Thunder Cup I regulations
 

Time schedule.
Participation confirmations from teams: October 7th to October 10th
Draw and publishing of the tournament schedule: October 10th
Tournament start/end: October 11th to October 18th
In case of organisational necessity, the schedule of the tournament may change. 

1.  General rules.

1.1. The tournament organiser is Gaijin Entertainment.

1.2. Any squadron team from any country of origin within the War Thunder project can take part without limitations.

1.3. All information about the tournament is published in English and Russian languages.

1.4. Ten teams from the Professional League of Thunder and six teams that qualify by the results of the automated qualifying tournament will participate in the Thunder Cup tournament.

1.5. The game version can be changed during the tournament. The organisers reserve the right to adjust the rules and regulations if necessary.

2. Terms of confirmation of participation.

2.1. In the final stage (play-off) there are 16 teams (10 teams from the Professional League and 6 teams that represent the best squadrons according to the results of the automated qualifying tournament).
 
2.2. Captains of teams who participate need to confirm that their team will participate by filling out the form given by organisers.
 
2.3. Confirmation of the tournament participation is valid if the team roster has at least 7 players + 2 reserves. 

2.4. Captains have the right to change 2 players during the tournament. If the captain plans to substitute a player, he needs to inform one of the Chief Arbiters about it by sending a personal message on the forum. The personal message should use title in the form: “Change in the team [team name]”. The body of the personal message should contain the nickname of the player who has been substituted and the nickname of the player who is the replacement.

2.5. The name of the team and nicknames of the players have to comply with the rules and guidelines of the game and forum.

2.6. Teams receive approval to take part in the tournament by an Organisation Committee decision. The Organisation Committee has the right to decline approval to any team or player without further notice/explanation.

2.7. Every team should have at least one player or mediator who can speak English or Russian language.
 
3. Rules.

3.1. The tournament is in the form of matches between the teams until 3 victories in rounds (best out of 5) with the Double Elimination bracket.
 
3.2. Each match is divided into rounds (missions) in Custom Battles mode with 30 seconds breaks between the rounds and a 3 minute break after the third round.

3.3. Vehicle set.

3.4. Settings for the Custom Battle room:

3.5. Tournament Missions:

• Berlin [Domination] (fixed mission for the 5th/final round)
• Poland [Domination]
• Normandy [Domination]
• Eastern Europe [Domination]
• Karelia [Domination]

3.6. A team of seven registered players enters the battle round (for one side) and players can choose the type of vehicles for each of their crew slots and use them in combat in any way they see fit. 
3.7. In the tournament bracket, the pairs of opponents for the match receive their designation and select the corresponding side in the whole match round by:

Team, which is top – team_1 (allies-star)
Team, which is lower – team_2 (axis-cross).
 

3.8. Mission selection for the round

3.8.1. Teams choose the mission one after the other, starting with team_1 (mission for the first round selects team_1, mission for the second round selects team_2 and so on).
3.8.2. Team who selects the mission for the next round needs to inform the arbiter and their opponents on time by writing mission name in chat of match lobby.
3.8.3. In case of a draw after four rounds, the mission for the fifth (final) round is fixed and will be Berlin.

3.9. The Chief Arbiter appoints an arbiter for each match. Arbiter of the match, Chief Arbiter and two captains of teams who participate in the match need to be present in order to discuss any disputes that may appear during the match.
 
3.10. Only 7 players + 2 reserves from each team, arbiters and streamers are allowed to enter the match lobby.  Arbiters and streamers need to use the “Referee” mode. Reserve players cannot use the “Referee” mode and need to use the “Spectator” mode after round starts. If after mission starts some of the players get disconnected, have some technical problems (high ping, packet loss) – the match arbiter has the right to restart the round or allow reserve player(s) to enter the round with the right to use only one crew.
 
3.11. During the match, players from both teams have to be present on the tournament TeamSpeak server:
Tournament TS address: ts.gaijin.net
TS password: Spitfire (with capital S)
Channel: Gladiators Tournament.
 
3.12. The Nickname of a player in War Thunder, on TeamSpeak and in the team roster have to be the same.
 
3.13. Players who participate in match have to be connected to the TeamSpeak server of the tournament no later than 10 minutes before the appointed time of match start and wait for instructions from the Chief Arbiter.
 
3.14. Match starting time is 18:00 and 19:00 GMT. For teams from South-East Asia, American and the Australasian continents, matches will be scheduled for weekends at 13:00 and 19:00 GMT.

3.15.The order of conducting the match:

• Teams enter the TS in the Lobby of the Gladiators Tournament channel
• Teams enter the Match channel which is announced to them by the Chief Arbiter of the tournament.
• The Arbiter of the match creates the lobby in Custom battles according to the table of settings for the mission.
• The Match arbiter provides the password for the lobby and invites the captains of teams to the lobby in Custom Battles
• The Mission and match start when both teams are ready. The match cannot be postponed due to lack of players or technical problems of any of the players. In some exceptional cases, the arbiter can delay the match start for a couple of minutes.
• Before each round, the match arbiter writes the following commands:
  • Attention! Ready up!
  • Ready (confirmation from both captains that their teams are ready)
  • Start
  • Battle starts without additional commands – after players have loaded into the mission, they choose crew slot and press “to Battle” immediately.
• After the round is finished, match arbiter reports the result in lobby chat.

3.16. Victory conditions.

• A team can achieve victory in round according to the mission, by message of the game server that gives victory to one of the teams.
• Team will achieve victory if their opponents violated the rules and chose wrong vehicles during the battle (point 3.3.)
• Team can achieve victory in the match by reaching wins in three rounds before their opponents.
• In order to win the tournament, a team has to win in the Grand Finals according to the tournament bracket.

4. FORBIDDEN ACTIONS

4.1. Violation of the rules point 3.3. by choosing the wrong vehicles.

4.2. Disrespectful, unsportsmanlike behavior (An intended insult to the participants of the match, arbiters, Gaijin Entertainment employees and viewers in chat or in the TS).

4.3. Refusal to act on the requirements or requests from the Chief Arbiter of the tournament.

4.4. Players who have registered in one team cannot participate in the actual tournament for other teams.

4.5. Players are not allowed to break the rules of the forum or game and those rules apply to game chat and TeamSpeak. It is forbidden to use the resources of the tournament (forum, game chat, TeamSpeak) to spread political, religious and nationalist or any other agenda, which goes into dispute with the main principle of Olympic Charter: “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the opportunity of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”

4.6. Any other actions that can cause damage to reputation of participants or organizers of the tournament and the War Thunder project as a whole.

4.7. For each forbidden action, the team will receive an official warning. After two official warnings in the tournament, the team is disqualified.
 
5. CONSIDERATIONS AND REGULATION OF PROTESTS.

5.1. In case of a disagreement with the result of the match, the captain of the team has the right to challenge it to the Chief Arbiter within a time limit of 15 minutes after the match has ended.

5.2. The Judiciary board will consider the protest immediately after it was given or after the ending of all the matches of the game day. The Judiciary board has the right to dismiss the protest if there is no material to support it (replays of the match, screenshots with the results, mission logs). In a case where the protest has been approved, the result of the match will change. If required the match will be played again.
 
6. DISQUALIFICATION OF A PLAYER OR A TEAM.

6.1. A Team is disqualified for 2 forbidden actions during one match.

6.2. A Player or a team can be disqualified if there are inconsistencies with the nickname and game account (login - e-mail) of the player, which was changed after the first match.

6.3. A player or a team are disqualified for violation of the rules point 4.4

6.4. After a disqualification, a team will not be able to participate in the following tournaments and the Judiciary board can nullify all results of that team.

6.5. A player or a team can be disqualified for the term of one year or permanently in all competitions held in the “War Thunder” game, for using software that enables cheats - “forbidden software modifications”.

6.6. A player or a team can be disqualified for one year or permanently in all competitions held in the “War Thunder” game, for systematic violation of rule points 4.2, 4.3, 4.5.
  
7. PRIZES

1st place: 10 000 Golden Eagles for each player and a trip to China for the show match against the best Chinese team.
Seven players from the winning team will be invited to the show match in China. All trip expenses are covered by Gaijin Entertainment and partners. In the case that the winning team cannot attend the show match, the main prize will be offered to the team who won the second place and so on until one of the teams can accept the offer.

2nd place: 7 000 Golden Eagles for each player.
3rd place: 5 000 Golden Eagles for each player.
4th place: 4 000 Golden Eagles for each player.
5-8th place: 3 000 Golden Eagles for each player.
 
Prizes will be issued to players who are listed on the registration form of the team at the time of the tournament ending.