Every player must have at least 2000 kills (ranked + custom). A player with less than 2000 kills may not play under any circumstances.

Players and/or teams on the PolarisGG Blacklist may not play in any Polaris event.

Players must be on up-to-date OS versions: iPad OS 26+ (IOS 27 beta IS NOT ALLOWED), iPhone OS 26+, Android 14+.

Players with Jailbroken or Rooted devices are not allowed to compete.

All participants must use a mobile device. Google Play Games PC users are unable to participate.

This event is hosted on Discord; brackets are on Challonge. Teams must actively monitor both & read their respective match-up channels.

Additional rules, schedule changes, and other information will be announced in captain news channels.

Polaris Staff and streamers may compete in Polaris events, but cannot officiate, cast, or stream a match they are personally competing in, and cannot use their staff access to influence the outcome of any match they play in.

Match-fixing in any form is prohibited.

Forfeiting (agreeing to participate and then not showing up without valid reason) may result in, in-game bans amounting to seven (7) or fourteen (14) days, player specific, or team blacklists from future Polaris or Critical Ops Esports Official Tournaments.

Players may personally stream their own matches, provided the stream has a delay of at least 1 minute. Using a delay shorter than this, or using any stream (your own or another's) to gain information about an ongoing match, is a conduct violation.

All participants are expected to follow Polaris's Fair Play & Code of Conduct policy. Harassment, discriminatory remarks, and abusive conduct toward opponents, staff, or spectators will not be tolerated and may result in penalties up to a permanent ban, regardless of whether the conduct occurred during an official match.

An organization may not operate more than one team in the same bracket or division of a Polaris event. Organizations found backing multiple competing rosters must declare which team continues within 7 days of notice from staff, or all affiliated teams will be removed from the event.

Staff decisions regarding penalties, forfeits, and rule interpretation are final. Teams may dispute a decision by opening a support ticket, subject to the dispute window in 4.17.

All correspondence with Polaris Staff, including support tickets and direct messages, is confidential. Publishing or sharing staff correspondence without written permission from Polaris is a conduct violation.

Monetary prizing must be claimed by the winning captain within 12 months of event conclusion. Failure to claim before this window can result in removal of said monetary prizing.

Monetary prizing will be paid after accurate completion of the “Prize Claim Form” by the winning teams representative; prizing will be paid in full within 4 months from the date of the forms completion.

Players under the age of 18 remain eligible to compete and win prizing. In the event that you are a minor in your country, you represent that your legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms. Monetary prizing owed to a minor will be released only to a parent or legal guardian who has completed the required verification with Polaris Admin.

A team must consist of a minimum of 5 and maximum of 7 players.

Every player must have at least 2000 kills. Refer to 1.1.

Every participant must be registered in the PolarisGG bot either on discord using /register or on the Polaris website. The correct In Game Name and In Game ID must be provided.

A team must be created on the Polaris bot and in its correct region. Only one captain can be delegated at a time. A logo must be included when/if required.

A participant cannot be captain for more than one team at a time.

Each players account and team must meet the following requirements:

• IGN and Account ID are provided correctly
• Not banned or restricted by Critical Force
• IGN and team tag are deemed appropriate
• Player is not on the Polaris Blacklist

The use of operative (smurf) accounts is forbidden.

Every user is allowed only one Polaris Bot account. Multiple accounts will result in a ban.

Players are asked to not change their in-game name without warning to staff members for the duration of the current Obsidian stage.

Players cannot change their in-game Game ID at all once registered for a tournament, under any circumstances. Any change detected during the active event will result in the player being disqualified from further competition for that event.

A player cannot be part of more than one lineup, and cannot be added to another lineup if they were previously eliminated in the event with another team.

Lineup changes: Team lineups can be changed during Obsidian League Stages (Stage 2). There are 2 lineup changes available. These lineup changes CAN ONLY be used until the end of Round 3 in Stage 2.

• The first lineup change is free; the second costs 1 point; a third removes all points from the prior Obsidian.
• Each change adds 1 player at a time. Players may be removed at any time.
• Players who were eliminated during the Qualifiers (Stage 1) may be added to rosters who qualify for the League Stage.
• Players who have already qualified cannot be added to another teams roster.

Rosters are locked at the start of Playoffs and remain locked until the team is eliminated or the event concludes.

Players who voluntarily leave a roster are not automatically reinstated. Re-joining a roster is treated as a new addition.

Captain change (voluntary): if a captain is banned, inactive, or otherwise unable to perform their role, a new captain may be designated by submitting a support ticket from the account/email on file, naming the replacement.

Captain change (forced): a roster may forcibly replace its captain if at least 65% of active roster members (players who have competed in at least 30% of the team's matches this season) agree in writing, each submitting an individual support ticket naming the same replacement. Staff will verify and confirm the change. A completed vote is final; reversing it requires an entirely new vote.

Each team must join the room within 15 minutes of room info being sent. See Match Rules (4.12) for the forfeit procedure if the minimum required players are not present.

If required, all players must complete the Anti-Cheat Measures (5) before joining the game. Players are only subject to record the Anti-Cheat Measures if requested before the Qualifying Stage. All players must record Anti-Cheat Measures beginning at the Qualifying Stage of Round 1 (Round of 16) and through the League & Playoffs Stages.

Games may start as a 4v5 but cannot start as a 4v4.

Room permissions must be given to a Polaris Staff member or streamer/caster if present.

Using 3rd party software or hardware (VPNs, emulators, crosshair apps, mechanical devices, etc.) is forbidden. Exceptions at staff discretion.

No mutual agreements can be made to skip recording requirements, anti-cheat steps, allow blacklisted players, or use 3rd party software.

Mid-game substitutions are allowed if the player is on the team's current lineup and completes required anti-cheat steps.

Teams should refrain from using ALL CHAT once the game starts. Persistent violations risk disqualification.

Special commands are prohibited during a match. Timeouts are allowed as described in 3.10.

Teams are given 3 timeouts per map. Staff do not grant additional pauses except in the case of a confirmed game-wide outage.

If a player disconnects mid-round, a staff member may call a timeout. If the player cannot reconnect, the team must continue with remaining players.

No player may spectate or join the opposing team's side mid-game. Doing so voids the map.

Teams cannot protest during a game unless clear and evident cheating has occurred. Contact staff immediately for major issues.

Nade Stacking is allowed.

All players must stay until the final scoreboard. Leaving early may result in punishment.

Players must have at least 3GB of free storage per map.

Team Captains are fully responsible for their team. Failure to respond or comply with these rules may result in a forfeit for the affected match (see 4.12–4.13), and repeated violations may lead to the penalties described in 1.10.

Teams must be available during scheduled round times and play matches within those times. See 4.12 for the forfeit procedure if a team fails to meet this requirement.

A scheduling proposal submitted at least 72 hours before the round's scheduling deadline will be automatically treated as accepted if the opposing team does not explicitly reject it within 48 hours. Proposals submitted within 48 hours of the deadline are not eligible for automatic acceptance and must be explicitly agreed to by both teams.

The captain must ensure the correct lineup is playing and all players are present on the team's tournament lineup.

Map bans must be completed on Discord in the dedicated match channel using the PolarisGG Bot.

Map banning must be completed at least 1 hour before the match's scheduled start time.

In a Best-of-3, Best-of-5, or Best-of-7 series, each team selects the server for the map picked by their opponent. For the decider map, the server is selected by the team with more total rounds won across all prior maps in the series.

Both teams may mutually agree to a different server before the match goes live. The team requesting the change must open a support ticket confirming both teams' agreement before staff will action the change.

Ping disputes must be raised via support ticket before the match goes live if the measured ping difference between teams exceeds 150ms. Disputes are not accepted once the match is live, except between maps in a Best-of-3, Best-of-5, or Best-of-7 series.

Players must record the Anti-Cheat Measures for all stages that require it. Teams can request a maximum of 3 players from the opposing lineup to upload recordings, in any stage of the tournament.

If a team fails to have the minimum required 4 players ready in the match room within 15 minutes of the room being configured, the opposing team may claim a forfeit win via a support ticket.

If neither team is ready by the forfeit deadline, staff will select a winner at random and request both teams post available reschedule times in the match channel. A team that fails to post available times while its opponent does will be forfeited.

The captain must immediately send the final scoreboard screenshot to the match-up channel.

Teams have 15 minutes after the match to protest foul play. Protesting after this window will not change the result.

If required, recordings must be uploaded to YouTube and the link sent to the specified Discord channel or staff member.

Dispute window: all disputes regarding match results, rule violations, or staff rulings — other than the foul-play protest in 4.15 — must be filed via support ticket within 24 hours of the match or ruling in question, along with supporting evidence. Disputes alleging cheating are exempt from this window and may be filed at any time evidence becomes available.

All players must have a minimum of 3GB free per map to record.

Staff may request a player record and submit their recording at any time if foul play is suspected, independent of the stage-based recording requirements below.

Qualifiers: Players only have to upload recordings on request from the opposing team or staff. Refer to Match Rules (4.11).

Qualifying Round (Qualifiers Round of 16), League Stage, and Playoffs: All players must record Anti-Cheat Measures throughout all rounds. Only requested players must upload.

HANDCAM REQUIREMENT: Players MUST complete a "HANDCAM" recording during the Qualifying Round in Stage 1 (Round of 16) and during the Playoffs (Stage 3). A "HANDCAM" recording is completed by using a second device to record your screen while completing the below Anti-Cheat Measures. The recording must show the entire players active device and show all Anti-Cheat Measures completed in full. A handcam may be ended ONLY after the in-game recording has begun.

Recordings must be kept until a Polaris Staff member confirms the match. Each player has a maximum of 45 minutes per map to upload.

The recording must include:

• All Anti-Cheat Measures completed properly for your device (see the device-specific steps below)
• 3 rounds of gameplay OR a recording of 6 ROUNDS (If in a Stage that requires Handcam)
• A handcam recording if required for the stage.
• No tampering or editing of the videos
• At least 720p quality
• Two or Three separate recordings: one for Anti-Cheat Measures, one for gameplay, and one for the Handcam (if required)
• Anti-Cheat or Handcam recordings cannot be sped up
• Gameplay recordings may be sped up by a maximum of 4x

Inability to meet any of the above may result in disqualification.

Account sharing: letting another person access or play on your competitive account during an official match will result in the match being overturned and both parties banned from Polaris events.

Ban evasion: matches played while evading a Polaris ban or an active roster cooldown will be overturned, up to 30 days retroactively from the date the evasion is confirmed.

Credits: Critical Force (aias)