National Warcraft League

Warcraft 3 Nations League - Season 2
Last update: 15.01.2022 - 15:19 CET

I. DEFINITION

1. League

The Warcraft 3 Nations League (here and elsewhere referred to as “W3NL”) is a Warcraft 3 association of clans to compete among themselves.

2. National Team

A participating team will be referred to as a "National Team". Each National Team is composed of 3 (three) to 10 (ten) players. A National Team is a team that consists of players of the same nationality, regardless of their current residence, and at least one Team Manager who either lives in the country, or has the nationality of the National Team he/she coaches. A National Team will be composed of at least 3 players + 1 manager, and a maximum of 10 players + 1 manager + 1 co-manager. Managers are required to provide at least a Discord account, while Players will need to provide at least their Battle.net account, and three replays from W3Champions ladder games. Once the first application has been submitted and the deadline for national team application passed (December 31st, 2021), it’ll be possible - while staying under the limit of 10 players - to add a maximum of two (2) players cumulated to the original roster only between Regional Qualifiers and Group Stage; and Group Stage and Playoffs. Replacements are authorized to a maximum of three (3) players and can be done at every stage. Swapping (replace Player A by Player B, then Player B by Player A) is not allowed. Each new player (whether they are additions or replacements) will need to be submitted by the National Team Manager, along with three replays from W3Champions ladder games and player’s Battle.net account.

3. National Team Manager

Every National Team must assign a National Team Manager, who is responsible for a National Team and is the entity that will receive any prizes that the National Team wins. The National Team Manager can also be a player for the same National Team. The National Team Managers must have access to an active PayPal account to receive the prize. National Team Managers are in charge of the communication for the National Team they represent and will be middlemen between the National Team and Staff, therefore the National Team Manager needs to be able to speak English.

4. Admins

1. Head Admins
The Head Admins are the officials designated by the W3NL as such. They are the final authority on all rules.

Head Admins are:
• blaST
• TinkeR
2. Tournament Admins
Tournament Admins are persons designated by the W3NL for the purpose of administering, monitoring and judging any aspect of the W3NL competition.

Tournament Admins are:
• Ember
• Totoro
• Nuhiro_Masuda
• Psike
• RainMaker

5. Nation War

When two National Teams in the W3NL compete against each other, it is termed a Nation War. A Nation War consists of a set of 3 (three) one vs. one (1on1) matches and 1 (one) two vs. two (2on2) match.

6. Match

A Match is part of a Nation War and is played between either two (1on1) or four (2on2) players. The first player(s) who win(s) two maps, win(s) the match.

7. Game

A Match consists of at least two and no more than three individual games. Every game is played on a map from the mappool of the associated format (1on1 or 2on2). A map can only be picked once per match.

8. Win conditions

A 2-0 victory gives the winning party 3 points, and 0 points to the loser. A 2-1 victory gives the winning party 2 points, and 1 point to the loser. At the end of the three 1on1, and the 2on2, the National Team with the most points is declared winner. Even if a team wins a Nation War, all matches of that Nation War have to be completed, especially when every point counts (for example for the ranking). In case of a draw, a final 1on1 played in Bo1 (Ace Match), will take place to determine the winner, while the point won won’t count in order to prevent abuse.

9. Sequence

Map order has to be agreed between National team managers before the nation war. If no agreement was done upfront, then map order will follow the map order indicated in the nation war website (NWC3L). Games will be played match by match. It is usually recommended to count 1 hour per best of 3 (including vetoes, games, waiting times, ...).
If an agreement is done in advance by both team managers - they have to communicate to the nation war tournament admin the match sequence with the following format:
G1 - map X
G2 - map Y
G3 ...

II. GENERAL

1. Commitments

• Every player must own a legal copy of WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne or Warcraft III: Reforged to participate in W3NL.
• Players agree without reservations to comply with the rules and regulations as well as the decisions made by the Head Admins and Tournament Admins. The application of these rules and regulations is at the sole discretion of the admins. Any decisions made may overrule the following rules and regulations to maintain the spirit of competition. Players must always obey the instructions made by the admins.
• Every player acknowledges the right of the admins to modify these rules and regulations at any given time and without prior notice.
• Every participants is asked to maintain an adequate level of respect and friendliness with the other players and the admins. Insults and unfair or disrespectful behaviour towards the admins and the other players will not be tolerated.
• Participants must be at least 14 years old at the time of competing.
• Participants must have created an account on NWC3L website.

2. League language

English is the official language during a Nation War, both in game and in any other official W3NL channels.

3. Competition System

The competition consists of the following stages:
• Sign-up
• Qualifiers
• Group Stage
• World Finals

A. Sign-up
• Dates. The dates will be announced by the Admins.
• Requirements. A Nation can participate if a request has been submitted to one of the Admins, and fits the requirements described in Part I, Sections 2 and 3.
The Admins have the authority to deny a request at all times, even if the requirements have been fulfilled.

B. Qualifiers
• Format. In order to qualify for Group Stage, National Teams that haven’t been invited, and had their request to participate validated will have to compete in three different regions, depending on where they are geographically located: Europe, Americas or Asia. See the reference table below.

The format will be decided based on how many teams sign up and get successfully approved to participate.

• Ranking. If a group stage is played during the qualifier, rank is determined, in priority, by the number of points, then the number of matches (nation wars) won, then number of maps lost, then score in the face-to-face match. A 2-0 victory gives 3 points to the winning team. 2-1 gives 2 points to the winning part, and 1 point to the loser.

C. Group Stage
• Format. Group stage is played on Flo servers, in W3Champions, 12 teams participate in this round. 6 of the teams are directly invited (USA, Ukraine, Sweden, France, South Korea and China), and 6 teams come from the Regional Qualifiers. The 12 teams are divided into 2 groups of 6 teams each. Each group consists of 3 invited teams, and 3 qualified teams. Matches in each group are played in a round-robin format. The second places of each group qualify for the World Finals.
• Ranking. Rank in the groups is determined, in priority, by the number of points, then the number of matches won, then number of maps lost, then score in the face-to-face match.

D. World Finals
• Format. Single elimination bracket with the 4 qualified teams. Teams are seeded based on Warcraft3.info Elo ratings of the 5 best players in each team. The semi-final pairs are:
Seed 1 vs Seed 4
Seed 2 vs Seed 3
Winners of the semi-finals qualify for the Grand Final. The losers of the semi-finals play a third place match.

4. Prizes

Prize-pool is determined with the crowdfunded sum from the official Matcherino, and from sponsorship, minus the different cuts from organizations involved (including Matcherino).
If the sum funded is between $1,000 and $2,500, only the top 2 teams are rewarded using the ratio 75%/25% respectively for 1st and 2nd team.
If the sum funded exceeds $2,500, everything beyond, and up to $4,000 will be split 60/40 between respectively players (60) and Production (40). Production includes: Tournament Admins, Matches hosting platform (NWC3L) and Artists.
If the sum funded exceeds $4,000, everything beyond, and up to $10,000 will be split 70/30 between respectively players (70) and Production (30). Production includes: Tournament Admins, Matches hosting platform (NWC3L) and Artists.
If the sum funded exceeds $10,000, everything beyond will be split 80/20 between respectively players (80) and Production (30). Production includes: Tournament Admins, Matches hosting platform (NWC3L) and Artists.
In any case, after $2,500 funded, the top three teams are rewarded with the following distribution of the part of the prizepool dedicated to the players:
• 1st - 50 % of the prize pool dedicated to the players
• 2nd - 35 % of the prize pool dedicated to the players
• 3rd - 15% of the prize pool dedicated to the players
The prize money shall be transferred no later than 30 days after the conclusion of the grand final via Paypal to the respective National Team Managers accounts.
Please note that with the different organizations cuts, potential goodies, fees and taxes, the exact amount might slightly differ from the displayed amount.

5. Nation Wars

A. Schedule
Qualifiers start on January 22nd, 2022. Grand final is set to happen on April 16th, 2022.

B. Lineups
The National Team Managers seed their players on the NWC3L website. The National Team Managers seed players + every player’s race to random selected starting maps. A map will only be a starting map once for each Nation War. A seeded player (along with his race) cannot be exchanged within the match once they are seeded and confirmed. Players shall only be seeded for one 1on1 match of a nation war and a subsequent 2on2 match if required.
The lineups will be released when the Nation War starts.

C. Vetoing
In each match both 1on1 players and 2on2, teams may veto two maps. Those maps are eliminated from the match and will not be played. After the starting map (game 1) is played, both players veto two maps alternately, starting with the winner. The losing player can choose the map played in game 2 from the remaining two maps in the mappool. If a deciding third game is required, the only remaining map will be played in game 3. As for the Ace match played in Bo1, both participants alternately eliminate one map until only one remains (A-B-A-B-A-B), player A is the player belonging to the team that shows up on the left side of the NWC3L website matchpage. The remaining map will be played.

6. Match Regulations

A. Game Version
All games are to be played on the latest W3Champions game version. Using other game clients, such as Netease or similar, is prohibited.

B. Game Settings
The match settings have to meet the following requirements:
• Game Speed: Fast
• Lock Teams: Yes
• Random Races: No
• Random Hero: No
• Observers: Full Observer
• Visibility: Default
• Handicap: 100%
• If the game is broadcasted, players are to use Red and Blue as their colours. The player or team mentioned first in the grid has to pick red.

C. Hosting
• Games will be hosted on Flo servers in W3Champions. This matrix shows what are the default servers to be used in case of cross-region Nation Wars. As servers and routes often change, W3NL administrators team reserve the right to update the matrix on the go:
• Games will be hosted by one of the Admins or a National Team Manager (as long as the manager is not playing on that map).
• Games will be hosted with the hosting location that provides the fairest conditions to all participants. Admins have the authority to determine the location.
• The host shall only start a game if all participants are ready.
• Admins and players must make sure the correct map is hosted.
• A protest after the game has been played for more than one minute is void.
• If one of the participants experiences temporary difficulties during a game, they must communicate this to their opponent by taking a timeout.
• If the problem is not fixable without leaving the game, It is the Admin’s decision on how to proceed, taking into account any existing schedule and the current state of the game.


D. Maps
These are the maps included for 1on1 and 2on2 games:
1on1 map pool
• Autumn Leaves
• Concealed Hill
• Echo Isles
• Last Refuge
• Northern Isles
• Shallow Grave
• Tidehunters

2on2 map pool
• Gnoll Wood
• Hillsbrad Creek
• Lost Temple LV
• Shattered Exile
• Turtle Rock
• Tidewater Glades LV
• Twisted Meadows

E. Map versions
Games are to be played on the latest version of the Warcraft III - Reforged maps from W3Champions.

F. Races
• Players are not permitted to switch their races within a match.
• The race chosen in progress of seeding by the National Team Manager (race on the official homepage), is their selected race for the duration of that match.
• Switching races results in a default loss of that Game.

G. Observers
• Whenever a game is broadcasted, only National Team Managers, Approved Broadcasters and Admins are allowed to observe the games.
• Other, unrelated observers are forbidden.
• Only one National Team Manager per National Team is allowed as an observer.
• In the case where a game lobby is full, the priority described above determines who is permitted to stay in the game.
• Games without Broadcasters may be observed by the participating National Team, as long as both National Team Managers agree.
• In every case, observers must not type any message during Nation Wars. Failing to comply after one warning can lead to further Penalty Points and exclusion from observing future games.

H. Match Results
After a match is finished, the National Team Managers must report the results to the Admins immediately.

I. Replays
After a Nation War is complete, the National Team Managers of the participating National Teams are responsible for sharing all replay files with the Admins by sending them. Replays are a proof of victory, therefore the winning Players National Team of each unique Game must provide the replay. The replays have to be uploaded within three days. The Deadline begins the day after the Nation War was played, using CEST timing.
If replays are not shared with Admins within time, the responsible National Team will be punished with penalty points.

J. Disconnects
• In the event of a disconnect during the first four minutes of the game, the game will be restarted provided there was no major contact between the players or that no major event occured (such as but not limited to a hero kill or AOW loss). In case of dispute, an Admin will decide to grant a regame or not.
• If a player disconnects after the fourth minute has passed, it is up to their opponent whether the match will be restarted or not. An Admin must be informed no matter the decision.
• If the disconnected participant was clearly winning the match, the replay must be sent to an Admin who will then decide whether the match will be restarted.
• In the case of a rematch the participants must choose the same races they picked in the initial match. If a participant chose random races, they must pick the race received in the initial match.

K. Default wins
Under the following circumstances, a National Team Manager may claim a default win by contacting an admin:
• Technical loss can be given for abusing ingame bugs. Decisions are made by the admins.
• A player has the right to take a break in the game for up to 5 minutes. If the pause is prolonged, the opponent has the right to call for the techwin by admins's decision.
• If a player is missing at the scheduled time and fails to arrive within the following 15 minutes, the opposing team has the right to claim Default Win for all matches involving the missing player.

L. Third-party programs and cheating
• The use of cheats, hacks, smurfing or account sharing are strictly forbidden.
• It is forbidden to watch or to listen to any sort of broadcast of your own matches while the match is still underway.
• The Admins reserve the right to ban participants from the league because they have been banned from other leagues or tournaments for cheating or unfair behavior.
• Any kind of unmannered behavior (insulting, profanity etc.) is forbidden and will be punished.

7. Broadcasting

A. Permission
In order to be permitted to broadcast the games of W3NL, streamers and shoutcasters must be approved by the Admins. Therefore it’s required to make an informal request.
Once approved the broadcaster is permitted and welcome to stream as many games as they wish.

B. Stream delay
A delay of 90 seconds is required.

C. Multiple broadcasters
If there are more broadcasters interested in casting a game than slots available, it is the Admin’s decision on which broadcaster is given priority.

D. Player-streams
Players are permitted to stream their own games in first person view. If a player want to stream other games, they are considered Broadcasters and must be approved by the Admins.

8. Penalty and Punishments

Violations against those rules will be punished with Penalty Points, Warnings or other punishments explained below. Two warnings results on either Penalty Points or punishments:
A. Aliasing
Both involved players are banned for the whole tournament. The match where the aliasing happened will result in a loss 0-2 in favor of the opposing team.

B. Hindering to schedule
National Team Managers who refuse to communicate with the opposing National Team or fail to give proper options for rescheduling a Nation War on time, shall be punished as following:
The first offense will result in a warning by the admin team.
The second offense incurs 1 match loss (0-2).
In cases no improvement occurs, the National Team may be excluded from the league. The decision is made by the Admins.

C. Failing to show-up / Missing seedings
If a National Team is failing to show-up to the Nation War and doesn’t provide seedings at the defined starting time (default time, if no starting time was defined) of a Nation War or similar faults which result in the Nation War not being played at the scheduled time, the National Team is punished as following:
The first case is punished with 1 match loss (0-2), the second and third case with 2 matches loss (0-4). For the third case, the responsible National Team Manager may also be banned for the rest of the season.
In some cases the Nation War may be rescheduled for another time, following the announcement of the stipulated penalties above. The decision is made by the admins.

D. No-show
If a National Team’s player is failing to show up at the scheduled time, its National Team is punished as following:
The first offense will result in a warning by the Admins. The second case is followed with 1 match loss (0-2). Any further violations result in 1 match loss each.

E. Unsportsmanship and rude behavior
Unsportsmanship and/or rude behavior (e.g. offensive language, troll pausing during the match, offence / insulting behavior towards players or admins in game or on social medias) is punished as follow:
The first case is punished with a warning, the second and the third case with a match loss (0-2). After 3 penalties, the player may be banned for the rest of the season.

F. Missing replay
If a National Team Manager fails to share a replay with the Admins as explained in part 6, section I, the National Team will be punished with 1 warning per missing replay.

G. Chatting while observing
Chatting during a game is punished as following:
The first case results in a warning, following cases are dealt with 1 match loss for the National Team. The chatting player will lose his permission to observe following games for the rest of the season.

H. Match fixing
Match fixing results in a permanent ban of the affected player. All affected matches are lost for its National Team. In cases the National Team is involved, the National Team may be excluded from the tournament permanently.

I. Hacking
Confirmed hackers are permanently banned from the W3NL. All played matches are lost. In cases the National Team is involved, the National Team may be excluded from the league permanently.