This rulebook is currently being updated for the Fall ‘25 season. Content is subject to change before the start of the season.
View the league’s High School Competition Rulebook.
Introduction and Purpose
These official rules (rules) of the PlayVS Scholastics Esports League apply to each of the teams who have registered and met the requirements for the 2025-2026 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 Game Account Connections
Players are required to connect the Battle.net name of their Hearthstone Unlock account to their PlayVS profile before competing in a match.
Players without in-game accounts connected are ineligible to participate in the match.
Per 6.2.7 Connected Accounts of the league's Competition Rulebook, teams must address missing game account connections before establishing a game of record. Reaching a game of record without confirming game accounts or addressing missing game account connections is not grounds for a match restart or loss.
1.2 Roster Requirements
Team members must be eligible to compete on behalf of their school as listed in section 2. Team Member Eligibility of the league's Competition Rulebook.
Each league page will list the number of players necessary to fill a team’s roster and bench. No individual may simultaneously hold two or more roles as listed above. All players and coaches are expected to be present physically or virtually for all official PlayVS matches. The roster and bench must be finalized before the roster lock date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.3 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made before the start of each game by using the Match Assistant to change the roster and re-confirm rosters during the roster confirmation step.
Once a game of record is established, the starting player cannot be changed. Once the game is complete with results reported, a player substitution can be made using the PlayVS Match Assistant if necessary for the following game.
Hearthstone is a solo esports title, meaning there may only be one active player in a match at any given time. However, teams needing to adjust their roster due to their unique competitive situation can utilize the one (1) bench spot should any roster changes need to be made. Roster updates may only occur during the first 4 weeks of the regular season.
All solo esports team rosters will lock at the beginning of week 5, and player additions/removals will no longer be permitted.
1.4 Game of Record
A game of record (GOR) in Hearthstone is established in the following conditions:
Players see their opening hand for mulligan.
Once GOR is established, game restarts will only be allowed under limited conditions as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.5 Stoppage of Play
During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. Coaches should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’ Match Lobby chat.
Directed Pause
At any time and at their sole discretion, League Officials may order the pause of a match. Teams may complete the current game and finalize the results before pausing, if necessary.
Game Disconnection
If a player disconnects from the online match after a game of record has been established, they will have 10 minutes to reconnect, or the game will be forfeited in favor of the connected team.
For all disconnects, the connected team must provide a screenshot showing the disconnection lasted longer than 10 minutes.
1.6 Match Format
Format | Best-of-Five (Bo5) |
Mode | Standard Conquest |
Team Size | 1 Player |
Players will compete in a standard conquest match consisting of a Bo5, with the winner of each game determined by the player that defeats their opposing player’s hero, and the winner of the match is determined by the player that wins three games, each with their own unique deck class.
A player can only bring one deck for each class. Each time a player wins with a certain class, they will no longer be able to use that class for the remainder of the match. For more information, see Specific Rules: Conquest Match Flow.
All matches within the season will share the same match format as listed above, regardless of phase. For a detailed breakdown of each phase available for the league, see section 5.2 Phase Details of the league’s Competition Rulebook.
1.7 Specific Rules
Conquest Match Flow
When a player wins a game, the deck used by the winning player is now locked and cannot be used for the remainder of the match. If a player queues a class that had won previously, the game will need to be reset, with the player selecting a class in their lineup that has not won a game yet.
Player A Decks | Player B Decks | Game # | Winner |
Mage Priest Warlock | Rouge Shaman Warrior | Game 1: Player A Mage vs Player B Shaman | Player A Mage |
Mage Priest Warlock | Rouge Shaman Warrior | Game 2: Player A Warlock vs Player B Shaman | Player B Shaman |
Mage Priest Warlock | Rouge Shaman Warrior | Game 3: Player A Priest vs Player B Rouge | Player B Rouge |
Mage Priest Warlock | Rouge Shaman Warrior | Game 4: Player A Warlock vs Player B Warrior | Player A Warlock |
Mage Priest Warlock | Rouge Shaman Warrior | Game 5: Player A Priest vs Player B Warrior | Player A Priest |
Ineligible Cards
Due to the in-game effects that certain cards can have on the gameplay itself, the following cards have been removed from play:
Ineligible Cards in Deck Submission
Players that receive a shared deck with ineligible cards from an opponent must contact PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.
In the event that an ineligible card is added to a player’s pilot deck and submitted as a part of the sharing and selecting decks process, the offending player will receive an automatic game loss for each pilot deck that contains the ineligible card.
The offending player will then replace the ineligible card with any card eligible for use in PlayVS matches and reshare their previously illegal deck(s).
If all three shared decks contain an ineligible card, resulting in three automatic game losses, the offending player will automatically receive a loss for the match.
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:
PC or Android/IOS device
Mouse and Keyboard (for PC)
Stable internet connection
3. Match Process
3.1 Pre-Match Setup
Teams must adhere to section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.
3.2 Match Setup
Teams will follow Hearthstone Solos Match Instructions for lobby creation setup and joining the game lobby.
Sharing and Selecting Decks
Once in the match lobby, players must share their three unique classes and decklists with their opponent in full. Once shared, decklists may not be changed for the remainder of the match.
Choosing Classes
Players will select the class that they will be playing for each game from the lobby.
Players are not required to share which deck they are playing prior to entering the game.
3.3 Match F.A.Q.
Spectating
Coaches can spectate the game from their respective players’ perspectives once both players have loaded in.
Coaches may not spectate both sides unless both coaches have agreed to an observer by following section 7.7 Match Spectating from the league’s Competition Rulebook.
In-Game Content Updates
Hearthstone is a live-service multiplayer game that may release new content patches with new and/or updated heroes and cards while the season is occurring.
Any heroes and/or cards currently disabled in-game by Blizzard will not be available for use during official PlayVS matches.
All PlayVS matches will occur on the most up-to-date patch, and any available heroes and/or cards are eligible for use in PlayVS matches unless otherwise stated by League Officials.
4. Post-Game Process
4.1 Results
If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, in-game statistics and results will be recorded at the conclusion of each game using this tool.
In the event that the PlayVS Match Assistant could not be used, statistics will not be tracked, and the match results must 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.