DCS Season 3 Rulebook

1. All times posted by College Deadlock in official channels are Eastern Time (ET) unless otherwise noted, and are given as a Discord timestamp where possible.

1. Tournament staff should be contacted via the Tickets Bot [#create-a-ticket]. Email contact@collegedeadlock.com for other inquiries.

1. All rulings are final. Rule interpretation rests solely with tournament officials.

1. Season 3 runs on the following schedule:

   • Registration opens: August 1, 2026
   • Standard match time poll opens: August 31, 2026
   • Standard match time poll closes: September 14, 2026, 11:59 PM
   • Registration closes: September 21, 2026, 11:59 PM
   • Roster Lock: September 21, 2026, 11:59 PM
   • Group Stage begins: September 28, 2026
   • Group Stage ends: November 6, 2026
   • Playoffs begin: November 9, 2026
   • Break week: November 23 – 27, 2026
   • Finals week: November 30 – December 4, 2026

1. Registration opens August 1, 2026 and closes September 21, 2026 at 11:59 PM.
2. An Institution may field a maximum of 2 Teams in Season 3, each uniquely identified under the naming requirements in Section 2.2.

1. The standard match day/time is currently undecided, and will be voted on by all registered teams by September 14th.
2. The standard match day/time is the default for every Series. Two Teams may agree to schedule a Series outside it under Section 4.

1. Each Team must have a Manager and/or Captain who acts as the Point of Contact for College Deadlock staff communications.
2. Rosters must include a minimum of 6 eligible players (a full Starting Lineup) at all times.
3. Teams may have up to 2 Substitute players, subject to the limits in Section 2.5.
4. Teams may have up to 1 Coach. A Coach may not compete: they are not part of the Starting Lineup or Substitutes and may not play in a Game.

1. Team names must follow the format [Institution Name].[Optional Identifier] with a 3--6 character code for streams and Discord threads (e.g., Purdue University Black → PDU.B).
2. Team logos must comply with the represented Institution's code of conduct.
3. AI-generated logos are not permitted.

1. No roster changes are permitted after Roster Lock.
2. Emergency situations may be discussed with College Deadlock staff.

All players must meet the following requirements:

1. Players must be in good standing as determined by their Institution.
2. Players may not compete for more than one Team per Event.
3. Players must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 (4.0 scale) or 2.5 (5.0 scale).
4. Players must be enrolled at least half-time at their represented Institution or participating in an approved co-op, work-study, or employment program that fulfills a degree requirement.
5. Proof of enrollment may be requested from the Point of Contact by staff at any time. Accepted documentation includes enrollment letters, transcripts, or equivalent. This data will not be stored past verification.
6. Official requests for documentation will only come from support@collegedeadlock.com.
7. All players must have at least 50 games in either Standard or Ranked.
8. Players must compete on a single Steam account, declared at the start of the Event and linked to their account on College Deadlock's platform. The declared account must be in good standing, with no VAC bans in the last 5 years.
   1. Players must link all Steam accounts used during the Event to their College Deadlock profile. The highest-ranked linked account determines the player's rank for seeding purposes.
   2. Smurfing or use of an undisclosed alternate account (at any time during the season, including public matchmaking) is unsportsmanlike and results in forfeiture of affected Game(s) and disciplinary action.
   3. Account sharing results in forfeiture of the affected Game(s) and disciplinary action.
9. All active roster players must have their Discord account and primary Steam account linked to Geary, College Deadlock's Discord bot.
10. Players must be 18 years of age or have a signed parental consent form at registration.
11. Players must be enrolled at their Institution before the close of registration.
12. Players may not compete under a different username or in-game name without prior College Deadlock approval. Names must be readable, free of excessive special characters, contain no spaces, and remain consistent throughout the Event. A pronunciation must be provided for non-English names.
13. If a player is found to have been ineligible while competing, the impact on prior results is determined at staff discretion.

1. Substitutes must be registered and approved before Roster Lock and must meet the requirements in Section 2.4.
2. Any substitution, and the return of the regular player(s) it covers, must be announced to the opposing Captain before the Draft for each Game of a Series begins. A substitution may not be introduced or reversed once the Draft has begun.
3. Players may not be substituted during an ongoing Game. Only players declared at Check-In may play in the Series.

1. In emergency circumstances, Teams may request an Emergency Substitute. The substitute may be approved at staff discretion, and must meet the following eligibility criteria:
   1. The Emergency Substitute must meet the eligibility requirements documented in Section 2.4.
   2. Staff must conclude that the Emergency Substitute's skill is equal to or less than that of the player being replaced.
2. Any team using an Emergency Substitute must announce that they are using an Emergency Substitute, just as they would announce a regular Substitute.
3. To use an Emergency Substitute in a given Game, a team must forgo its first opportunity to ban a Hero in that Game's Draft.

1. Roster Lock for Season 3 is September 21, 2026 at 11:59 PM, concurrent with the close of registration.
2. No roster changes are permitted after Roster Lock.

1. Statlocker's Performance Points will be used to evaluate the individual strength of players, which will be averaged across a given team to determine its strength.

2. Teams will be rank-ordered by strength for Preseason Seeding.

1. Teams will be split into Divisions of 24 teams. Each Division will have 4 Groups.
2. The lowest Division may have more or less than 24 teams, based on the total amount of registered teams.

1. Teams will be divided into groups of 6.
   1. Teams will be allocated to groups via snake draft to maintain approximately equivalent strengths of schedule.
2. Each Group plays a single Round Robin: every Team plays each of the other Teams in its group once.
3. Each Series in the Group Stage will be a 2-game Series.
4. Each Team plays one Series per week during weeks 1 through 5.
5. Week 6 (November 2 – 6, 2026) is a makeup and buffer week. No new Series are scheduled in week 6; it exists to absorb outstanding and rescheduled Series from weeks 1 through 5.
6. The format may be adjusted by staff based on participation numbers.

1. Points are awarded per Group-Stage Series as follows:

   • Series won 2-0: 7 points
   • Series drawn 1-1: 3 points
   • Series lost 0-2: 0 points

2. A Team that fails to field players, or that cannot complete a Series, receives a 0-2 loss. Its opponent receives 7 points.

3. A Team that withdraws from Season 3 is retroactively removed from the group. All matches they competed in or will compete in are considered 0-2 losses.

1. Where Teams finish the Group Stage on equal points, standings are resolved in the following order:
   1. Head-to-head Series record between the tied Teams.
   2. Higher pre-season Seed.

1. Teams will qualify for playoffs by top cut via points.
   1. In standard Divisions, the top 2 of each group will qualify for playoffs. The bottom division may have a different system for playoffs qualification that will be announced as a part of registration closing.
2. Playoffs are a single elimination Best of 3 bracket.
3. Qualifying Teams are seeded by group-stage points.
4. The Playoff Stage will take place through these dates:
   • Quarterfinals: November 9 – 13, 2026
   • Semifinals: November 16 – 20, 2026
   • Finals: November 30 – December 4, 2026

1. By default, all teams participating in a match agree to play their match on the standard match day, at the standard match time.
2. Reschedule requests must be made at least 7 days (168 hours) in advance of the scheduled time.
3. A Series that is not scheduled at least 7 days (168 hours) in advance results in a 0-2 loss for both Teams, with no points awarded to either.
   1. Repeatedly failing to schedule matches may result in disciplinary action at staff discretion.
4. The opposing Team may decline a reschedule request. If declined, the Series is played at its originally scheduled time.
   1. Excessively or unnecessarily declining rescheduling requests is unsportsmanlike behavior, and subject to penalty at staff discretion.
5. No Series may be played during the break week, November 23 – 27, 2026. A Series may not be rescheduled into the break week for any reason.
6. If the requesting Team cannot play at the original time after a declined reschedule, it receives a 0-2 Series loss.
7. Group-stage Series may be rescheduled into week 6 under Section 3.3.5.

1. Check-In opens 60 minutes before the scheduled Series time in the Series Thread. Teams have until 30 minutes before the scheduled start time to confirm they are checked in.

1. A Team's Point of Contact must confirm their roster as part of Check-In, no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled start time, listing the six players who will start the Series and any Substitute players that may be used.

1. Failure to check in by the deadline results in a forfeit of the Series.

1. Teams must field 6 players to compete. A Team that cannot field 6 eligible, checked-in players by the Check-In deadline forfeits the Series.

1. The Draft for Game 1 must begin by the scheduled start time.

2. It is the higher-seeded Team's responsibility to create the Draft lobby (via Statlocker) with the following settings:

   • Draft Access: Public
   • Lobby Visibility: Hidden
   • Require Authentication: Yes
   • Lobby Type: Casual
   • Team Setup: Leave Default
   • Timer Settings: Hybrid Timer
     • Time per Round: 30s
     • Reserve Time: 120s
   • Draft Order: Competitive (2 Bans)

3. The Draft order should look like the following:

   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Archmother --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Hidden King --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Ban
   • Archmother --- 1 Hero Pick
   • Hidden King --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Archmother --- 2 Hero Picks
   • Hidden King --- 1 Hero Pick

4. The higher-seeded Team chooses Hidden King (first pick) or Archmother (second pick) for Game 1. The lower-seeded team will have side selection in Game 2 of a two-game series.

   1. In Best-of-X Series, the loser of the previous Game will have side selection in the second Game and further.

5. All Draft actions are final once confirmed; incorrect picks or bans may not be corrected.

6. Once the Draft concludes, Teams have 5 minutes to ready up and enter the Game.

7. If a Team is not ready within 5 minutes, they forfeit one Game.

8. If a Team is not ready within 10 minutes, they forfeit the Series.

9. It is the higher-seeded Team's responsibility to create the Game Lobby (as a custom game) with the following settings:

   • Server: US South Central
     • Both Teams may agree to a different region, but staff must be notified of any deviation.
   • Mode: Normal
   • Bots: Disabled
   • Lane Assignments: Specify Lane Assignments enabled
   • Visibility: Visible to Everyone
   • Duplicate Heroes: Disabled
   • Cheats: Disabled

10. Teams are allowed a 10 minute rest period in between Games in a Series. Failure to be ready for the subsequent Game's Draft by the end of this rest period is considered forfeiture of the subsequent Game.

1. Each Team has up to 3 Technical Pauses per Game, with a combined maximum of 15 minutes per Series.
2. Each pause may not exceed 5 minutes; two consecutive pauses may be combined for a single 10-minute pause.
3. Players may not communicate with teammates during a pause. Violations are subject to staff review (see Section 8.5) and disciplinary action.
4. If a player disconnects and cannot reconnect, an automatic remake is issued if the disconnect occurred within the first 5 minutes of the Game. After 5 minutes, the Game continues.
5. If the game server crashes, the Game is automatically remade.
6. All other situations where a remake may be warranted are at staff discretion.

1. The winning Team is responsible for recording the result of each Game by submitting a screenshot of the end-game scoreboard (which includes the Game ID) in the Series Thread. The losing Team is responsible for verifying this recording.

1. The recording and verification responsibilities set out in Section 5.7 must both be completed within 1 hour of the completion of the Series.
2. A team that fails to submit or verify a record within 1 hour receives no points, regardless of result.

1. Only College Deadlock staff and approved production staff may join the Game Lobby as a spectator. Streamers, casters, coaches, and other third-party coverage must watch via the in-game Watch tab or the official stream rather than the lobby.

1. Checked-in players must use a voice channel created in the official College Deadlock Discord by using the Creator Channel in the Events Category. Use of external voice channels is not permitted during a Series.
   1. Checked-in players who are not playing in the current Game (i.e. Substitutes) must be muted for Games they are not participating in.
2. Coaches who will be present for a given Series must also join the voice channel. They may speak to players during the Draft and lobby setup, but must mute prior to Game start and during timeouts.
   1. Violations will result in loss of the Game. Repeated violations may result in permanent revocation of in-Game voice privileges.
3. Teams may not join another Team's voice channel. College Deadlock staff may join any voice channel at any time.

1. Harassment, hate speech, and disruptive behavior are prohibited. The code of conduct extends to public communications including social media, Discord, and other public channels. Public statements that bring College Deadlock into disrepute are subject to the same penalties as in-Game violations.

1. Unsportsmanlike behavior includes but is not limited to:

   • Harassment or verbal abuse
     • This includes alternative forms of in-game communication (i.e. teabagging).
   • Intentionally throwing Games
   • Collusion between Teams
   • Placing bets on any College Deadlock Game or Series
   • Manipulating the outcomes of College Deadlock Games or Series
   • Modifying, exploiting, or abusing the game to gain an unfair advantage

2. Penalties range from a written warning to indefinite disqualification from College Deadlock Events.

1. The copy of the game players compete on for official Games must be the official, up-to-date version of Deadlock. Unapproved modifications of the game are forbidden for play. Examples include, but are not limited to:

   • Blacklisted Mods
   • Scripts
   • Config file editing
   • Macros
   • Third-party software
     • Live Trackers
     • Data Aggregators
     • Timers

2. For Season 3, some mods have been whitelisted. You can find the list here: Mods Whitelist. Use of mods outside of this list is forbidden.

3. Use of these, or other external software or hardware that grants an unfair advantage is prohibited; what constitutes such an advantage is at staff discretion. Accessing live broadcast footage or any outside information source during a Game to gain a competitive advantage is prohibited.

1. Known exploits are designated as allowed or banned in the official College Deadlock exploit list.
2. Use of a banned exploit voids the Game result regardless of whether the exploit affected the outcome, and carries the same player penalties as cheating.
3. An unlisted exploit is any bug, glitch, or unintended game interaction that is not on the official exploit list. Use of an unlisted exploit is subject to the same penalties as using a banned exploit at staff discretion.
4. Any unlisted exploit used in a Game must be reported to staff for review and classification.

1. Any Series that is part of a College Deadlock Event may be streamed by College Deadlock.
2. Official streams will be on the official College Deadlock Twitch channel (twitch.tv/collegedeadlock).
3. All official streams will have 1 minute (60 seconds) of delay.

1. College Deadlock may have a secondary broadcast team that runs additional coverage of other Series each week. These streams may be live or based on replays.
2. If you would like to be considered for the B-Stream, you must post your confirmed Series time in the #b-stream channel in the College Deadlock server.
3. Series are chosen based on staff discretion and broadcast team availability.

1. Teams reserve the right to record Games they play from their perspective.
2. Publicization of these recordings can be done with consent from all people recorded, including players on both Teams.

1. Players may stream their perspective during official Games if and only if they meet the following requirements:

   1. All streaming players must post links to their streams in the #player-streams channel on the College Deadlock Discord server.

   2. All players involved in any streamed Game must consent to being streamed.

   3. All streams must have a minimum of 2 minutes (120 seconds) of delay.

   4. Stream title must include these parameters: Team Name Event Name Event Stage

      • Example: UofT Captain POV DCS Season 3, Week 3

   5. Offensive, explicit or controversial content is not permitted at any part of a stream that includes footage of College Deadlock Events.

   6. You must be willing to submit stream analytics for any stream that includes footage of College Deadlock Events.

   7. Players who stream take responsibility for information they release on stream, including but not limited to: game state, team communications, and Draft information.

1. Institutions can apply to produce their own show for their Teams' Games by filling out the School Stream Application form.
2. School Streams must follow the requirements listed in Section 7.4.
3. Institutions must consent to having their streams advertised on College Deadlock's platform.
4. Content within a School Stream is free for College Deadlock to use and edit for marketing purposes.

1. Immediate issues (such as failure to follow schedule, unsportsmanlike behavior, or tech issues) can be reported via the College Deadlock website or the Tickets system on Discord. Reports are handled confidentially.

1. Disciplinary actions are determined by staff based on the severity of the offense and include but are not limited to: forfeiture, suspension, disqualification, or future tournament bans.
2. We have included some common rule violations, and their most likely punishments for reference. Note: these are not binding relationships, and rulings are always evaluated based on the circumstances at hand.
   1. Code of Conduct violation --- 1 week suspension, warning
   2. Playing on a fraudulent account ("smurfing") --- Immediate player disqualification
   3. Match Fixing --- Immediate Team disqualification, 1 Event suspension

1. Misconduct, be it from managers, players, or College Deadlock staff, can be reported by emailing support@collegedeadlock.com. Reports are handled confidentially.
2. Disputes concerning an in-progress or just-completed Series must be reported to staff through the above channels within 1 hour of Series completion. For an issue arising during an active Game, the Game must be paused immediately and the assigned admin must be contacted.
3. A report must identify the Series, the rule or incident in question, the desired resolution, and any evidence per Section 8.4.
4. Staff may take the time necessary to investigate before ruling, including delaying a ruling that does not affect the current week's standings or pairings.

1. Evidence provided must be sufficient to substantiate the incident in question.
2. Evidence considered in a ruling includes, but is not limited to: Game VODs and replays, in-game or Discord screenshots, chat and voice logs retained by staff, and the official Series record.
3. Reports should include direct evidence. Staff may request additional evidence from either Team.

1. Staff review disputes and rule based on available evidence. A ruling may be appealed only once.

1. Appeals are submitted by emailing support@collegedeadlock.com, and must present new evidence not previously considered. Staff reserve the right to disregard any appeal.

1. Rules may be modified at any time. Changes will be communicated through Official Channels.

1. Circumstances not covered by this rulebook are resolved at staff discretion.

1. Staff reserve the right to make decisions outside the scope of this rulebook when necessary to maintain the competitive integrity of the competition.

1. There is no entry fee to participate in Season 3.

1. There is no prize pool for Season 3.