League Operations

Check Up runs on a seasonal calendar. Each season lasts roughly eight weeks, though staff can extend or shorten a cycle depending on tournament schedules and player feedback. The season start and end dates are announced in Discord and on the site at least two weeks before anything changes. When a season is live, every verified match, tournament result, and Draft Night counts toward that season's standings.

A season follows a predictable rhythm. Week one opens with a soft MMR reset and a new Draft Night signup window. Weeks two through six are the competitive core where matches, tournaments, and Arena Picks run on a regular cadence. Week seven is the final push, when leaderboard positions lock in and the last scheduled tournaments fire. Week eight is wrap-up: final results are posted, prizes are paid out, and recaps go live on the site and in Discord.

When a season ends, several things reset. The season pass progress goes back to tier one. Arena Picks leaderboards clear. Win streak milestones reset so everyone starts fresh. MMR receives a soft reset, not a full wipe. The formula compresses all ratings toward the midpoint (1000) by a fixed percentage, so a Diamond player might drop from 1550 to 1350 and a Bronze player might rise from 800 to 880. This keeps experienced players near the top without making the early weeks of a new season feel pointless for everyone else.

Roster assignments from the previous season dissolve. Teams formed during Draft Night do not carry over. Every new season starts with a clean Draft Night where captains are elected and rosters are built from scratch. This prevents dynasty stacking and gives every player a shot at landing on a competitive squad.

What does carry over? Your account-level stats (career averages, total matches, lifetime win rate) persist permanently. Achievements and badges you earned are yours forever. Your membership tier (Hooper, Pro, Elite) stays active as long as your subscription is current. XP tier history is recorded in your profile so you can look back at how you progressed across seasons. Coins in your balance also carry over, so there is no reason to panic-spend before a season closes.

Between seasons there is a brief offseason window, usually three to five days. During this time matchmaking is paused, leaderboards show final standings from the completed season, and staff prepares the next cycle. Use the downtime to update your build, review your stats, and plan your approach for the new season.

Check Up runs three tournament formats: single elimination, double elimination, and round robin. The format is chosen by staff when the event is created and listed on the tournament page before registration opens. Most weekly events run single elimination. Seasonal championships and special events use double elimination or round robin depending on the field size.

Entry fees vary by event. Free tournaments happen regularly for players who want to compete without putting money up. Paid events charge an entry fee that flows 100% into the prize pool. Check Up takes zero rake; memberships are the revenue model, not the pot. Processing fees are absorbed by the platform, never deducted from the pool. Prize splits depend on field size: eight or more teams pay out top three (60/30/10), four to seven pay out top two (70/30), and two to three teams run winner-take-all. Season 1 is the Triple Threat 3v3 Draft League (separate from the tournament product) - a 14-franchise league with $20 player entry, top 4 teams paid per rulebook v2 (champion 60%, runner-up 25%, two conference finalists split 15%). BYOT tournaments will return as a recurring series after Triple Threat Season 1 wraps.

Team size requirements depend on the format. 1v1 tournaments are solo entry. 3v3 and 5v5 events require a full roster registered before the deadline. Team-format tournaments charge one flat entry fee per team; the captain pays once and the entry covers the whole roster. If your team is short a player, hit the free-agent board or the matchmaking channel in Discord. Incomplete rosters are dropped at registration close.

Registration closes at a set time, usually 30 minutes before the first game. After that, the tournament moves to the check-in phase. Every registered player must check in through the tournament page or the Discord bot. If you registered but do not check in, you forfeit your spot. Refunds for no-shows are not automatic. Contact staff if something came up.

Once the final result is recorded, the system calculates each winner's share and queues the payout through Trolley, our prize-payout processor. You need a verified email on file to receive funds. If your email is not verified when the payout fires, your money is held until you verify. Nobody gets skipped, but you do have to complete that step.

Brackets are generated automatically when the tournament starts. Seeding is based on current MMR. Byes go to the top seeds when the field is not a clean power of two. All bracket updates post to the tournament page in real time and to the Discord tournament feed channel.

Draft Night is the anchor event of every Check Up season. It is where teams are formed, captains are elected, and the real competition begins. The entire process runs through eight phases: polling, signup, check-in, drafting, trading, waiver, bracket, and complete. Each phase advances in order and cannot be skipped.

It starts with polling. Staff announces the upcoming Draft Night and opens a poll in Discord and on the site. Players vote on preferred time slots and format preferences. Once the schedule locks, the event moves to signup. Any verified player can sign up from the Draft page in their player panel. There is a minimum player count (default 10) that must be met before the night proceeds.

On event night, check-in opens. Every signed-up player must confirm attendance through the Draft page or the Discord bot. If you signed up but do not check in, you are dropped from the pool. After check-in closes, captain election begins. Players vote for who they want leading each team. The top vote-getters become captains based on the configured captain count (default 2).

The draft itself is a snake draft. Captains take turns picking players from the pool, with the pick order reversing each round. The default configuration runs 5 rounds with a 60-second pick timer per selection. If a captain does not pick in time, the system auto-selects the highest-MMR available player. The entire draft plays out in the Phaser 2D draft room, a live interactive scene where everyone watches picks happen in real time.

After the last pick, the trading window opens for 15 minutes. Captains can propose trades to swap players between rosters. Both sides must accept for a trade to go through. Players who complete three or more accepted trades in a single Draft Night earn the Trade Master achievement.

The waiver phase handles any remaining roster adjustments, then bracket play begins. Teams compete in the tournament bracket that was generated from the draft results. When the final match concludes, the draft night moves to complete and the system logs the results, updates MMR, and fires off recap notifications.

Draft Night is built to feel like an event, not just a matchmaking queue. Show up, get drafted, compete with a team you did not pick, and see what happens. That is the whole point.

Check Up pays out tournament prizes through Trolley, the global remit platform operated by Service Plug Events LLC. When you win money in a tournament, the platform does not cut you a check or send a gift card. Real dollars move from the prize pool through Trolley to your PayPal account (bank-transfer rails unlock once platform volume crosses Trolley's threshold). The system keeps a clean paper trail. Whop is the entry-fee processor (incoming money - Stripe closed the Check Up account in May 2026); Trolley handles every dollar that goes out.

Once the final match result is verified and the bracket closes, the system calculates each winner's share based on the prize split for that event. For most tournaments with eight or more entrants, the split is 60% to first place, 30% to second, and 10% to third. Smaller fields use different splits (70/30 for four to seven entrants, winner-take-all for two to three). The exact split is shown on the tournament page before registration opens so there are no surprises.

To receive a payout, you need a verified email on your Check Up account and a connected Trolley recipient. The first time you win, the platform walks you through Trolley onboarding. You enter your legal name, date of birth, and recipient details (bank account or PayPal) directly on Trolley's hosted form. Check Up never sees or stores your banking information. Once your Trolley recipient is set up, future payouts land automatically.

There is a minimum payout threshold of $5.00. If your winnings from a single event fall below that amount, the balance rolls into your next payout. This avoids micro-transactions that cost more in processing fees than they are worth. Your pending balance is visible in the payout history section of your player dashboard.

Tax reporting follows US rules. If your total payouts in a calendar year reach the IRS threshold, Trolley issues the appropriate 1099 form to you and to the IRS. Check Up does not withhold taxes from your payouts. You are responsible for reporting the income and paying any taxes owed. The platform provides a year-end summary in your dashboard that shows total payouts, event dates, and amounts so you have everything you need when you file.

Payout history lives in your player dashboard under the Payments tab. Every payout shows the tournament name, date, placement, gross amount, platform fee, and net amount remitted through Trolley. If a payout fails because of an issue with your Trolley recipient (expired bank info, identity verification needed), the system retries once and then holds the funds until you fix the issue. Held payouts do not expire.