This rulebook update is relatively brief, focusing primarily on clarifications and revisions to align with the new event structures, legal entities, and prize money adjustments. Key changes include the introduction of an exception allowing participants to compete in overlapping competitions under specific conditions, as well as the removal of a provision that previously counted role changes within a team as roster additions. Additionally, we have clearly outlined the wildcard process for ESL Challenger League and established roster restrictions for Season 50. Lastly, we have addressed an additional method of exploiting in-game items.
Generic changelog
- Revised 1.1 Range of validity across all documents to align with the new ruleset structure.
- Updated the legal entity operating the event in all relevant documents.
General Rules changelog
- Introduced an exception to 1.2 Participants, permitting participants to compete in overlapping competitions under specific conditions.
- Revised 1.4.1 Definitions and scope of punishments to reflect the updated ruleset structure.
- Improved clarity in 1.4.1.2 Fines and 1.4.1.4 Disqualification through wording corrections.
- Merged 1.5 Tournament organisation and 1.5.1 Tournament administration into a single rule for consistency.
- Revised prize money rules to reflect the updated total winnings structure.
- Expanded 2.16.3 Team Selected Seeding with additional details.
- Introduced 2.28 ESL Challenger League Wildcards to outline the wildcard process.
Game Specific Rules Changelog
- Updated 2.9.8 In-game items to address additional methods of exploiting in-game items.
Roster Restrictions changelog
- Adjusted 2.1 Lineup to remove the provision stating that role changes within a team do not count as roster additions.
- Clarified 2.2.1.1 ESL Challenger League additions to specify when roster changes begin to count.
- Added 2.4.2 Lineup restrictions during ESL Challenger League Season 50 to define roster limitations for the upcoming season in accordance with structural changes.
Updated Rules
Below you will find a more detailed breakdown of Rulebook 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, Game Specific Rules, Roster Restrictions 2025
- 1.1 Range of validity
The event is operated as part of ESL by ESL Gaming GmbH.
This rulebook forms a part of the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Ruleset, which is valid for this event, its participants and all matches played within the scope of the event. With their participation, the participant states that they understand and accept all rules.
The ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Ruleset is comprised of:
- Counter-Strike General Rules
- Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules
- Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions
The event is operated by ESL Faceit Group Limited with its registered address at Millbank Tower Faceit 25th Floor, 21-24 Millbank, London, England, SW1P 4QP (who may be referred to in this document as “ESL” and/or “EFG”) and its Affiliates (as defined in the EFG CS2 Competition Terms and Conditions).
This rulebook forms a part of the ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Ruleset, which is valid for EPT events (as defined in the EFG CS2 Competition Terms and Conditions), its participants and all matches played within the scope of these events. With their participation, the participant states that they understand and accept all rules. The General Rules for the ESL Impact series can, instead, be found here.
The ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike “Ruleset” is comprised of:
- These EPT Counter-Strike General Rules;
- The EPT Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules located here;
- The EPT Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions located here; and
- The EFG CS2 Competition Terms and Conditions located here.
Additionally, EFG and the participating team may have entered into the following agreements relating to the team’s participation in EFG events:
- A ‘Team Participation Agreement’ (the “TPA”); and/or
- A ‘CS2 Ecosystem Agreement’ (the “Ecosystem Agreement”).
The Ruleset, TPA and Ecosystem Agreement shall be collectively referred to as the “Competition Documents”.
In case of inconsistency, contradiction, conflict in terms, or any other such issue between the individual documents within the Competition Documents, the Competition Documents shall be interpreted with the following order, with the first document(s) having precedent and binding power over those that follow:
- The EFG CS2 Competition Terms and Conditions; then
- The Ecosystem Agreement (where applicable); then
- The TPA; then
- This EPT Counter-Strike General Rules; then
- The EPT Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules; then
- The EPT Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions.
For the avoidance of doubt, to the extent that there is any inconsistency, contradiction, conflict in terms, or any other such issue between: (i) these EPT Counter-Strike General Rules; (ii) the EPT Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules; and (iii) the EPT Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions, and the terms of the equivalent rules for ESL Impact, then the relevant rules for Impact shall be disregarded in full.
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike General Rules 2025
- 1.2 Participants
An event participant is a team or a player that is taking part in an ESL competition. Any member of an ESL team is a participant of that team and is locked to it, regardless of whether or not the person has played for said team. No participant can at the same time be a part of more than one organisation taking part in overlapping ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike competitions (Challenger and Masters level), including but not limited to:
ESL Challenger League, Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League or any of those competitions’ direct qualifiers.
Under special circumstances, a transition period may be granted to allow a participant to compete simultaneously with their current team in one competition while beginning another competition with a different team.
If in doubt, please contact a member of the tournament administration team about whether the competition in question poses a conflict.
- 1.4.1 Definitions and scope of punishments
Punishments are given for rule violations within ESL events. They may be penalty points, fines, default losses, player/team suspensions or disqualifications, or a combination of these punishments dependent on the incident in question. Participants will be informed about the punishment by email and given a timeframe within which they can appeal the decision. Only the license-holder Team Representative (as defined under the applicable Team Participation Agreement) or their designated spokesperson are eligible to make appeals.
- 1.4.1.2 Fines
Fines may be given for incidents related to competition matches, and for failures to fulfil obligations that are not directly related to the competition such as press/media appointments, or planned sessions for fan interaction. Where the amount of fines accrued exceeds the total prize money earned from an event, an additional invoice will be sent to the team and/or participant to clear the remaining amount.
- 1.4.1.4 Disqualification
In the most severe cases of rule violations, participants may be disqualified from the event. Disqualified participants forfeit all prize money accumulated for the competition in question. Furthermore, the organisation, team and its members shall be banned until the end of that competition.
- 2.13 Prize money Total Winnings
All prize money total winnings should ideally be paid out ninety (90) days after the ESL event in question has been completed, but it may take as long as one hundred eighty (180) days for the payment to be completed.
If a participant fails to provide accurate payment information, an invoice or other required documentation (e.g. tax documents), the prize money total winnings will not be paid out until a reasonable time after this has been rectified.
- 2.13.1 Prize money deductions due to penalty points
Every penalty point that a participant acquires during an event or its qualifiers is penalised with a one percent (1%) prize money deduction. The deduction is calculated out of the grand total of prize money awarded to that participant at the end of the last part of the competition, including both online and offline prize money, but excluding the part that is meant to compensate for travel expenses or the club reward (if any). The deducted prize money will be proportionally distributed among the other teams; no prize money is lost through penalty points.
- 2.13.2 Prize money deductions due to fines
Fines are removed from the winnings prize money of the team in question. They are not redistributed to the other participants.
- 2.13.3 Withdrawal of prize money total winnings
As long as the prize money total winnings for the competition have not been paid out, ESL reserves the right to cancel any pending payment if any evidence of fraud or foul play is discovered.
- 2.13.3.1 Prize money Total winnings in case of ongoing investigations
If, at the due date of the prize total winnings payment an investigation into a player is ongoing, the payment for that player will be postponed until after that investigation has been concluded. If the investigation ends after the end of the third year after the competition, but the result is that the player should have received prize money total winnings, that payment will still be executed.
- 2.13.4 Transfer of prize money total winnings
The prize money total winnings will be sent as a bank transfer or PayPal payment, as specified by the licence holder. If a participant has not collected their winnings within one year of the initial payment date the prizes are forfeited.
- 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. All teams are required to vote fairly and impartially, with any attempts to manipulate or unfairly influence the seeding process strictly prohibited.
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 before, 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 (1.5 standard deviation threshold) 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 or matchup 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.
- 2.28 ESL Challenger League Wildcards
Each team is allowed one wildcard per regular season. Requests must be submitted via the designated team Discord channel at least 48 hours before the scheduled match start. In exceptional circumstances, the administration may approve wildcard use with less than 48 hours notice. Wildcards may only be used during the first stage of the regular season and are not permitted during the final week of that stage, as matches during this period cannot be rescheduled.
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Game Specific Rules 2025
- 2.9.8 In-game nametags items
Participants are not allowed to use nametags which violate the code of conduct on in-game items. All in-game items, including skins, nametags, and stickers (or any combination of stickers), must fully comply with the code of conduct and sponsor restrictions outlined in the General Rules.
ESL Pro Tour Counter-Strike Roster Restrictions 2025
- 2.1 Lineup
Teams have to submit their lineup for offline and online events before the deadline given by the tournament administration.
- The lineup must contain five (5) starter players
- In addition, the lineup may contain a single coach and up to five (5) substitute players for the event
All players and coaches will be considered part of the lineup, even if they have not participated in any of the matches. Any changes to the roles of participants submitted during the roster submission process (e.g. starter being moved to substitute, and vice versa) are considered an addition. Where a team does not have the maximum number of substitutes registered (5), the registered coach may be used as a substitute player.
It is suggested that every ESL team has substitutes added in their roster to compensate for any potential player losses during an event.
Each participant shall publicly announce its roster once the roster submission deadline has passed. If a participant fails for any reason to announce its roster by that time, ESL retains the right to publish said roster through its own marketing activities promoting the competition.
- 2.2.1.1 ESL Challenger League additions
During the regular season, participants can make up to three (3) player additions. The regular season begins at the roster submission deadline. Any player additions must be made no later than two (2) hours before the participant’s next scheduled match start time. The final time additions can be made is twenty four (24) hours after the final regular season match of that respective region concludes. No additions can be made during the playoffs or relegation stage.
- 2.4.2 Lineup restrictions during ESL Challenger League Season 50
A participant must use the majority of the lineup that was invited to the competition until they have completed a majority of their matches during the first stage of the regular season. For qualified teams, the majority of the lineup from their last match in the qualifying competition must be retained.
Outro
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