ESEA Invite roster lock abolished

20-7-2014 18:22

ESEA have announced an important change to the rules for the ESEA League's Invite division: the roster lock will no longer apply, effective immediately.

The rule change means that Invite teams are now free to edit their line-ups at any stage during a season, up to a maximum of four times, without risking penalties or disqualification, provided that "no other roster restrictions prevent them from doing so."

The policy update, which has received a mixed response, represents a clear about-face for ESEA, given the way that they vehemently defended the rule after it forced Titan to exit season 16 prematurely.

In the wake of the French team's departure, the organisation had this to say about the rule:

"It is our position that the roster lock helps ensure that the players competing all season long to qualify for the LAN Playoffs are the same players that have the chance to compete for over $40,000. The policy protects players and organizations from screwing over one another and protects other teams from having ringers unjustly step in at the last minute."

The abolition of the rule comes in time for the start of season 17, which kicked off last Sunday. The change will only affect the Invite division, however, with the roster lock still being enforced for lower division teams, once the cut-off date has lapsed.

HLTV.org has full coverage of ESEA League season 17, so stay tuned for all further updates.

Surprising, didnt expect ESEA to make any smart decisions.

2014-07-20 19:23

4 replies

2014-07-20 20:22

sorry they didn't bend over and take it up the ass by one single organization who thinks they are above the rules.

2014-07-20 22:11

2014-07-21 01:45

+1 but a bit late, after the uproar over what they did last time. fucking mongbaskets

2014-07-21 17:44

nice

naaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiccccccccceeeeeeeeeeee

2014-07-20 19:24

1 reply

youtube.com/watch?v=kIfOjkB17BA

2014-07-20 19:47

Well...

about time

2014-07-20 19:26

Ding, dong, the witch is dead! Hopefully the four time limit will teams to make necessary changes without abusing the system.

2014-07-20 19:29

I'm disappointed, that's such bullshit...

2014-07-20 19:35

Get a cheater to help you get to lan switch him out before lan event. Thats the only problem i see here

2014-07-20 19:39

2 replies

mosbeck reporting in

2014-07-20 22:19

2014-07-21 05:00

honestly I can see what why they have the rule because someone can kick off a member after he work his/her ass off to get them to the final. But I dont know who would be dumb enough to change up a team that is destorying the competetion

2014-07-20 19:40

+1000

2014-07-20 19:41

Four times seems a bit much. I'd say two or three should be enough. Anyway, about time that ESEA admit the flaws in their rules.

2014-07-20 19:44

Unexpected. I'm disappointed.

Yeah OverGaming won't luck into ESEA Finals because everyone else is disqualified this year.

2014-07-20 20:01

nice burn :)

2014-07-20 21:14

flexible laws. controversial

2014-07-20 19:57

n1 +fnatic, cph, dignitas blablabla

2014-07-20 20:00

finally the oldest dinosaur rule has been terminated atleast for the pro teams

2014-07-20 20:54

ESEA has been doing a lot of things right as of late and I am officially excited for this season.

2014-07-20 21:00

didin't understand , can someone explain me :o?

2014-07-20 20:59

Last season, Titan couldn't attend the ESEA LAN because they made a roster change too late into the season. This change makes it so that teams can make roster changes at any time without suffering any consequences.

2014-07-20 21:05

Really nice

2014-07-20 21:22

mosbeck back to invite 100 percent??

2014-07-20 22:17

I like it

2014-07-20 23:15

im fine with removing the roster locks, but 4 roster changes is pretty outrageous. most tournaments require 2-3 original players to keep a berth/invite to the next event, meaning 2-3 roster changes... why go more than that amount? a team with 4 roster changes only benefits a sponsor/organization wishing to dump a team

2014-07-20 23:30