RULES

Team Selection & Coin Toss: A manual coin-flip will precede each game. The coin-flip winner will decide if they want to putt or their opponent. The putt off winner MUST choose the matchup (i.e. the two teams) and take player 1 OR take player 2 with first choice of the two teams called. 

Ex 1: Arncoem wins flip and decides to putt. HE sinks putt and calls SEA-NE and will be player 1. Thrash chooses SEA (and is P2).

Ex 2: Arncoem wins flip and makes Thrash putt. Thrash misses the putt so Arncoem has choice of calling matchup and player 1 or player 2 and first choice of teams.

1. ​“One Matchup Once” Rule: The coin-flip winner can only select a particular matchup once throughout the entire tournament. For instance, if Player A wins the toss and selects Giants-Bills, Player A cannot call that exact matchup for the rest of the tournament. Player B, however, is free to select that matchup later in the tournament.

2. Customizing Playbooks and Lineup Changes: Customizing of playbooks is permissible. You can access your “change” screen (screen where you check player conditions and make substitutions) only twice per half. This helps speed up the games.

3. WR/TE at RB: A WR/TE cannot carry the football unless it is a reverse. You can insert a WR or TE into a RB slot for lead blocking purposes, but he cannot carry the football. To further clarify, players such as Ernest Givins, Ricky Sanders, and Andre Rison cannot carry the football unless it is a reverse.

4. No Ties/Overtime: No game can end in a tie. If a game is tied when regulation concludes, competitors will proceed to OT. All OT’s will be 5-minute sudden death periods. If no one scores in the first OT, the second OT will be only the first quarter in a new game. This process will be repeated until a winner emerges. So that one competitor does not start with the ball in every OT period, the receiving team (i.e. team that gets the ball first) shall alternate beginning with the second OT period.

5. Lurching: Lurching is prohibited. If you want to rush with a DL, you must either go outside the offensive tackle or “popcorn” someone on the offensive line. You cannot simply go around your blocker and dive. Note that this rule does not apply to LBs. The “West Coast lurch” or as I would like to call it, the “Nelson lurch” (rushing in with a DL when the opposing team is in shotgun formation) is legal. This only applies to shotgun plays! So be careful with your Packers calls.

6. Nintendo Malfunctions: If there is an equipment failure in the first half, games will be replayed from the start. If equipment malfunctions in the 2nd half, only the second half is replayed. In that event, the scores from each half are added together to obtain a final score. If the game was uncompetitive or the equipment malfunctioned due to human error, the tourney organizers reserve the right to declare a winner without replaying any portion of the game.

7. Tournament Disputes: Greg Lewis, Erik Merliss, and Brian Rausse are the tournament referees. They will decide ALL disputes.

8. Controllers: Tournament competitors are allowed to bring their own controller to use in games.  Tournament organizers will also coordinate obtaining equipment for the competition for those that do not bring their own.  
   *Competitor controllers must be original Nintendo OEM products and cannot be modified in any way.
   *Original NES controllers and NES dogbone controllers are allowed.
   *NES Max or NES Advantage are not allowed.