Braverse Tournament Rules: Time Limits, Sleeves, Penalties

Devsisters replaced the CookieRun: Braverse Tournament Rules on October 16, 2026. The new PDF, linked from the Official English Rulebook notice on both the North American and Asian notice boards, disqualifies a player whose deck does not match its registration, writes the ban on the original CookieRun: Braverse × Dragon Shield sleeves into the rules, and takes the time limit off best-of-three matches.

It also reprints a banned and restricted list that Devsisters replaced in February. Build from that list alone and you could register four copies of a banned card, and leave out a card that is legal at one copy.

Here is the document section by section, checked against the version it replaced, Devsisters' Banned & Restricted notices, the Comprehensive Rules and Korea's own tournament regulations.

What changed on October 16

The previous Tournament Rules carry a May 28, 2025 date on the cover. Devsisters' notice feed shows the Official English Rulebook notice updated on October 16, 2026, and an archived copy of that feed from October 13 still links the May 2025 file. The new PDF's cover reads "October 16, 2025". Its file name ends in 261016 and it replaced the May 2025 file, so the year on the cover looks like a typo. If the copy you have is dated May 28, 2025, it is the old one.

Five things changed:

The rest of the text, from the sleeve rules to the penalty ladder, carries over unchanged. That includes the banned and restricted list.

The banned list in the PDF is out of date

Section 1.C of the Tournament Rules names the cards that "may not be included in a deck" and the ones "limited to 1 copy per deck". The October revision did not touch that list, and it does not match Devsisters' Banned & Restricted Policy notices. The North American notice carries a June 11, 2026 update and the Asian one a February 13, 2026 update, and both name the same 16 cards:

The top five rows are the changes in Devsisters' February 13, 2026 update for Korea and Asia. It banned Broken Central Clock and Golden Cheese Guardian Golem, restricted Peak of Apathy and Light of Apathy, and moved Rebel Cookie, which "had previously been designated as a Banned card", to Restricted. North America's notice has carried the same list since its June 11 update. The PDF still prints the list from before February. Its two extra bans, Reverse Timer and Time Management Department, are Korean cards: neither is in the English card database.

Neither document says which one wins when they disagree. The North American notice says each region's list lives on its official website, with Asia and North America sharing the English one, and the PDF is linked from that same website. Build to the notices: their list is the newer one, and they explain each change card by card. If you want to register a Rebel Cookie, tell the head judge before the event, because the Tournament Rules still list it as banned. Our banned and restricted list goes through all 16 cards and the reasons Devsisters gave.

When time runs out

The Tournament Rules recommend 30 minutes per match "if an official tournament proceeds with time limits". Since October 16, best-of-three matches have no time limit. Cookie Party Online's Season 4 Casual and Competitive events run best-of-one Swiss with 30-minute rounds, which matches the recommendation; our Brave League Season 4 guide has that schedule.

What happens at time is the rule to know. In the document's words, "If a match has not concluded within the designated time, and a winner has not been determined, the game will be concluded as a double loss." Both players take a loss. An unfinished game is not a draw, so in best-of-one Swiss a deck that cannot close a game inside 30 minutes costs both players the round. A separate line covers events with a set finishing time: a game still going at the announced end of the tournament is either declared void or ends as a double loss.

Extra turns and the three tiebreakers

Some events, "such as the finals of official tournaments", play extra turns instead:

Count the turns and both cases end the same way: the second player takes the last turn, and both players finish with the same number of turns.

The tiebreakers reward specific leads. Break area LV. 10 is the first win condition the rules list, so tiebreaker 1 goes to whoever is further from losing that way. Tiebreaker 2 counts against decks that burn through their own cards. Silent Salt Cookie (BS10-122), for one, puts the top 5 cards of your deck into the trash and draws up to 2 when it is played.

In best-of-three, the player who lost the previous game chooses whether to go first. For game one, rock-paper-scissors decides who chooses.

Sleeves: what you can use

Section 1.B covers sleeves and is unchanged from the May 2025 version (the new Dragon Shield line sits in the deck section, 1.C):

• Permitted: official CookieRun sleeves, or solid single-colour sleeves that do not reveal or reflect the backs of other cards.
• Double-sleeving is allowed, up to two sleeves per card.
• Prohibited: reflective or holographic sleeves that can reveal other cards by reflection. Sleeves with suggestive or disturbing imagery can be restricted at the judge's discretion.
• Other franchises: sleeves with art from another intellectual property, or other art that risks copyright infringement, are prohibited at publicly broadcast or streamed tournaments.
• Marked cards: a card that is marked, scratched, stained or damaged so that it can be told apart from your other cards cannot be used. If your sleeves make it indistinguishable, it can.

Breaking the sleeve rules is one of the document's examples of a Loss.

The Dragon Shield sleeve ban

The October revision adds a line to the deck section: "The following card sleeves cannot be used for decks: Pre-exchange CookieRun: Braverse X Dragon Shield sleeves". The ban itself is not new:

As of October 25, the English and Asian boards have not published that separate exchange notice. Searching all 76 entries in the English notice feed and all 94 in the Asian feed for "Dragon Shield" turns up the November 28 notice on each, plus two English notices that mention one product, Brave Liberty: its launch notice and the product list in the PAX Unplugged 2025 notice.

Devsisters announced Brave Liberty on August 21, 2025 as a Dragon Shield collaboration sold exclusively at U.S. game stores. None of its English notices names Brave Liberty as the affected product. The image on Korea's exchange notice, though, shows the Brave Liberty artwork twice, once with a white border like the launch image and once with a blue border. The notice does not caption either one.

If your tournament deck is in white-bordered Brave Liberty sleeves, ask the head judge before the event, or switch to plain sleeves. Illegal sleeves are one of the document's examples of a Loss.

Deck registration, deck checks and the top cut

• The deck is locked. You play the deck you registered, and "any changes to the deck or its components during the tournament are prohibited". There is no sideboarding between games or rounds, which is why our sideboard guide covers teching between events instead.
• Construction: at most 4 cards with the same card number, at most 16 FLIP cards and at least 1 Cookie, with the 60-card limit named in the penalty section. The Tournament Rules never mention the EXTRA deck. The Comprehensive Rules (Ver. 1.8, rule 5-1-1) cap it at 6 cards under the same four-copy limit, and require at least one Cookie that is not a Special Play card.
• Deck checks: decks "are subject to random inspection". Since October 16, a deck that differs from its registration means disqualification.
• The top cut: its size comes from the event's own notice. If several players share the score for the last place, play-off matches decide it, but only when "all details of the official match records are identical". If the records cannot be confirmed, the organizer may skip the play-off. The document does not define those details.
• A disqualified player: if a participant is disqualified for a deck that does not match their list, their scheduled matches become byes for their opponents.

Penalties, from Caution to Disqualification

There are four penalties. Judges or officials pick one based on the event's level and the severity and circumstances of the violation, and a player who keeps breaking rules after a penalty can get a harsher one. The document says its examples are illustrative, and that a judge can go lighter or harsher for a similar violation.

The October revision added the deck violations to the Disqualification examples without taking the construction and banned-card ones out of Loss, so those now appear under both. For a deck that does not match its list, section 1.C settles it: disqualification. For a deck that breaks construction or banned-list rules, the document gives both answers and leaves the call to the judge. Korea's June 24 regulations name those violations only under Disqualification.

At the table: phones, judges and forfeits

• No phones, notes or rulebooks during a game. Players cannot consult manuals, official rules or personal notes, or use a mobile device, and judges can penalize it if they think it may affect the result. Rules questions go to a judge.
• Only players in the game can ask a judge. Spectators cannot request rulings or step in.
• Agreeing on a wrong ruling is on both of you. Games run on the players' mutual confirmation of the rules, and if they carry on without a judge, both are responsible for what follows. Judges can also step in without being asked when they see foul play.
• Be in your seat on time. A player who is not seated by the start time may be disqualified, and lateness can draw a penalty.
• Leaving the table for a restroom break needs approval from your opponent and a judge, and the clock keeps running.
• Shuffling: your opponent can shuffle your deck on request, and after that you cannot reshuffle it. You can also ask a judge to shuffle.
• Dropping out: tell a judge. No-shows and forfeits without telling one can bring restrictions on future tournaments.

The setup section also settles one sequencing point: when you build your starting HP stack, your Cookie's On Play effect does not activate. The Tournament Rules list two ways to win: the opponent's break area reaching LV. 10 or more, and the opponent having no Cookie left to play. The second one is misprinted in both the May 2025 and October versions, which say no Cookie in the "break area" where the Comprehensive Rules and Korea's regulations say battle area. The Comprehensive Rules (rule 1-2-1-1) also list a third way to lose: no Cookie in your trash to move to the break area during a Refresh.

Korea runs its own version

Korea publishes separate tournament regulations, last revised June 24, 2026, on its notice board. They already had all of October's English changes. These differences remain:

Korea's printed list is the same 16 cards as the English notices plus the two Korea-only bans, which matches the ban and limit flags in Korea's card database. For the wider event structure in each region, see our organized play guide.

Quick Action Checklist

• Get the current PDF from the Official English Rulebook notice. If the cover says May 28, 2025, you have the old version.
• Check your deck against the Banned & Restricted notice, not the PDF's list. Broken Central Clock and Golden Cheese Guardian Golem are banned, and Peak of Apathy and Soul Jam: Light of Apathy are one-ofs, even though the PDF omits all four.
• Running Rebel Cookie? It is legal at one copy under the notices but banned in the PDF. Clear it with the head judge before you register.
• Register exactly what you play. A deck that does not match its list is a disqualification.
• Finish inside 30 minutes in best-of-one Swiss. An unfinished game is a double loss.
• Know the extra-turn order at events that use it: the second player gets the last turn, then break area LV. and deck size break the tie.
• Sleeves: official CookieRun or plain solid colour, double-sleeving allowed, no reflective sleeves. Ask the head judge about white-bordered Brave Liberty sleeves before the event.
• No phones or notes mid-game. Call a judge, and tell one if you drop.