Hello everyone! With only one month left in the Season, it’s time for an update on what you’re actually fighting to qualify for. Both the Invitational and the Last Chance Qualifier are rather different from the last time around, so please read on, and read carefully!

The Last Chance Qualifier

Not much has actually changed for the Last Chance Qualifier, but the date has. The Last Chance Qualifier will now be held on Sunday, January 22nd, begining at 1pm EST. The rules for the tournament are exactly the same as a regular ETS Weekly (Swiss Tournament, cut to Top 8) with three exceptions. Firstly, the Last Chance Qualifier does NOT award Invitational Points – Points totals are locked before the Invitational. Secondly, the Last Chance Qualifier will be inviting FOUR players to the Invitational, so once you reach Top 8, win once and you’re in. Finally, players who have received an Invitational invite are not eligible to play in the Last Chance Qualifier, and will be disqualified from the LCQ if they register. The Last Chance Qualifier will be streamed on the RNG Eternal Twitch channel.

Register for the Last Chance Qualifier

The Season Two Invitational

The Season Two Invitational will be held over two days, beginning at 12pm EST on Saturday, January 28th and continuing at 12pm EST on Sunday, January 29th.

For the Season Two Invitational, we will be inviting a staggering thirty two players! In order to give the best coverage we possibly can, and give the players time to play without rushing through the entire event, we’ve decided to break the event up over two days. Play will stop on day one after Winner’s Bracket Round 3 and after Loser’s Bracket Round 4, at which time there should be only 8 players left in the tournament. Play will begin again on Sunday with Winner’s Bracket Round 4 and Loser’s Bracket Round 5, however matches will not occur simultaneously. Every match from this point forward will be played live on stream – once you reach Top 8, you’ll be featured on stream. This should greatly improve the viewer experience and narrative, but will also increase the duration of the tournament. The stream for both days will be live on aReNGee’s Twitch and should begin an hour before the tournament starts.

Qualifying for the Invitational

Thirty-Two (32) players will be playing in the Season Two Invitational, and they will be invited from the following sources:

Seven (7) players earn their invites by winning a weekly tournament

Seven (7) players earn their invites by finishing second in a weekly tournament

The top Four (4) players of the Last Chance Qualifier will be invited

Fourteen (14) players will be invited based on Invitational Points

Invitational Points will lock after the final Season Two ETS Weekly on Saturday, January 21st, and all invitations will be sent out by Sunday, January 22nd. Players will be invited based on Invitational Points by starting with the highest non-qualified point total, then inviting players in descending order. In the event of a points totals tie, some tiebreak method will be determined if necessary – most likely both players will be invited and one, or both, will not be able to attend, rendering a tiebreak unnecessary. At the time of this writing, the fourteenth highest non-qualified Point total was Seven (7) Points, so you’re going to need at least that many points if you want to qualify!

The 14 highest non-qualified Invitational Points holders will be indicated on the Invitational Points page, as will the approximate cutoff line.

Players will be formally invited on Sunday, January 22nd, and have until 11:59pm EST Tuesday, January 24th, to confirm their attendance. At this time, all players who have declined their invitation or failed to confirm their attendance will be considered not to be attending, and replacements will be invited from the remaining Invitational Points players, in descending order beginning with the highest non-qualified point total. In this way, it’s possible to qualify for the Invitational even if you’re not already invited, but I don’t recommend that you rely on this method of qualification. Replacement Players will be contacted on Wednesday, January 25th and have Twenty-Four (24) hours to confirm their attendance.

Decklists for all Invitational Players are due at Noon EST on Friday, January 27th. No Exceptions.

Format and Seeding

The Invitational is a Thirty-Two (32) player Double Elimination tournament. Matches are played best of three even in Loser’s Bracket, with the exception of the Winner’s Finals, Loser’s Finals, and Grand Finals, which are played best of five. The player who reaches the Grand Finals through the Winner’s Bracket has Winner’s Advantage and must be defeated twice for the Loser’s Bracket player to win the tournament.

Players are seeded based on how they qualified:

Weekly Winners Weekly Finalists Last Chance Qualifier Players Invited based on Invitational Points

Players will be seeded within their qualifier ranking based on Invitational Points, if necessary. A viewer’s guide will be available once all the players have confirmed their attendance.

Season Two Invitaional Prizing

First Place: $50 Steam Card (this ones a real steam card), a coveted Champion Discord Badge, and 6 Series Points

Second Place: $30 “Steam Card” and 4 Series Points

Third Place: $20 Steam Card (also real) and 3 Series Points

Fourth Place: $10 “Steam Card” and 2 Series Points

Fifth and Sixth Place: 1 Series Point

What are Series Points?

Full Rules

Players must preregister Eternal main deck with no fewer than 75 cards and no more than 150 cards. They must also register a sideboard, of up to 15 cards. Decks must be legal for Eternal ranked play at all times, with the following additions: No more than four copies of a single card may be included between main deck and sideboard. You must own every card you register. You deck must meet Eternal power restrictions (minimum 1/3rd power, maximum 2/3rds power).

Decklists are public information and will be made publicly available on the day of the tournament.

Individual matches are played in challenge games between the two players. In order to facilitate this, add your paired opponent as a friend on Eternal, then challenge them.

Matches are best two out of three for the majority of the Tournament Bracket. You must play your main deck as registered for the first game of every match. After the first game, both players may take time to swap cards between their main deck and sideboard. Your deck must adhere to all previously mentioned deck construction rules after sideboarding.

The Loser’s Finals, Winner’s Finals, and Grand Finals will all be played in Best of Five Matches.

The winner of the Winner’s Finals has Winner’s Bracket advantage and will need to be defeated twice.

There are no draws allowed, intentional or otherwise.

Disconnects: Unfortunately disconnects do happen, and it is good sportsmanship to wait as long as possible for the other player to return. If you lose a game due to a disconnect, it counts as a game loss, even if you were winning beforehand. You have ten minutes from the end of the game to return and complete your matches, or you will be assigned a match loss and dropped from the tournament.

Unfortunately disconnects do happen, and it is good sportsmanship to wait as long as possible for the other player to return. If you lose a game due to a disconnect, it counts as a game loss, even if you were winning beforehand. You have ten minutes from the end of the game to return and complete your matches, or you will be assigned a match loss and dropped from the tournament. Players who violate one or more rules will receive a warning from the Tournament Organizer for the first offense, will be disqualified from the tournament for a second violation, and will be banned from the Eternal Tournament Series for frequent or flagrant offenses.

Tournament Matches

Matches are paired through the Challonge bracket, but a round only begins on the Tournament Organizer’s mark. Rounds may be held in order to ensure a Feature Match is ready.

Once the Tournament Organizer has declared that a round has begun, players will have 50 minutes to complete their matches.

Players won’t necessarily play every round. Players in Winner’s bracket or a later Loser’s bracket round will need to wait for an earlier round to complete before playing their matches, even if their opponent is available.

In the event of a round finishing before a match, the current game will be suspended. The player with more game wins in the match will be awarded the match win. If the players are tied, a screenshot of the current gamestate will determine the winner, in the same manner as the game itself: The player with the highest life total will win, then the player with more cards left in their deck, then the player who went second in the game.

Match results will be reported through Challonge directly. Both players must report the results of their match.

Normal timing rules apply – once you’ve been notified of your pairing, you will have ten minutes to contact your opponent. If your opponent does not contact you, PM me. Failing to show up in 10 minutes constitutes a game loss. You will have a further 5 minutes to appear and play your match down a game, starting in game two with both players playing their main deck. If a player does not appear within that 5 minute time frame, they will be dropped from the tournament.

There are no round time extensions for tardiness.

On Day Two, all matches will be held live on stream. The Tournament Organizer will keep players informed as to who is next to play and the timing of their match.

Card Release Legality

Cards become legal for tournament play a certain number of days after they are released, depending on the size of the release. This is to allow players to reasonably acquire the cards they need for the tournament. If a card is not legal for tournament play, you may not include it in your tournament deck. The rules are as follows:

Promo releases are legal once it is possibly to have acquired a playset of them. This is usually four days after they are released.

Small sets are legal for tournament play one week after release.

Large expansions are legal for tournament play two weeks after release.

Rules Violations

Being disqualified from a tournament invalidates all the Invitational Points you would have gained from that tournament, but does not prevent you from playing in future tournaments. Tournament bans are permanent but may be repealed at a later date.

We rely on the honor system for many of the aspect of our tournament system, and ask that you respect that by behaving in a reasonable and respectful man. It is our goal to provide everyone with the best tournament experience possible, and will do what we can to provide it. We reserve the right to disqualify or ban any player who we feel has intentionally attempted to exploit the system, even if they have not broken any rules currently listed here.

Illegal Deck – If you play or reveal a card in your deck that is not in your registered decklist (main or sideboard), you will receive a game loss and be forced to switch to your unsideboarded main deck as registered. If you notice during the Mulligan phase and can provide a screenshot of the card in your opening hand before actions have been taken, a warning will be issued and the current game will be nullified and remade.

– If you play or reveal a card in your deck that is not in your registered decklist (main or sideboard), you will receive a game loss and be forced to switch to your unsideboarded main deck as registered. If you notice during the Mulligan phase and can provide a screenshot of the card in your opening hand before actions have been taken, a warning will be issued and the current game will be nullified and remade. Mis-Sideboard – If you play or reveal a card in your deck that is not in your registered main deck but IS in your sideboard during the first game of a match, you will receive a game loss. However, you will be allowed to sideboard with your proper registered deck before playing additional games. If you notice during the Mulligan phase and can provide a screenshot of the card in your opening hand before actions have been taken, a warning will be issued and the current game will be nullified and remade.

– If you play or reveal a card in your deck that is not in your registered main deck but IS in your sideboard during the first game of a match, you will receive a game loss. However, you will be allowed to sideboard with your proper registered deck before playing additional games. If you notice during the Mulligan phase and can provide a screenshot of the card in your opening hand before actions have been taken, a warning will be issued and the current game will be nullified and remade. Illegal Sideboard – If a player registers a deck with an illegal deck or sideboard configuration (too many copies of a card, too many sideboard cards, etc) they will be contacted to alter it if the error is found before decklists become public. If the error is found after decklists become public, the error will be rectified in the simplest way possible: Too many sideboard cards: The player will play the first fifteen legal sideboard cards they registered. More than 4 copies of a card between main deck and side deck: The main deck copies are assumed to be correct. Copies beyond 4 will be removed. Illegal Card: If a player registers a banned card or a card that doesn’t exist, that card will be removed from their decklist. If any of these modifications render a player’s main deck ineligible for ranked play, that player is disqualified from the tournament.

– If a player registers a deck with an illegal deck or sideboard configuration (too many copies of a card, too many sideboard cards, etc) they will be contacted to alter it if the error is found before decklists become public. If the error is found after decklists become public, the error will be rectified in the simplest way possible: Stream Sniping – Watching or otherwise receiving information from the streamed broadcast of a player you are currently playing is a violation of the rules. Watching streamers during tournament rounds you are not playing them is fine! However, once the round begins and you learn your opponent, you must immediately leave their stream until the match is over. Simply muting it is not good enough. While this is difficult to find and enforce, if a player provides plausible proof that you are Stream Sniping, you will receive a warning. This is considered a flagrant offence and you will be permanently banned for multiple offenses.

– Watching or otherwise receiving information from the streamed broadcast of a player you are currently playing is a violation of the rules. Watching streamers during tournament rounds you are not playing them is fine! However, once the round begins and you learn your opponent, you must immediately leave their stream until the match is over. Simply muting it is not good enough. While this is difficult to find and enforce, if a player provides plausible proof that you are Stream Sniping, you will receive a warning. This is considered a flagrant offence and you will be permanently banned for multiple offenses. Immediate Concession – Any match you play, you must actually play the match! You cannot snap concede a round without dropping from the tournament. If you do so, you will be dropped from the tournament.

– Any match you play, you must actually play the match! You cannot snap concede a round without dropping from the tournament. If you do so, you will be dropped from the tournament. Collusion/Prize Splitting – While weekly tournaments have no cash prizes, the lure of an Invitational Qualification is strong. If it is suspected that one player intentionally threw a match to allow another player to qualify, the matter will be investigated.

– While weekly tournaments have no cash prizes, the lure of an Invitational Qualification is strong. If it is suspected that one player intentionally threw a match to allow another player to qualify, the matter will be investigated. Multiple Accounts – Registering for a single tournament using multiple accounts is not permitted. It is also prohibited to play in a tournament using multiple accounts regardless of whose account they are and who registered them. If it’s discovered that you are playing on multiple accounts, you will be disqualified from the tournament and the incident will be investigated to determine if an ETS ban is necessary.

– Registering for a single tournament using multiple accounts is not permitted. It is also prohibited to play in a tournament using multiple accounts regardless of whose account they are and who registered them. If it’s discovered that you are playing on multiple accounts, you will be disqualified from the tournament and the incident will be investigated to determine if an ETS ban is necessary. False Identity – You may not play a tournament match on an account that you do not personally own, to ensure that all results are attributed to the correct player. Violaters will be disqualified and investigated.

– You may not play a tournament match on an account that you do not personally own, to ensure that all results are attributed to the correct player. Violaters will be disqualified and investigated. Unsportsmanlike/Abuse – Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. You are allowed (indeed encouraged) to congratulate your opponent on the win and maybe share some lighthearted salt about unlucky/lucky draws, but please do not harass your opponents or other players. If you have been asked to stop, you’ve crossed the line and need to stop complaining. Never call an opponent anything demeaning or inappropriate. They engaged you in a fair contest and you should respect that. If you feel that the contest was unfair (and I don’t mean unlucky) please consult the Tournament Organizer. This is considered a flagrant offense and you will be dropped and potentially banned after your first warning.

– Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. You are allowed (indeed encouraged) to congratulate your opponent on the win and maybe share some lighthearted salt about unlucky/lucky draws, but please do not harass your opponents or other players. If you have been asked to stop, you’ve crossed the line and need to stop complaining. call an opponent anything demeaning or inappropriate. They engaged you in a fair contest and you should respect that. If you feel that the contest was unfair (and I don’t mean unlucky) please consult the Tournament Organizer. This is considered a flagrant offense and you will be dropped and potentially banned after your first warning. BM – BM is not in and of itself a rules violation. In moderation, such as torching your own face before making a lethal attack, it is harmless. However, excessive BM is exceedingly disrespectful towards your opponent and will not be tolerated. If frequent complaints about BM are made, your play will be investigated.

– BM is not in and of itself a rules violation. In moderation, such as torching your own face before making a lethal attack, it is harmless. However, excessive BM is exceedingly disrespectful towards your opponent and will not be tolerated. If frequent complaints about BM are made, your play will be investigated. Slow Play – Yes, there are some difficult decisions to make, but you slow down the rest of the tournament. Complains of frequent slow play will result in an investigation.

– Yes, there are some difficult decisions to make, but you slow down the rest of the tournament. Complains of frequent slow play will result in an investigation. Reasonable Limits – If we suspect you have broken any laws during the course of a tournament, we reserve the right to disqualify you and/or investigate.

– If we suspect you have broken any laws during the course of a tournament, we reserve the right to disqualify you and/or investigate. False Report – If you constantly report the incorrect match results, you will be investigated and potentially disqualified and/or banned. In the even of a match dispute, a screenshot of your profiles recent match history should reveal the winner.

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