Rules

This is the page that hosts the rule-set for the current Cup.
==Tournament Rules==
A. The Infinity Cup is a 24 (possibly 32) team tournament, beginning with a Group Stage, followed by a Knockout Stage to determine a sole champion.
#The Group Stage will divide the 24 (or 32) teams into groups of four, who will play a three-match Round Robin to determine who advances
#Groups will be determined by random draw as outlined in Section 3
#The top two teams in their respective groups will advance to the Knockout Stage. In case of a tie, see Section 1C for tiebreakers to determine seeding
#Teams will be seeded in the Knockout Stage based on their finish in the Group Stage
B. The Knockout Stage consists of the top 16 teams from the Group Stage in a single-elimination bracket until a final Champion is determined
#Group winners from the Group Stage will play against a 2nd or 3rd place team from another group, with the full seeding outlined via UEFA guidelines.
#Teams will not be reseeded following the First Round, winning teams will find their next opponent according to the rigid structure of the bracket
#Losing teams in the Semifinals go on to play in a 3rd Place Game to determine 3rd and 4th Place
C. In the event of a tie for position during the Group Stage, the following tiebreakers will be applied in order:
*Goal Differential
*Goals For
*Head to Head record
D. In the event two or more teams remain tied after the preceding tiebreakers, the draw shall be broken by a head-to-head matchup (or matchups, in the exceedingly rare case that more than two teams are somehow tied)
E. The tournament will be played on Pro Evolution Soccer 2017, version 1.02, with no data pack.
#Infinity Cup DLCs will be run as well
==Match Rules==
A. Matches are set to 10 minutes and are played at the highest difficulty setting, "Super Star"
B. Conditions will be set to "Random," with Player Emotions off
C. Matches are played in "Fair" weather, and "Normal" Grass Length and Pitch Conditions
D. Injuries are set to "Off"
E. Extra Time and Penalty Kicks are turned "Off" for Group Stage matches, and turned "On" for Knockout Stage Matches
F. Teams are entitled to 3 substitutions for a 90 minute match
#During the Knockout Stage, this number is bumped up to 4 to accommodate for Extra Time
#The 4th substitute may only come on during Extra Time
==Group Draw==
A. In order to determine the groups in the Group Stage, a 4 pot Group Stage draw will take place. Teams will be sorted into their respective pots based on finish in the prior Cup
#The winner of the previous Cup is automatically placed at the top of Group A and kicks off the tournament
#The remaining 5 teams who advanced to the Quarterfinals in the previous Cup will be placed in Pot 1 and drawn to their respective groups
#The 6 teams who did not advance past the First Round of the previous Cup's Knockout Stage will be placed into Pot 2 and drawn to their respective groups
#The best 6 teams who did not advance to the Knockout Stage of the previous Cup will be placed into Pot 3 and drawn to their respective groups
#Any remaining teams and any debuting teams will be placed into Pot 4 and drawn to their respective groups
B. In the event certain teams do not return to the Cup, the next best team(s) from the next Pot move up to take their place. 
C. In the event these teams that are forced to move up to a higher Pot end up in a tie for the final position(s), the tiebreakers used will be as follows:
*Points accrued in the Group Stage
*Total GD
*Total GF
*Head to Head record
D. Entries for the tournament open on May 1st. Boards may enter until July 3rd. In order for an entry to be considered valid, a board must have:
*A valid Roster as outlined in Section 5
*Aesthetics as outlined in Section 7
==Disciplinary Rules==
A. Classic in-game rule of 2 Yellows = 1 Red Card applies
B. Earning a Red Card at any point earns the player a sending off in the current match, and an automatic 1 match ban to follow.
#If a player earns a Red Card in the Finals, the 1 match ban will not carry over to the next Cup.
C. If a player accumulates 2 Yellow Cards across 3 games, they will not be sent off in their current game, but will be subject to a 1 match ban following.
D. A player's Yellow Card count is reset following the completion of 3 games. If a player accumulates his second Yellow in the third game of a given set of three, the 1 match ban WILL still be enforced.
#If a team is forced to play a tiebreaker, any yellow cards accumulated will not carry over to the next set of 3 games
#If a player earns a 1 match ban at the end of a 3 match set and that player's team is forced to play a tiebreaker, the ban will be put into effect for the tiebreaker.
==Roster Rules==
A. Every team in the Cup must carry a roster of at least 18 players, with the maximum being 23
#As are the rules of soccer, every team starts a game with 1 GK and 10 other outfield players, with the rest of the roster serving as substitutes
#One player per squad is designated the Captain and will hold the role in-game
#Regardless of roster size, at least 1 substitute player must be a GK
B. Of the players on the roster, 1 player must be designated as a "Gold" player, 1 as a "Silver" Player, and 2 as "Bronze" players.
 
#These designations are collectively referred to hereon out as "Medal Players"
#GKs cannot be designated as medal players
C. Any player not receiving the designations listed in the above subsection is referred to as a "Regular" player
D. Don't list a player on your roster if they're already listed on another team's roster. This is probably going to end in some autistic slapfights, but fucking figure it out. There's only one Patrick Bateman to go around, get over it.
 
#If you need to settle an autistic slapfight, figure it out using stats and who had the player first or apparently a wrestling tournament 
==Player Builds/Abilities==
A. Players are given a default set of stats based upon their designations
#Regular players are given 77 across all stats
#Bronze players are given 85 across all stats
#Silver players are given 92 across all stats
#Gold players are given 99 across all stats
#Outfield players, regardless of medal designation, are given 40 across all goalkeeping stats
B. Players heights matter for their ability in PES, as such heights must be regulated in order to prevent what was called 'height abuse'
*One player on each team is given a height of 195 cm
*Two players on each team are given a height of 189 cm
*Five players on each team are given a height of 185 cm
*Five players on each team are given a height of 180 cm
*The rest of the players on each team are given a height of 175 cm
C. Players must be listed at one position only and given an "A" rating at playing that given position, with "C" ratings for every other position
D. Specific player settings are dependent on designation
#The "Form" setting is set to 5 for regular players, 8 for medal players
#"Injury Resistance" is set to 3 for all players
#"Weak Foot Accuracy" is set to 2 for regular players, 4 for medal players
#"Weak Foot Usage" is set to 2 for regular players, 4 for medal players
E. Player Age and Weight do not have bearing on ability. They need not be regulated for the purposes of the Cup.
F. Players are granted a certain amount of Player Cards based on their designation, as well as some other specifics
#Regular players are granted 2 Player Cards apiece
#Bronze players are granted 3 Player Cards apiece
#Silver players are granted 4 Player Cards apiece
#Gold players are granted 6 Player Cards apiece
#In an exception to 6F.1, any GKs are allowed only one card, GK Long Throw, by default
#In addition to the limits set above, any player declared to be the team's captain is also granted the Captaincy Player Card on top of said limit
#The subset of cards known as "COM Playing Styles" count towards the card limits outlined in this subsection
 
G. Each player is allowed to have one Playing Style attached to them. It does not count towards the card limits set out in 6F
==Aesthetics==
A. Each team is to have a logo, as well as up to four team colors for use in general design and other miscellany (read:autism)
B. Each team is to have at least three kits
#One kit is to be designated as the "home" kit and will be worn by outfield players during games
#One kit is to be designated as the "away" kit and will be worn by outfield players during games
#The main color of the "home" kit must be different than the main color of the "away" kit 
#One kit must be specifically made for GKs
#The main color of the GK kit must be different from every other kit the team carries 
#Teams may also carry a number of "alternate" kits for use. PES only allows outfield players to have alternate kits, so do not create any alternate GK kits as they cannot be used.
C. Every team must name a home ground where their home games will be played.
#Unless you know Blender, your stadium is going to be a recolor of an existing stadium in PES
#The best attempt will be made to fulfill the vision of the stadium with the limited editing possibilities currently available
==Tactics and Strategies==
A. Teams in the Infinity Cup will not be livemanaged, teams will instead operate off of pre-submitted base strategies and daily instructions
.
B. Prior to the tournament's start, teams must submit a Base Strategy Guide for their respective squads
#What is required for the Base Strategy Guide is outlined in the template
#This guide MUST be submitted before the tournament begins
#If a guide is not submitted before the tournament, a guide will be provided for your team.
C. Due to developments regarding managers and their participation, Daily Strategy Guides will no longer be a part of team strategies. The formation and tactics outlined in the Base Strategy Guide will be final for the tournament. However, to encourage the use of the entire roster, substitution strategies will be added to the Base Strategy Guide, which will outline the team's approach to using their bench. Following these strategies falls on the shoulders of the streamer.
*Substitution Strategies are general statements that instruct which bench player to put on and when.
*You may specify position, form, and energy when giving a strategy (e.g. Sub off most tired defender for most in-form sub...)
*Each strategy must have a given time (e.g. Sub off LWF at 65')
*Each team will provide 4 strategies, in the order in which they are to occur. A reminder that the 4th substitution is only allowed in extra time, and thus will only be used in the Knockout Round.
* Base Strategy Guide Sample https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iKaJXTXIbXaaR9WYut1MHN3nb_rzV5qz
* Base Strategy Guide Blank https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZbSocWg0-NbfmmRKctvJi-hIWGChAFSA
* Default Strategy Guide
Teams may submit Daily Strategy Guides the night before a match that adjust their tactics for the game ahead
#Daily Strategy Guides outline minor adjustments made to the Base Strategy Guide
#These guides must be submitted the night before a scheduled game or else your team will run on their default strategy
#If a team provides no Base Strategy Guide, they will not be permitted to submit Daily Strategy Guides
==Managers==
There are not enough anons for each team to have a proper, christened manager.
A. As there is no livemanaging, the name "manager" is largely figurative
B. The manager is meant to be someone who gathers the attitudes and efforts of the board and submits them so the organizing committee isn't scrambling to cobble team stuff together an hour before the stream
C. Managers take on the responsibility of ensuring the required elements for the team are submitted in time:
*A valid Roster as outlined in Section 5
*Valid Player Builds for said roster as outlined in Section 6
*Aesthetics as outlined in Section 7
*The Base Strategy Guide as outlined in Section 8B
*The Daily Strategy Guides as outlined in Section 8C, during the tournament
D. Again, the name is mostly figurative, so don't go around swinging your dick and namefagging all over the place
E. Know your role and shut your mouth