General Information

Dates:
Qualifier: 19th of September, 15 UTC
Swiss Stage: 26th of September 14 UTC
Playoffs: 3rd/4th of October 14 UTC
Bracket: TBA
Chat: FI2026
Live coverage:
Official: https://www.twitch.tv/faflive
Tournament Organiser: hybrid
Tournament Directors: TBA

Due to chat bugs and network issues, all official communication on the days of the tournament will be via discord in the appropriate text channel in the #tournaments section. If you cannot communicate through discord then the FAF Client will be used as next best option

Invites

The invites will be based on the players with the highest amount of LotS points. If a player declines, an invite will be sent to a player next in line. If a player has an equal amount of points with another player, the most recent gain will be prioritised. There are 12 total invites. To find out how the LotS points work, you can find the information here.

Format

Open Qualifier

The open qualifier will be a double elimination bracket. The upper bracket will be BO3. However, depending on the amount of signups, the number of BO1s vs BO3s in the upper bracket may be adjusted to ensure a timely tournament. The losers bracket will be BO1.
The seeding will be based on your ladder rating. So for example, the highest rated player will play the lowest rated player in the first round and so on.

Swiss Stage

• The Prelim Stage will be a 16 player Swiss format.
• Players that reach 3 wins advance to Finals.
• Players that reach 3 losses are eliminated.
• All matches are BO1 in this stage
• Rematches are not permitted
• Players will be matched with equal score opponents.

The format may be subject to some small changes.

The Top 8 players will be allowed to pick their opponents for the first round. The message will be sent out once the Qualifier has concluded and must be replied to as soon as possible.

Finals

The finals stage will be a classic single elimination bracket with all matches being BO5 (including 3rd place decider) apart from the Grand Finals which will be BO7.

Mappool

TBA One week before each stage starting point.

Faction and Map Veto System

The same as LotS and previous Invitationals. The functionalities are added to the website.

Rules

The official FAF Tournament Rules apply.
Some of the most important of these rules are:

1. Disconnects within 5 minutes may result in a rehost. The Tournament Director has the last say afterwards.
2. Players will replay the same map if they draw.
3. If the incorrect map is hosted, the correct map will be hosted and the incorrect map will not count towards the score
4. Players who do not appear without valid reasoning will be given a warning that may result in being temporarily suspended from tournaments.
5. If a player does not show up in Round 1, they may be replaced. For all subsequent rounds, it will be treated as a forfeit and they will be eliminated and not replaced.
6. All participants will be allowed a 15-minute wait at the start of a tournament to show up however after this 15 minute wait the Tournament Direct has the right to disqualify you from the tournament. In the case where you will be late but do intend to arrive you need to message the Tournament Director preferably via Discord to inform them you will be late but will show up. When doing this please provide an approximate time delay until you arrive, it will then be the Tournament Directors decision whether than delay is too long or acceptable. If your team loses a member, you may find a substitution within the rank requirements.
7. The Tournament Director's decision is final.
   You can read the rest here: https://forum.faforever.com/assets/uploads/files/1685891393985-official-faf-tournament-rules.pdf
8. Please make sure all lobbies are passworded and inform your opponents the password and casters if applicable.

Prizes

1st: $250 +
2nd: $150 + Faction Face Avatar
3rd: $70 + Faction Logo Avatar
4th: $30 + Faction Logo Avatar

Prizes are from the FAF Tournament fund.
If you would like to donate towards the tournament and receive a cool avatar, please contact me on discord (hyb/tbounce).

Reminder that all payments of official FAF fund prizes are subject to the official FAF tournament payout guidelines.
https://forum.faforever.com/topic/7161/faf-official-tournament-payout-guidelines

Invitees (Pending Response)

1. waffelznoob
2. Nexus
3. Farmsletje
4. Blast_Chilled (Accepted)
5. Lunyshko
6. Grimplex
7. Tagada
8. BlinChIk
9. Rhaelya
10. Karateka
11. ZLO (Accepted)
12. Turinturambar

Qualified Players

• TBA
• TBA
• TBA
• TBA