Minor League Rules & Regulations

1.1. Definition of Terms

Organizer or Organizer of the Tournament – Wargaming APAC.

APAC League – An eSports tournament which is held between players in APAC countries.

Participant – A member of a team participating in the APAC League tournament.

Rulebook – A document which stipulates rules governing relations between the Participant and the Organizer with respect to the APAC League.

Game – The massively multiplayer online game “World of Tanks”.

1.2. Validity of the Rules

Should any of the rules in this Rulebook be void for any legal reasons in any specific country, the remainder of the Rulebook remains valid for that country.

1.3. Non-Disclosure of Internal Information

All communication between the Organizer and the Participants, including, but not limited to protests, support tickets or other official correspondence, cannot be published without prior written permission of the Organizer.

1.4. Additional Agreements

The Organizer is not responsible for any additional agreements between Participants and such agreements are only permitted if they do not violate this Rulebook. The Organizer does not recommend entering into such agreements and will not enforce any of them.

1.5. Contract Conditions

The Organizer will not interfere with, and is not responsible for, any legal issues between a Player and his or her Team.

1.6. Prize Pool

The Minor League prize pool will consist of 105,000. This pool will be divided between all the teams according to their rankings in the Minor League, as follows:

• 1st Place – 30,000
• 2nd Place – 25,000
• 3rd Place – 20,000
• 4th Place – 15,000
• 5th Place – 10,000
• 6th Place – 5,000

1.7. Contacting the Organizer

Only the appointed and communicated Team Representative can contact the Organizer team. Before contacting the Organizer team you must have read this Rulebook thoroughly, and make sure to include as many details as possible to aid in a speedy and accurate resolution of your request. Regular contact and requests between the Team Representative and the Organizer team should be made to: eSports-Asia@wargaming.net.

Should a Participant wish to submit a protest concerning a specific match, the email must be sent within 72 hours of the Match’s (ref 4.1) initial starting time.  

Any protest made after the deadline can be discarded at the discretion of the Organizer.

Each protest should only be submitted once. The repeated filing of protests concerning issues already protested may be treated as a violation of the Fair Play terms stipulated herein.

1.8. Deadlines 

The Organizer may give deadlines via email or other channel provided to the Team Representative.

2.1. Definition of Terms

Player – Any person who is included in the Team roster and takes active part in the APAC League tournament. Every Player in the APAC League must be of at least eighteen (18) years of age or, if under 18, is acting with the consent of his/her parents or guardian, to participate in the APAC League. No Participant under 12 years old is allowed to participate in the APAC League.

Team  – A number of Players who are treated as one tournament entity for the purposes of ranking and APAC League tournament progression.

2.2. Team Requirements

A Team should consist of a minimum of seven (7) Players plus between one to five (1 - 5) reserve players, for a maximum total of twelve (12) Players. A reserve player is an additional player, available to play during an official match.

All Teams must provide the Organizer with the following:

• An appropriate Team name
• An appropriate Team logo (transparent background, .PNG format, minimum size 1000x1000 px)
• A list of all eligible Players.

A Team can only play in one League or other tournament that feeds into the main APAC League. A Team or Players participating in a Minor League cannot participate in Major Leagues or Qualifiers.

Deadlines for submission of the Team details required above will be sent via email to the Team Representative.

2.2.1. Changing Team Name

Each Team has the right to change the name of their Team once during a Season, as long as the name does not break any of the Rulebook, End user license agreement, rules and norms of the game “World of Tanks”, APAC League or related product rules and regulations. The change must be requested via email to the Organizer. After this one change, any further requests to change the Team’s name in that same Season will be treated on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Organizer.

In case of a Team Name breaking Rulebook, End user license agreement, rules and norms of the game “World of Tanks”, APAC League or related product rules and regulations, the Organizer reserves the right to forcibly change the name of the Team.

2.2.2. Changing Player Name

Any name change in the middle of a Season (before the transfer period) has to be prior approved by the Organizer.

2.3. Slot Ownership

An APAC League slot belongs to the Team as a whole and not to a Team Representative / owner. A Team may vote to remove its Team Representative and name a new Team Representative.

2.3.1. APAC League Slot

If more than 50% + 1 of the originally qualified team choose to leave the Team, the Team will lose its slot in the Minor League. Depending on the status of the APAC League, the slot will be filled with an open qualifier, or the remaining Teams in the League will continue without a replacement.

2.4. Team Representative

Each Team must nominate a Representative before the beginning of the Season; he or she must be confirmed by over 50% of the Team. The Team Representative serves as the main contact person for the Organizer.

The Team Representative must provide all required and requested information.

The Team Representative can play in all online matches.

A Team can change its Team Representative once during a Season. The change must be requested via email to the Organizer and over 50% of the Team’s Players must agree to the change.

3.1. Player Requirements

Each APAC League Player must provide the following information to the Organizer:

• Contact details for Team Representatives (Email, Discord and a telephone number).
• World of Tanks Asia server account name.

The above is equal to the minimum information to be provided to the Organizer. A registration form will be provided pre-season for data collection for all Players playing in the following APAC League Season.

3.2 Region Lock

Each Team may only participate in the APAC Major or Minor League belonging to the Region the majority of its Players physically reside in.  

A Team, regardless of its full Team Roster size, can have up to three (3) Players from different Region(s) than the Region it is representing. Definitions of each Region are as follows:

• ANZ region – For players living in Australia/New Zealand only
• JPN region – For players living in Japan only
• SEA region – For players living in all countries in Asia, excluding China, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, and the CIS region

If the country of a Player is not listed and/or a Player feels that he/she deserves an exception from the above rules, the Organizer will review these issues on a case-by-case basis.

*This list of territories is created only to assign certain territorial masses to servers (APAC Regions) for the purpose of APAC League games and does not represent any political affiliation / preferences / discrimination of/by Organizer.  

• The Organizer's decision is final.
• The Organizer reserves the right not to present an explanation behind the decision to approve or deny an exemption from the rule.

4.1. Definition of Terms

Season – Each Season features a Minor League stage. Each stage consists of many Rounds, Matches and Battles.

Round – A group of Matches played on the same level in the tournament bracket.

Match – A Match is a set of Battles between two Teams that ends as soon as a winner is determined.

Battle – The smallest unit of measurement in the tournament progression grid. A Battle is played on a single map from the APAC League Map Pool until a winner is determined by either:

• Destroying all enemy tanks.
• Capturing the base by the Attackers.
• If no winner is decided after the time limit is over, and there is at least one vehicle remaining on the Defender’s side, the Battle is rated as a victory for the Defenders.
• The only possibility for achieving a draw in a Battle is when all participating vehicles are destroyed.

4.2. Minor Leagues

The Minor League will only be implemented for JPN region.

The Minor League consists of two (2) Round-robins with six (6) teams, followed by a Playoff and a Final Match. In a Round-robin, every Team plays one Match against every other Team to achieve Victory in a Match:  

• A Match consists of up to three (3) Battles in total.
• The Team with two (2) Victories wins the Match.
• Therefore, if a Team achieves Victory in two (2) Battles, the Match ends.
• If the score of a Match reaches 1:1, the Match goes to the Tie-breaker Battle (4.2.3.2 Tie-breaker – Battle).

4.2.1. Match Schedule

All Matches will be pre-scheduled according to the needs of the APAC League. A full Schedule of dates and times will be communicated to the Minor League Team Representative by the Organizer. The Schedule may be subject to change.

4.2.1.1. Rescheduling

A request to reschedule a Match must be agreed upon by both Teams involved, and sent by both Team Representatives via e-mail to the Organizer no later than seventy-two (72) hours before the official Match time. The decision on rescheduling a Match has to be provided by the Organizer no later than forty-eight (48) hours before the Match scheduled time. The Organizer reserves the right to decline any requests to reschedule a Match. Only written requests approved by the Organizer are valid.

The Organizer reserves the right to reschedule Matches without prior consultation with the teams. If such a situation occurs, all affected Teams will have their Team Representatives informed directly.

4.2.1.2. Playing Rescheduled Matches

All Matches must be played. This means that if a Match does not take place due to Rescheduling, it has to be played before the match week can conclude. The Match has to be played no later than 6 days after the original match day. Last week Matches cannot be rescheduled.

4.2.1.3. Absence

In case a team is absent for a scheduled (or rescheduled) match, the Organizer will determine the outcome on a case-by-case basis.

4.2.2. Ranking

The Ranking is primarily decided by the number of points that a Team has amassed during the relevant Season. A Team will earn three (3) points for Victory in a Match, two (2) points for Victory in a Tie-breaker, one (1) point for Loss in a Tie-breaker and 0 points for a Loss.

The performance of a team is based on the total accumulated points across all the phases in a Season.

4.2.3. Tie-breakers

4.2.3.1. Tie-breaker - Ranking

The below Ranking priority will come into effect if two (2) or more Teams are on equal points. If at any point, the number of tied Teams may be reduced or divided into several groups of tied Teams, the Teams who remain tied in that sub-group will in each case be compared again, starting with the first factor below:

• Points amassed in Matches between the Teams themselves (“Mini-League”)
• Score difference between the Teams (“Mini-League”)
• Overall score difference
• Overall number of wins

If, at the end of a Season, two or more Teams remain indistinguishable after having been compared according to each of the four factors above, a Tie-breaker Match or Matches may be played, to determine the Ranking between the tied Teams in question. In special cases, the Organizer can rule, at its discretion, on a different way to determine the order in an unsolvable tie (i.e. coin toss).

4.2.3.2. Tie-breaker – Battle

A Tie-breaker Battle is played in a Match which reaches a Draw score of 1:1 in Best of 3 (Bo3) or 4-4 in Best of 9 (Bo9) matches.

The Tie-breaker Battle will only be used to determine the Match winner in case both teams have not managed to accumulate enough points necessary to win a Match in all stages of the competition.

With the start of a new Season, the Tie-breaker Battle Map will be determined separately for each round and will be shown at the beginning of the Season.

4.2.3.3.Tie-breaker – Home Team

• The team who achieved Victory the fastest (having more time left before the timeout) in a single Battle as an Attacker is the Home Team in a Tie-breaker Battle
• In case no team achieved Victory as an Attacker, the Team with higher cumulative damage in one Battle of the Match as the Attacker is the Home Team.
• In case the teams are evenly matched in the above damage criteria, a coin toss will determine the Home Team.
• The Home Team can pick the side they wish to play on during the Tie-breaker Battle.
• The Tie-breaker Battle is subject to normal APAC League rules, with one Team being the Attacker and one Team being the Defender.
• Victory in the Tie-breaker Battle grants Victory in the entire Match.

4.2.4. Minor League Playoffs

The Playoffs are the last stage of the Minor League. It starts after the ongoing Minor League Matches have been finished and the Minor League Group Stage Ranking is complete.

• During the Minor League Playoffs, three (3) Teams (those ranked 1st-3rd in the Season Ranking) will play in a gauntlet for two Promotion slots per local league.
• The 3rd-ranked  Team will be seeded against the 2nd-ranked, and the winner of this match will battle against the 1st-ranked in the Minor League Finals.
• All Matches in the Playoffs will be played using the standard Game Rules. The Matches will be played as a Best-of-9.

4.3. Qualification 

After the ongoing Season of the APAC League finishes, the below mechanism is put in place to determine participation in the following Season:

The top two (2) Teams in every Minor League will play against the two (2) last-ranked Major League Teams of the relevant local league in a Promotion Match.

The Teams holding the 5th and 6th places after the Minor League double Round-robin concludes enter the Relegation Match.

4.4.1 Promotion Match

The Promotion Match is played in a BO3 double elimination bracket, with standard APAC League Game Rules.

Teams who enter the Promotion Match are:

• Two (2) Teams from the 5th and 6th places in the Major Leagues
• Two (2) Minor League Teams who have secured the 1st and 2nd spot.

After the Promotion Match concludes:

• The top two (2) Teams progress to the relevant Major League.
• Any and all Teams which finished below the top two (2) Teams progress to the following Minor League.

4.4.2 Relegation Match

The Relegation Match is played in a BO3 double elimination bracket, with standard APAC League Game Rules.

Teams who enter the Relegation Match are:

• Two (2) Teams from the 5th and 6th places in the Minor Leagues
• Two (2) Qualifiers Teams who have secured the 1st and 2nd spot.

After the Relegation Match concludes:

• The top two (2) Teams progress to the relevant Minor League.
• Any and all Teams which finished below the top two (2) Teams will have to join the next Season's Qualifiers to re-enter the APAC League.

5.1. Behaviour

As in daily life, a certain degree of courtesy should be maintained between Participants of the APAC League. Violations of this rule will be punished accordingly.

5.1.1. Insults

All insults occurring in connection with the APAC League will be punished. This primarily applies to insults that occur during a Match, but also includes any insult on Organizer’s platforms or websites (forums, match comments, player guest-books, social media channels etc.). Insults sent on IM programs (e.g. Skype, Discord), by email, or via any other means of communication will be punished if they can be linked to the APAC League.

Depending on the nature and severity of the insult, the penalty will be assigned at the discretion of Organizer either to the Participant in question or jointly to the entire Team.

5.1.2. Spamming

The excessive posting of senseless, harassing or offensive messages is regarded as spam.

Spamming on Organizer’s platforms will be punished at the discretion of Organizer, depending on the nature and severity.

5.1.3.1. In-game Spamming

A Participant will be punished for excessive spamming, if it is considered that the spamming distracted opponents or disrupted a Game. Chat functions are solely meant for Match-related communication with the opponent and the Match administrator and not to gain any tactical advantage.

5.1.3. Unsportsmanlike Behaviour

For an orderly and pleasant Game, it is essential that all Participants have a sportsmanlike attitude and play fair. Every Player should represent their Team and the APAC League by participating to the best of their abilities. Anything that falls short of that is considered to be unsportsmanlike and will be penalised depending on the severity of the behaviour as determined by the Organizer. The most important and common offences are stated below; however, the Organizer treats the catalogue of offences as an open one.

5.2. Deception

Any attempt to deceive the Organizer or any other Participants using false or fictitious information, statements or data will be treated as deception and punished depending on the nature and severity of the attempt, at the discretion of the Organizer.

5.3. Unfair Play

The following actions will be considered as Unfair Play and sanctioned at the discretion of the Organizer.

5.3.1. Ineligible Players

Attempting to use or using a player who does not meet the requirements to register as a Participant of the relevant APAC League Region.

5.3.2. Ringers / Fakers

Playing or attempting to play under the name of, or using the tournament account of another player.

5.3.3. Hacking / Cheating

Hacking/cheating is understood as using any third party software and/or hardware or modifying the WoT game client, as well as performing any out-of-game action to achieve an advantage.

5.3.4. Complicity

Any arrangement(s) made between two (2) or more Participants for the purpose of causing a disadvantage to opposing Participants. Complicity pertains to, but is not limited to, acts such as:

• Match-fixing, including any pre-arranged division of currency or prizes.
• Any form of communication between the Participants of more than one Team that is intended to put any other APAC League Participants at a disadvantage. This includes, but is not limited to the following forms of communication:
  • Verbal
  • Written
  • Sign language
  • Gestures
  • Etc.
• Knowingly trying to lose a Battle and/or attempting to purposely sabotage a Participant’s or Team’s ability to win a Battle.

5.3.5. Bug / Glitch Use

Intentional use of any in-game bugs, glitches and obviously unintended game mechanics. All cases will be reviewed on an individual basis by the Organizer at their discretion.

5.4. Expulsion 

The Organizer can, at its discretion, remove any Participants that it sees fit, for any reason, without stating the reason.

5.5. Global Anti-Cheating Rule

The Organizer supports Fair Play and reserves the right to uphold a Player and/or Team Ban, or any other penalty preventing active participation in eSports disciplines. This also includes penalties applied in disciplines other than the APAC League. The rule applies, but is not limited to:

• All World of Tanks competitions organized by WG.
• All World of Tanks competitions organized by third parties, authorised by WG.

5.6. Gambling

All Players, Team Representatives, and Managers, either directly or indirectly, are prohibited from betting or gambling on any results of any APAC League tournament or Game/Match globally.

In such cases of detection of this rule violation, the Organizer qualifies such violation as critical, and appropriate sanctions will be applied to the offender(s).

5.7 Game Policy Infractions

Any Participant found guilty of violating the World of Tanks End User License Agreement (EULA) and/or Terms of Service (ToS) and/or Privacy Policy and/or any other policy applying to the product and/or service may receive additional punishments depending on the nature and severity of the violation.

6.1 Game Settings (all stages)

Game Settings remain the same for all Minor League Matches. All matches are to be played on the server defined by the Organizer.

• Team Size: 7 Players
• Maximum Tier Points: 70
• Time Limit: 10 minutes
• Game Mode: Attack/Defense
• Base Capture Time: 120 seconds in each Base Capture Circle.

Base Capture Points do not stack and accumulate independently. Resetting one of the counters does not reset the other.

6.1.1. Victory Conditions

• For Attackers – Destroy all Defending vehicles or capture at least one enemy Base within the Time Limit.
• For Defenders – Destroy all Attacking vehicles or survive with at least one vehicle until the Time Limit is reached while preventing the Attacking team from capturing the Base.
• If when the Time Limit is reached there is still at least one Defending vehicle operational (has one hit point or more remaining) and the Base has not been captured, the Defending Team wins.
• If a draw occurs (when both Teams simultaneously destroy the other team's vehicles) then the round is replayed with the same starting positions. In case of a draw, both Teams are required to inform the Organizer right after the Battle ends.

6.1.2. Match Progression

• A BO3 consists of one (1) map and a maximum of three (3) Battles.
• A BO9 consists of four (4) maps and a maximum of nine (9) Battles.
• One map includes two Battles where each Team plays one time in Attack and one time in Defense.
• To win a BO3, a Team needs to achieve Victory in two (2) Battles out of three (3). If one Team gets two (2) Victories, the remaining Battle is not played.
• To win a BO9, a Team needs to achieve Victory in five (5) Battles out of nine (9). If one Team gets five (5) Victories, the remaining Battles are not played.

6.2. World of Tanks Game Client Modifications and Skins (all stages)

Any and all World of Tanks game client modifications and skins are forbidden unless provided by the Organizer.

6.3. Tank Regulations (all stages)

Teams may be composed of any tanks available in the game that can be unlocked in the tech tree with experience based on the current patch (any reward tanks or tanks no longer obtainable are forbidden).  

The use of all in-game skins, consumables, equipment and any other in-game assets is allowed. They can be modified at any time, until the Team Representative confirms that his Team is ready (for broadcasted matches) or the battle lobby countdown finishes (for automated matches).

The total number of vehicle Tier points in one Team must not exceed 70 points (for a Team of 7 Players).

6.4. Pre-Battle (Playoffs and Finals)

The Organizer is responsible for creating the Training Room.

The Training Room will be created twenty (20) minutes before the official Match time and all Players should join immediately. If a Team is not complete ten (10) minutes after the official Match time, the Game will start without the missing Players.

The Organiser will inform the Team Representatives when the Battle will start.

6.4.1. Map Choice and Starting Position (Playoffs and Finals)

The Team positioned on the left of the matchup on the official match schedule is treated as Team A.

All Battles in the APAC League will be played on the following maps (referred to as the “Map Pool”):

• Mines
• Cliff
• Prokhorovka
• Himmelsdorf
• Murovanka
• Sand River

Only Team Representatives or the person delegated by them are allowed to perform the Map Choice and ban for their Team.

Map elimination proceeds as follows in a Bo9 match:

• Team A eliminates a map
• Team B eliminates a map
• Team A picks first map
• Team B picks second map
• Team B picks third map
• Team A picks fourth map
• Each Team picks their starting position on the opponent’s chosen maps.

6.4.2. Tank Line-ups (Playoffs and Finals)

In the Playoffs and Finals, the initial line-ups must be sent to the Organizer at the start of every Battle. Between battles, Teams will have one (1) minute to submit their line-ups to the Organiser.

A tank line-up does not have to match a specific setup. There are no bottom Tier limitations.

The Organizer will inform the Teams when to enter the Training Room with their line-ups.

If a Team enters a Battle without a Player and a replacement Player is not not found by ten (10) minutes before the Match start, the Team which cannot field the minimum seven (7) Players forfeits the Battle.

6.5. Conditions of a Rematch (Playoffs and Finals)

A Rematch can occur at any time during Playoffs and Finals due to Software and/or Hardware issues, if no Team has a clear advantage. The decision is to be made by the Organizer. An advantage may include, but is not limited to:

• Any tanks spotted by or on any Team
• Any damage dealt by or to either Team
• Any damage taken due to environmental interaction
• Any Base Capture Points gained by either Team 

6.6. Draws (all stages)

A Match is a Draw if, and only if, the Result Screen that is displayed after the end of a battle displays “Draw”.

In the case of a Draw, the Battle is scored as 0:0 and the Match is replayed under the same conditions.

6.7. Breaks (all stages)

The standard break time between every Battle is 2 minutes. If both Team Representatives are ready before that time during training room stages, the Match may resume accordingly.

6.8. Post Battle Replays and Python Logs (all stages)

6.8.1. Replays

It is mandatory for all Participants to activate "Battle Recording" for the full duration of all Matches without exception. Every Team Representative is obliged to save all Replays from all Players in his/her Team packed as *.zip files and keep them for 60 days from the end of the Major League Playoffs. The Replay files must be provided if requested by Organizer.

The Team Representative must also upload all player Replays to wotreplays.com within twelve (12) hours after the conclusion of their match. Replays that have not been provided will be deemed to be missing and punished as such. Any non-functioning or manipulated Replays may be treated as missing, at the sole discretion of the Organizer.

6.8.2. Python Logs

The Team Representative has to send all player Python Logs to the Organizer within twelve (12) hours after the conclusion of their match. Logs that have not been provided will be deemed to be missing and punished as such. Any non-functioning or manipulated Logs may be treated as missing, at the sole discretion of the Organizer.

If a Participant violates one or more provisions of this Rulebook, they will be punished according to the degree of the infringement.

The Organizer will decide, in its sole discretion, whether an offence has affected the outcome of a Match to an extent that it cannot be counted and must be repeated.

In specific cases the penalties for rules can be modified to be either more or less severe. The decision on the specific classification and punishment lies at the sole discretion of the Organizer.

The Organizer is not obliged to present any justification or explanation of the process of applying a specific punishment.

Penalties may be subject to stacking.

There are a number of Penalties at the disposal of the Organizer. Below you can find the list of the ones most commonly used:

• Ban.
• Disqualification.
• Prize fine.
• Warning.

7.1 Critical Violations

Critical violations are ones that result in creating a situation that is unfixable (or hard to fix) without requiring actions from parties not taking part in committing the violations, regardless of them being directly influenced by the violation or not.

Standard penalties:

• Ban for the Player and/or Team.
• 100% prize fine.

7.2 Severe Violations

Severe violations are ones that create a fixable situation without requiring actions from parties not taking part in committing the violations, regardless of them being directly influenced by the violation or not. The situation must have a strong impact on the APAC League progress.

Standard penalties:

• Disqualification for the Player and/or Team.
• 30% prize fine.

7.3 Serious Violations

Serious violations are ones that create or attempt to create a situation that may or may not have an impact on the APAC League progress.

Standard penalties:

• Disqualification of the Player.
• 15% prize fine.

7.4 Minor Violations

Minor violations are any and all violations that do not have a direct impact on the progress of the APAC League, or the impact is negligible.

Standard penalties:

• Warning.
• 5% - 10% prize fine.

The Organizer reserves the right to change or modify this Rulebook at their sole discretion and, in special cases, make decisions not covered by this Rulebook to preserve the spirit of fair competition and sportsmanship.

By participating in the APAC League you acknowledge that you understand and agree to follow all the applying rules within this and other associated documents.

Employees of Organizer are banned from participating in any games of the APAC League.

All Partners of the APAC League are banned from participating in any games for the duration of their active involvement.

By participating in the APAC League, each Participant confirms that a Participant has read and understood and agrees with the Rulebook together with any annexes, the End User License Agreement (EULA), Terms of Service (ToS), Privacy and Cookie Policy, the Game Rules, and Forum Rules of MMO “World of Tanks”. This includes Participant’s consent to use Participant’s name, image, voice, likeness and performance for purposes of broadcasting the tournament and for use in such other media, as set out in more detail in the Rulebook.

A Participant confirms that he/she is 18 years or older (or, if under 18, he/she is acting with the consent of his/her parents or guardian).