WORLD CUP RULES

This event is designed to determine the best national/regional team in the world by employing national qualifiers to build the best 3-person squads that compete in FFA matches against other national/regional teams in a winner-take-all final tournament!

Communication

• All direct communication will be done through the Risk World Cup Discord Server, if you would like to be contacted through a different method, please let our staff know.

• Schedule and standings will all be hosted on the web as well as chats through the Discord server for participants that prefer that method.

Registration

• All participants are required to create a free login at ProfessionalRiskTakers.com

• All participants will either need to be a PRT Affiliate (FREE) or PRT Member (Paid) to sign-up for the event

• All PRT Affiliates and PRT Members can sign-up at: https://www.professionalrisktakers.com/event-signup

National Affiliation

• You must sign up for a national affiliation and the nation must be either:

  • Your birth country or country of citizenship

  • Your parent/guardian’s birth country or country of citizenship

• You may not change you affiliation for any future world cup’s once you designate an affiliation during the tournament sign-up

• All players are encouraged to change their in-game flag to the country they are representing for all World Cup games (in an effort to help viewers)

Late Sign-Ups

• Participants that wish to enter the tournament after the deadline may be allowed to enter at staff discretion in the following circumstances:

  • If your nation has not started their National Qualifier matches

  • If your nation has 3 or fewer participants, staff will look at options to add you to the team or a regional team, but no guarantees

Tournament Format

National Qualifiers

• All players representing a nation with more than three participants must compete in national qualifiers (nations with three or less players will have auto-qualifiers, if the participants can fill all three positions prior to the tournament selection process or combine to form a regional team)

World Cup Finals Format

• All national/regional teams will be placed in groups where they will play three game matches until all other teams are eliminated down to a final group

Game Format

• No Capitals, No VC, No Bots, No Stalemates, and No Zombies 

• Each Round’s Games (not including the Final):

  • Game 1: Progressive, 70% Domination

  • Game 2: Fixed, 70% Domination

  • Game 3: Progressive, World Domination

• All games will be played on maps of geographic locations

• Games played on maps with 50+ territories will have a 90 second timer, all maps with less that 50 territories will be a 60 second turn timer

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Round Announcements

• The organizers will announce the start of each new round of the tournament every Monday based on the Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) time zone after the last game of the previous round has finished. The groups of players for each round will be chosen by seeding and then time coordinated.

• All the important information about the tournament, including when the games will take place, will be shared through the Discord on the channel called #event-announcements.

Groups

• For national qualifiers, each group will play a match (three consecutive games) following the settings for the round.

• For the World Cup Finals, there will be three separate game times assigned to each group.

• Each week, you will be given a group number, match time and match host on the “Schedule” page on the website

• Settings for the three games of each round will be displayed a week ahead of each round.

• The schedule page will be updated every Monday. It's important for you to check your group number and the day and time of your matches to make sure you are available to play during your scheduled time. 

• If you can't play at your scheduled time, please tell your group and read the below info on swapping groups.

Swapping Groups

• Swapping groups is allowed in this tournament, but it should not be taken advantage of. If you are found to be abusing this, you may be disqualified from the tournament. Players are responsible for arranging their own swaps, and they can only swap once per round.

• To swap groups, you need to find a player who can swap with you through the web forum or discord, then once this is confirmed,  inform a staff member through the “Tourney Help” forum or #tourney-help channel. 

• Each group requires at least 5 players (unless scheduled otherwise). You may only move out of a group of 5, if you have found someone to swap into your place, so no groups are left without enough players to play.

• It's a good idea to update your availability before the new round starts if you need to make any changes. You can use professionalrisktakers.com/availability-update  for this purpose. You can also use a tool called Time Buddy to help you find the difference between your time zone and UTC.

• Players are not allowed to play in more than one match, even if they didn't play all 3 games of their previous match. If a player lost or didn't show up for a match, they cannot swap to another group and play in that match. 

• Once you have a confirmed swap, ping @event-staff in #tourney-help

Player Minimum - National Qualifiers (None for World Cup Finals)

• We plan for most matches to start with all 6 players and very few with 5, but sometimes not all scheduled players arrive. A match is a series of three games. Each game can start with 4 human players, but not until after 5 minutes and the waiting list was notified through #tourney-help at game time. (eg. @WaitingList-USA)

• Before the match, the match host will ask players to confirm they will play. If a player or players do not confirm, you should ping the waiting list role, to look for a replacement player. 

• A player can only play in 1 match per week, so if a player chooses to leave their match when they were supposed to play more games, that  player loses the games they didn’t play, and the others continue the match without that player. 

• A late player may join game 2 or 3 if they arrive in time to join the lobby, and there’s still space in the group for them to play.

• No bots will be added to fill the lobby.

• One player from each group will be hosting the game in the ‘Friends Private’ mode. They will communicate with the Match Host to ensure the settings are correct.

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No-Show Procedure

• If one of the scheduled participants is not in the Risk game lobby or Discord lobby 5 minutes prior to the scheduled game time, they receive a ping and have 5 minutes to respond letting the group know they are coming. The match host will also ping the waiting list in #tourney-help. After 5 minutes if neither the originally scheduled player or a replacement player has responded, the game starts. If either responds they have until 5 minutes after the originally scheduled game time to get in the Risk game lobby. The replacement player can’t join the lobby until the scheduled game time without the originally scheduled player responding.

• Any participant who fails to appear for their scheduled match without providing advance notice to their group will be marked as a no-show. 

• Please notify your group at least one hour prior to the match if you are unable to attend. Participants are encouraged to inform their opponents of their absence as soon as possible. By adhering to this policy, participants can help to maintain a fair and competitive environment for all players involved.

National Qualifier No-Shows

• No-Shows in Round 1 or Round 2 will be added to the national waiting-list (e.g. @WaitingList-USA) for the next round or they may request through #tourney-help to fill a position in a group with less than 6 players scheduled.

• Qualifying Round No-Shows: they will be added to the national waiting list (e.g. @Waiting List USA) for the remainder of that round. If they don’t play in a match during that qualification round, they are eliminated.

World Cup Finals No-Shows

• Only players from the designated national team can fill in for another team member. Players have until the scheduled game time to notify the host that they are coming and then 5 minutes to be in the Risk game lobby. Otherwise the game will start (no bots added). Fill-ins must follow the rule that no team member can ever have played more than one game more than any other member of their team.

Scoring

• Game 1 Winner - 10 Points

• Game 2 Winner - 20 Points

• Game 3 Winner - 15 Points

• Bounties - 3 Points​ (in progressive games, must get an immediate card trade or win game on turn)

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National Qualifiers

National Qualifier Format

• Please refer to "National Qualifiers" in the button at the top of the page

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World Cup Finals

• Groups of six national teams will play three games per round with the top three teams moving on

WCF Rounds (Subject to change based on number of total teams)

• Round 1  - All teams participate

• Round 2 - All teams participate (Top 3 TAP auto-advance to Quarters)

• Round 3 - All teams participate

• Quarterfinals - 18 teams (Top TAP auto-advances to Final)

• Semifinals - 12 teams (G3 Winners to Final, Top 3 TAP to Final)

• Finals - 6 teams play a 70% Domination with repeater modifier

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Repeater Modifier

If a team reaches 50% domination without winning, that team is eliminated and the game resets (new settings) with the other teams remaining.  The modifier is still in effect until a game starts with 4-teams. 

Team Play

• Each team is encouraged to evenly rotate where each player gets to play one game per round

• At no point may a player start a game if they have played two games more than another teammate during the World Cup Finals

• Any breaking of these rules will result in a forfeit

Alternate Team Players

• Each national/regional team will be assigned one alternate player by staff based on the highest finishers within the national/regional qualifier

• Alternate players can be used to fill in a spot when no other national team player is available for a game

• Once an alternate player has been used for two separate games, they become a permanent member of the team and one team member is removed

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Tiebreakers

• In the event that two or more players are tied for the final place to move on to the next round, the tie will be broken in the following manner and any player not advancing due to a tie breaker will be put on the @waiting-list

  • Most wins

  • Least opponents played

  • Most points in most recent match (round)

  • Most points in most recent game

  • Coin flip

• All players that are eliminated based on a tiebreaker will be automatically added to the waiting list for the next round

Stalemates

• If any single game hits the 20th turn and more than 2 players remain in the game, all initial teams/players that participated in the game will reset into a new lobby and a reset scoreboard.  The game will have the following settings (point values will remain the same):

  • Map: Classic

  • Type: 70% Domination

  • Blizzards: Off

  • Fog: Off

  • Portals: Stable

  • Placement: Auto

  • Card Bonus: Progressive

  • AI Difficulty: Expert

  • Turn Timer: 60 sec

  • Alliances: Off

  • IA Behavior: Automated

  • Dice Rolls: Balanced Blitz

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Alt Accounts

• In this tournament, you are not allowed to use more than one account or use a different name to hide your real identity. You have to use the same name that you normally use in the RISK community. Please do not change names until the end of the event. We use that name to keep track of points and placements.

• If you need to play under another name for a specific match, please contact the event staff to get approval.

• If you are caught using more than one account or a different name, you may be disqualified and may not be allowed to play in future events. 

Age

• Anyone who is at least 13 years old can join this tournament. If the staff of the server find out that you are younger than 13, they will remove you from the tournament and you won't be allowed to participate anymore.

Relationships

• If you're playing in this tournament with someone you know personally outside of the game, like a friend or family member, you have to let the organizers know when you sign up. This is to make sure that there's no cheating or unfair advantage in working together during the games.

• If you do know someone who's playing, you can still participate, but you won't be able to be in the same game as them unless it is a final. If collaboration is determined, both players will receive a permanent ban.

• If the organizers find out that players knew each other before the tournament started and didn't disclose that information, they may disqualify those players.

Fair Play

• Follow Risk’s fair play rules, to avoid being banned

• “Hacking the game, in any way, is (considered) cheating.

• Abusing a bug or glitch or knowingly encouraging abuse of these is cheating.

• Creating a negative experience for other players, by actions such as spamming excessively, refusing to end games, intentionally disrupting gameplay, delaying gameplay (stalling), or abusing our reconnection system intentionally, is cheating.”

Hidden Communication

• To ensure a fair playing field, all strategic communication between opponents must be conducted through the Risk app, utilizing its emotes and chat expressions ONLY

• Under no circumstances are players permitted to engage in secret collaboration or cheating. They are not permitted to give each other external assistance or secretly coordinate their moves.

• Even indirect suggestions of collusion made through private messages prior to a match are strictly forbidden and should be reported to the host with a screenshot. The report will remain confidential to safeguard the reporting player from any backlash from the cheater.

• Any player caught cheating by attempting to collude through external channels will be immediately disqualified and reported. Additionally, they may face a ban from both the Risk server and app.

• Should any player suspect foul play, such as cheating, collaboration, or stream sniping, they are advised to reach out to the Hosting Staff Member via direct message. It is important to note that Staff Members are required to report any instances of foul play, so players are encouraged to provide a screenshot of any such occurrences to the event staff.

Foul Play Reporting

• If you suspect any form of foul play such as cheating, collaboration, or stream sniping in your game, it is important to report it to your Hosting Staff Member via direct message. Please note that staff are required to report these issues immediately and may take a screenshot of the conversation as evidence.

Dispute Resolution

• In the event of a rule dispute during a match, players should first check the rules document for an answer or ask the Hosting Staff Member for help. If the issue is not covered by the rules or is unclear, a judgment call will be made.

Risk

• Any deviation from the listed settings will result in the game being voided and restarted.

• All tournament games will be played on the RISK app in Casual Private mode and are unranked. To join a game, ensure that you have the most up-to-date version of the RISK app installed, select Casual > Private mode, and enter the code shared by the host using the ABC button in the bottom left corner of the screen.

• Missing the ready button will result in a game restart, so if this happens, please exit the game and return for a new code.

• If you disconnect from the game, you will be replaced by a bot and only receive the points you had already earned prior to the disconnect.

• If your turn has been skipped, it's usually due to a personal connection issue and your troops will be placed automatically. As such, the game will proceed as normal.

• Bugs that are provable and game-changing will be eligible for a restart, and it's up to the host to make a reasonable judgment based on the information provided. If you encounter a bug during the tournament game, please screenshot or record it and post evidence in your #round-group thread and #bug-report.

• If you encounter a visibly game-changing bug, such as your opponent spawning 700 troops in round 2, screenshot or screen record the bug happening in the game, screenshot the battle log, and explain the issue to your host, opponent. Exploiting bugs is strictly forbidden.