League Rules & Regulations

1. Introduction

Welcome to GAMER.ICU Dota 2 Esports League! Here you will learn more about our rules, format and other league matters.

Lets begin with some introductory basics:

These rules are for GAMER.ICU Dota 2 Esports League
Region: Priority will be given to North America’s teams, USA, Canada, Mexico, but we will welcome teams from all over as long as the management of the team can communicate well in English and as long as the time zone difference, ping is acceptable for you to compete in.
Server: US West
Email: dota [at] gamer.icu
Default Time Zone: Pacific Standard Time (PST)

2. Dictionary

Below is a list of some common keywords and what they mean in context to our league. If you think something should be listed here please let us know.

Home Team – A home team is randomly determined by our match generator. Home team might have extra responsibilities such as making sure to host the game with correct game settings.
Season – A season is made up of multiple stages. Those stages are as follows: Regular season, GIDC, Playoffs, Grand Finals, Off-Season and various short breaks. A whole season with all of these stages included might be expected to last around a year.
Regular Season – This is an open stage. Teams are able to submit an application and if they are accepted they will compete in the regular season to gain mmr points and position themselves in the standings to have a chance to qualify for GIDC and the playoffs.
Gamer.icu Invitational DotA Cup (GIDC) – Once every couple months we will hold a tournament for the top teams currently in the standings. The winner takes home a prize and some extras. You can read more about GIDC further down this page.
Playoffs – Top teams from the regular season are seeded in a bracket and play against each other until there are two teams left.
Grand Finals – The two remaining teams battle each other in an epic multi-day season finale to claim the one and only title of season champs!
Off-season – A stage after season to rest, rejuvenate and prepare for next season.
In Season Breaks – Short breaks during the season.
Game – A single game of dota 2.
Match – A match consists of multiple game’s.
Vacation – Teams can request to be put on vacation list for some time off from playing in league matches.

3. League Format

General
1. The league will run on a week by week schedule.
2. 1 week in our league is considered Monday to Sunday.
3. Matchups for the week will be released on Mondays.
4. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are blackout days. Meaning no matches can be played on Monday through Wednesday. These days are for teams to schedule their matches to be played on the official league play days which are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and also do any other administrative tasks.
5. Once the matchups are released, teams are expected to reach out to one another and reach an agreement on a day and time for a match to take place. Matches can be schedule to be played anytime between 8 AM Thursday PST and 11 PM Sunday PST.
6. Teams need to submit a scheduled match time to the league by no later then 11 PM Wednesday PST.
7. If teams for any reason cannot come to an agreement on a day and time then our default day and time for a match is set to Saturday 4pm PST. In other words if you do not submit a scheduled match time by the Wednesday deadline then your match Day and time is set to Saturday 4pm PST.
8. All matchups need to be played within the same week. Failure to do so will result in a forfeit. Forfeits = 0 points awarded. Penalty points and warnings will be issued. Forfeits will not be tolerated in our league, and repeated offenders will be kicked out from the league.
9. You are NOT allowed to make up matches. Therefore the hope is that it is in the best interest of both teams to schedule and try to play their matches and to do so on time.
10. With all of this said we understand that life sometimes gets in the way and one of the hardest things about participating in an online esports league is the dedication needed to be able to show up every single week for the duration of the season. Well we have a solution for that, vacations! For more info about vacation see “Vacations” section.
11. Teams will be rewarded mmr points for their performance. Points are automatically calculated by our system. Points rewarded will fluctuate depending on your position in the standings, and how strong of an opponent you are facing, other things like win/loss streaks can impact points awarded and so on. The exact formula for how points are calculated will not be revealed at this time.
12. During regular season we will be running what we call an on-going/open league format. What Does that Mean?
  1. It means we will be accepting applications and potentially inviting new teams into the league throughout the regular season.
  2. Newly added teams will start the league at the bottom with 0 points and will have to work their way up. Each new season will have an MMR reset for participating teams.
  3. Click here to read more about our application process. Coming Soon
13. The plan for right now is for a portion of the points earned during Season 1 to carry over into Season 2.
14. A “Home Team” will be randomly determined by our “Match Generator“. You can read more about this under “Match Generator” section.
15. The “Home Team” is expected to be the initiator and to get things moving. For example taking initiative to reach out first to schedule a match.
16. All games should be hosted by the “Home team” with the settings described in the “Match Procedures” section.
17. After the match BOTH teams are responsible for submitting a match report. For more about reporting matches read “Match Reporting” section.
Regular Season
1. Regular Season matches are best of 2 (Bo2).
2. In case of a tie(1-1) during the regular season a team has a choice to either play a tie breaker or accept a tie.
3. In order to play a tie breaker both teams need to agree to play it.
4. The match has to start immediately after the conclusion of the previous game, and should NOT be scheduled for later.
5. If either of the teams decides to accept the tie result then that decision is final and must be respected.
6. The length of the regular season is fluid. It will depend on a few factors such as how many teams we have in the league, how many breaks we take, how many GDC events we hold, etc… But generally the regular season will run in the range of 6-9 months. We will make a public announcement on the site when we will be close to the end of the regular season. From regular season we will transition into “Playoffs” stage.
Gamer.icu Invitational DotA Cup (GIDC)
1. During regular season, every few months or so, we will be hosting an invitational tournament, which we dub as “Gamer.icu Invitational DotA Cup”.
2. It’s a tournament for our league teams who are currently top 8 in the standings.
3. In case some of them can’t participate, then the next team(s) in the standings get an invite over them.
4. All stages except for the finals are Bo1.
5. Finals are Bo3.
6. Tournament winner is awarded extra points in the standings, and potential future sponsor prizes.
7. Tournament date, time and participants are announced a few week or so in advance.
Playoffs
1. Top 16 teams from the Regular Season qualify for the playoffs. This could change depending on the number of participants in the league.
2. Each playoff stage is 1 week long.
3. Playoff matches are best of 3 (Bo3)
4. Semi Finals are best of 5 (Bo5)
Grand Finals
1. Grand finals are 2 weeks long.
2. Grand finals are best of 7 (Bo7)
3. Because grand finals are Bo7, teams are required to split the matches into two different days.
4. First 3 matches should be played on day 1 and the remaining matches should be played on day 2, and there has to be at least a 36 hour break between day 1 and day 2 matches.
Off-season
1. The length of this may vary from season to season. Off-season will be used to rest, adjust and improve the league as well as plan for the upcoming new season.
2. Every team who successfully competed in our season will be invited back to the new season.
In Season Breaks
1. Sometimes things happen that might be out of our control, such as there is a major DotA event going on. In which case we might take a short one or two week break. These are not planned breaks and might be announced on a fairly short notice.

4. Match Procedures

The “Home Team” is responsible for hosting all the games.
The following settings should be used when creating a Dota 2 game via “Custom Lobbies.
1. Click Here for settings

5. Match Generator

We built a custom match generator for our league that will generate matchups automatically for us on a weekly basis.
Our match generator takes current team mmr points, previous results and other factors into consideration when generating matches.
Matchups will be released every week on Monday by 1pm PST.

6. Match Scheduling

Teams are responsible for getting in contact with each other to schedule their matches.
Once you have agreed on a match date and time you have to communicate that information to us.
Matches need to be scheduled and submitted to us by Wednesday 11 PM PST.
If a match is scheduled successfully it will appear under “Scheduled Matches” section on the homepage or will be listed on the “Scheduled Matches” listings page. Coming Soon
If you scheduled a match, but the match is not showing up, please contact us.

7. Match Reporting

Regardless of who the winner of the match is, both the winner and the loser need to report the match immediately after the match is over. Reporting hours or days later will result in penalty.
Use “Report Match” tool found under “League” navigation tab. Coming Soon

8. Vacations

A vacation is exactly what it sounds. Sometimes things get a little crazy, maybe you have an upcoming exam, or a local tournament to attend and you just need a week or two off. Whatever the case may be you can take some time off without being kicked out or penalized for it. You just need to do a little bit of planning and inform us a head of time.
Teams are allowed to go on vacations ONLY during regular season.
You are NOT allowed to take a vacation if you still have pending matches to be played.
Once you have played all the matches for the week, before the next week starts, you can request to be put on vacation list.
In order to be on vacation list, please get into contact with us via Discord or by sending us an email.
Again it is very important to request to be put on vacation list after all of your pending matches have been played and before new matchups have been released.
You are allowed to be on vacation indefinitely.
While on vacation you will be taken off our match generator.
Whenever you are ready to jump back into action, just contact us.

9. Penalty & Cheating

Penalty points can be received for too many things to list here. I would say be respectful, kind, mannered, fair and everything should be okay.
There is no limit for how many penalty points can be given, but here’s a general guideline:
- -5% or -2pts(whichever is greater) of total points accumulated – Severe punishment – such as forfeiting a match.
- -3% or -1pt(whichever is greater) of total points accumulated – Medium punishment – such as being disrespectful to an admin.
- -1.5% or -0.5pts(whichever is greater) of total points accumulated – Light punishment – such as making up a match.
There are also cases such as cheating and so on where penalty points would not be a severe enough punishment. In those cases most of the times individuals or teams can be removed and banned from the league indefinitely.
Any removal or league ban can be appealed. To find out more about the process contact us.

10. Miscellaneous

Just because something isn’t listed here doesn’t mean you can abuse it.
Rules may be adjusted, bent or compromised by Admins of the league depending on the situation and it’s circumstances. The ultimate goal is to provide a fair level of competition for all.
Good luck & have fun!