TL;DR
- The Interregional Movement Policy also applies to the Expansion Tournament and the grandfathering clause now includes players who played in the most recent Challenger Series Playoffs.
- Work eligibility is not required for the Expansion Tournament, but is still necessary for the entire roster before each team's first LCS match.
- The roster lock for both Ranked 5s and prequalified teams will occur at 11:59 AM PST on November 2, 2014 for NA and 23:59 CEST on November 9, 2014 for EU.
As we move closer to the Expansion Tournament that kicks off in mid November, we want to share the event’s ruleset, as well as outline how it interacts with the Interregional Movement Policy (IMP) and work eligibility requirements so participating teams can properly prepare their rosters.
Ruleset
Expansion Tournament Ruleset
Since the Expansion Tournament is a stand-alone event, some rules included are unique to it. However, there are things to keep in mind for teams planning to participate, all of which can be found within the ruleset as well as outlined below.
Interregional Movement Policy
Last month,
we published the rules for our Interregional Movement Policy, where we defined the process and requirements for players moving between regions to participate in the EU and NA LCS and Challenger Series. Today, we’re confirming that this policy also applies to the Expansion Tournament.
One of the most important factors to take into account is that all teams must submit documentation for each player on the roster proving that they are a resident. A list of acceptable proof of residency documentation such as government issue documentation (passport, drivers license, etc.) and private documentation (school records, utility, bills, etc.) is available in the Expansion Tournament Ruleset. Otherwise, the player will be treated as a non-resident (or exempt non-resident if eligible) and count towards the two allowed non-residents on the starting roster.
We will be extending the current grandfather clause to cover participants in Summer Challenger Series Playoffs. We have also made a small update to the IMP in order to ensure that a wider group of players who competed in the most recent Challenger Series Playoffs and already made a recent commitment to competing in their region of choice are not disrupted by the new Interregional Movement Policy. See below for the portion that will be modified (in bold).
i) Implementation of Rule Change; Grandfathering. Any player on the Active Roster of an LCS team
or a CS team who participated in the 2014 NA/EU Challenger Series Summer Playoffs at the time of this policy change who would not satisfy the Resident definition in 1.2(a) will be considered an "exempt non-resident" which allows such a player to count towards the three Residents required pursuant to Rules 1.2(f), 1.2(g), and 1.2(h). Once an exempt non-resident has met the Residency requirement, that player will be considered a Resident. A player cannot simultaneously count as a Resident for one region and as an exempt non-Resident for another region. A player can choose to waive his exempt non-Resident status in favor of counting as a Resident for another region before December 31, 11:59 pm PST 2014. In the event that a team has two or more exempt non-Resident players as Starters, they will not be permitted to add any additional non-exempt non-Residents as Starters.
Work Eligibility
The work eligibility rule from our LCS ruleset will still be in effect for LCS 2015:
1.2 Residency and Work Eligibility
Each player must submit proof that, at the time of any LCS-affiliated match the player wishes to participate in, he/she will be (a) a legal resident of a country in their region, and (b) work-eligible in the United States (for NA players) or Germany (for EU players).
However, we will be waiving the rule for the Expansion Tournament. That means we will not require players to be work eligible in their respective regions for the Expansion Tournament.
However, since this rule still applies to LCS, players who qualify through the Expansion Tournament will need to submit work eligibility documentation before their first LCS match.
Furthermore, in accordance with rule 3.2 of the LCS ruleset: "A Challenger Series team that wins its promotion match must play at least 3 members of the active roster that earned the spot in the LCS in the first game of the split."
In other words, a qualifying team will need at least 3 players from their Expansion Tournament starting roster in their first LCS game, with
all of the players (including 2 players that were not on the ET starting roster) being work eligible. We encourage teams to begin the process of getting their players work eligible as early as possible.
The team roster must also be in compliance with the Interregional Movement Policy.
Roster Lock
The Expansion Tournament roster lock will occur at 11:59 AM PST on November 2, 2014 for NA and 23:59 CEST on November 9, 2014 for EU.
For teams coming to the Expansion Tournament through the Ranked 5s ladder, these times are when the ladder freeze will prevent any roster changes on the live server.
This is also the point at which prequalified teams must submit their rosters to an Expansion Tournament Official.
More To Come
We are looking forward to an exciting pre-season, especially with the new teams joining LCS and the value they will bring to the highest level of the competitive scene.
You can expect more information on the Expansion Tournament in the coming weeks.
