This page contains the game-specific rules for Gamer.LK Counter-Strike 2 Ranked tournaments. These rules must be followed in conjunction with the General Competitive Rules of Gamer.LK Ranked Tournaments.

GENERAL COMPETITIVE RULES AT GAMER.LK RANKED TOURNAMENTS

The General Competitive Rules can be found here. The general rules listed there apply to all gaming titles and all teams/players who register for any Gamer.LK Ranked Competitive tournament are expected to follow them.

1. TOURNAMENT BRACKET

The tournament bracket used (single elimination/double elimination/group stage) will be decided by the Organizer and announced on the Tournament Announcement posted on Gamer.LK. The Organizers will make every effort to have a Best of 3 semi-finals and finals but depending on time constraints this may change at the discretion of the Organizers, in discussion with Gamer.LK. The Gamer.LK Ranking system will be used for the purpose of seeding to make the draws as and when needed. No other ranking will be considered.

2. TOURNAMENT COMMUNICATION

All teams and players are required to join the Sri Lanka Counter Strike Community Facebook group to stay up-to-date with the latest information regarding the game and the local community.

3. TEAM COMMITMENT

3.1. – By submitting a registration for a Gamer.LK Ranked Counter Strike tournament, all teams and players acknowledge without limitation to comply with the rules set herein and especially with the decisions made by the Gamer.LK Staff.

3.2. – All competitors are expected to know and understand all the rules described here. Not knowing that a rule existed or that it was in place will not be considered as an acceptable reason for breaking said rule.

3.3. – A player or team’s name, icon, profile picture or logo may not contain any of the following: profanities, obscene language, gang affiliation, drugs, sexual material, offensive material, slander of Gamer.LK or it’s administration, partners or sponsors.

4. TEAMS AND PLAYERS

4.1. – Team Size
4.1.1. – A Team has to consist of at least FIVE players.
4.1.2. – Upto TWO substitute players can also be registered for each team.
4.1.3. – Each player can be registered and can subsequently play for only one team during the tournament.

4.2. – Substitutions
4.2.1. – The substitute player/s must be registered with the team prior to the tournament starting.
4.2.2. – Use of a substitute player must be informed to the Gamer.LK Staff well before the start of the scheduled match.
4.2.3. – The use of non-registered, suspended, or otherwise ineligible players in a match is not allowed under any circumstances.
4.2.4. – Doing so will result in a suspension or extended suspension of the individual in question, suspension of relevant team management, and may result in match overturn.

4.3. – Stand-ins
4.3.1. – By definition, a stand-in here refers to a player who hasn’t been registered to a team on the registration form but wants to play for a team after registrations close/matches commence.
4.3.2. – At LAN tournaments, the use of a stand­-in is allowed but they have to be presented and registered at the Registration Desk before they are used.
4.3.3. – The use of a stand­-in in online tournaments is strictly prohibited and is grounds for disqualification.
4.3.4. – This applies to account sharing as well. The Steam account that was used during registration should be the only one used for playing.
4.4.5. – In LAN tournaments which have qualifiers (such as SLCG), no player that played in any other team at any qualifier that was completed can be used as a stand-in.

5. MATCH SCHEDULE

5.1. – For online tournaments, both teams scheduled to play at a certain time should be present online on Steam and on TeamSpeak at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. For LAN tournaments, teams should be present at the venue well before an hour of their scheduled match time.

5.2. – If by 10 minutes past the scheduled match start time a team doesn’t have enough players to play, the match will be deemed a walkover to the team that is present with its full roster.

5.3. – A team CANNOT start a game shorthanded. Both teams should have their full rosters present to start a game. 

5.4. – In a best of 3 or 5 games match, a maximum delay of 10 minutes in between matches will be allowed.

5.5. – Regarding the scheduling of online matches, matches can be played on all days of the week (including public, bank. mercantile holidays, etc) and will be scheduled beforehand and announced on a “Draw/Schedule” on Gamer.LK. Scheduling will be done at the discretion of Gamer.LK Staff.

5.6. – Gamer.LK and any Organizers will make every effort to inform the teams of scheduled match dates and times – but please note it is the responsibility of the teams to check their game time and date. Gamer.LK or any Organizer will not be responsible to inform matches to teams. Not attending a match due to not being informed of the schedule is NOT an excuse.

6. GENERAL GAME RULES

6.1. – Use of Public Chat
Public chat can only be used by the team captains and/or Tournament Staff regarding game pauses, disconnections, etc. Team members are allowed to greet each other at the start and end of the match on public chat (i.e: GGWP, GLHF, etc) but should avoid using it during a match. No foul language is allowed on public chat and doing so may lead to the match being awarded to the opposing team and the offending team being disqualified from the match. Further penalties for future matches and/or tournaments may also be applied.

6.2. – VAC Bans
6.2.1. – From September 2015, all players and the Steam accounts they use to register at each Gamer.LK Ranked Counter-Strike 2 tournament will be recorded. Upon registration, each account will be linked to each player and tracked for VAC bans.
6.2.2. – Any player who has been caught cheating by the game publisher’s anti-cheat system (Valve Anti-Cheat) will not be allowed to ever take part in any Gamer.LK Ranked Counter-Strike 2 tournaments both online and offline. This is a lifetime ban.
6.2.3. – This ban applies to players who have submitted their steam accounts for any applications or registrations with Gamer.LK (besides tournaments) as well.
6.2.4. – Situations such as the sale of Steam accounts or transfer of an account to a third party, using the same mobile number on multiple accounts which in itself is illegal to Steam Terms and Conditions will in no way be considered an exception to this rule.
6.2.5. – Regardless of the situation or game for which the VAC ban applies, there will be no exception to this rule.
6.2.6. – A link to a complete list of players currently banned from all Gamer.LK Ranked tournaments can be found at https://gamer.lk/blacklist.
6.2.7. – In the situation where players have registered with accounts that are VAC-banned that are not on Gamer.LK’s records, they will not be allowed to play with the accounts and have to use a fresh account.

7. GAMEPLAY RULES

7.1. – Configurations/Start Parameters
The following commands are forbidden:
– mat_hdr_enabled
– cl_showpost 1 – the value needs to be set to 0

The following startparameters are forbidden:
– +mat_hdr_enabled 0/1
– +mat_hdr_leven 0/1/2

All other 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.

Wrong settings will be penalized with a warning to the player and team. If three or more players have wrong settings or the same player is caught on multiple occasions infringing this rule, the team will get a default loss and the player in question will be penalized at the discretion of the Tournament Staff. Tournament Staff may under special circumstances decide on a default loss, even if less than three players have wrong settings.

Teams are required to contact the Gamer.LK Referees if they are unsure about the validity of a command and its value. 

7.2. – Abuses & Exploitation
Exploiting game or map bugs/glitches/flaws (“exploits”) for the purposes of gaining an unfair advantage is prohibited. Exploits that are not specifically named here are still prohibited but will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Gamer.LK Staff reserve the right to decide what will be deemed as an exploit or abuse.

7.3. – Forbidden Scripts
In general, all scripts are illegal except for buy, toggle, demo & jumpthrow scripts.
– Stop shoot scripts [Use or AWP scripts]
– Center view scripts
– Turn scripts [180° or similar]
– No recoil scripts
– Burst fire scripts
– Rate changers (Lag scripts)
– FPS scripts
– Anti flash scripts or binding (snd_* bindings)
– Bunnyhop scripts
– Stop sound scripts

If you are not sure if a script is allowed or not, then contact the Tournament Staff before you play an official match. A player may be penalized for forbidden scripts in any config file, regardless if it is in use, or even stored in the game folder in question.

Forbidden scripts will be penalized with a warning to the player and team. If three or more players have wrong settings or the same player is caught on multiple occasions infringing this rule, the team will get a default loss and the player in question will be penalized at the discretion of the Tournament Staff.

Tournament Staff may under special circumstances decide on a default loss, even if less than three players have wrong settings.

7.4. – A3D
The use of A3D (2.0) or any program, driver or interface that simulates A3D (2.0) is strictly forbidden, and will be penalized.

7.5. – Graphics Drivers or Similar Tools
Any modification or changing of the game using external graphics solutions or other 3rd party programs are strictly prohibited and offenders will be penalized. Furthermore it’s forbidden to use 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). Overlays which will show only the frames per second (FPS) are not forbidden and can be used.

7.6. – Color Depth
Every player must play with the highest color setting in Counter-Strike (32 bit); if the player is playing in windowed mode then the desktop must also be on 32bit setting.

7.7. – Custom Data
Players are not allowed to use any form of custom game files during the official matches. Only CSGO skins are allowed to be changed, any other changes to sprites, skins, score boards, crosshairs are strictly disallowed, also only the official models are allowed.

7.8. – Impersonations
Impersonating an eligible player by attempting to alias as them, using their Steam account or by any other method is prohibited and will result in the aliasing player and the player they are aliasing as being removed from the tournament. The Tournament Staff will have access to player IP addresses and other information to monitor accounts and players.

7.9. – In-game names
Each team member must have his/her primary nickname or something very similar as his steam name during all matches to be easily identifiable for referees, broadcasters, and viewers. What counts as similar is for the Gamer.LK Staff to decide. The only additional information allowed in a player’s in­game name is clan tags or sponsor names. Any use of profanity, insulting or racist terms on in-game names/aliases will not be allowed. Gamer.LK Referees will not allow a match to start with player’s who have improper names. Any delays cause by changing names will be considered the players fault and penalised accordingly.

7.10. – In-game item’s nametag
Players are not allowed to use nametags on in-game items which violate the code of conduct as listed in these rules. Any insulting, racist, improper in-game item nametag is forbidden. Gamer.LK Referees will not be allowed to start their matches before the problematic piece of in-game nickname has been replaced. Any delay caused by the change will be considered the players fault and penalised according

8. HOSTING & SETTINGS

– 8.1. – Lobby Hosting
All lobbies should be hosted ONLY by Gamer.LK Staff. Under no circumstance should players join a lobby created by anyone else.

8.2. – Map Pool
 Only the current competitive map pool (Valve Active Duty Map Group) will be considered for play. These are:
– Ancient (de_ancient)
– Anubis (de_anubis)
– Dust 2 (de_dust2)
– Inferno (de_inferno)
– Mirage (de_mirage)
– Nuke (de_nuke)
– Vertigo (de_vertigo)

8.3. – Round Time
The round time will be set at 01:55 minutes.

8.4. – Bomb Timer
The bomb timer will be set at 0:40 seconds.

8.5. – Deathcam
Deathcam will be set to immediate.

8.6. – Server Settings
All servers will be provided and designated by Gamer.LK for Gamer.LK Ranked CS:GO tournaments. They will have the official settings (listed in 8.9) loaded as well as the map pool installed. Additional to that the server must have the following settings.
– VAC enabled
– sv_pure 1
No additional plug-ins are allowed to be installed on the server, especially gameplay mods such as metamod are not allowed.

8.7. – Server Demos and Replays
Gamer.LK will retain all server demos/replays and reserves the right to play, use and/or upload, all or some demos that are recorded. No team or player can request for a specific demo.

8.8. – Game Version
The tournament will use the latest available version of the game client. If the latest available version is considered unplayable due to bugs or extreme balance changes within close proximity by Gamer.LK, an older version might be used if it’s available for rollback. Any update during the event will result in a rollback to the original version (if possible). Such changes of game version will be informed to the teams beforehand.

8.9. – Match settings
The following match settings will be used for tournament matches:
– Rounds: Best out of 24 (mp_maxrounds 24)
– Round time: 1 minute 55 seconds (mp_roundtime 1.92)
– Start money: $800 (mp_startmoney 800)
– Freeze time: 20 seconds (mp_freezetime 20)
– Buy time: 20 seconds (mp_buytime 20)
– Bomb timer: 40 seconds (mp_c4timer 40)
– Overtime rounds: Best out of 6 (mp_overtime_maxrounds 6)
– Overtime start money: $12,500 (mp_overtime_startmoney 12500)
– Round restart delay: 5 seconds (mp_round_restart_delay 5)
– Break during half time in overtimes: disabled
– Prohibited items: none (mp_items_prohibited “”)

9. MATCH RULES

9.1. – Competition Method
5 vs. 5 (Team Play, 5 players)

9.2. – Dropping of Player
9.2.1. – If a player drops (disconnects) before the first kill in the first round of a half, then the half will be restarted.
9.2.2. – If a player drops after the first kill has been made and has not returned when the round has been decided, then the match will be paused at he end of the round/start of the next round.
9.2.3. – If a player drops and the opponent has been notified before any damage has occurred during that round, then the round will be restarted.
9.2.4. – If the player has not returned, or cannot be replaced within 10 minutes after the pause has started, then the team with the dropped player may forfeit the match at the discretion of the Tournament Staff.

9.3. – Determining the Better Seed
9.3.1. – The “better seed” has the choice about who starts in the map-veto/pick process.
9.3.2. – For online tournaments, the “better seed” means the team mentioned first on the match page or bracket list posted. For example: if a match is between Team A vs Team B, Team A will be considered the higher seed.
9.3.3. – In LAN matches, coin tosses will be used to determine who starts in the map-veto/pick process.

9.4. – Map veto process outline
9.4.1. – Map veto process can only be handled by Tournament Staff and only two selected people from each team can take part.
9.4.2. – Map veto process can be done earlier if the Tournament Staff and both teams agree.
9.4.3. – The time at which the map veto process is being done does not warrant the exact start time of the match.
9.4.4. – During the map veto process, statements from the representatives towards the admin will count as a ban or pick and it cannot be reverted.
9.4.5. – Each team has only a total of 150 seconds to make all of their picks and bans, which can be split up on the single steps as teams prefer. When the time expires, the remaining picks and/or bans will be randomised by the referee.

9.5. – Map veto system
9.5.1. – Best-of-One Matches
The veto will take place as Team A Ban – Team B Ban – Team A Ban – Team B Ban – Team A Ban – Team B Ban – with the remaining map being played.

9.5.2. – Best-of-Three Matches
The veto will take place as Team A Ban – Team B Ban – Team A Pick – Team B Pick – Team A Ban – Team B Ban – with the remaining map being played as a decider map, if required.

9.5.3. – Best-of-Five Matches
The veto will take place as Team A Ban – Team B Ban – Team A Pick – Team B Pick – Team A Pick – Team B Pick – with the remaining map being played as a decider map, if required.

9.6. – Choosing Playing Sides on PCs – LAN Tournaments Only
No side will be favoured when choosing the playing PCs and a coin toss will have to be done before each match to decide which team takes which set of PCs.

9.7. – In-game Chat
Public chat can only be used by the team captains and/or Tournament Staff regarding game pauses, disconnections, etc. Team members are allowed to greet each other at the start and end of the match on public chat (i.e: GGWP, GLHF, etc) but should avoid using it during a match. No foul language is allowed on public chat and doing so can get the team disqualified from the match after the first warning.

9.8. – Changing Players During Matches
Substitution rules and stand-in rules mentioned above are applicable for changing players before the match. Changing rosters and lineups during an online match is not permitted. However, at a LAN match, 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.

9.9. – Mandatory Demo Recording
For online matches, all players must record point of view demos of the entire match and keep them for at least 14 days. Demos can be requested at any time by a Tournament Staff (Gamer.LK CS:GO Referees) After requesting a demo, the player in question has time until 24 hours after the scheduled match time to upload his demos. Failure to provide a demo upon request can lead to disqualification from the tournament or similar penalties.

9.10. – Match Interruptions & Crashes, Bugs
9.10.1. – The following rules only apply if a match is involuntarily interrupted due to a player crash, server crash, network failure, power failure, etc. These will most likely only apply to a LAN setting where such situations can be verified by Gamer.LK Staff.
9.10.2. – If a match is interrupted (e.g. server crash, network crash, etc) within the first three rounds of play, then the match should be restarted from the first round.
9.10.3. – If the match is interrupted after the first three rounds of play, Gamer.LK Tournament Staff will continue the match by using backup files on the server.
9.10.4. – If the latest backup/save is in the middle of a critical action (as decided by the Gamer.LK Tournament Staff), a previous backup must be used. In the event of a previous backup being unavailable the game must continue with the backup of the latest round that is available.
9.10.5. – In the event of a backup being corrupted or fails to load, the match should be restarted from the first round.
9.10.6. – There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to these rules irrespective of team or players involved or situation of match.
9.10.7. – In the event of a time issue, Gamer.LK Staff will decide accordingly.

9.11. – Draws – Match Overtime
In case of a draw after all 30 rounds have been played, an overtime will be played in a best of 6 rounds mode (mp_maxrounds 6) and with $16,000 start money (mp_startmoney 16000). For the start of the 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.

9.12. – Tactical Pause / Timeout
Each team is allowed to invoke a tactical pause of 60 seconds up to two times per map. Pauses should be informed to Tournament Staff. The pause function can be used by Tournament Staff at any time but it will only come into effect during freeze time (immediately, if used during freeze time, else at the beginning of the next freeze time). If all tactical pauses had already been used on the same map, Tournament Staff will unpause the game and continue the game. Continuous requests to pause while having used all tactical pauses on the same map, will lead to penalties.

9.13. – Match Breaks
Teams will have at least 10 minutes of a break between matches and 8 minutes between maps in best-of-three and best-of-five matches. In best-of-five matches, team will also get an extended break (at least 15 minutes) between map 3 and 4. The exact times will be communicated by the Gamer.LK Referees. There are no breaks at half times.

9.14. – Changing of players during matches
 9.1.4.1. – During online tournaments, lineup changes can be made after the match, and before the next match, if there is a proper reason (i.e.
connection problems). The delay caused must not exceed 5 minutes and excessive changes/abuse of this rule are forbidden.
 9.1.4.2. – During LAN tournaments, 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.

10. USE OF BUGS AND GLITCHES

The intentional use of any bugs, glitches, or errors in the game will be penalized. Furthermore, it is up to the Tournament Staff’s 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. In extreme cases, the penalty for abusing bugs may be even higher.

The usage of the following bugs is strictly forbidden, if any bug is used which is not listed here it is up to the Tournament Staff’s discretion whether or not a punishment is necessary.

10.1. – Warm-Up Map Check – – LAN Tournaments Only
Bugs on load have to be checked before the match starts (missing boxes, ladders and so on). 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 will be continued under these settings. Protests and complaints regarding such issues will not be adhered to.

10.2. – During the Match
– Moving through any walls, or ceilings, are strictly forbidden, also moving through the floor, or anywhere else which were not intended to be a passage is strictly forbidden.
– Silent planting is strictly forbidden (planting the bomb in such a way that no one can hear the beeping)
– To plant the bomb where it is impossible to reach is disallowed. Planting the bomb in a place that you can reach with a boost from a teammate is not part of this rule.
– 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.
– Using flash bugs are strictly forbidden.
– Throwing grenades under walls are forbidden, although throwing grenades and flashes over walls are allowed.
– “map swimming“ or “floating“ is forbidden
– “Pixel walking“ is forbidden (Sitting, or standing on invisible edges on the map).

10.3. – General
Generally, the use of any bugs in the game is strictly forbidden. (For example: spawn bugs). An exception are the following bugs which are explicitly allowed:
– Defusing the bomb through walls and items etc.
– So called “surfing” on tubes
– So called “fireboost”
The Tournament Staff reserves the right, also retroactively, to add more bugs to the list of explicitly allowed bugs.

10.4. – New Positions
If any player or team wants to use a new position which is unknown to anyone else or just known to a small part of the community, it’s strongly recommended to contact Tournament Staff to check if that position is allowed before using it in any official match. Players and teams have to consider that it takes time to check new positions and therefore they have to contact Tournament Staff in a reasonable timeframe before an official match.