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 2024-2025 school year, as well as their head coach, assistant coaches, vice principals, athletic directors, Starters, Substitutes (collectively Team Members), and other members.

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) Completion of the countdown timer or objective achieved, (b) Team Surrender, or (c) Team Forfeit.

1.1.2 Round. An instance of individual competition, often between individual team members. The player or team that wins the majority of available rounds will be determined the winner of the game.

1.1.3 Set. A series of games that is played until one player wins a majority of the total games (e.g., winning two games out of three “best-of-three”). The winning player will receive a win tally in favor of their team for the match.

1.1.4 Match. A group of sets that is played until one team wins a majority of the total sets (e.g., winning two sets out of three “best-of-three”). The winning team will either receive a win tally in a league format or advance to the next round in a tournament format.

1.1.5 League. A group of teams that regularly play against one another. There are two distinct types of PlayVS leagues: (a) Recreational and (b) Competitive.

1.1.6 Phase. A section of scheduled league play that comprises a season. There are distinct phases for leagues, with each phase having its own league format.

1.1.7 Season. Scheduled league play that will occur over a predetermined amount of time.

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.

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

Substitutions must be made by one of the following:

In the event the Match Assistant is unavailable, rosters and substitutions must be confirmed before the start of each game unless otherwise approved by a League Official and stated by a PlayVS Admin in the Match Lobby Chat.

Players on the bench may be used for any match their team is competing in within their assigned league. Eligible substitutes for a match will be displayed on the Bench tab of the team’s roster card. Only the players shown on a team’s Bench can be used as substitutes in an official PlayVS Match.

If a player on the starting roster cannot compete in the match, and there are no available Substitutes, the coach may also designate an available player to pilot more than a single deck, and competition may continue without that player as long as it does not put the opposing team at a disadvantage.

A Game of Record (GOR) in Hearthstone is established in the following conditions:

1.3.1 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.

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.

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.

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.

Format: Best-of-Five (Bo5)

Mode: Standard Conquest

Team Size: 3 Players

Each team 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 team’s hero, and the winner of the match determined by the team that wins three games, each with their own unique deck class.

A team can only bring one deck for each class. Each player will be the pilot of one of the three decks the team prepares for the match. Each pilot will be in charge of deciding the moves in the game while the other two teammates watch and help with strategy. Teammates can take notes and help the pilot with their decisions during each game. Each time a team 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 1.6.1 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.

When a team wins a game, the deck used by the winning team is now locked and cannot be used for the remainder of the match. If a team uses a different account after each game, make sure that is communicated through the match lobby chat, and the players swap into the appropriate accounts and challenge each other. If a team queues a class that had won previously, the game will need to be reset, with the team selecting a class in their lineup that has not won a game yet.

Conquest Flow Example: Team A brings a lineup of one Mage, Priest, and Warlock deck, while Team B brings a lineup of one Rogue, Shaman, and Warrior deck.

Due to the in-game effects that certain cards can have on the gameplay itself, the following cards have been removed from play:

Teams that receive a shared deck from an opponent must contact PlayVS Support immediately for further assistance.

In the event that an Ineligible Card is added to an individual player’s pilot deck and submitted as a part of the Sharing and Selecting Decks process, the offending team will receive an automatic game loss for each pilot deck that contains the Ineligible Card.

The offending team 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 team will automatically receive a loss for the match.

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 Computer/Android/IOS devices

2.1.2 Monitor (if competing via PC)

2.1.3 Headsets or Earbuds

2.1.4 Microphone (if players are competing remotely)

2.1.5 Peripherals for computer (if competing via PC)

2.1.6 Hearthstone downloaded on PC/Mobile Device

Teams must adhere to Section 6.2 Pre-Match Setup in the league’s Competition Rulebook as they prepare to join their match.

Teams will use their in-game BattleTag (ie. Username#0000) to add each other as friends on Battle.net. Once all competing accounts are added as friends:

Once in the match lobby, teams 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.

Teams will select the class that they will be playing for each game from this lobby. Teams are not required to share which deck they are playing prior to entering the game.

Once both teams are ready for the game, click Play.

Teammates and coaches can spectate the game from their respective players’ perspectives once both players have loaded in.

Coaches and players 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.

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.

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.