WECL Rulebook and changes

[Claudi27]

Thread for rule discussion and changes. scroll to the end for the latest version

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Claudi27

[Claudi27]

Rules updated to reflect:

• Exception granted specifically to Dynamo Dragons for their half foreign/half local origin.
• Removed rule 9.7.1 Player "Players are not allowed to equip non-standard or in other words ‘CHEL’ style gloves and / or helmets (e.g. ‘Solid goooooold’)."

 

Still WIP the group format and playoff schedule.

Currently the championship is predicted to fully end Apr. 12

WECL Inaugural Season Rules v6.pdf

[Claudi27]

Updated the following rules:

League Structure

7.1 General

The WECL Inaugural season will be drawn into 2 groups. A promotion/relegation is possible in the future, and the results from Season 1 could play an important role in the composition of the Season 2 divisions. Any decisions on this matter will be properly communicated to all team captains.

7.3 Playoffs

Out of the participating teams, 8 teams will make the playoffs these being the best 4 of both groups. The teams will be seeded as 1-4 and 2-3. Home and Away is to be alternated after every game, with the best seeded team starting at home for best-of-5 quarter finals and semis, and best-of-7 finals.

Scheduling

8.3 End of Regular Season

All regular season games in WECL must have been played and reported by March 22^nd 23:59 CET.

8.4 Playoff Schedule

All games in playoff series' must be finished as listed below:

 • Quarterfinals (BO5): Mar. 22-Mar. 29

 • Semifinals (BO5): Mar. 29-Apr. 5

 • Finals (BO7): Apr.5 - Apr. 12

Transfers

14.1 Transfer Deadline

The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 CE(S)T, on March 14^th.

WECL Inaugural Season Rules v7.pdf

Edited February 18, 2021 by Claudi27

[Claudi27]

Finished up the first draft of our planned S2 for August start.

Here are the most important changes whitin it for everyone to evaluate and discuss:

 

3.1 General WIP

All registered members are allowed to register a team for NHLGamer leagues/tournaments. The team's registrant will be set as captain by default. Team registration is only possible during the signup period, ending on July 28^th.

3.2 Requirements WIP

In order to be eligible for NHLGamer leagues/tournaments, teams must:

•         Have a captain and 2 assistant captains

•         Have a total of at least 7 players

•         Use the same team name on NHLGamer.com and NHL 21

•         Use unique numbers within a team (two players on the same team cannot use the same  number at the same time)

•         No more than 14 players

•         No more than half of your roster of foreign origin

3.4 Skill Cap WIP

The skill cap would only be applied on a potential second division of the WECL and would prevent foreign players from ECL 12 Pro or Elite divisions from taking part.

Removed 7.2 Top Team Status

7.1 General WIP

The WECL Season 2 structure depends in good part on the final number of teams we manage to gather. The scenario we are expecting is to be able to have 2 divisions of around 12 teams each. If the number of teams changes drastically from the inaugural season, we will have to adjust this format and come up with something different, hopefully not compromising the 2-gamedays per week pace of the league in the process.

We will keep updating this section of the rulebook as we have a better idea of the final product.

7.3 Playoffs

Out of the participating teams, 8 teams will make the playoffs. The teams will be seeded 1-8 2-7 3-6 4-5. Home and Away is to be alternated after every game, with the best seeded team starting at home and all series being best-of-7.

7.4 Promotion/Relegation WIP

In the event that we can host a second division, the promotion and relegation system considered is that the winner of the second division would automatically promote, whereas the 2^nd place team would face the 2^nd worst WECL team in a qualifier, while the last place WECL team gets automatic relegation.

7.5 Division 1 “tickets” WIP

Tickets system might be implemented in order for teams that want to skip a season but maintain their top division spot if they earned it. A Division 1 ticket is obtained after the season depending on the standings, and can be spent no later than in the next 2 WECL seasons (IE a ticket won on Season 1 can be used no later than on Season 3) afterwards the ticket is void and said team is to join the league structure like any other new team.

Based on points per game, the following teams earned division 1 tickets on the inaugural season:

Grenoble BDL (Now Spartiates X MCES), Latvian Warriors, Silver Sword Griffins, Hoko Gang, Dynamo Dragons, Remparts de Tours, Latvian Esports, Remparts de Tours 2, Epinal HC Esport, Granada Grizzlies, Sesku Patversme, Vipers Montpellier.

Depending on the number of spots that come free, the following teams in order will be placed in the top division despite not having earned a ticket:

Pirates Esports, Boxers Bordeaux, Annecy Hockey eSport, French Rookies, MVP Players, Occitania HC, Polish Patriots

8.3 End of regular season WIP

All regular season games in WECL must have been played and reported by September 5th 23:59 CET.

8.4 Playoff Schedule WIP

All games in playoff series' must be finished as listed below:

 • Quarterfinals (BO7): Sept 6th-Sept 12th

 • Semifinals (BO7): Sept 13th-Sept 19th

 • Finals (BO7): Sept 20th-Sept 26th

 

 

WECL S2 Rules v1.pdf

Edited June 30, 2021 by Claudi27

[PSchibra]

Curious as to why these two rules were changed:

Quote

 

• No more than half of your roster of foreign origin

 

• The skill cap would only be applied on a potential second division of the WECL and would prevent foreign players from ECL 12 Pro or Elite divisions from taking part.

 

Those implementations stray away from what the WECL should be about IMO

[CW1LLO]

Sorry if I've missed the point but when does registration open and if so we're do I register? 

[Claudi27]

1 hour ago, PSchibra said:

Curious as to why these two rules were changed:

Those implementations stray away from what the WECL should be about IMO

The idea is to mantain a balance between the WECL being the regional league for our countries, but at the same time allowing the top teams in it to improve their roster for any championship. 

The 2-man limit was a bit tight for some teams that were adding quality foreign players in order to compete in the ECL, so the rule was changed to mantain the essence but not limit the potential of any team.

Regarding skill cap, if there are Pro division teams elegible to play in S2, capping the skill in Pro could handicap these teams in the event that they want to make a signing from Elite to improve their team long-term. It is possible that some Elite foreign superstar could decide to play only the WECL and win the scoring title, but I think this risk doesn't justify capping the skill and potentially handicapping elite-aspiring teams.

The rule could change from 2 to 3 players limit for example, but we thought at least 50% local was simple and efficient enough to ensure the participating teams were local based. Happy to discuss further

1 hour ago, CW1LLO said:

Sorry if I've missed the point but when does registration open and if so we're do I register? 

Stay tuned, we are optimistic to open signups next week.

 

[PSchibra]

No offense to any of the teams in WECL, but realistically none of them (including mine) are in a position to sign Elite and for the most part Pro players to join them for upcoming ECL seasons. Spartiates X MCES is the only team playing above ECL Lite and even still, I imagine they would find it difficult to sign someone from those divisions purely because of the language barrier. In my opinion, you would see the inverse happening – teams signing big name foreign players just to boost their chances of winning in this specific league, in that way getting rid of what I believe to be the essence of this tournament, which I think is more of a country vs country format.

I'll use Martindale and the UK as an example, but this could apply to many other countries as well. Previously, if Martindale wanted to compete in this tournament, he was incentivized to join a team based in the UK, find and connect with players from his region and play with them because of the given restrictions (yeah, he could also join another team but I think that would not be as interesting since if you just wanna play with the best and against the best, you have ECL). But now given that there is no skill cap and you can have half of your roster be foreign (7 foreigners for 14 total players), it is possible to just take your ECL starting 6 team which is full of foreigners and fill out the rest of the roster with some local guys that are never gonna see any ice time just to meet the criteria.

That may have been a bit of an extreme example, but it is certainly possible as well as advantageous under the given criteria. What you're more likely to see is already established teams that have a unified national background sidelining some of their long-time teammates just to give those spots to guys who are miles above their level and can carry the team on their own. If you want a practical example of this, just look at RCL 7 Pro. All it takes is one Elite player to drag an average group of guys all the way to the finals. That tournament only allowed 1 foreigner per team, and it still had such a pronounced effect, so if you add more, it's just gonna become a game of who can hide their locals the best and whose foreign stars can shine the brightest. 

[Claudi27]

Fair points. The example you described would be legal under this rulebook. It's not what we want to see happening, so we'll try to adjust these rules to allow top teams to get better, but prevent 1-time teams of superstars.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Claudi27

[NotzPanthers]

Fair point @MartindalexC fancy a run out with the GB Lions!? 😂

[MartindalexC]

3 hours ago, NotzPanthers said:

Fair point @MartindalexC fancy a run out with the GB Lions!? 😂

Why not? 😌

[Claudi27]

Further changes made to the rules debated:

•    No more than 12 players 
•    No more than 3 foreign players on the roster (max. 1 from ECL 12 Elite in Division 1)

The skill cap for the top division is maximum 1 foreign player from ECL 12 Elite. For a potential second division of the WECL, no foreign players from ECL 12 Pro or Elite can participate.
Local players are exempt from any skill cap. 

 

As explained we want the teams participating to be able to get stronger with foreign talent, so hopefully this gives enough room for that

 

WECL S2 Rules v2.pdf

Edited July 9, 2021 by Claudi27
Fixed rulebook typos

[Claudi27]

Team registration deadline passed and all 16 teams will start the competition.

The following rules have been updated: 

3.6 Current Exceptions
Ambri eSports: (Switzerland) Roster exception given due to it being a new team and no GCL competition currently going on.

7.1 General
The WECL Season 2 format will be 16 teams split in groups A and B. Regular season play will consist of home and away against every group opponent.
The implementation of a top and bottom division has been at least pushed to Season 3.

7.3 Playoffs
Out of the participating teams, 4 teams per group will make the playoffs. The teams will be seeded as 1-4 and 2-3 cross-group. Home and Away is to be alternated after every game, with the best seeded team starting at home and all series being best-of-7.

7.5 Division 1 ranking
Due to the many changes to the teams participating, the tickets system has been re-worked into a ranking to determine potential division 1 spots. While the tickets earned last season will still grant a team a potential top division spot in Season 3, the ranking system ensures the best are selected next. This ranking is entirely based on the Points/Game stat of your team, and the results in Season 2 can only improve your record, if it’s worse than on the Inaugural Season, it’s discarded and your score from Inaugural Season is the only taken into account for the ranking.

The current ranking is: Dynamo Dragons (2), Spartiates X MCES (1.78), Latvian Warriors (1.78), Silver Sword Griffins (1.72), Remparts de Tours eSport (1.56), Stick Magnético (1.39), Latvian Esports (1.38), Remparts de Tours eSport 2 (1.22), Epinal HC Esport (1.19), Granada Grizzlies (1.06), Sesku Patversme (1), Vipers Montpellier esport (1), Pirates eSports (0.81), Boxers Bordeaux (0.72), Annecy Hockey eSport (0.61), French Rookies (0.5), MVP Players (0.33), Occitania HC (0.31), Polish Patriots (0).

Teams in bold earned division 1 tickets for S3. In the event of free spots in the top division, this ranking after season 2 will determine which teams also get selected.

 

The following dates are now confirmed for the tournament:

8.3 End of Regular Season
All regular season games in WECL must have been played and reported by September 5th 23:59 CET.

8.4 Playoff Schedule
All games in playoff series' must be finished as listed below: 
 • Quarterfinals (BO7): Sept 6th-Sept 12th
 • Semifinals (BO7): Sept 13th-Sept 19th
 • Finals (BO7): Sept 20th-Sept 26th

11.1 Transfer Deadline
The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 CE(S)T, on August 29th.

 

WECL S2 Rules v3.pdf

[Claudi27]

Reminder that the transfer deadline date is by the end of sunday, make any additions to your rosters before then

[Claudi27]

The regular season is now over and the playoffs can begin.

Remparts Tours 2 vs Latvian Warriors
Granada Grizzlies vs Remparts Tours III
Great British Lions vs Silver Sword Griffins
Stick Magnetico vs Herlev Eagles

These are the BO7 first round matchups that should pop on the site at some point today.

Regards.

[Claudi27]

The first playoff round is complete and it's now an all-Group B affair in the semi finals.

Herlev Eagles - Latvian Warriors

Silver Sword Griffins - Remparts Tours III

The matchups will soon be posted in the site.

Best of luck!

[Claudi27]

The Division 1 ranking mentioned in the rulebook will be updated with the Season 2 regular season results as follows:

 

Herlev Eagles (2)

Dynamo Dragons (2)

Spartiates X MCES (1.78)

Latvian Warriors (1.78)

Silver Sword Griffins (1.72)

Remparts de Tours eSport 2 (1.64)

Remparts de Tours eSport (1.56)

Remparts Tours III (1.5)

Granada Grizzlies (1.5)

Great British Lions (1.5)

Stick Magnético (1.5)

Spartiates X MCES II (1.43)

Latvian Esports (1.38)

Epinal HC Esport (1.19)

Ambri eSports (1.07)

Sesku Patversme (1)

Vipers Montpellier esport (1)

Pirates eSports (0.81)

Boxers Bordeaux (0.72)

Occitania HC (0.64)

Annecy Hockey eSport (0.61)

French Rookies (0.5)

MVP Players (0.33)

Epinal HC Esport II (0.14)

GlasgowClan (0.14)

Polish Patriots (0.07)

 

Teams in bold earned division 1 tickets for S3 in Season 1. In the event of free spots in the top division, this ranking will determine which teams also get selected.

[Claudi27]

This is the first version of the WECL 3 rules. Some areas are still TBD and will be updated whenever possible.

Changes have been made to rules:

Quote

3.2 Requirements

• Maximum 2 foreign players who didn’t participate in ECL 22 Elite Winter or Spring.

Quote

3.3 Regional scope

Now local:

• Switzerland
• Austria

Quote

9.2 Server Selection

All WECL games should be played in the Central server unless both teams agree to use the North server because it improves their connection quality. Refusing to play in the Central server can result in a Walkover loss for the team.

The idea is to open signups during May and start right after the IIHF World Championships on the 29th. The finals will be mid or late july.

 

WECL 3 Rules.pdf

[Claudi27]

Format and dates now decided. Tournament is set to start in 2 days time.

Quote

7 WECL Group structure

• The WECL 3 will be a single-group tournament where 8 teams qualify for the playoffs.

Quote

8.3 End of Regular Season

• The end of the WECL 3 regular season will be on Sunday, July 10th.

Quote

8.4 Playoff Schedule

All games in playoff series' must be finished as listed below:

• Quarterfinals: End of July 17th

• Semifinals: End of July 24th

• Finals: End of July 31st

Quote

14.1 Transfer Deadline

• The deadline for transfers is set to 23:59 CE(S)T, on June 26th. No players can be added after this date either.

 

 

WECL 3 Rules.pdf

Edited June 4, 2022 by Claudi27