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Season Guide to CSL Fall 2013-Spring 2014: StarCraft II
General Information (see Official Rules for in-depth explanation)
CSL is an intercollegiate gaming league open to all accredited colleges and universities in North America.
We currently organize leagues for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, League of Legends, and Dota 2. This
is a season guide for the Dota 2 league.
This coming Fall 2013, we will be running a year-long league with weekly matches. There will be two
divisions: Division 1 for "competitive schools" and Division 2 for "casual schools." The divisions are each
split into two regions: East and West. During the regular season, teams will play Best of Fives (three 1v1s,
one 2v2, and one ace match) in round robin geographical conferences. The top teams of every division
will then advance to a Best of Seven single-elimination playoff bracket.
Summary of Key Points:
 CSL is split into East and West Regions with geographical conferences.
 Regular season format is round robin divisional play, with a format of Best of One.
 Top teams advance to playoffs, with a format of Best of Three.
 Teams need (1) a coordinator and (2) a minimum of five unique players.
Note that CSL has introduced several key changes for the Fall 2013-Spring 2014 season:

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CSL will run a single, year-long season.
CSL will provide two options for participation: Division 1 or Division 2.
There will only be ONE default match time (Saturday 12pm PST). Teams can negotiate and
reschedule matches, but should expect to play at the default time.
CSL regional LANs will be played this year for regional titles. Unlike CSL regional LANs in 2012,
these will NOT factor into your seasonal ranking.
Schedule (dates subject to change)
November 2: Registration opens
November 20: Last day of registration
November 23: Season begins
November 23: Week 1
**THANKSGIVING BREAK**
December 7: Week 2
**FINALS/CHRISTMAS BREAK**
January 12: Week 3
January 19: Week 4
January 26: Week 5
February 2: Week 6
February 9: Week 7
February 16: Week 8
February 23: Week 9
March 2: Week 10
March: Playoffs begin
March 16: Ro128
March 23: Ro64
March 30: Ro32
April 13: Ro16
April 20: Ro8
April 27: Semi Finals
May-June: Grand Final
Tips for New Coordinators and Teams
Running a Collegiate Starleague team can be daunting, fun, or both! Here are some tips that we've
gathered over the years to make the best of your experience:
1. Read the rules. Carefully. Did you know that if someone asks you to stop chatting in game, and
you continue to chat, that it counts as a forfeit loss?
2. Pick a responsible coordinator. This is the person who will submit lineups on time, file disputes
for forfeits or cheating accusations, and communicate with CSL admins on your behalf. You don't
want to incur set penalties because your coordinator forgot!
3. Know that not all teams are flexible. The default time for CSL matches is set for Saturday
12:00pm PST. Most of the times our teams are friendly and can reschedule, but you will run up
against a team that also has other obligations and cannot. Sign your team up for this league
knowing that you will have to set aside time on Saturday afternoon.
Rules and Format
Rules
General Information
Returning coordinators, these are some of the changes to this season’s rules:
● Weekly lineups will not have to be submitted; instead, each team will have a roster from which
they can field a combination of five players each week. Coordinators will report which players
were fielded after the match when submitting match results.
●
Schools can have multiple teams: one in Division 1 and up to three in Division 2. A player can
only play for one team.
● Note: playoffs will default to Saturday matches every week, so prepare your schedules ahead of
time for the change if applicable
● Both teams may agree to allow observers/casters, but in doing so they will lose their right to
contest a result based on ghosting or stream cheating.
● Disconnected players have 5 minutes to reconnect and 3 disconnections will automatically forfeit
the set.
Eligibility
Team Eligibility

Each team must belong to an accredited college or university with a physical address (online
universities are ineligible). The university must offer at least a 2-year degree program.

Each team must have a minimum of 5 players who are all students at the same university.

SOME exceptions are possible and will be handled on a case-by-case basis by CSL
administrators. For example, if a school or university has a population of less than 5,000, a player
may request to join the team of a nearby, affiliated university.

Factors of determination include, but are not limited to: the student’s level of skill, the possibility of
forming a team at his or university, the average skill of the neighboring university, and the
potential of rule-abuse. Please send an email to [email protected] with relevant
information when requesting an exception.

Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that all members of the team follow the guidelines
outlined in the section “PLAYER ELIGIBILITY” below.

Each of the Top 8 teams in the league must submit a letter using his or her universities letterhead,
signed by the dean of the college or university or otherwise appropriate authority figure, stating
that all competing members of the team are valid, full time students.

Failure to submit this letter to CSL administration will result in disqualification and forfeiture of any
and all prize money.
Player Eligibility
● Each player must be currently enrolled in a university with a valid university email address
● Players NOT registered as current students can be considered for eligibility under special
circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Exceptions can typically be made for players from
especially small schools, with a total student population of less than 5000, and that are affiliated
with larger universities, such as a community college with a direct feeder program to a nearby 4year university.
● Players cannot be suspended by CSL for previous infractions outside of the CSL.
● Players must be registered with valid names, school emails, and Steam IDs.
● Player registration is open until playoffs. At the onset of the playoffs, new players may NOT be
added to a team’s roster.
● Players can only play for one team at one school.
● Each player must not be on academic probation
● Each player must be enrolled as a full time student (a minimum of 12 credit hours, or 3-4 classes,
depending on the university’s requirements)
● Players with a professional gaming license are not eligible to participate. Players who have spent
more than 1 year living in a professional gaming or team house are not eligible to participate.
Each player must be able to provide proof of education in the form of: school ID, transcripts, and
current class schedule if requested.
● The CSL staff will check the records of all players who qualify for the playoffs and may ask for
these documents at any time during the season
● Failure to provide proof of education will result in the player in question being banned from the
league: his matches may or may not be overturned as well.
Format
Season Format
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The league will be split into two regions: East and West.
●
Teams can participate in either in Division 1 or Division 2. A college or university can field one
Division 1 and up to three Division 2 teams, but the players on each roster must be unique and
cannot be interchanged during the season.
●
Teams will be placed into conferences organized (roughly) geographically, with regular season
play consisting of a round-robin where each team plays every other team in the conference.
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The top teams in each conference will advance to a single elimination playoff bracket.
●
Only players added on or before the last week of the regular season play are allowed to be
fielded in the playoffs.
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In the playoffs, the same rules and procedures as during the regular season will apply.
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Teams with more than two match forfeits or a total of ten set forfeits will be removed from the
league for the remainder of the season.
Match Format

Teams will compete against each other in weekly matches throughout the season.

Default times for matches are Saturday 12:00pm PST.

The form of competition is DotA 2.
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If the match is decided before all the games are played, teams have the option of playing out the
remaining games. However, these games will not be officially counted.

Each group stage match is a Best of One Captains Mode match.

For the playoffs, teams will play in a Best of Three Captains Mode match.
Gameplay Rules
●
All games are to be played in Captains Mode.
●
Only players and CSL commentators are officially allowed in game. If both players agree,
observers may join the game. ALL observers unaffiliated with CSL staff can be asked to leave at
the players’ discretion, or can be denied entry before the game starts. Failure to adhere to a
request to leave the game within a reasonable amount of time will result in an automatic set-loss
for the observer’s team.
●
In-game chat should be limited to pp, ppp, or related (for PAUSING the game) and gg, good
game or related (for ENDING the game). Players can ask to remake the game in the first 30
seconds if there are latency issues. Note: This rule is not meant to be strict; however, if a player
asks for chat to stop, his request must be obliged. Continuing to chat will result in a set loss.
●
PROCEDURAL NOTE: To claim a set win, please request politely: "please stop chatting or I am
reporting you for a chatting violation," and then do not respond to further provocations by other
players. If the other player continues to chat and BM (Bad Manner), it would be perfectly
acceptable to, at that point, leave the game and send us the unfinished game replay to claim a
win.
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In the case that a player is unintentionally dropped, the game will be paused for a maximum time
of five minutes to allow the player to reconnect. After five minutes the game will be unpaused and
the player can reconnect at any time.
●
IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember, results will stand if you play through the game. If there are
problems or issues (lag, chat violations, etc) that call for a regame or forfeit, please pause the
game and ask for a CSL admin. If you play through the game, you CANNOT retroactively request
regames or forfeits (unless both teams agree on a regame).
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The Radiant side is awarded default first pick.
●
In a Best of Three, for the second game the team that was Radiant will now be Dire, and the Dire
will now be Radiant. If the match goes to a third game then a coin will be flipped by a CSL admin
to determine the sides and who gets first pick. The winner of the coin toss will either get to
choose Dire/Radiant or 1st/2nd.
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Server Selection must be either US East or US West, unless both teams agree to play on one. If
teams wish to alternate servers they may do so for the first and second game.
●
If both teams are playing on the different servers and the match goes to a game 3. The winner of
the coin toss will either get to choose Dire/Radiant or East/West. With Radiant getting first pick.
Administrative Rules
● Each team will have a coordinator that is responsible for organizing his or her team, submitting
results, and serving as a point of contact with CSL staff and other coordinators.
● Matches must be played at the default time unless both teams agree to play their matches
beforehand. No matches can be postponed. Exceptions may be granted on a case by case basis
upon detailed review by CSL administrative staff.
● Teams are considered no-shows 15 minutes after the proposed time, and are given an automatic
set forfeit. This counts the same as a loss.
● IN ORDER TO CLAIM A FORFEIT WIN: provide details and proof and email to
[email protected], have the opposing coordinator confirm by CCing the other coordinator.
● Match results, replays, and a recommendation for the best replay must be uploaded to the
website immediately after the match is played. A first instance of late reports will cause a warning,
a second instance will result in the late-reported matches being considered null (0-0 for both
teams), and a third instance will result in one loss added to the team's record (0-3 replaces the
match results for both teams). This rule will be strictly enforced this season.
● You will be able to submit match results on our website by submitting either a screenshot of the
victory screen or replays. Replays are located: (1) Windows - C:\Program Files
(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/dota 2 beta/dota/replays/ (2) Mac /Users/(username)/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/dota 2
beta/dota/replays (3) Linux - .local//share/Steam/SteamApps/common/dota 2 beta/dota/replays
● If assistance is needed, please email [email protected]. For live assistance, there will be an
admin available on battle.net.
Bannable Offenses

Smurfing, maphacking, observer hacking, in-game coaching, and any type of behavior that gives
an unfair advantage to a player can be grounds for a permanent player ban.

Severe BM both ingame and outside the game will be treated as harassment and may lead to
being suspended or banned, based on severity.

Depending on how far the season has progressed, the player's team will either be given a match
loss or be disqualified from the league (if it is discovered that the player has been using an unfair
advantage throughout the season).

A player found to be on academic probation and still competing in CSL matches will have all of
his matches overturned. The player in question will be banned for the remainder of the season
and will only be re-eligible to play once his probation has ended. Player must provide proof via
letter from a school dean.

Teams or players who do not provide proof of education in a timely manner when asked will
become ineligible to play in the playoffs. If the playoffs have already started, the team or player(s)
in question will have either their next match forfeit, or the specific sets forfeit.