Blue Otter Draft League Official Ruleset
Last Updated 12/21/2026
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This ruleset outlines the specific rules and regulations for participants in the Blue Otter Draft League during the aforementioned split. This ruleset is implicitly agreed to upon registration and acceptance into the league.
All decisions regarding the interpretation of this ruleset, player eligibility, punishment, and any other terms or statements in this ruleset lie solely within League Staff, the decisions of which are final.
League staff have the right at all times to act with necessary authority to combat rule-sharking and to preserve the best interests of the league and the competition. This power is not constrained by the lack of any specific language in this document. League staff may use any form of punitive action at their disposal against any entity whose conduct does not fit within the best interests of the league and the competition.
Any modifications or revisions to this ruleset made during the competitive split will be clearly noted in the changelog at the end of this document. Rule amendments made during the split are only to be made if they have yet to affect any players or teams remaining in the competition.
Table of Contents
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Section 1.0 - Player Eligibility
1.1 - Player Account Requirements
1.2 - Other Eligibility Factors
1.3 - In-Season Climbing Cap
1.4 - Disclosure of Alternate Accounts
1.5 - Main Account
1.6 - Riot Punishment
1.7 - Elo-Sitting Clause
2.1 - Team Definition
2.2 - Team Captains
2.3 - Player Roles and Role Swaps
2.4 - Trades
2.5 - Substitutes
2.6 - Player Replacements
3.1 - Team Drafting Process
3.2 - Regular Season Format
3.3 - Playoff Format
3.4 - League Tiebreakers
4.1 - Lobby Creation
4.2 - Side Selection
4.3 - Match Reporting
4.4 - Gentleman’s Agreements
5.1 - Champion Drafting Process
5.2 - Disallowed Skins
5.3 - Game Punctuality and Breaks
5.4 - Team Voice Communications
5.5 - Game Pauses
5.6 - Game Disables
Section 6.0 - Player Conduct and Punishment
6.1 - Fair Play
6.2 - Unprofessional Conduct
6.3 - Infraction Table Reference
6.4 - Penalty Procedure
Section 7.0 - Twitch Streams and Content
7.1 - Stream Details
7.2 - Viewer Regulations
7.3 - Independent Streaming
7.4 - Content Overview
League Overview
Rank Range: Platinum IV 0LP to Masters 150 LP
Gold players can be considered
Entry Fee:
$10 USD - paid at the time of acceptance
Free Entry for players accepted as Draft Captains
OnlyOtters, BOL+, or ORG+ will have free entry to the league
Prize Pool:
​Sapphire League: $175
Ruby League: $125
Team Breakdown:
Sapphire (Upper) League Total Teams: 8 max
Ruby (Lower) League Total Teams: 8 max
Timeline:
Lottery Pick: TBD
Draft Night: 1/15/26-1/17/26 (Exact Date TBD)
Regular Season Start: Saturday, January 24th
Playoffs: Sapphire: TBD Ruby: TBD
League Website: https://www.blueotterleague.net/
League Discord: https://discord.gg/rkV2Umvk
Staff Directory​
Commissioners
The Bully
Trackson​​
Admins
Mr. Lean
Zaxe
Rucha​
Section 1.0 - Player Eligibility
1.1 Player Account Requirements
1.1.1 | Season 15 End Rank - A player must have ended LoL Season 15 between the ranks of Platinum IV 0LP and Masters 150 LP. This is the range in which players may be accepted. Gold players may apply, but will be considered at a lower priority than Platinum players.
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1.1.2 | Season 15 Peak Rank - A player must not have peaked above Masters 150 LP at any time within LoL Season 15.
1.1.3 | Ranked Game Quantity Requirement - A player must have 100 total Ranked Solo/Duo Queue games during LoL Season 15.
1.2 Other Eligibility Factors
League Staff may also use any other applicable measure at their disposal to determine a player’s eligibility. An example of this would be an individual’s Flex Queue rank. Whilst generally not used, it may be taken into consideration if an individual’s Flex Queue rank is extremely inconsistent with their Solo/Duo Queue rank.
1.3 In-Season Climbing Cap
A player may freely climb during the regular season after the draft has completed.
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1.4 Disclosure of Alternate Accounts
At registration, players are required to disclose every single account they are in possession of that is level 30 or above. Players are also required to submit any newly-acquired accounts during the season or any accounts that reach level 30 during the season. Players will also inform staff of any name changes on any of their disclosed accounts at any point in the season.
All accounts must be linked to the BOL OTTER BOT. If you are unable to locate the Otter Bot in the discord, please ask in simple questions or open a ticket in BOL. To link any and all League of Legends accounts, the player must be in the Otter Bot channel and can use the command “/link accounts”.
1.5 Main Account
A player will always have an account in their possession that is designated as their main account. This is the account that will primarily show on league documents, such as master sheets. League Staff will determine a player’s main account at the time of registration, based on factors such as LoL Season 15 peak rank, LoL Season 15 ending rank, number of games played, etc.
1.5.1 | Main Account Eligibility Requirements - A player’s initial main account must meet the parameters listed in Section 1.1
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1.5.2 | Change in Main Account - League Staff reserve the right at any time to change which account is designated as a player’s main account. This change will be based on some of the factors that originally determined the player’s initial main account, as well as significant changes to the ranks of the accounts during LoL Season 15.
As long as a player owns a main account that has met the criteria outlined in Sections 1.5.1, they may use any owned account to play in official league matches as long as the account is linked to the BOL bot.
1.6 Riot Punishment
Accounts that are compromised by Riot Games will also be compromised by BODL for the same amount of time.
1.6.1 | Main Account Compromised - If a player’s main account has been compromised, they will be ineligible to play in the league for the same time that their main account is compromised. This still holds true even if a player has an alternate account that they would be able to play official league matches on.
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1.7 Fearless Format
BOL Draft League will be running with a fearless draft format.
1.7.1 | Draft Constraints - Any champion drafted by either team is not allowed to be drafted at any point after that game.
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1.7.2 | Draft Bans- Each game will have all five bans.​
Section 2.0 - Team Structure
2.1 Team Definition
A “team” within the league is defined as a roster of five players. Teams must have a top laner, jungler, mid laner, bot laner, and support at all times. Teams may be permitted to have other personnel, such as drafting coaches, but are not required for the league.
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2.2 Team Captains
Team captains will be selected during the time of registration. Every team in the league will have a team captain, who will act as the main point of contact between the League staff and the team entity. At any point, league admins have the right to be in team servers to monitor behavior, as it directly relates to the league perception. Captains will also have extra duties, including but not limited to:
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Choosing a team name and logo from our available options, custom names and logos are allowed, pending admin approval.
Drafting players on draft night, and following the draft process.
Working with teammates to confirm availability on game nights, and finding substitutes for players who may or will not be available.
Organizing Drafter links, client lobbies, and inviting necessary players, staff, and production to game lobbies.
Properly reporting match results after a win.
Managing interpersonal team conflict, including trades between players.
Ensuring players on their own and their opponents’ teams are fully eligible for matches and are not in violation of any player eligibility requirements.
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Being accountable for their players' behavior to the best of their ability.
2.3 Player Roles and Role Swaps
Players will list their main and secondary roles on signup, and will be assigned a role before the draft. When players are drafted, they must be drafted for the role that they are listed as. Players within a team are able to swap roles as long as all players who are swapping and the captain agree to swap.
During the draft process, players must be drafted into the role that they are listed as on the master sheet. Once the draft has been concluded and all teams have been finalized, players will then be able to swap roles within their team.
Ultimately, the players have final say on role swaps. Captains or other players cannot force a player to swap roles if the player themselves isn’t interested in doing so.
2.4 Trades
Within the league, teams are able to trade players from one team to another. To submit a trade to League staff, a captain must create a support ticket and list the required admin/staff information as listed below.
2.4.1 | Trading Window - The trade window will open following the conclusion of Week 2 games and will stay open until 24 hours before the Week 5 games.
2.4.2 | Trading Consent - Before a trade can be confirmed, all parties that are included in the changes of the trade must fully agree to the trade. Typically, these are the two captains on the teams that are trading the players, and the players themselves who are being traded.
If the players being traded are also being role-swapped within their new team, the players who are being role-swapped will also need to consent to the terms of the trade.
League staff will ask for screenshot proof of all included parties giving consent to the trade before the trade is officially submitted.
2.4.3 | Trading Conduct - Players are encouraged to ask captains to be traded if desired; however, captains are not required to search for trades on a player’s behalf.
Players can be traded between the two divisions on a case-by-case basis. (Admins will review any cross-division trades to ensure there is no drop in competitive integrity.)
2.4.4 | Trading Restrictions- Each team may make two trades per split (2 players). Replacement slots cannot be traded for two regular-season weeks. Admins will approve all trades.
2.5 Substitutes
Teams can find substitutes for any player who will be unable to attend a match, with no penalty being given. A MAX of two substitutes can be used each week. Any more than this, and the team will FF their match for the week.
2.5.1 | Substitute Eligibility - All substitutes must meet the eligibility requirements listed in Section 1.1 to be eligible to sub. The highest rank of the following two will be considered:
End of Season 15 Rank
Current Season 16 Rank
The following criteria must be met to have a substitute approved:
Substitute player’s peak rank must NOT be 100 LP over rostered player’s peak in Season 15 or Season 16
Substitutes will be 50 LP BELOW the rostered player based on the higher of the two ranks listed above.
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2.5.2 | Emergency Substitutes - Teams have until 24 hours before the match start time to disclose a sub for approval before losing a ban. If a team submits a sub after this time, they will incur 2 ban losses every game the e-sub is used. This ban is the first ban of the first rotation and can be waived by the opposing team. Teams will be allotted a maximum of ten (10) minutes to scout any new, last-minute substitutes, but can elect to start matches before this time completes, if desired. If this time extends into the start time of a match, the start time of the match will be adjusted accordingly. After 10 minutes, another ban is lost. Anything over 20 minutes, the game will be counted as an FF for the team missing the players. The time it takes League staff to examine the eligibility of a substitute will not be a part of these ten minutes.
In PLAYOFFS, substitutes will incur ban losses for the team they are subbing for:
Before Friday 8pm EST: 2 ban loss
After Friday 8pm EST: 3 ban loss
2.5.3 | Right of Refusal - While the above regulations outline the eligibility for substitutes in most cases, League staff have the right to refuse any substitutes they reasonably feel would have an ability to compromise the competitive integrity of a match.
2.5.4 | Removal of Gentleman’s Agreements - In previous draft splits, teams have been able to “handshake” a substitute who is a higher rank than the substitute rules would otherwise deem to be ineligible. For this split of BODL, any subs that are higher ranked than the eligibility requirements listed in Section 2.5.1 will not be permitted to play.
2.5.5 | Captain’s Responsibility - Substitutes may be approved hours or days before the match start time on the basis that they will still meet the eligibility requirements at the match start time. It is ultimately the responsibility of the team captains to ensure that players and subs are still eligible at the match start time.
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2.6 Player Replacements
In a case where a player has either been removed from the league, ranked out of the league, or has had to drop from the league due to personal reasons, teams are eligible to find a permanent replacement player.
Replacement players will follow the same restrictions as the substitute rules listed in 2.5.
Section 3.0 - The League
3.1 Team Drafting Process
Once the league sizes for the Tier 1 and Tier 2 leagues have been determined, the draft process will initiate. The draft process follows these steps, in order:
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3.1.1 | Draft Order Creation - The draft order will be decided based upon a lottery selection, depending upon the end of Season 15 rank the captain finished as.
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Captains will select their draft spot based upon the lottery. If you need an example, think of the NBA Draft Lottery, just based upon end rank.
3.1.2 | Draft Night - Captains from the Tier 1 league will pick players for their teams in a snake draft format. Tier 1 captains will have the opportunity to pick any available player in the pool.
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Upon the conclusion of the Tier 1 draft, the Tier 2 captains will then pick their teams using the players remaining from the entire pool. Similar to the Tier 1 draft, this will take place in a snake draft format.
3.2 Regular Season Format
Both leagues will play a 7-week round robin (Pending overall number of teams) within their respective division. Upon conclusion of the regular season, teams will be slotted into seeds based upon the below playoff format and League Tiebreakers outlined in 3.4
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3.3 Playoff Format
Each league’s playoff format will consist of a double-elimination playoff bracket, with the top 4 seeds starting in the upper bracket and the 5th/6th seeds starting in the lower bracket. Round 1 of the upper bracket will be the only best of 3 series while the rest of the series will be best of 5.
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Lower Bracket Side Selection - Side selection will go to whoever dropped to the lower bracket more recently (round based). If they got dropped to the lower bracket at the same time, it will be given to the higher seed for game 1.
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3.4 Standings
Season standings will be decided based on series score. Standings will be decided by Series Score > Points > Head-to-Head> Tied teams head-to-head score.’
Should any tiebreaker games be required, they will be played at the conclusion of the regular season.
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Below is an example of how a three-way tie would be decided.
Team A vs Team B: 2-0
Team B vs Team C: 2-1
Team C vs Team A: 2-0
Team C would be the 1st seed.
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Point Breakdown:
2-0 Win - 6 points
2-1 Win - 5 points
1-2 Loss - 3 points
0-2 Loss - 2 points
0-2 Loss with 1 FF - 1 point
​FF - 0 points
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Section 4.0 - Match Setup
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4.1 Lobby Creation
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All league matches will be created via tournament codes and will be posted on the website weekly.
4.2 Side Selection
4.2.1 | Side Selection for Regular Season Matches - The team on the left side of the schedule will be given side election for Game 1. Side selection for games 2 and 3 will be given to the team that lost the previous game.
4.2.2 | Side Selection for Playoff Matches - (Upper bracket) The higher seed in the matchup will be given Side Selection for game 1. Side Selection for all other games in the series will be given to the losing team in the previous game. (Lower Bracket) Side selection will go to whoever dropped to the lower bracket more recently (round based). If they got dropped to the lower bracket at the same time, it will be given to the higher seed for game 1.
Side election must be picked and disclosed within 24 hours before the scheduled match time. If a team does not disclose their side in the captain's chat by the deadline, they will default to blue side.
4.3 Match Reporting
Upon the completion of a series, it is the responsibility of the winner of the series to report the match details.
For each game played in the series, the winning team must take a screenshot of the post-game lobby, list the game ID, the third-party drafting link, and note any inconsistencies between the third-party draft and the lobby draft.
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Section 5.0 - Game Setup
5.1 Champion Drafting Process
The following are the steps that will be taken at the start of every individual game:
5.1.1 | Lobby Positioning - Both teams will join the lobby and arrange themselves into “LCS Order”. This order from the top to the bottom of the lobby is Top Lane, Jungle, Mid Lane, Bot Lane, and Support. Other members, like coaches or streaming personnel, will be in the spectator area of the lobby. This order must be formed before any sort of drafting can begin.
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5.1.2 | Third Party Drafting - It is a requirement for every game to use a third-party drafting tool. The standard drafting tool used by BOL is Drafter.lol. It is the responsibility of the blue side team (or the side with side selection in Game 1 of a playoff match) to create the drafting links and distribute them to all necessary people.
5.1.3 | Client Drafting - After the conclusion of the third-party draft, players will select their champion, with the same picks and bans as the third-party draft. Players are allowed to trade champions until the 20-second mark in the client draft. It is recommended that both teams signal that they are ready for the in-client draft before the lobby owner starts the game.
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5.2 Game Punctuality and Breaks
It is the responsibility of each player to be on time and punctual for their matches. Players and teams are expected to be in the lobby, in LCS order, and ready to begin drafting at the start time of the game. Between games, teams will have a maximum of ten (10) minutes to strategize and prepare for the next game.
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The following are the penalties for being late to the start of a game:
First Game of Series
Start Time: Time listed on the schedule or agreed upon rescheduled time/date.
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5 mins late: loss of one (1) ban.
10 mins late: loss of two (2) bans.
15 mins late: loss of two (3) bans.
20 mins late: forfeit of the series.
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Subsequent Series Games
Start Time: 10 mins after prev. game
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5 mins late: loss of two (2) bans.
10 mins late: forfeit of the game.
Teams will not be penalized for waiting on any neutral delays (production team, League staff scrutinizing a substitute, etc.). Whilst teams can punish other teams for not being ready at the designated time intervals, it is considered good sportsmanship to give a small amount of leniency for unforeseen life circumstances.
5.3 Team Voice Communication
Players and other team personnel are able to be in team calls during game breaks and in the drafting process. Anyone other than the five team players must leave the voice call with 0:10 seconds left on the in-client draft timer.
Coaches and other personnel are not allowed to join team voice channels during pause time unless otherwise permitted.
5.4 Game Pauses
Teams can pause any game for reasonable technical difficulties and unforeseen life circumstances.
5.4.1 | Pause Time Allocation - For both streamed and non-streamed games, teams are each allowed ten (10) minutes of pause time per game. Once these ten minutes have elapsed, the game must continue, and the team initially pausing must resume the game.
The extra ten minutes of pause time are only to be used by staff in cases where they need to make a ruling or decision regarding the game that is paused.
5.4.2 | Reasonability of Pauses - Teams must only pause the game when there is a legitimate reason to do so. Common examples of this are player technical difficulties and unexpected life events. League staff can tell teams to unpause the game at any time, especially if the reason for the pause is unnecessary. A common example of this is teams pausing the game right before it is about to clearly end.
5.4.3 | Pausing in Combat - Teams may not pause a game while any two players are in combat. Being in combat refers to a situation where a player reasonably directs an ability or attack at an opposing player, or uses an ability or summoner spell as a reaction to the opposing player’s action.
5.5 Game Disables
There may be times within the split where champions, items, runes, or other game entities are disabled. If this is the case, League staff will communicate information about a disable via the league discord. Once information about a disable has been communicated through the server, any use of the disabled entity will be seen as intentional.
Please carefully read the information about the disable. Often, the specific information regarding the disable or the period of time during which the entity will be disabled are listed on the post.
Section 6.0 - Player Conduct and Punishment
6.1 Fair Play
Players are prohibited from engaging in any behaviors that would be seen as unfair to the competition:
6.1.1 | Collusion - Any agreement between two or more players to disadvantage opposing players.
6.1.2 | Hacking - Any modification of the League of Legends game client by any player, or entity acting on behalf of a player.
6.1.3 | Exploiting - Intentionally using a previously communicated in-game bug or entity that has been disabled.
6.1.4 | Smurfing - Playing on another player’s account, or reasonably inducing, encouraging, or directing an individual to play on an account that is not owned by themselves.
Players may also not receive coaching or any other communication regarding the current game from anyone besides their four teammates.
6.1.5 | Match Fixing - No player may offer, agree to, conspire, or attempt to control the outcome of a game outside of their own play. “Throwing” is also not permitted. Players are also not allowed to “throw” their elo-sitting games and may receive punishment if suitable evidence is brought forth regarding this.
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6.2 Unprofessional Conduct
Players and community members alike are prohibited from expressing any of the following behaviors:
6.2.1 | Hate Speech - Nobody will be permitted to use language or actions that can promote, incite, or encourage discriminatory content.
6.2.2 | Harassment - Nobody will be permitted to use systematic or hostile acts that take place over a considerable amount of time. These acts are commonly used to isolate or ostracize an individual or group of people.
6.2.3 | Abusive Behavior - Abuse or unreasonable flame towards any player, League staff member, or community member alike will not be permitted.
6.2.4 | Disrepute to BOL - Nobody is permitted to use language, expressions, or actions that tarnish the reputation of the league or any associated sponsors.
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6.2.5 | Unsportsmanlike Conduct - It is the expectation of the players of the league that you complete the season unless a compelling reason is provided for the non-completion of the league. As such, threats or jokes for “trade or drop” are not allowed and are subject to punishment, up to but not limited to removal from the league and disbarment from participation in future seasons from any and all Blue Otter League tournaments.​​​
6.3 Penalty Procedure
When a team is forced to lose bans based on a given infraction, they will always lose the earliest available bans.
If a team has a total of six (6) or more ban losses for a given game, the opposing team may elect to take an automatic game win or still play the game with only five ban losses.
Section 7.0 - Twitch Streams and Content
7.1 Stream Details
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BOL will often try to stream one series live each week. The rules in Section 7.2 will apply to official BOL streams only.
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7.2 Viewer Regulations
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7.2.1 | Disclosure of Results - No player or community member is allowed to disclose the results of a streamed game before the game has ended on the livestream.
7.2.2 | Stream Sniping - No player or community member is allowed to “stream snipe” in order to gain a competitive advantage.
7.3 Independent Streaming
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BOL encourages players and community members to stream matches if possible and willing..
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BOL does not take responsibility for any competitive advantage that an opponent gains through “stream sniping” on independent streams. To combat this, the league recommends that independent streamers put at least a three (3) minute delay on all of their match streams.
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BOL does not take responsibility for any competitive advantage that an opponent gains through receiving access to a team’s communications. In order to combat this, the league recommends that independent streamers mute their communications and hide their screen in between games and during the drafting phase.
7.4 Content Overview
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Sometimes, community members may create content surrounding players or teams. Individual participation in this content is not required, although, upon registration, players give BOL and other associated community members permission to use the player’s name and likeness in content.
Change log
12/21/2026 - Updated Rulebook for season 4