Hello sportsfans! It is once again that most wonderful time of year, Alliance Tournament Season! It is once again time for the alliances in New Eden to pit themselves against their peers in epic combat, where they fly ships out of their own hangars so each loss matters . Last year we had a spectacular tournament capped off with Verge of Collapse's victory in the finals, and I'm certain this year will be even better.

We've been requesting commentator applications for the past few weeks and we're now moving on to the interview stage to select the best possible team to bring you the action. In the meantime we are ready to unveil this year's full rules and format, as well as the process by which alliances will sign up and enter the competition.

I'd first like to quickly comment on the previously announced rules surrounding which players are allowed to compete on behalf of their alliances. Quoting the blog linked above:

"Lastly, to fly with an alliance in the Alliance Tournament XI you will need to have been a member of that alliance from downtime this morning, at 11:00 UTC May 15th. Each alliance may only field one team."

This rule is intended to ensure that players compete on behalf of the alliance which they belong to during both tournament season, and the off-season (their home alliance) and to allow us to more efficiently protect from B-teams without needing to resort to draconian measures. It is not intended to punish players who may have been caught outside their home alliance for some minor reason. For this reason we have been considering request for exceptions, as mentioned in the discussion thread for the last blog.

The vast majority of our granted exceptions so far have all followed the exact same set of criteria:

• The character in question was not in any alliance at the time of the cutoff on May 15th.
• The petitioning player wishes to rejoin the alliance that the character was most recently a member of.
• The character in question has spent a significant amount of time in this alliance over the past year.

We have not been granting exceptions for corporations or players who were members of alliances on the 15th, as they are encouraged to compete with that alliance.

If you think that you qualify for an exception please send a petition to the Community category with as much detail of your situation as possible. We will be considering all requests that are sent to the Community petition queue before June 9th 2013. If you have already sent in a request, then CCP Gargant will either have already sent you a response or will be sending you a response very soon.

For any alliances looking to gain an edge by entering a competitive tournament before the big event, we highly endorse the Syndicate Competitive League, a player-run tournament series which will be holding its fourth tournament on June 22nd and 23rd. The SCL is an excellent opportunity for teams to get real tournament experience and since it is held on the Singularity test server you won't need to dip into your Tournament savings fund to compete! The SCL tends to fill up early so get in touch with them as soon as possible if your team is interested in competing.

Below you will find the full Tournament Format and Rules document, including match rules, ship points and signup procedure.

Major changes from previous years that you shouldn't miss include:

• Tournament format has been converted to one 64 team double-elimination tournament, with no pre-qualifying or group stages.
• Minimum entry payment has been reduced to 5 plex, as we pass our cost optimization improvements on to you.
• We will be providing a dedicated tournament practice server for competing teams.
• We have a new tiebreaking system that takes advantage of time dilation.
• Several ship point changes, remote reps allowed on T1 Support Cruisers and Support Frigates, and a limitation of one remote energy transfer module per ship.
• Number of identical ships allowed reduced back to three.
• Hardwirings beyond 3%s are not allowed (Leadership mindlinks are an exception)
• The ship banning system from the New Eden Open is being introduced into the Alliance Tournament during the second and third weekends.
• Flagships are immune from banning.

Format

Death to all complicated points math!

Up to 64 alliances will be granted entry to Alliance Tournament XI. The tournament takes place in one stage, a 64 team double elimination bracket with random initial seeding.

Please note that both the format and match rules are subject to change. It is strongly advised that participants watch the EVE Alliance Tournament forum regularly for announcements.

The team entries will be split; 32 teams in a random draw and 32 teams through a silent auction process. The random draw will take place first and those 32 teams will be announced on the main tournament page. We will then hold a silent PLEX auction for the remaining 32 slots via EVEmail. If multiple teams submit equal bids for the last spot in the silent auction, the choice of teams will be made randomly to ensure exactly 32 team entries from the silent auction.

If a team drops out of the tournament for any reason, their spot will be offered to the next highest auction bidder that was not successful in the auction.

The only eligible bidders in the silent auction will be the CEO of the alliance executor corporation and the Team Captain as nominated in the sign up page.

Payment

Entry for the random draw will be 5 PLEX per alliance. Each alliance who wishes to enter the draw must submit 5 PLEX, in the redeeming system of the CEO of the executor corporation, which will be withdrawn before the draw. All PLEX will be retained by CCP and teams who are not successful in the random draw can use these PLEX to bid for a spot through the auction. If you are not successful in either the random draw or auction, your 5 PLEX will be refunded to the CEO character of the alliance executor corporation.

Competition Dates

• Alliance Signup Period – June 3rd until June 9th at 23:59 UTC
• Live stream of the 32 team random draw - June 11th
• Silent Auction Period – June 12^th to the 16^th at 23:59 UTC
• Participating Teams & Schedule Confirmed - June 19th
• Tournament Weekend One (Non-studio, no banning) - July 20^th & 21^st
• Tournament Weekend Two (Studio, Banning active) - July 27^th & 28^th
• Tournament Weekend Three (Studio, Banning, Finals) - August 3^rd and 4^th

Tournament Entry

All entrants will be required to sign up via the Alliance Tournament section of the EVE Online website. The 64 competing teams will be decided as follows:

• 32 Teams will be drawn randomly. The draw will be held live on CCP’s official Twitch.tv stream on June 11th, and recorded.
• 32 Teams will bid for positions with a silent PLEX auction over EVEmail. All silent auction bids will be sent to CCP Gargant ingame.
• Entry into the random draw will cost 5 PLEX, auction slots will begin at 5 PLEX and have no maximum price.

Practice Server

This year we will be dedicating the Duality test server as a dedicated Alliance Tournament practice server. This will allow us to more easily tailor our updates and mirrors to the needs of tournament teams. Access to this server will be restricted to a list of pilots and/or corporations provided by each team captain or alliance executor CEO.

We expect this server will significantly streamline the tournament practice process and allow more alliances to take advantage of team practices in the lead up to the tournament. It will run the same version of EVE that will be used for the live tournament, it will not be mirrored during practice season, and it will have no daily downtime.

More information about the Duality Practice Server will be coming soon.

Tournament Format

Alliance Tournament XI will be held as one continuous double elimination tournament with random initial seeding. There will be no pre-qualifying rounds, and no groups rounds.

The match rules and format will remain largely the same throughout the entire tournament, with the following exceptions:

• To save time and complication, there will be no ship banning for the matches taking place in the first weekend. Ship banning rules will be in effect for the second and third weekends.
• The final three matches of the winners bracket, as well as the final two matches of the losers bracket, will be best of three series.
• The finals will be a best of five series, with the team entering from the winners bracket starting one win up.

Since this format is much simpler and far superior, there are no additional notes and we don’t need to split important rules across two pages!

Rules

Tournament Rules

This is a single-stage, double elimination tournament with 64 teams allowed to enter.

As a player, you may only compete for a single alliance, regardless of how many player-accounts you own.

All competing pilots must be members of the alliance for which they are competing, and have been a member of that alliance by 11:00 UTC May 15^th 2013.

All alliance members are eligible to compete in any match in which their alliance is taking part, subject to all applicable rules; teams do not have to remain the same between games.

Please note that both the format and match rules are subject to change. It is strongly advised that participants watch the tournament forum regularly for announcements.

Match Rules

Teams can field up to twelve pilots on the battlefield.

Fights are limited to 10 minutes. If a fight reaches time, it will be stopped and whichever team has the higher total points value will be declared winner. See "Victory Conditions", below.

Intentional pod killing is NOT allowed and may result in the offender being punished. All podkills will be reimbursed.

The match simulation is taken as is. Teams are advised to spend the pre warp-in time to verify that their ships are completely operational.

Penalties

A player found breaking any rules can be penalized to various degrees, depending on the severity of the offence. All penalties are incurred at the tournament referee's discretion. Decisions are final. Penalties may be levied against a player or team and may include but are not limited to:

• Points deduction
• Reducing the offending ship(s) shield / armor / hull / capacitor to 50%
• Involuntary moving of the offending ship(s)
• Removal from the fight
• Ban from competing for one or more matches.
• Ban from competing for the remainder of the tournament, and/or any future tournaments.

The referees can call a match null and void or declare a result if they believe that one of the teams is not competing. This tournament is designed to showcase the talents of pilots and should be entertaining.

Place & Tactics

Participants should be prepared, in their chosen ships and in a fleet, 20 minutes before their scheduled fight time. Teams will be brought by a GM to a star system in uncharted space and designated as team 1 and team 2. If you are not ready within this time allocation you will be disqualified from this match and the opposing team will be given an automatic win.

For matches in the second and third tournament weekend, captains must be online and available 45 minutes prior to the match to make their ban choices. Further details on bans can be found in the subsection Ships and bans.

There are eight beacons in the system, which serve as start off points. Four beacons are marked for Team 1 and four marked for Team 2. Teams will be moved to the beacon of their captains choosing.

Once the word is given, teams warp in to the beacon at a range of their choosing, up to a maximum of 50 km. Team members are allowed to warp in at different ranges.

The arena will measure 125 km radius around the central beacon.

The host will begin a countdown. When the countdown ends, the host will break target locks of all ships in the arena.

If a player warps out/leaves the arena, his/her ship will be destroyed. This includes disconnection emergency warps. This rule is in effect before and during the match.

Warping within the arena is NOT allowed.

Dropping cargo containers or other anchorable items is NOT allowed. Dropping regular jettison containers is allowed.

The following restrictions are in place after teams warp to the arena beacon, until the match begins:

• Locking players before the match starts is NOT allowed.
• Activating aggressive or targeted modules before the match starts is NOT allowed.
• Launching drones before the match starts is NOT allowed.
• Moving before the match starts is NOT allowed.

Boarding a ship during the match is not allowed.

Ships & Points

Each team has 100 points with which to select their ships.

Each team may have up to 12 ships on the battlefield.

Teams may field no more than 3 of a given ship. This applies to specifically named ships only, and not ship hulls. For example, 3 Merlins, 3 Hawks, and 3 Harpies would be legal.

Teams may field no more than 1 logistics ship, or 1 tech one support cruiser, or 1 support frigate.

Ship point values are as follows. Ship types not listed in the table are not allowed.

• Battleship, Pirate Faction - 20
• Marauder – 19
• Battleship, Navy Faction - 19
• Battleship - 17
• Black Ops Battleship - 17
• Command Ship - 16
• Strategic Cruiser – 16
• Recon Ship – 14
• Battlecruiser, Navy Faction – 14
• Battlecruiser (Including Gnosis) – 13
• Logistics Cruiser - 13
• Cruiser, Faction - 12
• Heavy Assault Cruiser - 12
• Heavy Interdictor – 12
• Tech 1 Support Cruiser - 10
• Cruiser - 7
• Bomber - 5
• Electronic Attack Frigate - 5
• Frigate, Faction - 4
• Assault Frigate – 4
• Tech 1 Disruption Frigate - 4
• Interdictor - 3
• Interceptor - 3
• Destroyer - 3
• Tech 1 Industrial Ships - 3
• Frigate - 2

Fitting Restrictions

All T1 and T2 modules are allowed, with the following exceptions:

• All Remote Armor Repair modules and Remote Shield Transfer modules are NOT allowed, EXCEPT on ONE of: a Logistics Ship, a Strategic Cruiser, a Tech 1 Support Cruiser, or a Tech 1 Support Frigate.
• Only ONE Remote Energy Transfer module is allowed per ship.

Faction, COSMOS, deadspace and officer modules are NOT allowed.

T1 Rigs are allowed. T2 Rigs are NOT allowed.

All T1 and T2 ammunition, missiles and charges are allowed. Faction ammunition, missiles and capacitor boosters are allowed.

All drones are allowed, including Logistics drones and Augmented drones.

Attribute Enhancers that give bonuses to anything other than perception, intelligence, willpower, memory, and charisma are NOT allowed.

Genolution "CA-" implants are NOT allowed.

With the exception of leadership Mindlinks, only Hardwirings that have a name ending in "1", "2" or "3" are allowed.

Leadership Mindlinks are allowed.

Boosters (drugs) are NOT allowed.

Cloaking is NOT allowed.

Cap Boosters are allowed.

Micro-jump drives are allowed.

The Ancillary Shield Boost module will be restricted to one module per ship for those pilots who wish to fit them.

Flagships

Any standard T1 or Faction battleship hull may be designated as a flagship.

Team captains must indicate to the GM managing their match if they intend to use their flagship in any given match, and which pilot is flying the flagship.

Flagships are able to fit faction, officer, cosmos, and Deadspace versions of the following modules, ignoring tournament rules to the contrary:

• All Highslot Modules (not including remote armour repair modules, remote shield transfer modules, or cloaking devices)
• Electronic Warfare Modules
• Weapon Upgrade Modules
• ONE Shield Booster or up to TWO Armour Repairers

Flagship ship types must be created in advance and their ship type submitted to CCP Alliance Tournament via EVEmail no later than July 14th. The fittings for a flagship do not have to be disclosed. The names of flagships do not to be disclosed or remain constant this year, unlike previous tournaments. Fittings may also be changed from match to match.

All flagship hull types will be published in the flagships section of the EVE Online Alliance Tournament site following the deadline date.

A flagship may be fielded in any match, even if its ship type has been banned, and counts as a normal ship in every way other than the ones defined above.

A flagship costs the same points value as for a normal ship of its type.

You are under no obligation to field your flagship in any given match.

If your flagship is destroyed, it may not be fielded again during the tournament.

Victory Conditions

During a match, a team scores points for each enemy ship it kills, equal to the tournament points value of that ship. The team that has scored the most points at the conclusion of the match, or that destroys the entire opposing team, is the winner.

If a team chooses to field less than 100 points, non-fielded points count towards the opponent's score.

If a fight is tied after 10 minutes, time dilation will be used to progressively speed up the tournament solar system and encourage a prompt end to the match.

In the very unlikely case that a fight is tied after 15 minutes, the victory will be awarded to the team that had more collective potential team DPS at the beginning of the match, as measured by the tournament automated “attack bar”.

Ships and Bans

Banning of ships will occur during all matches in the second and third tournament weekend. The matches in the first weekend will not include banning.

Team captains must be online and available to conduct ship bans 45 minutes before the start of each match in the second and third weekends. At 44 minutes before each match if the captain is unavailable their team’s bans are forfeit.

Each team gets two bans.

The way the banning phase works is as follows:

The team which starts the banning phase is decided randomly

All ships that are eligible for competition are eligible for banning.

Bans are done in 1 – 2 – 1 order rather than the 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 that we saw in the New Eden Open. For example Team A will take the first ban, Team B will take the second and third ban, and Team A will finish the banning phase with the fourth ban.

Each ban has a time limit of 30 seconds; if no ship is selected within that timeframe the ban is forfeit.

Each ban targets a specific ship type and not a ship class or other hull. For example, banning the Harpy would not exclude the Hawk or frigates in general.

Flagships can be used even if their ship type has been banned for a match.

Teams should endeavor to have multiple ship setups available as bans may impact your primary team setup. No additional time will be given if teams do not have eligible ships available.

During the final day of competition, some matches will require teams to be ready within 15 minutes after the completion of banning. We expect that many teams will find this time limit challenging. The best teams in New Eden will be the ones that can adapt quickly.

That covers our rules and format for this 11th Alliance Tournament! As mentioned above, these rules are all subject to change if needed, so we advise competitors to periodically check the EVE Alliance Tournament section of the official forums for any news.

We will be broadcasting the whole tournament live and for free on our CCPGames twitch.tv page, so subscribe there to be updated instantly when the action starts! To watch past tournaments, head on over to the CCP Games Youtube channel!

We are very excited to work alongside all of our viewers and competitors to bring you another exciting Alliance Tournament, and we wish all the competing alliances the best of luck with your preperations.