Global Ruleset

Version 1.2, 08 March 2023

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. General Information

2.1. International Tournament

2.2. Schedule

2.3. Format

2.4. Website and Public Information

2.5. Game Modifications

2.6. Map Pool

2.7. Regional Rewards

3. Team Setup and Communications

3.1. Registration

3.2. Team Logos

3.3. Communications

4. Tournament

4.1. General

4.2. Room Settings

4.3. Maps: The Pick/Ban System

4.4. Ship Bans

5. General Rules

5.1. Score Reporting

5.2. Disputes and Restarts

5.3. Broadcasts

5.4. Rules for Official Streamers

5.5. Sportsmanship

5.6. Rules for Tournament Staff

5.7. Rule Changes

6. Glossary

7. Appendices

7.1. Appendix A: Useful Links

7.2. Appendix B: List of Banned Ships

7.3. Appendix C: List of Playable Ships

7.4. Appendix D: EU Format

7.5. Appendix E: NA Format

7.6. Appendix F: ASIA Format

7.7. Appendix G: CN Format

7.8. Appendix H: Map Spawn Locations

7.9. Appendix I: List of Players banned from KotS

7.10. Appendix J: Rule Amendments

1. Introduction

King of the Sea is the pinnacle of World of Warships competition. Originally founded on the EU server, King of the Sea (or KotS) has grown to become a bi-annual event held on all four Warships servers. Thanks to its grassroots support, the tournament has grown from its humble beginnings to become the official main event of World of Warships competitive gameplay.

April and May 2023 will play host to the fifthteenth iteration of the tournament, with ever increasing participation, and refinement. Various new content additions, website improvements, press accounts, new restrictions and maps to shake up the meta. This KotS has a chance to be the greatest one yet.

Thanks to our ever-growing community awareness and growing volunteer pools, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the tournament goes as smoothly as possible for all teams involved.

Good luck! And may the best cherish their crowns as true Kings of the Sea.

2. General Information

King of the Sea XV is divided into two segments: the Regional Tournament, played on the EU, NA, ASIA and CN server, and the International Tournament, where the best teams from each region face off against each other. For your local Regional Tournament Structure, please see the Appendices.

2. International Tournament

1. The International Tournament is the final stage of King of the Sea, and includes teams from each region.
2. 14 teams compete in the International Tournament.

1. Each region is awarded three (3) slots per default.
2. The remaining two (2) slots will be awarded to the region(s) that provided last tournament’s finalists.
3. Based on the results of King of the Sea XIV, the two (2) slots according to rule 2.1.2.2. will be awarded to the EU region.

3. The International Tournament will start with a Round Robin Group Stage, followed by a Double Elimination Playoffs bracket.
4. Teams will be placed in two (2) groups of seven (7) teams based on their regional ranking.
5. Matches in the Group Stage are best-of-two with map bans and picks and ship bans. Teams are required to finish the ban and pick process for all Group Stage matches until 04.05. 18:00 UTC.
6. Following procedure will determine the final standing of teams in case of ties:

1. Should teams be tied for a placement, the head to head record among the tied teams will first be applied to break the tie.
2. Should exactly two (2) teams still be tied, a Bo1 decider match between those teams will be played directly after the stage ended on the same day. The team with the better point differential will be Team 1.
3. Ban/pick procedure for the Bo1 decider match:

1. Both teams alternately ban a map until only one map remains.
2. Team 1 picks the spawn.
3. Both teams ban a ship.

1. Should three (3) or more teams still be tied, the next tiebreaker will be the sum of the point differential for each team in the matches between the tied teams. The top two (2) ranked teams in this system will play a decider match according to 2.1.6.2. and 2.1.6.3.

7. The top four (4) placed teams of each group advance to the Playoffs bracket.
8. Matches in the Playoffs are best-of-three with the exception of the Grand Final, which is a best-of-five, with map bans and picks and ship bans.
9. The full bracket including details, seeding and progression can be viewed under following link: KotS 15 [Global] - Bracket
10. Participants in the International Tournament need to agree to the legal rules and restrictions set out here: Official Contest Rules - King of the Sea XV 
11. Eligible winners will receive the following prize payout based on their team’s final standing, divided by the amount of team members in the International Roster. 

*Values shown in brackets represent the prize pool if a condition is met to add 10.000 USD to the prize pool, which will be revealed soon!

12. In the case that one or more players in a team are not eligible to receive a cash prize based on the legal rules and restrictions, their prize will be divided equally among all other members of the team.
13. All teams need to be ready to play during the times set out for the International Tournament, between 13:00 and 17:00 UTC.
14. Following procedure will clarify possible roster changes between the Regional an the International Tournament:

1. A maximum of 3 swaps will be allowed.
2. Teams may swap any player, regardless of their participation in the Regional tournament.
3. Roster changes will only be permitted in the time window between the Regional and International tournament. There will be no chance to swap players between the 2 International weekends.

3. Schedule

1. While the stage being played at any date may vary based on region, the following dates will be used for the event:

2. All times are given for a single time zone for each server. It is up to team members to properly convert these to their own timezones.
3. The primary time zones are:

4. Format

1. All games are played in a 9v9 format with Tier X ships only.
2. Teams may field up to two (2) battleships.
3. The use of carriers, submarines, and superships are prohibited.
4. Following ship limitations apply:

• Banned: Louisiana + Alexander Nevsky + Petropavlovsk
• Restriction: St. Vincent + Napoli + Moskva + Marceau <= 1
• Restriction: Kremlin + Brisbane + Stalingrad + Ragnar <= 2

1. Ships not released, in Early Access, not obtainable without purchases or no longer readily available are also banned from use. See Appendix B for a comprehensive list.
2. Any ships banned during the tournament (see paragraph 4.4) are not allowed to be used.
3. Teams are composed of at least nine (9) players and a maximum of fifteen (15) players.
4. One or two of these players are designated team representatives, and must join and be available on the KotS discord.
5. The total number of teams allowed to register varies by region and can be found in the regional appendices.

5. Website and Public Information

1. Team registration and management will be handled by the WoWs Tournaments website.
2. All servers will be using Toornament to run their tournaments:

• EU: Link
• NA: Link
• ASIA: Link

1. Through Toornament, the public will be able to see:

• Team Name
• Team Logo
• Team Standings

1. Game Modifications

1. All mods from Aslain’s Mod Pack or the official Wargaming ModStation are allowed.
2. All players must have replays enabled. Replays are enabled by default and should be preserved by teams for all tournament battles for at least 48 hours. 

Note: Replays are overwritten by default, make sure to copy them to a separate folder following your games.

2. Map Pool

1. Following maps will be played in the tournament:

2. Map images can be found under the following link: KotS 15 [Global] - Maps

3. Regional Rewards

1. Rewards are awarded per player, regardless of roster size.
2. For a team to be eligible for rewards, they must complete all matches in which they are scheduled. Failure to play all scheduled matches or other misconduct may result in a reduction or full withholding of rewards.
3. A team with players from only one clan may choose to have the doubloons and steel sent to the clan treasury. The amount will be in line with the amount of players on the roster.
4. Regional Tournament Rewards can be found in the respective regional Appendix or under the following link: Kots 15 [Global] - Prize Pool

3. Team Setup and Communications

1. Registration

1. All teams must register on the WoWs Tournaments website.
2. Registration period:

• EU         Registration opens: 24 March 2023 15:00 CET(!)

Registration closes: 2 April 2023 23:59 CEST

• NA        Registration opens: 24 March 2023 10:00 EDT

Registration closes: 2 April 2023 23:59 EDT

• ASIA        Registration opens: 24 March 22:00 SGT

Registration closes: 3 April 2023 07:59 SGT

3. Additional instructions on how to register are available on the King of the Sea discord server, in the respective regional signup channel:

• EU: #signup-eu
• NA:   #signup-na
• ASIA: #signup-asia

4. Players need to have at least 1,000 recorded Random or Ranked battles on their account, or participated in an official WG, or WG sponsored tournament in the past 6 months.
5. Players can only be a member of one team and may only participate in one region’s tournament.
6. All participating players will receive a press account prior to the tournament start for mandatory use. The use of this press account is exclusively granted to the player it was handed out to. Distribution of this press account to other players, or the facilitated use of this press account for any other individual is prohibited and may result in tournament or game sanctions.
7. For further information regarding the press account rules and how to set them up, please refer to the following guide: KotS 15 [Global] - Press Account Guide
8. Teams may modify their roster after the registration phase with permission of a regional adjudicator or organizer and only if there are still outstanding games for that team to play.
9. Team Names and Team Tags should be substantially related to each other.
10. Registration is by team, not by clan. Teams can be made up of members of multiple clans.
11. Teams are expected to play all matches. Failure to complete assigned games may result in the loss of prizes or other sanctions, including a ban from future tournaments. Should a team need to withdraw they should contact their assigned referee or adjudicator.
12. Places in the tournament are allocated by date and time on a first-come, first-served basis. In case the maximum capacity of teams is exceeded, remaining teams will be placed on a waiting list and admitted in case already registered teams withdraw from the tournament prior to the start of the first game day.

2. Team Logos

1. Team Logos are not required, but are highly recommended to aid a team’s visual brand.
2. Logos are to be uploaded to the registration portal.
3. Logos should be 200x200 pixels with a transparent background in PNG format.
4. For best results, logo elements should be recognizable even when scaled to 80x80. It is also preferable that the logo is easily visible against both light and dark backgrounds by design.
5. Team Logos should be considered age-appropriate. This is PG-13 or PEGI 12.
6. Logos should not contain inappropriate symbols, logos, or images.
7. The KotS team reserves the right to reject any and all logos as needed.
8. Team logos will be edited as necessary to fit above rules if a solution is not found.
9. Team logos should not contain content that is copyrighted or belongs to another game’s IP.

3. Communications

1. The team captain and team co-captain must join the KotS discord.
2. Team registration is not possible until a team representative is available in the KotS discord.
3. All teams must have one of their reps available on the KotS discord on match days.
4. All team representatives must be able to communicate in English (All other servers and international events).
5. One team representative must attend the pre-tournament reps meeting.
6. Team members are encouraged to join the KotS discord and self-assign the corresponding region role.
7. Members of the KotS discord are not allowed to ping WG Staff and should only contact WG Staff if directed to by a tournament staff member.

4. Tournament

1. General

1. The tournament is conducted using Training Rooms.
2. The proper order of maps in each battle in the Qualifier stage may be found in your respective regional section in the Appendix.
3. Each battle is hosted by a “Home Team”

1. The Home Team occupies the top slot in the respective matchup in Toornament.
2. The Host/Home Team is responsible for opening the room and inviting their opponent and any streamers.

4. Each room must be named using the format:

Team 1 vs Team 2

5. Teams are allowed to change their lineup between games, but cannot change them during a restart.
6. Teams should not be readied up until both teams are fully sorted onto their sides.
7. If teams are short a player, they can bring a maximum of 1 bot player. The bot player must be set to high intelligence.
8. Teams cannot play with less than 8 players and will be considered as no-show if they cannot field a team within the allowed time.
9. Spectator mode should be enabled, but only official streamers, tournament staff, or designated WG staff may occupy spectator places.

2. Room Settings

1. The battle must be set for twenty (20) minutes.
2. The battle mode must be set according to paragraph 2.6.1..
3. Each team must be placed in their correct side and lineups hidden.
4. It is up to both teams to ensure the settings are chosen correctly.
5. If a mistake is found, notify your opponent as soon as possible. After two minutes have elapsed on the game clock, the game must be played to completion.
6. Repeated errors by a team in this regard may result in disqualification.

3. Map Bans and Picks

1. All matches designated in the regional structure appendices below will choose maps via pick/bans on the website.
2. Pick/ban process is as follows for a best-of-two:

4. Team 1 bans a map.
5. Team 2 bans a map. It can be the same map as Team 1.
6. Team 1 chooses an unbanned map to play for game 1.
7. Team 2 chooses their spawn for game 1.
8. Team 2 chooses the map to play for game 2.
9. Team 1 chooses their spawn for game 2.

1. Pick/ban process is as follows for a best-of-three:

10. Map bans and picks for maps 1&2 as for a best-of-two series
11. The website will assign an unplayed and unbanned map for game 3.
12. The website will assign random spawns.

1. For a best-of-5, the pick ban format will be as follows:

1. Map bans and picks for maps 1&2 as for a best-of-two series.
2. Team 1 chooses the map to play for game 3.
3. Team 2 chooses their spawn for game 3.
4. Team 2 chooses the map to play for game 4.
5. Team 1 chooses their spawn for game 4.
6. The website will assign an unplayed and unbanned map for game 5.
7. The website will assign random spawns.

1. Ship Bans

1. Ship Bans will be used in stages of the tournament listed in the tournament regional appendices. The following procedures will apply to all regions.
2. At a stage of the event listed within each region’s format, an additional ban per team, per map will come into effect.
3. The additional ban per team will be a blind ban from each team, and apply for a specific map. These bans will be conducted right after each map and spawn pick process.
4. There are no class bans, so each ship is an individual ban.
5. If a banned ship is brought, the game is considered a map loss for that team.

5. General Rules

1. Score Reporting

1. Both teams will upload a replay of their game to the tournament website for score reporting.
2. Specific or additional requirements for score reporting can be found in each regional appendix.

2. Disputes and Restarts

1. After 10 minutes from the scheduled start times, if teams are not fully readied up in the training room lobby, both of them forfeit the round. If one team is available but the other is not, the present team will receive a win. Reporting teams are required to provide a screenshot with visible client time.
2. All players must have replays enabled. They are enabled by default.
3. A restart may be requested if:

1. A player fails to load/disconnects.
2. The spawns/room settings are incorrect.
3. There are bugged spawns.

4. Only 1 restart is allowed per team for single battles and best of 3 series. Teams are allowed 2 restarts during a best of 5 series. Further restarts can occur at organizer discretion in the event of training room issues. Teams should not be readied up until they are fully sorted onto their sides.
5. In the event of a restart, please notify your assigned referee as soon as possible by pinging in discord (or joining the referee voice channel [NA]).
6. An additional restart can be granted on a case-by-case basis.
7. Restarts requested by regional organizers, Battle Faults, do not count against a team’s limit.
8. During a restart, teams may not change their ship lineup or a ship’s settings. These include signals, consumables, captains and all other modifications to the ship. They can change players if someone cannot reconnect, but not ships.
9. Restarts cannot be requested after two minutes have passed of game-time. After this time, both teams are considered to have agreed to the game rules and the game should be played to  completion.
10.         In the spirit of competition, we trust team reps to do a reasonable job of when and when not to allow exceptions, though request not to fall too far behind schedule.

3. Broadcasts

It is the goal of the KotS Organizers to have as many games streamed as possible.

11. All official streams will be coordinated by the KotS Organizers.
12. All streamers will load into the battle in spectator mode.
13. The start of some battles may be held to allow streamers to finish a prior battle. Teams will be informed by a referee if this is the case.
14. Teams which begin their battles without waiting for a previously announced streamer risk a battle forfeit.
15. Attempts will be made so that no streamer is streaming their clanmates.
16. We trust streamers not to pass along information that may skew results. If irrefutable evidence of this is found, said streamer will be banned permanently from all tournament-related events and a temporary ban will be issued for any player who acted on any such information.
17. Teams may not refuse or attempt to refuse having their matches broadcast, violations may lead to disqualification.

4. Rules for Official Streamers

1. Streamers wanting to broadcast any part of the tournament are required to obtain the Streamer role on the official discord and register for each gameday they are planning to broadcast.
2. All official streams will have a minimum five-minute delay.
3. Streamers are required to report on their streaming stats and to link the respective VOD and/or other video upload (ex. YouTube).
4. Streamers are required to make their VODs of each streamed tournament day publicly available.
5. Streamers are required to use the official tournament stream overlays. Overlays should be installed as soon as possible once they are made available and all technical issues should be addressed before the start of the event.
6. Streamers are required to use the official tournament mod settings.
7. Streamers are required to use a non-rotating minimap with ship names enabled.
8. Streamers are not to have facecams during games themselves. Facecams in intermissions are preferred.
9. Streamers should maintain appropriate respect for all participants, tournament staff, and viewers while streaming the event. Part of this is being on time, others are waiting for you, respect their time.
10. Streamers should maintain neutrality in their coverage of the game and not overtly support one team or another and should broadcast both teams’ perspective in the battle.
11. While on stream, Streamers must maintain a professional image and should not directly criticize participants, tournament staff, or tournament sponsors. Gameplay commentary is fine, but should maintain a professional tone.
12. Streamers shall avoid any conduct that would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) or any similar laws in other jurisdictions.
13. Streamers may not stream battles involving a team containing members of a clan or community they are a member of or were a member of in the 3 months preceding the tournament, unless they received approval from the enemy team or direct approval from their regional coordinators.
14. Individuals or accounts that are barred from playing in King of the Sea are similarly barred from being official streamers.
15. Streamers may not at any time during a King of the Sea broadcast promote or advertise any third-party games or products without prior approval from the tournament owner.
16. On NA, a streamer may not play for a team if they are facing an opponent the streamer already casted on the same day.

5. Sportsmanship

1. Treat your opponents with respect. We expect all teams to play seriously, no matter the opponent. Obvious trolling or throwing will be treated as unsportsmanlike play and sanctioned if necessary.
2. We have no desire to punish or disqualify teams unless absolutely necessary. If it is possible to settle disputes without resorting to a formal complaint, we encourage all teams to do so. Those that insist on applying the strict letter of the rules to their opponent will be held to the same standard.
3. Delaying games unnecessarily is a rules violation and can be punished with a default loss. If you are having technical issues, let your referee and opponent know in good time.
4. All World of Warships Game Rules apply to any battles played in the tournament.
5. All participants of the tournament are subject to the Global Tournament Participant guidelines.
6. Players or clans sanctioned under rules in this document or that have been sanctioned by the tournament owner for rule violations in game may be excluded from future KotS iterations at the discretion of the tournament owner.

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6. Rules for Tournament Staff

1. Definitions

1. For purposes of this section, “tournament staff” or “staff” includes all coordinators, adjudicators, and referees.
2. For purposes of this section, “adjudication” means the act of ruling on a dispute between parties and/or the enforcement of a tournament rule. It does not include purely administrative tasks such as score entry or streamer management.

2. Staff may not engage in adjudication in any matches involving a team representing their own clan or community OR a team made up of more than 7 members from their clan or community. Similarly, staff may not be assigned to referee a match or group in which such a team is participating.
3. Staff who are rostered on a team shall not engage in adjudication of any match while their team is actively playing.
4. In the event a procedural rule needs to be changed, staff who are rostered on teams that are still participating in the event shall defer to non competing staff when making such decisions.

7. Rule Changes

1. The tournament organizer reserves the right to change and update the tournament rules at any time.
2. Participants will be notified of any rule changes after the start of the tournament on the tournament discord server. They will also be listed in Appendix J.
3. By continuing to participate in the tournament after the changes have been announced, you agree to follow any changed rules.

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6. Glossary

7. Appendices

1. Appendix A: Useful Links

        KotS discord

        Kots XV link collection

2. Appendix B: List of Banned Ships

The following ships are banned from play:

3. Appendix C: List of Playable Ships

The following ships are allowed to play:

4. Appendix D: EU Format

5. Appendix E: NA Format

6. Appendix F: ASIA Format

7. Appendix G: CN Format

8. Appendix H: Map Spawn Locations

9. Appendix I: List of Players banned from KotS

1. A list of banned players can be found under the following link: KotS [Global] - Ban List.
2. If a banned player owns multiple accounts, all other accounts are considered banned as well.
3. Ban appeals can be submitted to the tournament owner.

10. Appendix J: Rule Amendments

1. Updated 3.1.4 - Participation in official WG, or WG sponsored tournaments in the past 6 months can bypass the minimum battle requirement.
2. Added Prize Pool link to 2.7.4. and added prize pool overviews to the regional sections 7.4.9 (EU), 7.5.7 (NA) and 7.6.5 (ASIA).
3. Added details to the International Tournament in 2.1.
4. Added 7.4.7 (EU) - Method to determine the 5th EU slot for the International Tournament.
5. Added 7.6.8 (ASIA) schedule.
6. Added Legal Contest Rules in 2.1.10.
7. Added Qualifier Map Rotation in 7.4.3.2. (EU).
8. Added link to the translated CN ruleset in 7.7.
9. Updated 7.4.2.3. Map Rotation (EU).
10. Added 7.4.2.4. to clarify team spawns in the Qualifier Stage (EU).
11. Updated 2.1.6.2. and added 2.1.6.3. and 2.1.6.4. for updated tie-breaker rules.