General

These Metal League Rules act in conjunction with the Rules of Conduct and the Heavy Metal Machines Software Terms of Use.

Summary

The Metal League will be split into two different divisions: Beginner and Pro. The Metal League Beginner was created to provide a competitive experience for newcomers, with a matchmaking system designed to pair teams with the same skill level and to prepare them for further challenges. The Metal League Pro is the championship for those teams who have experienced players looking for money prizes. With the change, they will have a more balanced environment to play.

Each Metal League, be it Beginner or Pro, will be split into two different phases: Qualifiers and Playoffs. The Qualifiers phase will be divided into Stages, for a duration of 3 hours each and be held on a weekly basis, always on Saturdays. The top best teams at the end of this period will qualify for the Playoffs, which will happen on two different days of the same weekend. The Quarter-finals, Semifinals, and 3rd place dispute, will be on the Saturday after the last Qualifiers’ Stage, and the Grand Final on the following Sunday. The Qualifiers will follow an in-game ranking system created by Hoplon, and the Playoffs will follow a single-elimination bracket system organized outside of the game.

To join the Metal League, players will just have to play with their team in one of the Qualifiers’ Stages. The registrations are free, and everyone who plays at least one match will automatically be competing for a chance to make the Playoffs. Also, there are no level requirements, so everyone is able to join.

In order to determine which team is eligible to compete in the Beginner or Pro Metal League, the game system will analyze all players from a team at the moment that its captain clicks on the “Play” button to find the first qualifier match. All players with less than 500 victories overall and rank lower than Gold V on Ranked Mode (less than 2000 Rank points) are eligible to play the Beginner’s. All the other players must compete in the Metal League Pro edition.

The Qualifiers ranking system was re-designed to provide a fair chance to all teams to get a spot in the Playoffs phase. The potential points to be won in each of the positions are the same for all stages. However, the amount of points given to the first team of each stage is sufficient to assure a ranking among the top 4 of the Metal League Playoffs.

The number of qualified teams to the Playoffs, in all editions of the Metal League, will be proportional to the total number of teams competing. If the Tournament has 16 or more teams, 8 teams will play the Playoffs phase. If the Tournament has less, 4 teams will qualify for it.

1. Global Rules

1.1. How to Participate

Register on Steam and download Heavy Metal Machines for free.
Create a team using the “Teams” feature with a maximum of 5 players and a minimum of 4.
To play a match on the Qualifiers phase, enter the special Metal League queue with your team in a group (party). The queue will not accept individual players, groups with players who are not from the same team and groups without 4 players.
When you enter the Metal League queue, the system will analyze all members of your team and check if you belong to the Beginner or Pro Metal League.
When you enter the Metal League queue, the system will create a match between you and another team that is competing in the same Tournament. The result of every match will count for the team’s rank position.
The team’s registration happens automatically when the team tries to find a match on this queue. However, teams will get stage points only after playing at least one match.
You cannot change your roster during your participation in the Metal League. If you change any member of your roster, the system will automatically remove your points earned previously and re-analyze your team, considering it a new registration. On this new registration, you can be eligible to play a different division (Beginner or Pro) than the first experience.
The system will analyze the status of all members of your team just once, at the beginning of your participation. If one or more players change their eligibility status during the competition, the system will only consider those changes in your next Metal League registration.
The queue will only be available on specific days and times. The time is always from 1pm to 4pm (GMT 0) in Europe and from 4pm to 7pm in South America for a total of 3 hours each.
The Qualifiers Stages will happen on the following days:

	South America		Europe
Date	Pro	Beginner	Pro	Beginner
July 4th	Stage 1	Stage 1	Stage 1	Stage 1
July 11th	Stage 2	Stage 2	Stage 2	Stage 2
July 18th	Stage 3	Stage 3	Stage 3	Stage 3
July 25th	Stage 4	–	Stage 4	–
August 1st	–	Playoffs & Finals	–	Playoffs & Finals
August 8th	Playoffs	–	Playoffs	–
August 9th	Finals	–	Finals	–

The scheduled dates for the finals are:
- - Metal League Beginner (South America) – August 1st
  - Metal League Beginner (Europe) – August 1st
  - Metal League Pro (South America) – August 9th
  - Metal League Pro (Europe) – August 9th

1.1.1 Playoffs

Teams qualified for the Playoffs phase will be invited to join a Discord server created by Hoplon, in order to confirm their participation in this phase. Teams have 48h after the last Stage to accept the invitation, or their spot will be given to the next team on the Qualifiers rank.
Make sure you confirm your participation (check-in) 30 minutes before the Playoffs phase starts.
Current Hoplon employees or ex-employees for the past 12 months are forbidden to participate in any phase. Any team that has players in any of these two conditions, will be disqualified.
Hoplon employees’ relatives are also forbidden from participating in any phase. Any team found to have players in this condition will be disqualified.

1.2. Tournament Qualifier Settings

1.2.1 Game mode settings

The Qualifiers will have three (3) Stages in the Beginner’s edition and four (4) Stages in the Pro’s edition.
All Qualifiers matches will be played in the Metal God Arena.
A Stage is a period of time when players can Queue for the Tournament.
During a Stage, every team that participates will be able to earn and lose Stage Points.
All matches will be played with 4 players per team in a group, without drafting, and with opponents selected by the matchmaking system.
Rosters cannot be changed during the Tournament. If a team wants to change the roster, they will be choosing to give up on their current participation and starting a new registration to play.
- Every team has a maximum of 5 players. They can change the starters freely in any way they want in between matches.

1.2.2 Personal Streaming

All players are allowed to stream their matches during the Qualifiers phase. Hoplon must be consulted if a player wants to stream the early matches during the Playoffs by contacting one of the Community Managers through Discord a minimum of 24 hours before.

1.3. Tournament Playoffs Settings

1.3.1 Game mode settings

After the Qualifiers, the top teams in the Stage Ranking will be invited to join the Playoffs phase.
Every team has 48 hours to accept the invitation to play in the Playoffs. If a team declines, the next one in the list will be invited, following the Stage Ranking system.
The Playoffs phase will work in a single-elimination bracket system.

1.3.2 Metal League Pro Playoffs

The first bracket will be filled with teams that qualified Rank 1-4. The staff will draw randomly which teams from Ranks 5-8 will fill each bracket.

If the total number of teams in the Tournament is lower than 16, 4 teams will be qualified, with the 1st facing the 4th and the 2nd facing the 3rd in the semifinals.

Metal League Pro Playoffs will have four phases: quarter-finals, semifinals, third-place games, and Final.
All phases will be Best of Three, except the Final, which will be Best of Five.
All Playoffs matches will be played in the Metal God Arena.
All matches will be played with 4 players per team, with the draft made in an external site offered by the staff, and using the Custom Match feature.
In the Metal League Pro, the team that has reached a higher position during the Qualifiers may choose to draft first (1st Pick) or second (2nd Pick). For the remaining games, the 1st and 2nd Picks alternate.
Teams can’t change their roster during the Playoffs phase.
- - Every team has a maximum of 5 players. They can change the starters freely in any way they want between matches.

1.3.3 Metal League Beginner Playoffs

The first bracket will be filled with teams that qualified Rank 1-4. The staff will draw randomly which teams from Ranks 5-8 will fill each bracket.

If the total number of teams in the Tournament is lower than 16, 4 teams will be qualified, with the 1st facing the 4th and the 2nd facing the 3rd in the semifinals.

Metal League Beginner Playoffs will have four phases: quarter-finals, semifinals, third-place games and Final.
All phases will be Best of One, except the Final, which will be Best of Three.
All Playoffs matches will be played in Metal God Arena.
All matches will be played with 4 players per team, with all players being able to pick any character available for them (all pick)
Teams can’t change their roster during the Playoffs phase.
- - Every team has a maximum of 5 players. They can change the starters freely in any way they want between matches.

1.3.4 Lobby Host

The captain of the team with the higher seed will create the Custom Match creator/leader. The Custom Match creator has to select the appropriate region on the bottom left corner before creating the lobby.

1.3.5 Adding your opponents via Access Code

After creating a lobby, send out the invite link to the opposite team. Please make sure that the correct players are in the lobby before starting the match.

1.3.6 Lobby Setup

Server Region: South America / Europe
Arena: Metal God Arena

1.3.7 No Show

Teams have 10 minutes to start the match between new rounds and 5min between new matches. Whoever causes delays or doesn’t make it in time will be disqualified.

1.3.8 Screenshots

A screenshot of the on-screen results must be made of every game that is played. The screenshots must be uploaded onto the Discord server created by the organization, on the proper channel of each match.
Both teams have an obligation to post it. If a team captain doesn’t post the screenshot on the match channel, their team won’t have the right to contest any result given by the opponent.
- - The organization has the right and power to check the real result of a contested match and take action about that later.

1.3.9 Spectator

Observers are allowed only if both teams agree. The exceptions to these rules are admins and people that are explicitly allowed to observe by an admin (e.g. shout casters or streamer). Under no conditions is it allowed to play with referee’s other than those decided by an admin.
Teams should only allow observers they trust. It is not allowed to protest after a match to complain about observers that were allowed in the game.

2. In-game

2.1. Number of players

The number of players must be at least 4 (four) for each team. A team missing a player will get a default loss.

2.2. Game Pause

It is forbidden to pause a game for no reason. After you pause a game, you must say in all chat (in-game chat with everyone who joined the match) the reason for the pause.

Each team will be able to pause 5 times maximum. The total pause time for both teams will be 2 minutes per match. Whatever ends first (pauses or time) will prevent the team from pausing again.
- - We strongly encourage sportsmanship and fair play. Both teams could agree to terms that seem fair to them in order to have a fair game.
Abuse of the pause will lead to the loss of that match. When a team experiences an unsporting conduct from the opponent, they must take a screenshot of the match and open a formal ticket to the Tournament’s organization (Hoplon).

2.2.1. Player Disconnection

If a player is disconnected during the game, the game automatically will replace the player with a BOT. If the team still has pauses left, they can use it and explain their reasons in chat.

If a player disconnects during the Playoffs phase and it becomes impossible to reconnect to the match because of game-side issues, the staff can guide them to restart that match, starting again with the same pilots, players and scoreboard they had when the staff announced the decision.

2.3. Illegal Actions

Any actions that result in an unfair advantage are illegal. This includes intentional bug abuse of any kind. The organization staff has the power to decide about unexpected cases.

2.3.1. Unauthorized Names
It is forbidden to use any Team Names or Player Names that make clear identification difficult, or tries to hide the true identity of a single player. Each player of a team must have a unique and clearly differentiable name.

3. After the Match

3.1. Protest Tickets

Protest tickets have to be filled within 15 minutes after the match finishes (in Playoffs) or 15 minutes after the end of the Stage (Qualifiers), otherwise, they can’t be used to influence the result. Tickets may be submitted on our official website, under Support.

3.2. Match Media

During Playoffs, all match media (screenshots, demos, etc.) must be kept for at least 15 days. In general, you should upload the match media from a match to the match page as soon as possible. Faking or manipulating match media is of course forbidden and will result in severe penalties. Match media should be named clearly based on what it is. It is not possible to file a protest or write a support ticket to complain about bad match media naming. However, if an admin is hindered in their work because of bad match media names, then it can be punished for.

4. Penalties

The Metal League will follow the Rules of Conduct used in Heavy Metal Machines. A player and the team can receive two light penalties or one heavy penalty – either case results in disqualification. The organization of the Tournament is responsible for applying the penalties and keeping the registers about penalized teams and players. A team is only punished once per violation, regardless of how many players.

4.1. Light Penalties

Here’s the list of violations punished by light penalties:

Disrespect with other players
Disrespect with the Tournament’s staff
Missing match media
Intentional bug abuse
Giving advantage to opponents on purpose
Unwanted contents & behavior

4.2. Heavy Penalties

Here’s the list of violations punished by heavy penalties:

Cheating
Using multiple personal accounts on the Tournament
Quitting match
Playing on alternative accounts (from other players)
Faking country
Fake result
Fake match
Unregistered player

4.3. Unexpected cases

The Tournament organization can decide how to apply a penalty for unexpected cases not-described on this document.

4.4. Appeals

Any player or team can appeal to any decision offering proof in order to get any decision reversed. The appeal must be made within 24 hours after the punishment application and the organization will have 24 hours after that to announce its final decision.

5. Prizes

In Metal League, players can earn two different types of prizes: in-game prizes and money prizes. All of them will be delivered in up to 90 days.

5.1. Metal League Pro

The total prize pool will be 5,000 Euros, split into Europe and South America editions.

1st Place – € 1200 + Totem Arena + Exclusive Spray
2nd Place – € 500 + Exclusive Spray
3rd Place – € 250
4th Place – € 150
5th Place – € 100
6th Place – € 100
7th Place – € 100
8th Place – € 100

In the 4-Teams Playoffs Scenario:

1st Place – € 1300 + Totem Arena + Exclusive Spray
2nd Place – € 600 + Exclusive Spray
3rd Place – € 350
4th Place – € 250

Country-specific taxes may apply.
5.2. Metal League Beginner

1st Place – Metal Pass Premium + All pilots in the game + Heavy Metal model + 25000 Fame
2nd Place – All pilots in the game + Heavy Metal model + 20000 Fame
3rd Place – 5 pilots + Metal Legend model + 15000 Fame
4th Place – 3 pilots + Metal Legend model + 10000 Fame
5th Place – 1 pilot + Rockstar model + 5000 Fame
6th Place – 1 pilot + Rockstar model + 5000 Fame
7th Place – 1 pilot + Rockstar model + 5000 Fame
8th Place – 1 pilot + Rockstar model + 5000 Fame

In the 4-Teams Playoffs Scenario:

1st Place – Metal Pass Premium + All pilots in the game + Heavy Metal model + 25000 Fame
2nd Place – All pilots in the game + Heavy Metal model + 20000 Fame
3rd Place – 5 pilots + Metal Legend model + 15000 Fame
4th Place – 3 pilots + Metal Legend model + 10000 Fame

Each member of the team will receive the rewards according to their position.

Players can choose if they want the Metal Pass Premium from the current season or the next one.

Players can also choose which pilots and models they want among all items available in the game store.