Terminology

Bracket
A flow chart indicating who should play whom at any point during a tournament.

Game
A match between 2 players. In tournaments, players must win X number of Games to win the Set.

Round
A unit measured within a Game. Once a player wins X number of Rounds, they win a Game.

Set
Number of Games that must be won to advance to the next bracket round or claim victory.

Judge
An individual chosen to run a bracket. A judge is a tournament official and will be empowered to control the flow of matches on a bracket. While Judges can resolve conflicts it is often advised that you seek out a Tournament Director for substantial issues.

Tournament Director
An individual overseeing the event judges and managing competitor experiences. Tournament Directors are empowered by the event organizers to resolve conflicts in line with event rules.

Event Organizers
The person or people responsible for running the event.

Registration

Online Registration will be open until May 5, 2023. Competitors may register for COMBO BREAKER tournaments until that date. Players who enter during online registration will be separated by geographic region and, when possible, existing tournament results.

Registering on site is limited to non-competitior, community registration. Registering for COMBO BREAKER tournaments will not be available on-site. Please register online if you plan to compete in our tournaments.

Media Release

NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY:

When you enter a COMBO BREAKER LLC (“CB”) event, you enter an area where photography and audio and video recording may occur.

By entering event premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for inclusion in websites, social media, broadcast and any other purpose by CB and its affiliates, representatives, promotional partners, sponsors, agents, and anyone else authorized by CB. Images, photos, and/or videos may be used for any and all promotional and commercial purposes.

You release CB, its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, editing, publication and use of interviews, photographs, images, video and/or sound recordings. By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any use, exhibition, streaming, web casting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such use, exhibition, broadcast, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by CB or the person or entity designated to do so by CB.

You have been fully informed of your consent, waiver of liability, and release before entering the event. So remembering it when you check out a show.

Attendee Expectations

General Expectations

You are expected to leave appropriate time to comply with entry requirements and remain both patience and courteous while waiting to receive credentials, undertake security checks, or check-in for event activities.

You are expected to monitor your health and refrain from attending the event in the event of illness.

You need to keep your personal property on you at all times. Do not leave items unattended in the venue spaces. COMBO BREAKER is not responsible for lost or missing property.

You will comply with all event policies, signage, and staff instructions. You acknowledge that policies and instructions may change before or during the event with limited warning.

You agree to respect the personal boundaries of your fellow attendees so that everyone can enjoy their time at the event.  

Competitor Expectations

You are responsible for knowing which tournament pools you are playing in. Our tournament pools can start as early as 10am CDT on May 26, 2023. Pool arrangements will be posted prior to the event so that you know when and against whom you will be facing. Due to COMBO BREAKER’s anticipated volume of entrants, and in an effort to provide for players uniformly, preferential pool placement cannot be provided. All participants are separated, as much as possible, by region. By the nature of a tournament you may at some point, somewhere, face a training partner or teammate in the bracket. Those are the breaks. May the best player win.

When sitting down to play an opponent you are responsible for verifying that all controllers have been desynced from the tournament console. Controllers can be desynced in the console’s settings in the Bluetooth devices section.

If you wish to compete on a specific side (left or right, player one or player two) of the match and cannot agree to sides with your opponent, then sides will be determined by a a single game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS). The winner of RPS will select a side.

Spectator Expectations

Cheering and jeering from the crowd is perfectly fine, as is a healthy level of trash talk and playful banter. However, if you cross the line into malicious, threatening, or discriminatory behavior, you will be removed from the venue. Do not try to intentionally make other attendees uncomfortable. Control yourself and treat others with respect.

Additionally, no attendee is allowed on a COMBO BREAKER stage unless directed by or approved by a stage manager. Any attendee jumping on-stage without prior permission will be ejected from the venue and barred from returning to the event.

Prohibited Items

The event prohibits attendees from possessing firearms, ammunition, knives, fireworks, expolosives, chemical weapons, or any tool of violence during the event. The venue also prohibits carrying or possessing these items. Leave them at home. Failure to adhere to this prohibition will result in being removed from the event without refund.

Illegal drugs and narcotics cannot be brought into the event space or the venue. Leave it at home. Kick rocks. 

Food and Beverage

Food and beverages are available in the venue concessions area. Outside food and beverage is not permitted in the venue except for water. Outside alcohol is prohibited. Alcoholic beverages must be purchased from the venue. Underage drinking will result in expulsion from the event without a refund.

Pets

The event and venue do not allow pets on-site. Service animals can be exceptions but must be discussed with the event and venue in advance.

Smoking

The event and venue are non-smoking locations. Smoking areas outside the venue are available. Smoking in the event space will lead to your expulsion from the event without a refund.

Code of Conduct

COMBO BREAKER has a zero tolerance policy toward violence, threats of violence, intimidation, inappropriate contact, harassment (sexual or otherwise), and other forms of personal misconduct. Any incident or threat of violence, harassment, aggressive intimidation, or inappropriate contact of any kind will result in a minimum 1-event to lifetime attendance ban.

Attendees of COMBO BREAKER agree to be bound by the decisions of COMBO BREAKER LLC and anyone acting on its behalf, which shall be final and binding in all respects. COMBO BREAKER reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify or remove any individual it finds to be tampering with the type, process, or operation of the event, to be acting in violation of event rules, to be causing a disturbance to the event and its attendees, or this code of conduct.

You have been fully informed of, and agreed to, the event code of conduct prior to attending the event.

Prohibited Activities

All attendees at COMBO BREAKER are solely responsible for their own conduct while participating in the event. Guardians are solely responsible for the conduct of any Minors Participating in the event.

By participating in the event in any way, You agree and acknowledges to COMBO BREAKER and its event partners that you will not, and will not directly or indirectly cause others to, do any of the following “Prohibited Activities” in connection with the event:

(1) interfere with, damage, or engage in any act which disrupts the operation of the event or prevents any other attendee from Participating in the event by any means;

(2) distribute, wear, transmit, upload, display or otherwise circulate offensive content. Offensive content is determined at COMBO BREAKER’s sole discretion;

(3) impersonate any other person or entity or perform fraudulent activities;

(4) sell goods or services, display goods or services, make solicitations, or conduct any commercial activities without approval from COMBO BREAKERt;

(5) harvest, collect, or attempt to collect the personal information, email addresses or other contact information of COMBO BREAKER attendees without the consent of such attendees;

(6) defame, harass, abuse, threaten or defraud other attendees

(7) circumvent, disable, damage, remove or otherwise interfere with the security, integrity, or proper conduct of the event;

(8) access any unauthorized part of the event;

(9) access any digital platform associated with the event by means of any robot, spider, scraper, crawler or other automated means for any purpose;

(10) participate in the event for any illegal purpose, or in violation of any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation;

(11) smoke within the Venue, including but not limited to, cigarettes, vape pens, and marijuana;

(12) drink or possess alcohol within the venue outside of the specifically designated areas. No one under the age of 21 may consume alcohol within or around the venue;

(13) use, sell, possess, or distribute any illegal drugs or other illegal substances;

(14) assault, steal, fight, engage in or incite violence of any kind, including, but not limited to, verbal threats of violence; and

(15) possess and/or use any of the following prohibited items in connection with the event:

• a firearm, ammunition, knife, or weapon of any kind
• objects or toys that appear to be firearms, ammunition, knives, or weapons
• self-defense or restraining devices
• fireworks or other explosive or flammable objects
• glass containers
• recreational devices such as drones, remote control toys, skateboards, scooters, inline skates or shoes with built-in wheels
• strollers which are greater than 31” in width and 52” in length
• folding chairs
• selfie sticks
• Balloons.

NOTE: COMBO BREAKER has a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for weapons of any kind. Event security and local law enforcement officials will treat anything that looks like a real gun as a real gun

Check-In Protocol

Pool check-in begins 10 minutes before the start time for the pool. For example, if you are in a 12pm (Noon) pool you can check in with your bracket runner by 11:50am. If you are in a 5pm pool, you can check in starting at 4:50pm. If you are not checked by the time your pool starts, you risk being disqualified from the Winner’s Bracket and, eventually, the tournament.

You are responsible for checking in to your pool on time. If the rare event that you are competing in multiple tournaments at once, you must notify your bracket judge of the overlap.

We will be on time, and we expect you to be too.

Bracket Formats

COMBO BREAKER tournaments feature double-elimination open brackets. Our tournaments may feature single phase brackets or brackets with multiple phases depending on the amount of entrants. Our bracket phases include: Qualification Pools, the Semifinal Bracket, and the Tournament Finals. For preparation, our tournament brackets will be put online two weeks before the event so that registrants can review their placements.

Single-Phase Bracket

Single Phase Brackets are utilized when a game has fewer than 32 competitors. Single Phase Brackets are contested with double-elimination pools, where advancing players move directly into semifinal matches without additional brackets phases being utilized. Players continue advancing in this bracket until a Tournament champion has been crowned.

Multi-Phase Bracket

Qualification Pools

The tournament’s first phase consists of pool play. Each pool contains 9 or more players, spread out based on the overall size of the tournament. Each pool uses a standard double-elimination bracket until 3 players, 1 on the Winners side and 2 on the Losers side, remain. These 3 players advance to the next phase. (In certain cases, the number of players advancing from each pool may be 2 or 4, depending on the total number of tournament entrants.)

Semifinal Bracket

Semifinals contain a new double elimination bracket containing the 3 advancing players from each Qualifying Pool. Players are placed into the bracket based on which pool they were in and whether or not they lost in the Qualifying Pools. Losses in the Qualifying Pools carry over into the Semifinal bracket. Players advancing out of the Semifinal bracket go into the Tournament Final bracket.

Tournament Finals

Tournament Finals are a continuation of the Semifinals bracket. Losses from the Semifinals bracket carry over. No one advances from the Tournament Finals bracket as this bracket determines the Tournament Champion.

Prizing

Our tournament winners will be awarded custom medals and/or trophies. All Top 8 competitors will receive finalist medals. Top 4 competitors of approved All In Together: Community Tournaments will also receive finalist medals. Additional sponsored prizing may be awarded and will be noted in an individual games rules if it is.

PAYOUTS FOR OUR 2023 TOURNAMENTS

100% of Game Entry Fees go into their respective Prize Pools.
Percentages below represent the listed player’s cut of an individual game’s prize pool.

Tournaments with 63 competitors or fewer will pay out to the top 3.

1st Place – 50%

2nd Place – 30%

3rd Place – 20%

Tournaments with 64 competitors or more will pay out to the Top 8.

1st Place – 42%

2nd Place – 24%

3rd Place – 14%

4th Place – 8%

5th Place (tie) – 4%

7th Place (tie) – 2%

Tournaments with 256 competitors or more—as well as tournaments with pot bonuses—may utilize different payout percentages. These breakouts will be listed in individual game details pages.

POT BONUSES

Pot Bonuses, when provided by developers or sponsors, will be split based on their respective requests. Pot Bonuses raised through community crowdfunding will be awarded according to the 2023 payout percentages listed above.

RESTRICTIONS

Attendees under the age of 18 will need to have a parent or guardian fill out a form to accept any prizing they earn. All prize recipients may be requested to fill out a W-9 or W-8 tax form to recieve prizing.

Disqualifications

You can be disqualified for not following event rules and/or an individual game’s tournament rules. If you are disqualified from a game you are not entitled to a refund. If you are on time and follow event rules (and common sense) this will not be an issue for you. If you do not know where to be and at what time, or what rules to be following, ask a Tournament Official. Tournament Official rulings are final. Arbitration will only be provided, as warranted, by COMBO BREAKER’s Event Directors.

Collusion

Conspiring with your fellow competitors is considered cheating. If the Tournament Directors determine that you have colluded to manipulate tournament results you will be immediately disqualified. Intentionally under-performing to advance a friend or team mate is collusion. Anyone disqualified in this manner forfeits all rights to titles, prizes, and bragging rights they would have earned. Determinations are made at the sole discretion of the Tournament Directors. Bracket runners and judges cannot, and will not, make this determination.

Controllers

Bring Your Own Controller (BYOC)

You are responsible for having a pad controller, arcade stick, or other input device to play on. This controller must adhere to tournament rules and be available to you when your match is called. Lending your controller to another player and not having it when your match is called is not a valid excuse for delaying the tournament. Be warned that in this situation you may receive a loss if you are delaying the bracket.

Regulations on Wireless Controllers

All controllers, even those for casual play only, are required to be wired to a console. Wireless controllers, of all kinds, are not eligible for play unless specified as legal in a game’s individual rules. A wireless controller with the batteries removed and powered exclusively through a USB connector will be considered legal. Wireless controllers that operate exclusively through a USB dongle will also be considered “Wired” controllers.

You are responsible for your controller and its functionality. If your controller’s wireless sync interferes with tournament matches it will be confiscated. There is a zero tolerance policy at COMBO BREAKER for controller’s that pause another competitor’s match. If you are found to be using an unapproved wireless controller you will be disqualified from the tournament and have your controller confiscated until the end of the event.

PlayStation 4 Exception: The PlayStation DualShock 4 controller is legal for tournaments contested on the PlayStation 4. It is your responsibility as a competitor to desync controllers prior to your matches from the PlayStation 4’s Devices menu in the system settings. Please take ownership of ensuring you have an uninterrupted experience.

Controller issues: (Pausing, Turbo, Hardware Binds, & more)

Pausing

If a game pauses during play, immediately signal your bracket judge. Unless the Inevitable Defeat condition is met (see below), the player whose controller paused the game will receive a Round loss. The round loss due to a pause could simultaneously result in a game loss if the pausing player’s opponent is on game point, as well as a set loss if the opponent is on set point. If the game does not have rounds, e.g. Dragon Ball FighterZ, the pause results in a game loss, and could result in a set loss if the opponent is on set point. For games with stocks, e.g. Smash Bros. Ultimate, the pause results in a stock loss, and could result in a game loss if it was the player’s last stock. In the event that the game pause is due to a legitimate hardware malfunction you will be allowed to get another controller and continue the Set, if possible.

Inevitable Defeat

The Inevitable Defeat condition comes into play if a pause occurs during a move or animation, and after the game has been unpaused, the round or game ends (i.e. a player is KOed) with no further inputs from either player. If this condition is met, the pausing player will not be penalized a round/game, and the set will continue as normal. For games with stocks, the Inevitable Defeat condition can only apply if both players were on their final stock, with all other pause situations resulting in a stock loss.

Macro & Turbo Functions

Turbo and program (macro) functions in all controllers are banned. If you are caught using them you will be disqualified for cheating.

Hardware Button Binds, so long as they trigger all of their inputs on the same frame, are legal. You may not use binds that combine directions and actions. This means a button that presses light punch+hard punch at the same time is legal, but a button that presses forward and light punch is not. Hardware Macros are not allowed. If you are using a device that has hardware modifications you must present it to the bracket runner prior to the start of your pool to check its legality.

More clarity from the controller experts at PhreakMods: Leverless devices that handle SOCD (Simultaneous Operation of Cardinal Direction) properly are not considered to cause impossible behavior and are tournament legal. Controllers that handle these operations and do not allow opposing directions on the same frame include Hit Box, Godlike Controls Cthulu+. PhreakMods Cerberus, and Akishop Customs PS360+, and Brook Universal Fighting Boards.

TL;DR: Don’t cheat, earn your victories.

Bugs & Glitches

Intentionally triggering a bug or glitch that stops the game from being played counts as a loss for the triggering player. Discovering a bug or glitch in tournament does not count as a loss. It is at your Bracket Judge’s discretion to determine culpability.