Version 1.0 · published July 23, 2026

2026–27 game rules

These are the competition settings Black Cat Esports will use for its inaugural collegiate season. Every team also follows the season handbook and code of conduct.

Organizer rules, not publisher affiliation.

Black Cat Esports is an independent competition organizer and is not endorsed by the publishers or platform owners named below. Teams must follow the applicable game, platform, community-tournament, broadcast, and intellectual-property terms. If a publisher requirement conflicts with this page, the publisher requirement controls and Black Cat will issue a dated rules notice.

Games	2026–27 organizer requirement
New Pokémon Snap, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokémon VGC, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Black Cat will operate within Nintendo’s participant caps and commercial restrictions or obtain the license required for an organization-run event. Required notice: “Nintendo is not a sponsor of or affiliated with this tournament.” Participants must accept Nintendo’s community-tournament terms.
VALORANT	Black Cat follows the current North American community-competition tier and branding rules. Required notice: “This competition is not affiliated with or sponsored by Riot Games, Inc. or VALORANT Esports.”
Fortnite	Private-lobby and spectator access are used only under Epic’s current event-license and competitive-spectating requirements.
Minecraft	The event server, broadcasts, and promotional use follow the current Minecraft usage and scholastic esports guidelines; modified clients are limited to approved accessibility tools.
All other games and platforms	Black Cat reviews current custom-lobby, broadcast, account, anti-cheat, branding, and community-event terms before registration closes and again before each postseason.

Rules shared by every game

Rosters and check-in

Only approved players may compete. Starters check in 15 minutes before the listed time. A team that cannot field the minimum lineup after a 10-minute grace period forfeits unless match support documents a platform-wide outage or approved emergency.

Substitutions and coaching

Substitutes must be rostered before lineup lock. Changes are allowed between games, maps, rounds, races, or scored attempts unless a game entry below says otherwise. Coaches may speak before play and during official breaks, never during live play.

Hosting, regions, and settings

The home team creates the lobby unless the game supplies tournament hosting. Use the closest mutually fair North American region; if teams disagree, use the region with the lower combined lobby latency and preserve the connection test.

Pauses, disconnects, and restarts

Pause only for a technical or safety issue and notify the opponent immediately. Preserve video or screenshots. Resume from the existing state when the game supports it. A restart requires opponent agreement or staff approval and is not available after a decisive advantage has been established.

Evidence and score reporting

Captains submit the final scoreboard or results screen, lobby or match identifier, and any required replay within 30 minutes. The opponent confirms or disputes within 24 hours. Original files must be retained through the appeal window.

Patches, exploits, and competitive integrity

Use the live North American version unless Black Cat announces a version lock at least 72 hours before play. Cheats, macros that automate gameplay, account sharing, stream sniping, unauthorized spectators, and intentional exploit use are prohibited. Stop and contact match support when a newly discovered bug materially affects play.

Standings and forfeits

A match win is worth one win and a loss is worth one loss unless placement points are listed below. Ordered tiebreakers are head-to-head, game/map/race differential, opponents’ match-win percentage, and a staff-scheduled tiebreak match. Forfeits score as the smallest complete match win for the title.

Championships and broadcasts

Conference brackets are single elimination; Black Cat championship brackets are double elimination unless a title entry says otherwise. Teams must allow approved observers and a reasonable stream delay. Public broadcasts never reveal private eligibility or disciplinary information.

Competition index

New Pokémon Snap Rocket League 2v2 Smash Ultimate Overcooked! 2 Minecraft VALORANT Pokémon VGC Chess Overwatch 2 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tetris Effect Fortnite Marvel Rivals Rocket League 3v3 GeoGuessr

Thursday · asynchronous · 5 PM PT deadline

New Pokémon Snap

Platform and roster: Nintendo Switch; one starter and up to two substitutes.
Match: Three announced courses. One practice-free official run per course during the weekly submission window; highest combined Photodex score wins.
Settings: Research Level and course route published with the weekly assignment. No external save manipulation, modified hardware, or pre-recorded run.
Evidence: Uncut capture from course selection through final score, plus result screenshots showing course and score.
Tiebreak and postseason: Highest single-course score, then second-highest course, then a 48-hour tiebreak course. Conference and Black Cat championships use five courses.

Friday · 5 and 6 PM PT

Rocket League 2v2

Platform and roster: Current cross-play platforms; two starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five standard Soccar; playoffs best-of-seven.
Settings: US-East or US-Central by latency, 5-minute games, default arena, team size 2v2, unlimited boost off, demolition default, mutators default.
Selection and pauses: DFH Stadium is the default; either team may request another standard competitive arena. Substitute only between games. Rejoin after disconnect; restart only if no goal was scored and less than 60 seconds elapsed.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Series record, game differential, head-to-head, goal differential capped at +5 per game. Forfeit is 3–0 in games, each recorded 1–0.

Wednesday · 4:30 and 6 PM PT

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Platform and roster: Nintendo Switch; five-player crew with up to two substitutes.
Match: Five-player crew battle, three stocks per player, 7-minute games. Remaining stocks carry forward; first crew to remove all 15 opposing stocks wins.
Settings: Stock 3, spirits off, items off, hazards off, Final Smash Meter off, pause off. Starter stages: Battlefield, Final Destination, Pokémon Stadium 2, Small Battlefield, Town and City. Counterpicks: Hollow Bastion, Kalos Pokémon League.
Selection: Game 1 stage strike 1-2-1. Later winner bans three stages; loser selects. Character selected before stage; winning player declares character first in later games.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Head-to-head, stock differential, game differential, then a three-player tiebreak crew. Forfeit is 15–0 stocks.

Monday · 5 PM PT

Overcooked! 2

Platform and roster: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch with compatible online play; four starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five kitchens from the published weekly pool. Teams play the same kitchen and order seed; higher score wins each game.
Settings: Arcade online private lobby, four chefs, default timer and recipes. No accessibility setting is prohibited when it does not automate orders or alter scoring.
Selection and evidence: Lower seed selects Game 1 kitchen; loser selects next from unused pool. Submit full final score screens for both teams.
Tiebreak and postseason: Game differential, aggregate score differential, head-to-head, then a designated tiebreak kitchen. Playoffs are best-of-seven.

Thursday · 5 PM PT

Minecraft

Platform and roster: Java Edition on the Black Cat event server; four starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: 90-minute team build challenge using a theme and plot revealed at match start. No prebuilt files, schematics, external builders, or account sharing.
Scoring: Theme 30%, execution 30%, creativity 25%, presentation 15%. Three judges score independently; highest total after dropping no scores wins.
Evidence and integrity: Server logs are authoritative. Teams submit a two-minute walkthrough. Only approved resource packs and accessibility clients may be used.
Tiebreak and postseason: Higher execution score, then theme score, then a 20-minute live build prompt. Championships use two builds with combined judging points.

Friday · 5 PM PT

VALORANT

Platform and roster: PC; five starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Best-of-three; Black Cat championship final best-of-five. Standard Tournament Mode with overtime win by two enabled.
Map procedure: Current competitive map pool. Bo3: higher seed bans, lower bans, higher picks, lower picks, remaining map decider; opponent chooses side on each picked map, coin toss for decider side.
Pauses and coaching: Two 5-minute technical pauses and one 60-second tactical timeout per map. Coaching only during pregame, halftime, tactical timeout, and between maps.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Match record, map differential, head-to-head, round differential capped at +10 per map. Forfeit is 2–0 maps, 13–0 each.

Thursday · 5 PM PT

Pokémon Championship Series — VGC

Platform and roster: Nintendo Switch using the current Pokémon Scarlet/Violet ranked-battle regulation announced for the match week; three-player team and up to two substitutes.
Match: Each school names three players. Players contest individual best-of-three double-battle sets; first school to win two sets wins the match.
Team rules: Open team sheets required. Each player uses one legal team for the match. No intentionally altered game data or Pokémon that fail the game’s legality checks.
Evidence: Team sheets exchanged before play; record battle IDs and final screens. Disconnects follow the in-game result unless staff determines a platform outage prevented completion.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Match record, individual-set differential, game differential, head-to-head. Forfeit is 2–0 sets, each 2–0 games.

Monday and Wednesday · 5 PM PT

Chess

Platform and roster: Black Cat-designated online chess platform; four boards and up to two substitutes.
Match: Four simultaneous games, 15 minutes plus 10-second increment. Board order locks at lineup submission and must follow published rating order.
Scoring: Win 1, draw 0.5, loss 0. Team with more board points wins; 2–2 is a drawn match during the regular season.
Integrity: No engines, opening databases, outside advice, secondary devices, or communication during play. Platform fair-play findings may result in retroactive forfeits.
Tiebreak and postseason: Match points, game points, head-to-head, Sonneborn-Berger team score. Elimination ties use 5+3 rapid rematches with colors reversed, then board-one Armageddon.

Tuesday · 5 PM PT

Overwatch 2

Platform and roster: Current cross-play competitive platforms where permitted; five starters and up to three substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five maps in the current competitive modes; playoffs best-of-seven. One map from each required mode before repeating a mode.
Settings: Competitive preset, role lock, current hero pool, kill cam off, skins allowed unless disabled by tournament notice. North American data center selected by combined latency.
Map procedure: Higher seed selects first map from the published pool; loser selects the next eligible map, no repeats. Opponent selects attack/defense where applicable.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Map differential, head-to-head, opponents’ win percentage, then control-map playoff. Forfeit is 3–0 maps.

Monday · 5 PM PT

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Platform and roster: Nintendo Switch; six racers and up to two substitutes.
Match: Two 6-race sets. Team points are the sum of in-game finishing points across all 12 races.
Settings: 150cc Race, teams on, normal items, no COM, all vehicles, smart steering permitted, auto-accelerate permitted. Courses selected from the full current course list.
Selection: Random course among player votes; a course may not repeat in the same match. Disconnect before the first finisher completes lap one triggers a restart; later disconnect receives last-place points.
Tiebreak and postseason: Total points, most race wins, most top-three finishes, then a 3-race tiebreak set. Championships use three 6-race sets.

Tuesday and Thursday · 5 PM PT

Tetris Effect: Connected

Platform and roster: Current cross-play platforms; three starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five team rounds using Zone Battle. Each round consists of three simultaneous head-to-head games; two game wins take the round.
Settings: Default Zone Battle competitive settings, private room, identical speed and handicap settings, no custom modifiers.
Substitutions and evidence: Substitutions between rounds only. Capture room settings and each result screen; preserve match replay where the platform provides it.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Round differential, individual-game differential, head-to-head, then one three-game tiebreak round. Forfeit is 3–0 rounds.

Monday · 5 PM PT

Fortnite

Platform and roster: Current cross-play platforms; two starters (duo) and one substitute.
Match: Six private-lobby Battle Royale games using the current competitive Duos ruleset and North American central region when available.
Scoring: Placement: 1st 10, 2nd 8, 3rd 7, 4th 6, 5th 5, 6th–10th 3, 11th–15th 1. Each elimination is 1 point.
Integrity: No teaming, stream sniping, intentional disconnect, outside coaching during a game, or exploiting inaccessible terrain. Approved observers only.
Tiebreak and postseason: Victory Royales, total eliminations, best single-game placement, then best final-game placement. Championships use 12 games across two match days.

Friday · 5 PM PT

Marvel Rivals

Platform and roster: Current supported cross-play platforms where competitive custom play permits; six starters and up to three substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five maps; championship final best-of-seven. Use the current tournament/custom competitive preset.
Map procedure: Published competitive pool. Higher seed bans first, teams alternate bans, then loser selects the next eligible map with no repeat. Opponent selects starting side where applicable.
Pauses and coaching: Two 5-minute technical pauses per map. Coaching only before the map, during an official timeout, and between maps.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Map differential, head-to-head, objective differential, opponents’ win percentage. Forfeit is 3–0 maps.

Friday · 5 and 6 PM PT

Rocket League 3v3

Platform and roster: Current cross-play platforms; three starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Best-of-five standard Soccar; playoffs best-of-seven.
Settings: US-East or US-Central by latency, 5-minute games, team size 3v3, default competitive mutators and standard arena.
Selection and pauses: DFH Stadium default; another standard arena by agreement. Substitute between games. Rejoin after disconnect; restart only if no goal was scored and less than 60 seconds elapsed.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Series record, game differential, head-to-head, goal differential capped at +5 per game. Forfeit is 3–0 games, each 1–0.

Tuesday and Thursday · 5 PM PT

GeoGuessr

Platform and roster: GeoGuessr competitive private lobbies; three starters and up to two substitutes.
Match: Three individual duels played simultaneously. First school to win two duels wins the match. Duels use moving, panning, and zooming unless the weekly assignment specifies No Move.
Settings: World map or the published weekly map, 60-second rounds, standard competitive damage and healing settings, no external maps or scripts.
Integrity and evidence: No search engines, metadata tools, outside assistance, or communication with anyone other than match support. Submit lobby links and final duel screens.
Tiebreak and forfeit: Match record, duel differential, round differential, head-to-head, then one No Move team relay duel. Forfeit is 2–0 duels.

Rules questions and corrections

Directors and captains should cite the game, section, and match ID when asking for a ruling. Material corrections receive a new version number and effective date; emergency platform or publisher changes are posted as dated notices and do not silently rewrite completed results.