How the league works

A league runs as a series of seasons. Here's how each season works: two phases plus a playoff weekend. You don't get placed in a division beforehand — you earn it by how you play in the first part.

Season at a glance

Phase 1: Everyone together (Weeks 1–5)

All registered teams play in one big pool using Swiss pairing — no pre-season ranking, everyone starts equal. We match you with teams on a similar record and avoid rematches when we can.

How pairing works

• Week 1: Random draw (everyone 0–0).
• Weeks 2–5: Same W–L record when possible; rematches avoided; same-record pairings preferred so the field stays fair.

Byes (when there’s an odd number of teams)

After Week 5

• Standings are final — where you finish decides your division for the next part.
• Tiebreakers (teams level on points): points → opponent win % (only opponents you actually played) → soul differential → total souls.
• Optional: If there's a tie at a division boundary (e.g. 8th vs 9th for the last Division A spot), we may run a playoff match in the week between Phase 1 and Phase 2 to decide who gets the higher division. This is a per-season option, not guaranteed every time.

For the full picture — byes, forfeits, dropouts, and how the pairing algorithm works — see Pairing & format (expand the sections for algorithm detail).

Phase 2: Division play (Weeks 6–12)

After a one week break (no matches), we split into divisions by Phase 1 standings. Each division has 8 teams — so the number of divisions depends on how many teams we field: Division A (top 8), Division B (next 8), Division C, and so on. With enough teams you could have Div D, E, F, etc. In this part, you play every other team in your division once (round-robin). So you get 7 matches in 7 weeks.

We run this hybrid phased season so that everyone is still playing meaningful games until the end. No one is "done" early — every division has its own title race and playoff.

• Division A: Championship tier — league title and the streamed playoff
• Division B, C, …: Each division has its own champion and playoff; everyone has something to play for

Match week flow

Each week, from Monday matchups to result submitted, the same flow applies: scheduling (veto) → hero draft → match → results submission (and dispute if needed). Captain and Vice Captain handle the platform inputs (veto, draft, result, disputes); Players show up for draft and match. For the full step-by-step and who does what, see Match week flow.

Playoff weekend

Playoffs are a one-day event — usually a Saturday, running for about 4 hours. After Week 12, every division runs its own bracket: top 4 teams, single elimination. Semis and the third-place match are single games; the Grand Final is Best-of-3 (first to 2 wins). Division champions are crowned.

• Division A is the main event — we broadcast on Twitch with a shoutcaster or two
• Other divisions run the same format (single elim, Bo3 Grand Final) but aren't on the stream

Then we take a short break before the next season.

Promotion and relegation (titles only)

Summary

For more detail (tiebreakers, pairing algorithm, staff reference), see Pairing & format or the Staff docs (for staff).