Player Limitations:

Each bracket will be broken up to pool players within a similar ranked Elo range together. This might mean players initially pooled in one bracket will be moved to another.

Players who have dominated and won a bracket previously are likely to be moved up a bracket.

Maximum ranked elo is 1475 for the top bracket when The Warchief Club is on. Weeks when The Warchief Club is not scheduled the top bracket elo increases to 1550. The Rising Empires admin team may also take into account ranking, recent game history, and other matchmaking data for bracket qualification and seeding.

Format:

Brackets and seeding:
- Players will be bracketed and seeded according to their Age of Empires IV ranked elo primarily.
- Maximum player ranked elo is 1475.
- Bracket Elo ranges are approximate.
- We may take into account other matchmaking data, game history, and past performance in events when deciding on bracket and seed placement.
Four Swiss rounds of matches with a unique map in each round.
The top 4 or 8 players after the swiss stage will move on to a single elimination bracket.
- Swiss bracket tie breaks decided based on Head-to-Head, opponent's point total, opponent's win %.
- Quarterfinals are Best of 1 (Bo1). They will be played if the bracket exceeds ~16 people in the swiss stage.
- Semifinals are Best of 1 (Bo1).
- Finals are Best of 3 (Bo3).
- Third place tie break is optional. It can be Bo1 or Bo3.
All matches must be observable and have at least a 1-minute in-game delay.
Maps are determined as listed in the section below.
Game setup:
- Observable
- 1 minute observer delay minimum, 5 minute maximum
- Biome selection up to player creating the custom game
- Map size: Micro (2 Players)
Map restarts:
- Each player has 1 restart for crashes before the 10-minute mark.
- Each player has 1 restart per series for map generation before the 2-minute mark.
  - Bad map generation means a clearly broken (i.e. bugged) map. For example, entirely missing resources near your first town center.
  - If you call a restart for bad map generation, please contact the admin team and provide a screenshot for documentation.
- If any crashes happen after 10 minutes, the replay will be reviewed with the following potential outcomes:
  - If both players crash: A restart is made.
  - If the Advantaged player crashed: The player is entitled to a restart.
  - If the disadvantaged player crashed: The player is given a loss.
  - If the state of advantage is unclear: The map is deemed a draw and a new map & civilizations draft is made.
Round Length and match timer:
- If a match has not been started within 20 minutes of round check-in, the player causing the delay will forfeit the round.
- While we do not have a rule limiting the length of rounds, we strongly encourage players to be mindful of the fact that every round is as long as the longest game in that round.

Added Rules:

Using Stone Walls in Age 2 (Feudal Age) is disallowed.
Using any type of third party software is disallowed.
Any other form of glitch/bug exploration is disallowed. For example, deleting fish with walls, or chaining incomplete buildings for HRE repair.
Players must play on their highest ranked account. Smurfing will result in disqualification and a ban.