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Playoffs Adjustments

Our HL Admin team is constantly observing the health of divisions and making adjustments as necessary to keep a competitive environment. One measure we take is to adjust the playoff structure to reflect the current number of competing teams in each division. Considering that teams disband mid-season, this is especially important to reflect on near the end of the regular season. For most of the divisions, we emphasize keeping a playoff structure that reflects half of the division size or less, demonstrating that the best teams within the division can compete for top placement.

Note: Playoff structure is determined before the end of the season to avoid last-minute changes; late team disbandments may not affect it.

Season 14 Playoff Structures

Invite: 4-team double elimination
Advanced: 4-team double elimination
Main: 6-team single elimination
Intermediate: 6-team single elimination
Amateur: 4-team double elimination
Newcomer: 6-team single elimination

Tiebreakers

Should there be a tie in match points, the tiebreakers for rank are (in this order):
1. Head to Head Winner (if teams played each other prior in the season)
2. Quality of Opponent / Strength of Schedule

• Median-Buchholz (used in Swiss Divisions)
• Sonneborn-Berger
• Tiebreaker Score

3. Rounds Won

Demo Requests During Playoffs

Due to the competitive nature of playoffs, we will be more strict during playoffs regarding the requirement to record demos. Any missed demos during playoffs will immediately result in a ban instead of a warning for a first offense. Furthermore, all players participating in a division grand finals must submit their demos.

Players have the responsibility to double-check their demo files to make sure they are the correct ones before submitting them to an admin. Submitting the incorrect demo will be considered a fraud attempt for falsification of demos, and will receive an additional penalty.

Should you need to provide a demo please upload it to Google Drive, Discord, OneDrive, Dropbox, Mega, demos.tf, or MediaFire. Other methods will be ignored.