Adding and Using Substitutes

Eligibility

A substitute must be on the season substitute list, cannot be rostered to another team in that season, and cannot make the fielded team violate the roster-composition limits. A team may use at most two substitutes in a regular-season match.

An unregistered player record can be marked substitute-eligible by a Commissioner or Admin. Having an account is not, by itself, what makes a player eligible.

Match procedure

  1. The captain contacts an eligible substitute and checks the player's ranking against the team composition rule.
  2. Ask a Commissioner or Admin to add the substitute to the match. There is no captain-side Add Substitute control.
  3. Select the substitute in your four-player lineup; the app marks the player SUB.
  4. Keep the same four players for the entire match.
  5. Review Full Roster Status before submission.

Important: Valid substitutes do not automatically remove the full-roster bonus. A four-player lineup with no more than two valid substitutes remains eligible for Eligible (+5).

The structured denial reasons cover an incomplete roster, forfeit, a player leaving mid-match, too many substitutes, an invalid substitute, a roster-composition violation, or a failed playoff substitute exception.

Playoff substitutes are allowed without a bonus penalty only when the rulebook's rescheduling, equal-or-lower-rank, and legitimate-absence conditions are met. This exception requires Commissioner review.

Commissioner Review: The current app does not automatically verify player rankings or playoff exception evidence. Do not treat the absence of an on-screen warning as approval.

Related: Reviewing the Match | League substitute rules