Welcome to the Overwatch® Contenders Season Zero! The following brief is supplied to give your
team an overview of the Season for June/July 2017, including what teams can expect and team
responsibilities throughout the course of the event. The Player Handbook also serves as a rules and
regulations document, in association with the Official Ruleset.
Information in this brief is subject to change under altered circumstances. Team representatives will
be notified of any changes to the event as soon as appropriate.
The Overwatch Contenders Season Zero will be separated into three distinct phases, an Open
Qualifiers Stage, a Group Stage, and the Playoffs. For the latter two stages, a more specific
schedule will be produced once participating teams are determined.
Overwatch® Contenders will kick-off with two Open Qualifiers stages per region, where all teams
from North America and Europe will be able to participate on their way towards the finals. The Top 8
teams* from each Open Qualifier will move on to the region’s Group Stage. The two Open Qualifiers
will occur back-to-back over one weekend (for each region). Team registration for this phase will
close at 11:59 PM PDT on Friday, June 2nd for North America and 11:59 PM CEST (2:59 PM PDT)
Friday, June 9th for Europe.
The Open Qualifiers stage will consist of a Single Elimination tournament on each day, with Best of 3
matches. While the Top 8 Teams Qualify for the Contenders Group Stage, the entirety of the bracket
will be played out to determine seeding. On each day, 1 Quarterfinals match, 2 Semifinals matches,
and the Final match will be broadcasted. Teams that make the Top 8 will be notified of the broadcast
schedule, and these lobbies and matches will be directed by Tournament Admins (this will likely
require teams to wait brief periods before playing their matches). There will be an extended break
between the Round of 16 and the Round of 8. During this time, teams will be notified if their match
will be either streamed online (and thus handled by an admin), recorded offline (with an observer),
or played offline and reported in.
The NA Open Qualifiers will occur on Saturday, June 3rd, and Sunday, June 4th.
9:00 AM PDT – Offline Tournament Matches Begin
4:30 PM PDT – Quarterfinal (Round of 8) Offline Matches Begin
5:00 PM PDT – Broadcast Live with Selected Quarterfinal (Round of 8) Match
6:15 PM PDT – Broadcast Semifinal Matches
8:30 PM PDT – Broadcast Finals
The EU Open Qualifiers will occur on Saturday, June 10th and Sunday, June 11th.
12:00 PM CEST (3:00 AM PDT) – Offline Tournament Matches Begin
Page 1 of 8
7:30 PM CEST (10:30 AM PDT) – Quarterfinal (Round of 8) Offline Matches Begin
8:00 PM CEST (11:00 AM PDT) – Broadcast Live with Selected Quarterfinal (Round of 8) Match
9:15 PM CEST (12:15 PM PDT) – Broadcast Semifinal Matches
11:30 PM CEST (2:30 PM PDT) – Broadcast Finals
*Note: Due to Cloud9’s participation in the European TakeTv Tournament on the weekend of June 3 rd, they
will be given an automatic invite to the Group Stage of Overwatch® Contenders. This is due to their recent
competitive tournament performance. The Top 7 will be qualified during the North American Qualifiers on
June 4th, through additional seeding matches played offline on Sunday, June 4th.
The following teams will receive priority seeding on Day 1 of the Open Qualifiers should they choose
to compete:
North America:
1) Immortals
2) Selfless
3) Team Liquid
4) LG Evil
Europe:
1) eUnited
2) Movistar Riders
3) Ninjas in Pyjamas
4) Misfits
Teams that are knocked out during the Round of 16 will receive priority seeding should they choose
to participate in the second day of qualifiers. Teams that finish as seeds 9-16 on Day 1 of the Open
Qualifiers will be seeded 1-8 for Day 2, should they choose to participate.
The Top 16 Teams from the Open Qualifiers will move onto a Group Stage consisting of four groups
with four teams each based on their seeding in the Open Qualifiers. The Group Stage will take place
over two weekends, with teams playing each other team in their group twice in 4 Game Set matches.
European Group Stage Matches: Saturday, June 17th and Saturday, June 24th.
North American Group Stage Matches: Sunday, June 18th and Sunday, June 25th.
Teams will be expected to play 3 matches per week (against each team in their group). One Match
from each group will be broadcasted each day. A more precise broadcast schedule will be delivered
to the team once Group Stage Participants and schedule have been finalized.
Matches during the Group Stage will be “4 Game Sets”. In a single Match, Teams will play 4 maps in
total, with the team earning the highest number of maps taking the victory. 4 Game Sets that end 2-
Page 2 of 8
2 will result in a tie for that Match. Tiebreakers will be played after all matches in the Group Stage
complete and final results are recorded.
The top two teams from each of the four Groups (8 teams in total) will move on to the Season Zero
Playoffs, which consists of a Single Elimination Bracket beginning on Saturday, July 1st for Europe
and Sunday, July 2nd for North America. Seeds 1 from the Group Stage will be randomly seeded
against the 2 Seeds from other groups. The Quarterfinals and Semifinals will be Best of 5 matches,
while the Finals will be Best of 7.
There will be a total of four broadcasted matches each day during the Playoffs. One Quarterfinal
match (Best of 5), both Semifinal matches (Best of 5), and the finals (Best of 7). The other three
Quarterfinal matches will be played offline. Matches for 5th/6th and 7th/8th will be played offline
between the losers of the quarterfinals, to determine prizing.
** Full schedules for the Group Stage and Playoffs will be available once teams are locked in for these stages .
Tournament administration reserves the right to reorder schedule of matches within a given day
and/or change the date of the match to a different date, or otherwise modify the schedule of
matches. In the even that the schedule is modified, Admins will inform all Teams at the earliest
convenience.
Rescheduling will not be available to teams in the event of technical issues. Teams are responsible
for any of their own technical issues, including hardware, software, or internet issues. Matches are
to be continued as normal if these issues arise.
During the Open Qualifiers, there will be several different stages of Team Check-In. Teams will be
required to follow and meet all required Check-in Stages to continue to participate in the
tournament. Team Captains will be able to view the Check-In buttons from their Player Dashboard.
A universal “Event Check-In” will be available to all teams 24 hours prior to the beginning of each
Open Qualifiers day, closing 30 minutes prior to the first matches. Teams intending to play in an
Open Qualifier must log in to website and check-in during this 24-hour time frame. Failure to check
in at this stage will result in removal from the Open Qualifier Bracket for that day.
North American Open Qualifier Event Check-In Times
Saturday, June 3rd Qualifier – Event Check-In Begins at 9:00 AM PDT Friday, June 2nd, and closes at
8:30 AM PDT on June 3rd.
Sunday, June 4th Qualifier – Event Check-In Begins at 9:00 AM PDT Saturday, June 3rd, and closes at
8:30 AM PDT on June 4th.
European Open Qualifier Event Check-In Times
Page 3 of 8
Saturday, June 10rd Qualifier – Event Check-In Begins at 12:00 PM CEST (3:00 AM PDT) Friday, June
9th, and closes at 11:30 AM CEST (2:30 AM PDT) on June 10th.
Sunday, June 11th Qualifier – Event Check-In Begins at 12:00 PM CEST (3:00 AM PDT) Saturday, June
10th, and closes at 811:30 AM CEST (2:30 AM PDT) on June 11th.
The Event Check-In will be available through the player dashboard at these times. Teams must
check-in to play.
Teams will need to “Ready-Up” for their first match during Round 1 of the Open Qualifiers. This
Ready-Up function will be available to teams for fifteen minutes following the designation of their
Round 1 matchup; failure to Ready-Up within this time frame for Round 1 will result in a “No-Show”
penalty, forfeiting their Round 1 match and knocking them out of the Open Qualifiers.
Team Captains will be able to Ready-Up for their match from their Player Dashboard.
North American Open Qualifier Round 1 Ready-Up Times
Saturday, June 3rd and Sunday June 4th – Round 1 Matchups live at 9:00 AM PDT, Ready-Up closes
at 9:15 AM.
European Open Qualifier Event Check-In Times
Saturday, June 10th and Sunday, June 11th – Round 1 Matchups live at 12:00 PM CEST (3:00 AM
PDT), Ready-Up closes at 12:15 PM CEST (3:15 AM PDT).
For subsequent rounds (2, 3, and so on), teams will be required to “Ready-Up” for their next match
following the conclusion of their previous match. This Ready-Up will be available on their Player
Dashboard, alongside the information necessary to create or join a lobby for their next opponent.
Players will need to Ready-Up for their next match within a reasonable time after completing the
previous match, or risk disqualification from the Open Qualifier.
Once a team selects the “Ready-Up” button for their match, they are required to start their match
within 5 minutes. Failure to field their starting roster or properly set up the match lobby within this
time is subject to a Forfeit Loss due to inability to field six players.
Team Captains will be required to report the results of their matches via the Player Dashboard on
the website. Once a Matchup has been started, teams will be able to report the results of that
match. A team will not be able to see their next matchup until the results of their previous match is
reported.
Page 4 of 8
Teams will be required to be online and ready to begin their matches at the scheduled time. For the
first round of the Open Qualifier Stage, teams will have a fifteen-minute window to “Ready-Up” their
starting roster for the match. In the event that a team is unable to field the six starting players from
their roster, they forfeit the match, and are subsequently knocked out of that day’s qualifier.
In the event that a team is knocked out of a Saturday (June 3rd or June 10th) qualifier due to a NoShow penalty, they will also be removed from the Sunday (June 4th or June 11th) qualifier, unless the
Team Captain notifies a tournament admin of a reason for the No-Show and show intent to
participate on the second qualifying day.
For purposes relating to a team’s legal standing in the Overwatch Contenders (prizing, qualified spot,
roster management, etc), each team will have a party deemed the “Owner” of the team. Upon
qualification, the Team Captain will be responsible for communicating the contact information for
the team “Owner”.
For teams contractually tied to an organization, the team “Owner” is the owner of the contracting
organization. For any team not contractually tied to an organization team ownership is assigned to
the team captain as outlined in the team registration process.
Team Captains maintain active control over the team as outlined in this document but in the case of
a dispute the final decision making power lies with the Owner of a team.
Rosters will be locked for the Open Qualifiers at the same time as registration close for each Region
(11:59 PM PDT on Friday, June 2nd for North America and 11:59 PM CEST (2:59 PM PDT) Friday, June
9th for Europe). Past this time, Roster changes may not be submitted without penalty.
For the Group Stage and Playoffs, rosters will be locked 24 hours prior to the first match of that
week for each region.
Any Player on a team’s roster is eligible to participate in a match. Any player can be substituted for
another eligible player at any point in between maps (not during maps), so long as the substitution
does not delay the progression of the match into the next map.
Players are required to play for only one region during Overwatch Contenders Season Zero.
Page 5 of 8
Maps will be predetermined for Overwatch Contenders. As there exists several unique Match Sets
throughout the course of the tournament, there will be slight variations in Map Rotation as follows:
Best of 3 Matches: Escort / Control / Assault
4 Game Set: Hybrid / Control / Assault / Escort
Best of 5: Control / Escort / Assault / Hybrid / Control
Best of 7: Control / Escort / Assault / Hybrid / Control / Escort / Hybrid
The available maps for Season Zero are as follows:
Hybrid: Eichenwalde / Numbani / Hollywood
Escort: Gibraltar / Route 66
Assault: Hanamura / Temple of Anubis
Control: Lijiang / Nepal / Oasis
Matches will be played on the “Competitive” Ruleset, with Skins and Kill Cam disabled.
Note: Sprays, Emotes, and Golden Guns are allowed.
The higher seeded team in the matchup chooses the Map from the Map Pool. The lower seeded
team chooses the side.
Loser of the map selects the next map, while winner chooses side.
Example:
•
•
•
•
Seed 1 Chooses Map 1 in Best of 3
Seed 2 Chooses Side for Map 1 in Best of 3
Seed 2 Loses Map 1, and thus chooses Map 2
Seed 1 chooses Side for Map 2
Note: In the case of Control Point Maps, there is no side selection.
Tiebreaker matches during the Open Qualifiers and Group Stages of Overwatch Contenders Season
Zero will be Best of 3 Matches on Oasis.
Page 6 of 8
Pauses are available to teams in the event of technical or network issues. Tournament Admins
should be notified of prolonged pause events, and will determine the proper actions forward to
resolve paused matches.
If a full six man roster is unable to be maintained throughout a map due to disconnect or other
technical issue, the Pausing team will forfeit the Map, after which the series will advance normally.
Penalties for rule violations will be assessed by Tournament Administrators as necessary. These
penalties will vary in range between loss of side or map selection, to disqualification, in direct
relation to the severity of the offense and the number of offenses committed previously by the
same team. The following is a list of penalties that can be enforced at the discretion of the
Tournament Administrator:
1. Verbal Warning(s)
2. Loss of Side Selection for Current or Future Game(s)
3. Loss of Ban for Current or Future Game(s)
4. Prize Forfeiture(s)
5. Game Forfeiture(s)
6. Match Forfeiture(s)
7. Suspension(s)
8. Disqualification(s)
Large announcements, general information, ruleset, and bracket can be found at
overwatchcontenders.com. This website will serve as an information hub for both teams and
spectators.
The official Overwatch Contenders Discord will be available to players and spectators. The Team
Captain will be required to be in this Discord server, and will be the point of communication with
Tournament Administrators throughout the event. Official inquiries, such as team and rule disputes
must be communicated by the Team Captain. Upon joining the Discord, an admin will be able to
give the Team Captain the appropriate tag, allowing access to channels for these specific
discussions.
Finally, players may email [email protected] for any issues that they experience,
or to provide feedback as necessary. This method will be somewhat slower than reaching out to
administrators in the Discord channel.
Teams may not begin their next round match without Tournament Admin permission. Tournament
Admins will inform teams of which matches will be broadcasted or recorded for offline content, as
Page 7 of 8
described below in In-Game Observers. In cases where a match requires an observer, additional wait
times may be required. Matches played without permission from Tournament Admins will not be
honored.
At various points during the tournament, your team’s match may be broadcasted or recorded offline
for future content. In these situations, administrators will contact your team representative, and
your match lobby will be created by an In-Game Observer (IGO). This IGO will handle all aspects of
your match, including settings, start, pauses. Matches that are assigned an IGO must be completed
with the IGO. Matches played without the presence of the IGO will not be honored.
Teams are responsible for any of their own technical issues, including hardware, software, or
internet issues. Matches are to be continued as normal in the event that these issues arise.
Players will be allowed to stream their matches during Overwatch Contenders Season Zero, but must
stream with at least a 3-minute delay.
PC is the only platform available for Overwatch Contenders Season Zero.
Tournament Administration reserves the right to update the Player Handbook at any given time.
Changes to the Player Handbook will be announced in the official Announcements channel on
Discord. Team Captains will be required to deliver any changes or updates to their teams. New
Player Handbooks may not be distributed, but the most recent version will always be available at
overwatchcontenders.com.
Page 8 of 8