**Any competitor playing in any NWES CS:GO tournament must be a registered user of NWES.gg unless deemed otherwise by an Admin**

**Map pool, vetoes, finals structure, and other tournament rules are subject to vary depending on the event, venue, or Admins declaration**

This article was originally published Aug 25, 2017.

1. The software used is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (Steam Version)

2. It is a 5 (Five) Player Team Tournament

3. Each team must present 1 (one) representative. He/ she is responsible for his/her team and will be responsible for choosing maps and all communication with referees must be done through the team captain.

4. The tournament will be played with the following rule set:

a. Rounds: 30 Rounds (Fifteen as each side[Terrorists & Counter-Terrorists])
b. Victory Conditions: The first team to win 16 rounds wins the map and the round is over immediately.
c. Each individual round is 1:45 in duration
d. Starting side will be chosen by a knife round.
e. In case of a tie after the regulation rounds end (15-15), 6 extra rounds will be played. 3 rounds as Terrorists and 3 rounds as Counter-Terrorists. First team to win 4 rounds
wins the map. [Repeat if necessary]
f. Extra rounds restart money: $10,000

5. Substitutions are not applicable, registered 5 must play through duration of tournament.

6. The first team to win 16 rounds will be declared the victor of the match and will advance

7. The map each team will play will be picked through a map veto.

8. No outside applications / executables / dll’s / workshop items, read _ANY_ method of gaining an advantage over the other team is allowed in the tournament.

9. Players not ready within 15 minutes (outside technical issues handled by an NWES TO) of their match will forfeit that match.

Maps will be decided through a veto system.

1. Match Procedures
   1. Match Start / Punctuality – All matches should   start as stated on the tournament schedule. Any  changes of the time must be accepted by the Tournament Admins. All Teams and Players in a match should be on the server and ready to go at the latest fifteen (15)minutes before the start of the match.
   2. Request a New Game Server – Teams must report game server issues no later than five (5) minutes before the scheduled start time of the match. Failure to do so will forfeit a Team’s right to request a game server change at the Tournament Admin’s discretion
2. Game Specific Rules
   1. Game version – The tournament will use the latest available version of the game client.
   2. Anti-Cheat – Tournament servers will be VAC enabled and will require VAC enabled clients. If a player is VAC banned then they are not allowed to take part in a match.
3. Map Pool
   1. The Tournament will use the current competitive map pool (Valve Active Duty Map Group) which consists of the following maps:
      1. de_inferno
      2. de_anubis
      3. de_mirage
      4. de_nuke
      5. de_overpass
      6. de_ancient
      7. de_vertigo
4. Match Settings and Information
   1. Matches are played in a Best of Five format
   2. The following match settings will be used during the tournament:
      1. Rounds: Best out of 30
      2. Round time: 1 minute 55 seconds
      3. Start money: $800
      4. Freeze time: 20 seconds
      5. Buy time: 20 seconds
      6. Bomb timer: 40 seconds
      7. Overtime rounds: best out of 6
      8. Overtime start money: $10,000
      9. Round restart delay 5 seconds
      10. Break during half time: 2 minutes 30 seconds
      11. Break during half time in overtimes: disabled
   3. Overtimes – In case of a draw after all 30 rounds have been played, an overtime will be played in a best out of 6 mode (mp_maxrounds 6) with $10,000 start money (mp_startmoney 10000). During overtime teams will stay on the side which they played the previous half on, during half-time sites will be swapped. Teams will continue to play overtimes until a winner has been found.
   4. Match server – Matches are played on the servers provided by NWES. Teams are required to check all necessary game aspects (including skins, bugs on load, etc.) and network components (latency and server variance) before starting the match. Failure to do so, and to let the match start, will mean that both teams have accepted the state the map is in, and the match might be continued under these conditions.
   5. In-Game chat – Discussion not directly related to the match in-game is disallowed. This is including but not limited to discussion of technical issues and any advertising.
   6. Usage of pause function
      1. Technical Pause – If a player has a problem that prevents them from playing , they’re allowed to use the pause function. The technical pause function can be called by typing “.pause”. The player has to announce the reason before or immediately after they pause the match. During a technical pause, headsets have to stay on. Unless the TO instructs the match participant. Otherwise, any form of communication including but not limited to text and voice communication between players and coaches is forbidden during a technical pause
      2. Timeout – Each team is allowed to invoke a timeout (tactical pause) of 30 seconds up to four times per map. Timeouts can be called via the in-game vote system (ESC → Call Vote → Call Tactical Timeout). Teams are allowed to take all four timeouts at once by  calling them all individually once the previous timeout expires. Team will not be given additional timeouts in the overtimes, but the unused timeouts can still be used in overtime.
      3. Admin Pause – The admin can pause the game from his station or from a player station, when it is required. If for some reason the player pausing does not work, they have to request the admin to do it.
   7. Configuration files – ll configuration changes are allowed as long as they do not give an unfair edge or  advantage comparable to cheating. A player may be penalized for wrong settings in any config file, regardless if it is in use, or even stored in the game folder in question. The following commands are forbidden:
      1. cl_showpos 1 –the value needs to be set to 0.
      2. Teams are required to contact the tournament administration if they are unsure on the validity of a command and its value. A team may be penalized for having forbidden commands in their configuration file, regardless if it was in use.
   8. Scripts – All  scripts are illegal  except for buy, toggle, demo scripts. A team may  be penalized for having forbidden scripts in their configuration file, regardless if it was in use.
   9. Graphics drivers – Any modification or changing of the game using external graphics solutions or other 3rd party programs are strictly prohibited and may be punished under the cheating paragraph.
   10. Overlays – All kinds of overlays which will show the usage rate of the system in any way in-game  (e.g. Nvidia SLI display, Rivatuner Overlay) is forbidden. Overlays which will show only the frames per second (FPS) are not forbidden and can be used.
   11. Custom Data – Players are not allowed to use any form of custom game files during the official matches.  Only CSGO skins are allowed to bechanged. Any other changes, including but not limited to modification  of sprites, HUDs, score boards, crosshairs are strictly disallowed.
5. Match Procedures
   1. Match Breaks – Teams will have at least 10 minutes of a break between matches and 8 minutes between maps. The exact times will be communicated by the tournament administration. There are no breaks at half times.
   2. Number of Players – All  matches have to be played  with five players per team (5vs5),  other constellations are not allowed. If a team fails to show up with enough players, the match will count as no-show.
   3. Change of Players – Only players that are part of the team can be substituted in. The opposing team and tournament administration has to be informed beforehand.
   4. Change procedure – Lineup  changes are only allowed  in between maps. The player will not receive additional time to set up compared to the time it would have taken with the original player.
   5. Match Interruptions – If a match is interrupted for reasons beyond the control of the participants (e.g. server  or player crash), the tournament administration will restore the round using the CSGO’s backup & restore feature, but in some scenarios may decide to replay the round or even a whole match.
      1. If  the issue  takes place  during the first  minute of the round,  before any damage has occurred  and the opponent or referee has  been immediately notified, the round will be restored.
      2. If the issue takes place during a round and after the damage has been made and the outcome of the round can still be determined (e.g. a single player has  dropped but others remain), then the round will not be replayed or restored. The round will continue to be played and will count. Special exceptions  can be made if the damage dealt was ruled insignificant e.g. accidental team mate damage dealt at the start of the round or damage dealt to the opposing side by the team that was affected by the crash.
      3. If the issue takes place during the  round, after damage has occurred and the outcome of the round cannot be determined (e.g. due to server crash), the match will be restored to the beginning of the round.
      4. If the issue takes place during the  round, after damage has occurred and the  outcome of the round is obvious (e.g.  one team is saving with 10 seconds remaining), but it cannot be continued due to for example a server crash, then the round can be awarded.
   6. The matches will not be stopped and/or rounds will not be restored or replayed in cases where it is clearly a participant’s fault (e.g. mis-buying a weapon).
6. Use of Bugs and Glitches
   1. The intentional use of any bugs, glitches, or errors in the game is forbidden. It is up tothe admins discretion whether or not the use of said bugs had an effect on the match, and whether or not he will award rounds, or the match to the opposing team, or to force a rematch. The usage of the following bugs is strictly forbidden, if any bug is used which is not listed here it is up to the admins discretion whether or not a punishment is necessary.
      1. Moving through clipped areas where the movement is not intended by the design of the map is strictly forbidden (any walls, ceilings, floors etc).
      2. The  bomb may  not be planted  in a location where  it cannot be defused. Planting the bomb in such a way that no one can hear the beeping sound or the planting sound is also forbidden.
      3. Standing  on top of  teammates is  generally allowed,  it is only forbidden, when such actions allow the player to peek over, under and/or through a solid object (e.g. wall, box, ceiling) that should not be allowed according to map design.
      4. Pixel walking is forbidden. A player will be considered to be pixel walking if they sit or stand on invisible pixels on the map, where there is no visible edge.
   2. It  is recommended  to check with tournament  administration whether or not certain bug or glitch is considered illegal.
   3. The following bugs are explicitly allowed:
      1. Defusing the bomb through walls and items etc.
      2. So called “surfing” on tubes
7. Misconduct
   1. The attempt to mislead LANFest admins or other Players, using false information, or in any other way deceive other Players or Teams will be sanctioned as follows.
      1. Faking Match media – Faking match media may result in one (1) to four (4) minor penalty points. When cheating is suspected, and the match media in question has been faked, six (6) minor penalty points will be awarded.’
      2. Cheating – When  cheating is discovered  twelve (12) minor penalty  points will be awarded to the Team. The Team will be disqualified from the tournament. The  use of the following programs will result in a cheat ban:
         1. Multihacks
         2. Wallhack
         3. Aimbot
         4. Colored Models
         5. No-Recoil
         6. No-Flash   and Sound changes.
         7. These  are only examples, other  programs or methods may be  considered cheats as well.