What are the match rules for Valorant?

VALORANT

LAST UPDATED:  November 12th, 2024

1.1 Match Procedure

• Tournament Teams
  • A “team” will consist of 5 Players and up to 5 allowable substitutes for a total of 10 players per roster. Multiple teams from each eligible institution will be allowed to participate in the tournament.

• If a team has less than 5 players, the match will be continued to be played (ex: 4v5). Otherwise, if the team with less than 5 players does not want to play with less than 5, they will take a forfeit.

• Set Length
  • Matches will be played as a best of 1 series.
    • Each game should be expected to last 30-40 minutes.
    • Playoffs will be a best of 3 series.

2.1 Game Rules

• Game Settings
  • The home team will create and host the lobby and invite the away team.
    • Lobby: Custom (closed)
    • Mode: Standard
    • Map: Chosen Map as determined by the pick/ban phase
    • Allow Cheats: Off
    • Tournament Mode: On
    • Overtime Win by Two: On
    • Blood: Disabled
    • Play All Rounds: Off

• In the event that an incorrect rule set is loaded on the server, the match will be stopped and reset. Any rounds played in the incorrect format will not count towards the match outcome.

• Team coaches will be responsible for communicating captain gamertags/lobby password for inviting teams/players to the lobby.
  • Please make sure that all gamertags that are listed are the in-game names of the players and not the Riot account names. Riot Games differentiates account names and in-game names, but only the in-game names are searchable for scouting and for finding the player to create the lobby.

• At the start of the match, team captains will be responsible for inviting their team members to the lobby.

• If a team is missing one or more players a grace period of 15 minutes will be given to find those players. After the 15 minutes, the team missing players will forfeit the match, unless they are going to continue to play 4 v 5.

• The lobby leader must not start the game before all players from both teams have joined the lobby.

• Teams must take their places inside the lobby on the side according to the match page.

• Only those registered for the current match have the right to be in the game lobby. This includes players, coaches and designated streamers.

• Ping Test
  • If both teams cannot agree on a server region for use for their match, the lobby host will go through available servers in the lobby. Both teams will compare their ping on each server and play on the server that has the most balanced ping between each team.
  • If the teams disagree on which server provides the most balanced ping, please reach out to Vanta Support for assistance.

• Map Pool
  • The following maps are allowed in official matches
    • Ascent
    • Sunset
    • Abyss
    • Haven
    • Pearl
    • Split
    • Bind

• Map Selection
  • The Home Team bans a map
  • The Away Team bans a map
  • The Home Team bans a map.
  • The Away Team bans a map.
  • The Home Team bans a map.
  • The Away Team bans a map.
  • The remaining map will be the map played.
  • Home team will then select to Attack or Defend. For the best of 3 playoff sets, teams will alternate after the home team's initial selection. 

• Playing out of Rounds
  • If one team acquires enough round wins to create a situation where the opposing team has no chance of winning the game, it is customary that the losing team will concede as to respect everyone’s time. However, a team cannot be forced or otherwise coerced into forfeiting a game. Members of both teams must be in agreement to not finish playing all the rounds of a game.

• Stoppage of Play
  • The game may only be paused for the following reasons
    • Player Drop
    • Player Disconnect
    • Technical Issues
  • Stoppage of play may be requested at any time for the above reasons. The team initiating the pause must first call for it in chat. The pause may not be called during combat or once the spike has been planted. Players may not move around the map while the pause is in effect. Once both teams are ready, the team who initiated the pause will unpause it. Each team will have a total of 5 minutes of pause time per match. Players pause the game by pressing the Esc key and selecting “Cheats”. Misuse of the pause feature may result in punishment for the team misusing it.
  • If a player drops or disconnects and cannot return within the 5 minutes, that player’s team may decide to continue playing or forfeit.
  • Tactical Timeout
    • Each team is allowed to call two Tactical Timeouts per match. Tactical Timeouts may only be called during the buy phase of a round. During the Timeout, only the players currently in the game and their coach are allowed to talk to each other. Other roster members are not allowed to be in the Timeout meeting. 
    • Please contact a Vanta Support member if abuse of the Timeout feature is suspected.
• Remake Procedure: In the event of a server crash that impacts all ten players, the game may be remade. Picks and bans must stay consistent with the previous iteration of the game, and the rest of the game will be played out in full. 

3.1 Character Selection

• New Agents/Agents that have undergone Major Reworks: Agents categorized as either “New” or “Major Reworks” will be restricted for two weeks from their release on live service. Restricted agents are not allowed to be played in league play. Once the two-week period has passed, restrictions will lift and those agents will be eligible for play. 

4.1 Cheating/Glitches/Bugs/Unfair Play

• Anti-Cheat
  • Aside from Riot Vanguard, no additional anti-cheat measures are required for official matches.

• Players may receive technical defeats for using bugs.

• Unfair play is defined as using scripts or programs that hack the game.

• Delaying the match is strictly prohibited. If a player/team deliberately delays the match, they might receive a technical defeat.

5.1 Reporting

• Score Reporting Format: Scores will be reported in “Win/Loss” format. Teams will indicate the number of games won by each team, final scores should be one of the following: 1-0 or 0-1.
  • A “tie” column will be visible next to Wins and Losses.
  • The “score” column will be the primary decider of standings, and those with matching scores will have that tie be broken by the W% column.

• Forfeits: Forfeits will be considered a 1-0 win for the team that showed up to play. 

For more information about our general competition rules, please click here.