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

1.2. Players and/or teams in the following 'Blacklists' may not play an Event hosted by Polaris

• PolarisGG Blacklist

1.3. Players must be on up-to-date OS (Operating System) Versions:

• iPad OS: 26 or later
• iPhone OS: 26 or later
• Android OS: Android 14 or later

1.4. Polaris Odyssey 2026 is hosted on Discord and brackets are made on Challonge.

• Each team participating in this event must actively check Discord and the subsequent bracket on Challonge. Brackets and all other crucial information can be found in the Captain news channels.

1.5. Additional Rules, round times, schedule changes, or any other stipulations will be announced in the captain news channels and/or official tournament discord channels.

1.6. A player's ping must average below 150 ms.

1.7. Nade Stacking is allowed.

1.8. Polaris Staff members & streamers are allowed to participate in any Events, however they are not allowed to stream nor involve themselves with the match.

1.9. Polaris Staff are permitted to request a player to record and submit their recording if they are suspected of cheating in any way.

1.10. Match-fixing in any way is prohibited.

1.11. A player cannot be a part of more than one lineup.

• A player cannot be added to a teams roster if they have already been in a team who has previously been eliminated in the event.

1.12. FORFEITING DURING ANY ROUND - A forfeit is agreeing to play a game or scheduling a game, and NOT showing up/playing it.

• FORFEITING OR OTHERWISE NOT PLAYING FOR NO APPARENT OR VALID REASON WILL RESULT IN A POSSIBLE TEAM BLACKLIST FROM FUTURE CRITICAL OPS OFFICIAL TOURNAMENTS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR

1.13. Monetary prizing must be claimed by the winning team(s) captain(s), as designated on the teams profile (or an agreed upon team member/benefactor via a signed document) within 12 months of the tournament's conclusion.

• Failure to complete this document within the timeframe may result in removal of prizing from the team.
• Captains (or the designated team member/benefactor) claiming the prizing are fully responsible for distributing it to their team. We are not responsible for the prizing distribution after it has been sent.

2.1. A team must consist of a minimum of 5 players and maximum of 7 players. If a team has less than 5 or greater than 7 players they cannot participate in Polaris Events.

2.2. Every player must have at least 2000 kills. Refer to 1.1. in General Rules.

2.3. Every participant must be registered in the PolarisGG discord bot in the Polaris discord server. Use /register in #bot-use using YOUR correct In Game Name (IGN) and In Game ID (ID).

2.4. A team must be created by using /create_team in #bot-use, the team must choose the crrect region in which the majority of its players reside in.

• Only one captain can be delegated at a time. The captain has full responsibility for the team. If a captain wishes to give ownership of the team to another they can use /view_team > "Manage Team" > "Transfer Ownership"
• A logo must be included for all teams

2.5. Teams cannot have more than one Captain. The captain is fully responsible for the team. A participant cannot be a captain for more than one team at a time.

2.6. Each Players Account/Team must meet the following requirements:

• IGN & Account ID are provided correctly
• Not banned or restricted by Critical Force
• The IGN is deemed as appropriate
• The team tag is deemed as appropriate
• The Player(s) are not present on the blacklist

2.7. Lineup Changes throughout Odyssey 2026

• The team's lineup can be changed at ANY TIME before registration ends. They may use /apply to change their lineup
• Lineup changes are NOT permitted in Odyssey 2026 after the tournament has started.
• A lineup change is the addition of 1 player at a time. Players may be removed at any time.

2.8. The use of operative accounts is forbidden.

3.1. Each team must join the room within 15 minutes from when the room information (code & password) was sent to them.

• Failure to have at least 3 players in the room after 15 minutes will result in disqualification. If a team has 3 or 4 players in the room more time can be allocated for them to join, this decision is up to Polaris Staff.
• If both teams fail to show up in time, they will both be disqualified.
• Forfeiting or showing up late/not having enough players, during a streamed match, may result in the team ending up on the Polaris Blacklist.

3.2. Games may start as a 4v5. Although, games cannot start as a 4v4.

• All streamed matches MUST start as a 5v5.

3.3. If required, all players must complete the Anti-Cheat Measures (5) before joining the game.

• OR, record a device settings recording and/or the full game by request from staff members.
• More information on what teams can request to their opponent can be found in Match Rules (4.4).
• All players are only required to record the Anti-Cheat Measures (5) if requested (by their opponent/staff) for the Qualifiers and Swiss Stages.
• All players are required to record the Anti-Cheat Measures (5) for Playoffs.

3.4. Using 3rd party softwares/hardwares which may interfere with the game including but not limited to VPN's, emulators, mechanical devices, 'cross-hair apps', etc are forbidden. Exceptions or punishments are decided by Polaris Staff.

3.5. A player is allowed to substitute mid-game although anti-cheat measures must be completed (if required) as the rules state, this player must also be on the team's current tournament lineup.

3.6. NO Mutual Agreements can be made on:

• Playing without Recording when Recording is required
• Skipping any step from the Anti-Cheat Measures (5.)
• Allowing a blacklisted player to play for a team
• Usage of 3rd party software/hardware

3.7. We ask that teams refrain from using 'ALL CHAT' once the game has started. Warnings may be given. If the problem persists the team may be at risk of disqualification.

3.8. Teams are prohibited to use special commands during a match, they will be disqualified with no exceptions. Timeouts are allowed, but they should be used sparingly.

3.9. If the game is live, no player can move to spectate nor join the opposing team's side. In the result of this, the map will be considered void and the game does not have to continue.

3.10. If present, room permissions (special commands), must be given to a Polaris Staff member or streamer/caster.

3.11. Teams cannot protest during a game, unless clear and evident cheating has occurred, and thus the match becomes immediately void. Players must contact a Polaris Staff Member if this, or any other major issues happen, during a game.

3.12. All players should stay till the game ends, and leave only after the final score board. Punishments may result from leaving before the final scoreboard.

3.13. Odyssey 2026 Map Pool: Bureau, Raid, Grounded, Castello, Port, Village, Soar.

Before Match

4.1. Players must ensure that they have at least 3GB of free storage on their devices, per map.

4.2. The team Captain must ensure that the lineup playing is correct and that all players are present on the team's tournament lineup in the PolarisGG bot.

4.3. Map-bans must be completed on Discord and in the matches dedicated Match-Up channel, using the PolarisGG Bot.

4.4. Captains must record the Anti-Cheat Measures (5.) for all Stages which require Anti-Cheat

• Teams can request a maximum of 3 players from the opposing lineup to Upload their recordings during Qualifiers and Swiss Stages (Exceptions may be made for more players to upload if reason for suspicion is brought up to PolarisGG staff members). Refer to Anti-Cheat Measures (5.) & Game Rules (3.3.)

4.5. In Odyssey, each stage and round times are designated in our schedule. Teams must be available throughout these times and play their required matches within these times. Failure to do so will result in Disqualification.

4.6. Team Captains, as noted in the team's lineup, are responsible completely for their team. If they do not respond to map-banning, requests by Staff, or fail to make sure their team abides by this ruleset, the team may be disqualified.

During Match

Refer to Game Rules (3).

After Match

4.7. The Captain must immediately send the final scoreboard screenshot to their specified match-up channel.

4.8. If any foul play or corruption is suspected, a team may protest. This must be done directly after the match has concluded.

• Teams have 10 minutes to protest in their matchup channel or by contacting a staff member. Protesting after this time limit will not change the result of that match.

4.9. If required, participants have to upload their recordings to YouTube and send the link to the specified discord channel or to a specified Polaris Staff member.

All Players must have a minimum of 3GB (gigabytes) free (per map) to record.

QUALIFIERS & SWISS STAGES:

Players only have to upload on request of the opposing Team/Staff Team.

Refer to Match Rules (4.4). PLAYOFFS:

All players will be required to record the Anti-Cheat Measures throughout all rounds. Only requested players must upload their Anti-Cheat recordings.

Recordings must be kept until a Polaris Staff Member confirms the match.

Each Player will have a maximum of 45 minutes to upload their recordings for a given map. If 3 maps are played the player will have a total of 1h and 35m to upload all of their recordings (45m x 3 maps). More time may be allocated at Polaris Staff discretion.

THE RECORDING MUST INCLUDE:

• All Anti-Cheat Measures (5.1-5.3) completed properly for your device
• 3 rounds of the game
• No tampering or editing of the video in any way
• The video must be uploaded with at least 720p quality
• The Recording(s) must be separated, one recording for the Anti-Cheat Measures (5) and one for the in-game recording. Two recordings total.
• Anti-Cheat/Device/Settings Recordings cannot be sped up.
• In-Game Recordings may be sped up by a maximum of 4x (4 times speed).

The Inability to include any of the above steps may result in the disqualification of the team from the match or tournament. Refer to (1.) Introduction.

CREDITS: Critical Force (aias)