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Open 2026 tournament rules

SmiteSource Open 2026

Questions
#competitor-help
Urgent
Captain contacts a group admin in the match's Discord chat

Play fairly

  • A win must be clear.
    No team is awarded a win on a technicality. Staff directs teams to play on or remake when a winner is not clear.
  • There is no rollback.
    SMITE 2 cannot restore an earlier game state. Staff can direct teams to play on, restart with the same draft, remake with a new draft, or award a game only under the crash rule.
  • Rules stay stable.
    A new rule may be announced in Discord for a new situation, but an existing rule does not change during the event.

Format and seeding

  • Qualifier 1Sep 5-6
    • SatAll matchesBo1
    • SunQuarterfinalsBo1
    • SunSemifinals and finalsBo3Fearless

    NA priority · 3 league places

  • Qualifier 2Sep 12-13
    • SatGroupsBo1
    • SatUpper and lower finalsBo3Fearless
    • SunQuarterfinalsBo1
    • SunSemifinals and finalsBo3Fearless

    EU priority · 3 league places

  • Qualifier 3Sep 19-20
    • SatGroupsBo1
    • SatUpper and lower finalsBo3Fearless
    • SunQuarterfinalsBo1
    • SunSemifinals and finalsBo3Fearless

    Priority draw · 2 league places

  • LeagueOct 2 - Nov 15
    • Same regionBo3Fearless
    • NA versus EUBalanced Regional Set

    Round robin · 8 teams

  • Saturday groups.
    The field is divided into four balanced double-elimination groups. The upper-bracket winner and lower-bracket winner from each group advance to Sunday. A second loss eliminates a team. With 8 to 11 teams, a two-team group plays one seeding match and both teams advance.
  • Seeding.
    Teams are seeded by the average Ranked Conquest SR of their five starters at roster lock. Ties compare the highest starter SR, then each remaining starter in order. A withdrawal after seeding gives the scheduled opponent a recorded win. This is a team's original SR seed.
  • Sunday is not re-seeded.
    Its opening series are fixed: Group A upper versus Group B lower, Group C upper versus Group D lower, Group B upper versus Group C lower, and Group D upper versus Group A lower. The two advancing teams from a group do not play each other again on Saturday.
  • Sunday league places.
    In Qualifiers 1 and 2, both main-bracket finalists qualify and the lower qualification bracket decides the third place. In Qualifier 3, the main-bracket winner qualifies, the main-final loser drops into the qualification final, and the winner of that series takes the second place.
  • Cross-region servers.
    A priority rule applies only when an NA team faces an EU team. A BO1 is played on the priority team's registered-region server and a BO3 alternates priority / other / priority. Same-region teams play every game on their shared server.
  • Qualifier 3 server priority.
    Saturday
    In the upper bracket, the higher original SR seed has priority. In the lower bracket, the team that exited the Saturday upper bracket later has priority. If both teams dropped from the same round, the higher original SR seed has priority.
    Sunday
    Every upper-bracket series gives priority to a group-upper qualifier over a group-lower qualifier. Teams from the same Saturday path use original SR seed. In the lower bracket, the team that exited Sunday's upper bracket later has priority. If both teams dropped from the same round, the higher original SR seed has priority, regardless of Saturday path.
  • Balanced Regional Set.

    A public coin flip picks the home server.

    1. Game 1Flip winnerAlways
    2. Game 2Other regionAlways
    3. Game 3Other regionAt 1-1
    4. Game 4Flip winnerIf needed
  • League points.
    2-0 win
    5 / 0
    2-1 or 3-1 win
    4 / 1
    2-2 regional draw
    2 / 2

Eligibility and rosters

  • Select a home region.
    Choose NA or EU before submitting your team. A team cannot submit without a home region. Your home region identifies your team; match servers follow the format rules.
  • Use the locked roster.
    Only registered players may compete, and each player must use the SMITE 2 account accepted with registration. Using another account forfeits every game it affected. Account sharing can remove a player from the event.
  • Main players must play.
    Every main-roster player must play at least 50% of the team's matches on its declared server unless an admin grants an exception.
  • One team per qualifier.
    A player cannot compete for multiple teams in the same qualifier. A team that has qualified cannot enter a later qualifier. Players who played more than 50% of that team's qualifying games cannot join another team for a later qualifier. Leaving or being removed does not remove this restriction. Players at or below 50% may join an eligible team.
  • The main roster plays by default.
    A team has five main players and up to two substitutes. The main roster is used for every game unless the captain changes it. A captain only sets a lineup for a game where it changes: a substitute coming in, or players moving between roles.
  • Set the lineup before the game starts.
    A lineup can still be changed after the match is called. It just has to be right before the game starts. Substitutes may enter between games of a series, never during a game.
  • The captain speaks for the team.
    Admin questions, pauses, disputes, and result reports go through the captain. The captain must remain reachable in Discord.
  • Do not start short-handed.
    A team must field five players when its forfeit clock expires.

Scheduling and punctuality

  • Check in once each day.
    Check-in is open from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM ET on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday check-in is only for the eight teams still playing. There is no check-in for individual matches.
  • The draw is built once.
    After Saturday check-in closes, the final draw is built once from checked-in teams and then published. There is no separate reseed.
  • Stay in Discord.
    Captains and players stay in the tournament Discord for the whole day.
  • Be ready when called.
    All five players must be ready to join the lobby when an admin calls the match. Teams have up to 10 minutes between games of a series.
  • Only an admin decides a forfeit.
    Nothing is forfeited automatically. Tell staff when an opponent is late or missing and an admin decides. A deciding-game forfeit removes that team from the event, including the lower bracket.
  • Both teams missing.
    Both teams are removed if neither appears. When possible, staff may fill the open bracket slot with a team eliminated by either missing team earlier that day.
  • Do not dodge or delay.
    Refusing an opponent or delaying to force a reschedule is treated as a forfeit and a conduct issue.

Match calls

  • An admin starts the match.
    An admin marks the match ready when both teams are available. Matches are not started on a fixed clock.
  • The match call tells you where to go.
    When the match is called, an admin posts the call in Discord, names the text channel for the match, and names the voice channel for each team. Go to the channels named in the call.
  • Only the five players in the game may be in the call.
    During a game, your team's Discord voice call holds only the five players in that game. Substitutes and anyone else must stay out of the call until the game ends.
  • Acknowledge the call in your team hub.
    Captains acknowledge the call in the team hub so staff can see the match is moving. A missing acknowledgement never forfeits a match on its own: an admin always decides.

Lobby and content

  • The higher seed's captain hosts.
    The higher seed's captain creates the lobby. That captain invites the other captain, then each captain invites their own team.
  • Use these lobby settings.
    Game mode Conquest Picks & Bans. Lobby type Private. Leave Do Not Track unchecked. Leave the lobby name and the lobby password blank.
  • Invite the spectator on broadcast matches.
    If the match is being broadcast, the spectator must be invited and present before the draft starts.
  • Approved content only.
    New Gods and Aspects are legal unless staff disables one. Picking a disabled God or choosing a disabled Aspect requires an admin-approved redraft.
  • A duplicate ban is lost.
    Accidentally banning a God that is already banned does not cause a redraft. That team loses the duplicate ban.
  • Gods and Aspects are separate restrictions.
    A disabled Aspect does not ban its God. The God may still be picked with a legal Aspect or banned normally. A disabled God cannot be picked with any Aspect.
  • Private means invite-only.
    Only the teams, approved staff, and the broadcast spectator may join the lobby.

Draft and side choice

  • Choose sides.
    Game 1 goes to the team the bracket gives it to: the higher seed in the upper bracket, and in the lower bracket the team eliminated from the upper bracket later, with the higher seed breaking a tie between teams that dropped from the same round. The previous game's loser chooses the side for each later game.
  • Locked means final.
    Picks and bans cannot change after they lock. If a player disconnects during draft, remake the lobby and repeat the same picks and bans in the same order.
  • The in-game draft controls.
    If a broadcast graphic differs from the lobby, the in-game draft is correct and play continues. Do not restart, remake, or replay without staff direction.
  • Every BO3 is Fearless.
    Once a God is played, neither team may select that God again in the same BO3, BO5, or Balanced Regional Set. Bans reset for every game.

Pauses and disconnects

  • Pause for real problems.
    Pause only for a technical problem or real emergency. A captain must immediately tell staff why the game is paused. Do not discuss tactics during a pause.
  • Five minutes to return.
    A disconnected player has up to five minutes to return unless staff confirms a wider server issue.
  • Resume together.
    Both captains confirm ready, then count down five seconds in game chat before unpausing. If play stopped during a fight, both teams disengage briefly before fighting again.
  • Do not abuse pauses.
    Tactical pauses, tactical discussion, and repeated disruptive pauses can forfeit the game.

Crashes, remakes, and awards

  • When the game counts.
    A game is of record once all ten players load and first blood occurs, a structure takes damage, or the clock reaches 5:00. Before that point, an admin may approve one restart per team per series for a load failure, disconnect, or wrong setting. The restart uses the same draft. Teams may not restart without admin approval.
  • All three award conditions are required.
    After a confirmed server crash, staff may award the leading team only when the clock is past 30:00, its gold lead is at least 15,000, and it has weakened at least two enemy phoenixes. A phoenix counts if it was destroyed earlier and regenerated.
  • Otherwise, remake.
    If a God interaction clearly caused the crash, use a full redraft and ban every God played in the invalid game for that remake. If the cause was not God-related or is unknown, use the same draft. If the unknown crash repeats, treat it as God-related.
  • One-player failures are disconnects.
    A single player's client, power, or internet failure is handled under the disconnect rule, not the server-crash rule.
  • Report serious bugs immediately.
    Pause and send staff a clip or screenshot. A bug voids a game only when it plausibly decided the outcome. Intentionally exploiting a known bug forfeits the game and can remove a team.
  • A declined remake is final.
    A team may decline an offered restart or remake and play on. It then gives up later claims based on that incident.

Results and evidence

  • Results are found automatically.
    Played matches are discovered from the game API. It updates every few minutes, so a result appears on the tournament pages shortly after the game ends. Nobody has to report a win, and no opponent has to confirm one.
  • Paste the Match ID to help.
    The Match ID is in the top right of the SMITE 2 end-of-match screen. Both captains are asked to paste it into the team hub. Neither captain waits on the other, and a missing Match ID does not hold up a result.
  • Match ID is authoritative.
    The scoreboard attached to the played Match ID is the match evidence and official result unless staff rules that it is the wrong match or otherwise invalid.
  • Take problems to an admin.
    If a result is wrong, missing, or disputed, tell an admin in Discord. Every correction is made by an admin.
  • Dispute before play continues.
    Raise a dispute before the next game starts, or within 10 minutes after the series ends. Include the Match ID, teams, game number, server, approximate end time, and what is wrong.
  • Completed games stand.
    Do not replay a completed game to change its result. Staff validates missing or disputed results.
  • Forfeits and withdrawals.
    A forfeited game is recorded 1-0 with no player statistics. If a team withdraws, completed results stand and remaining games are forfeited.

Conduct and integrity

  • Respect people and the event.
    Hate speech, harassment, and targeted abuse in game, Discord, voice, or social posts are not allowed.
  • Compete honestly.
    Cheating, scripts, macros, file modifications, collusion, match-fixing, intentional feeding, and deliberate bug abuse can remove a team and forfeit winnings.
  • Do not watch your own game.
    Players in a game may not watch the broadcast, the spectator view, or any stream of that game while it is being played.
  • No ghosting.
    Nobody may relay anything seen on a broadcast, spectator view, or stream to a team while its game is in progress. Substitutes may watch, but they stay out of the team's voice call and pass on nothing until the game ends. Ghosting forfeits the game and can remove the team.
  • Every stream runs three minutes behind.
    Every player POV stream and every spectator stream of a tournament game must run with at least a three-minute delay, whether or not the match is on the official broadcast.
  • Do not spoil broadcast matches.
    Keep results out of public channels until the broadcast finishes the series.
  • Penalties scale with the offense.
    Staff may issue a warning, remove a ban or side choice, forfeit a game or series, remove a team, forfeit winnings, or ban someone from future events. Serious conduct can skip earlier steps.

Staff rulings

  • Rulings during play are final.
    Staff rulings during play are final so the match can continue. Staff decides anything these rules do not cover.
  • Ask for a review within 10 minutes.
    A captain may ask for a review in Discord. Include the Match ID and any clip or screenshot with the match clock. Keep the request factual.
  • Evidence decides.
    Evidence means the Match ID, match data, a VOD, or a screenshot or clip with the match clock visible. Without evidence, staff takes no action on one person's word against another.
  • Teams own their lobby settings.
    Teams are responsible for lobby settings unless a staff instruction caused the error. Event staff cannot compete in an event they officiate.