The Lycan round, sometimes extended to the Shadow Lycan round, is the sixteenth special round of the Hive Clan. Its initial inspiration came from budsmokeronly24, with the round later being developed by italian-stal. The round itself was the first special round created after the reign of italian-stal, years after the prior round was released. The Lycan round's creation would ultimately serve two purposes: to finally provide an all-predator round for Hive members whose skills primarily lie in the predator species, and to pay homage to one of the greatest ally clans in Hive history: the Shadow Lycans. Although the Lycans' clan had originally fallen years before the round's release (and would not experience its resurrection until after the round was released), it was decided that a special round would be created in memory of the alliance held between the Shadow Lycans and the Hive in events such as Lycan Battles and the Wolf War by mirroring the round closely off of the Shadow Lycans' renowned form of duels.
To make such a copy, particular aspects of the round would be groundbreaking and new in respect to the other rounds of the Hive. For one, the Lycan round is the special round where both the hosting subleader and challenger must play as predator, making this the first Hive round that involves no alien gameplay. The Lycan round is a normal special round and can be hosted by the Matriarch, Monarchs, Empresses, Queens, and Kings. Unlike most normal rounds, however, the Lycan round must be unlocked via rank and is not available to be played directly after Initiation. A member must be Mixblood Predalien (prestige 1, rank 6) rank or higher to play the round, primarily to endorse a Hive member's preference for other alien-based rounds (as nearly all other special rounds require alien gameplay). As such, the Lycan round is the standard special round for predator in the Hive.
Successfully completing the round with kills of regulated forms of attack earns the winner 3 full rankups, a rather standard amount due to the round's relatively low difficulty compared to other rounds.
In Aliens vs Predator
In AvP, the Lycan round's rules are essentially the same as the Shadow Lycans' one-on-ones. The player has 15 minutes to do the round, during which 20 kills must be gotten against the host (original Lycan duels were set for an hour and were based off of who could get 20 kills first). Additionally, multiple attack restrictions (like the Omega round) are also put in place for the round. For one, no pickup weapons (plasma, smartdisc, combi stick, mines) may be used or even picked up, thus banning any weapon-based glitches. No grabs of any kind may be used either, including finishing moves, stealth grabs, or any form of instakill glitch. Finally, a challenger may not begin attacking the host each life with a jump attack/lunge attack (albeit they may be used after a first hit is made). All such restrictions existed within classic Shadow Lycan duels, and therefore are not allowed in the Lycan round.