Gridiron Gauntlet Rulebook

Greetings to all Gridiron Players! Welcome to the Gridiron Gauntlet Tournament Rulebook. In order for all players to have an understanding of how tournament procedures will work, please at any time address these written instructions. This document is for the most part solidified, with the possibility of slight adjustments and changes. If an update is to occur, all teams will be notified. If you have further questions, feel free to message the tournament organizers through email (jipirishmccloud@gmail.com) or on Twitter (@JipperyMcCloud or @AGNEvents). Let’s get down to business!

Match Format and Rules

All matches are played as a Best of 3 (BO3), with the exception of the Finals listed (Winner, Losers, and Grand Finals), as they are to be played as a Best of 5 (B05).

This will be a double elimination tournament, with the max size of the tournament being 32 teams.

Lobby Settings:

Fill with Bots: Off

Bot Difficulty: Beginner

Round Time Limit: 2 Minutes

DBNO Time: 15

Friendly Fire: On

Gameplay Tuning: Assist Disabled

Check-In and Match Reporting

All match reporting must be done via the tournament page. Any issues with your match or reporting can be handled by messaging tournament organizers on Twitter @AGNEvents

Check-in will be open at 1 PM EST. which is one hour before the tournament starts and will close at 1:45 PM EST. If you do not check-in your team will not be placed in the bracket. There will be no refund given at this point, so be weary of your time and responsibility to play this tournament. Any other issues can be discussed through email or conversations in direct messages.

Map Rotation and Weapon Swaps

Asylum: No Changes are needed in regards to Weapon Placement.

Bunker: Change the RL-4 Salvo for Dropshot. Change the Lancer GL for the Torque Bow.

Canals: Change the Talon for the Boltok.

Dam: Change the Boltok for Incendiary Grenades. Change the Retro Lancer for an Incendiary Grenade. Change the Incendiary Grenade for a Torque Bow.

District: Change the Enforcer for the Markza. Changes the Buzzkill for Frag Grenades. Change the Retro Lancer for Incendiary Grenades. Change the Longshot for the Dropshot.

Icebound: No Changes are needed in regards to Weapon Placement.

Vasgar: Change the Lancer GL for the Dropshot. Change the Hammerburst for Shock Grenades. Change the Claw for the Longshot. Change the Retro Lancer for the Torque Bow.

Map Picks/Bans (B03 and B05 Rule Set)

Best of 3 (BO3)
The higher seeded Team will choose to act as Team A or Team B
Team A bans 1 Map
Team B bans 1 Map
Team B picks Map 1
Team A picks Faction for Map 1
Team A picks Map 2
Team B picks faction for Map 2
Team A bans 1 Map
Team B bans 1 Map
Remaining Map becomes Map 3
Team A picks faction for Map 3

Best of 5 (BO5)
Team A bans 1 Map
Team B bans 1 Map
Team B picks Map 1
Team A picks Faction for Map 1
Team A picks Map 2
Team B picks Faction for Map 2
Team A picks 1 Map
Team B picks Faction for Map 3
Team B picks 1 Map
Team A picks Faction for Map 4
Remaining Map becomes Map 5
Team B picks Faction for Map 5

For all matches, the team that picks faction for the map will host unless that match is being streamed by AGN Events, which in turn will be a neutral host.

Character and Weapon Skin Restrictions

Each Team is only allowed one iteration of any character on their Team at one time, irrespective of character skin. For example, “Esports Kait” is the same as “Armored Kait”.

A single COG Team is only allowed 2 female characters.

A single COG Team cannot have one Player using a Marcus skin and another using a Batista skin.

A single Swarm Team cannot have one Player using a Locust Bolter skin and another using a Locust Cyclops skin.

A single Swarm Team can have one Player using a Locust Bolter skin and another using a Locust Drone skin.

The following Character skins are banned from Gears Esports play:

Terminator T-800 (Swarm) or Terminator Rev-9 (Swarm)

The following weapon skins are banned from Gears Esports play:

Black Phantom

No Show – Late Penalty

Respect is extremely important to both your opponents and the organizer. Please don’t be late for your games at any part of the tournament. Teams are allowed to be 15 minutes late before a no show for Map 1 is counted against them. If the team still doesn’t show 5 minutes later for Map 2, they will forfeit the entire match. Unless a circumstance or situation has occurred that doesn’t allow you to make it on time, this rule will be strict and used to ensure the tournament isn’t delayed.

Disconnect Rules

If a player is to disconnect from the game as it loads up, the host must take the game back to the lobby and relaunch once the player reconnects. If the player disconnects during a round of the game, both teams must finish the round out and give the disconnected player five minutes before resuming play. If any team is caught immediately continuing play without giving the other team a grace period, they will forfeit their map. In the event the player doesn’t come back within the grace period, play must resume with the disadvantage for one team.

Eligible Players

This tournament is for amateurs only. Meaning, that any player participating in the Pro League (whether the team was considered Pro during the Spring Quarter or Summer Quarter) OR team that qualified for the Online Major, are not allowed in this tournament. This rule is strict and is in place to give the amateur community a tournament to still compete in since the online major was limited.

This tournament is opened to North America. To be specific, that means teams from the countries of the United States of America, Canada, or Mexico are allowed to partake in it.

The Gridiron Gauntlet is a console only tournament this time around. If the tournament proves successful throughout the community and has a good showing, more tournaments of this nature and expanded options will be available.

Substitutions

In the unlikely event that a player can’t participate in the tournament, the team is allowed to ask one hour prior to the tournament to make a substitution. This needs to be addressed with Jippery McCloud AND AGN Events as soon as possible to avoid any confusion or issues.

Buy In Fee, Payment, and Procedures

In order to participate in the tournament, players must pay a buy in fee for their team of $25 ($5 per player). Out of the total prize pool, 20% will be paid towards AGN Events for hosting and organizing the tournament. The other 80% of the prize pool will be paid towards the winning team and split equally amongst its roster. To give an example of this, if all 32 spots are filled, that would result in a total prize pool of $800. 20 percent of that (in this case, $160) and a handling fee of $15, would go to AGN Events. Out of the $625 left of the prize pool, $500 would go to the winning team as $125 would go to the runner up team, split between the five players on the roster.

The buy in money for your team will be handled by AGN Events. In order to buy a team pass, please click on the following link AGN’s secured website (https://american-gaming-network-llc.myshopify.com/products/gridiron-gauntlet-team-pass). In the event that your team wins the event, all five players on the roster will need to send over an email address or a way for them to collect their winnings. To ensure all players get their fair share, this is needed to avoid any controversy or issues of one player holding onto all of the money and not dividing it with teammates.

In special circumstances, if one player has bought the team pass and the roster agrees if the team wins that said person is allowed to divide the money among the team by sending it to one PayPal address or person, we will require written permission through Email AND Twitter DM’s from all members that this is allowed. This again, is to provide a safety factor from any one person on a winning team taking the whole prize pool.

Streaming

All matches are allowed to be streamed on players own channels and is encouraged for match proof purposes and growing interest/viewership, but any of the finals (Winners, Losers, Grand Finals, Semi Finals, and Quarter Finals) will need to also be streamed by AGN Events. By participating in this tournament, AGN Events has the right to ask for your match to be commentated and broadcast onto their channel at any given time. This means that at any time before a match starts in the tournament, the organizers are allowed to host your game in a neutral lobby and broadcast the match to their Twitch channel. You can find their channel at https://www.twitch.tv/agn__events. It is highly encouraged for you to follow their channel and support the stream, as well as the many other great tournaments and games they highlight!

AGN Events also is allowed to come into either team’s party chat or Discord (if it’s an option) and do a live listen in with the teams as they play. So if asked by an AGN Event organizer for this, please be open minded and let them catch you not only in the action with your play, but also the communication you are laying down!

Dispute and Issues

If at any time during the tournament your team has an issue with score reporting or match results, please be ready to submit proof of the final score of the match and any other proof you can showcase to tournament organizers. It is important that your team are respectful to tournament organizers as they sort out the situation if it unfolds during tournament day. Please be kind, courteous, and respectful of opponents if they do in fact win without issue, as this will allow the tournament to continue without interruptions.

Questions?

If you have any questions in regards to the rules above, please feel free to message @JipperyMcCloud on Twitter. Whether it is an issue with the rules above or general questions, I will be more than happy to answer anything for you. Thanks for the support and hope to see you out there!