • Half the prize Money will be distributed for qualifiers.

  • The other half will be distributed during the finals.

• After the last qualifier the 4 teams with the most points will receive the following prize money percentage:

  • First Place:      40%

  • Second Place: 30%

  • Third Place:     20%

  • Fourth Place:   10%

• In the Finale, the first place will get 60% and the second place will get 40% of the prize money.

• All prize money is paid out to the captain. The captain has the responsibility to distribute the prize money to their team and potential substitute players.