Tournament Rules

Key Dates

Start time is 3:00 PM ET on each date above.

Each Qualifier round (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3/LCQ) is run on its own day — one round per day, across August 14–16.

Map Rotation: Avalon and Verdansk alternate every single map (1-1-1-1) across every stage of the event — Qualifiers, Play-In, and Finals. No two consecutive maps in a day are the same map.

Number of Maps Per Stage

Qualifiers

• Round 1 (Day 1 — August 14): 192 teams split across 4 lobbies of 48 teams each. Top half of each lobby (Top 24) advances — 96 teams total advance to Round 2.
• Round 2 (Day 2 — August 15): 96 teams split across 2 lobbies of 48 teams each. Top 24 teams from each lobby (48 teams total) qualify directly to the Groups Stage. Bottom 24 teams from each lobby (48 teams total) move to Round 3 (Last Chance Qualifier).
• Round 3 — Last Chance Qualifier / LCQ (Day 3 — August 16): 1 lobby of 48 teams. Top 24 teams qualify to the Groups Stage, joining the 48 direct qualifiers from Round 2.
• Total advancing to the Groups Stage: 48 (Round 2 direct) + 24 (LCQ) = 72 teams.

Groups Stage (September 2, 3, 4)

72 teams are split into three groups of 24: Group A, Group B, Group C. Each group plays a total of 2 days during the Group Stage (one day off each).

Every group plays exactly 2 of the 3 days. Points from both of a team's played days are combined into a single cumulative Group Stage leaderboard across all 72 teams — this is a straightforward point total. The bottom 24 teams on the cumulative Group Stage leaderboard are eliminated. The remaining 48 teams advance to the Play-In Stage.

Play-In Stage (September 7, 8)

48 remaining teams compete over 2 days. Each day, the Top 10 teams earn Advantage Points applied to their starting score in Finals.

Daily Prize Payout (from the $15,000 Play-In Stage prize pool):

Total Play-In Stage prize pool: $4,500 + $2,000 + $1,000 = $7,500 paid per day × 2 days = $15,000.

Finals (September 9)

• 48 teams compete. Format: Call of Duty Match Point.
• Advantage Points earned in the Play-In Stage are applied to each team's starting score.
• Match Point win threshold: 175 points.
• Prize Pool: $45,000.

Note on scoring during Finals: standard kill + placement-multiplier scoring (see Section 3) is used to track the leaderboard throughout each day. Once a team reaches 175 points, the stage concludes as soon as that team wins a game outright — that team is declared the Finals winner regardless of the cumulative leaderboard at that moment. Because of this, the number of games played on Finals day is not fixed and depends on when a team above the threshold wins a game.

The following scoring system applies at every stage of the event — Qualifiers, Groups Stage, and Play-In Stage — and continues to apply as the underlying leaderboard scoring during Finals (see Match Point note above).

Kill Points

Each confirmed kill is worth 1 point.

Placement Multiplier

A team's total kill points for a game are multiplied by the placement multiplier corresponding to their finishing position:

Tiebreakers

In the event of a tied score for placement, ties are broken in the following order:

1. Total Kills (higher wins)
2. Average Placement (better/lower average wins)
3. Map Wins (more wins prevails)

Total: $60,000

• Team Size: Trios (3 players per roster).
• Platform: PC and Console.
• Server Host: All lobbies are hosted on NA East servers for the entirety of the event. By registering, teams acknowledge and accept NA East as the sole host region — no accommodation or compensation will be made for connection quality outside this region.
• All team members must be 18+.
• All team members must be able to stream with facecam. Facecam must show approximately 80% of your face, at admin discretion. Your facecam must be on the same platform/channel you're using to stream the game — not a separate platform or channel.
• Console players without a PS5-compatible camera may stream their facecam on a teammate's PC stream instead. This exception is for console players only — PC players may not put their facecam on a teammate's stream.
• All team members must stream on their main streaming platform and main streaming channel.
• Streamer Mode: If you are a creator with Streamer Mode available, it must be turned off for the duration of your matches.
• VODs of your stream must remain available for at least 1 week after the match day, in case an admin needs to review them.

• Substitutes are permitted at every stage of the event under a single consistent rule: a player may only substitute into a roster for a given stage if that player did not already compete in that same stage (on any roster).
• In practice, this means a player who competed in a given stage cannot substitute into that same stage — they must wait until the next stage to be eligible as a substitute.
• The same player cannot sub in for multiple teams in the same stage.

• In addition to the standard Substitute Policy above, teams competing in the Groups Stage or Play-In Stage (the 72 teams that advance past Qualifiers) may make a trade with another team under the following rules.
• Trade Window: Opens August 16th at 11:59 PM EST and closes September 8 at 11:59 PM EST.
• Each team is allowed one (1) trade with another team for the entire season.
• Trades must be a straight 1-for-1 swap — one player from Team A for one player from Team B.
• All 6 players involved in the trade — all 3 players on each team — must unanimously agree to the trade before it can be finalized.
• Trades are separate from the standard Substitute Policy above and do not use up or affect a team's ability to make substitutes. A team can still bring in a substitute (e.g., for illness or another reason) regardless of whether it has already made its trade for the season. However, once a team has used its one trade, it may not make another trade for the remainder of the event.

• Team registration is only open during the designated signup window.
• The first player to register is designated as the team captain.
• All three team members must have complete profiles at time of registration.
• Teams that register after the max team limit will be placed on the waitlist automatically.
• Registered teams must be approved by an admin before competing.

• Rosters are locked after team registration is submitted.
• Any roster changes, team name changes, or captain transfers after lock require a formal change request.
• Change requests are subject to admin approval and are not guaranteed.
• Unapproved roster changes result in disqualification.

• Scores must be submitted through the official Score Submission page.
• Each submission must include a screenshot as proof.
• Score submissions are reviewed and approved by admins before counting.
• Falsified score submissions will result in immediate disqualification.
• Scores include: map number, placement, and individual kill counts for each player.

• Check-In: Teams must check in prior to their scheduled start time each day, confirming they are still competing that day. Failure to check in may result in forfeiture of the team's lobby slot. Check-in will begin 3 hours before the tournament begins. Players may check in up until 15 minutes before the tournament begins. Only one teammate per squad will need to check in, but must confirm attendance for their entire team.
• Mandatory Town Hall: One hour before the official start time on Day 1 of Qualifiers (August 14), we'll be holding a mandatory Town Hall in the #town-hall voice channel on Discord. At least 1 player from every registered team must join, as an admin will be going over the full ruleset live — format, scoring, prize structure, substitute policy, and penalties — so everyone is on the same page before competition begins. Please come to the Town Hall with any questions you have so an admin can address them directly.
• Disconnect Policy: If 5 or more people disconnect and are unable to rejoin the lobby after trying to join back, that map will be restarted (redrop). This must be reported before the players jump from the plane and combat has started.
• Lobby Crash Policy: If the lobby crashes after the start of Zone 4, the map will not be redropped. All teams keep the kills they already had, and every team still alive at the time of the crash is awarded the placement equal to the number of teams alive (e.g. if 16 teams were alive, every one of those teams receives 16th place).
• Squad Select Failure Policy: Lobbies will only be remade when 2 or more players can not select a squad. If only 1 player can not select a squad, the lobby will be started — that player will be added to the crash counter and will receive their individual average kills for that map. That player's team also has the option to not play the game and instead receive their team average for that map.
• Rejoin Policy: If a player disconnects but has the ability to rejoin the lobby, no score adjustments will be given.
• Player Kicked Policy: If a player is fully kicked out of the game and their team must play a 2v3 or 1v3, the team will have the choice to play the game out and receive that player's individual kill average, or leave the game immediately and receive their average team score.
• Disconnect Averaging: If the disconnection happens within the first 3 games of the day, the affected player will receive their average team score once their team has 3 maps fully played as a trio. If the disconnection happens after the first 3 games, the affected player will receive the average of their team's scores to date (e.g. disconnecting on map 5 awards the average of maps 1–4).
• Loadout Bug Disconnects: Due to the frequency of the dev error loadout bug, we will be awarding averages for in-game disconnections caused by grabbing a loadout. You will receive your individual kill average from your other games played in that round, applied at the end of the day. If this happens, please clip it, post the clip in your team channel, and @ your admin in Discord.

• All participants must conduct themselves with sportsmanship.
• Modding or any form of unfair play is strictly prohibited and will result in a permanent ban.
• Harassment of other players, admins, or stream viewers will not be tolerated.
• Using the in-game reporting system to report another participant will lead to severe repercussions for you and your team - at admin's discretion.
• Rule violations (including but not limited to integrity issues, stream sniping, or other misconduct) are enforced on an escalating scale — see the penalty table below.
• Decisions made by admins are final.

• EWC 2025, WSOW 2025, and DreamHack Birmingham 2026 LAN qualifications must be declared accurately on your profile.
• Substitutes do not inherit LAN qualification status.
• False LAN qualification claims may affect seeding and eligibility.

• Only Black Ops 7 weapons may be used — weapons from any other title/pack are not permitted.
• Picking up Juggernaut.
• Classified Event — do not loot the classified crate.
• Specialist Tower “Overlook” — do not open the door. This area is blocked off completely; teams may not interact with it in any way.
• Signal Station Heat Map Easter Egg.
• Specialist Perk Package.
• Advanced UAV Killstreak — teams may call in 4 regular UAVs to build toward an Advanced UAV, but the Advanced UAV killstreak itself may never be used, regardless of how it was obtained.
• Snipers — groundloot and loadout are banned.
• Heartbeat Sensors are banned.
• Grapples are banned.
• Shotguns — groundloot and loadout are banned.
• Launchers — groundloot and loadout are banned.
• Grenade Launcher and Drill Charge Launcher attachments are banned — any weapon attachment that lets you fire grenades, drill charges, etc.
• Cluster Grenades are banned.
• Purposely landing on AFKs (players who have disconnected) to get extra kills is not allowed. AFK kills at the end of the plane (players who disconnected) will not count, if the other AFK player does not engage in combat, at admin's discretion.
• Shooting out of the air on initial plane drop — you must touch the ground before aiming up.
• All Thermal scopes.
• Sniper Drone Streak.
• Hunter Perk.
• Streamer Mode.
• Jailbreak: You are not allowed to come back under no circumstance — regardless if your team is alive or dead, you can NOT come back. If you are full dead and spectating, please leave the game to not affect placements. If your team is up, please splat in gas — if a team shoots you out of the sky, please report it in your team channel right away. Teams should NOT be shooting anyone out of the sky on jailbreak and will be receiving a 1 time warning.
• There could be additional bans for the Group Stage.
• You must report another team's infraction by the start of the next game or the report will not be accepted.

Rule violations (including but not limited to, integrity issues or other misconduct) are enforced on an escalating scale, cumulative per team regardless of which teammate committed the offense (e.g. a team's 2nd offense in a category is penalized as a 2nd offense even if a different player on the roster committed the 1st). In-game and out-of-game violations are tracked on two separate scales below — a team's offense count in one category has no effect on the other. Offense counts carry over for the entire duration of PCL — they do not reset between stages, weeks, or days of the event.

In-Game Rule Violations

Exploiting, using banned items, or any other competitive-integrity violation. No Warning is issued for these — the 1st offense already begins at loss of individual player points.

Out-of-Game Rule Violations

Facecam requirements and other broadcast/administrative compliance issues.