Mini LCS SI26 Ruleset

Mini LCS Summer Invitational 2026 Tournament Ruleset

This competition is not affiliated with or sponsored by Riot Games, Inc. or League of Legends Esports

Recent changes are marked in blue.

1 Eligibility Requirements                                        

1.1 Disclosing peak account

Players must disclose the Riot ID of their highest peak rank League of Legends account from any region used in the 2025 and/or 2026 Season(s).

If a player has two or more accounts with the same peak rank, all accounts should be disclosed.

For players in apex ranks (Master and above) we will ONLY be taking into account your peak rank from Season 2025 and split 2 of Season 2026. This is to mitigate some of the rank inflation that has occurred during Split 1 of Season 2026.

1.1.1 Reaching a new peak mid event.

If a player ranks up an account to a higher peak than their current registered peak, submit a ticket to notify staff of this change as soon as possible.

1.2 Account Requirements

Restrictions are applied based on a player’s peak rank in Solo/Duo, using data from the 2025 & 2026 ranked seasons.

Flex queue rank does not count towards peak rank.

1.2.1 Account with highest peak rank

These requirements must be met by the player’s account with the highest peak rank (refer to 1.1), and any account used in an official tournament game.

• The account must have a total of 40 ranked solo/duo games during the 2026 Season.
• The account must be a minimum of level 60.
• The account must be on the EUW server.
• The account must be verified with Orianna Bot, pairing their League & Discord accounts.

1.2.3 Game date requirement

The account requirements highlighted above must be met before the event start date, or if a player is being added to a team during the course of the event, they must meet the requirements upon entry submission. If a player has signed up and does not meet these requirements by the event start date they will be removed from the roster.

1.3 Rank Lock

The rank the player is recognised at will be locked at the time their team is officially notified of their acceptance into the league, or via a free agent joining mid tournament or team transfer thereafter, or when they have met all of the Account Requirements (refer to 1.2), whichever is later.

1.3.1 Rank Unlocking

When a player leaves a team their locked rank is unlocked and will require re-evaluating if and when they join a new team (refer to 3.3)

1.4 Riot ID

Riot ID changes have to be submitted via submitting a ticket. If the name change occurs during the event, the name change must be provided before the roster lock of their next series occurs (refer to 4.3) as it could interfere with roster sheets. Failure to do so may result in penalties. (refer to 7.1)

1.5 Staff Members

All staff members are allowed to participate and have affiliation as a team member for any team as an emergency substitute (see 3.2). Additionally, staff members may be full-time members of any one team. If a staff member joins a team permanently, they are no longer allowed to be an emergency substitute and cannot join another team for the remainder of the event if they leave the current team. Additionally, they will not contribute towards any decisions made regarding the bracket they are participating in, or decisions regarding players in that same bracket.

2 Team Management

2.1 Premade Rosters

2.1.1 Roster Requirements

A team must consist of the following:

• At least 5 players.
• At least 1 team captain.
• Up to 4 substitutes.
• Up to 2 coaches.
• Up to 1 team manager.

A team can have no more than 5 main roster players, 4 substitute players & 2 coaches at any given time. A player can only be assigned to one team in any given bracket. However, a player may coach for another team as long as the team they are affiliated with are not in the same bracket. Coaches can only be assigned to one team per bracket, and they cannot participate as a player if they are coaching in the same bracket. If a team elects to have a team manager, the manager can assist with the duties of the team captain.

2.1.2 Players Responsibilities

Player responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Communicating their availability for tournament games week-to-week.
• Team coordination
• Communicating relevant information between staff and team members.

Teams, once formed, must elect a team captain. The team captain will assume the following responsibilities:

• Being an available point of contact inside and outside of games for the staff team.
• Submitting roster changes & substitution requests.
• Scheduling games with opponents during the tournament.

The responsibilities assumed by team captains can be done by a team manager if the roster so chooses but this must be relayed to staff via submitting a ticket so they are aware who to contact for team disputes.

2.1.3 Coaches

Coaches are not required but are permitted, they have no responsibilities except to adhere to the rules outlined here. Team coaches may only be assigned to one team but they may play for another team so long as they aren’t in the same bracket as the team they’re coaching.

2.1.4 Team Withdrawal

A team may withdraw themselves for any reason. Withdrawal will result in all scheduled games for that team to end in forfeit. All players from that team will be considered Free Agents.

3 General League and Roster Rules

3.1 Roster Guidelines

All rosters (Premade or Mashup) must adhere to the strict ranking caps of the bracket they intend to play in. These caps are as follows:

Weenie Hut Junior Bracket:

A legal roster submitted for any game in the Weenie Hut bracket can be up to a maximum of 20 points.

Teams can field players between the ranks of Iron (1 Point) and Low Platinum (5 Points).

Hardstuck Bracket:

A legal roster submitted for any game in the Hardstuck bracket can be up to a maximum of 40 points.

Teams can field players between the ranks of Low Platinum (5 Points) and High Diamond (10 Points). Teams are allowed to field a single Master 0-150LP Peak (11 Points) player if they so choose.

Sweatlord Bracket:

A legal roster submitted for any game in the Sweatlord bracket can be up to a maximum of 60 points.

Teams can field players between the ranks of High Emerald (8 Points) and Master 1201LP+ (15 Points).

All players are given a point value upon signup based on the following metrics:

• Their peak rank in Season 2025.
• Their peak rank in Season 2026.
• How many games played in Season 2025 & 2026.
• Ranks in previous seasons, weighing recent seasons more heavily than earlier seasons.
• Peak rank & historic peak on any alternate accounts.

Players are assigned one of the following values:

1 Point - Iron

2 Points - Bronze

3 Points - Silver

4 Points - Gold

5 Points - Low Platinum (Plat 4-3) [CUT OFF FOR WEENIE HUT JUNIOR, ENTRY RANK FOR HARDSTUCK]

6 Points - High Platinum (Plat 2-1)

7 Points - Low Emerald (Eme 4-3)

8 Points - High Emerald (Eme 2-1) [ENTRY RANK FOR SWEATLORD BRACKET]

9 Points - Low Diamond  (Dia 4-3)

10 Points - High Diamond (Dia 2-1)

11 Points - Master 0-150LP [CUT OFF FOR HARDSTUCK BRACKET]

12 Points - Master 151-400LP

13 Points - Master 401-800LP

14 Points - Master 801-1200LP

15 Points - Master 1201LP + 

3.1.1 Non Premade Rosters

For players who have signed up as a solo, duo, or trio instead of a premade 5, all of the same rules above apply but your team will be drafted. Upon signup, players can elect to be a captain. Captains will be selected by staff after the submission deadline.

3.1.2 Team Draft

The draft will be held one week before the start of the event and if possible will be streamed. Each bracket, starting with Sweatlord and finishing with Weenie Hut Junior, will have their respective captains assigned a random number, depending on how many teams can be formed from the player pool for their bracket.

In the event there are more formable teams than we have elected captains (i.e. 25 players in the pool, only 3 captains) Staff will elect players in the pool forward for captaincy. This is to ensure that as many players get the opportunity to play as possible.

The draft will be a reverse snake draft, also known as a Third Round Reversal (3RR). Refer to the example below to understand the draft:

• Five captains have been elected. For this example, we will refer to them as Captain A, B, C, D & E.
• Pick order will be decided at random (for this example, it will go A > B > C > D > E)
• Round one captain selections follow the allotted pick order, meaning Captain A would pick first, B second, through to E last.
• For the second round, this order will be reversed. The first pick in Round 2 will go to Captain E, then D, through to Captain A as the last pick.
• Entering into the third round, we remain with the draft order from Round 2. This is to prevent Captains A & B from getting unproportionately strong rosters. This means that Round 3 will begin with Captain E selecting a player and finish with Captain A.
• The fourth and final round will reverse once again, meaning Captain A will be the first pick of the final round, with Captain E being the final pick of the draft in its entirety.
• In the event the captain is a part of a duo or trio or opts to draft a duo or trio, all additional players picked up in this selection will fill that captains slot in the following round. The remaining captains will draft as normal with the captain who drafted the duo/trio rejoining once they have the same number of players as the rest of the field.

Teams must be drafted within the legal boundaries of the bracket they are drafted for. If the ability to select a legal roster is available during drafting, it MUST be followed. ONLY in situations where there are no remaining players in a role or no other legal ways to build the roster will captains be allowed to exceed the point cap, to be able to finish their roster.

Players MUST NOT be forced into roles they have not elected into playing via their signup form.

3.2 Emergency Substitution

Emergency Substitutes are players that are not signed to your team and may be used when no other member of your roster is available. Team Captains must submit a request via submitting a ticket and disclose who the substitute will be replacing for the substitute to be approved.

Usage of emergency substitutes is a last resort and depending on context when a substitution may be used it may incur penalties for the player who was initially scheduled for the game (see 7.1). Any emergency substitute must adhere to the following rules:

• They can only play for 1 team per week, rescheduled games count for the week as their original scheduled date.
• They must be of equal points of less than the player they are covering if the team in question is capped out on points for their bracket. In the events that the team has excess points, the team may use them. For example, if a team has 3 points left over and is finding a substitute for a Bronze player (worth 2 points), they may use 5 total points for the emergency substitution..
• Cannot be a player who has been a listed player on another team within the same bracket within the last 2 weeks.
• Cannot have played as an emergency substitute for another team within the same bracket within the last 2 weeks.
• Cannot be an active player from a different team in the same bracket.

3.2.1 Penalty Waiver

If the emergency substitute is declared more than 24 hours before the series and is listed on the line-up submission, the penalty is waived. This does not apply during any Best of 5 Series (Winners Final, Losers Final, Grand Finals).

3.3 Roster Changes

A team captain may request a roster change at any time by submitting a ticket. Teams are allowed to make roster changes at any time but any player change made less than 24 hours before a scheduled series will only be completed after the completion of said series.

The addition of players new to the league may take extra processing time due to background checks done by staff. Responsibility to submit these additions in a timely manner lies with the team.

3.3.1 Adding a player

When adding a player, the team captain/manager must provide the following:

• Discord name
• Riot ID
• Op.GG Link to the account they intend to use.
• Highest peak ranked LoL account, if different from verified account (refer to 1.1).

All prerequisite account requirements (see 1.2) apply to any newly added players.

3.3.2 Removing a player / leaving a team

A team captain may request to remove a player, or a player may choose to leave a team at any time.

3.3.3 Transfer & Trade Restrictions

All player transfer or trade requests must be submitted by submitting a ticket. They must clearly state the player that is moving, the team they are moving from, and the team they intend to move to, as well as the player that is being traded, if there is a trade ongoing. Transferred or traded players must adhere to the following restrictions:

• After leaving a team for the second time during the same tournament, a player cannot play for their new team during their next series.
• No player will be able to rejoin a team they have previously played for during the ongoing split.
• Player trades are not legal during the knockout stage.

4 Tournament Format

4.1 Standard Event

The Mini LCS Winter Open 2026 will be a Two Stage event. This will play out as follows:

The Group Stage

Depending on the number of teams there will be a number of groups that will play a Single Round Robin. For example, if we have twenty teams there will be four groups of five, if there are eight teams we will do two groups of four, if there are seventeen teams we will do three groups of four and one group of five. If we have to utilise a group of three teams, the single round robin will be double round robin for that specific group.

The Playoffs

Depending on turnout, we will then have a Top Eight cut into a Double Eliminational Playoffs. If there are eight teams or less, there will be no cut and all teams from the Group Stage will be seeded into a playoff bracket.

4.1.1 Time frame & scheduling

Each round will take one week to complete and will consist of one series for teams to play. During extenuating circumstances such as Riot server issues when a series was initially planned or if both parties agree to postpone their game then there may be scenarios where multiple series are played in one week, but the expectation is one series per week.

At the beginning of a week, each round pairing will be announced and captains will be expected to schedule their game amongst themselves. Captains will have until Wednesday 23:59 to lock a date & time for their series. Any games that fail to be scheduled will be played on the Sunday of their respective week, at 19:00 BST. Roster submission for these games will be held as usual and failure to submit your lineup in a timely and accurate fashion will incur penalties (see 7.1). Games must be completed before the deadline, unless extenuating circumstances prevent such. Any extenuating circumstances must be communicated to staff via submitting a ticket.

4.3 Line-up Submission

Team managers or team captains are to provide their team’s starting line-up for the upcoming game day at least 24 hours beforehand in the #lineup-submissions channel for the relevant bracket.

This message must include

• The team name
• The team they are playing against
• Date & Time the game will be played.
• Riot IDs of the 5 players who will play in Game 1, as well as their roles.

- Riot IDs on the line-up do not have to be 100% accurate, as long as they can still  be used to identify a player through the Mini LCS Teamsheet.

- If the players registered peak account is different from the account they are playing on, both accounts must be listed.

• Potential substitutes for after Game 1.

- Using a listed substitute in Game 1 will be treated as an emergency substitute and may incur penalties in line with emergency substitutions (see 7.1)

• Side Selection, if the team has been granted it. This will be decided by using the coinflip bot.
• Multi OP.GG of all players accounts that are listed on the line-up and any peak accounts that are listed in the Team Sheet.

Missing the above criteria may result in penalties (refer to 7.1)

4.3.1 Side Selection

If the team has been granted side selection but does not include it in the line-up submission, the team will be defaulted to being the blue side for Game 1.

4.3.2 Inability to submit line-up

In case the team captain is unable to submit the lineup, another member of the team may submit the lineup through their team text channel with staff. A staff member will post the lineup on behalf of the team. Potential deadline penalties will be applied based on the time of the lineup submission in the message.

5 Gameday Procedures

5.1 Series Procedure

Official series lobbies codes will be generated through Toornament. Codes will be accessible through the Toornament page, which should be accessible by the captains in any given series.

5.1.1 Voice Channels

All players must be in one of the allotted voice channels in the Mini LCS server throughout their entire series unless explicitly told otherwise by a staff member.

Other team members, as well as coaching staff & team managers are allowed in the team’s voice channel before and after the games but not during and must leave once the loading screen ends. Failure to have team members leave will result in penalties (refer to 7.1).

5.1.2 Pre-Game Lobby

Each team is permitted to have up to 2 coaches as spectators (unless 5.8.3 applies). Please ensure that you are in the lobby at the agreed time and that if you or a teammate are running late you have informed staff. Teams are given a fifteen minute grace period for their players to arrive or for them to organise an emergency substitution in the event their scheduled player can no longer participate. After fifteen minutes, game 1 will be a forfeit victory to the enemy team. This forfeit victory is at the winning team's captains discretion.

5.1.1 Fearless Draft

All games played in the Mini LCS Summer Invitational 2026 will be done so under Fearless Draft. All rules pertaining to Champion select below are referring to Fearless Draft.

5.2 Champion Select Draft Procedure

Drafting should begin once both team captains have confirmed their teams are ready. Drafting will be done initially through https://drafter.lol/ to allow teams to pick without concern of if their players have certain champions. The champion select should be made by one of the captains or a staff member if they are present for the game. After this is completed, teams can go into champion select on the client. The picks and bans must match the drafted completed on Drafted but the order in which they’re picked can be changed, to avoid any issues with champion ownership.

5.2.1 Procedure between games

Players must follow their assigned roles stated in the lineup submission for each series for game 1. For games 2 onward, teams are free to switch roles amongst their stated roster and substitute active players with any substitute listed on their lineup submission.

For Weenie Hut Junior bracket, any role swaps between games must be expressly conveyed to the opposing captain before the draft for said game begins, for the sake of clarity. Failure to follow this rule will result in penalties (refer to 7.1).

Between games, the following timings should be followed to respect all participants time:

• The team with side selection going into the next game should declare which side they intend to take for the next game within 5 minutes of the previous games end.
• In the event of roster changes, the team captain or manager of the team making changes must inform the opposing team of the roster changes alongside any role swaps before draft begins for the next game.
• Draft for the subsequent game should begin no later than 15 minutes after the completion of the previous game.

If any issues occur that may cause delays to this framework, submit a ticket informing staff of the situation. Failure to adhere to the above framework without informing staff as to why may incur penalties (see 7.1).

5.2.2 Issues during Champion Select

If a player disconnects or is unable to select their intended champion due to client issues in the pick & ban phase, the player must take evidence via a screenshot or recording and have a teammate immediately leave the lobby before the other team has locked in their next selection.

The team must then inform the opposing team captain and a staff member via submitting a ticket. The staff member will then decide the proper course of action going forward. If sufficient evidence is provided, the champ select will be remade from the point right before the incorrect pick. Other picks and bans must stay the same.

If the technical issue prevents the player from playing, the team will have 15 minutes from the moment the staff member confirmed their ruling (see above) to find a substitute or use a listed substitute (penalties as per 7.1 may still apply). If they are not able to resolve the problem or restart champion select within this timeframe, they will forfeit the game. After 1 hour, they will forfeit the series. If a substitute is used and/or bans are lost, pick and bans will be reset.

5.2.3 Champion Trades

Teams must complete all Champion trades before the 20-second mark during the Trading phase, or will be subject to penalties (refer to 7.1). The accusing team must provide adequate evidence (i.e. screenshots or screen recordings) to staff via submitting a ticket and it must be done as soon as possible.

5.2.4 New / Reworked Champions

Certain major changes to champions will ban them from being picked for a short period after release. Refer to the table below:

5.4 Pauses, Remakes and Chat Usage

5.4.1 Chat Usage

General use of /all chat is not an issue. It is an expectation for players to communicate any relevant information such as reasons for pauses to their opponents. Any inflammatory text sent to players that is not relevant to the game (i.e. insulting a players person, antagonising or threatening people) will not be tolerated and will, at minimum, incur a match ban for the player(s) involved.

5.4.2 Pausing the Game

A game may be paused due to, but not limited to, unintentional disconnections or a real life emergency but each team is only permitted 15 minutes of the 30 minute pause timer per game.

If the pause exceeds 10 minutes, the staff team must be informed via submitting a ticket.

If the pause exceeds 15 minutes, the pausing team must immediately unpause at the opposing team or staff member’s request or will be subject to penalties (refer to 7.1).

If the pausing team informs staff & the opposing team that they are ready to unpause and the opposing team are not ready to start in a timely fashion, the time expended between the pausing team declaring ready and the opposing team finalising the unpause will count against the opposing team, not the pausing team. This is to prevent teams from intentionally burning through a teams pause time by delaying the game resume, and staff reserve the right to penalise teams for this on a case-by-case basis.

5.4.3 Resuming the Game

A game may be resumed from pause once both teams have verified they are ready to resume play via the game chat. Failure to adhere to this may incur penalties (refer to 7.1)

5.4.4 Remaking the Game

A game may be restarted if there are ongoing connection issues with one or more players due to server issues or game breaking bugs. This will require evidence from the team requesting a remake, provided via submitting a ticket. This does not include player(s) having personal internet or hardware issues.

In the event of a gamebreaking bug where adequate evidence has been provided and staff agree remaking the game is the correct course of action, if the bug pertains to a specific character that character will be banned for the remainder of the series to prevent the bug from occurring again.

5.5 Breaks

If a technical issue prevents a player from playing the next game, the team will have 15 minutes from the moment the issue was confirmed and authorised by a member of staff (via submitting a ticket). When submitting a ticket to log a player having technical issues that may require a delay or an alternative player to fill in, please provide evidence of said technical issues in the ticket. If a team using this rule sources a replacement that is not a listed substitute, the normal “Emergency Substitution” penalties will apply (refer to 7.1). If the team are not able to resolve the problem or source a suitable replacement within the timeframe, they will forfeit the game. After 1 hour, if the issue has not been resolved or a suitable replacement has not been sourced, the series will be forfeited.

5.5.1 Official Stream Exemption

Official streamed games may allow for an extra 5 minutes of break between games to allow the production team time for stream breaks or pre and post game content (interviews, video packages etc.).

5.6 Series Postponement

In the event where server or client issues prevent the majority of players from playing a series, after 30 minutes the staff team reserves the right to push back the affected series (and by extension, that brackets scheduling) one week if needed, which may cause an extension of the tournament.

5.7 Match Data Submissions

For every game, team captains must submit screenshots of the completed draft in #sweatlord-drafts, #hardstuck-drafts or #weenie-hut-drafts, depending on the bracket they are actively playing in. The winning teams captain must also submit screenshots of the post-game lobby in #sweatlord-results, #hardstuck-results or #weenie-hut-results, depending on the bracket they are actively playing in. Additionally, all games must be provided with the Replay (.ROFL) files, either supplied via submitting a ticket and placing the file in said ticket, or via WeTransfer. If using WeTransfer, send the file to MiniLCS2024@Gmail.com and submit a ticket after uploading to inform staff that the replay files have been sent.

5.8 Streaming & Recording

5.8.1 Streaming

All players and spectators are permitted to stream any game with the only exception being that spectators are not allowed to stream the same game as an official Mini LCS broadcast. This does not apply to POV streams. All unofficial streams must apply a 3 minute delay to their stream.

5.8.2 Recording

Recording games is permitted and it’s highly encouraged that at least one player record their point of view for every game. We encourage game recording primarily because if any issues arise we can go straight to the recording for evidence.

5.8.3 Official Stream Exemption

If a game is being streamed on the Official Mini LCS broadcast, no other spectators are permitted to spectate in the game lobby. This is to allow for the production team to use the spectator slots in the lobby. If there are delays due to technical issues pertaining to the stream then no penalties will be issued to either team and, on a case-by-case basis, some games may be required to continue off-stream when necessary.

During officially streamed games, teams are expected to wait until confirmation from the production team to start draft, and to start the game in client. Failure to follow these rules may incur penalties (refer to 7.1)

6 Code of Conduct

Committing any of the below actions may result in any punishment deemed applicable by the staff team (refer to 7.2)

6.1 Competitive Integrity

6.1.1 Collusion

Any agreement between 2 or more team members that presents a disadvantage to opposing players or teams. This could include the following:

• Exchanging information or communicating with individuals not in the game, during the game.
• Deliberately losing the game for any reason, or attempting to persuade another player/team to do so.
• Coaching multiple teams/organisations which are within the same division as each other.

6.1.2 Hacking/Scripting

Any modification to the League of Legends game client to give any team member an unfair advantage. This is not in reference to overlays like Blitz / Professor / U.GG, overlays are legal.

6.1.3 Bug Exploitation

Intentionally using an in-game bug to seek an unfair advantage This includes, but is not limited to, the use of glitches in items, champion abilities, or any other game function that is not working as intended.

6.1.4 Account Sharing

Playing under another player’s account, or encouraging/directing someone else to do so.

6.1.5 Intentional Disconnection

Purposely disconnecting from the game without a proper and explicitly stated reason.

6.1.6 Harbouring

Not reporting an instance of a player breaking the code of conduct, despite being aware of it.

6.2 Account Integrity

6.2.1 Smurfing

Playing under a lower peak ranked account without disclosing their peak ranked account. Note if a higher peak is achieved during the split on a separate account this account must also be provided to staff.

6.2.1.1 Undisclosed higher ranked accounts within restrictions

If a player is found to have an undisclosed higher ranked account that would alter their teams point total, this will be considered a violation of rule 6.2.1 and penalties will apply.

6.2.2 Sharing

Playing under an account that has been previously shared with or botted by another person.

6.2.2.1 Exemptions

A shared or botted account may be allowed under the following circumstances:

• The account is disclosed as such at signup or upon staff enquiry.
• The sharing or botting occurred more than 1 year ago.
• At least 200 Solo/Duo games have been played on the account since the sharing / botting occurred.
• The account is at least level 100.

6.2.3 Sandbagging

Deliberately losing sanctioned tournament games.

6.2.4 Orianna Bot

All players playing in a Mini LCS Sanctioned game must have the Riot ID of the account they are using and their discord account connected & verified through OriannaBot. Failure to comply with this may result in penalties (see 7.1)

7.1 Penalties List

All penalties, besides warnings, will be announced in #competitive-rulings

7.1.1 Line-up submission

• If a team edits their line-up submission after the lock-in deadline they will lose their first 3 bans in their first game of the series (with the exception of 7.1.2)
• If the multi op.gg provided fails to correctly link to the relevant accounts of all players included, they will lose their first 3 bans in their first game of the series.
• If a team fails to provide their line-up 24 hours before their scheduled series, they will lose their first 3 bans in their first game of the series.
• If a team fails to provide their line-up 12 hours before their scheduled series, they will lose all bans for the first game of the series.
• If a team fails to provide their line-up 3 hours before their scheduled series, they will forfeit the series.

7.1.2 Player Substitute

• Using a listed substitute in game 1 will incur a 3 ban loss.
• If a team declares to their opponents and the staff team that they are using a substitute from their listed substitutes with more than 1 hour notice, this will result in no bans lost in game 1.
• Two or more substitutes will still result in 3 bans lost in game 1.
• If a team uses an emergency substitute, they will lose their first 3 bans for each game the emergency substitute is used.

7.1.3 Gameday delays

• If a team is not ready to play at 15 minutes past the scheduled series start time or previous game they will forfeit that game.
•  If a team is unable to proceed as they are awaiting a staff decision or input on a current situation, this rule will not be applied.
• If none of the members of a team are present at 15 minutes past the scheduled series start time they will forfeit that series.
• If a team is not ready to play at 50 minutes after the scheduled series start time they will forfeit that series.
• If a team extends past the 15 minute pause allowance in game, then the team must un-pause at the request of the opposing team or a staff member or they will forfeit that current game.

7.1.4 Sportsmanship

• Usage of /all chat outside of what is permitted will result in a player warning, the severity of which will be determined by staff on a case by case basis. Multiple player warnings will result in a suspension, the severity of which will be determined by staff on a case by case basis.

7.1.5 Competitive Integrity

• If a team trades champions after the 20s remaining mark in the Pick & Ban phase then the phase must be restarted with the offending team’s champions set as they were at the 20s mark.
• If a team member who is not playing does not leave voice chat within one minute of the loading screen ending, that team will forfeit the current game. If said member is unresponsive, the game should be paused and the staff team should be contacted to kick them from the voice chat. Individuals can request to be allowed to sit in team VCs by submitting a ticket. If this is approved they will be server muted during the series to maintain competitive integrity.

7.1.6 Player Ineligibility

• If a team uses an ineligible player or line-up during a game then the team will forfeit that game.
• If a player is ruled as ineligible during the split, all games they have played in the tournament thus far will be forfeited.

7.2 Punishments

7.2.1 Investigation Procedure

If a player is accused of breaking the Code of Conduct (refer to 6), the staff team will perform thorough and comprehensive evidence gathering. Once the staff team has concluded deliberations and reached a consensus, the offender will be informed of the action being taken.

7.2.2 Ban Durations

When a player is indefinitely or permanently banned from playing, they will also receive a two week discord ban to serve as a “cooldown” period.

All bans run until the end of their final day at 11:59PM BST, from the date the ban was issued.

7.2.2.1 Indefinite Ban

An indefinite ban is for first time offenders who have broken the Code of Conduct. This type of ban is appealable after:

• The player has been banned for half a year.
• They have served their two week server timeout as a “cooldown” period.

Appeals will take into account whether or not the player has shown remorse for their actions, any positive or remedial action they have taken to remedy their initial wrongdoing as well as positive impact they may have had on the community in the time since their ban if they have been allowed to remain within the community.

7.2.2.2 Permanent Ban

A permanent ban is for those who have offended multiple times or have committed extreme offences in their breach of the Code of Conduct. This type of ban is not appealable.

7.2.3 Confidentiality

The staff team reserves the right to not disclose the evidence provided in any given case regarding bans, timeouts or any punitive action.

7.3 Ban appeals

Community members are allowed to appeal temporary and indefinite bans. Depending on the severity of the infraction & on a case by case basis, staff reserve the right to repeal any punitive actions when deemed appropriate.

Mini LCS as a community is happy to give out second chances to the community members who are here to make the community a better place. The opportunity for a ban appeal is something that staff may grant, it is not a right and should not be expected.

7.3.1 Appeal Acceptance Criteria

An appeal may be accepted when the staff team is confident of the following:

• The member is unlikely to make similar infractions in the future.
• The member regrets their actions.
• The member has shown they are willing to assist and improve the community through partaking in and assisting in the running of events & content for the community.

7.3.2 Acts of Service

If an indefinitely banned community members attempts an appeal, their appeal will be significantly more likely to succeed if there is clear evidence that they are trying to improve the community and have done so throughout the duration of their penalty via contributing to the community in a myriad of ways.

Example of common actions staff would be searching for when investigating an appeal request would be:

• Is the member active in chat’s & voice channels in server and actively engaging in a positive way with the community.
• Are they actively participating in other events run within the server or hosting their own events within the community.
• Are they getting involved with the community creations & production via casting, streaming or otherwise creating content (memes, clips, videos) to support the community.

When an appeal is made, the staff team will go on a case by case basis using the factors stated above alongside the severity of their initial offence and determine if the player(s) should be unbanned. If they are unsuccessful in this, they are welcome to appeal up to 3 times in total, after which if they have still been rejected there is a wait period of one year before additional appeals can be made.

7.3.3 Zero-tolerance policy

If the member in question commits infractions of the same or a similar nature to the offence that caused their initial indefinite ban, they will receive a permanent ban with no chance to appeal.

8 Disclaimer

By applying to participate in this league you are agreeing to all of the rules above and acknowledge that these may change at any time with due notice. If we feel a situation violates an unreasonable mistake or is not in the spirit of a particular rule we reserve the right to overturn a decision based on any circumstances we deem exceptional.

9 Acknowledgements

The creation of this ruleset was a collaborative effort and its success is thanks to the contributions of several dedicated individuals and organisations. We would like to express our gratitude to the following:

• Valanth’s League - This entire ruleset is a carbon copy of their ruleset, perfected over 16 seasons of active competition, we have only altered parts which pertain to our tournaments idiosyncrasies. For the majority, this ruleset would not exist without the hard work of the team at Valanth’s League designing their robust ruleset.

• The Riot Games Community Competition Licence - For providing the operational guidelines that allow for independent, high-quality community events such as ours to operate.

• Our Friends Over At Runeterra Rising & Zenith League - Both respected contemporaries whose commitment to working alongside us and intermingling of our communities has helped our growth as a community and an event.

• Our Moderators - A special thank you to our moderator team - Dam0n12, GeckNo, Lime, Master Oogway & MiscoShogun have sunk countless hours into the operating of our events, managing the Sisyphian endeavour that is The Mini LCS’ upkeep and fostering a positive environment for all our participants. They have been instrumental in our growth as a community and as we continue to grow and use this new ruleset (of which they helped build), they will be the primary points of contact and enforcers of the above ruleset.

• Our Proofreaders - The document before you would not be as robust and all encompassing without the assistance of the proofreaders who have rigorously assaulted the logic behind all of our decisionmaking in this document to make it as ironclad as it is. A big thank you to ChapatiMaster, TubaCowboy & Mahesvara for going above and beyond to ensure the Summer Invitational ruleset is as strong as it can be.

• Our Great Community At Mini LCS - Another special thank you to the community itself - the players who come in, take part and stick with us are the building blocks of the community we’ve built here and we would be remiss not to mention and give our gratitude to those players, viewers and contributors who have partaken in all of our previous events, who show up for the streams, who queue up in the inhouses & make our community what it is.