Rulebook
Competition rules
Every bracket runs on the standard CDL competitive ruleset below unless a tournament's description says otherwise. Per-event map pools, series order and restricted-item additions are listed on each tournament page.
General rules
Age & region eligibility
All players must be 18 or older — no exceptions. Paid-entry tournaments are not open to residents of Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina, South Dakota, or Tennessee, where state law restricts cash-prize skill competitions. VPN/proxy connections are blocked; misrepresenting your state forfeits your entry.
Rosters & eligibility
Play with the roster you registered. Substitutes must be on the registration before the bracket locks — no ringers, no account sharing. One account per player; duplicate accounts are grounds for removal and forfeiture of entry.
Check-in & no-shows
Teams must be in the tournament Discord and ready 30 minutes before their scheduled match time. A team more than 15 minutes late to a scheduled match forfeits that map; 25 minutes forfeits the series.
Restricted items
The current CDL Gentlemen's Agreement / restricted-item list applies: banned weapons, attachments, equipment, scorestreaks, perks and movement exploits are prohibited. The restricted list active on tournament day is final — check the tournament description for any additions.
Series format
Standard series are best-of-5 with the mode order set in the tournament description (typically HP → S&D → CTL → HP → S&D). Map picks/bans, if used, are described per tournament.
Disputes & evidence
Score disputes go to an admin through live chat immediately after the map — play continues only once an admin rules. Record your own POV; claims without evidence go to the admin's judgment and their ruling is final.
Conduct
Cheating, boosting, glitch abuse, or targeted harassment means immediate removal without refund and a platform ban. Trash talk is part of the game; slurs and threats are not.
Game modes
Hardpoint
Hill order and boundaries follow the current competitive map pool. Spawn-trapping is legal; exploiting out-of-map geometry is not. If the score is tied when time expires, the first team to score in overtime wins the map.
Search & Destroy
One life per round — no respawns. A planted bomb must detonate or be defused to decide the round after the timer expires. Fake-planting and ninja defuses are legal. Round-by-round side swaps; first team to six round wins takes the map.
Control
Attackers win a round by capturing both zones before time or lives run out; defenders win by holding until either expires. Capture progress pauses while contested. First to three round wins takes the map.
Gunfight (2v2)
No custom classes — both teams run the same supplied loadout each round. If the round timer expires, an overtime flag spawns; capturing it or eliminating the enemy team wins the round.
Rules are enforced by tournament admins; rulings in live play are final. Ruleset follows current CDL competitive conventions and is updated as the official ruleset evolves.