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saCTF Draft Cup 2025

1. General

  1. The saCTF Draft Cup 2025 is an Unreal Tournament 99 league organized by PassionateGaming.
  2. We reserve the right to broadcast every match. The recording of such broadcasts can't be refused by the players.
  3. The matches are 15 min per map excluding OT.
  4. Timing of the power-ups is as follows:
    • Armor +100 - 30s
    • Thigh pads +50 - 30s
    • Amp (fullstack) - 2m
    • Shield belt +150 - 60s
    • Health pack +100 - 18.2s


2. Player requirements

  1. All players must play five (5) SACUP PUGs (5 maps) in #pickup-games & show us their stats from the games by looking for their recently played games on our UTStats page @ http://utstats.passionategaming.eu - if we do not have stats for you, you will be rated higher at the event admins' discretion.
  2. All players must have an account registered on the PassionateGaming website and linked to their Discord account used in PassionateGaming Discord server.
  3. If a player becomes aware that they will be unavailable for a match, they are obliged to let their captain know via whatever means of contact they have available to them.
  4. A player may not play for two or more different teams in the same matchweek.
  5. Players must play with a nickname that matches or closely resembles the nickname that they signed up with.
  6. Custom skins and taunt sounds are not allowed in this cup.


3. Openness about availability

  1. Players are expected to be open about their availability to captains at all times prior to the draft. The information that you give to all captains should be consistent. Do not tell one captain not to draft you because you're playing badly and then try to sell yourself to another captain. It is not permitted to refuse to acknowledge or respond to a captain because you do not wish to play for them - players who do this will be removed from the cup.
  2. During the draft, if you are around, you must be open and honest to all players who pm you to inquire about your availability. Even if a captain is trying to ascertain your availability during the draft, you should be open up until the point that you are drafted - even if another captain has promised to pick you in a later round.
  3. If at any point during the season you find yourself on the free agent list, the same rules apply. You are required to be honest to all captains who inquire as to your availability. Telling one captain that you can't play only to show for another is severely frowned upon.
  4. Players who lie about their availability to captains are liable to receive punishment for this in the current or future seasons at the admins' discretion, depending on when the information comes to light.
  5. A player cannot refuse to play for a captain.


4. Maps

  1. Listed below are the maps and their versions that will be used in this cup.
    • CTF-Anfractuous-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Acrony-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Azcanize-SA-RE3
    • CTF-BrokenLimits-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Duku-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Iztac-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Klondike-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Mesmerize-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Nuance99-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Pryxon-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Rune-SA-RE3
    • CTF-Sprinta-SA-RE3
  2. Download full map pack by clicking here.


5. Match rules - General

  1. Teams are not allowed to exploit other any game-related glitches and it may result in a forfeit loss of the map. Glitches include but are not limited to:
    1. binding movements like thrusts to movement or other action keys;
    2. hiding in glitches/bugged solid materials;
    3. bunny hopping / bouncing

6. Match rules - Group stage

  1. Matches are played 5v5, each team can pick one map from the map list to play. We play with overtime and spawn delay enabled, so there are no draws.
  2. A group match is played on 2 or 3 maps. A map win results in 1 match point for the winning team and 0 for the losing team. If each team wins a map, the decider results in 1 extra point for the winner. Example:
    • Team A wins both maps against Team B: the score is 2:0.
    • Team A wins in a BO3: the score is 2:1.
  3. Each match in the group stage will consist of two maps. The first map chosen will be decided by a coin toss. The loser of the coin toss will choose their map first. This is also the first map played. This allows the coin toss winner to "save" a possible map pick for future match weeks in the group stage if the coin toss loser picks the winner's desired map first. The winner of the coin toss also gets to select their preferred team color.
  4. The decider map is selected by eliminating the remaining maps on the list. The team with the most caps will choose who will start elimination. If that is equal, the team with the most caps on the opponent's map is chosen. If that is equal a coin toss will decide.
  5. In the Group stage, teams may not pick the same map twice.
  6. A forfeit loss corresponds to a loss of all maps (0:2). No map scores will be entered. A no-show is regarded as a forfeit loss.
  7. A team that forfeits a group match for the second time will be removed from the League.
  8. If a team leaves the League with only one match to go, then the last match will be considered a forfeit loss and all the Team‘s matches will count for the ranking. This rule does not apply, however, to teams that had already forfeited a match or that had won or lost all their previous matches.
  9. If a team leaves the League after having qualified for the playoffs, it can be replaced by the team ranked below it in its group.


7. Match rules - Playoffs / KNOCK-OUT STAGE

  1. Playoff format:


  2. 1/8 final, 1/4 final and 1/2 final are played over a maximum of three maps, one point per map win is awarded and the first team to reach two points wins the match. Veto system for playoffs: A - Ban, B - Ban, A - Pick, B - Pick. The team with the highest seed in the group stage will choose which order they want to begin in.
  3. The decider map is selected by eliminating the remaining maps on the list. The team with the most caps will choose who will start elimination. If that is equal, the team with the most caps on the opponent's map is chosen. If that is equal a coin toss will decide. We play with overtime and spawn delay enabled, so there are no draws.
  4. The Grand Final will be decided over a maximum of five maps, this time a team needs three points to win the match. The coin toss decides which team goes first. Veto system for grand finals: A - Pick, B - Pick, B - Ban, A - Ban, A - Pick, B - Pick.
  5. The decider map is selected by eliminating the remaining maps on the map list.
  6. The team that has made the most flag captures in the previous four maps will decide which team eliminates the first map from the remaining maps.
    1. If this is a tie then whichever team has the most captures on the opposing team’s map picks will decide who eliminates the first map.
    2. If this is still a tie, then a coin toss will decide who gets to choose who removes the first map.


8. Match rules - Grand Final

  1. The Grand Final match can be decided in 3, 4 or 5 maps. First team to win 3 maps wins the match.
  2. Veto system in Grand Final:
    • HigherSeed Pick - LowerSeed Pick - LowerSeed Ban - HigherSeed Ban - HigherSeed Pick - LowerSeed Pick.
    • The decider map is selected by teams taking turns eliminating maps from the list of unplayed and unbanned maps until one map remains. The team who starts eliminating maps first is decided by a cointoss.
    • In case of no clear Higher/LowerSeed, cointoss will decide.
    • Teams choose the colour on their opponent‘s maps. For the decider map, the colour is chosen by the team that did not eliminate the last map.


9. RankinGs

  1. 3 teams from each group will advance to the playoffs. Teams finishing last in their respective groups are eliminated from the competition.
  2. Rankings will be based on the number of total points for each team. If two teams are tied on points, the team that advances is decided by the winner of the match between the two teams
  3. If more than two teams are tied, then these steps will be used to break the tie:
    1. The lowest number of map losses in the matches between the teams in the tie.
    2. The highest number of captures in the matches between the teams in the tie.
    3. The lowest number of captures against in the matches between teams in the tie.


10. Draft and Teams

  1. The draft will take place on 9th of March 2025 21:00 CET
  2. The draft will consist of 5 rounds. Each captain will pick one player in each round. In the first round of the draft each captain must draft themselves - this is done automatically.
  3. Before each round the picking order will be decided according to remaining budget of each captain. The captain with the highest remaining budget will pick first, the captain with the lowest remaining budget will pick last in each round. In case two captains have the same remaining budget after the conclusion of a round, the picking order in the next round will be decided by a randomizer.
  4. Each captain will have one minute to pick a player when it's their turn. If the captain has not picked a player within the given timeframe, the highest rated player available within the budget of that team will be picked automatically.
  5. Each captain has the opportunity to ask for ONE timeout during the draft which will give them an additional two minutes to pick a player that round. Under no circumstances are the captains allowed to spend more money than they have available. This applies to each round of the draft as well as the entire duration of the cup. After the draft each team will consist of four players. At no point during the cup will a team be allowed to have more or less than four players on their roster.
  6. A captain is allowed to let someone else do the draft for them.
  7. Players who signed up as substitute-only cannot be drafted and will go directly to the Free Player Pool (FPP).
  8. Each team has a total budget of: € 3390
  9. Each captain starts round 1 of the draft with € 1000 and buys themselves.
  10. Each round after that the following base rates are added to their remaining budget, composing the budget for the given round*:
    Round #Base Rate €
    11000
    2460
    3800
    4530
    5600
    * Round base rates and team budget are subject to change
    Example:
    1. Captain worth € 800 starts round #1 with a budget of € 1000 and buys themselves.
    2. For round #2, the captain's budget is a sum of their remaining budget after round #1 (€ 200) and the base rate for the given round (€ 450), making a total of € 650.
    3. The following rounds use the same logic.


11. Trading & Substitutions

  1. Captains are free to trade players from their team for those in the Free Player Pool (FPP) as long as the team has not been eliminated from the cup and the incoming player is within the team's maximum available budget, including the outgoing player's salary.
    • Captains cannot trade players until their first match of the Group stage is played.
    • Captains cannot trade players at the end of the Group stage when only one match is remaining and the team has no chance of qualifying to the playoffs. Should any such trade occur, it will be reverted and changed into a substitution.
  2. Captains can pick up a temporary substitute for a specific match and a player in their team without trading that player out. The substitute must be within the team's maximum available budget, including the outgoing player's salary.
  3. In the Group stage, each team is eligible for a maximum of 2 team mutations per week.
  4. In the Playoffs (including Grand Final), each team is eligible for a maximum of 2 team mutations (trades or substitutions).
  5. All trades and substitutions must be reported to a cup admin before the new player plays a game for the team. The admin will need to apply the change on the website:
    • In case of a trade, the incoming player must appear on the team's roster at the starting time of the match.
    • In case of a substitution, the incoming player must appear as a substitute on the match overview page at the starting time of the match.
  6. Captains themselves cannot be traded but can be substituted.


12. Free Player Pool (FPP)

  1. Players who are not initially drafted to a team will go into the Free Player Pool (FPP).
  2. Players who are traded out from a team will return to the FPP and are available for any other team to trade if they so wish.
  3. Players who signed up as substitute-only cannot be traded and can only be picked up as substitutes, provided that they are available for the match.
  4. All players can only play for one team each match week.


13. Server Selection

  1. All matches must be played with cup settings on servers sanctioned by PassionateGaming.
  2. Captains are encouraged to agree on a server before the match - when scheduling the match, before the match day. Once the match is scheduled, team captains have the ability to book their desired server for the match on the My Matches tab of the league page on the website.
  3. If no servers are booked for the match, admins will assign a server based on which ones are available after consulting with the captains involved in the match.
  4. Whilst we will do our best to provide the best and fairest server available for the match, it may not always be possible and a compromise will have to be reached.
  5. A two-server match is possible if both captains agree. The decider map will always be played on the best possible server. If teams cannot agree on one server, League Admins will pick the server with best average ping for both teams.
  6. If a match involves a team made up of 50% or more players from North America and South America, the match may be played across two servers (an EU and an NA based server) if either team requests it.
  7. A decider map including NA vs EU teams will be picked by determining the ping difference. Considering previous experiences, expect them to be played on servers located in the UK.


14. Server Crashes

  1. In the event that a server crashes, the server will be reset and the time will be rounded up to the nearest minute. The scores will be added together from both (all) parts.
  2. If a server goes down with two minutes or less left to play, then the game will be restarted with two minutes on the clock.


15. Scheduling matches - GROUP STAGE

  1. The group stage uses open schedule, which means that (if needed) the teams may play their matches outside of their designated matchweeks. The requirement is to have all matches played by the end of the last matchweek of the group stage at the latest. However, teams are encouraged to schedule and play their matches timely instead of leaving everything to last minute.
  2. For each unplayed match, if two captains cannot reach an agreement before Friday 22:00 CET of the last matchweek, the match will be forced to Sunday of that week between 20:00 CET and 22:00 CET.
    • A neutral admin will decide the final match time to ensure a free server is available.
  3. Team captains are encouraged to schedule their matches on their own using the Challenging functionality on My Matches tab of the League page on the website.


    16. Scheduling matches - Playoffs / KNOCK-OUT STAGE

    1. Teams are required to schedule their matches in agreement with the opposing captain each week. Each match in the playoff stage has a schedule time of one week and can be played on any agreed day and time from Monday to Sunday.
    2. If two captains cannot reach an agreement before Friday 22:00 CET in the running match week, the match will be forced to Sunday of the given week between 20:00 CET and 22:00 CET.
      • A neutral admin will decide the final match time to ensure a free server is available.
    3. Scheduling a match outside of the match week can only be done with the agreement of a cup admin. All postponement requests will be considered on a case by case basis depending on the cup schedule.
    4. Team captains are encouraged to schedule their matches on their own using the Challenging functionality on My Matches tab of the League page on the website.


    17. Entering match results

    1. Team captains are encouraged to enter/confirm results of their matches on their own using the button on My Matches tab of the League page on the website.
    2. If for some reason the results cannot be entered on the website, screenshots of the match should be provided to the cup admins via Discord.


    18. Discord

    1. All players are required to be present on the PassionateGaming Discord server. During matches it is mandatory to connect to and use your team’s provided voice channel on the PG Discord server.
    2. The match procedures (such as picking the maps and servers) will take place in a Discord captains channel thread dedicated to the given match. Team captains (or their appointed replacements) will be added to the match threads timely before the scheduled start time of the match.


    19. Cheating

    1. Any player caught cheating will be permanently banned from all competitions organized by PassionateGaming.


    20. First-person demos

    1. All players must record a first-person demo on all maps. There is no valid excuse for not recording a demo of your game. If you don't know how to or yours is 'broken', contact an admin or your captain for help.
    2. Players must keep their demos for the duration of the entire cup and can be requested from any match up to two weeks after their team has played their last game.
    3. An admin not participating in the match has the right to request as many demos as they want.
    4. Cheating accusations will be reviewed and ruled on by an anti-cheat team.
    5. Admins may request that a player uploads all demos for the entire duration of the season.
    6. If a player refuses or fails to upload demos when requested, it will result in a forfeit loss of each map a demo is not provided for.
    7. The opposing team may request demos no later than seven days after the match.


    21. Match punctuality

    1. A team must have their entire team in the server and clicked in to be eligible to start the timer to claim a no show. Once they have done this the opposing team has ten minutes to click in before they default the map.
    2. If the first map is lost in this manner, as soon as the second map is loaded and the team click in, the timer will begin for the second map, to which the other team has another ten minutes to enter the server and click in.
    3. Teams are encouraged to show some tolerance in an effort to get all matches in the cup played where possible and not look for easy map wins.


    22. Sportsmanship

    1. A player may not spam a non-teamsay binds during a match. Players who do this will be warned to cease; players who continue will risk forfeiting the map for their team and/or getting themselves removed from the cup.
    2. Racism will not be tolerated. If a player makes racist remarks in game or on Discord, the player in question will be warned and may be suspended or banned from PassionateGaming.


    23. Spectators

    1. The only people allowed to spectate matches are PassionateGaming admins and members of the stream team. It goes without saying that if someone is spectating, they are not allowed to have any communications with the teams that are playing.
    2. Unless commentating on the match during a live stream, it is forbidden for a member of either team involved in said match to join as a spectator. This will result in a forfeit of the map in question.


    24. Precedent

    1. The admin staff will abide by this ruleset as closely as possible, however some deviation may be needed if any unpredictable scenarios arise.
    2. In the event that something not covered by this ruleset occurs, the admins reserve the right to use their discretion to solve the issue. This includes, but is not limited to, amending and changing rules if the need arises. Any changes or new rules will apply to those situations from that point on setting a precedent.

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