HSEL Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe Rules

The rules contained on this page only cover this specific game, please review the HSEL General Competition Rules for information covering all official tournaments. 

1. Match Procedure

Supported Platforms

• Nintendo Switch™

1.1. Match Series Lengths

Best of 3 (4 races per game)

1.2. Game Lobby

Match lobbies will be hosted in the "Friends" mode by the home team. The lobby host will share the room code (click "+/-" to view the code after creating the room) in the Generation Esports match chat so players can join the private room. 

• Online Play
  • Friends
    • Create Room
      • Rules
        • Mode 150CC Race
        • Teams: Team Game
        • Items: Normal Items
        • Round Time: N/A
        • No COM
        • Vehicles: All Vehicles
        • Smart steering: Off

1.3 Team Names

The home team creating the lobby will need to set the names for the two teams participating in the match. Each team name should be either the club's name or the school's name.

• The Home Team will be the Red Team
• The Away Team will be the Blue Team.

1.4 Course Selection & Match Procedure

• All players select "Random" from the track list 
  • If a player does not select "Random" and that chosen track is selected, all players must head back to the lobby and restart the course selection process. 
• Once a race is completed, all players return to the game lobby and select "Random" again to decide the next course.
  • Repeat this step until all races are recorded

1.5 Ties

In the event of a tie, an additional 1 race will be played to determine that game's winner. Repeat this process as many times as needed if races continue to end in a tie. 

2. Tournament Rules 

2.1. Game Connection Terms & Clarifications

Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe allows up to 2 players on the same Nintendo Switch system to compete online simultaneously. Each player needs to set up (or have set up for them) their own unique:

• Nintendo Profile: free-to-create and own. These live only on your local system and can link to a Nintendo Game Account, but are unlinked to any Nintendo Game Account by default. Profiles act to differentiate players–and their save data among other things–at the local “system” level. For the purposes of rules surrounding Game Connections (see above), HSEL treats a Nintendo Profile as a game account since they can distinguish between 2 different users.
• Nintendo Accounts: free-to-create and own. These can be linked to a profile that lives on a system, which allows that profile to then access certain online services (like multiplayer free-to-play game titles).
• Nintendo Online: A subscription that allows the attached account(s) to access the full offering of online services, including online multiplayer for paid games.

When utilizing the split-screen feature in Mario Kart™ 8 Deluxe, only the profile that launches the game needs to have an attached Nintendo account and Nintendo Online Subscription.

2.2 Amiibo™

All Amiibo figures are prohibited from use in official matches. 

3. Stoppage of Play

Should a player disconnect prior to any player (from any team) finishing their 1st lap, that race will restart (this is not referring to resetting the entire game). If a disconnect occurs after this point, the race will continue. The disconnected player can rejoin the lobby after the current race ends and before the next race begins. 

Please note that the disconnected player's points will be reset to zero by the game. However, the points the player earned in any completed races will count toward the outcome of the match. In this case, the winner of the circuit may be different than what is displayed in game. With this in mind, the High School Esports League recommends each team record a screenshot of the scoreboard after each race for their records. 

4. Organization Rosters

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rosters require a minimum of 4 players, and a maximum of 8 players (4 starters and 4 substitute players). Rosters that do not meet or exceed the required number of players will not be allowed to participate in official matches until their roster size meets the set requirements. Player substitutions are prohibited once the races series has started.

Licensed by Nintendo