ESL have created rules concerning roster locks and substitutes for the ESL One Cologne major, including the qualifying process.

In light of recent drama surrounding MLG Columbus, especially Jacob "⁠pyth⁠" Mourujärvi, who wasn't allowed to come in and play for Ninjas in Pyjamas late into the tournament, ESL have introduced rules about roster locks and substitutes for ESL One Cologne for more clarity.

It seems that in the case mentioned above the rules remain widely unchanged, as a coach/reserve player is allowed to be registered, but once a team starts a tournament they can't change the roster mid-tournament, unless one of the players gets sick or injured.

Once a team starts the tournament their lineup cannot be changed besides cases of sickness or injury

The biggest change is that teams going through the Minor system are allowed to change their lineup before the offline qualifier, but need to keep the majority (3/5) of the lineup to keep their slot.

Also, roster locks have been put in place to prevent lineup changes past a certain point prior to the tournament. The full roster/substitute rules are following:

• Teams that play at a minor and qualify for the LAN qualifier have to maintain a majority lineup to keep the slot
• Players that participated in a minor cannot change to any other team participating in the LAN qualifier or major in any capacity
• Teams invited or qualified for the ESL One Cologne LAN qualifier have until Friday the 27th of May at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. This registration also counts for the major if the team qualifies - changes after the LAN qualifier are not possibleTeams that have been invited to the LAN qualifier due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slotLegend teams directly invited to ESL One Cologne have until Friday the 3rd of June at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. Changes after this deadline are not possibleLegend teams that have been invited to ESL One Cologne due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slotTeams invited or qualified for the ESL One Cologne LAN qualifier have until Friday the 27th of May at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. This registration also counts for the major if the team qualifies - changes after the LAN qualifier are not possible
• Teams that have been invited to the LAN qualifier due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slot
• Legend teams directly invited to ESL One Cologne have until Friday the 3rd of June at 20:00 CEST to register their starting lineup as well as a sixth person who will be their coach/reserve player. Changes after this deadline are not possible
• Legend teams that have been invited to ESL One Cologne due to their previous placement at the recent major have to maintain a majority lineup to keep their slot
• At any time between registering a coach/reserve player and their first match at the major, a team may swap their coach/reserve player with any of their starting lineup players. After the start of their first match at the major there will be no more changes allowed to the lineup, with the only exception being in the case of injury or sickness. ESL can reject this request if no sufficient evidence can be provided. The replaced injured or sick player may not return to the lineup for the remainder of the tournament.