This rule set was updated on 13th September for the live event.

Venue rules:

• Please be respectful of venue, keep it clean and tidy, and treat it like a home.

• No communication during a match with anyone except your opponent and the referee if necessary.

• Respect each other, pleased conduct yourself in a sportsman-like manner. No chat spam, or unnecessarily rude behaviour etc.

• No alcohol on the premises, there will be time for this after.

• No communication devices to be on a player's person. Items to be given to the referee for safe keeping and switched off for the duration of the match.

• Respect the trophy. It is not to be touched by another living soul until the presentation ceremony.

There is one coin toss at the start of the series. Performed by the GCS2.ORG tournament engine.

Game 1:

• Coin toss winner chooses map.
• The coin toss loser then chooses their faction first.

Game 2:

• Players swap Allied/ Axis and play same map as G1.
• Coin toss winner chooses their faction first.

Ace game decider:

• VP leader chooses who picks faction first on a map that has not been played in set preference order as shown in map pool.

• You must log into your GCS2.ORG account and check in when prompted.

• Once check ins have concluded and the tournament begins, go to your match by clicking 'tournament hub' and click "ready up"

• Go through the 'tournament hub' options to pick map and faction.

• Find and add your opponent in the steam group, and get a match started, whichever is most comfortable setting the lobby up can do so.

• Both players should check the settings.

• After every single game:

• • SAVE AND NAME THE REPLAY
• • RECORD THE VICTORY POINTS

• the winner must fill out the game form and upload the replay into GCS2.ORG.

• This automatically updates the score and feeds into the tournament system.

Here is a video guide on how to do all of the above

• Players can take a maximum of 5 minutes in between a single game.
• Players can take a maximum of 10 minutes in between a match (A match is the full series of games.)

However in fairness to viewers please start as soon as you're ready, and help us move the tournament on.

If the referees feel like players are purposely taking the maximum every time they can still issue a warning etc.

All bugs and exploits that a player wants to use in GCS2 must be in-keeping with current conventions as built up over time by the competitive CoH community. They also must be known to all players before stepping into the tournament.

Allowed known bugs and exploits:

• "Ghosting" with sandbags etc. The Developer and the community balance team have nerfed and mitigated this multiple times without removing it as a possibility. So it is considered fair game.
• USF population cap limit passing. Supposedly an intended feature of USF.
• Using barbed wire in 'creative' ways to manipulate units.
• Blocking units into garrisons.
• Faust misfire manipulation. Driving a vehicle purposely close to the firing model to cause a misfire.
• OKW IR Half-track and Valentine related bugs allowing more sight are allowed based on Relic not fixing them implying they are permitted 'features'.

Any other bugs and exploits that you as a player intend to use must be declared to compete@gcs2.org if they are acceptable within the spirit of the competitive Company of Heroes community they will be added to the above list.

Bug and Exploits that increase stats and attributes of units are expressly disallowed, including speed, veterancy etc. There are no known cases of this at the moment, but in the past they have been possible.

We reserve the right to ban bugs and exploits as the tournament progresses, and take action against any player that used an unknown bug or exploit to gain a competitive advantage.

Background: Unfortunately there has been a long standing bug in the game regarding zis guns. It is very rare but it creates an invincible ghost AT gun which can attain veterancy. It is almost always facing the enemy and almost always becomes a huge problem.

Due to it being linked to animations and their randomness it's impossible to willingly replicate. It is also impossible at this time for the community to fix. This rule is the procedure to follow should one occur. It is the best we can do with the given possibilities.

Axis Player Decides to "Replay" or "Continue"

If an invincible zis gun bug occurs the Axis player can order a replay or say to continue the game.

Once they have encountered the invincible zis gun they can either say: "replay" or "continue" in game chat to carry on playing.

If they continue playing for a minute after clearly having seen the ghost zis gun fire, the game is assumed to continue, and a replay cannot be forced.

Once a call for a replay has occurred stop playing and save the replay file as usual.

The Axis player cannot change their mind once they have said to continue.

Soviet Player Replay Appeal

If the Soviet player has complete dominance and their opponent has called for a replay they can appeal and be given the win by referees. At the point when the zis gun bug occurs they must have had:

• 50 population cap army advantage and judged strategic dominance. (tanks and veteran units with no counter)
• Or a victory point situation where it is literally impossible for their opponent to capture and beat the clock, regardless of player actions.