A league is a Tournament played over several sessions on different days (L1). This section lists everything that changes in a league. If a League Rule differs from another rule, the League Rule applies at the league. Matches are flown and scored the same way as at any Tournament.
<L1> Leagues are Tournaments played across multiple sessions. A league has several ranking sessions on different days, then a League Finals session with Alliance Selection and Finals Matches. It is one event, under one Event Partner, with one ranking carried through all sessions.
- Each session uses the Game Manual version in effect when that session starts (see Game Manual Updates).
- Registration, judging, awards, and Championship qualification follow the Global Robotics and Science Foundation’s league guidance.
<L2> League structure. A league has at least three ranking sessions, at least one week apart, followed by a League Finals session.
- Each ranking session has at least two Qualification Matches per Team.
- The League Finals session may also include Qualification Matches before Alliance Selection. They continue the Round order (L4) and count for ranking and participation (L5).
- T9 applies to the Teams at each session. Across the whole league, Teams may play different numbers of Matches; L5 explains how they are ranked.
<L3> Drones are inspected at every session. A Drone passes full inspection (D4) before its first league Match, and again at every later session it attends.
<L4> Rounds and Scoring Systems continue across sessions. Rounds are numbered straight through all sessions, and T10c applies to the whole league. The Scoring System order carries over from session to session and never restarts.
- A Match replayed at a later session (GG7) uses the Scoring System of its original Round.
<L5> League rankings. Teams are ranked by their average Qualification Match score (T11a). Teams that play in less than sixty percent of the Qualification Matches available rank below Teams that play in at least sixty percent.
- “Matches available” means all the Qualification Matches scheduled per Team across every session, whether or not a Team attended. For example, three sessions with four Matches each means twelve are available, so Teams that play eight or more rank above Teams that play seven or fewer.
- Being a no-show (GG2) still counts as participation.
- Extra Matches under T9b don’t count for ranking or participation.
<L6> Drone Skills Matches at leagues. At each ranking session, a Team must play its scheduled Qualification Matches to play Skills Matches (T17).
- Each Team may play up to three Piloting Skills Matches and three Autonomous Skills Matches per session, instead of per event.
- A Team’s Skills score is its best Piloting plus Autonomous total from a single session, not its best of each from different sessions. That session’s Matches are used for tiebreakers (T20a) and global rankings (T20b).
- Example: Session 1 has Piloting 45 and Autonomous 25, a total of 70. Session 2 has Piloting 42 and Autonomous 30, a total of 72. The Team’s score is 72, and Session 2’s Matches are used for tiebreakers.
<L7> The League Finals session. Alliance Selection and Finals Matches happen at the League Finals session under T13 to T16, with these changes:
- To be an Alliance Captain or be invited, a Team must be checked in at the League Finals session and have played at least one Qualification Match in the league. Otherwise it is skipped.
- For T14, “Teams at the event” means Teams checked in at the League Finals session that have played at least one league Qualification Match. The Event Partner publishes the number of Alliances before Alliance Selection at the League Finals session; the T14c deadline doesn’t apply.