In todays update we are going to reveal the location of ESL Pro League Season 22 as well as provide an update to the 2025 Counter-Strike Rulebook, which will include changes to general & specific rules and changes to roster restrictions in 2025.
ESL Pro League Season 22 in Stockholm
The second season of ESL Pro League in 2025 will be hosted at our ESL studios in Stockholm, Sweden, from September 27 to October 12. ESL Pro League Season 22 will, just like Season 21, feature 24 teams, team-selected seeding for the initial phase, and live ratings during the two Swiss stages.
More details surrounding Season 22 can be found here.
changes to Counter-Strike rulebook in 2025
In preparation for 2025, we have introduced several updates to our rulebook, incorporating feedback and adjustments from the previous year, along with general housekeeping for the new season.
The most significant update is the alignment of our rules with Valve’s regulations to ensure consistency across the board. This includes replacing references to the ‘ESL World Ranking’ with the ‘Valve Regional Standings,’ revising our regional and roster restrictions, and introducing new rules to support Valve’s overarching framework.
Additionally, we have overhauled our replacement rules to align with the newly established slot distributions and adjusted our scripting and SOCD policies to reflect Valve’s updated stance.
Generic changelog
- Corrected various typos and grammatical errors for clarity and consistency.
- Updated all references of “ESL World Ranking” to “Valve Regional Standings”.
- Consolidated the event-specific Replacement Rules document into a new comprehensive set of replacement rules within Section 3 of the General Rules.
General Rules changelog
- Revised 1.3 Region to align with Valve’s regional structure.
- Expanded communication channels in 2.6 Communication to include additional methods for tournament-related requests.
- Updated 2.7.3 Home Country/Region to reflect Valve’s approach to determining a participant’s region.
- Aligned 2.11.3 Team license with Valve’s updated requirements.
- Refined 2.11.3.1 Multiple teams to provide clearer guidelines.
- Removed 2.11.6 Review of license, as this is no longer supported under Valve’s rules.
- Clarified 2.14.1 Withdrawing from the event (previously called “Leaving during an event” to provide transparency on the rule's application.
- Incorporated the “Live Rating” method into 2.16.1 Determining the better seed.
- Added 2.16.2 Seeding based on Valve Regional Standings, 2.16.3 Team-Selected Seeding and 2.16.4 Live Ratings System for improved clarity on future event processes.
- Added 2.22 Valve Regional Standings invitation slot priority to explain slot prioritisation.
- Removed outdated slot allocation processes (2.23 Local Hero Slots, 2.24.1 ESL Pro League Slots from Challenger level events, 2.42.2 ESL Pro League Slots from Challenger League events, 2.42.3 EPT Championship Slots from ESL National Championship events, 2.24.4 EPT Championship Slots) no longer applicable under Valve’s updated tournament requirements.
- Revised 2.23 ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike slot transfer protocol to reflect the updated slot transfer process.
- Added an example in 2.24 Roster retention.
- Added 2.26 Valve’s Tournament Operating Requirements to highlight Valve’s overarching rules.
- Added 2.27 Valve Regional Standings invites to clarify the invitation process for events.
- Updated 3.1.2 Replacement tiebreaker to utilise Valve Regional Standings (VRS).
- Expanded Section 3 with comprehensive replacement rules for both offline and online events.
- Added 4.1.1 SOCD features to cover SOCD use case.
- Streamlined 4.12 Photo and media rights, removing the requirement for submitting duplicate release forms.
- Lowered the minimum fine in 5.10.4 Damaging or soiling.
- Updated Appendix 6.1 to reflect Valve’s regional structure.
Game Specific Rules Changelog
- Updated the active map pool by adding Train and removing Vertigo to align with Valve’s guidelines.
- Removed the wording that explained the last map in 2.3.7 Best-of-five (Bo5) matches with advantage was to be determined by a knife round, as the advantaged team wins the fifth map by default.
- Modified 2.5 Match server to explain the process of checking the server.
- Updated 2.5.1 Match Server Location to outline the process for selecting servers and provided a list of available server locations.
- Updated 2.9.3 Scripts to reflect Valve’s stricter policy on scripting.
- Adjusted 2.10.7 Tiebreakers to specify the correct scoring for winners in MR12 matches.
Roster Restrictions changelog
- Removed the 120-day restriction for adding new players in 2.2.1 Restrictions for adding new players.
- Removed rules on 2.2.2 Multiple contracts and 2.5 Academy rosters/sister squads.
- Clarified adherence to the majority rule in 2.2.2 Emergency additions.
- Removed license review requirements from 2.4 Lineup restrictions during an event and 2.4.1 Lineup restrictions during ESL Challenger League Season 49.
Below you will find a more detailed breakdown of these changes where
Green text shows what has been added to the rulebook
Orange text shows what has been removed from the rulebook
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike General Rules 2025
- 1.3 Region
For ESL events, the world is divided into three main regions which are as follows:
- Europe
- Americas
- Asia
The regions can be further divided into subregions, as ESL sees fit. For instance, in the context of online competitions, the Americas region can be divided into two subregions: North America and South America.
For a list of all countries and their primary assigned region, see 6.1. Exceptions to this list may be made on a per-game basis, where necessary.
- 2.6 Communication
The main communication method for ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike events is email. When contacting participants of ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike events, the tournament administration will use contact email addresses that have been supplied to them. Where a contact email address is not known, the tournament administration may use the email addresses registered to participants on their FACEIT profiles.
For online competition, Discord servers may also be utilised to facilitate match coordination, broadcast management, and event operations. In such cases, the relevant Discord servers will be explicitly communicated via email by the tournament administration.
All inquiries must be directed via email to the following address: csref@efg.gg.
- 2.7.3 Home country/region
A participant’s home country is the country where their main place of residence for a significant portion of the calendar year is, or the country they hold a valid passport from. When a participant is residing in a country they do not hold a valid passport from, they must have a valid visa of at least 120 days. This decision can be made anew at any time, but once made it cannot be changed for 120 days from the first date of participation within that event or its qualifiers. The home region is the region that this country belongs to (see Appendix 1). This is determined by the residence of the majority of the used lineup. If there is no such majority, a team may have no home country or even no home region. In that case, the team cannot take part in qualifiers restricted to a country or region without consulting with the tournament administration. ESL reserves the right to deny the request to allow a team to play in a certain region, as well as the right to allow exceptions based on other Tournament Organiser regional restrictions. Participants who are found to have violated this rule, or to have misrepresented their residence eligibility, may invoke the removal of event slots for the region where they have illegally participated and other illegally gained benefits, as well as the transfer of the team to their default region (the region for which they hold valid passports).
A participant’s home country is determined by the citizenship of the majority of its players. The corresponding home region is the region to which this country belongs (as outlined in Appendix 6.1). If no majority exists due to a tie, the team may choose between the tied regions. For players whose citizenship does not fall under one of the three main regions (Europe, Asia, Americas), they may assign themselves to a region already represented on the roster. If all players are from outside the three main regions, the team may select any region as their home region.
All invitations will adhere strictly to the regional classifications outlined in the Valve Regional Standings and will follow the invite priority specified in the 2.22 Valve Regional Standings invitation slot priority rule. For example, a team classified as European in the Valve Regional Standings will only be eligible for a European Valve Regional Standings invitation (whether to the main event or a closed qualifier). Similarly, if a team is classified as both European and Asian in the Valve Regional Standings, the invitation slot priority will determine which of the two invites they will receive.
- 2.11.3 Team license
Event licences will be awarded to a legal entity (registered association/organisation, Ltd company, and so on). Any legal entity is only allowed to hold one licence in the same competition. No other legal entity controlled by the same person/people is allowed to hold more than one licence. An organisation or team may only hold a licence for 1 roster throughout the entirety of an event. It is strictly forbidden for an organisation to change which lineup represents them during an event.
If no such entity exists for the team in question, or the existing entity has never been reported to and accepted by the tournament administration, a restricted licence may be awarded to the team where the team leader or organiser will be the designated contact person. This person will be responsible for keeping the team information up to date.
Regardless of the license type, the license remains valid only if the majority of players who either received the invitation or actively participated in the event or its qualifiers remain together as a team. In cases where a team used more than five players during the event or the qualifier that resulted in obtaining the license, the majority will be determined based on the players with the highest number of matches played.
The licence holder or representative is responsible for all actions and commitments of the team. Any changes in the team licence must be reported to and accepted by the tournament administration before they can be implemented. The licence holder decides who the recipient of any prize money won under its licence will be.
Any participant surrendering their event licence by choice may be precluded from being granted another licence in the same competition.
- 2.11.3.1 Multiple teams
Organisations are generally allowed to maintain multiple squads that take part in the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike ecosystem, but certain restrictions apply. If the squads are supposed to be equal in standing and value, they are treated exactly like separate teams from different organisations. The squads have to be named in a way that clearly labels them as different squads belonging to the same organisation (e.g. “ESL Gaming Blue” and “ESL Gaming Red”, or “ESL Gaming” and “ESL Gaming Academy”, or “ESL Gaming Germany” and “ESL Gaming Poland”). Moreover, to avoid any potential conflict of interest, the following rules apply:
It is not allowed for a team to participate in an ESL tournament if:
- Another team of the same organisation has been invited or qualified to the main event.
It is also not allowed for a team to participate in an ESL tournament’s qualifier if:
- Another team of the same organisation has been invited or qualified to the closed qualifier.
- Another team of the same organisation has signed up for the same qualifier.
Two teams from the same organisation may participate in different qualifiers; however, once one team secures qualification, the other will be removed from the tournament. In cases of overlapping qualifiers, only one team from the same organisation may participate in the qualifying stage.
ESL Pro Tour CS competitions that offer a slot in other ESL Pro Tour CS competitions are not considered to be qualifiers.
A special exception to this can only be made if the organisation in question provides a written confirmation that, at least three weeks before the part of the competition including the first team, one of the two teams will no longer be part of that organisation, and its players will no longer be under contract with them. This confirmation must be provided no later than 48 hours before the second team’s first match in the competition.
Similarly, an academy team may participate in and win an event that awards a slot in a further competition (for example, an ESL Challenger tournament that awards a slot in an upcoming season of ESL Pro League) if written confirmation is provided by the organisation no later than 48 hours before the academy team's first participation in that event's structure (i.e., open qualifier, closed qualifier or main event) that the academy team will replace the main team in said further competition, should they qualify. For academy teams competing in ESL Challenger League, if no written confirmation is given no later than 48 hours before the academy team's first participation in that season's structure, the academy team will not be able to progress from the group stage to the playoffs stage, where the next eligible team in line will replace them.
This separation must last a minimum of 120 days after the event completion and must remain independent of the teams' performance in the qualifiers.
- 2.11.6 Review of licence
If a licence holder loses 3 or more players from their starting lineup, ESL can review the licence and possibly withdraw it. Coaches are never considered players.
For leagues, where a licence holder loses over 40% of the players who participated in the majority of the team’s matches within the previous season, a review will take place to determine their ability to participate in the next season.
Licence reviews are conducted subjectively by ESL and the tournament administration using the information available to us.
A team who loses their event licence through the review process may still be eligible to be invited as a replacement team if they meet the criteria as stated in ESL Pro Tour CS Replacement Rules.
- 2.14.1 Leaving during an event Withdrawing from the event
If a participant leaves during an ongoing event (i.e. between qualifier and the main event, between two stages of qualification or even between accepting the invitation to a qualifier and the qualifier), the participant forfeits all prize money accumulated for the event, fines, relegations and other penalties may be imposed and all its members may be banned until the end of the main event.
ESL reserves the right to penalise the participant, or organisation, in the next event they participate within three hundred sixty five (365) days. Higher penalties, not being invited, suspensions or similar punishments may also come into effect, especially for very late cancellations, as seen fit by the tournament administration.
Participants will not be penalised if they leave an event after a second squad from their organisation has qualified for the event.
Participants are considered to have withdrawn from the event if they leave during the ongoing stage, between the two stages of the event, including its qualifying stage (e.g., qualifier and main event), or if they leave after accepting the invitation. In such cases, the participant will forfeit all prize money accumulated for the event, and penalties may be imposed. ESL reserves the right to penalise the participant, organisation, and all its members with fines, relegations, or other sanctions, which may be enforced immediately or in the next event they participate in within three hundred sixty-five (365) days.
Stricter penalties, including increased fines, suspension from future events, or exclusion from invitations, may be enforced, particularly in cases of last-minute cancellations or when replacements result in significantly weaker participation.
Participants will not be penalised if they withdraw from an event due to a second squad from their organisation qualifying for the event. Additionally, in special cases, tournament administration may waive penalties if there is an appropriate reason, such as a medical emergency or visa complications.
- 2.16.1 Determining the “better seed”
Whenever a clear seeding can be given, one participant will be declared the “better seed”. This participant then has the choice of who starts the map-veto process.
- In online qualifiers, the tournament seeding (see round one of the upper bracket) determines who has the better seed.
- For preliminary stages (e.g. Play-In or Conference), a clear seeding will be implemented and it will remain valid for the duration of that whole stage.
- For group stages, a clear seeding will be implemented and it will remain valid for the duration of that whole stage. Where a group stage is preceded by a preliminary stage, the results of that stage will be taken into account during the group draw.
- For competitions that use the “Live Rating” method, participants will be assigned seeds based on their ELO-like ratings that will dynamically update after each match.
- For any other competition format, if a clear seeding is implemented (e.g. in the bracket draw), it will remain valid for the duration of that whole stage (excluding the grand final).
- In playoffs that follow upon a previous round that gave a clear ranking, the participant that had the higher previous round ranking is considered the “better seed” until the grand final. Where a “better seed” cannot be established, i.e, when two group winners face each other in a semi-final, a coin toss will be used to determine it.
- In a single elimination grand final and a double elimination final with no map advantage, a coin toss is used to determine the “better seed” team. In a double elimination final with a map advantage, the team coming from the lower bracket is considered the “better seed”.
If a case is not covered here or still unclear for any reason, contact the tournament administration.
- 2.16.2 Seeding based on Valve Regional Standings
If the tournament uses Valve Regional Standings for seeding, the most recent live version of the global Valve Regional Standings available on the seeding date will be utilised. Points will remain unchanged regardless of roster changes. The live version of the Valve Regional Standings can be accessed here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/counter-strike_regional_standings/tree/main/live.
The seeding date is typically two weeks prior to the start of the event.
- 2.16.3 Team Selected Seeding
Each team must submit a ranked list of the other 15 teams participating in the event, with Seed #1 representing the highest-ranked team and Seed #15 the lowest. Teams are prohibited from ranking themselves, and each rank can only be assigned once. Failure to submit a complete and correctly filled ranking by the deadline will result in the following penalties:
- The team will incur two penalty points, including a potential prize money deduction of up to $2,000.
- The team's vote will be excluded from the seeding process (partial votes will also be disregarded).
All submitted rankings will be made public either during or after the event.
Once all rankings are collected, the average (arithmetic mean) for each of the 16 teams will be calculated. Votes that fall outside a mathematically expected range based on standard deviation will be excluded from the calculation.
Teams will then be seeded based on their final average values, with the lowest value representing the top seed. In the event of a tie, a coin toss will determine the final seeding between the tied teams.
If a team withdraws prior to the group announcement, their votes will be excluded from the process. In cases where a replacement team is introduced, that team will automatically be seeded last and will not undergo a new voting process.
- 2.16.4 Live Ratings system
The Live Ratings system recalculates each team’s rating based on the relative difference in ratings between the two opponents. A sophisticated formula governs these adjustments, factoring in the relative strength of the opposing teams. Teams will gain significantly more points when defeating a higher-ranked opponent and fewer points when defeating a lower-ranked one. Conversely, losses to lower-ranked teams will result in a more substantial rating reduction, while losses to higher-ranked opponents will have a smaller impact.
- 2.22 Valve Regional Standings invitation slot priority
Where an ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike event includes multiple Valve Regional Standings invitation criteria, regional Valve Regional Standings slots for each event stage will be allocated before global Valve Regional Standings slots. In the event that a team would be invited to a particular stage of the event based on more than one regional Valve Regional Standings, the invitation will align with Valve’s Major process and be attributed to the region with the greater representation in the Major (i.e., Europe, followed by Americas, and then Asia).
- 2.23 Local Hero Slots
Local Hero slots are awarded to one of the best-performing teams where the majority of their players are of the nationality of the tournament's host country or region. This slot will be filled before ESL World Ranking slots.
- 2.24.1 ESL Pro League Slots from Challenger level events
Some events within the ESL Pro Tour CS may be communicated as awarding the winner a slot in a season of the ESL Pro League. In situations where the winners of those events are already qualified for the relevant ESL Pro League season, the grand final loser will instead receive the slot. If both teams in the grand final are already qualified for the relevant ESL Pro League season, the slot for that event will instead revert to being a Global ESL World Ranking slot, to be filled at the time of the ESL World Ranking cutoff for that season.
- 2.42.2 ESL Pro League Slots from Challenger League events
When communicated, seasons of the ESL Challenger League will award the winner a slot in an upcoming season of the ESL Pro League. In situations where the winners of those events are already qualified, or are ineligible to participate, for the relevant ESL Pro League season, the grand final loser will instead receive the slot. If both teams in the grand final are already qualified, the third placed team will inherit the slot. Where the third placed team is also qualified, the fourth placed team will instead be invited. If the top 4 teams from the season are all qualified for the relevant ESL Pro League season, or are ineligible to participate, the slot for that event will instead revert to being a Regional ESL World Ranking slot, to be filled at the time of the ESL World Ranking cutoff for that season.
- 2.42.3 EPT Championship Slots from ESL National Championship events
Only the winning team of an ESL National Championship tournament is eligible to receive a direct invitation. If the winning team already earned a direct invitation, or declines the invitation for the ESL Pro Tour CS Championship, then the slot will be transferred to the global ESL World Ranking pool and does not trickle down to the second placed team from the qualifying tournament. If a team first wins a slot for the EPT Championship Play-In, and then later on wins a slot for the EPT Championship Group Stage, then the Play-In slot will be transferred to the global ESL World Ranking pool and does not trickle down to the second placed team in the tournament which initially qualified to the EPT Championship Play-In.
- 2.24.4 EPT Championship Slots
Only the winning team of an ESL Pro Tour CS Masters tournament, affiliate event or CS Major (if allocated a slot) is eligible to receive a direct invitation. If the winning team already earned a direct invitation, or declines the invitation for the ESL Pro Tour CS Championship, then the slot will be transferred to the global ESL World Ranking pool and does not trickle down to the second placed team from the qualifying tournament. If a team first wins a slot for the EPT Championship Play-In, and then later on wins a slot for the EPT Championship Group Stage, then the Play-In slot will be transferred to the global ESL World Ranking pool and does not trickle down to the second placed team in tournament which initially qualified to the to the EPT Championship Play-In. If a team qualifies for the allocated NC slot in the Play-In, but is already qualified, declines the invitation or is otherwise ineligible, then the slot will be transferred to the regional ESL World Ranking pool and does not trickle down to the second placed team.
- 2.23 ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike slot transfer protocol
Only the winning team of an ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competition, affiliate event, or any other event with an allocated slot is eligible to receive a direct invitation. If the winning team has already secured a direct invitation or declines the invitation to the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competition, the slot will be transferred to either global or the respective region's Valve Regional Standings pool. The slot does not pass down to the second-place team from the qualifying tournament. For example, if the winner of ESL Challenger League South America has already qualified for the ESL Pro League, the slot will instead be awarded to the next highest-ranked team from the Valve Regional Standings Americas.
- 2.24 Roster retention
Participants must keep a majority of players that match the criteria of the qualifier from which they qualified for the event. For example, a participant who competes in and wins a Germany qualifier must keep a majority of German players for the event. Similarly, a participant that competes in a Europe qualifier must keep a majority of European players.
For participants who are invited to an event, they must retain a majority of players that match the criteria for which the team was invited. For example, a participant invited in the Valve Regional Standings South America slot must keep a majority of South American players.
Participants who have received a special exception to compete in another region's qualifiers, or who have moved regions in the time since qualifying for or being invited to an event, are not held to this standard but they must still keep a majority of the players they used to qualify or that were a part of the invited line-up.
- 2.26 Valve’s Tournament Operating Requirements
ESL Pro Tour events are classified as Ranked Events under Valve's Tournament Operating Requirements. As such, all rules outlined in these requirements are applicable to the ESL Pro Tour. The full set of rules can be reviewed here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/counter-strike_rules_and_regs/blob/main/tournament-operation-requirements.md.
- 2.27 Valve Regional Standings invites
ESL Pro Tour events will determine their Direct Valve Regional Standings invitations based on the monthly publication provided by Valve, available here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/counter-strike_regional_standings/tree/main/invitation.
The invitation date will be communicated in an official announcement prior to the event.
- 3.1.2 Replacement tiebreaker
If participants have an identical score/position on/in the relevant invite list or qualifier, the one with the smallest change in lineup since then will be preferred.
If participants have identical scores or positions on the relevant invitation list or qualifier, preference will be given to the participant with the higher ranking in the Valve Regional Standings.
If that leaves several options, the tournament administration will make a choice based on other criteria or/and a random draw.
- 3.1.2 Replacement deadline
A replacement deadline will be set by the tournament administration. Its passing does not mean that there will be no further replacement, but the rules for replacing are different from that point on. If no replacement can be found, the stage may start with one less participant instead.
If no earlier deadline has been set, the public announcement of the competition drawing is usually the replacement deadline.
- 3.1.3 Re-seeding
If any dropouts occur more than 10 days before the event's start date, the tournament will be reseeded. If the dropout happens within 10 days of the tournament’s start, the replacement team will inherit the dropped team’s position in the tournament. However, they will be assigned the lowest available seed in that stage for the purposes of the map veto. All teams seeded below the dropped team will move up one spot in the seeding for the map veto.
- 3.2 Offline events replacement rules
- 3.2.1 Events with multiple stages
For events with multiple stages, if a team withdraws from a later stage before the start of the event, the highest-ranked team in the global Valve Regional Standings at the time of withdrawal will be promoted from the earlier stage. The vacant slot in the earlier stage will subsequently be filled following the guidelines outlined in the rules below.
- 3.2.2 Global Valve Regional Standings slots
If a team invited via the global Valve Regional Standings withdraws more than two months prior to the event's start date, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available global invitation Valve Regional Standings at the time of the withdrawal.
For withdrawals occurring less than two months before the event's start date, invitations will be extended only to teams with valid visas for the region or country in which the tournament is taking place. Invited teams will have 24 hours to provide proof of these visas unless a valid reason is provided to justify an extension.
- 3.2.3 Sub-list Valve Regional Standings slots
If a team invited via one of the sub-lists of the Valve Regional Standings withdraws more than two months prior to the event's start date, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available invitation sub-list of the Valve Regional Standings for the same region at the time of the withdrawal.
For withdrawals occurring less than two months before the event's start date, invitations will be extended only to teams with valid visas for the region or country in which the tournament is taking place. Invited teams will have 24 hours to provide proof of these visas unless a valid reason is provided to justify an extension.
If no such team exists, the slot will be reassigned to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available global invitation Valve Regional Standings at the time of the withdrawal.
- 3.2.4 Qualifier slots
If a team qualified via one of the regional qualifiers withdraws more than two months prior to the event's start date, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-placed team from the closed qualifier of the respective region (e.g., if the winner of the European closed qualifier withdraws, the slot will pass to the second-placed team from the same qualifier).
For withdrawals occurring less than two months before the event's start date, invitations will be extended only to teams with valid visas for the region or country where the tournament is taking place. Invited teams must provide proof of these visas within 24 hours, unless a valid reason is provided to justify an extension.
If no such team exists, the slot will be reassigned to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available global invitation Valve Regional Standings at the time of the withdrawal.
- 3.2.5 Last minute replacements
Any withdrawal occurring less than two weeks prior to the event’s start date will result in the invitation being granted to the highest-ranked team on the Valve Regional Standings from the host region of the event. Only teams with valid visas for the region or country where the tournament is being held will be considered. Invited teams must provide proof of these visas within 24 hours, unless a valid reason is provided to justify an extension.
- 3.3 Online event replacement rules
- 3.3.1 Closed qualifier invites
If a team invited via one of the sub-lists of the Valve Regional Standings withdraws more than 48 hours prior to the start date of the event’s first open qualifier for the same region, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available invitation sub-list of the Valve Regional Standings for that region at the time of the withdrawal.
For withdrawals occurring less than 48 hours before the start date of the event's first open qualifier for the same region, the slot will be transferred to the last open qualifier within the same region.
- 3.3.2 Teams qualified through open qualifiers
If a team that qualified via one of the open qualifiers withdraws from the tournament, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-placed team from the last open qualifier of the respective region. For example, if the winner of the European open qualifier withdraws, the slot will be passed to the second-placed team from the last European open qualifier.
- 3.3.3 ESL Challenger League invite slots
If a team invited via one of the sub-lists of the Valve Regional Standings withdraws more than three weeks prior to the event's start date, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-ranked team from the latest available invitation sub-list of the Valve Regional Standings for the same region at the time of the withdrawal. If no such team exists, the slot will be reassigned to the next highest-placed team from the qualifying stage.
For withdrawals occurring less than three weeks before the event's start date, the slot will be awarded to the next highest-placed team from the qualifying stage.
- 3.3.4 ESL Challenger League qualifying slot
If a team qualified through the qualifying stage withdraws from the competition, their slot will be awarded to the next highest-placed team from that qualifying stage.
- 3.2.6 Replacement rules
A detailed breakdown of the replacement rules for all ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competitions can be found in the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Replacement Rules.
- 4.1.1 SOCD features
The use of Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions (SOCD) features, including but not limited to Snap Tap, Rappy Snappy, or any similar mechanisms that produce equivalent outcomes, is strictly prohibited. Non-compliance with this rule may result in penalties, ranging from a default map loss to disqualification from the tournament.
- 4.3 Clothing
The players and teams need to ensure that they are all in equal coloured team attire, long trousers and closed shoes (i.e. shorts, flip-flops and foam clogs e.g. crocs clogs are not allowed). Any kind of headwear is forbidden. Special exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis for unavoidable medical or religious reasons. Any such exceptions must be requested directly via email to the tournament administration at least 48 hours before the start of the competition, unless a medical emergency prevents timely submission. Penalties will be awarded for minor violations of this rule (a minimum of $250 fine), but in major cases (for example offensive content, other team branded clothing etc.), players will not be allowed to start their matches before the problematic piece of clothing has been replaced. If possible, and deemed appropriate by the tournament administration, ESL will provide suitable clothing for the participants that are not dressed accordingly. The cost of provided clothing will then be subtracted from the prize money awarded to the participants. Any delay caused by change of clothing will be considered the players fault and penalised according to the rules of punctuality.
- 4.12 Photo and other media rights
By participating in the event, all players and other team members grant ESL the right to use any photographic, audio or video material on their website or for any other promotional purpose. Additionally, each player must sign two copies of a release form that they will receive beforehand for reading. These must be signed before they start their first match.
- 5.10.4. Damaging or soiling
Participants taking action that could or does result in damage or soiling of rooms, furniture, equipment or similar items will incur a minimum fine of $500. This fine may be increased based on the costs required to restore the items to their original condition, the efforts involved in addressing the issue, and any reputational damage incurred with third parties or the public.
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules 2025
- 2.3.1 Map pool
The competition will be played on the current competitive map pool (Valve Active Duty Map Group) which consists of the following maps:
- Anubis
- Inferno
- Mirage
- Nuke
- Dust2
- Ancient
- Train
- Vertigo
- 2.3.7 Best-of-five (Bo5) matches with advantage
The team coming from the lower bracket decides whether they will be Team A or Team B. Team A starts the process and the order of the ban/pick is as follows:
- Team A removes one map.
- Team B removes one map.
- Team A picks one map.
- Team B picks one map.
- Team A picks one map.
- Team B picks one map.
- The remaining map is won by default by the team with advantage.
Every team decides the starting sides on the map choice of their opponent. The starting sides on the last map are determined by a knife round.
- 2.5 Match server
Matches are played on servers provided by ESL. For open qualifiers hosted on the FACEIT platform, teams veto server locations before each match. For all other online tournaments, server locations are selected by the tournament administration. Teams are required to check all necessary game aspects (including skins, bugs on load etc.) and network components (latency and server variance) at least 15 no later than 5 minutes before scheduled match start. Failure to do so, and to let the match start, will mean that both teams have accepted the state the map and server is in,and the match might be continued under these conditions.
- 2.5.1 Match server location
Participants are encouraged to share their server location preferences prior to the start of the event or each match. However, the final decision regarding server locations will be made by the tournament administration. Below is the base list of server locations available for each region:
Europe: Moscow, Amsterdam, London, Dusseldorf, Stockholm, Paris, Helsinki
North America: Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta
South America: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago
Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo
Oceania: Sydney
Additional server locations may be added throughout the tournament. The list may also change under special circumstances, and participants are advised to check the FACEIT event page for the most up-to-date information.
- 2.9.3 Scripts
All scripts are strictly prohibited, with no exceptions. This includes any in-game binds that execute more than one movement and/or attack action. except for buy, toggle (e.g. on/off, 0/1, bindX/bindY), weapon & grenade quick switching and jumpthrow scripts. Participants may be penalised for forbidden scripts in any config file, regardless of if it is in use, or even stored in the game folder in question. Examples of allowed scripts:
Jumpthrow, e.g.:
alias "+jump" "+jump"
alias "+throw" "-attack; -attack2"
alias "+fall" "-jump"
bind "v" "+jump; +throw; +fall"
Jumpthrow +run, +left, +right, e.g.:
alias "+throw" "-attack; -attack2"
alias "+runthrow" "+forward;+jump;"
alias "-runthrow" "-jump;-forward"
bind "n" "+runthrow;+throw"
Weapon & grenade quick switching, e.g.:
alias "+flash" "slot3"
alias "-flash" "slot7"
bind "c" "+flash"
Crosshair size toggle, e.g.:
alias "+crosshairchange" "cl_crosshairsize 1000"
alias "-crosshairchange" "cl_crosshairsize 2"
bind "p" "+crosshairchange"
- 2.10.7 Tiebreakers
If a number of participants are tied by win-loss difference at the end of a round robin group stage, their ranking order will be decided as described below.When it comes to round scores, every overtime will be considered with the score of 13:12 for the winner. Actual OT scores only matter in the points 11. and 12.
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions 2025
- 2.2.1 Restrictions for adding new players
Every player addition is counted as a “new player”. The maximum number of new players any team can add within any one hundred and twenty (120) day period is five (5). This includes new players in other ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competitions (including but not limited to Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League, ESL Challenger events, ESL Challenger League and ESL National Championships, including their qualifiers). This one hundred and twenty (120) day period starts whenever the first addition is made.
A player can only join an ESL participant if they have not been registered to, at most, 2 teams in ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competitions (including their qualifiers) during the last 120 days. A special, one-time exception to this rule can be made if the player or their team can clearly prove that this change is long term (i.e. by presenting a valid contract). This exception can never be made when the third team is the same as the first one they were registered to.
Over the course of a single event and its qualifiers, the following restrictions apply:
- A player that played in and qualified from an open qualifier is never allowed to participate in another open qualifier for the same event. The player is also not allowed to play in any closed qualifier for the same event with another team.
- A player that played in and qualified from a closed qualifier is never allowed to participate in another qualifier for the same event. The player is also not allowed to play the main event with another team.
- A player that played in the open qualifier but didn't qualify into the closed qualifier is allowed to change teams for the main event. They can even change teams for the closed qualifier., but only if the new team can prove that the change is permanent
- A player that played in the closed qualifier but didn't qualify into the main event can change teams for the main event, but only if the new team can prove that the change is permanent
- None of these changes are allowed if the new team is the same that the player has already played for in the last 120 days.
- 2.2.2 Multiple contracts
For a player competing in ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competitions to have a contract or agreement to compete in professional tournaments (e.g. competitions that grant points for the ESL World Ranking, have a significant prize pool or otherwise high value or prestige) and their qualifiers with 2 or more teams is strictly forbidden, may it be written or oral. ESL considers contracts or agreements between players and teams to commence two (2) days before their first tournament match (notwithstanding any actual contracts).
If such a contract or agreement is found to be in existence, ESL reserves the right to bar the player from playing any more matches until the situation has been resolved. If the situation cannot be resolved, ESL has the right to remove the player or team(s) in question.
ESL defines an agreement as 5 or more players competing together. For example, signing up to and playing in a professional competition’s qualifier with a group of friends.
The only exception to this rule is in the case of a loan. In that instance, the player is only allowed to play competitions for the team they are loaned out to, not for the team that they are originally contracted with. Other than the fact that the player still has a running contract with his old team, this is in every way considered the same as an addition and the player will therefore not be allowed to play for their old team for 120 days from the implementation of the loan.
- 2.2.2 Emergency additions
Where a team is rendered unable to field a full lineup as a result of a serious and unexpected emergency, the right to make an emergency addition request exists, as long as supporting evidence can be provided. All emergency addition requests and supporting evidence will be evaluated by the tournament administration on a case by case basis. All emergency addition request decisions will be made at the tournament administration’s discretion.
Emergency additions are still subject to the restrictions for adding new players and the majority rule specified in 2.4 Lineup restrictions during an event must always be upheld. Any further restrictions detailed in this rulebook may be suspended in order to facilitate the addition.
Where an emergency addition is approved, all costs related to getting the new player to the event must be covered by the team.
- 2.4 Lineup restrictions during an event
Once a participant plays for the first time in a qualifier, their lineup has to contain a majority of that first lineup until the end of the main event, throughout all qualifiers and stages of the event. This also implies that an organisation that tried and failed to qualify with one team is not allowed to sign a new team to still take part in the event.
The above lineup restriction also applies for participants that were invited to the event or a later stage of the qualifiers, in that case the default lineup of the participant at the time of the invitation or a specific lineup named in context with the invitation is relevant. Invited participants are considered the same as if they had played throughout the entire qualifier process up until the stage that they have been invited to.
When a team changes the majority of their lineup after qualifying for or being invited to any qualifier or stage of an event, a licence review of the new lineup will take place, as per 2.11.6 Review of Licence in ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike General Rules.
- 2.4.1 Lineup restrictions during ESL Challenger League Season 49
A participant must use the majority of their starting lineup from the previous season until they have completed a majority of their matches during the first stage of the regular season.
Similarly, participants that have gone through a licence review must use a majority of players from the reviewed lineup until they have completed a majority of their matches during the first stage of the regular season.
- 2.5 Academy rosters and sister squads
Organisations are generally allowed to maintain multiple squads that take part in the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike ecosystem, but certain restrictions apply. If the squads are supposed to be equal in standing and value, they are treated exactly like separate teams from different organisations, with the exception of the below two rules also applying:
- The squads are considered separate teams for all purposes (e.g. World Ranking) not listed here otherwise and have to be named in a way that clearly labels them as different squads belonging to the same organisation (e.g. “ESL Gaming Blue” and “ESL Gaming Red”, or “ESL Gaming” and “ESL Gaming Academy”, or “ESL Gaming Germany” and “ESL Gaming Poland”).
- The squads are subjected to the same rules as set out in 2.11.3.1 Multiple Teams from ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike General Rules.
If one squad is the “main” squad and the others Academy squads (or similar) then, on top of the above rules applying, the following freedoms and requirements apply:
- The distinctions between the teams must be illustrated clearly by the names used for all squads (i.e. the first squad should not have a name extension and all other squads should have a name extension like “Academy”, “Youth” or “Prodigy”), otherwise the teams will be considered equal squads and fall under the rules above, only.
- Players from an Academy squad are allowed to be transferred freely into the main squad and back (i.e. the “120-days-rule” does not apply) or even be listed as a substitute in the main squad and as a regular player in one (1) other squad at the same time, as long as they don’t play more than 50% of the matches (=best-of-series) for the main squad in at least two EPT competitions or their qualifiers (and each case being more than one match) within 120 days. If that happens, the player in question will be considered a new player for the first squad and will not be allowed to return to another squad of the same organisation for 120 days, as described in the “120-days-rule”. An exception can be made if the reason for such an extended participation in the main squad is a documented health issue of the player that they substituted in for (e.g. in cases that would also warrant an emergency transfer). In such a case, the player may be allowed to return to the Academy team immediately after they are no longer required to stand in, be it due to the return of the original player or due to a more permanent replacement having been found. Transfers from the main squad into another squad or transfers between two Academy squads are always considered as regular transfers between two different teams.
- If the labelling of the squads appears false or misleading (e.g. a non-main squad outperforming the main squad for an extended period of time, or maintaining a higher World Ranking position), the Academy status of that squad will be revoked. Any players from that squad who are currently listed as substitutes in the squad that is labelled as “main” will be removed from it.
Outro
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