1 0.0 Introduction
The OBL is a grass roots league aimed at providing fair and exciting competition in a casual and fun environment. In order to ensure the competitive integrity of the OBL and the wellbeing of all community members and staff we expect everyone to abide by the rules laid out in this and other documents at all times. By participating in the OBL discord or any of the OBL leagues or competitions you will be held to the standards set out in this document.
Failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the OBL may result in disciplinary actions.
Players’ main means of contact with admins and staff is the ticket system. Please do not DM admins with questions. Current channels for tickets: #support-tickets.
Rules will only be updated through the #rulebook channel and may also be announced through announcements.
If you have private information that you do not wish to share in a ticket it may be DMed to a staff member who must then verify that the information is significant enough to warrant consideration in the main ticket.
1.1 0.1 Base Rules – Chat and General Behavior
[0.1.1] Harassment, bullying and disrespectful or unsportsmanlike behaviour is not tolerated. Treat all members of the OBL community with respect and decency.
[0.1.2] Misuse of mentions and tagging in any OBL Discords will result in a time-out or a mute.
[0.1.3] Direct message logs shall not be posted in public channels without the permission from all parties involved in the chat.
[0.1.4] The posting of external links in the OBL Discord or Twitch chat is not allowed without prior approval from the admin team. This includes but is not limited to: promoting teams outside the league, links to other Twitch streams, links to other Discord servers, sales links, and links to websites.
[0.1.5] Do not spam any image, emote, phrase, text face, etc.
[0.1.6] Not safe for work (NSFW) content may not be posted in the OBL Discord or on any other OBL related platforms.
[0.1.7] Arguing with staff decisions may result in a warning. Subsequent and or repeated arguments with staff decisions may result in further disciplinary action. Seeking clarification on a rule or ruling is allowed and you may lodge a single appeal on a disciplinary action. However, any disrespectful or combative behaviour may result in the immediate dismissal of your appeal.
[0.1.8] OBL team names, team logos, and player names must be appropriate and must be easily searched with a standard US layout keyboard. Additionally, all team names, team logos, player names and coach names must be broadcast friendly, including being reasonably easy for casters to say during a play-by-play cast. If these standards are not met, submissions may not be accepted or staff may require adequate changes to be made to meet these standards.
Additionally team logos may not include flags of any sort.
[0.1.9] The OBL is a community for players of all ages and skill levels, and maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for everyone is our highest priority. To ensure this standard, all teams participating in the OBL are required to follow the rules and expectations outlined in this document. These expectations apply to all environments connected to the league including, but not limited to,the official OBL Discord, in-game communications during official matches, team-run Discord servers, and any social media content or broadcasts associated with the league. Failure to comply may result in disciplinary action.
1.2 0.2 Base Rules – Game-Related Behavior
[0.2.1] Emotes that can be muted in-game (e.g., emote wheel, mastery flash, situational emotes for first blood) are allowed to be used. Dancing and laughing are also allowed.
[0.2.2] All chat should only be used in a sportsmanlike manner and when warranted. E.g., “ggwp,” “glhf”. Any messages that aren’t clearly acceptable and sportsmanlike may result in disciplinary action.
[0.2.3]. If any issues arise during game time (eligibility questions, rule violations, unsportsmanlike behavior in the lobby, etc.), do not play the game. Captains should immediately open a ticket and await staff direction.
[0.2.4] Any substitution may only be made if it complies with the rules in [1.4]. Making a substitution in breach of these rules may result in the match being nullified or the results being flipped.
[0.2.5] Whenever a new or reworked champion is released, they will not be allowed in league matches until one (1) week after the champion is released (see #announcements for details for each situation).
[0.2.6] Scheduling matches should be done through discord and should use the “@time” command to avoid any time zone confusion.
[0.2.7] In order to participate in an official match for a team, players must be in the OBL server and be properly registered on that team. See the OBL Discord server for a detailed procedure on registering players. Teams that play games with an illegal team or roster will have the results retroactively converted to a forfeit and further disciplinary actions may be taken.
[0.2.8] Matches must be played five (5) vs. five (5). If the initial five (5) players for each team are not present in the lobby at the scheduled match time, see the table below:
Time Late to MatchPunishment5 MinutesLoss of first ban10 MinutesLoss of first 3 bans20 MinutesLoss of first game30 MinutesLoss of entire match/series
Please note that these punishments can be declined by the opposing team’s captain.
1.3 0.3 Captain’s Responsibilities
[0.3.1] Captains are responsible for ensuring that both they and their team are familiar with and comply with the rules laid out in this document and all other rules relating to the OBL. Captains who are found to have knowledge of a breach committed by any members of their team may receive disciplinary action.
[0.3.2] Team captains are responsible for the scheduling of all league matches and notifying opposing teams of planned substitutions.
[0.3.3] Captains must notify the OBL of a planned deference of their duties through a transaction request in the event they will be unable to perform them. In the event a captain is unable to fulfill their duties due to unforeseen circumstances, the team member assuming these duties must lodge a ticket and provide sufficient evidence that their captain is unable to fulfill their duties.
2 1.0 Players, Teams and Substitutes
2.1 1.1 Player Eligibility
[1.1.1] All players must play on the account that is listed as the player’s main account on the roster sheet (unless given permission otherwise).
[1.1.2] Players must report all accounts that are actively used. Failure to declare all accounts in active use may result in the punishment of the player, the captain or the entire team. If you start playing on a new or inactive account during your time in the OBL, make a ticket and report the account to staff immediately so it can be added to the list.
[1.1.4] A player must have played at least 100 Ranked Solo/Duo games in the previous season OR 85 in the current ranked season, year to date. This minimum requirement must be met entirely on at least one account.
[1.1.5] All players must be a member of the OBL Discord server before they are eligible to play.
2.2 1.2 Player Ratings
[1.2.1] All players will receive a numerical point rating. . Players will be assessed based on their highest peak solo/duo rank achieved in 2025 and 2026 across all accounts. This value will be obtained using leagueofgraphs.com.
Players determined to be rank sitting or who’s rank is a poor reflection of their true skill will have their rating adjusted upward to more accurately reflect their skill level. Players can not have their rating decreased
[1.2.2] Player ratings are as follows:
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[1.2.3] Any player may be denied the ability to play in any OBL competition if OBL staff believe them to be detrimental to the competition for any reason.
[1.2.4] There will be no climbing cap, once you are assessed, you are free to climb as much as you can.
[1.2.5] Players who fail to provide the necessary information required to fairly and accurately assess their rank may receive disciplinary actions including match bans, total disqualification from the season or a ban from the OBL.
2.3 1.3 Team Building and Ratings
[1.3.1] Teams are allowed to sign a maximum of 5 players.
[1.3.2] Teams are assigned a maximum budget based on their division, the value of each team is calculated based on the sum of individual values of each player. Each division also has a maximum eligible rank.
Division 1 is allowed up to 10 000 points. Up to 1200LP Master+
Division 2 is allowed up to 4700 points. Up to Diamond 1
Division 3 is allowed up to 2450 points. Up to Emerald 1
[1.3.3] All players on a team are considered signed and may not be loaned to any other team under any circumstances so long as they remain signed. To remove a player from a team, a transaction request must be submitted and approved by staff.
Additionally, once a player has been removed from a team, they may not be re-signed.
2.4 1.4 Substitution
[1.4.1] Any substitution made must result in the final roster remaining below the point cap of their division.
[1.4.2] All substitutions must be made with 24 hours notice, any substitutions made within 24 hours of the match time will result in the loss of the team’s 4th and 5th bans for the entire series.
[1.4.3] Players may not be used as a substitute if they are a member of another team’s roster, per [1.3.3].
[1.4.4] When notifying the opposing captain of a substitution, you must provide the value of all 5 players as on the player database and the sum of their totals.
[1.4.5] Substitutes are expected to play an entire series. In the event a team opts to make a substitution mid-series for any reason, it will result in the loss of the team’s 4th and 5th bans for the remainder of the series.
In the event the team has already lost their 4th and 5th bans for any reason and they make a mid-series substitution they will lose 1 additional ban per substitution.
[1.4.6] In the event a captain finds a substitution to be invalid, they should notify the opposing captain and provide the reason they believe it is invalid, in the event the captains cannot resolve the issue, they should create a ticket immediately.
[1.4.7] In the event a captain finds a substitute has a point value that does not accurately reflect the skill of the player (i.e. significant climbing since assessment or clear rank sitting), they should notify the opposing captain of their intent to contest, their reason for it and submit a ticket to seek a staff ruling.
[1.4.8] Any substitute player may only play ONE match for ONE team per round. Players may not be a substitute for multiple teams in a single round.
3 2.0 Roster Changes
3.1 2.1 Registering New Players Mid-Season
Mid-season roster changes are all changes made once the season has commenced.
[2.1.1] Players added to a roster mid-season will be subject to all the evaluation criteria listed in [1.2], this evaluation will be made at the time the player is signed to a team, even if they have already been assessed. This ensures we have the most recent evaluation of a player’s skill during the ongoing OBL season.
[2.1.2] Teams must submit a request for new player approval as soon as possible and must notify any opponents affected by this change immediately. If a request is made or notice of the change is provided to affected opponents within 24 hours of a match, the team will lose their 4th and 5th ban for all games in the match. Teams may notify opponents of intended changes prior to approval as long as it is clear that approval is pending and confirmation is provided after approval is granted.
3.2 2.2 Other Roster Stipulations
[2.2.1] Rosters will be locked at the conclusion of the week that marks the halfway point of the play-ins part of the season.
[2.2.2] If a player is removed from a team by the OBL for rule violations or any other reason, that player’s team will have one (1) week from the league’s announcement of the ruling to fill that player's spot on that team’s roster.
[2.2.3] An individual player is only allowed to be registered on one OBL regular season roster at a time. This includes cross division rosters for lower rating players who moved up to a higher division.
4 3.0 Pauses, Disconnects, Remakes, Forfeits
4.1 3.1 Pauses and Breaks
[3.1.1] If a player disconnects, the game can be paused for up to 10 minutes total or up to 5 separate times by each team per game. If the game is unable to be resumed after 10 minutes total or a 6th pause is taken, the game will be considered forfeit.
Games may only be paused for acceptable reasons at appropriate times (see 3.1.3). These reasons include:
- Slow client load (e.g., immediate disconnect or client failure that prevents a player from joining)
- An unintentional disconnection (e.g., short power outage or a roommate unplugs ethernet for themself)
- A hardware or software malfunction (e.g., game glitch or peripheral disability)
- Physical interference with a player (e.g., broken chair or medical issue)
[3.1.2] For games after the first game of a series, all players should be in the lobby and the draft should commence no later than ten (10) minutes following the conclusion of the previous game. Games should start no more than five (5) minutes after the draft finishes. Any further delay will cut into the next game’s pause time allotted in [3.1.1].
[3.1.3] Pauses may not be taken during an active fight or dive or right before a fight will begin. If a team pauses the game during a fight or dive and believes the pause has, or will, significantly impact the outcome of the game, they must immediately keep the game paused and contact staff to resolve the issue. Play must not be resumed until staff provide direction. If this situation occurs and the team chooses to continue playing, they forfeit the right to later request a remake or forfeit based on that pause. Any request for staff intervention must be made within two (2) minutes of the pause occurring.
[3.1.4] If a team pauses, both teams are to type a ready check in all chat.
The team to resume play [/resume] will be the team NOT requesting the pause. Teams may not resume play without both teams having confirmed ready in all chat.
3.2 Disconnects
If teams run into unfixable problems, such as a power or internet outage, the captain should contact both the other captain and the admin team. If the issue is deemed fixable, the game will not be remade or postponed. The /pause function is approved for use during these situations. If the other captain is in agreement, teams may surpass their originally allotted ten (10) minutes of pause time.
4.2 3.3 Remakes
[3.3.1] Remakes are not permitted under ordinary circumstances. If you experience extraordinary circumstances and believe a remake should be considered you must notify the other team’s captain of your reason and intent to apply for a remake as soon as possible and the team captain must submit a ticket for staff consideration.
[3.3.2] Remakes are not permitted if a player incorrectly selects their runes or summoner spells unless a team takes 0 or 2+ smites or support items. In this case one remake per series is permitted, but the offending team must provide evidence that all players bring the same runes and summoner spells in the remade game.
4.3 3.4 Forfeits
[3.4.1] Teams are able to forfeit a match at any point before scheduled match start.
[3.4.2] Once the game begins, teams may not surrender. A surrender of one game will be counted as a surrender for the entire series. The only exception to this rule is in the event that the winning team is holding the losing team hostage.
[3.4.3] Teams must provide sufficient evidence via a ticket with a record of what happened surrounding scheduling if they would like a forfeit to be processed.
4.4 3.5 Bugs
[3.5.1] Champions may be temporarily banned from the OBL if there are known bugs that create an unfair advantage or otherwise compromise games.
[3.5.2] Game altering or game-breaking bugs may result in a remake, either where both captains agree that a bug significantly altered a game or through ticket submission to OBL staff
[3.5.3] Abuse of bugs or champions not explicitly forbidden by the OBL is not allowed and will result in match results being nullified and a loss being given to the offending team. Teams affected by such behaviour should submit a ticket with evidence of the abuse and where the knowledge of the bug could be found.
4.5 3.6 Leaving Matches
[3.6.1] Deliberately leaving at any point during a series is only permitted in extenuating circumstances. Leaving for any other reason is not allowed and may result in sanctions on the player and team up to and including disqualification or permanent removal from the OBL.
5 4.0 Team Discord Amenities
[4.0.1] Teams will be provided with a Category in discord with 5 channels,
Text channels:
#1: “[team name]-information” - This channel must outline the following information:
- A team multi.gg link.
- Roster information identifying roles played by each player
- Top -
- Jungle -
- Mid -
- Bot -
- Support -
- Sub -
- An up to date list of each player’s actively used (this can be a google sheet)
Team captains must ensure their “#[team name]-information” channel is kept up-to-date at all times.
#2: General text channel - This channel will be used between communication within the team and OBL Staff.
Voice Channels:
#3: In-game - This channel is limited to 5 people, all players must be in this channel from the end of draft until the nexus is destroyed, each game. Only the 5 players in the game may be in this channel during a game. Players may leave the channel in-between games and during draft.
This channel is visible to all members of your division to keep each other accountable and ensure all players are in the channel during games.
#4: Private Voice - This channel can be used however the team sees fit and is not visible to other teams.
[4.0.2] Once the draft is complete, all 5 players must join their team’s “Voice 5/5 Viewable” voice channel. They must all remain in the channel until the conclusion of the game. Only the 5 players in the game may be in this channel.
6 5.0 Format of Play
6.1 5.1 Season Format
[5.1.1] The play-in stage of OBL Season 3 will be a 4 round swiss format where each week’s matches are generated based on the current standings.
Following swiss the top 16 teams will progress to finals in a hybrid elimination bracket. Top 8 will go to the upper bracket and 9-16 will go to the lower bracket. A loss in the upper bracket will result in demotion to the lower bracket, a loss in the lower bracket will result in elimination.
[5.1.2] There will be 3 Divisions.
Division 1 - up to Masters+ 1200LP.
Division 2 - up to Diamond 1.
Division 3 - up to Emerald 1.
[5.1.3] Players may play up into any division. However, once a player has played in a division, they may not play in a lower division at any point for the remainder of the season.
6.2 5.2 Format of Games
[5.2.1] All matches will be played on Summoner’s Rift using custom game lobbies. Captains will be required to make the game and share the code to the opposing captain and enter in the client and then invite their teammates. Lobbies may be made as blind draft or tournament draft. All drafting must comply with [5.3].
[5.2.2] If your game is being streamed, you will also need to supply these codes to the streamers and casters prior to the game starting.
[5.2.3] . If your game has a scheduled stream, you may not start your game without the streamer (unless they are 10 minutes late).
[5.2.4] All regular season matches are best-of-3 matches..
[5.2.5] Playoff matches are also best-of-3 except for the semi-finals (upper and lower bracket finals) and grand finals, which are best-of-5.
6.3 5.3 Draft and Lane Swapping
[5.3.1] All OBL matches will use the fearless draft format.
[5.3.2] Teams must communicate to the other team which players are playing each position before the beginning of the draft for each game.
[5.3.3] All drafting is to be done using drafter.lol.
[5.3.4] Draft is to be made using the “First Pick” setting, this is to allow the decoupling of pick order and side selection in rule 5.4.1.
Teams must also use the role confirmation function for all matches. Once roles have been confirmed lobbies may be created in blind pick to enable faster matches.
[5.3.5] Players may swap lanes once the game begins, but they must play with the role quest that matches the role they declared prior to draft.
6.4 5.4 Side Selection
[5.4.1] The choice of pick order OR side selection is decided by the winner of either a coin toss OR 1v1 if both teams agree to the 1v1, the losing team seeded team will get to choose whichever is left. All games after the first are the loser's choice: the team that lost the most recent game has the choice of pick order OR side selection in the next game.
You must notify the enemy team of your choice for the first game at least 24hrs before the match. Failure to notify will result in all choices for the first match being given to the team who declared their decision.
[5.4.1] 1v1 win conditions are as follows:
- First Blood
- First Tower
- First to 100cs
1v1s are to be played in blind pick with no bans by default.
Teams may agree to additional stipulations such as playing in a specific lane, using the same champions and builds or other arbitrary rules. Where an agreement is made in writing it must be honoured or the 1v1 is considered forfeit.
6.5 5.5 Schedules
[5.5.1] All matches are scheduled by default for Sunday 7pm AEST. Captains may schedule the match for another time earlier in the week if both teams agree and flexible scheduling is encouraged where necessary, but any scheduling issues requiring staff intervention will revert to Sunday 7pm AEST. If one team is unable to make that time the other team must still be present and available at that time to receive the win unless their opponent agrees to surrender in advance.
[5.5.2] Failure to notify your opponent of surrender and failing to show up for your match entirely may result in sanctions being applied to the team and/or team captain.
[5.5.3] Play-off matches must be scheduled for Sunday 7pm AEST to allow for streaming. Any change to this time must be submitted in a ticket and approved by OBL Staff.
[5.5.4] Matches are not permitted to be played any time later in the week than Sunday. Results must be posted by 9am AEST on the following Monday.
[5.5.5] If both teams agree in writing to reschedule a match to another suitable time, that time is confirmed and any request for additional rescheduling must be accepted by the opposing captain. The opposing captain can refuse to reschedule further and force a forfeit.
6.6 5.6 Playoff Qualification
The standings sheet for each individual division will clearly denote the teams that qualify for each playoffs. This varies by division and depends on how many teams sign up. In the case of tied standings, please see [5.7] below.
6.7 5.7 Tie-breaking Format
[5.7.1] Where there is a tie between teams in match score, the first tie-breaker is individual game win/loss ratio.
[5.7.2] If win/loss ratio is tied, the secondary tie-breaker is the average duration of winning games (shorter is better).
[5.7.3] If the average duration of winning games is tied the tertiary tie-breaker is the average winrate of their opponents over the season (higher is better).
5.8 Drop-Out Rules
[5.8.1] If a team is dropping out, the captain should make a ticket, notify the league of the dropout, and provide proof that teammates are consenting to dropping the league.
[5.8.2] If a team drops out before the conclusion of the first week they may be replaced by a team from the wait list. If a match was already played and the drop-out team’s opponent is unable to schedule an additional match, the existing match record will stand and the replacement team will inherit the scoreline of the team they are replacing. No teams will be replaced after the conclusion of the first week.
8 7.0 Complaints and Disputes
Complaints or disputes should be communicated directly to the admin and staff through a ticket.
[7.0.1] If the game doesn’t feel correct to play, do not play the game. Wait for a response from an admin using the ticket system.
[7.0.2] Do not post about any disputes in public channels, before, during or after the resolution of a dispute. Posting about disputes in public channels may result in time out, permanent muting or removal from the OBL.
[7.0.3] Violations of any rules in this document or any attempts to undermine the friendly spirit of the OBL may be punished at the discretion of the admin team.
[7.0.4] While the OBL does not actively police Solo Queue or non-league matches, any behavior by a registered player that is deemed targeted, malicious, or intentionally disruptive toward another OBL member may result in disciplinary action. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Intentional griefing or feeding
- Holding a game hostage
- Targeted harassment or abuse
- Repeated negative behavior motivated by league association
- Excessive toxicity beyond reasonable banter
- Any action that violates Riot ToS
If sufficient evidence is provided that a player intentionally disrupted a Solo Queue game or any other public match the offending player may be immediately disqualified from the league.
