Tournament bans

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A tournament ban prevents a player from being involved in officially supported tournaments in any capacity. This includes playing and staffing or any other kind of assistance.

Tournament bans are very rarely handed out on their own, but generally speaking almost all players who return under a standard appeal for an account restriction are subject to one of at least a year in length.

Due to the high-stakes nature of tournament play, tournament bans are treated very seriously and are not subject to the kind of leniency an account restriction might ordinarily receive.

What causes someone to receive a temporary tournament ban?

Any severe violation of the community rules that takes place during an officially supported tournament is likely to cause a tournament ban, even if it would have typically only resulted in an infringement outside of the competitive play setting.

As a real-world example, such behaviour would include drawing or writing hate symbols/slurs (swastika, etc.) using cursor smoke in streamed matches.

All users returning to the game after a restriction under the standard appeal terms are also subject to a minimum temporary tournament ban of 1 year, which may be lengthened at the discretion of the account support team.

What causes someone to receive a permanent tournament ban?

Any use of third-party cheating tools or other methods to gain an unfair advantage over other participants in an officially supported tournament will result in a permanent tournament ban. In some situations, especially excessive cases of abuse may also elicit such a punishment.

This includes situations like:

• As above, any use of third-party cheating tools or utilities to gain an advantage
• Making use of multiple accounts to enter a tournament
• Attempting to evade a silence or infringement by using another account
• Account sharing within/during an officially supported tournament
• Conspiring to obtain or otherwise using private information to gain or confer an advantage (such as accessing mappool information before other teams, etc.)
• Abusing positions of trust to gain or confer an advantage (manipulating schedules, unfairly changing team compositions, or disqualifying participants without cause or reasoning)
• Organising targeted abuse campaigns towards participants or organisers well outside the realm of criticism

Can I appeal a tournament ban?

Whether temporary or permanent, tournament bans cannot be appealed.

In rare situations, the account support team may review individual cases at their discretion and remove or reapply appropriate punishments to ensure they remain consistent with similar instances in the past.

What can I do while tournament-banned?

You may continue to play in community tournaments that do not request official support or require screening at the discretion of the individuals organising such events.

Information about your tournament ban status may be provided to tournament organisers upon request, whether they are benefitting from official support or not.

Common tournament ban reasons and durations