Loser's Pick and Hero Bans

Starting in Season 4 of FACEIT League Playoffs, there will be the "Losers Pick" system as well as "Hero Bans" to reflect the OWCS 2025 format!

Veto Process Overview

Map pool:

• Control: Lijiang Tower, Nepal, Samoa
• Hybrid/Flashpoint: Blizzard World, Eichenwalde, Numbani, Suravasa
• Push: Colosseo, Esperança
• Escort: Route 66, Dorado, Havana

Map 1 will always be a random map from the "Control" gamemode. Losing team from Map 1 will be able to pick any map from the remaining un-played gamemodes.

If a series reaches Map 5 and all gamemodes have been played, you can select any un-played map from all the gamemodes.

Match Room Process

1. First map is automatically selected from the "Control" map pool, higher seed team will be able to decide starting sides.

2. Lower seed team decides what hero to ban first for Map 1. Higher seed team decides what hero to ban second. Please note, it is against the rules to ban a hero of the same category as your opponents. If this rule is violated, please call an admin immediately and do NOT accept the game invite. An admin will resolve the issue and you can continue playing. If a team violates this rule 3 times in a series, it will result in a map loss.

3. After hero bans for the specific map, teams will be able to edit their lineups and use any registered substitutes they desire. 

4. Map 1 will begin, you will be invited in-game on your registered account as previously and banned heroes as well as map pick will be displayed on the platform. In-game, the banned heroes will not appear and you cannot select them.

e.g. In this screenshot, Ramattra and Tracer were the banned heroes. They will not appear for either team on the hero select screen. 

5. When a map has finished, the losing team from the previous map will have the ability to select from the remaining maps in the un-played gamemodes. There is a filter on the veto screen, so you can filter to see the map pools of each gamemode.

6. The remainder of the process will be the same as map 1: You will decide starting sides, then Hero Bans and finally substitutes. 

7. In the event of a Map 5, the previous losing team will have all gamemodes unlocked again. However, they will not be able to select a map that has already been played in the series. 

8.  Tiebreakers will need to be manually hosted by teams, please note you will need to do the map pick and hero bans in chat. Map 5's losing team will need to select a gamemode that was not played in Map 5 and a Map that was not played in the series so far.