Season 1
Format

Each week, IVRL will assign your team a matchup on Mondays. You can view these on the matches page or on your team page. These matches will be played between Thursday and Sunday of each week. Each week the standings and ladder will update as teams climb and fall based on their performances. Teams will be assigned an SRS score for their current standing. After the 12 week season, teams will duke it out in the playoffs to secure the top spots and honors.

The top teams will have a chance to compete in the playoffs in May. Top 4 teams from Season 1 will punch their ticket to play at the VAIL Major in October for the top cash prizes. See the VAIL Major from 2022 here.

Registration

Simply create a team with 5 members and hit the register for Season 1 button. Prior to each week's matchup enter your team's availabilities for that week's match scheduling on your team page.

Key Dates

Format

IVRL Match

Matches will be played in a 3 map format. Even if one team wins the first 2 maps, all 3 maps are played. This will affect SRS scores.

The 3 maps will be played in this order:

Suna

Khidi

Maar

ARTIFACT

Scan or Defend the Artifacts in one of two locations or eliminate the opposing team. The goal for the Colonists is to transport their scanning device to one of the available artifact sites and then successfully scan it before the Reyab team can stop them. The scanning process takes some time, so if the Colonists manage to start the process, then the Reyab only have a short window to retake the Artifact Site and stop the scan.

If either team eliminated the other, they also win; but if the scanning process has begun then Reyab must still stop the scan, or they will lose even if they have eliminated the Colonists! The first team to 11 points wins!

HOW IT WORKS

Teams will enter their availability (on their team page) to play that week on Sundays before midnight (ET)

This availability will lock at Sunday midnight eastern and teams must create a ticket in discord to change availability once the week begins. Each team will receive 1 weekly matchup to be released at noon eastern on Mondays. Both teams can now see their availabilities on the website and choose a time to play. The other team will need to confirm the match before it is scheduled.

All matches must be scheduled by Wednesday midnight eastern.

Matches must be played in designated time slots shown below. Each month, 2 of the 4 matches must be played in the broadcast slots (shown in blue).

In the event a team is unable to play a week, they may mark themselves inactive prior to monday.. The first week of inactivity will result in a loss of 5 SRS points . Future inactive weeks will result in an automatic loss of 8 SRS points.

Friday at 9PM will serve as the default match time for each respective region in their time zone. This time slot will be used to settle scheduling disputes in favor of the team that is available for the default match time. Postponements will not be allowed. If neither team is available for the default time, both teams will receive a 5 SRS point penalty.

Match Logistics

Players must be in a match voice channel in the official VAIL Pro League Discord.

Match server will be automatically started at your match time and password will be provided on the IVRL site next to your match info. [Only visible to rostered members of teams playing in that match]. Servers have a 5 minute lifetime before they get closed.

Teams must ensure they start on the correct side for each map. Home teams start as Reyab. Away teams start as Colonists. (Home teams are listed first on matches). For map 2, both teams swap sides. For map 3, both teams swap sides again.

When the first map ends, the second map server will be started immediately. Scores will also be auto-reported.

In server crashes, or other game bugs, players will be able to restart their server from the IVRL website with the restart button. A referee can correct your map scores on re-start. File a ticket and tag the referees.

SRS

Teams will be ranked by their SRS (Seasonal Ranking System)

1. Winners receive SRS, Losers lose SRS

2. Victories by larger margins should provide more SRS

3. Underdogs should receive more SRS for a victory than the favorite (given the same match outcome)

4. Stronger the opponent you beat, the more SRS you receive

After 3 weeks, the SRS values will stabilize and be made visible to all teams. Each week teams are matched up based on the SRS bracket they are in, ensuring top teams play top teams. We also do our best to prevent repeat matchups.

We have also introduced a new concept called performance bonuses. Teams have the ability to underperform or overperform based on the opponent they are playing and margin of victory or loss. Overperform for 3 weeks and the SRS algorithm will reward you with a quarterly performance bonus at the end. Performance bonuses are not applied in the final 3 weeks of the season.

The Road to the Major

Top 4 teams from the end of Season 1 will make it to the Major. Missed it? Well fret not, because there's more fun to be had. After the season, during the 2023 summer, there will be cash tournaments with plenty of opportunities for teams to win some sweet prizes. The Last Chance Qualifiers in the August will determine the final 2 spots at the Major. After October, all stars, rookie tournaments, and pro-am events will be a fresh change to activities and let you start warming up for the next season.

We're excited to embark on a year of competitive VAIL with the league. Join us on the Road to the VAIL Major and the future of Esports.

Season 1 Format