ESL One Cologne 2016 is coming to the LANXESS Arena this July as the next Valve major, and the battle for a slot at the event has already begun. Minor qualifiers are underway, with the minors themselves beginning soon. As such, we would now like to announce the roster locks and substitution rules that will apply to all attending teams.

Rules

The rules are as follows:

• Teams that play at a minor and qualify for the LAN qualifier have to maintain a majority lineup to keep the slot
• Players that participated in a minor cannot change to any other team participating in the LAN qualifier or major in any capacity

• Teams invited or qualified for the ESL One Cologne LAN qualifier have until Friday the 27th of May at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. This registration also counts for the major if the team qualifies - changes after the LAN qualifier are not possible
• Teams that have been invited to the LAN qualifier due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slot

• Legend teams directly invited to ESL One Cologne have until Friday the 3rd of June at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. Changes after this deadline are not possible
• Legend teams that have been invited to ESL One Cologne due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slot

At any time between registering a coach/reserve player and their first match at the major, a team may swap their coach/reserve player with any of their starting lineup players. After the start of their first match at the major there will be no more changes allowed to the lineup, with the only exception being in the case of injury or sickness. ESL can reject this request if no sufficient evidence can be provided. The replaced injured or sick player may not return to the lineup for the remainder of the tournament.

Join us for the world's greatest CS:GO event!

ESL One Cologne 2016 will be an event you don't want to miss - get your ticket now and join us for some out-of-this-world CS:GO action!

For all the latest updates about the event, remember to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook.