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 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. 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) 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.
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. 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.
1.2.2 Substitutions
Substitutions must be made by one of the following:
Confirming competing players within the Match Assistant at the beginning of the match.
Using the Match Assistant to change the roster and re-confirm rosters in between games.
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.
1.3 Game of Record
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.
1.4 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.
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 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.
1.5 Match Format
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
1.5.1 Phase Details
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.
1.6 Special Rules
1.6.1 Conquest Match Flow
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.
Game 1: Team A’s Mage deck defeats Team B’s Shaman deck. Team A may no longer use their Mage deck for the rest of the Match.
Game 2: Team A brings out Warlock, and Team B stays with Shaman. Team B beats Team A, meaning Team B can no longer use the Shaman deck.
Game 3: Team A chooses Priest and Team B chooses Rogue. Team B defeats Team A, which means they can only use their Warrior for the rest of the match.
Game 4: Team A goes back to the Warlock, and Team B must play on their Warrior deck. Team A wins, and both teams are now left with their last deck to play.
Game 5: Team A’s Priest deck beats Team B’s Warrior deck. Therefore, Team A wins the match!
1.6.2 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:
1.6.3 Ineligible Cards in Deck Submission
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.
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 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
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
3.2.1 Create Lobby
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:
Open Hearthstone.
The Home team will click the Friends tab, and locate your opponent’s in-game name.
Click their name, and select Standard.
The Away team will accept the request.
3.2.2 Sharing and Selecting Decks
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.
3.3.3 Choosing Classes
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.
3.3 Match F.A.Q.
3.3.1 Spectating
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.
3.3.2 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.