FAQ

What is HLA Wingman?

HLA Wingman is a community-driven CS2 and CS:GO Wingman platform. Curated maps, dedicated servers, and friends to play with. Create a room, invite your group, pick your maps, and play.

Creating an Account

Sign in with Steam. Your Steam name and avatar carry over as your profile on the platform. No separate registration.

Linking Discord

Connecting your Discord on your Account page is optional but recommended. It enables DM notifications for tournament matches and room invites so you don't miss a game.

We'd also suggest joining our Discord server. It's where the community hangs out between matches, talks about tournaments, and watches games together on HLA TV.

What You'll Need

A Steam account and CS2 installed. When a match is ready, you'll connect to the server directly through CS2.

If you want Discord notifications for matches and tournaments, link your Discord on the Account page.

Your First Match

Head to the Play page to create a room or join a public one. Pick your maps and settings, start the match, and you'll be connected to a server. See Rooms & Playing for the full breakdown.

What is a Room?

A room is where you set up your match. The host picks maps, region, team size, and match format. When everyone's in, the host starts the match and you'll get a dedicated server.

Creating a Room

Head to the Play page and click Create Room. You'll land in an empty room with a settings sidebar where you pick your maps, region, and format.

Rooms are public by default, so anyone can find and join yours from the Play page. Toggle to private if you want to keep it to people with the invite link. You can also set a custom room title for public rooms so players know what you're looking for.

Joining a Room

To join someone else's room, click the invite link they share with you. You can also browse public rooms on the Play page and join from there.

If a room is full, you can still join as a spectator and watch the match.

Match Settings

The host controls match settings from the sidebar. Team sizes go from 1v1 up to 4v4. You can run a single match or a series (best-of-3, best-of-5, or best-of-7).

For maps, the host picks which ones are in the pool. With map vote on, players vote on the map before the match. With it off, a random map from the pool is picked.

For region, the platform tests your ping to all our server locations and picks the closest one automatically. The host can always override this and choose a specific region.

Additional settings include overtime rounds (none, 1 OT, 2 OT, or unlimited), friendly fire, and spectator options like voice relay and broadcast delay.

Series Play

In a series, teams play multiple matches with map voting between games. After each match, two maps from the pool are presented and both teams vote on which one to play next.

Series matches always use unlimited overtime to make sure there's a winner. The series score is shown at the top of the room throughout.

Starting a Match

When everyone's in, the host clicks Start Match. You'll get a dedicated server and can join directly from the room.

If your group doesn't fill the room completely, the host can still start with fewer players as long as there's at least one player per team.

Teams

The host can shuffle teams to randomize who's on which side. Players can also switch teams themselves by clicking an empty slot on the other side. Team names are editable by anyone on the team.

The host can invite specific players by searching for them by name, or kick players from the room if needed.

Room Expiration

Rooms have a countdown timer at the bottom of the page. If the timer runs out and no match is active, the room closes and everyone is sent back to the Play page.

Overview

Our tournaments are single-elimination brackets for CS2 Wingman. Each one plays out in a single session and you'll be notified every step of the way. Check the schedule below for registration times.

Schedule

Format

Our weeklies currently run as 2v2, single elimination, max 16 teams. Early rounds are best-of-1 and the final is best-of-3. Maps are pulled from our competitive map group at random each week, so the pool is different every tournament.

Friday Beer League is a quick, casual single-elimination tournament. All matches are best-of-1, team size rotates each week (2v2, 3v3, 4v4), and registration opens just one hour before start. Sign up last minute and see how far you get.

Tournaments run with anywhere from two teams up to the maximum. Seeds are randomized. If there aren't enough teams to fill every first-round slot, some teams will receive a bye. If fewer than two teams register by start time, the tournament is canceled.

Registering

When a tournament has open registration, head to the Tournaments page and sign up. You'll get a notification when your first match is ready.

You'll need a Steam account linked to the platform. Connecting your Discord on your Account page is recommended so you'll receive DM notifications for your matches. We'd also suggest joining the Discord if you haven't already.

You can withdraw any time before the tournament starts. If your plans change, please withdraw so your spot opens for someone else.

Match Day

When the tournament starts, the system creates a match room for you and your first opponent. You'll get a notification on the site (with sound) and a Discord DM with a link to the room.

Head to the room and click Ready Up. All players on both teams need to ready up within the deadline. Once everyone is ready, the match begins.

If you win, you advance to the next round. Your next match starts as soon as your opponent is decided, so you may not have to wait long. Between matches, follow the bracket, watch the other games live via HLA TV, and hang out in the chat.

If you lose, you're eliminated from the tournament. You can still follow the bracket from the tournament page or watch the remaining matches via HLA TV.

If your team receives a bye, you skip the tournament round and advance automatically. You'll be notified when your next match is ready.

Forfeits and Deadlines

After your match room is created, all players need to ready up before the deadline. Weekly tournaments give you 15 minutes, Beer League gives you 10 minutes. If your team isn't ready when the deadline hits, your team forfeits and your opponent advances.

If neither team readies up, the higher seed advances.

Fair Play

Please only register if you can play at the scheduled time. If your plans change, withdraw your team before the tournament begins.

Players who repeatedly don't show for their matches may be restricted from future tournament registration.

What is HLA TV?

HLA TV automatically broadcasts live matches to the Watch page, alongside a chat so you can watch and talk with the community. No CS2 required.

HLA TV is currently in development and coming soon.

Spectating

Any room with open spectator access can be joined as a spectator. If the match has GOTV enabled, you'll get an option to watch the game live inside CS2 with full spectator controls.

Room hosts control spectator settings when setting up their match. They can turn HLA TV on or off, add a spectator delay to prevent ghosting, and choose whether spectators can hear player voice comms.

Tournament Spectating

During tournaments, you can follow the bracket in real time from the tournament page. When HLA TV is live, head to the Watch page to catch the action and hang out with the community.