League of Legends Rulebook

The 2023 - 2024 League of Legends Rulebook for High School leagues.

Updated over a week ago

The High School Competition Rulebook can be viewed here.

Introduction and Purpose

These Official Rules (“Rules”) of the PlayVS High School Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2023-2024 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, Starters, Substitutes (collectively “Team Members”), and other members.

1. Game Rules

1.1 Definition of Terms

1.1.1 Game. An instance of competition that is played until a winner is determined by one of the following methods, whichever occurs first: (a) one team destroys the opposing team’s Nexus, or (b) one team forfeits.

1.1.2 Match. A group of Games. The winning team will either receive a win tally in a league format or advance to the next round in a tournament format.

1.1.3 Phase. A section of scheduled league play that comprises a season. There are four distinct phases: preseason, regular season, playoffs, and finals. Each phase can have its own league format.

1.1.4 Season. Scheduled league play that will occur over a set period of time.

1.2 Roster Requirements

1.2.1 Roster Submission

Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in Section 2 of the High School Competition Rulebook.

In League of Legends, each team may have a maximum of ten (10) players, broken down into five (5) players on the Roster and five (5) players on the Bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches must be physically or virtually present for all official PlayVS matches. The Roster and Bench must be finalized before the Roster Lock Date, as listed in Section 3.3 Roster Submission.

1.2.2 Substitutions

Players on the bench may be used for any match their team competes within their assigned league. Only the players shown on a team’s Bench before the start of the match can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.

Once a Game of Record is established, substitutions are not allowed. Once the game is complete with results recorded, player substitutions may be made before the start of the following game.

If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in the match and there are no available Substitutes, competition may continue without that player as long as it does not put the opposing team at a disadvantage.

1.3 Game of Record

A Game of Record (“GOR”) in League of Legends is established under the following conditions:

1.3.1 Any attack or ability is landed on minions, jungle creeps, structures, or enemy Champions

1.3.2 Line-of-sight is established between players on opposing teams

1.3.3 Game timer reaches two minutes (00:02:00)

Once GOR is established, game restarts are only allowed under limited conditions, as listed in Section 7.4 of the High School Competition Rulebook.

1.4 Stoppage of Play

1.4.1 Directed Pause

At any time, League Officials may order the pause of a match at the sole discretion of League Officials. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results.

1.4.2 Player Pauses

So long as there are no team engagements (such as team fights or skirmishing around objectives), players may pause a match using the in-game pause function by typing “/pause” within the in-game chat. and must notify a coach and identify the reason for the pause in Match Lobby Chat immediately.

Once paused, all coaches and players must return to the PlayVS Match Lobby page, where both coaches should provide updates in the PlayVS lobby chat to address the situation.

Pauses that are expected to last longer than 10 minutes must be approved by a League Official and verified by a PlayVS Admin in Match Lobby Chat.

When the pausing team is ready to unpause the game, a member of each team must confirm the resumption of play by typing “ready” or “r” in the chat. To communicate with the opponent, players will press enter, type “/all” followed by a space and the message, and then press enter again to send the message.

If a player pauses or unpauses a game without permission from the coaches, it will be considered unfair play, and penalties will be applied at the sole discretion of League Officials.

1.4.3 Player Disconnection

If a player disconnects from the online match during a game, the player should attempt to reconnect to the match as soon as possible. In the event of a disconnect, players may pause per Section 1.4.2. If the player cannot rejoin within the allotted timeframe, the game will continue with the current players found in the lobby. Please provide a screenshot for all disconnects as proof of when the disconnection happens.

You may NOT fill the spot of a disconnected player with a different player in the middle of a game. You must wait until after the game to substitute the disconnected player for another player. Rosters are locked for each game once the game begins and a “Game of Record” has been established according to Section 1.3.

1.4.4 Team Disconnection

If an entire team disconnects from the online match during a game, the disconnected team must share a message in the match lobby chat to notify the opposing team. If the team cannot reconnect in a timely manner, notify PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.

1.5 Match Format

Format: Best-of-Three (“Bo3”) Games

Mode: Tournament Draft

Team Size: 5 Players

Each team will compete in a match consisting of Bo3, with the winner of each game determined by the team that destroys the opposing team’s Nexus and the match winner determined by the team to win two games first. If a single team reaches two game wins before the start of the third game, then the third game will not be played.

Unless otherwise stated, this format applies to all four phases within a PlayVS season: Preseason, Regular Season, Playoffs, and Finals.

1.5.1 Preseason

This phase consists of each team enrolled in the league competing in official practice matches. The results of this match do not impact a team’s standings. However, this match is strongly recommended to properly test equipment and player game connections.

1.5.2 Regular Season

This phase consists of each team competing in a season format against opponents within their region. Ranking in the league will be determined by each team's win-loss ratio.

1.5.3 Playoffs

This phase consists of eligible teams competing in a single-elimination tournament until only two teams remain. Winning teams will advance to the next round of the Bracket while losing teams will be removed from the competition.\

Playoff Eligibility, Bracket, and Tiebreaker information can be found in section 5.2.3 Playoffs of the High School Competition Rulebook. More information about Tiebreakers can also be found here.

1.5.4 Finals

This phase consists of a final match between the top two teams from the league as decided by the Playoffs. The Finals will be a single Bo3 match. The first team to achieve two game wins will be awarded the match win and will be declared the League Winner. If a single team reaches two wins before the start of a third game, then the third game will not be played.

1.6 Special Rules

1.6.1 Custom Matches & Level Requirements

For matches where tournament codes are unavailable, custom lobbies must be created using the steps listed in the League of Legends Match Instructions.

No minimum level requirement will be enforced. However, it is strongly recommended that summoner accounts reach level 10, which is the minimum level required to access all summoner spells in the game and will also allow you to create custom rune pages.

1.6.2 Role Assignments & Role Swaps

Teams are expected to join the game lobby in their most likely position order: Top, Jungle, Mid, Bot, and Support. Players are free to swap roles during Champion Select for any reason.

1.6.3 Error During Tournament Draft

If any champion is incorrectly picked or banned during the Tournament Draft process, the team who selected incorrectly must notify their opponent immediately in PlayVS Match Lobby Chat. If the draft is complete before correcting the error, the game must be paused immediately upon loading into the game. The notification must include the champion selected incorrectly and the champion they intended to select at that time.

Teams must restart the Tournament Draft process immediately if there is a mistake or game client error. The draft should then be restarted and brought back to the point at which the error occurred so that the team in error may correct its mistake. All previous picks and bans except the mistakenly chosen champion must remain the same.

If all players are already loaded into the game, every player must exit the game using the "ESC" key to reset the match. Once all 10 players have left the game, a new lobby can be created using the same Tournament Code as before.

1.7 Campus Unlock (Optional)

Coaches are strongly encouraged to take advantage of Riot's "Campus League Unlocked" program.

2. Player Equipment

2.1 Equipment

Each player on the Starting Roster must have access to school-provided equipment or must be permitted by the school to provide their own equipment in the following categories:

2.1.1 PC that meets minimum specifications as listed in 2.1.6

2.1.2 Monitor

2.1.3 Headsets or Earbuds

2.1.4 Microphone

2.1.5 Mouse & Keyboard

2.2 Riot Vanguard

Riot Vanguard is Riot Games’ custom in-house game security software designed to upload competitive integrity when playing League of Legends. This software is required to access League of Legends, and schools must ensure their PCs are set up properly before their first match takes place. If a school computer is blocked by Riot Vanguard, an IT Administrator will be needed to access and edit the computer’s BIOS settings to enable TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, IOMMU, HVCI/VBS, and switch to UEFI mode.

A full support article for this highly technical and time-consuming process can be found on Riot Games’ Support for Riot Vanguard (League of Legends).

3. Match Process

3.1 Pre-Match Setup

Teams must adhere to Section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup as they prepare to join their match.

3.2 Match Setup

3.2.1 Join Lobby

  • From the League of Legends Client, Click Play

  • Click the “Trophy” Icon

  • Copy the automatically generated Game Code from your PlayVS Match Lobby

  • Paste the Game Code into the pop-up Tournament Code Box, and click Join

3.2.2 Side Selection

Each team will compete as either “Blue Side” (Team 1) or “Red Side” (Team 2) for each game. Side selection for each game is as follows:

  • Game 1: Home Team

  • Game 2: Away Team

  • Game 3: Loser of Game 2*

*For Playoffs, The Higher Seed receives side selection for Game 3.

3.2.3 Tournament Draft

Once all ten players have reported to the official game lobby, One member of each team confirms team readiness for the pick/ban phase. Once both teams confirm readiness, the room owner will start the game.

Clicking “Start Game” will take all participants into the Tournament Draft mode. Draft format proceeds as follows:

  • Blue Team= A

  • Red Team = B

  • Ban Phase 1: ABABAB

  • Pick Phase 1: ABBAAB

  • Ban Phase 2: ABAB

  • Pick Phase 2: BAAB

3.3 Match F.A.Q.

3.3.1 Spectating

In order to avoid giving any team an advantage spectators should be removed from spectating unless both Coaches have agreed to allow for a spectator by following section 7.7 Match Spectating from the High School Competition Rulebook.

3.2.2 In-Game Content Updates

League of Legends is a live-service multiplayer game that may release new content patches with updated in-game content during the season.

New champions added to League of Legends during the regular season may be available in a PlayVS match. Any champions or items currently disabled in-game by Riot Games will not be available to use in PlayVS official matches. PlayVS will attempt to provide further information on these updates before they are available.

Any champion added to League of Legends after the regular season has ended will not be available for Playoffs.

Champion Reworks will be monitored on a case by case basis dependent on the level of design in which the champion is reworked. League officials will monitor these changes and announce rulings as quickly as possible

4. Post Match Process

4.1 Results

Results will be automatically recorded after a match has ended.

If a player uses a League of Legends account that is not connected to their PlayVS profile, the match will automatically be quarantined, and Coaches will need to contact PlayVS directly to resolve the issue.

If Tournament Codes could not be used and a custom match was created, then statistics would not be tracked, and the match results would need to be submitted manually within 1 hour of match completion. Players should take screenshots of the match results and share those with their coaches.

In the event of an error, coaches must contact PlayVS directly.

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