RD2L Rules

Eligibility
- Participants
  - This is a player draft league. We only accept individual sign-ups, no team sign-ups.
  - All signups will be reviewed by a division admin.
  - Participants must sign up with their main account. This account may not be used by any other player for the duration of the season.
    - Participants are required to use the Steam account provided at the time of sign-ups when playing any RD2L game.
    - 1000 games and 500 wins on the account must have been played on the account by the player who is signing up.
    - New participants must be above 2500 mmr at the date of their signup. However, if a player has already played in at least 1 previous season but has since fallen below the 2500 mmr floor, they will generally still be allowed to participate in any future seasons.
  - Participants must alert the admins if their rank does not accurately reflect their skill level, or if they have alternate accounts they regularly use.
    - Admins may adjust a participant's rank to be more accurate in these situations.
  - Before registering, players are required to turn "Expose Public Match Data" on in the Dota 2 client > Settings > Options > Profile.
    - Players are required to keep match data public for the remainder of the season. If players do not comply, their team may be assessed with draft penalties and potential forfeits at admin discretion.
  - No one should expect to miss more than 2 weeks in the season (including playoffs).
    - If a participant expects inconsistent attendance for an upcoming season, they are encouraged to instead sign up as a stand-in or free agent, as appropriate.
  - Admins will be watching for accounts that have unusual match history. Those accounts may be removed at the discretion of the admins. Since there are various ways this rule can be violated, any other punishment will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
  - Participants may play in as many divisions as they wish in each season of RD2L, as long as those divisions are not on the same day. i.e. Please do not sign up for EST-SUN and PST-SUN. Doing so may result in your removal from both divisions once it is discovered during the season. Also please note that removal from a team (i.e. due to behavioral issues and/or abandoning a team) will result in the participant being removed from any teams they are on in other divisions as well.
- Captains
  - Captains are also participants and all participant rules apply to captains.
  - Captains should have completed at least one previous season before signing up as a captain, unless they get permission from an admin.
  - Captains will be responsible for drafting and organizing their teams (i.e. creating a Discord server and inviting their team to it).
  - Captains will be responsible for reporting the results of each match immediately if the match is not ticketed, including providing a screenshot of the results.
  - Captains will be the primary contacts for their teams. This includes communication with other teams and RD2L admins.
  - Captains do not have the power to remove players from their teams after the draft.
  - Captains should be at least Legend[1] rank or higher. This threshold may be altered at the discretion of division admins.
- Stand-ins
  - When a team is missing a player and requires a stand-in, they must formally request one in their divisions stand-in channel in discord, listing the Dotabuff of their missing player and the Dotabuff of the player they would like to use as a stand-in, & they must @ their division admin and opposing captain for that week as well.
  - If a team is missing one of their players, the team is eligible to use a stand-in for this player.
    - The standin should, at the time of the match, be the same MMR-or-lower than the current MMR for the player they are replacing.
    - Standins are expected to abide by the same rules as normal players, i.e. sportspersonlike conduct and having their match history marked public.
    - Any standin may be used if both captains agree or via admin discretion.
    - If the missing player is below 3500 mmr, the standin may be up to 500 mmr above the missing player, with a maximum mmr of 3000. For example, if a team is missing a 2000 mmr player, they are allowed a standin up to 2500 mmr. If a team is missing a 3200 mmr player, they are allowed a standin up to 3500 mmr.
  - Teams may use 2 stand-ins per match, for a maximum of 10 games during a season. Using two stand-ins in one match counts as two stand-in uses. If a team finds itself needing more than this, they should contact a division admin to inquire about a free agent if desired.
    - Stand-in usage from the season will be reset for all playoff teams. Playoff teams may use a stand-in for a maximum of three series of the playoffs. (Series means all games of a round, usually best of 3)
    - If a team is forced to use a stand-in because admins have not found a free agent for the team yet, these stand-in uses will not count towards the team total.
  - If a team needs three stand-ins in order to play, they must forfeit the match.
  - If a captain believes a stand-in is not fair, they should contact an admin for their division to rule on the stand-in's legitimacy.
  - If an admin discovers that a player used an unauthorized stand-in after the matches have been completed, the admin may retroactively award a forfeit for any games the unauthorized player played in.
- Free Agents
  - Free agents are players that are eligible to be permanently added to teams during the season
  - If a captain would like a free agent, they must prove that they have an inactive player or a player disrupting team environment. After this is done, the player player in question is removed from the team in all forms.
  - Free agents may be assigned by the admins with the following priority (assuming mmr is similar to the player being replaced):
    - Players left over from the draft/signed up as free agents prior to the season.
    - Players from disbanded teams that were not the cause of the disband.
    - Players that signed up as free agents during the season.
  - When the admin assigns a new free-agent to the team, this free agent cannot be rejected.
  - The free agent will either be a close match or a player with lower rank (as close as possible), depending on the availability of free agents.
  - Free agents cannot be assigned until the end of scim week (Week 0) to ensure that teams are fully utilizing the players they drafted.
Format
- Divisions
  - Divisions are determined every season by the RD2L admins.
  - Divisions will consist of a time zone and Dota 2 server combination (example: EST and USE) as well as a night of the week (example: Thursday). All matches for that division will be played on that server, on that night of the week, and the default times will be specific to that time zone.
  - Divisions will have as many teams as the number of captains assigned to that division and as few teams as the number of players signed up to fill out those teams. (Number of Players)/(5) ≤ (Number of Teams) ≤ (Number of Captains). Divisions will consist of at least 6 teams.
  - Each division will have its own admin. This admin will be the first point of contact for captains and players in the division. They will also be responsible for helping to run the draft, calling forfeits, approving stand-ins, assigning free agents, and checking results.
- Draft
  - There will be 1 draft per division.
  - The player pool of the draft will consist of the first (4x total number of captains) players who registered for that division.
  - Players not making it into the draft pool will go into the free agent pool.
  - The draft format (e.g., snake, linear, etc.) will be determined by the division admins.
  - Pick order will be based on the captain’s mmr. (Roughly, captains lower badges will be earlier in the pick order.)
  - The draft will consist of 4 rounds, leaving each team with 5 members.
- Games
  - All games are to be played on the division server and in Captains Mode, hosted by one of the captains or an admin on the RD2L ticket.
    - If a match does not begin before the default time and it is determined by an admin that it was due to no fault of the teams (e.g. Dota 2 network is down, there is a large Dota 2 update, etc.), then the admin may give the teams an extension.
  - Penalties for tardiness are as follows, and may be enforced by the opposing captain as they see fit:
    - 5 minutes past start time - Level 1 draft penalty.
    - 10 minutes past start time - Level 2 draft penalty.
    - 15 minutes past start time- Level 3 draft penalty.
    - 20 minutes past start time - Game 1 forfeit.
    - 30 minutes past start time - Game 2 forfeit.
  - If 30 minutes pass and neither team is capable of playing, a double forfeit is issued.
  - In order to be eligible for a forfeit win at the default time due to the other team not having 5 players in the lobby, the following additional conditions steps need to be taken:
    - A screenshot must be posted publicly in the #captains channel with an @mention to the division admin and opposing captain.
    - It must be from within the RD2L Season X ticketed lobby in the Dota 2 game client in Steam.
    - Five players from the team's official roster must be seated on either the dire or radiant side with the team name visible.
    - The screenshot should have the Steam overlay (press ctrl+shift while in Dota) visible, showing the system time.
    - If there is a dispute, captains must work with the admin to try to resolve the situation and play the games. If unresolved, the division admin (or head admin in their stead) will making a ruling on the matter.
  - Each team is allowed a maximum of 15 minutes of pause time per game. This may be used all in one pause or over multiple pauses.
    - Pauses are only allowed for reasons relating to players experiencing issues preventing them from playing the game properly. No tactical pauses are allowed.
    - Each team can wait up to a total of 15 minutes per match for disconnected player(s).
  - Teams have 15 minutes after the end of a game to create the lobby and start the subsequent game.
    - Both captains must report agreement to delay the match to an admin for approval.
  - All chat is allowed in official matches, but repeated instances of a player being toxic or flaming in all chat may result in a punishment.
    - Tipping, Chat Wheel, and Hero Taunts are all allowed in official matches.
    - Caster all chat is still strictly prohibited at all times.
  - Teams will coin flip for choice of side/pick; winner of the flip has first choice game 1 and loser has first choice game 2.
  - Teams are not allowed to “stream cheat” in any way - no player currently in a game may view a stream of the game, spectate the game, or communicate with anyone doing so.
  - Team members not playing are permitted to be in a caster slot in the lobby if the opposing captain approves, but are not permitted to communicate with their team in any way while spectating. Coaches are not allowed in game.
  - The only people allowed in a teams voice chat during draft & game are members of the team. Teams should ask anybody else sitting in voice to leave the voice chat in the interest of fairness.
  - Only recognized casters are permitted to be in broadcaster channels during matches.
    - Spectators on is encouraged but a 2 minute delay is required.
  - Game remakes are permitted if there is a major issue affecting gameplay (major ping increases, heavy packet loss, Steam down). Both team captains must agree to remake.
  - Scripts and Macros are not allowed to be used by any RD2L player in official RD2L matches. Players found using these in official matches may have their team retroactively forfeited for the matches in question.
  - If a player selects the wrong hero in the pick phase of an official match, the team is allowed to have the match remade with the same hero picks for each team. This remake must be requested in the first 20 seconds of the match.
  - If a teams captain/drafter DC's during a draft, the team is allowed to pause. This pause will use the pause time a team is allotted during the game itself.
  - Taking advantage of game breaking bugs may result in a forfeit loss.
- Regular Season
  - The regular season is 8 weeks long, with a Captain’s Mode Bo2 each week.
  - Matches are to begin by their division’s scheduled match time each week on the designated server.
  - Matches may be rescheduled to a different time or day if both captains agree, with a deadline of 24 hours after scheduled match time to ensure matchups will be out in a timely manner for the following week.
  - Teams will be matched against other teams that have a similar record each week.
  - Match schedules will be posted as soon as all of the previous week’s results are checked (at least a few days before the match is to be played).
- Post Season
  - After the regular season matches are completed, each division will run a single elimination playoff bracket for their division's top teams.
  - Teams will have one week to schedule and play their required matches. Each match must be scheduled and played by the end of the week for playoffs.
  - Teams will flip for side/pick.
    - For game 2 the team that lost the flip game 1 will have first choice. If a series goes to game 3, a new flip will occur for the third game.
Other
- Communication
  - Each RD2L player is encouraged to be on the Discord for their division, and optionally the RD2L main discord as well to keep up to date on league information.
    - Keeping up with every channel is not required, but it is highly recommended that alerts are left on in the #announcements channel, and that the channel is checked at least once per week.
- Conduct
  - Flaming is part of Dota 2, but repeated conduct (in games, discord, or anywhere) that violates the below standards may result in removal from the league:
    - No hate speech (speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender).
    - No cyber-bullying.
    - No tactical fake GG calls.
  - If a participant's behavior is deemed to be toxic, rude, interruptive to team play, or anything undesirable to the general well-being of most of the team, they may be removed by an admin. Depending on severity upon removal, they may be temporarily suspended.
    - If a player or captain is removed for poor conduct, the team is entitled to a free agent.
  - Players are expected to be available and present for all regular season and playoff matches, exceptions are acceptable but a commitment to the league and your team is agreed to upon signing up.
  - Players are expected to participate in any RD2L division they sign up for until the completion of the season. Quitting/Leaving any RD2L team may result in removal from other RD2L teams and bans from future seasons.

For any additional circumstances, if a majority of the admins approve, any action may be taken and will be accompanied by a post outlining the action and reasoning.