8. Overwatch

8.1. Anti-Cheat

No additional anti-cheat is required for official matches.

8.2. Match Procedure

HSEL Supported Platforms

• PC

8.2.1. Series Lengths

Matches are played as a best of 5 in the preseason, regular season and the postseason and Open grand finals, and best of 7 in Major/Summer Invitational grand finals.

8.2.2. Game Lobby

The higher seed will create the lobby, lower seed will determine which team starts as red/blue in the first game. The match settings to be used are the most recent competitive rules preset with the following settings adjusted:

Note: The 2/2/2 “Role Lock” rules will not be in effect for the Summer Open. Role Lock will officially be introduced to HSEL Tournaments starting with the Fall Major

• Lobby

  • Team

    • Swap Teams After Match: No

  • Match

    • Pause Game on Player Disconnect: Yes

• Modes

  • All

    • General

      • Kill Cam: Disabled

      • Skins: Off

    • Hero Limit

      • Limit Rolls: On

In the event that an incorrect ruleset is loaded on the server, the match should be stopped and reset. Previously played maps with incorrect format will not count towards the series.

8.2.3. Map Veto

The lower seed will have the ability to decide which team will act as Team 1 and which will act as Team 2. The map pool is listed in rule 8.2.4.

8.2.3.1. Best of Five

In a Best of Five, Team 2 will ban one map from the list of three maps for the current game mode (order listed in 8.2.4.1 Rotation) Team 1 will then choose a map from the remaining maps for the game mode. The winner of the game mode will choose which map is banned from the next game mode, then the loser of the game mode will choose the next map. If the rotation goes to round 5 the Control map that was not previous chosen or banned in round 1 will be the final map to be played for the match.

8.2.3.2. Best of Seven

In a Best of Seven, Team 2 will ban one map from the list of three maps for the current game mode (order listed in 8.2.4.1 Rotation) Team 1 will then choose a map from the remaining maps for the game mode. The winner of the game mode will choose which map is banned from the next game mode, then the loser of the game mode will choose the next map. If the game mode returns to the start of the list (Control), the remaining map that was not banned or chosen previously will be played.

8.2.4. Map Pool

The following maps are permitted for play in official matches. Please note that any reskinned/seasonal versions of these maps are prohibited from play in official matches.

• Control Maps

  • Ilios

  • Busan

  • Lijiang Tower

• Assault Maps

  • Hanamura

  • Volskaya Industries

  • Temple of Anubis

• Hybrid Maps

  • Hollywood

  • Blizzard World

  • King’s Row

• Escort Maps

  • Havana

  • Junkertown

  • Route 66

8.2.4.1 Rotation

Each match will have the following game modes in this order: Control / Hybrid / Assault / Escort / Control

8.2.5. Map Ties

In the event that a map ends in a tie, a control map not currently in the rotation will be used as a tiebreaker. The lobby owner will need to select the map and set the mode as listed below.

• Mode

  • Score to Win

    • Control: 1

The tiebreaker does not count towards the series length, it is only used to determine the winner of the previous map. 

8.3. Restrictions

Any heroes, sprays, voice lines, emotes, victory poses, highlight intros, or maps that are currently disabled in the competitive game mode are prohibited from use in official matches.

8.3.1 New heroes

New heroes are prohibited from use in official matches within the first two weeks of their launch.

8.3.2 Skins

The use of hero skins in a match is prohibited. Skins need to be disabled in the game lobby’s menu.

8.4. Stoppage of Play

The game may only be paused for the following reasons:

• Player drop

• Player disconnect

• Server crash

• Technical issues

Stoppage of play may be requested at any time for the above reasons. The match host (person who created the match lobby and therefore has pausing privileges) must initiate a pause when a team requests it so long as the pause is not called during combat, while the objective is contested, or during overtime. Each team will have 5 total minutes of pause time per map. Players pause the game using the key combination Ctrl + Shift + =. Abuse of the auto-pause feature may result in punishment for the team abusing it.

8.5. Player Count

Both teams participating in a match must provide 6 players at the beginning of the first game, and 5 for each consecutive game. During a game, if a team should lose 2 players that have disconnected with the intention of no longer playing in the match at the same time, that team will forfeit the remainder of the game to the opposing team. If a team is not able to field the required amount of players for additional games in the series, then they will forfeit the remainder of the match.