Casual League

Casual League is the Nexus Raiders lower division tournament - meant for those who want to compete in a tournament setting, but don't have as much time to practice or are looking for a less competitive experience. 8 teams will compete in a 13-match series consisting of double-elimination playoff games (Bo3), followed by single-elimination semifinal and final games (Bo5).

Page Contents: Bracket | Schedule | Info | Prize | Rules

Schedule

Info

To participate in this tournament, you must be a member of the Nexus Raiders community and your team captain must submit a team registration. If you're looking for other members to create a team, you can visit our members directory to find others who are also looking. Click on the buttons below to open up the links in a new window.

Prize

to be determined

Rules and Requirements

Individual Requirements

  • Be a registered Nexus Raiders community member. Click the "Member Registration" button above to register. To check your member status, >> click here<<
  • Join the Nexus Raiders in-game channel chat by opening up the Heroes of the Storm application, clicking the chat box text entry, typing "/join nexus raiders", and pressing enter to complete the command.
  • Join the Nexus Raiders Curse Voice server (click here). If you have any issues getting access, email commanderchu1681@gmail.com
  • Have at least 14 heroes above level 5 available for each tournament game.
  • Must not be "Silenced" in-game
  • Must not have more than 2 NR Player Reports on file

Team Requirements

  • Each team must have a minimum of 6 members (max 7).
  • All team members must follow the individual requirements.
  • Team Captains are responsible for communicating any questions or issues to CommanderChu via contact form here: click here
  • Teams are to be present in the in-game channel chat, as well as their team's Curse Voice private channel (in the NR server), and ready for tournament games 15 minutes before the official start time.
  • Teams must fulfill the buy-in requirement by the registration deadline.
  • All registered members must participate in at least 1 tournament game.
  • All team members must maintain communication with their team and NR staff. Failure to respond will result in individuals being banned from the next season

Tournament Buy-In

Teams must donate $20 through the website support tab (click here) by the registration deadline to qualify for tournament participation. However, teams may waive this buy-in fee by meeting at least one of the following conditions (recommended):

  • One of the team members is a $10/month patron at Patreon.com/NexusRaiders
  • Multiple team members are patrons at Patreon and their combined pledge total is at least $15/month
  • Multiple team members purchase a combined total of at least $40 worth of merchandise during that season's merchandise sale (Seasonal merchandise should always be available at least 2 weeks prior to the registration deadline, although stock is limited). 
  • Teams may collectively spend 4,000 NR reward points to waive the buy-in fee, as long as no members individually contribute any more than 20% (800 points). Contact commanderchu1681@gmail.com for more information

The buy-in fee was established to increase the tournament prize pool, to encourage teams to give back to the community through Patreon, and to interact with other members through contests. If your entire team finds that it is truly not able to split the $20 amongst the minimum 6 required members ($3.33/person) or meet the Patreon pledge requirements, you may contact us through our contact form (click here) explaining your circumstance - we may decide to place your team in low-priority pending registered status. We cannot guarantee a tournament slot for these teams, but we still encourage you to apply, even if your isn't able to afford the buy-in or complete any of the fee-waiving methods.

Team Registration

  • Teams must register (click here) , fulfill one of the buy-in requirements, and submit their logo design by the registration deadline (found on the registration page) in order for the submission to be considered
  • Teams may change their roster at any time before the registration deadline, but must submit a new complete team registration (as if registering a new team)

Tournament Structure

  • 8 teams will compete in a 13-match series consisting of double-elimination playoff games (Bo3), followed by single-elimination semifinal and final games (Bo5).
  • Teams that lose their match will move to the lower/elimination bracket. Once an elimination match is lost, the defeated team will be eliminated from the tournament.

Map Selection vs First Pick/Ban

  • Prior to a match's games, one of the referees or commentators will flip a coin to determine which team will pick the first map and which will be selecting the first ban and first hero.
  • After the coin toss has been decided, the coin toss loser will first ban a map. The coin toss winner will then ban a different map.
  • The privilege of selecting the map will alternate with each match's games, as well as which team will first pick/ban.
  • Map picks cannot be repeated within any match set.
  • Teams must announce their Map selection prior to any breaks.

Maps

  • Competing teams may not repeat a map choice within any matchup throughout the course of the tournament.
  • The Lost Cavern (aka ARAM map), Brawl Arena, and The Haunted Mines maps are banned from tournament gameplay.

Heroes and Hero Selection

  • Only heroes that have been released for at least 3 weeks will be allowed for tournament gameplay.
  • Heroes must be above level 5 in order to be used in tournament games.
  • Within any given draft, mirror hero picks will not be allowed.
  • In all tournament games, both teams will be allowed to ban 2 heroes in accordance with the mid-ban rule. The exception is if a team violates any registration or regulation rules (see Penalties section below).

Disconnection or Hardware Malfunction

Should any tournament participant disconnect from a game or experience hardware issues, he or she or another team member must type "pp" (player pause) into the game's All Chat to notify the host/ref, who will pause the game until the issue is resolved. When both teams are ready to resume, the host/ref will give a 5 second countdown and resume the game. If the player does not return or is not able to play within 5 minutes, the match will be forfeited by that player's team.

Penalties

Teams or players exhibiting any of the below actions will result in a loss of ban privileges for the affected tournament games.

  • Participating with an unregistered member.
  • Being 5 or more minutes late to a tournament game.
  • Harassment in the game chat.
  • Teams that do not submit all required materials by the application deadline will lose their bracket reservation should another team register and submit all the required materials on-time.

Tournament Rewards

In addition to the announced prizes, all teams will receive NR Reward Points, split evenly amongst team members, based on how they place in the season's tournament as follows:

  • 1st Place - 2,000 points
  • 2nd Place - 1,500 points
  • 3rd & 4th Place - 1,000 points
  • 5th-8th Place - 500 points