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HSEL VALORANT Rules

This competition is not affiliated with or sponsored by Riot Games, Inc. or VALORANT Esports.

BETA: Valorant matches now feature automatic score reporting. Scores will automatically be imported to your match. If no score appears in 15 minutes, please contact support. 

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

  • PC

1.1. Series Lengths

  • Intramural: Best of 3 Swiftplay
  • Majors: Best of 1 (preseason and regular season) | Best of 3 (playoffs and finals)
  • Premier: Best of 1 (qualifiers) | Best of 3 (regular season, playoffs, and finals)

1.2. Game Settings

The home team will host the lobby and invite the away team.

  • Lobby: Custom (closed)
  • Mode: Standard (Major and Premier) Swiftplay (Intramural)
  • Allow Cheats: On
  • Tournament Mode: On
  • Overtime Win by Two: On
  • Play All Rounds: Off
  • Hide Match Result: Off
    • (REQUIRED FOR API TO LOG THE MATCH AND AUTO-REPORT THE SCORE)

In the event that incorrect settings are loaded on the server, the match should be stopped and reset. Previously played games with any incorrect settings will not count toward the series result.

1.3. Ping Test

If both teams do not agree on a server region to use for their match, the lobby host will go through the available servers in the lobby. Both teams will compare their ping on each server and play on the one that offers the most balanced ping between each team.

If the teams disagree on which server provides the most balanced ping, please reach out to an HSEL Admin for assistance. 

1.4. Map Selection (Best of 1)

  • The home team bans a map
  • The away team bans a map
  • The home team bans a map
  • The away team bans a map
  • The home team bans a map
  • The away team bans a map
  • The remaining map will be played
  • The away team selects their side for the game

1.4.1. Multiple Game Series Map Selection (Best of 3)

  • The home team bans a map*
  • The away team bans a map*
    • *Premier Bo3 Grand Finals only: The team coming from the Upper Bracket will ban 2 maps. Afterwards, map selection will proceed as follows: 
  • The home team selects the map for game 1
  • The away team selects their side for game 1
  • The away team selects the map for game 2
  • The home team selects their side for game 2
  • The away team bans a map
  • The home teams bans a map
  • The remaining map will be used for game 3
  • The away team will select their side for game 3

1.5. Map Pool

The following maps are permitted to be used in official matches:

  • Ascent
  • Fracture
  • Haven
  • Icebox
  • Lotus
  • Pearl
  • Split

In general, it is the goal of the High School Esports League for the Regular Season map pool to reflect what is currently available for ranked matchmaking in-game. With this in mind, the map pool may fluctuate during the regular season. Patch 10.04 on March 5th rotated Abyss and Bind out of the competitive queue and replaced them with Ascent and Icebox.

2. Tournament Rules 

2.1. Match Streaming

2.1.1. Spectator Slot & Verified Broadcasters

Schools wishing to use the spectator slot must receive explicit approval from HSEL, becoming a "Verified Broadcaster". Click here to apply for approval to be a "Verified Broadcaster". Applications for the spring season are due by 5pm Pacific, February 21st, 2025.

If approved, all applicable personnel will receive the "Verified Broadcaster" trophy to feature on their Generation Esports profile. The following steps must be taken prior to the first stream by any verified broadcaster: 

  • The team admin/captain must add the verified broadcaster(s) to any VALORANT game roster that will have a match streamed by the verified broadcaster(s). 
  • Verified broadcasters must feature their trophy on their GenE profile page. This will ensure that it appears on a match page, for the opposing team's visibility. 
    • To feature a trophy, click your username in the top right --> "Profile" --> "Edit Profile" --> click on the "Verified Broadcaster" trophy and hit "Save". 

Verified Broadcasters are permitted in the spectator slot for the sole purpose of streaming their team’s match to the School’s Twitch or Youtube channel or to record the match. Personnel in the spectator slot may not have any communication with team members while the game is currently being played and must not be a competitor in the match.

All spectator streams must be from their team's player point of view or a 3rd person chase cam. The use of the skybox camera, director camera, or the point of view of another team’s player is prohibited. At the end of the match, the stream vod or an unedited copy of the recording must be shared with the other team in the match chat on the match page. 

If any spectator rules are broken, HSEL admins will remove all permissions for streaming, including utilizing the Coach's slot. Further infractions will result in removal from the tournament entirely. 

2.2.2. Coach's Slot

Teams are permitted to stream their matches to an official school channel through the coach's slot, without the need for explicit approval from HSEL. Personnel in the coach's slot may not have any communication with team members while the game is currently being played and must not be a member of the roster participating in the match. At the end of the match, the stream vod or an unedited copy of the recording must be shared with the other team in the match chat on the match page. 

Coaches are permitted to be in the coach’s slot during official matches with a limit of 1 coach per team. While the game is live, coaches may not have any sort of communication with players or the other team, nor may they call for timeouts or gameplay pauses (see "Tactical Timeout"). Coaches are allowed to stream from the coach's slot granted they follow the guidelines in the above paragraph. Teams are permitted to have both a coach in the coach's slot along with a spectator, as long as the spectator is streaming/recording and is a Verified Broadcaster. 

If players or coaches notice or suspect misconduct from someone in the coach's slot, please contact an HSEL Administrator immediately. 

If any streaming rules are broken, HSEL admins will remove all permissions for streaming. Further infractions will result in removal from the tournament entirely. 

2.3. Player Streaming

Players may stream to their personal Twitch or Youtube channel if they are participating in the match. The match may only be streamed from the player’s in-game point of view and should have at least a 3-minute delay set to prevent possible incidents of stream sniping.

Players may not at any time stream another player or roster’s match on their personal channel.

2.4. Tactical Timeout

Each team is allowed to call two (2) Tactical Timeouts per game. During the timeout, the players in the game and their coach may talk with each other. Other roster members are not permitted to be in the timeout meeting. Tactical Timeouts may only be called by an in-game player during the buy phase of a round. Please contact an HSEL Administrator immediately if there is suspicion a team is abusing the timeout feature.

3. Restrictions

Any Agents, Weapons, Sprays, Weapon Skins, Weapon Buddies, and Maps currently disabled in other game modes are prohibited from use in official matches.

3.1. Blood

Blood must be disabled in the game settings.

3.2. New and Reworked Agents

The use of New or Reworked Agents released during the season will be prohibited from use in official matches for 2 weeks (14 days). A reworked operator is defined as an Operator having 50% or more of their kit change that directly impacts game play. Normal gameplay patches (buffs/nerfs) are not considered to be reworks. 

Patch 10.04 on March 5th introduced a new Agent, Waylay. Waylay will be available for selection in HSEL matches beginning March 19th.

3.3. Round Rollback

Use of the Round Rollback feature is prohibited unless otherwise approved by an HSEL Administrator. Spectators or Moderators are prohibited from using the Round Rollback feature in official matches.

3.4 Ghost Mode

The use of Ghost Mode is prohibited at any point during an official match. Any uses of Ghost Mode should be immediately reported to HSEL admins via the live chat widget found in the lower right corner of our website. 

4. Stoppage of Play

4.1 Game Pauses

Aside from Tactical Timeouts, the game may only be paused for technical issues or player disconnection. Players can pause the game by pressing the Esc key and selecting "cheats". A pause may only be implemented during the Buy Phase of a round.

The team initiating a pause must first state the pause reason in all-chat. Each team is allotted a total of 5 minutes of pause time per map. If you suspect abuse of the pause feature, contact an HSEL admin. Once both teams indicate in all-chat that they are ready to play, the team which initiated the pause should resume play.

5. Organization Rosters

VALORANT rosters require a minimum of 5 players and are limited to a maximum of 10 players (5 starting players and 5 substitute players). Rosters that do not meet the minimum or exceed the maximum number of players will not be allowed to participate in official matches until their roster size meets the set requirements. Player Substitutions may be made between maps. Verified Broadcasters on the roster are not counted as players.


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