Custom H&S Rules
Victories so far over 21 games played : Seekers 8 | Hiders 13
PREFACE:
The current standard H&S rules cater heavily to the Hiders. So much so that it all but (Garen)tees a loss for the Seekers.
These custom rules are an attempt to better balance the game, and not lean so heavily in favor of the Hiders.
**Any standard rules not mentioned or modified in the rule set below are still rules. I wont bother repeating the entirety of the standard rules here. **
CHAMPIONS:
Just to be clear, even though everyone already knows this.
Neither team may pick Rengar, Teemo, Evelynn, or Shaco.
are Permabanned.
HIDERS HAVE 4 LIVES EACH, NOT 5 LIVES EACH:
4 lives (x5 players) = 20 lives total on the Hider team. Game time limit is still the 40 minutes mark.
Given that players don't leave their bases until around the 2 minute mark, the time that the Seekers have to win the game is closer to 38 minutes, not 40.
To total 20 kills in 38 minutes, the Seekers must average 1 kill every 1 min 54 sec. (approximately)
This means that to win by the 40 minute mark, the Seekers have to beat the average time frame of 114 seconds between each kill. That's a small window.
When the hiders have 5 lives each (a total of 25 lives as a team) then this time window shrinks to an even smaller value.
It is this overburdening time restriction that I believe to be the reason why the hiders just seem to always win and it needs to change.
It's worth noticing also, that by having 1 less life hiders have one less opportunity to purchase items. This means that the hiders must play a little smarter than usual as to not die too much too soon or they won't have the chance to by as many items as they intended to.
GENERAL GAME PLAY:
Hiders may not stay in groups larger than 3 players:
Mobbing around as a group of 4 or 5 constantly chain-stunning the Seekers is ridiculous and unfair. There is no way even a good Seeker duo can manage 5 people chain stunning them and forcing them to recall at every turn.
When encountered, Hiders should use only as much CC as they need to to escape. While a hider is fleeing, only 2 teammates are allowed to help that hider escape, as having more than 2 help would mean being in a group larger than 3.
Hiders may only select the following Summoner Spells:
Seekers may select any Summoner Spell other than {{summoner:17}} and {{summoner:2}}
Seekers must recall when at or lower than 300 HP:
When at 300 HP a Seeker must recall. If the Seeker does not recall when they fall to 300 HP, and instead continue to pursue, then the hiders are allowed to continue using CC on the seeker even if it means that the seeker dies.
Seekers are not to recall in brush. Seekers must recall in the open where they are visible or it is not considered a valid recall.
If a Seeker begins recalling, and a Hider interrupts that recall causing the seeker to die, then the Hider that dealt the killing blow gets -1 life.
If a Seeker dies due to being under constant CC (such that they were not even able to begin a recall) the Hider that deals the killing blow gets -1 life.
This commonly happens when Hiders use excessive CC (more than what is needed to make their escape) and is why I mentioned it in the lines above.
In the case of a double KO, where a Hider kills the Seeker that killed him, the Hider only gets the usual -1 life due to being slain, just so long as only CC was used to cause the death of the Seeker.
In the case of a Hider killing a Seeker in such a manner that they earn a -1, and then that Hider is slain by the other Seeker, then that Hider gets both a -1 from his unjust killing of a Seeker as well as a -1 from being slain.
Seekers are not allowed to cancel a recall: At least they're not_ supposed_ to but it always seems to happen anyway, so...
If a seeker begins a recall (at any amount of HP) and then cancels that recall in order to pursue a Hider, then that Seeker no longer has the privilege of an uninterrupted recall the next time that they try to channel one.
This means that the second time the Seeker attempts a recall, the Hiders are allowed to cancel it (so long as they only use CC) and if the Seeker dies it is considered his fault, and no Hider gets a -1.
ITEMS:
ONLY ONE (ACTIVE) SLOW ITEM AND ONE (PASSIVE) SLOW ITEM ARE ALLOWED FOR SEEKERS.
So if a Seeker Yi buys a Frozen Mallet
(passive),
the other Seeker cannot buy a Rylai’s
(also passive).
If a Seeker Fizz were to buy a FQC
(active),
then his Seeker friend Udyr could not buy a BotRK
(also active)
IT IS LEGAL for one seeker to have both the one (active) and one (passive) slow item allotted to the Seeker team. But if this is the case, then the other Seeker cannot have a slow item.
HIDERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BUY (PASSIVE) SLOW ITEMS, AND MAY HAVE ONLY 2 (ACTIVE) SLOW ITEMS TOTAL AS A TEAM
BANNED ITEMS FOR HIDERS: Hiders may NOT buy the following items:
Thornmail
/ 
Bami's Cinder / Sunfire Cape
Guardian Angel
Rylai’s Crystal Scepter
Frozen Mallet
Iceborn Gauntlet
Entropy
Also take note, that Hiders cannot stack AD or AP items for the purpose of dealing tons of damage when casting CC.
Hider Morgana can’t stack AP so that her Dark Binding (Q) does 9001 damage.
Hider Singed cannot buy Rylai’s so that he can run around with his “new-and-improved! slowing poison trail”
Using an item to add CC to a Non-CC ability does NOT make it legal to cast that ability. (so to keep things simple, items that do just that are banned from Hiders entirely)
FREQUENTLY DEBATED QUESTIONS:
FQC - (Frost Queen’s Claim) :
Only one FQC is allowed for each team - one for the Hiders and one for the Seekers.
Decide who among you will be the one to make this purchase ahead of time to avoid a mid game conflict.
And remember, Seekers, that FQC counts as your (active) slow item, and you can only have one (active) and one (passive) slow item between the two of you, as mentioned above.
All the same, FQC counts as 1 of the 2 (active) slow items allotted to the Hiders, so Hiders keep this in mind as well.
Deadman’s Plate
:
Every player, Hider or Seeker, may buy this item.
Hiders may NOT, however, use basic attacks to apply the on-hit slow by discharging the collected stacks. Unless of course, your basic attack has some sort of natural CC tied into it, for instance Udyr’s Bear Stance.
NOTE --- Deadman’s Plate does not count towards the (Active / Passive) Slow-Item Limit.
This is a staple item for the mode and is therefore considered a standard item. No limitations. All seven players may have this item.
**
Oracle's
:**
Seekers may buy an Oracle's at any time during the game but they are limited to only having one oracles active at a time. They are not allowed to both have oracles at the same time. There is no limitation to the amount of Oracle's they can buy throughout the game, they just can't have more than 1 Oracle active at any given moment
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES AND NOTES:
The Relic Buffs in the center of the map may be captured by either team at any time.
“Grace” lasts for 30 seconds during the first 30 minutes of the game. During the last 10 minutes of the game “Grace” lasts for only 15.
“Grace” must be called in /all chat and starts the second that you call it. Hiders must call grace as they leave the steps of their fountain
If a Hider is on Grace, and attempts to capture a relic buff or aid an ally, they break grace and are free game for the seekers to hunt.