FBDL Season 2 Rulebook

1. Introduction

Final Boss Draft League (FBDL) is a competitive, community-driven League of Legends draft league designed to test player skill, adaptability, and teamwork in a structured seasonal format. This rulebook exists to clearly outline league expectations, procedures, and competitive standards to ensure a fair, organized, and enjoyable experience for all participants.

FBDL staff reserve the right to interpret, clarify, or amend rules when necessary to preserve competitive integrity or address unforeseen situations. Any changes will be communicated clearly and applied at staff discretion.

By participating in Final Boss Draft League, all players acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to abide by the rules and expectations outlined in this document.

2. Schedule

• Draft: April 11th
• Regular Season: April 18th - May 16th
• Swiss Stage Round 1: May 17th
• Swiss Stage Round 2: May 23rd/24th
• Swiss Stage Round 3: May 30th/31st
• Playoffs Semifinals: June 6th/7th
• Playoffs Finals: June 13th/14th
• Games begin at 8:00 PM EST

3. Player Eligibility

3.1 Riot Account

3.1.1 The player must abide by Riot Games' account policy. Players that violate the policy are subject to punishment by Riot Games and subsequently the Final Boss Draft League.

3.1.2 The player must provide ALL of their accounts and any alternates to the website that have been played on within the past 2 full seasons. If a player plays on an account that is not added to the website during the season, they will be given a warning. Further infractions could result in disciplinary action.

3.1.3 Discovery of undisclosed accounts (especially if they are higher in rank than submitted accounts) is subject to disciplinary action by the Final Boss Draft League.

3.1.4 If a player's Riot account is suspended, the player is subject to removal from the Final Boss Draft League until the suspension has ended.

3.1.5 If a player's Riot account has been permanently banned, they are subject to removal from participation in the Final Boss Draft League.

3.2 Name Changes

3.2.1 In accordance with (3.1.2), Players are responsible for submitting name changes on the website prior to playing on the name changed account in an FBDL capacity.

3.3 Player Acceptance

3.3.1 Player acceptance is at the full discretion of the Final Boss Draft League.

3.3.2 AFTER the season sign-up sheet has been released, but BEFORE the season's official start, players will receive a confirmation message from the Final Boss Draft League Staff. This message will ask to confirm the players season availability, roles, and acknowledgement that they have read/will abide by the rules. Once the player confirms this, they will be accepted into the draft class for that season.

3.4 Captaining

3.4.1 During sign-ups, the player may decide to check the box to become a season captain. Season captains are selected at the discretion of the Final Boss Draft League administrative staff.

3.4.2 Captains will receive a separate confirmation message from player participants via Final Boss Draft League staff. Once confirmed, that individual will be a captain that season.

3.4.3 Captains must be players as well.

3.4.4 Captains are responsible for creating and managing team Discords, creating and submitting rosters on each game day in a timely manner, keeping players up to date on team related business, being the point of contact for their team for FBDL staff, and overall ensuring their players have a quality experience to the best of their ability.

4. Draft

4.1 Draft Board Formation

4.1.1 Players who signed up and are confirmed for the league will be placed on a draft board. Each player will have 2 roles that they have selected during sign-up and can play for the remainder of the tournament.

4.1.2 Each player will be assigned to Tiers 1-3 based on relative skill, with Tier 1 being the perceived strongest players.

4.1.3 Players will be assigned point values within Tiers to further differentiate relative value. This point value will be used during the season in many different ways.

4.2 Captain Pick Order

4.2.1 The draft will proceed in a modified snake order. Captain pick order will be determined randomly (8 team example below).

4.3 Draft Processes

4.3.1 Prior to or during the draft, captains may trade any combination of players/pick spots with one another. Trades must be submitted to Final Boss Draft League staff and approved before taking effect.

4.3.2 Rounds 1-3: Captains may only select players from Tier 1. Rounds 4-7: Captains may only select players from Tier 3. Rounds 8-11: Captains may only select players from Tier 2 until all players have been selected to a team.

5. Roster Management

5.1 Game Requirements

5.1.1 The maximum games that can be played by a player throughout the season is 14 games.

5.1.2 The minimum games that MUST be played by each player is 11 games.

5.1.3 If a team is unable to meet the minimum game requirements come season end, they will be ineligible for playoffs.

5.1.4 If a team attempts to use a player who is already at the maximum game amount, the game will be an automatic forfeit.

5.2 Trading

5.2.1 Trades may include any combination of players so long that each roster maintains 11 players.

5.2.2 All trades must be submitted to FBDL staff in the captains channel.

5.2.3 Trades must be approved by FBDL staff before taking effect.

5.2.4 Trades may occur at any time during the season up until the trade deadline (May 9th 8pm EST).

5.2.5 Once both captains involved in a posted trade react to the Discord message, the trade is officially submitted for review. Captains, do your due diligence before hitting the react button, and also take screenshots for your own records. If a captain takes back their reaction after submitting a trade, and staff never saw them react in the first place, have proof of their reaction otherwise there is nothing staff can do to help enforce the trade.

5.2.6 When two players are traded, for minimum/maximum game requirement purposes, they inherit the games played of the person they are being traded for.

5.3 Substitutes

5.3.1 Substitutes for the regular season will only happen if a player needs to be dropped from a team for the remainder of the season.

5.3.2 The only exception to rule 5.3.1 is that subs are allowed, only in the final week of regular season, only if the alternative is disqualification, given an unavoidable, unexpected circumstance. The sub can only play enough games to reach the minimum games played for the player, and the sub must be a perceived clear downgrade from who they are replacing based on staff discretion.

5.3.3 All subs will be approved at the discretion of the Final Boss Draft League Admin team. Any subs not approved by staff cannot play that series.

5.4 Roles

5.4.1 Players must play one of the two roles they are assigned.

5.4.2 Rosters may be submitted with players in any order, as long as each player is slotted in one of their two assigned roles. Which roles each player is playing may be changed from the roster submission at any point up until game start, as long as each player is still playing one of their two assigned roles.

5.4.3 Captains are given two role swaps per season to use for free. These role swaps are able to swap a SINGLE role on a SINGLE player on their roster to a different role. They are also permitted three additional role swaps after the first two are used, but each one after the first two will cost the team 2 points deducted from their total points in standings.

5.4.4 If a player is designated as "Role Locked", this means they are locked INTO their two roles, it does not mean they are locked OUT of any specific role(s).

6. Regular Season Procedures

6.1 Pre-Game

6.1.1 Rosters for game 1 are to be submitted by 7:45pm EST on the day of each series and draft is to be started by 8pm EST.

6.1.2 For following games rosters are to be submitted within 10 minutes following the previous game's conclusion, and players are expected to be in lobby ready to start draft within 5 minutes after that (15 minutes after previous game's) conclusion. Penalties for being late are -1 first phase bans/5 minutes late until 20 minutes late where the game will be an automatic forfeit. These penalties are barring extenuating circumstances that may adjust this ruling based on staff discretion.

6.1.3 Due to players being locked to two roles, they may play either of these roles and are not required to inform the other team of which of the two roles each player will be playing. Rosters may be submitted out of order as long as each player loads into game playing one of their two designated roles.

6.1.4 If a roster is submitted and any sort of issue is found with the submission before draft phase (such as: a player does not show up or has to leave, or the wrong roster was submitted, etc.). The player may be substituted out (with another player from the team) with a ban loss. The ban loss begins at -1 and increases by 2 bans for each infraction throughout the season. For the first two infractions, these are all first phase bans Once a team is on their fourth infraction, they lose 3 standings points ontop of the 5 ban loss for each sobsequent infraction. This is a rule to only be used in emergency situations and is not to be abused. If a team is thought to be abusing this rule, they will be subject to disciplinary action by FBDL staff.

6.1.5 If there is a roster issue similar to what is outlined in rule 6.1.3, but it is during or post draft phase, the game is a forfeit or the team must continue the game without the player.

6.2 Lobby Setup

6.2.1 Tournament codes will be given out by admins, these lobbies will be used for all games.

6.2.2 Players are required to have streamer mode disabled for streamed games. For a first offense, there is no punishment, subsequent infractions will result in a -1 ban loss in their following game.

6.3 Side Select

6.3.1 Side select for the first game of the series will be given to the team with the lower point value roster.

6.3.2 For games 2 and 3 of the series, the team who lost the previous game will have side-select in the next game.

6.4 Discord

6.4.1 Prior to game start, all 5 players in the game must be present in their team's respective discord call. Only the 5 players actively playing are allowed in the call during the game.

6.5 Champion Select

6.5.1 Champion select will be done using 3rd party draft tools (drafter.gg, draftlol.dawe.gg, etc.)

6.5.2 Whichever team is on the blue side is responsible by default for preparing the draft tool, but either team can.

6.5.3 Teams are responsible for making sure picks and bans in the in-client draft following the 3rd party draft are accurate.

6.5.4 In client champion select, players may not swap champions after there is 30 seconds remaining on the countdown clock until the game begins.

6.5.5 If a player asks the opposing team to line up in role order post draft phase, they are required to do so.

6.5.6 Teams must have their roles selected in the lobby prior to stating they are ready in lobby chat. Additionally, both teams (and production if the game is streamed) must have stated they are ready in lobby chat before the game is started.

6.6 New Champions/Reworks

6.6.1 All new or reworked champions will be unavailable to play for 2 weeks following their release.

6.7 Bugs

6.7.1 Bugged champions/items etc. will be announced via an announcement prior to games and will be unavailable for the described time period in the announcement.

6.8 Pauses

6.8.1 Each team is allotted 20 minutes of pause time per series (per day for playoffs). Pauses cannot take place during combat (up to staff discretion).

6.9 Results

6.9.1 Game results are to be reported in the #match results channel and on the website.

7. Regular Season Standings

7.1 Point System

7.1.1 Standings will be determined by the amount of points a team has. (Note: While this correlates with win/loss, it considers additional factors to adjust to a final value.) The teams with the most points will be at the top of the standings, the teams with the least points will be at the bottom of the standings.

7.1.2 Each team will be rewarded 10 points for a game win.

7.1.3 Additionally, there are ways for a team to gain or lose points based on the incentives listed below:

7.1.4 Points (with incentives) will be automatically updated in real time to show standings after game day has concluded (aside from unique champions).

Example standings with incentive calculations can be found below:

7.2 Tiebreakers

7.2.1 Should any number of teams have the exact same number of points, tie breakers will be determined in order as follows:

• Total wins
• Head-to-Head

8. Playoffs

8.1 Qualification and Subs

8.1.1 The top 8 teams will qualify for playoffs.

8.1.2 All subs will be approved at the discretion of the Final Boss Draft League Admin team. Any subs not approved by staff cannot play that series.

8.1.3 Substitutes for playoffs will be allowed on a game by game basis, however do keep in mind vetting for these subs will be stricter than in season.

8.1.4 Subs must be confirmed with staff 48 hours before series start or there will be a penalty of -2 first phase bans for each game the player is used in the series.

8.1.5 Role swaps may still occur during playoffs, and they will follow the same rules as regular season. Meaning, that your first two role swaps are still free if you haven't used them during regular season, but any role swaps after that will cost the team 2 points deducted from their total points in standings for each role swap. However, there is one additional caveat: because standings are locked at this point, you may not use a role swap if the penalty would change your seeding. These role swaps cannot be used mid series.

8.2 Swiss Stage

8.2.1 The Swiss stage will take place over 3 rounds.

8.2.2 The first round of the Swiss stage will follow the best of 5 format outlined in section 9 of the rules, and the following two rounds will follow the best of 7 format outlined in section 10 of the rules.

8.2.3 For the first round, the 3 teams that finished regular season in seeds 1-3 will get to choose their opponent from the teams that finished in places 5-8. The first place team gets to choose first, then the second and so on. The fourth place team will be given whichever team is left. They will then play a best of 5 against the opposing team.

8.2.4 After the first round, there will be four teams with 1-0 records and four teams with 0-1 records. Teams with the same record will be randomly assigned to play against each other in the second round, where the best of 7 format will now be used.

8.2.5 Following the second round, there will be two teams with 2-0 records, four teams with 1-1 records, and two teams with 0-2 records. The two 2-0 teams will have advanced to the bracket stage and the two 0-2 teams will have been eliminated. The four 1-1 teams will be psuedo-randomly assigned to play against each other in the third round, where the best of 7 format will be used again. The two teams that win in this round will advance to the bracket stage, and the two teams that lose will be eliminated. The reason "psuedo-randomly" is used to describe the assignment is because, if two teams have already played against each other earlier in the Swiss stage, they may not play each other again at this point, so that matchup possibility is removed from the randomization process.

8.3 Bracket Stage

8.3.1 The bracket stage will follow a standard bracket format, where seeding (1-4) will be determined first based on Swiss stage record, then on regular season record.

8.3.2 Prior to the bracket stage, the team who exited the Swiss stage 2-0 that finished with a higher seed in regular season will choose their opponent in the first round from the teams that exited the Swiss stage 2-1, and the remaining teams will face each other.

8.3.3 The bracket stage will be a best of 7 format, with the first team to win 4 games advancing to the next round.

8.3.4 The first 4 games of the series will be played on the first day, and the remaining games (if necessary) will be played on the second day.

9. Best of 5 Format

9.1 General Information

9.1.1 All rosters for all games will be submitted blindly (captains will become aware of their opponents roster(s) after both have been submitted) by both captains.

9.1.2 No player may exceed a maximum of 3 games during the series.

9.1.3 Games 1 & 2 rosters will be submitted and played simultaneously first.

9.2 Games 1 & 2

9.2.1 Rosters:

• Each roster must be completely unique (no player may appear in both rosters).
• The higher point valued roster between the two will be referred to has the “high point roster”.
• The lower point valued roster between the two will be referred to as the “low point roster”.
• The 1 player who does not play in either roster will be referred to from here on out as the “withheld player”.

9.2.2 Side-Select:

• For both games 1 & 2, the lower point roster in the matchup will get side-select (Note: this COULD mean that one team gets or loses side-select for BOTH games).

9.2.3 Game Order:

• Games 1 & 2 will be played concurrently.
• Each teams' “high point roster” will play against the opposing teams “high point roster.
• Each teams “low point roster” will play against the opposing teams “low point roster”.

9.3 Games 3 & 4

9.3.1 Rosters:

• After the conclusion of the first two games, games 3 & 4 rosters will be submitted at the same time.
• Roster submission rules will follow the exact same format as games 1 & 2 with the following exception; the “withheld player” must play in BOTH games 3 & 4.

9.3.2 Side-Select:

• The team with the losing series record (0-2) will have side-select regardless of rosters in game 3.
• If the series score is even (1-1), the team with the higher point “withheld player” gets side-select.
• Game 4 side-select will be given to the team who did not have it in game 3.

9.3.3 Game Order:

• Games will be played 1 at a time, not concurrently.
• If a team is down 0-2 in the series, that captain may choose which roster plays first (high or low) for game 3.
• In the event that the series score is 1-1, the team whose “withheld player” is a higher point value will get to choose which roster (high or low) plays first for game 3. (If both are the same, 2 out of 3 rock, paper, scissors).

9.4 Game 5

9.4.1 Rosters:

• After the conclusion of the third and fourth games, game 5 rosters will be submitted.
• The “withheld player” CANNOT play in game 5.
• No more than two players from a given tier may be present in this game.
• By the end of game 5, every player must have played 2 games.

9.4.2 Side-Select:

• The loser of the previous game will have side-select for game 5.

10. Best of 7 Format

10.1 General Information

10.1.1 All rosters for all games will be submitted blindly (captains will become aware of their opponents roster(s) after both have been submitted) by both captains.

10.1.2 No player may exceed a maximum of 4 games during the series.

10.1.3 Two players will play 4 games in a given best of 7 series. Only one of these two can play their 4th game before game 7, the other must be in game 7.

10.1.4 Games 1 & 2 rosters will be submitted and played simultaneously first.

10.2 Games 1 & 2

10.2.1 Rosters:

• Each roster must be completely unique (no player may appear in both rosters).
• The higher point valued roster between the two will be referred to has the “high point roster”.
• The lower point valued roster between the two will be referred to as the “low point roster”.
• The 1 player who does not play in either roster will be referred to from here on out as the “withheld player”.

10.2.2 Side-Select:

• For both games 1 & 2, the lower point roster in the matchup will get side-select (Note: this COULD mean that one team gets or loses side-select for BOTH games).

10.2.3 Game Order:

• Games 1 & 2 will be played concurrently.
• Each teams' “high point roster” will play against the opposing teams “high point roster.
• Each teams “low point roster” will play against the opposing teams “low point roster”.

10.3 Games 3 & 4

10.3.1 Rosters:

• After the conclusion of the first two games, games 3 & 4 rosters will be submitted at the same time.
• Roster submission rules will follow the exact same format as games 1 & 2 with the following exception; the “withheld player” must play in BOTH games 3 & 4.

10.3.2 Side-Select:

• The team with the losing series record (0-2) will have side-select regardless of rosters in game 3.
• If the series score is even (1-1), the team with the higher point “withheld player” gets side-select.
• Game 4 side-select will be given to the team who did not have it in game 3.

10.3.3 Game Order:

• Games will be played 1 at a time, not concurrently.
• If a team is down 0-2 in the series, that captain may choose which roster plays first (high or low) for game 3.
• In the event that the series score is 1-1, the team whose “withheld player” is a higher point value will get to choose which roster (high or low) plays first for game 3. (If both are the same, 2 out of 3 rock, paper, scissors).

10.4 Games 5 & 6

10.4.1 Rosters:

• After the conclusion of the third and fourth games, games 5 & 6 rosters will be submitted at the same time.
• The “withheld player” can only play in game 5, 6, OR 7, and therefore cannot be in games 5 AND 6.
• Unlike games 1/2 and 3/4, uniqueness across these two rosters is NOT enforced.

10.4.2 Side-Select:

• The team with the losing series record (1-3) will have side-select regardless of rosters in game 5.
• If the series score is even (2-2), the team with the lower point “withheld player” gets side-select.
• Game 6 side-select will be given to the team who did not have it in game 5.

10.4.3 Game Order:

• Games will be played 1 at a time, not concurrently.
• If a team is down 1-3 in the series, that captain may choose which roster plays first (high or low) for game 5.
• In the event that the series score is 2-2, the team whose “withheld player” is a lower point value will get to choose which roster (high or low) plays first for game 5. (If both are the same, 2 out of 3 rock, paper, scissors).

10.5 Game 7

10.5.1 Rosters:

• Submitted following the conclusion of game 6.
• By the end of game 7, every player must have played 3 games.
• The “withheld player” must be included in this game if they played neither of games 5 and 6.
• No more than two players from a given tier may be present in this game.

10.5.2 Side-Select:

• The team who lost game 6 will be given side-select.

11. Player Conduct & Disciplinary Action

11.1 Expectations

11.1.1 Players are expected to follow all server rules outlined in the Discord in Discord chats as well as in-game chats in official FBDL matches.

11.2 Punishments

11.2.1 Infractions to these rules and how these rules are defined are up to staff discretion and will be carried out as such.

11.2.2 If you believe a staff member is abusing their power and executing punishments or interpreting rules unfairly, please open a ticket and report this behavior.