HSEL Spring Major 2023 Regional Playoff Guide

This article contains all the necessary information about the HSEL Regional Playoffs for Rocket League and Valorant, such as days/times of matches, where to find the bracket, how many teams qualify, etc. 

Looking for HSEL playoff information for nationwide games? See the HSEL Spring Major Playoff Guide.

Looking for League of Legends playoff information? See the League of Legends Playoff Guide.

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?

Playoff brackets will be generated during the week of April 3, prior to the end of business April 6th. Team administrators will be notified of qualification via email to the address they use to log in.

• The amount of participants qualifying for playoffs is determined by the number of active teams. 
• Both games' competitions will have two playoff brackets: a "Championship" (Champ) bracket for the top-seeded teams, and a secondary "Redemption Road" (R.R) bracket for strong-performing teams/players that did not qualify for the Championship bracket. 

*Top 8 teams will have a first round bye. 

Schedule

• Default match times for all games listed above will be based on region (see table below). 
• Playoffs/finals are manually seeded; players will not use the queue system.
• You may only reschedule a playoff match if you meet all of the following criteria: 
  
  • Your competitor agrees to the new time in the match chat on the Generation Esports platform.
  • You notify and receive approval from HSEL admins for the new time here.
  • The match score is reported before midnight Pacific Standard Time the day prior to the next round (i.e. reschedules must not impede the bracket from advancing).
    
  • Championship Bracket Finals matches cannot be rescheduled. Redemption Road bracket finals may be rescheduled, per the above criteria. 
  • Your opponent must agree to the rescheduled time in match chat on the Generation Esports platform or the default time will remain.
• 3rd Place & Redemption Road Finals matches will occur on the same day as the tournament's finals match at the default match time listed in the table below. 

Default Match Times (Exception: streamed Championship Finals matches)

Week 1 

Week 2 

See "Finals Match Times" below. Championship Finals match times CAN NOT be rescheduled. 

Week 3 

Finals Match Times

All Champion Bracket Finals matches will be live-streamed on HSEL Twitch. These times can not be rescheduled. 

Valorant Finals

• 4/20 @ 6:00 pm EDT - South Region
• 4/21 @ 5:00 pm EDT - East Region 
• 4/21 @ 8:00 pm EDT - West Region
• 4/24 @ 5:00 pm EDT - Central Region 

Rocket League Finals (4/25)

• 5:00 pm EDT - East Region
• 6:00 pm EDT - Central Region
• 7:00 pm EDT - South Region
• 8:00 pm EDT - West Region

How to Qualify

• A roster must:
  • Play at least 6 matches in order to be eligible for playoff qualification.
  • End the season at a high enough leaderboard placement (see tiebreakers below). 
  • Note: Any unplayed regular-season matches will be counted as a loss against the roster's record at the end of the regular season, per rule rule 2.11.7.1.
• The tiebreaker system will be run as a tiered protocol that will be used if multiple teams finish the regular season with the same overall record, pursuant to rule 2.11.8.1: 
  
  1. Wins. (Forfeit wins and bye wins are scored as a full series undefeated win)
  2. Head-to-head record. (If the two tied teams have played each other, their match record against each other is compared)
  3. Overall game-win percentage. (e.g. winning a match 3-0 is better than 3-2)
  4. Valorant, CS:GO, and R6 only: Round differential (A team with 15 rounds won and 10 rounds lost will have a round differential of +5 for that match. A higher positive value is better)
  5. Higher opponents’ game-win percentage. (e.g. it is better to beat an opponent who  consistently won 3-0 than 3-2)
  6. Fewer forfeit losses.
  7. Fewer bye wins.
  8. The team which had a higher number of wins before their first loss.
  9. If the first loss is received after the same number of wins, then the team which lost to the stronger opponent (as defined by game win percentage) will be ranked higher.

Where can I view the playoff bracket?

• Select "Tournaments" from the left-hand menu. 
• Under "My Tournaments", choose the tournament whose playoff bracket you want to view.
• Find the “Leaderboard” section and click “Playoffs”.
• Click the “Bracket View” button to open the playoff bracket for that specific game.

Roster Rules and Substitutes

• Per HSEL General Competition Rule 2.8.4: "Roster changes may be made at any point during or in-between seasons except during the time a team has queued for their match, during live matches, or once the playoffs have begun. Roster changes are prohibited for single-player and partnered (duo) game tournaments." 
• In the case an emergency substitute is needed, the Team Admin must reach out to competition@highschoolesportsleague.com to request permission. 
  • If you have not heard back after 24 hours of making an emergency substitute request, please contact support here. 

Things to know

• Prizing information can be found here.
• Information about HSEL Nationals can be found here.
• Your admin will be emailed a form to fill out to ensure you receive any potential prizing. Forms will be sent out around 5 business days after the tournament's culmination. 
• Any admin with a team/player who made it to the playoffs will be notified via email.
• The match format is located in the specific tournament overview. You can find the overview in the HSEL community section of our help site.