1 - General info

1. These rules are specific to the NSL Invitational cup of the ENSL on NS2.
2. General rules apply, just as for any contest of the ENSL
3. The first part of the cup (Qualifiers) is scheduled to start on saturday the 23rd Febuary 2013, and end at the 24th of Febuary 2013. The second part of the cup is scheduled to start on saturday the 2nd of March 2013, and end at the 3rd of March 2013. The grand final is scheduled to be live in the ESL Studio in Cologne, Germany on the 12th of April.
4. Teams have been split into groups based on seedings, to make the most even groups possible.

2 - Structure

Click for bigger picture

2.a - Qualifiers (23rd and 24th Feb)

1. The first part of the cup will be hold as Round Robin format with by the admins seeded groups.
2. Each team of each group will play against every team of its group.
3. Every round, one map have been chosen. The rounds matches will have to be played on the chosen map. In a match TeamA vs TeamB, as shown on the site, TeamA start playing as Marines.
4. Winning one game (marine or alien) will earn your team one point. You can earn up to 2 points in a match.
5. Any intercontinental matches will be played with marine rounds on regional servers. The server also need to have a good location for the other region. So for example with EU vs US. US plays marines, server must be located in US east to give a good location for the other region.
6. At the end of the qualifiers the top two teams of each group will advance into the 16-team Invitational Cup. Placements are decided by the scores each team gathered from the group games. Note: CiB, aPx and Team AuNZ can't make it to the 16-team cup, as they are not from EU or US. If either of these teams place in top 2 of their respective groups, they will be ignored and the next placement in the group will get the spot.
7. In case of a tie on points between top teams in a group, it needs to be decided who has upper placement by following order: a) results in direct comparison b) Best of 3 Tie Breaker Match
8. Note that the admins can punish your team by reducing your number of points if rules were to be violated by your team or your team members.

2.b - Main Event Group Stage 1 (1st-2nd March)

1. The Invitational Cup main event (16 teams) starts with a Round Robin format, seeding the teams into 4 groups with 4 teams each.
2. The first part of the cup will be hold as Round Robin format with by the admins seeded groups.
3. Each team of each group will play against every team of its group.
4. Every round, one map have been chosen. The rounds matches will have to be played on the chosen map. In a match TeamA vs TeamB, as shown on the site, TeamA start playing as Marines.
5. Winning one game (marine or alien) will earn your team one point. You can earn up to 2 points in a match.
6. The two top teams by points of the first group stage (16 teams) will advance to the second group stage (8 teams). In case of a tie on points the higher ranking will be decided by this order: a) results in direct comparison b) Tie Breaker Match (BO1). The Tie Breaker match in this case would start with a coinflip, the coinflip winner chooses either side or map, the coinflip loser has the other choice. Just 1 game will be played and the winner is considered higher rank.
7. Any intercontinental matches will be played with marine rounds on regional servers. The server also need to have a good location for the other region. So for example with EU vs US. US plays marines, server must be located in US east to give a good location for the other region.
8. The teams are encouraged to schedule and play their games from Friday on as early as possible and have to play their respective matches LATEST at: Round 1 at 2nd March 18:00 CET, Round 2 at 2nd March 19:00 CET, Round 3 at 2nd March 20:00 CET.
9. If your team has to play on the deadline date, you have to be 6 players readied up LATEST 10 minutes after the scheduled time or receive a forfeit loss.

2.c - Main Event Group Stage 2 (2nd-3rd March)

1. After another 8 teams have been dropped, the remaining 8 teams will be put into 2 groups. Group A and B top2's becomes Group A, while Group C and D top2's becomes Group B. Those 2 groups will play a final set of Round Robin. The rules are the same as Group Stage 1.
2. The two top teams of each group will advance to the semifinals. In case of tie on points the higher ranking will be solved as in section 2.b.6.
3. The teams are encouraged to schedule and play their matches as early as possible and have to play their respective matches LATEST at: Round 1 at 2nd March 22:00 CET, Round 2 at 2nd March 23:00 CET, Round 3 at 3rd March 18:00 CET.
4. If your team has to play on the deadline date, you have to be 6 players readied up LATEST 10 minutes after the scheduled time or receive a forfeit loss.

2.d - Final Phases 1: Semifinals & 3rd decider match (3rd March)

1. The semifinals will be played as "Best of 7" format as described in 2.d.2 on 3rd March at 20:00 CET. The winners of both matches winners will advance to the Grand Finals on 12th April in Cologne, the losers will play a 3rd Decider match. The 3rd decider match will be held as a "Best of 7", with schedule to be put by news post, format as described in 2.d.2.
2. The winner of group A plays vs. group B runner up and the winner of group B vs. group A runner up.
3. A coinflip between the two teams will occur to determine a coinflip winner. The coinflip winner can either choose which side they play on first (marine/alien) or the first map to be played (summit,tram,veil). After each game the sides will switch. A map has always to be played two times in a row and must change after every two games. The team deciding which map will be played next switches after every map, so that if Team A decided the first map, Team B decides the second map, Team A the third map and so on. A map that has been played gets removed out of the available map pool until all maps have been played and more games have to be played. The next map must always differ from the last map played.
4. Any intercontinental matches will be played with marine rounds on regional servers. The server also need to have a good location for the other region. So for example with EU vs US. US plays marines, server must be located in US east to give a good location for the other region.

2.e - Final Phases 2: Grand Final (12th April)

1. The Grand Final will be held on live stage in Cologne, Germany on 12th April in the ESL Studios, where the champions of the Invitational Cup will be found.
2. The match will be played as "Best of 9" format. A coinflip between the two teams will occur to determine a coinflip winner. The coinflip winner can either choose which side they play on first (marine/alien) or the first map to be played (summit,tram,veil). After each game the sides will switch. A map has always to be played two times in a row and must change after every two games. The team deciding which map will be played next switches after every map, so that if Team A decided the first map, Team B decides the second map, Team A the third map and so on. A map that has been played gets removed out of the available map pool until all maps have been played and more games have to be played. The next map must always differ from the last map played.

2.f - Matches

1. Once you know your opponents, contact them as soon as possible to set up the match.
2. The matches have set times, you only need to agree on a server. If you don't have one, ENSL can help you out, we recommend playing on ENSL servers. Talk with an admin(gamerkatze, Bitey etc.) about it before you just take one!
3. For communication use the comment function on the specific match page. You can find the links on the news post.

3. Maps

1. The following maps are the maps to be played in the cup: ns2_nsl_summit(ModID: 735cebc), ns2_nsl_tram(ModID: 7741098), ns2_nsl_veil(ModID: 78ac3ed).

4. Servers

1. Teams have to agree on a correct server for their matches.
2. Don't forget that the servers must have the ENSL-enforced modifications else the match may be discarded.
3. If possible, try to use the ENSL Official Servers instead of a clan's server.
4. Server location must be in the best middleground for the two teams playing. Cross-continental games have marine rounds on their own regional servers. But the server must also be acceptable for the team from the other continent playing on aliens. So you switch server every round in cross-continental games.
5. Server interpolation may NEVER be changed. This can result in a forfeit loss on the server owners.
6. NS2Stats (ModID: 5fd7a38) must be installed on the server.
7. No close spawns + Spectator lights mod (ModID: 73ca53d) must be installed on the server.
   This mod prevents teams from spawning at adjacent tech points with only one resource node in between the bases. And re-enables all lights, holograms etc. removed from the nsl maps for spectators.
8. Server consistency checking have to look like this:
   {
   
   "check": [ "game_setup.xml", "*.lua", "*.screenfx", "*.surface_shader", "*.fxh", "*.render_setup", "*.shader_template", "*.fsb", "*.dds", "*.model", "*.material", "*.level", "*.cinematic", "*.fx" ]
   
   "ignore": [ "crosshairs.dds", "crosshairs-hit.dds", "exosuit_HUD1.dds", "exosuit_HUD4.dds", "descent_wall_02_a.material", "descent_floor_01_a.material", "Blur.fx", "marine_minimap_blip.dds", "minimap_blip.dds", "descent_wallmods_02.dds", "descent_wallmods_02_spec.dds", "descent_wallmods_05_spec.dds", "descent_wallmods_05.dds","descent_wallmods_01_spec.dds", "descent_wallmods_01.dds", "descent_wallmods_01_illum.dds", "descent_wallmods_03_illum.dds", "descent_wallmods_03.dds", "descent_wallmods_03_spec.dds" ]
   
   }
9. PROTIP: How to set your server up.

5. Substitutes

1. A team may use up to two substitutes for a given match (as many rounds as necessary)
2. Subs should be of inferior or roughly equal skill level to the members of the team he will play with.
3. As a consequence, if the sub is member of another ENSL team, his team must be in the same division or in a division below the team's division.
4. In the case of North American subs for European teams or of European subs for North American teams, there is no specific rules. However, the other team can always refuse specific players for the above reason (see section 5.3).
5. Subs are allowed only if the other team agrees on the players substituting.
6. Substitutes must be registered on the ENSL website.
7. ENSL would like to remind teams that it is more fun and challenging to beat a 6-man team than a 5 or a 4-man team.

6. During the match

1. Don't forget to be on time! You may receive a forfeit loss if your players are too late and the other team has its players.
2. Players must use the same nickname ingame as on the ENSL website. Using your team's tag is also mandatory.
3. All players need to record their matches, and keep the demo for the entire cup and one week afterwards.
4. If a player can not provide his demo one week after a request by ENSL admins, he will get a punishment. ONLY admins can ask for your demos. you don't have to give them to anyone else but admins. Any cheating accusations are done AFTER the match, and happens in private chat with the admins.
5. Alt+Tab breaks recordings, so if you Alt+Tab during a match, you have to disconnect, "stop" your demo in console, and start a new demo.
6. PROTIP: How to record a demo

7. Punishments

1. Major exploits : Match loss, depending on the case.
2. Racism, excessive swearing, insults : after warnings, if the player does not change his behaviour, a 1-week ban will be enforced. Repeated offenses will call for longer bans.
3. Cheating : 1-year ban

8. Prohibited known exploits

1. Huge speed boost from the vents as skulk.
2. Enabling silent mode as a Marine thanks to a ladder.
3. Placing buildings where it should not be possible (like walls for marine buildings).
4. Full speed during cloak bug.
5. Placing gorge tunnels in vents.
6. Macros or scripts, for example to fire pistol faster.

9. Prohibited client modifications

1. Any modification giving an unfair advantage. ex : model-changing, colour-changing, etc...
2. Custom crosshairs and transparent maps/map colour changes are ALLOWED.

All the above rules may change during the cup at League Admin's discretion.