By entering and participating in the Competition, each Student-athlete, as defined below, and any associated Roster coaches/managers/trainers/etc., unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and Regulations (the "Competition Rules"). All decisions regarding the interpretation of these Competition Rules lie solely with the Administrator, the decisions of which are final and binding in all respects. In addition, all Student-athletes and any associated Roster coaches/managers/trainers/etc. must adhere to the Esports Code of Conduct (the “Code of Conduct”).

The Power4+ HBCU Fall Invitational will be a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, 32 Double-Elimination knockout. Each bracket match will be Best of 3 games in a set, Best of 3 sets in a match. The Finals will be Best of 3 games in a sec, Best of 5 games in the match.

The Double-Elimination knockout will consist of two brackets: a winners bracket and a losers bracket. When a team loses a match in the winners bracket, they’ll be placed in the losers bracket. A team is knocked out of the tournament if they lose two matches.

Once all matches have been completed in a round, the next round will be generated and played out. This continues until there are two teams left to play a Final match.

All rounds will take place on the same day (November 15th, 2026. General information can be found in the Power4+ HBCU Esports League Overview.

To participate in the Competition each Player and Roster must comply with the eligibility requirements listed below. It is the responsibility of the Player and Roster to be aware of all rules around eligibility. Rosters that field Players without first verifying their eligibility risk forfeiture of Match wins, forfeiture of Postseason qualification, and additional penalties. Please contact League Officials (support@playvs.com) if you have any questions or concerns.

All participating Players must be enrolled at an accredited higher learning institution (“School”) with a physical address in the United States or Canada. The School must offer at least a two-year degree program. Players are only allowed to compete for one School during the course of the Competition.

Players are generally only allowed to compete for one Roster during the Competition, except as specifically noted below, and in all cases they may only compete for one Roster during any given Week of Competition. They may not be listed on any other Rosters for the duration of that week.

All Players on a Roster must be enrolled at the same School, and must compete on behalf of that School, except under the following circumstances:

Players may be permitted to compete on another School’s Roster if certain conditions are met. This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by League Officials, and will generally follow the guidelines of the School itself with respect to shared academic programs.

If students from one School are enrolled in a shared or integrated program with another School, cross-School eligibility requests will be considered. If only certain programs are shared between Schools, students must be actively enrolled in one of those programs to be eligible.

Prior to the start of the Competition, all Student-athletes must have a good standing Nintendo Account. This same account must be used for the full duration of the Competition. In-game Names must be in-line with the standards set out in the Esports Code of Conduct. A Student-athlete will be notified by League Officials if their name must be changed and will be permitted to change to an acceptable name.

Rosters may use the same account during the entirety of a Match. Rosters are not required to use each Player’s account during a Match. The account used during a Match needs to be linked to at least one of the Players on the Roster.

Players may not change their account username at any time throughout the Competition, unless instructed to by League Officials. The account username the Player used to register is to be used for the entirety of the Competition. League Officials will issue a Warning to any Player that has changed their account username during the Competition and will ask the Player to revert the change. Further sanctions will follow for failure to revert the change/repeating this infraction.

Rosters must be made up of the minimum required number of Players to be eligible. A Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Roster must have one Player on the Roster at all times.

In the result of a timeout, the player with the least amount of stocks in the game will lose the remaining stocks and the other player will continue on to the next Match. If the stocks are even, then the player with the lower % will take the remaining stocks and the next character will be selected.

Mii Fighters are legal as long as the moveset is discussed prior to the match. Once it's been communicated, the player is free to make their Mii and play the match using the disclosed move set.

In a“best of” series, Rosters will need to play multiple Sets. Once a Roster has won x number of Sets in the best of series they will be declared the Match winner. Each game starts with a double-blind character selection and Stage Striking process, outlined below:

Each player may only play with one character per set. Between sets in a match, players may switch characters.

Double Blind Character Selection is a method used to prevent players from counter-picking each other before the first game in a set. Below is an outline of the process:

At the start of a match, the winner of a coin flip will decide to either strike first or strike second for the first set. You can flip a coin inside the match chat feature on the Competition Website by typing “!coinflip”. Stages are stuck in a P1-P2-P2-P1 order. For any proceeding sets, the losing team of the preceding set will elect to strike first or second.

Stage pools are outlined below:

Rosters must restart and/or switch the Server if the Game is created with ineligible characters, weapons, map, items, settings.. Etc.

At the discretion of League Officials, Match set up or procedural errors

cannot retroactively be escalated to League Officials. This does not apply to Games that involve Player Conduct violations.

A Game must be restarted if a Player disconnects in the first 15 seconds and before any contact between Players has occurred. If a Player disconnects from a Game after the first 15 seconds or after the first contact has occurred, the Battle Arena should be restarted and that Player will forfeit their current stock.

All Matches will be played on the listed equipment:

Players must have a minimum three (3) Mbps upload speed and utilize a LAN adapter to participate. Both players must provide photo evidence that they are on a LAN connection. League Officials will utilize SableDetect to test the connection of both players (number of flags, late packets, out of order packets, ping).

If a Game is found to be lagging it must be ended immediately, during the first 60 seconds. Any Game played past that point will not be open for review. If the lag test determines that the connection is stable enough to continue, the Game may be continued from the point at which it was stopped or reset.

Based on the results, League Officials will decide to either have the players reset or continue the current game, or if needed, forfeit one or more of either player’s tournament matches. Any decision made is at the discretion of League Officials.

If two Teams are unable to create a lobby, a League Official may be called to assist with troubleshooting. At the League Officials discretion, matches that are unable to create a lobby may be forfeited against the team who has the more restrictive NAT type. In cases where both teams have the same NAT type and are unable to create a lobby, League Officials may rule the match as a double forfeit, if no alternative (ie rescheduling, etc) can apply. In order of least restrictive to most restrictive:

The Team that appears on the left of the Match page on the Competition Website will be considered the Home Team and must host the Match. The other Team will be considered the Away Team.

In the event that a coinflip is needed to be made for roster designations or match decisions, the command “!coinflip” can be used in the match lobby chat on the LeagueSpot match page.

Prior to each Match either the Roster Captain, Coach, or Manager must visit their Match page on the Competition Website and check in to confirm their Roster’s attendance and participation. The check-in period begins 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and expires 15 minutes after. Any Roster that is not checked in for a Match will forfeit that Match.

This may be waived by League Officials if one or both Rosters are unable to check-in for any reason, but the Rosters are online and in their respective in-game lobbies available to start the Match by the time the check-in period expires. If neither Roster checks in, and neither Roster submits a technical issue through a Support Ticket, they will both receive a no-show loss. Unreported Match losses will be treated as 0-2 losses.

All Rosters must actively use the Match Lobby functionality, which is available on every Match page, to contact and coordinate their Matches with their opponents. Unresponsiveness to contact from an opponent may lead to the forfeit of one or more Regular Season Matches at the discretion of League Officials. All communication between Rosters should take place in the Match Lobby. To open a Match Lobby, visit the corresponding Match page and click “create Match Lobby”.

During a Match, a Coach may only communicate with their Players before games, in-between games, during timeouts, and after games. Otherwise, the Coach is not allowed to further communicate or interact with the Players in any way (i.e. during gameplay). Access to a Coach Slot is not required for Coaching communications.

Rosters may take up to a five minute break in between Games. Rosters may agree to take a shorter or longer break if both agree in writing to do so.

After a Match has been played, the Roster Captain or Manager of either Roster can manually input the Match results on the corresponding Match page. Match results should be reported immediately after the Match is completed.

After a Match has been played, the Team Captain or Manager of the winning Team should input their remaining stocks as the “score”. For example, if the winning Team had 5 stocks left, the Match should be reported as a 5-0 win in their favor. Match results should be reported immediately after the Match is completed.

Each Roster is allowed 15 minutes of pause time in a Match for disconnects and other technical issues. There is no minimum or maximum time that a pause may last, as long as it does not exceed the allotted 15 minutes.

If a Roster exceeds their allotted pause time they may forfeit the current Game, at the discretion of League Officials. For example: If a Roster pauses and is able to resume play within one minute, they have 14 minutes of pause time left to use throughout the series.

When a Roster has used 15 minutes of pause time they must resume and will no longer be able to pause a game in progress. Both Rosters must agree to resume a Game before doing so.

By entering and participating in the Competition, all Players and any associated Roster coaches/managers/trainers/etc. agree to adhere to and be bound by the Code of Conduct.

Violations of the Code should be reported immediately to League Officials using the Report a Code of Conduct or Rule Violation form. League Officials will review all claims of misconduct and may escalate to the Advisory Committee for further review.

Upon confirmation of any Code of Conduct violation, and depending on the severity of the violation, League Officials reserves the right to issue any one of the following penalties:

Repeated violations will be subject to escalating penalties, and particularly severe violations will be subject to harsher penalties up front.

By registering for and participating in the Competition all Players hereby agree to be bound by the Competition Rules, which confirms their: (i) eligibility to participate in the Competition and acceptance and compliance with these Competition Rules; (ii) acceptance of the Prizes as offered (if deemed a Winner); (iii) permission to record the Player’s participation in the Competition, and use the Player’s name, photo, image and any footage or photo taken of the Player; (iv) release of the Administrator, any Competition sponsors and promoters, and each party’s respective parent, related and affiliated companies and entities, subsidiaries, members, dealers, advertising and promotional agencies, and each of their respective directors, successors, sponsors, partners, licensees, officers, subsidiaries, agents, employees, advisors, assignees, and all others associated with the development and execution of the Competition (collectively, the "Releasees") from any and all liability in connection with this Competition or participation in any Competition related activities. In the event that a Player is a Minor, their parent or legal guardian must consent to the Competition Rules on their behalf. If the parent or legal guardian does not consent to the foregoing, the affected Player will be disqualified.

Please note, some Matches during the Competition may be filmed for entertainment and promotional purposes and that photographs and video footage may be taken during said Matches. By participating in the Competition, each Player grants the Administrator, the Game providers, and Competition sponsors with the right to use: (i) their name, email address, mailing address, telephone number and other personal information provided during their registration in the Competition and any data collected while the Player is playing the Game, for the purpose of administering the Competition, including but not limited to contacting and announcing the

Winners; and (ii) their name, city and province or state of residence, video footage, images, voice recording, comments and opinions for entertainment, publicity and promotional purposes relating to the Competition, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, without further compensation unless prohibited by law. In addition, by participating in the Competition all Players acknowledge and agree that the Releasees may disclose their Personal Information to third-party agents and service providers in order to affect any of the activities listed above, in accordance with PlayVS’s Privacy Policy and LeagueSpot’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

By entering this Competition, each Player, or in the case of a Minor, their parent or legal guardian on their behalf, acknowledges compliance with, and agrees to be bound by, these Competition Rules and consents to the use of their name, city of residence, and/or likeness in any publicity carried out by Releasees, and/or their advertising and promotional agencies and agents without further notice or compensation. Players release and hold harmless the Releasees from and against any and all manner of action, causes of action, suits, debts, covenants, contracts, claims and demands, including legal fees and expenses, whatsoever, including but not limited to, claims based on negligence, breach of contract and fundamental breach and liability for physical injury, death, or property damage which the Players or their administrators, heirs, successors or assigns might have or could have, by reason of or arising out of the Players participation in the Competition and/or in connection with the acceptance, use and/or misuse by the Player of the Prize.

None of the Releasees shall be responsible for or bear any liability for: (i) late-received, lost, unintelligible/illegible, incomplete, or misdirected registrations, entries or Game scores; (ii) entries or game plays which fail to comply with the Competition Rules; (iii) any technical or human error that may occur in the administration of the Competition, including any problems or technical malfunction of any computer online systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, all of which may affect an Players ability to participate in the Competition, or the ability of the Administrator to receive and/or record and Players Game score; (iv) any unauthorized human and/or mechanical intervention in any part of the entry process of the Competition; and (v) any act of God that disrupts all or part of the Competition.

As a condition of participating in this Competition, Player agrees that (i) under no circumstances will Player be permitted to obtain awards for, and Player hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental, consequential, or any other damages, (ii) all causes of action arising out of or connected with this Competition, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and (iii) any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, but shall in no event include attorney’s fees. Void if prohibited by law.

Any attempt to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of this Competition is a violation of the Competition Rules and criminal and civil laws, and should such an attempt be made, the Administrator reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law, including criminal prosecution. Players agree to abide by the Competition Rules.

The Administrator reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any Player who violates the Code of Conduct or tampers with the entry process, and/or void any game results submitted fraudulently. Should multiple users of the same email account enter the Competition and a dispute thereafter arise regarding the identity of the Player, the authorized account holder of said email account at the time of entry will be considered the Player. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. If, for any reason, the Competition is affected by any computer virus, worm, bug, tampering, hacking, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure or other cause which, in the sole opinion of the Administrator, corrupts or otherwise affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Competition, the Administrator may, in their sole discretion, cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Competition, and determine winners from gameplay already received or as otherwise deemed fair and equitable by the Administrator. Automatic gameplay is prohibited, and any use of automated devices will cause disqualification.

Administrator reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate the Competition, in whole or in part, and/or to modify, amend or suspend the Competition, and/or to the Competition Rules in any way, at any time, for any reason without prior notice. Any changes will be made available on https://esports.pcl.gg/league.