A good scrim post answers an opponent's questions before they ask. Start with a one-line header: LFS, region (plus platform if there is no cross-play), rank range, time with its zone, and length. Under it, add a details block: team name, Discord tag, BattleTag, host, stagger, hero bans, kill cam and map pool. The other team can then say yes without a long DM thread. The fields suit Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, and other games can drop what does not apply.
Key takeaways
- Put region (plus platform if there is no cross-play), rank, time and length in a one-line header a captain can scan.
- Add a details block so a reply can simply be a yes.
- Always give the time zone, and name the day if the scrim is not today.
- Write the actual hero ban number, since ranked rules differ by game and season.
- Before reusing a saved post, check the time, length and map pool.
Why do so many scrim posts end in a long DM thread?
A scrim post ends in a long DM thread because the other team has to settle several things before it can say yes, and every detail the post leaves out becomes a question. Who hosts? Which maps? What are the bans? Who do we add?
Picture a typical Friday night for a captain. There is a slot tonight, the roster finally lines up, and a one-line post goes into the LFS (looking for scrim) channel with a rank and a time. A team answers, and the questions start. Each one takes a message, and each reply takes a while, because both captains are also rounding up their players. If the deal falls through an hour later, the whole exchange starts again with someone new.
Nobody in that thread is doing anything wrong. A one-line post is good at getting noticed and bad at answering questions, so the real negotiation has nowhere to happen except DMs. That is a format problem. The fix is a post that answers those questions before anyone has to ask them.
The scrim post template to copy
Copy the lines below, keep LFS and each label, and replace the rest with your own details. If the scrim is not today, add the day to the time. The header carries region, rank, time and length, and the details block under it carries what an opponent would otherwise ask in DMs. Keep each line separate when you paste into Discord. The block ends at Map pool.
LFS | region, plus platform if there is no cross-play | rank range | time and time zone | length
Team name: your team name
Discord tag: the person who can confirm
BattleTag: a player who will be in the lobby
Host: we host, you host or your call
Stagger: no staggering, or allowed
Hero bans: none, or the number per team
Kill cam: on, off or your call
Map pool: the maps you will play, or the mode order
Here is a filled Overwatch 2 example. The team and tags are made up:
LFS | EU | Plat1 - Dia5 | 20 CET | 2hr
Team name: Sample Squad
Discord tag: samplecaptain
BattleTag: SampleCaptain#0000
Host: We host
Stagger: No staggering
Hero bans: 2 each
Kill cam: Off
Map pool: Control, Hybrid, Escort, Push
Compare that with a one-line post like this: LFS | Plat | 8pm. A team reading it still has to ask which Plat, which time zone, how long, who hosts and which modes. The filled example answers all five.
This next version is our own adaptation of the same fields for Marvel Rivals. The BattleTag line becomes your in-game tag, and the ban number is whatever your two teams agree. The example gives region alone, so add your platform if there is no cross-play. These values are made up too, so put real map names where the letters are:
LFS | EU | Plat1 - Dia3 | 19 CET | 4 maps
Team name: Sample Squad
Discord tag: samplemanager
In-game tag: SamplePlayer
Host: You host, and you pick map 1
Stagger: No staggering
Hero bans: 3 each
Kill cam: On
Map pool: Map A, Map B, Map C and Map D, from this week's rotation
What does a complete scrim post need? Twelve fields
A complete scrim post needs twelve fields: four in a one-line header, and eight in a short details block under it. The header helps a team decide whether to stop scrolling. The details block lets that team say yes without asking anything else.
| Field | What the opponent learns | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Region, plus platform if there is no cross-play | Whether you can play each other | Header |
| Rank | Whether the match looks even | Header |
| Time | When you play, and in which time zone | Header |
| Length | Whether the block fits their evening | Header |
| Team name | Who they would be playing | Details block |
| Discord tag | Who to message to confirm | Details block |
| BattleTag | Who to add in the game | Details block |
| Host | Who runs the lobby, and by Overwatch 2 etiquette who picks map 1 | Details block |
| Stagger | Whether a team may keep an enemy alive to block a reset | Details block |
| Hero bans | The ban rule for this scrim | Details block |
| Kill cam | Which setting the lobby uses | Details block |
| Map pool | Which maps you will play | Details block |
Supatimer is our Discord scrim bot, and nine of the twelve come from its scrim parser, a closed-beta feature. The parser covers Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals only, and those nine are the fields it fills from an opponent's pasted post. So the list is our own, drawn from a tool we run, not an industry standard.
Time, length and region are not among those nine, so they come from the LFS format in British Esports' guide to Overwatch 2 scrim etiquette.
The fields are written for those two games. A team in another game can swap BattleTag for its in-game tag and drop any line that does not apply.
No preference on the host or the kill cam? Write "your call". That still answers the question.
Should the details block go in the post or wait for DMs?
Put the details block in the post, under a one-line header. That is our position, and it differs from British Esports' guide, the closest we found.
British Esports' guide treats the LFS post as a notice. The post carries the rank and the time, and the teams agree the host, map pool, team name and BattleTags in DMs afterward. That is a fair way to run a channel: short lines are easy to scan, and nobody writes a full post for a team that was never interested.
The cost shows up after someone replies. The DM turns into an interview, and the interview repeats with each new team.
Our answer keeps the header teams already know and adds the details block under it, so a reply can simply be a yes. Nothing in that block is final. It is your starting offer, and the other team can still ask to change a map or a ban rule.
We have no numbers on how many scrim posts get answers, so we cannot promise this format brings more replies. What it does is leave fewer questions to ask.
If a channel expects one line, respect that. Post the header alone from the account that can confirm the scrim, then send the details block in your first DM.
The header line: LFS tag, region, rank, time and length
The header is one line a captain can read while scrolling: the LFS tag, your region (plus platform if there is no cross-play), your rank range, the time with its zone, and the length. The shape looks like this:
LFS | region, plus platform if there is no cross-play | rank range | time and time zone | length
These three examples come from the LFS format in British Esports' guide:
- LFS | EU | PC | 18 BST | 4.1k | 4 maps
- LFS | PC | Plat1 - Dia5 | 19h BST | 2hr
- LFS | Master 1-3 | 22 CEST Saturday | 1hr
The order and the parts shift a little between them. The top example gives both region and platform, plus a single rank where we suggest a range. The second gives platform alone, and the last gives neither.
British Esports' guide treats platform as optional in Overwatch 2 because the game has cross-play, which is why the last example leaves it out. Cross-play does not settle region, so our view is firmer than those examples: always give your region, and add the platform if there is no cross-play, because together they tell a team whether you can play each other. Put a | between the parts, so the eye can jump straight to the rank or the time.
The examples are all Overwatch 2. We found no published LFS format for Marvel Rivals, so a Rivals team can treat this shape as a starting point.
Rank: give a range another team can judge
Give a rank range narrow enough for another team to judge at a glance. British Esports' guide says to be as specific as possible, and it singles out a range like 2-3k as hard for others to read.
Compare that with a tighter range from the same guide, 2.5 - 2.7k, or with Plat1 - Dia5 above. Either one tells a captain whether the match looks even without opening a DM.
A new team, or one playing with a ringer (a stand-in from outside the team), may not know its rank yet. The guide's advice is to make your best guess in the post and tell the opponent in DMs that it is a guess. That gives them the real picture before the scrim starts, not halfway through map 1.
Keep rank in the header and leave it out of the details block. A number written twice is one more thing to update when you reuse the post.
Time: always include the zone, and name the day if it is not today
Write the time with its zone on every post, and name the day if the scrim is not today. A bare "8pm" forces a question, because one channel can hold teams playing on different clocks, and the guide's own examples mix BST and CEST.
A start time and a range both work. The guide shows 18 BST and 20-22 BST, and the range has a small bonus: it also shows how long you plan to play.
In our experience scrims are booked the same day, so a reader will assume tonight unless told otherwise. That is exactly why a post for another day has to say so, as in 22 CEST Saturday. Leave the day off and someone may turn up on the wrong night.
If you keep a saved copy of your post, time is one of the fields to check before you paste it. The zone can go stale too: when the clocks change, BST becomes GMT and CEST becomes CET.
Length: give it in hours or maps
State the length in hours or in maps, whichever your team actually counts in. The guide uses both: 1hr, 2hr, 4 maps and 6 maps.
This part of the header answers one plain question for the other team: does this block fit our evening? If they can stay for an hour and you wrote 4 maps, you both find that out before anyone loads into a lobby.
Hours and maps do not convert neatly, so we'd use hours if your team has a hard stop, and maps if you are working through a set practice plan.
Team name, BattleTag and Discord tag say who you are and who to add
These three fields let an opponent act right away, without asking who to message or who to invite. Each one removes a step.
- Team name: use the name another team will recognize or can look up. It tells them who they would be playing and gives them something to check.
- Discord tag: give the person who can actually confirm the scrim, not simply whoever made the post. If a manager posts but the captain decides, the captain's tag belongs here. A reply that lands with someone who has to go and ask costs as much time as a thread.
- BattleTag: British Esports says BattleTags are usually exchanged on both sides, so giving yours up front saves a step. Marvel Rivals teams should give their in-game tag.
For the BattleTag, use a player who will be online and in the lobby around scrim time, since that is who the other team will try to add.
If you would rather not leave your BattleTag in a public channel, hold it back and send it in your first DM. Keep the Discord tag in the post, since the other team needs it to reach you. The other fields still save them most of the questions.
Host: say who runs the lobby, because etiquette lets the host pick map 1
Name the host in your post, because under British Esports' etiquette the hosting team also picks map 1. The pick then alternates between the teams, and the host asks the opponent for its map when that turn comes. So one field settles two things: who runs the lobby and who picks map 1.
Write one of three options:
- We host
- You host
- Your call
No guide we read says how to choose, so this part is our view. If you care about map 1 or your lobby is already set up, offer to host. If you don't mind, write "your call", and the other team has one less thing to ask.
Stagger: agree the rule before the opening fight, not during it
Stagger belongs in the post because it is a rule two teams agree on, and the time to agree is before anyone fights. Staggering here means leaving an enemy alive on purpose so that player's team cannot reset. British Esports says players and teams should avoid it unless it was agreed before the scrim, and it gives a Mercy or D.Va as examples of the player left alive.
With nothing in the post, each team shows up with its own idea of what is fair, and the question comes up mid-scrim. One line closes it:
- Stagger: no staggering
- Stagger: allowed
As far as we could find, no custom-game setting or tournament rule covers this, so agree it between the two teams. That is why it is worth writing down.
Hero bans: write the number, not "same as ranked"
Write the actual ban rule, because "same as ranked" means something different depending on the game and the season. Ranked rules differ between titles and change over time, so two teams can read those three words and picture different numbers.
- Overwatch 2: Blizzard's Director's Take announced Hero Bans for Competitive in Season 16. At launch that meant 4 bans in total, 2 per team.
- Marvel Rivals: the Season 7 patch notes raised bans to 3 per team, up from 2.
Both numbers date from those seasons, so don't read them as the current system.
Neither source says how custom games handle bans, so we can't tell you what a scrim lobby does by default. That gap is the reason to state your rule instead of assuming one, and for the host to check how the lobby applies it before map 1.
Two lines that leave nothing to ask:
- Hero bans: none
- Hero bans: 2 each
Kill cam: one line that saves a lobby question
Write "on" or "off", or "your call" if it makes no difference to your team. The setting changes what players see after they are eliminated, so it decides how much a team can learn from each death. Whoever sets up the lobby needs the answer either way.
Which setting is better is your team's call, and we won't pick one for you.
Map pool: list what you will actually play this week
List the maps you will actually play this week, not every map you have ever practiced. Start from the live competitive rotation, checked against the latest patch notes the week of the scrim, then trim it to what your team wants to play.
A new season can change the rotation, so check it. Marvel Rivals' Season 7 notes, for example, put Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya back in Competitive, so a pool copied from an old post can be out of date.
Don't want to name maps? Write the mode order instead. British Esports gives this order of game modes for Overwatch 2 when no pool is agreed:
- Control or Push
- Hybrid
- Escort
- Whichever of Push or Control was not played in slot 1
The order sets the mode alone: the host picks map 1, and the choice of map then alternates. The teams decide maps 5 and 6 between them. This order is Overwatch 2's, so a Rivals team should name its maps.
A tournament-specific pool can go in the post too, though British Esports' guide says it is usually discussed later. If that pool is the reason you want the scrim, we'd put it in. It is what the other team needs to know before saying yes.
Before you post: can your team play that slot?
Check your own lineup before the post goes up, because a team that answers will plan its evening around your time. A slot you cannot fill sends both teams back to the start.
Supatimer's availability bot does that check in Discord. With the bot in your server and your team set up on the dashboard, run /avail to post the week's calendar, and players tap buttons to mark when they can play, maybes included. The calendar shows a total for each day or time slot. That total turns green once the free players make a full lineup with the right roles. A yellow corner on it means the lineup only forms if the maybes show up.
We'd post on green. On yellow, wait for the maybes, or tell the other team in your first DM that your lineup is not settled yet. Run /weekplan when you want the week's lineups built from who is free.
What should you do once a team says yes?
Cross out or delete your post as soon as a team says yes, so others stop messaging you. Then tell your own players what you agreed and get ready to start on time.
Supatimer's /scrim command confirms the scrim, posts a match announcement and tracks the score (see the command docs), and each player who connects Google Calendar sees every confirmed scrim they are tagged in.
British Esports suggests a few habits for the hours that follow:
- Ping your team's whole server only when it is urgent, such as five minutes before a scrim or after an opponent cancels.
- Expect delays of about five minutes, and don't let yours pass ten.
- After 15 minutes the other team may look for another scrim. The guide calls this an unwritten rule, and says they should tell you they are leaving.
Tell the other team about any ringers before the scrim starts, too.
For the rest of the week's routine, start with our step-by-step guide to organizing scrims. We also have guides to Overwatch 2 team practice and SupaScrim, the Overwatch 2 workshop mod that records scrim stats, and for other games, Valorant scrims and CS2 scrims.
Which fields change when you reuse a saved post?
Three fields need a check on every post, and the rest only when something else changes. Go through this list before you paste a saved post:
| Field | When to check it |
|---|---|
| Time and its zone | Every post |
| Length | Every post |
| Map pool | Every post |
| Rank | When your lineup changes |
| Hero bans | When a new season arrives |
| Region and platform | When you play somewhere else |
| Team name, tags | When the name or the person behind a tag changes |
| Host, stagger, kill cam | When your team's habits change |
Can Supatimer read an opponent's post for you?
Yes, if your Overwatch 2 or Marvel Rivals server is in the closed beta. A manager pastes the post into the scrim post form on the Supatimer web dashboard. Our scrim parser, one of Supatimer's AI features, then uses Google Gemini to fill in the opponent's team name, rank, BattleTag, Discord tag, host, stagger, hero bans, kill cam and map pool. The web guide covers the dashboard. Access is set per server, so not every team has it yet. To ask about it, join our community server.
The /scrim command and the availability calendar need no beta access, and Supatimer is free: add it to Discord to start.
Frequently asked questions
What does LFS mean in a scrim post?
LFS stands for looking for scrim. It tags a post as a team searching for an opponent, and it usually opens the header line.
What if my LFS channel only allows one line?
Keep the channel post to the header, and put the details block in your first message to whoever answers. The other team still gets every field.
Does this template work for Marvel Rivals?
Yes, as a starting point. Marvel Rivals has no published LFS format we could find, so our Rivals example adapts the same fields and swaps BattleTag for your in-game tag.
What should I write if my team has no preference on a field?
Write "your call" for the host or the kill cam. That still answers the question, so the other team does not have to ask. For stagger and hero bans, write the actual rule.
Which fields should I check before reusing a saved post?
Check time, length and map pool every time. Check rank when your lineup changes, and hero bans when a new season arrives.
Can Supatimer read an opponent's scrim post for me?
In the closed beta, yes. A manager pastes the post into the scrim post form on the Supatimer web dashboard and the scrim parser fills in nine fields. It covers Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals, and access is set per server.