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 High School 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. Both the roster and bench must be finalized prior to the roster lock date, as listed in section 3.4 Roster Submission of the High School 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. 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.

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.

A game of record (GOR) in Overwatch 2 is established under the following conditions:

1.3.1 Any attack or ability is landed on an enemy hero.

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 will only be allowed under limited conditions, as listed in section 7.4 Game Restart of the High School Competition Rulebook.

During any pause or stoppage, players may not leave the match area unless authorized by their coach. The coach should communicate any disconnections or pauses inside PlayVS’s Match Lobby Chat.

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.

So long as there are no team engagements (such as team fights, or skirmishing around objectives), players may pause/unpause a match using the in-game pause function by holding down the keyboard keys: ctrl + shift + =. 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.

If a player disconnects from the online match during a game a pause will be allowed. The player will have to reconnect back to match within 5 minutes or the game will be unpaused and teams will continue to play with the current players found in the lobby. For all disconnects, please provide a screenshot 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 GOR has been established according to section 1.3.

If an entire team disconnects from the online match during a game, players that are still in the match will pause the game. They lobby host may have changed and the new host will need to pause the lobby. The team will have to reconnect back to match within 5 minutes or the game will count as a win for the opposing team. 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, please immediately notify PlayVS Support.

Games will be played in the standard competitive format found in-game which will limit role selections on each team to one (1) tank, two (2) healers, and two (2) DPS. Roles will be selected in-game at the beginning of each map by each player on the team and cannot be swapped once the round begins. Players may swap roles at any time between games and the beginning of each game.

In the case of a draw leading to a tied score between teams at the end of game 5, teams will play a tie-breaker game with the game mode and map outlined for game 6 in section 1.6.1 below.

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 High School Competition Rulebook.

Each match will follow the game mode order listed below with the map pool selection listed beside it. Teams MUST follow the game mode order; if an incorrect game mode is selected for a game, the game must be restarted before a GOR has been established as per section 1.3 of this rulebook. Failure to restart the game with the proper game mode may result in action being taken against the host’s team by League officials.

The losing team of the first game will have map selection. The losing team will determine the map, while the winning team will have side selection.

If game 2 (hybrid) ends in a draw, teams will not report the results of the match on PlayVS. Instead, teams will:

Overwatch 2 has introduced Perks, which are hero-specific upgrades that modify a hero’s abilities, creating new strategies and playstyles. Perks are a core gameplay feature integrated directly into heroes’ kits, meaning they are enabled by default for competitive play. Match day setup will not require any additional steps for enabling Perks.

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 or Compatible Gaming Console

2.1.2 Monitor/Television

2.1.3 Headsets and/or Earbuds and/or Microphones

2.1.4 Table and Chairs

2.1.5 Peripherals for computer (mouse, keyboard) or console (game controller)

2.1.6 Stable Internet/Wifi connection

2.1.7 Computer Specifications

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

The home team will invite the away team captain to the lobby using the invite button. Once the away team captain has joined the lobby, both team captains will invite the remainder of their roster and their coaches if applicable.

At all times, the home team is in charge of managing the lobby, including moving players, assigning sides, and selecting the correct game mode and maps.

If Competitive is selected, there will not be a tiebreaker.

If Competitive is not selected, and there is a tie after the fifth game, then a sixth game will be played as shown in section 1.6.1 to determine the winner.

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.

If a coach is using a spectator, the lobby host will need to ensure that spectators are set to only be able to spectate their respective team using the in-game lobby settings found within Overwatch.

Overwatch 2 is a live-service multiplayer game that may release new heroes, maps, or competitive game modes while the season is occurring.

New maps and heroes added to the competitive pool of Overwatch 2 during the regular season may be available for use in a PlayVS match. All competing teams will be notified of any map pool or hero changes and/or additions at least one (1) week in advance to them being available. Any maps or heroes currently disabled in-game by Blizzard Entertainment will not be available to use in PlayVS official matches. This rulebook will be updated as needed to act as a source of truth.

Any new map or hero added to the competitive pool of Overwatch 2 after the regular season has ended will not be available for Playoffs. Any new competitive game modes added to Overwatch 2 will be assessed for the following season. We will not add any new game modes mid-season to our competitive matches.

Players are required to create and connect their Battle.net 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, 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.

If the match is completed using the PlayVS Match Assistant tool, then results will be recorded at the conclusion of each game using the tool.

If the PlayVS Match Assistant could not be used, then 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.