/vg/ League Rules

Rules for the /vg/ League.

Chapter I: General

General

All people wishing to be involved with the VGL ought to:

• Read the rules page to ensure that they have a proper grasp of what is expected of them and the rules of the VGL.
• Not be a dick.
• Practice good sportsmanship.

Managers and caretakers must:

• Act in the best interest of their team and the team's fans.
• Keep their team's roster up to date and in accordance with the wishes of the thread.
• Maintain their team's wiki page.
• Regularly browse the thread that they are managing.
• Inform their thread when they are playing. If unavailable then ask for help from a member of VGLco.

Caretakers and managers are expected to do the following in each VGL their team is qualified for:

• Sign up.
• Provide valid Proof of Interest for their team if required.

Additionally, a manager is expected to do the following in each VGL their team is qualified for:

• Ensure the preparation of both a legal tactical and aesthetic export.
• If a manager is unable to create their own tactical export for any reason, they should contact a member of the VGLCo for assistance.
• Submit both exports on time.

A manager is encouraged to do following in each Cup their team is qualified for:

• Prepare and submit tactics for each of their team's matches.
• Attend each of their team's matches (or leave instructions in a Pastebin if unable).

Definitions

• 'VGLCo' is the abbreviated term for the /vg/ League Council, The /vg/ League's governing body.
• The 'commissioner' is the head of the /vg/ League Council.
• An 'executive action' is any decision made by a member of VGLCo or a host that was not subject to a formal or informal vote.
• 'Official tournament' refers to any numbered /vg/ League event typically taking place over Summer and Winter and any qualifying events connected to these tournaments.
• 'Tactical export' refers to files containing all data relevant to a team's tactical properties.
• 'Aesthetics export' refers to files containing all data relevant to a team's aesthetic properties.
• 'Deadline export' refers to the official export that is uploaded a week before an official tournament begins.
• 'Nightly export' refers to exports managers may submit prior to each matchday in which they can edit their formations and tactical settings to their liking so long as they do not either violate tournament regulations or would no longer match the player information contained in the deadline export.
• 'Season' refers to the period beginning from the end of one official tournament to the end of the next one.
• 'Proof of Interest (PoI)' refers to documentation that is required from a team at every sign-up period at the time of sign up.
• 'Staff' can refer to testers, managers or board representatives who liaise with their thread. An individual is not limited in how many of these roles they may assume.
• 'Team' refers to a football side connected to a /vg/ League thread (e.g. /aceg/, /nepgen/, /fgog/, etc.).
• 'Thread representatives' liaise with a thread and seek feedback on matters regarding but not limited to aesthetics, tactics and squad selection.
• 'Manager' refers to a person nominated to provide tactical input during official tournament matches for a /vg/ League team as well as link the team's official exports.
• 'Caretaker' refers to thread representatives that liaise with a thread but cannot seek feedback on or be involved in the creation or manipulation of tactics.
• 'Tester' refers to a person involved with tactical input for a team while not assuming the manager role. Testers are unverified and subject to manager discretion. They are not considered for tournament organization purposes by VGLCo and therefore may not submit changes to any team.
• 'Autopilot' refers to a team that is limited to predetermined tactical changes during a match and no changes outside a match. These tactical changes may be outlined in a pastebin or decided by VGLCo.
• A 'timeout' refers to a stoppage in play to make changes during a game.

Chapter II: Organisation

/vg/ League Council (VGLCo)

The VGLCo is the organizational body of the /vg/ League charged with determining format and making the league run. It is a loosely defined collection of people with varying utility and can be generally changed on a whim.

1. The makeup of VGLCo is at the discretion of the commissioner and, to a secondary extent, other council members. This includes but is not limited to: /vg/ managers, representatives of the Aesthetics Council, and current streamers.
2. The VGLCo reserves the right to make all executive decisions relating to the league. These powers are largely undefined and extend to whatever is deemed necessary as determined by current consensus.
3. The Commissioner may not be registered as a manager during their tenure. This restriction does not extend to other council members.

Management and Staff

1. Managers
   1. Any person wishing to represent their thread as a manager must go through the verification process.
      1. A person looking to get verified should contact a current member of the desired team's staff if possible as well as the commissioner.
      2. Verifications will be open during a /vg/ League season's friendlies, as well as starting one week prior to signups and throughout the subsequent sign up period.
      3. A previously verified, retired manager may resume management of the same team with the consent of the commissioner and any current management.
      4. A manager who retires must wait 6 months before managing a different team. Certain extenuating circumstances (such as a general ceasing to exist) can cut this wait period.
   2. Only the VGLCo or managers who are verified for a respective team can add/remove a name from said team’s wiki infobox.
   3. A manager is the team's manager for as long as their name is listed on the team's wiki page in the infobox under IRL manager.
      1. A resigning manager must remove their name from the IRL manager section of the infobox of their team's wiki page.
      2. Managers should not resign while the team they are affiliated with has remaining matches scheduled in an official tournament unless it is done for IRL purposes. Punishment for breaking this rule is at VGLCo discretion.
   4. Each general can have an unlimited number of listed or unlisted staff but all managers must be verified and listed as IRL managers in the infobox on their team wiki page.
   5. Before a team's match it must be made clear to the host which manager, if any, will be relaying tactical instructions (livemanaging) for a team.
      1. Only one verified manager for each team may relay tactics to the host during a match.
      2. Should an intra-staff disagreement take place during a team's match then it is at the host's discretion to either decide whose commands take precedence or run the team as though no instructions were issued until a consensus between staff is reached.
   6. Should there be a dispute between staff that results in a staff member wishing another staff member to be removed then the VGLCo must be alerted and will make the decision on how to proceed.
2. Caretakers
   1. Any person wishing to represent a thread as a caretaker must inform the commissioner of their intent to do so.
   2. A caretaker may opt to list their name on the infobox of a team’s wiki page. Unlike managers, this is not mandatory.
   3. A caretaker cannot submit their own tactical export.
   4. A caretaker may be an active manager for another team. However they may only caretake one team.
   5. A caretaker remains such so long as they continue to fulfill the basic requirements of the role.
      1. A team that acquires a verified manager will result in a caretaker no longer holding their position for the duration of the manager's tenure.
      2. A former caretaker is allowed to remain on staff with the team to assist new management.
      3. A caretaker is allowed to become a manager for the team they are caretaking provided they go through the verification process and are not currently managing another team.
3. Thread Contact
   1. A manager or caretaker failing to inform their thread when they are playing twice over the course of a tournament, and failing to inform VGLCo of an inability to do so beforehand, will be suspended for the next tournament. In addition, their thread will lose their potential representative for the /vg/ roster.
   2. If finishing in a spot that allows a representative on the /vg/ roster, a manager or caretaker failing to inform their thread of their ability to send a rep and subsequently failing to inform /vg/ management of their chosen rep within two weeks following the conclusion of a tournament will also be suspended for the next tournament. This two week deadline can be shortened at the discretion of VGLCo based on a given 4chan Cup's export deadline.
   3. The thread representative sent to the /vg/ roster must:
      1. Have been a player present on that general's roster in the most recent /vg/ League.
      2. Not be a fusion of two or more players of the squad unless the player already is made out of multiple parts to begin with. Small additions such as an accessory are permitted at the discretion of /vg/ management.
   4. A portrait image and a small hover text for the wiki must be provided by the manager for their qualifying /vg/ representative.
      1. Failure to adhere to this will result in the thread losing their spot on the /vg/ roster.
   5. In case of a general dying mid tournament, they will be able to finish the ongoing competition. However, if the time with no thread existing exceeds 1 week their potential representative for /vg/ will be voided and the next highest ranked team will take their spot on the roster.
      1. Should a revival attempt for a dead general be unsuccessful (e.g in case of the general dying again or failure of proper discussion) while within that 1 week window, this revival attempt will not count towards a new thread being made.

Chapter III: Squad

Note: some terms below are from the UK English version of the game. The US English version sometimes uses different terms (e.g. 'condition' instead of 'form').

Squad Composition

1. Each team must have exactly 23 players in their squad.
   1. A squad must contain at least one player with Goalkeeper (GK) as Registered Position with the Playable Position of GK set to 'A', all other Playable Positions must be set to 'C'.
   2. Outfield players will have their Playable Position set to 'A' to match their Registered Position. All their other Playable Positions must be set to 'C'.
2. A single player of each squad must be assigned the role of Team Captain and should be designated as such in-game.
   1. A player designated as the Team Captain may have an additional free card, COM Playing Style, or additional A-position
3. Players are categorized as regular, silver, or gold as follows:
   1. 18 of the players must be designated regular players. All regular players including keepers must be rated 77 in all stats.
   2. Three outfield players must be designated as silver and be rated 88 in all stats.
   3. Two outfield players must be designated as gold and be rated 99 in all stats.
4. Silver and gold players are collectively referred to as medal players.
5. Regular players are often referred to as 'Non-medals' or '77s'.

Player Abilities

1. All players 175cm and below in height may have their Weak Foot Usage and Weak Foot Accuracy settings set to any amount. For non-medal players 180 cm and above, their usage and accuracy stats are both capped at 2.
2. All medal players may have their Weak Foot Usage and Weak Foot Accuracy settings set to any amount regardless of height.
3. All players are allowed to set Attacking Prowess and/or Defensive Prowess to any stat level below their designated levels, but not above it. I.e a regular player may have an Offensive Prowess below 77 but not above 77.
4. The Form setting is set to 8 for medal players, and 4 for the remaining regular players .
5. The Injury Resistance setting is set to 2 for medals and 1 for non-medals.
6. A player is allowed a set number of 'Cards', known in the game as Player Skills and COM Playing Styles, under the following restrictions:
   1. Each regular player (this includes the GK) can have at most 3 cards.
   2. Each silver player can have at most 4 cards.
   3. Each gold player can have at most 5 cards.
7. 'Trick Cards' are a set of cards that activate flashy player abilities deemed relatively inconsequential to match strategy. For the purpose of entertainment these have been designated unrestricted and unlimited for all players. See the trick card section for a list of permitted trick cards.
8. Medal players may have 1 free additional COM Playing Style that is not counted to card limits.
9. The Team Captain is allowed (but not required to have) a free Captaincy card. This card does not count towards any previous limits. All additional Captaincy cards do count towards any previous limits.
   1. Including free cards such as Captaincy and the trick cards, a player may well exceed the in-game standard limit of 10 cards. This is welcomed and encouraged
10. Outfield players (i.e any player besides the Goalkeeper) may have 1 additional player position set to 'A'. Extra 'A' positions may not be 'Goalkeeper.
11. Each player in the squad may be attributed a Playing Styles. Playing Styles have no relevance to any card limits.

Trick Cards

The following cards are the current legal trick cards.

• S01: Scissors Feint
• S02: Double Touch
• S03: Flip Flap
• S04: Marseille Turn
• S05: Sombrero
• S06: Crossover Turn
• S07: Cut Behind & Turn
• S08: Scotch Move
• S09: Step On Skill
• S23: Rabona
• S24: No Look Pass
• S32: Malicia

Height Rules

The height rules for managers can be found below:

1. The "purple" heights:
   1. Ten players which are either:
      1. Outfield players of height exactly 185cm.
      2. Goalkeepers of height exactly 189cm.
   2. Seven players of height exactly 180cm.
   3. Six players of height exactly 175cm.
2. Players who are 175cm may also have one additional card. Players of height 175cm and below may have 1 additional 'A' position. Players of height 175cm and below may have 4/4 weak foot accuracy and weak foot usage.

#	Stat Advantage	Total Height (cm)
10x	185cm	1850cm	If GK, increase height to 189cm
7x	180cm	1260cm
6x	175cm	1050cm	Players in this category may use 1 additional card Players in this category may have 1 additional 'A' position Players in this category may have 4/4 weak foot accuracy/usage
	Total Height	4160cm

Other Restrictions

1. It is illegal to set the player age and weight outside the ranges defined by the game as this may crash the game.
2. Formations and tactics that are not possible to be made in the standard game without the use of external tools are considered illegal and are not allowed.
3. The positions of each player on a team's first preset in their deadline export are required to match one of the player's 'A' positions.
4. Medal players cannot be played as a goalkeeper at any time.
5. If a team is found to have man-marking settings in their exports at any time before a match, the export will be rejected. This includes nightly exports.
6. In a team's deadline export all options under ‘support settings’ must be set to OFF except for ‘switch preset tactic’ which must be set to ON.
   1. The support settings may be altered at later points as specified in Chapter V.
7. In case two teams have the same player on their roster, the managers should come to an agreement about it. If an agreement is not reached, the team with the earliest verifiable instance of the name gets the right to use the name.

Chapter IV: Tournament

Exports

A team export is valid if it:

1. Corresponds to the appropriate team and player IDs.
2. Functions in the current version of PES as specified under Game Version in Section 4.6.
3. Was not created by creating, transferring, moving, or removing players from the officially assigned team. An export may only use the existing players in the team.
4. Does not violate the conditions of official deadlines as described in the following section.

Note that an export does not necessarily need to be compliant with the rules as described in Chapter III in order to be considered valid. Any violation of Chapter III which does not cause the export to be ruled invalid per the above is a rule-breaking fault.

Deadlines

Each official tournament is preceded by a signup deadline and two export deadlines: the preliminary deadline and final deadline.

1. The signup deadline typically begins 5 weeks before the start of a /vg/ League. The sign up period is 2 weeks long unless a max capacity of teams sign up with approved Proof of Interest (POI).
2. A team signup may be done by a verified manager or caretaker.
   1. Managers or caretakers must be verified prior to signing their general up.
   2. Managers should sign their signup posts on signup page by adding a ~~~~ at the end of the line.
3. A general must have existed for at least 6 months before signing up for a /vg/ League.
4. Only teams that were accepted to play by their general may participate.
5. Teams must have a team page prepared with a team infobox filled out (if possible also a roster box, even if WIP) upon signup.
   1. Copy the team page from another team if you don't know how to do one from scratch. Also make sure your team page has a filled roster box by the time the cup starts.
6. All sign ups must be posted with POI. POI attempts may not be older than 2 weeks before signups open.
   1. Signups that violate these rules will be pulled immediately. Should a signup be pulled, the violating team must wait 2 days before signing up again.
   2. Roster poll results do not count as POI, a response from the thread is needed.
7. Max capacity of a /vg/ League may vary, but typically the maximum number of teams in a standard tournament will be 48 teams. This can be extended up to 52 teams which will prompt a qualifier round of up to 8 teams to then form a standard tournament of 48. Teams registered after these thresholds are designated as backup teams.
   1. Qualifier placement is determined by a combination of performance in the previous VGL, performance in the previous VGL Qualifier if applicable, and recently revived teams. Newly formed teams automatically qualify to the VGL proper.
8. The time of signup and the quality of POI does not determine whether a team participates in a qualifying round or not. This is typically decided by the team’s previous performance or the amount of time it’s been since the team last participated in a /vg/ League.
9. Everything related to POI passing or failing is subject to the judgment of the VGLCo. VGLCo will judge POIs as soon as they are able.
10. Managers may make any number of attempts to achieve a passable POI, within reason. However, making a large number of POI attempts is likely to be interpreted as spam and is highly discouraged.
11. Once a POI included with a signup has been judged to have passed or failed it may not be attempted again.
12. The preliminary tactical deadline is on the Friday one week prior to the start of the tournament at 23:59:59 UTC. Should there be a Qualifier round, the deadline will be two weeks before the main event.
13. Verified managers of each team must have placed a link to a valid tactical export on the Exports page, in their appropriate subsection by the specified time. Any submission after 23:59:59 UTC of deadline day will not be accepted. A link to the export on the team page is additional but not a requirement.
14. Failure to submit an export by the preliminary deadline may result in a deadline violation penalty.
15. Tactical changes will not be accepted between this deadline and the first match, other than save fixes and aesthetics changes.
16. 'The most recent valid export posted by a verified manager will be downloaded for each team.' In the case of autopilot teams, exports will be provided by the VGLCo. All other exports are considered invalid.
    1. Non-medals on autopilot exports will be provided additional 'A' positions to be used in the event of a medal suspension.
17. Following the tactical deadline, all exports will be checked for rule-breaking faults by a body determined by the VGLCo.
    1. Should an export contain rule-breaking faults, the VGLCo will then take the necessary actions to fix these faults with a penalty.
    2. The VGLCo reserves the right to disqualify teams from a cup should their export be deemed to contain too many faults. In this case a backup will replace that team.
    3. Managers are encouraged to check their own export with the help of the Auto-ATF tool contained within the current Editor before uploading their export.
18. Additionally, teams are allowed to request minor non-rule-breaking-fault changes to their export prior to the group stage draw.
    1. What is considered minor is subject to the discretion of VGLCo.
19. Within 48 hours of the tactical deadline, a draw will be held to place the teams into groups.
20. The save fix deadline is on the Wednesday following the prior deadline, at 23:59:59 UTC.
    1. This deadline is typically only used for aesthetic and music exports
    2. Desired changes to tactical exports can be listed on the designated page of the wiki by a team's manager after the tactical deadline as long as they are "save fixes". A save fix is a change which, when compared to the export available at the tactical deadline, changes only:
       1. Aesthetic settings.
       2. Rule-breaking faults officially identified by the VGLCo. Note that save fixes submitted after the tactical deadline may be subject to deadline violation penalties.
    3. Any other changes listed will lead to the export being ruled invalid.

If a team fails to submit an export before the preliminary deadline, a grace period of 24 hours is available. Teams submitting their exports during the grace period may face:

1. Loss of any tactical changes for the first game of the tournament.
2. Loss of any number of voluntary time-outs for some or all games in the tournament.
3. Loss of the ability to submit nightly exports for some or all games in the tournament.

In addition to the above, teams who fail to submit an export in the grace period may face:

1. Loss of all management for some or all games in the tournament. (The team will function exactly like any team competing as autopilot, even though it had managers.)
2. Punitive tactics determined by the VGLCo.
3. Disqualification from the tournament, to be replaced by the next eligible team.

Aesthetics

1. General rules
   1. Aesthetics in general should be made in good faith to not be needlessly obnoxious, obsurant, or explicit in a way that would get the stream banned either by staff or algorithm. Simply put, don’t be retarded.
   2. All aesthetics composition is handled by the VGL Aesthetic Council (Aesco).
      1. Aesco internally determines any and all regulations regarding aesthetics. The makeup of aesco is internally decided and anyone can volunteer assistance if they wish.
      2. The person responsible for gathering the submitted aesthetics for each tournament is designated as the ‘Aesthetics Compiler’. The Compiler typically has authority to impose any ad-hoc rules or provisions if they so wish, within reason.
      3. Aesco has authority to refuse or alter any submitted aesthetics if there is sufficient reason for doing so.
   3. Managers can request to use a specific kit, ball and/or stadium before every match, but the final decision is up to the Host. The home team is favored over the away team.
2. Export format
   1. The aesthetic exports must follow the format described by the Aesthetic Export Template as explained here: Aesthetic Exports.
   2. Broken aesthetics exports not following the rules or which crash the game may be denied. Please check your export for any problems with the automatic compiler linked at the bottom of the Aesthetic Exports page and by testing it works in PES before submitting it.
   3. Exports should not include any unnecessary files that are not used by PES as this adds needless bloat to the aesthetics pack. It is advised to make single color textures as small as possible. For example a pure black texture does not have to be bigger than 64x64 as a 2048x2048 one is just a waste of storage space.
3. Submitting aesthetics
   1. The initial aesthetic exports must be submitted on the /vg/ League Exports page before the aesthetic deadline. Aesthetics can be submitted by anyone so long as the team manager approves. A link to the export on the respective team's page is recommended but not a requirement.
      1. Standard naming export practice is “(/team/) Aesthetic Export (Tournament)” e.g. “/fgog/ Aesthetic Export VGL17”. This helps to differentiate old and new exports. This folder must be compressed into zip or 7z format before it's linked on the Exports page.
      2. Use a site with permanent storage capability to upload exports. Do not use puush, catbox, or any other temporary file hosting.
   2. The aesthetics deadline is set to 24 hours after the tactical deadline of every cup. This is both a hard deadline and a soft deadline:
      1. The initial exports submitted must contain at least working kits, a logo, and as many player models and portraits as possible regardless of whether the export is finished or not.
      2. The Compiler has authority to set a soft deadline after the fact for when remaining aesthetics must be submitted. Aesthetics submitted after this point may malfunction or be rejected outright at the discretion of the Compiler.
      3. Teams which fail to submit an export are subject to any punishment aesco sees fit. This may include anything from joke models being used to tactical punishment.
   3. Midcup aesthetics
      1. Any aesthetics to be added after the deadline, for example additional model folders, are referred to as Midcup Aesthetics. These are preferably delivered via the midcup channel in the VGL discord, or on the VGL Midcup page. Anyone can deliver a midcup so long as the manager approves.
      2. The indicative deadline for submissions of this kind is two hours before the kickoff of the matchday they need to be added for. The Compiler will also attempt to add any aesthetics submitted after this time, but no guarantees will be given.
      3. Any initial exports submitted after the aesthetic deadline has passed need to be linked not only on the Exports page but also delivered as if it were a midcup.
   4. The Compiler reserves the right to apply any aesthetics updates at their discretion. If an aesthetic element is thought to negatively affect game stability or viewer experience it will not be accepted.
4. Kits
   1. At minimum a team must have two outfield kits and one goalkeeper kit. Teams are allowed to replace the standard football kit with a model which is applied to the whole team. This is referred to as a ‘custom kit model.’
   2. Both outfield kits must be aesthetically distinct, so that there is always a kit combination which does not make it difficult for the viewer to distinguish each team on the pitch during a match.
   3. An exception for the above can be made if the team is using a custom kit model which makes their players look visibly different than every other team's players regardless of color combination.
   4. A team is allowed to have up to seven additional kits, for a total of up to nine kits. Additional goalkeeper kits (up to nine total) can be used if the goalkeeper's kit model is set up for it.
   5. Custom kit models can be denied use by Aesco if they are deemed to make the match hard to follow for the viewers.
5. Player models
   1. Every player must have a custom model, whether that is a custom blender model head and/or body, or a set of PES face and hair settings customized via the Edit menu within the game (a.k.a. "custom in-game head").
   2. Players which do not have a custom model either because it is work-in-progress or otherwise unavailable must have some form of placeholder model. This can be a simple model or in-game head and can be done on a teamwide or player-by-player basis.
   3. In the case of the same custom model being used for multiple players, validity and acceptability will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Teams are encouraged not to repeat models between players to prevent any player appearance conflicts.
   4. Any model that completely replaces the default body of a player is referred to as a ‘full body model’ (FBM).
      1. In general, FBM should be made in a way that makes it obvious to anyone at a glance which team they belong to.
      2. A team is allowed four FBM outfield players that are visually distinct from the rest of the team to be on the field at any point. These are known as non-uniform players. This is for the purpose of making the match easy to follow for all viewers.
      3. A player that is visually distinct may be subbed for another so long as the total number of non-uniform outfield players remains four.
      4. Oversized models do not count as uniformed players regardless of anything and will always count towards the four player limit.
   5. Avoid making models that are too distracting or become annoying if shown repeatedly.
   6. Models should not cover the ball while the players using them are dribbling. Any large card models placed behind a player should use the ‘onesided’ setting on their shader, which will make them look invisible when seen from behind.
   7. Ultimately exceptions can be made, as long as their provided entertainment value is greater than the difficulties they may introduce when trying to follow the gameplay. This is all subject to the judgment of Aesco. If in doubt, ask before submission.
6. Stadiums
   1. Contact Aesco for information about submitting custom stadium elements.
   2. The pitch itself should preferably be in the typical shade of green most pitches share. It must not be too bright or dark to clash with the ball or the players nor should they be too complex or unwatchable in any way.
   3. No elements of the stadium should obscure the pitch during gameplay. This may also apply to realistic stadium shadows, as these tend to be irritating on stream.

Music

1. Managers are strongly encouraged to submit a music export, which is simply a zip containing mp3s of their team music and possibly a 4ccm file with instructions for Rigdio. Read the page for information on how to compile it.
2. These exports should be posted on the Exports page at least three days before the first matchday, to allow the Host to prepare any missing exports.
3. Updated music, including custom single-match anthems or goalhorns, as well as hype videos, must be sent to the host no later than 2 hours before the start of the match day they are intended to be used. Any anthems or goalhorns not included in the initial music export, as well as any hype videos, will not be accepted after this deadline. Match-specific and condition-specific victory anthems are still allowed to be given directly after a team has won a match. A streamer is permitted to reject showing a hype video should they deem it a waste of time.
   1. Please prepare and include an edited 4ccm with the added new music, or name the mp3 with the same name as the normal anthem or goalhorn, and preferably test the new music in Rigdio in order to assure that it should work.
4. Teams that do not submit a music export prior to the start of a cup will instead have their last available music export they submitted being used until a new music export is provided to the current host and/or a member of VGLCo.

Tournament Conduct

1. The communication medium to be used when giving real time tactical instructions to the host is via a private conversation with the host on IRC.
   1. Managers may give purely textual instructions or may use pictorial instructions if necessary.
   2. All instructions must be clear and concise. Failure to produce instructions satisfying this condition will result in those instructions being ignored at the host's discretion.
   3. No instructions may leave tactical decision-making the responsibility of the host. Such instructions will be ignored.
2. If a team is unable to nominate a manager to provide real time tactical input for a match then a manager for that team may submit clearly written and/or pictorial instructions in an easily accessible format for the match before the scheduled kickoff time.
   1. If the host is unable to decipher said submitted written and/or pictorial instructions then they will be deemed invalid and ignored at the host's discretion.
   2. If a team fails to provide written and/or pictorial instructions by the stated time and no nominated manager is ever in attendance to provide instructions in real time then that team will forfeit all offers of tactical input for the duration of the match.
3. If a nominated manager fails to supply pre-match tactical instructions by the time stated in Chapter V Section 1 but arrives during the course of their match then that manager's ability to provide any tactical instructions for the remainder of the match will be at the host's discretion.
4. The host has the authority to ignore any instruction they choose for any reason (e.g. too time consuming).
5. If a manager is determined to be trying to circumvent rules using a loophole, VGLCo reserves the right to act as if the rule in question was being broken regardless.

Settings

The current settings as of /vg/ League 23 are:

1. Game version:
   1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
   2. Patch 1.01.00 / DLC '4CC Pack'
   3. Langauge: British English (enGB/eng)
2. Controller settings: (Need to be done for both home and away controllers)
   1. Role Control: Off (done on the main controller select screen)
   2. Auto Sliding: Assisted
3. General settings:
   1. Match Level: Super Star AI
   2. Match Time: 10 min.
   3. Conditions: Random for both Home and Away
   4. Player Emotions: Off
   5. No. of Substitutions: 3 (4 if extra time is enabled for the match, the 4th sub can only be used during extra time)
   6. Injuries: On
4. Stadium settings:
   1. Time: Night
   2. Season: Summer or Winter
   3. Weather: Fine
   4. Length of grass: Normal
   5. Pitch conditions: Normal
5. System settings:
   1. Game Speed Settings:
      1. Game Speed: 1

Other Game Rules

1. When a player collects two yellow cards over the course of the tournament, he will be suspended for the match after the match in which he got his second yellow card.
   1. Should a player receive a red card, he will be suspended for the next match.
   2. All collected yellow cards are wiped when the tournament proceeds to the knock-out stage, after the second round of the survival bracket, and after the quarterfinals. However, suspensions will not be wiped.
2. Teams that have not played in the /vg/ League before are given a bye directly to the main cup without having to participate in the qualifying round in the event that one is hosted.
3. Should there be a crash in the middle of a match, the match will be restarted with all players in green condition. The game will be played out until the minutes of the pre-crash and post-crash matches equal 90 minutes.

Chapter V: Tactical

Nightly exports

1. Submission
   1. Exports are to be submitted to vgleagueexports@gmail.com
   2. Exports must be submitted no later than 2 hours before the beginning of the matchday (if the start time is 17:00 UTC the deadline is 15:00 UTC).
   3. If a team plays more than once on the same matchday the export submitted for the first match will be used.
      1. From the second match onwards any changes that would be required to be defined in the nightly export can be changed in the pregame.
   4. For a team's first match, nightly export submission is not allowed, as their deadline export will be used instead.
      1. If a team playing their first match will play a team that has already played a match in that tournament, they may both submit nightly exports.
   5. Only submit exports for main Cup events to the above export email, exports for invitationals will be ignored.
   6. Do not send tactical instructions, music, or any extraneous items in the email. They should be submitted to the host or relevant people directly
   7. If the nightly export violates any of the above rules, it will be ignored, and the team will proceed as if no nightly export was submitted. If no export is submitted then the team will use their deadline export.
2. Qualifiers
   1. For a Qualifier cup, teams are allowed to submit nightlies on all match days.
      1. Qualifier nightlies on the first matchday are limited in what they are allowed to change, which include the following:
         1. Changes to sliders.
         2. Changes to advanced instructions.
         3. Changes to set pieces.
         4. Changes to formations, however the formations to be used on the first matchday are limited to the three formations that the qualifier team submitted on their deadline export (i.e. if a team submits an export with three 3-6-1s, they may copy one of the 3-6-1s onto another preset but may not make a new formation not included on the deadline).
   2. Teams who advance from a qualifier will revert to their deadline export on the first matchday of the main Cup.

Pre-Match

Pre-match instructions should be:

1. Carried out prior to kickoff.
2. Formatted and written in a way that is easily understandable by the host.
3. Submitted to the host by the team's manager prior to the beginning of the relevant match.

Pre-match instructions that can be made on ANY match are as follows:

1. Any number of substitutions.
   1. If tactical changes put players out of position, subs may be used to correct this.
   2. Medals may not be moved to a different playable position (e.g. from AMF to SS) from where they were positioned in a team's deadline export prior to a team's first match.
2. Configuration of man marking or tight marking.
   1. Tight marking cannot replace an existing Advanced Instruction; it may only be enabled if an Advanced Instruction slot is empty.
3. Enabling or disabling fluid formation.
   1. Copying formations within a fluid is not allowed. The fluid may still be enabled or disabled but must remain the same as the deadline export.
4. Selection of a starting preset.
5. Adjustment of attack/defence level.
   1. Note this cannot be changed by the host until the match is underway due to the limitations of PES.
6. The Copy Preset Tactics function and Change Formation function are not allowed to be used during pre-match.

In addition to the above, Pre-match instructions that can be only be made on the FIRST match a team plays are as follows:

1. Adjusting tactical sliders (i.e support range or numbers in defence).
2. Changing Advanced Instructions.

Pastebin Instructions that rely on the other team's instructions will be ignored. (e.g. "If we're 2-0 down use these instructions" is okay, "If he changes his attack to wide then do this and this" is not.) Autopilot teams will all have the following pre-match instructions performed by the host automatically:

1. Set to Preset 1.
2. Manual subs by best condition.
3. Right and Left Corner Kickers set to positions dependent on the formation of each team.
4. In the event of a suspended medal, the highest condition secondary 'A' player will be subbed in.

Timeouts

A timeout is any pause in the game play requested by team management. Timeouts may be requested by managers through any approved management channel.

1. Teams may take at most two limited timeouts per match, and may not use limited timeouts in the first 20 minutes of match time.
2. In addition, there are a number of Free timeouts that may be taken in the occasion that:
   1. The only actions taken during the timeout are:
      1. Substituting players.
      2. Adjusting Tight Marking, Man-Marking, Defensive, or Counter Target settings if any player affected by the instructions are subbed.
   2. Or if the timeout occurs:
      1. At the half time break or either extra time pause.
      2. After conceding a goal.
      3. When a player on the team is dismissed (red card).
      4. When an injury leaves a player on the team unable to play for the rest of the match.
   3. Autopilot teams are given one free timeout at 65 minutes in-game in order to perform subs for best condition.
      1. In the case a fourth sub is available during extra time, an autopilot team will be given their fourth sub at the start of extra time.

The following changes can only be made during a timeout:

1. Changing sliders.
2. Editing man-marking.
3. Changing set piece takers.
4. Adjusting all instructions in the support settings section.
5. Turning fluid formations on or off.
6. Turning any number of advanced instructions on or off.
7. Changing formations (includes moving players).