League Format:

The 3v3 league will consist of a regular season of league play to determine the seeding for the double-elimination playoff tournament. The finals of the tournament will be held on LAN on May 3rd-4th on UND campus. The league will be split into five divisions based on rank and past performance in the league.

Draft:

Every participant who signs up for DCRL will be given a “DCRL rank” based on a combination of their in-game rank and any other known information about the individual player (e.g., RLTracker, individual tryout, etc.). The draft will take place “behind the scenes,” with the final reveal occurring on the official Twitch channel for everyone to see.

With the league being composed of teams of three, there is a chance that one or two people may be left without enough players to complete their team. In the event of this occurrence, the DCRL admins will vote on whether to add trusted alumni who no longer attend North Dakota or South Dakota colleges to the league. The decision will be based on whether adding these individuals would enhance the league or if bending the rules would result in a cluttered season. If adding people would negatively impact the league (again, this will be determined through a vote), the last people to sign up will not be allowed to participate in the season until there is a number of applicants divisible by 3.

Team Format:

Each team will have a Team Captain responsible for submitting match results and posting their game schedule each week on the stream signups tab. The Team Captain is also responsible for leading communication in the scheduling of their match each week.

  • Team Captains for Division A (the top-ranked division) are picked by the DCRL Committee.

  • Team Captains for the remaining divisions will be re-evaluated based on those not picked in the previous division.

  • Once teams are drafted, if a different player on a team would like to be considered for Team Captain, they will assume the responsibilities listed above and must inform a league executive of the change.

Each team will be responsible for submitting an appropriate team name and a logo before league play starts.

Team names can be no more than two words and no more than 15 characters. The logo must be of decent quality and have a transparent background. Please message any admins if you have questions.

Schedule:

Important Dates:

  • DCRL sign-ups close: January 26th, 2025

  • Draft starts: January 27th, 2025

  • Team names and logos due: February 2nd, 2025

  • Regular season: February 3rd - April 6th, 2025

  • Playoffs start: April 7th, 2025

  • Playoffs end:April 27th, 2025

LAN Event: May 3rd-4th

Match Format:

Each team will have 1 series per week. These series will be best-of-5 games and will be played on any standard 3v3 map. 

Scheduling:

Each series for all divisions will automatically receive a thread in the Discord to schedule your matches. All members in each matchup are responsible for communicating their schedules in the Discord thread. If a member does not respond, the Team Captain should be responsible for trying to contact the missing member.

Each matchup will have from Monday morning of that week to Sunday night to complete the required series; otherwise, it will count as a double forfeit. If one team does not show up at the agreed time or does not make any attempt to set a date by the end of the week, that team will forfeit the match, and the win will be awarded to the team that attempted to set up the match. This policy also applies to playoffs.

Playoffs:

Playoffs will start on November 11th and run until November 30th. More information about the playoffs will be provided as we get closer. Seeding will be based on the best record, win differential, then head-to-head. To decide the first round of playoff matchups, teams ranked in the top half in seeding will select one of the remaining teams to determine the first-round matchups.

The playoffs will use a double-elimination bracket, and all playoff and LAN games will be best-of-seven series. In the grand finals, if the team from the loser bracket finals wins the first series, it will trigger a bracket reset, leading to one final series to determine the champion. The LAN event will be held on December 7th and 8th. If you make it to LAN, you must be able to attend the event in person. Please plan accordingly and keep those dates open.

Misconduct:

DCRL is meant to be a fun, college league inclusive to everyone. Proper sportsmanship and personal conduct will apply to every match. This includes, but is not limited to, the Golden Rule, respecting everyone’s differences and skill levels, and keeping interactions family-friendly. At the end of the day, this league is for fun, and everyone in the DCRL community’s goal is to have an enjoyable experience playing a game we all love.

If any issues arise with scheduling matches, please reach out to a DCRL admin or division leader to see if arrangements can be made. DCRL admins are labeled in the Discord at the top of the “members” list. Any repetitive scheduling issues, poor sportsmanship, or other conduct violations will result in disciplinary action. This can include removal from the league and revocation of the right to join future seasons of DCRL.

Streaming:

There will be a tab in the DCRL spreadsheet called “Stream Signups.” The team captain must post when your team plays. Games must be posted on the signups at least 24 hours before they are played to have a chance of being streamed on the main channel. Our Twitch is “DakotaCollegiateRL.” Make sure to follow us so you can get notified when we go live. Please ensure that you are appropriate on any stream broadcasting a DCRL series, as we are a collegiate organization. Any other colleges in DCRL are allowed to stream these games, but we ask that the DCRL and team logos are used properly. Reach out to any admin, and they can provide these logos for streaming.

Personal Streams: If you wish to stream a DCRL match on your personal stream, please refer to the “DCRL Personal Stream Rules/Guidelines” document.

League Stats:

Using replay data, we are able to track all match stats and will keep a spreadsheet with the results. This will be updated every Sunday night and finalized by Monday at noon. The main stats tracked will be: goals, assists, saves, shots, demos, demoed, and boost per minute (BPM).

Match Reporting: The winning team’s captain of the series will be responsible for submitting all replays in the appropriate channel after the matches. If one team does not have any PC players, please inform the other team so they can ensure replays are saved through BakkesMod. All replays must be saved and uploaded to BallChasing.com as a group. This group must then be posted in the DCRL Discord under the proper division's game reporting channel. If you have any questions about BakkesMod, BallChasing, or how to set either of them up, please contact one of the Discord admins ASAP. Please name the replay group file as “Team A vs Team B (series score).”

League Rewards:

At LAN, end-of-season rewards will be awarded to each division for the following:

  • MVP - Most Valuable Player (Voted on by Tournament Executives)

  • MIP - Most Improved Player (Voted on by League Members)

  • ROTY - Rookie the same year (Voted on by League Members)

Disconnects:

  • If a disconnect occurs during a league game, your first course of action should be to screenshot the scoreboard as quickly as possible. The two captains from each team must then come to an agreement on the score and the time remaining at the time of the disconnect. If a goal was scored due to the disconnect, that goal should not count. If both team captains agree, an attempt can be made to exactly replicate the stats for each player at the time of the disconnect. If a player is continuously disconnecting, you should attempt to have the series remade or rescheduled. If that is not possible, the series can be forfeited by the team with the disconnecting player. The team captains should come together to decide how this should be handled, and if there are any disputes, contact one of the admins. If any evidence of a team or player purposefully disconnecting is found, appropriate punishment will be administered.

Smurfing:

We consider smurfing to be the act of intentionally lowering your skill level, either by tanking your rank or creating a new account, in order to join a better team in DCRL. If someone is accused of smurfing, the situation will be reviewed until there is enough evidence to confirm or deny the accusation. If sufficient evidence supports the accusation, the DCRL admins will review the evidence as a group and hold an anonymous voting session to determine whether the player is believed to be smurfing. If the consensus is negative, no punishment will be issued. If the consensus is positive, the player will be removed from the league indefinitely and replaced with a player whose skill and rank are comparable to similar picks in the DCRL draft. The replacement player must be deemed reliable by the admins and will play out the remaining season as if they were drafted initially.