Escalation and appeals

Who decides what, and how a player appeals. Written for rules effective 2026-10-16.

Floor judge

Answers questions about the rules, and gives rulings on game and policy violations brought to them.

Floor judge

Steps in when they see an error to apply the fix and penalty. Not for Missed Triggers.

Floor judge

Steps in after an error happens, not to prevent it. The exception is Unsporting Conduct, where a judge may step in before it happens.

TR 204.5.c.1

Floor judge

At high OPL a judge may not answer a direct question about the result of an action the player has not taken yet. The player has to ask about the rules, and the judge may ask them to rephrase.

TR 204.5.a.1 · TR 204.5.a.1.c

Floor judge

Any judge may do a simple rewind of the most recent action.

TR 701.5.b.1

Call the head judge for

A Game Loss or any higher penalty.

TR 701.3.a

Call the head judge for

Anything outside the penalty guidelines. Only the head judge may issue such a penalty.

TR 701.1.k

Call the head judge for

Any suspicion that a player broke a rule knowingly or maliciously. The head judge decides whether to investigate cheating and has the final say on its penalty.

TR 704.8.a.2 · TR 704.8.d

Call the head judge for

A rewind more complicated than a simple rewind. Only the head judge, or at high OPL a designated appeals judge, may authorize it.

TR 701.5.c

Call the head judge for

A mistake by an official that cost a player a penalty, or a player who acted on wrong information from an official. The head judge can downgrade the penalty or rewind the game.

TR 701.1.n · TR 701.1.o

Call the head judge for

When the written rules are unclear or inadequate. The head judge has ultimate discretion.

TR 204.4.f

Appeals

A player who disagrees with a judge's ruling may appeal to the head judge, but only after a full ruling has been made.

TR 413.1 · TR 413.3

Appeals

At high OPL the head judge may designate floor judges as appeals judges. They must wear a uniform matching the head judge's.

TR 413.2

Appeals

A ruling by the head judge or an appeals judge cannot be appealed.

TR 413.4

Appeals

A penalty applied outside the scope of a competition follows the appeals process on the official Riot Games website.

TR 413.5

Others

The scorekeeper handles pairings and standings and solves scorekeeping problems with the head judge. Players who drop tell the scorekeeper before the next pairings are generated.

TR 204.6.a · TR 204.6.d · TR 414.3

Others

The organizer keeps competition results for at least 3 months, for appeals.

TR 204.3.g