KARDS Tournament Official Rules

First edition: September 24th, 2019
Last updated: January 4th, 2023

OVERVIEW

These are the official rules for KARDS Tournaments.

1. Here, we present general definitions that apply to the rules. We also make clear that you have to accept the rules if you want to participate in official tournaments.
2. We explain who can participate in official tournaments.
3. We present the generic set of rules for official tournaments. This covers rules about participation, disconnects, streaming, and disqualifications.
4. Some tournaments have an extended ruleset in addition to the generic rules.
5. We also explain our main communication channels and how you can contact the tournament organizers.

1. ABOUT THESE RULES

1. General. These official rules (“Rules”) govern the official tournaments for our video game ‘KARDS’ (“KARDS”) including the Officer Club Championship and the KARDS Open tournaments. We might introduce a modified rule set for specific tournaments such as the KARDS World Championship.
2. Parties. These Rules form a contract between Participants and 1939 Games hf., Eyjarslóð 7, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland (we will further call ourselves “1939 Games”, “we” or “our”). “Participant” means any person participating in official tournaments and any other applicable person notified of these Rules by 1939 Games, and “Participants” means all of them.
3. Additional Documents. In addition to these Rules, Participants must comply with the KARDS User Agreement (which contains basic rules about playing KARDS and is available at store.steampowered.com/eula/544810_eula_0 (“KARDS User Agreement”)), our Naming Policy ( which explains what names you can use as your player name https://support.kards.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033632711-KARDS-Naming-Policy), and our KARDS Privacy Policy (which explains how we collect, use and protect information of Participants and is available at https://support.kards.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034483591-1939-Games-Privacy-Policy (“1939 Games Privacy Policy”)). Please read these documents carefully since these documents are also legally binding on you. If there are any differences between these Rules and the KARDS User Agreement or 1939 Privacy Policy, these Rules will take priority in relation to tournament specific matters.
4. Acceptance. Participants must accept these Rules, the KARDS User Agreement and 1939 Privacy Policy in order to participate in official tournaments. Participants will be deemed to accept these Rules by participating in any part of the official tournaments. If a Participant does not accept or fails to comply with these Rules, he/she/they must not participate in the official tournament(s).

2. ENTRY ELIGIBILITY

1. Age. Participants aged 18 or over are eligible to participate in the official tournament. Participants aged between 13 and 17 must ask their parent or guardian to review and approve these Rules on their behalf (because in some countries people under a certain age cannot fully enter legally into contracts like these Rules). We are sorry, but Participants aged under 13 are not allowed to participate in official tournaments.
   
   
2. Accounts. To be eligible to participate in official tournaments, Participants must have authorized access to a KARDS account and both Participants and their accounts must be in good standing (e.g. not subject to any bans) at the start of and throughout the tournament.
   Participants must only participate in the tournament using their own KARDS account or, if necessary, a specific account provided by 1939 Games.
   Any Participant may only enter any given tournament with one account. Should a Participant qualify into any official tournament with multiple accounts, they may only participate in that tournament with one account determined by 1939 Games.
   
   
3. Platforms and Location. Participants will be eligible to participate in official tournaments
   (a) across all platforms on which KARDS is officially supported (currently PC); and
   (b) if they are a legal resident of a territory in which KARDS is made available.
   
   
4. Prohibited Entrants. Employees or contractors of 1939 Games are not eligible for and may not participate in official tournaments. 
   
   
5. Other Eligibility Criteria. 1939 Games retains sole and absolute discretion regarding who may and who may not participate in official tournaments. We may designate additional eligibility criteria for Participants to participate in official tournaments if we consider it reasonably necessary (e.g. prohibiting residents from certain territories from competing in official tournaments due to legal or regulatory requirements).

3. GENERIC TOURNAMENT RULES

1. All rulings made by tournament Admins or Organizers are FINAL.
2. Participation confirmation
   1. Further rules about participation confirmation might be added to specific tournaments, see below.
3. No-shows, inability to participate
   1. If you no-show a round in the Qualifier bracket phase you will be automatically disqualified from the event. No exceptions. (No show = no communication with your opponent within 15 minutes of the new round seeding.)
   2. If you are unable to play in the Qualifier or the following rounds, please let an Admin know as soon as possible.
4. Disconnection
   1. 1. Should a game end due to disconnection once both players have seen the game match screen and a turn has been played by both players, then the player who disconnects is given the loss.
      2. If a game ends due to a disconnection BEFORE the game screen is accessed or before each player has played one turn, then the match is replayed.
      3. Repeated disconnection from games will be reviewed by an Admin and may result in disqualification of the disconnecting party.
5. Decks
   1. 1. If you queue into a match with the wrong deck list you must notify your opponent and an admin immediately. Admin staff will review the situation. Following a review, if this is determined to be a mistake, you will be given the opportunity to replay the match, or, if not, an automatic loss will be issued. If you play your first turn, the match is considered to be played, resulting in an automatic loss.
      2. Any new cards introduced to the game one week or less before a Qualifier or Finals event are forbidden from use in the event in question. (E.g. if a new card is introduced Monday, July 11th and you have a Qualifier on Saturday, July 16th, you cannot use that card in that Qualifier. That card will however be usable in the Finals the following weekend, Saturday, July 23rd.)
      3. Decks are subject to verification at any time if deemed necessary by an Admin.
      4. Further rules about decks might be added to specific tournaments, see below.
6. Streaming and sharing matches real time
   1. Different rules apply to different tournaments. Please check the tournament-specific rules below for details.
7. Disqualifications & Cheating 
   1. If you are caught cheating, acting with exploitative behavior, or are disruptive to the event and/or the admins you will be immediately disqualified from the tournament.
   2. Any form of cheating may also result in a ban period from future official tournaments depending on the form and severity of the cheat.
   3. Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
      1. Any form of match-fixing, such as intentional draws, losses and win-trading.
      2. Receiving or providing any sort of real-time help, advice or coaching during a tournament match.
      3. Using someone else’s account or letting someone else use your account. Only the account holder may play their Qualifying or Finals games. 
      4. Using more than one account to participate in tournaments. Each tournament participant may participate in any given KARDS tournament from one account only.
      5. Exploiting any known bugs in the game.

4. RULES FOR SPECIFIC TOURNAMENTS

Here we introduce additional rules for our tournaments in addition to the generic rules listed above in section 3.

1. Additional rules for KARDS Open tournaments

1. All generic tournament rules apply with the following additions.
2. Streaming
   1. Streaming your games, or someone else's, in stage two or three of the tournament is not permitted. Doing so may result in disqualification.
   2. You may stream your Swiss rounds at your own risk. In order to ensure that you are in compliance with not receiving any help from outsiders, we recommend that you stream with at least a 10 minute delay.

2. Additional rules for Officer Club Championship tournaments 

1. All generic tournament rules apply with the following additions.
2. Participation confirmation
   1. Confirmation of participation in the OCC is required at least 24 hours before the OCC Qualifiers of that month through email or the KARDS Esports Discord.
   2. Failure to confirm your participation will result in a forfeit.
   3. If you decide not to play after the deadline more than two times in a 12-month period, you will be disqualified for three months from the OCC tournament.
3. Decks
   1. Decks for Swiss rounds (stage one) are free-for-all. This means you can play any deck at any time.
   2. Decks for Top 16 require deck list submissions and verification. You will submit 4 decks from 4 different main nations to play a best of 5 with one ban.
4. Streaming
   1. Streaming or live-sharing your games, or someone else's is strictly not permitted throughout this tournament. Doing so may result in disqualification.

5. COMMUNICATION

1. 1. The KARDS Esports Discord will be the main hub of communication with the tournament admins. This is the required method for contacting an admin if you have questions or a match dispute: https://discord.gg/288DQexmng 
   2. For Chinese players who can not access discord, there is a QQ group for tournament communication. Group number: 871343677
   3. We might update the main channels of communication for specific tournaments, e.g. the KARDS World Championship.

For any further questions or concerns please reach out to a KARDS Esports Admin on Discord: https://discord.gg/288DQexmng