Hosting, playing and reporting the result

Once the roulette lands, the match moves to the part that happens inside StarCraft II. The ranked screen turns into a match card with your orders, and the full match arena (RE-ENTER THE ARENA) carries the same information plus the lobby chat.

The hosting orders#

The host is decided by coin flip when the match is made, and the orders are written for your side:

If you host:

1. Log into the match server's region (globe icon at the top right of the SC2 home screen).
2. /join patchessc.
3. Custom Games, Melee, search the map's full name. For a PCE map, host that exact Patch Clash Edition; a game on the lookalike ladder map is held for a moderator instead of counting.
4. Create with Mod, search PatchesSC Versus Mod (or its PTR version, PT: PatchesSC Versus Mod (PTR) — both count), set Game Server Location to the match server.
5. Type /lobbylink in patchessc so your opponent can click straight in.
6. Backup: invite your opponent's full battletag. If the site could not confirm their character on that server, the orders say so.

If you join:

1. Log into the same region and /join patchessc.
2. Your host creates the lobby on the match server.
3. Click the host's /lobbylink line in the channel, or accept their invite after leaving any other lobby.

The screen has copy buttons for the map name and your opponent's battletag, and the host's plate carries a gold HOST tag. The lobby chat also posts three system lines: ORDERS (who hosts where), RACES (which notes a race rolled from Random or a backup race used to avoid a mirror) and MEET UP (the channel). See Your first ranked match for the region table and why /lobbylink beats invites.

During the game#

GAME STARTED#

Once you are actually in the game, press GAME STARTED on the match card or in the arena. It tells the site that both of you arrived, and it closes the AFK challenge for this match so neither player can use it against someone who is busy playing in fullscreen.

• It is refused while the map draft is still running, and for the first minute after the match goes live ("Give it a minute").
• If you pressed it by mistake, you can undo it. Only one undo is allowed per match, and your opponent cannot undo your stamp.
• The Companion stamps it automatically when it sees the game begin, and that stamp cannot be undone.
• Ten minutes after the match goes live, the site assumes the game is under way even if nobody pressed it.

See Fair play: voids, strikes, AFK and disputes for the AFK challenge itself.

Offer a draw#

Games sometimes cannot finish cleanly. Either player can offer a draw once the match is live, from the moment the map is picked (not during the draft). Only your opponent can accept it.

• An offer lasts two minutes, and each player can make at most two offers per match.
• You cannot offer a draw while an AFK challenge is running.
• A draw moves both ratings a little toward each other (a draw between equal ratings moves nothing), resets win streaks, and pays participation XP. See Ratings, placement and leagues.

Call off the match#

Sometimes neither of you can play this one: a patch just landed, a client crashed before the game, someone has to leave. Agree on it in the lobby chat, then one of you presses Can't play? Call off match on the match screen. The other sees the request and answers Call it off or Keep playing. If they agree, the match ends with no rating change and no penalty for anyone, and neither of you goes back into the queue: press FIND MATCH when you are ready.

• It is for before the game. A request can be made until someone presses GAME STARTED, the Companion reports the game, or eight minutes pass after the match goes live. Once the game is under way, offer a draw or play it out.
• A request lasts two minutes and each player can ask once per match. If your opponent does not answer, the match carries on.
• You can ask for at most three call-offs a day on each ladder. Agreeing to your opponent's request is never limited.
• It cannot run at the same time as an AFK challenge or a draw offer: answer that first.
• If your opponent simply never arrives, use Opponent AFK? instead. See Fair play: voids, strikes, AFK and disputes.

Forfeit#

The match card has a two-click Forfeit ("Click again to concede"). It records a normal win for your opponent and a loss for you, and the player who forfeits earns no Clash XP. Leaving a real game is also a loss, shown by the replay, though it still pays normal loss XP.

Reporting the result#

The replay is the report. There is no score entry on ranked: typed results are refused for players.

With the Companion#

The Companion watches your replay folder and uploads each game the moment SC2 writes the file (when you leave the score screen). The site checks it and closes the match, usually within a minute or two. Either player's Companion is enough, so one of you having it running covers the match.

Without the Companion#

Open the match and press Upload replay / report. Drop the newest file from:

Documents > StarCraft II > Accounts > (numbers) > (numbers) > Replays > Multiplayer

The same checks run and the match closes. Either player's copy counts, and if both players upload, the two copies must describe the same game.

What the site checks#

Every replay has to show:

• Both players of the match (tied to your verified Battle.net characters).
• The Patch Clash mod. A plain SC2 game is rejected.
• The drafted map, and each player on the race they queued (or rolled).
• A game played for this match, not an old replay: one that started more than a few minutes before the match was ready is rejected, and one played many hours after it opened is held.
• A real game: under 60 seconds is rejected.
• A replay not already used for another result.

A replay that fails a hard rule is refused with the reason. One that is merely suspicious is held for review by a ladder moderator instead of guessed at. A held game does not stop you queueing, and no rating moves until it is ruled. The full list of hold reasons is in Fair play: voids, strikes, AFK and disputes.

No result?#

• 20 minutes after the match went live with no result, both players get a notification: "No result yet, upload the replay".
• 3 hours after the match was made with still no result, it voids with no rating change.

The result card#

When the result lands, the ranked screen shows a result card for 15 minutes:

• Victory, Defeat or Draw, your rating change (or "Unranked"), and +N Clash XP.
• Your opponent and the map.
• Replay buttons: watch it on Vespene, open it in your SC2 client, or download the file. If the replay is private it says so.
• Match debrief (expandable).

If the result moved your league or sub-rank, a promotion or demotion screen plays over the site. A promotion shows your crest climbing past the opponents you beat on the way. It plays once per match and stays until you dismiss it. See Ratings, placement and leagues.

FIND MATCH from the arena after a game re-queues you straight away on the same ladder with the same loadout.

The match debrief#

The debrief is built from the parsed replay and is visible only to the two players in the match (and site admins):

• Stats chips for real values only: income, supply blocked, expansion timing, workers, peak supply, supply lost. A stat the replay does not carry is left out rather than shown as zero.
• Both build orders side by side, with a separate upgrades rail so research does not get lost in the list. If only your opponent's side of the replay could be read, your own column is rebuilt from theirs and shows structures only.
• Key fights, up to six, collapsed behind a teaser: when, where and who came out ahead.
• Mistakes and opportunities, up to five: lost fights, late scouting, supply blocks, banked resources, a late expansion compared with your opponent.

The debrief reads the game on its own terms. It does not grade you against retail SC2 benchmarks, which would be meaningless on a balance mod. Games longer than ten minutes are captioned "first 10:00", because build orders and fights are read from the first ten minutes.

While the replay is processing the debrief says so and fills in on its own. If the match was a forfeit or a void, or the replay was withdrawn or is under review, it tells you that instead.

Anyone can see both build orders of a match with a public replay: the Summary button on a result line in the chat, and a game row on any player card, open them. See Leaderboard, player cards and match history.