(by huhy)

More Prizes!

Thanks to an anonymous benefactor (no, not  Angel), we are pleased to announce the addition of money prizes with of a total of 2502€ for Premiership title winners, additional to the gaming gear, sponsored by Tt eSPORTS:

• Premiership winner: 1500€
• Premiership runner-up: 750€
• Premiership third place: 252€

On top of that, players in all divisions will receive in-game medals for winning the group, as well as participation medals for finishing the season. For real this time. Once our medals are added into the game, hopefully we’ll be able to issue them to participants of previous competitions as well.

New Player Guide

If you are new to 6v6, ETF2L or competitive TF2 in general, we’ve created a new page to help you get started – [The Newcomer Guide]. The guide is still being worked on, so feel free to suggest improvements or ask for more info on any topic.

Map Pool Changes

cp_gravelpit has always been more popular in the higher divisions. This is backed up by previous map polls at ETF2L and several other occasions – it is basically the sole reason it stayed so long in the map pool. Based on recent feedback we received from current and coming top teams, we have decided to replace cp_gravelpit with cp_process. R.I.P. cp_gravelpit, you will surely be missed (by some, at least).

***UPDATE*** The maker of cp_process, scorpiouprising, has released a new version of the map that fixes a clipping bug. The official ETF2L version of the map is cp_process_b10fix!

This means the mappool now consists of:

• cp_badlands
• cp_granary
• cp_gullywash_final1
• cp_snakewater
• ctf_turbine_pro_rc2
• cp_process_b10fix

Turbine Ruleset

For Season 13, Turbine will be played under a completely different ruleset:

Each Turbine round is first to 5 with a timelimit of 10 minutes. The first team to win 2 rounds out of 3 wins the map.

If neither team won 2 rounds after 3 rounds have been played, due to one or more rounds ending in a draw, an overtime round with a timelimit 5 and winlimit 1 is played. If neither team scores a cap during the overtime round, it is repeated until a team scores a cap. If an Overtime round decides the match winner, the result counts as golden cap win (or loss).

We will be using ctf_turbine_pro_rc2, which moves the spawns closer to the roll gate and fixes some minor bugs with props. A separate config for CTF will be added before Season 13 starts. Thanks to Mark for handling this!

Unlock Rules

We went over the feedback we received in the Idea Box regarding the possible addition of several unlocks. The feedback was good but did not fulfill our expectations in terms of quantity. One other thing that we noticed was that most feedback was based on assumptions rather than experience.

For Season 13, the unlock rules will be the same as Season 12, meaning the stock weapons, Blutsauger, Kritzkrieg, Übersaw, Crusader’s Crossbow and weapon reskins are allowed. However, we are planning a big cup with several unlocks and prizes close to the end of Season 13.

All Season 13-related information has been compiled at the Season 13 Hub page for easy reference.

Rule Changes

Some rule changes have been made, most of which will affect premiership teams only and are aimed to improve league professionalism.

Nicknames

This rule is a direct response to multiple complaints of players, spectators and casters about players changing their names midgame or using fake nicknames in officials. In order to maintain the level of professionalism we are looking for, all teams in the premiership division must submit a list of official names for their players.

Players may only play with their “official” nickname, team tags and sponsorship additions are allowed. If a team uses a player that has no nick assigned he will be treated as an unregistered merc, which results in a warning. This rule may be enforced even without explicit reports from the opposing team.

STV Demos

For every match in the premiership division it is now mandatory to upload STV demos for all maps played within 72 hours. The responsibility to upload the demos is on the team that owns the server or, if the server is owned by neither team, by the team that arranged the server. In case of a technical failure of the server, if it can be proven, the demo does not have to be uploaded. These warnings can be removed upon request when they are added later.

No more late matches

This rule applies to all teams. Each match now has to be played within its week’s deadline. If the results have not been submitted on Saturday or 72 hours after the scheduled time (whichever comes first) a minor warning will be applied. This warning will not be removed.

(Re)scheduling outside the play week without approval from an admin will result in both teams receiving a minor warning (non-removable). An extension of up to 7 days is possible if both teams agree and an admin’s approval is given. If the match with the extended deadline has no result at the end of the next Saturday or 72 hours after the schedule, both teams will receive a minor warning.

Stricter Warnings

While not all of these are new additions, these rules will be strictly enforced in Season 13:

• Warnings issued for any reason other than missing screenshots and demos are not removable.
• Three active minor warnings of any kind result in a major warning, which is not removable even if the minor warnings were.
• Second active warning of the same type (two warnings for flaming, two late matches in a row, etc) results in a major warning. This warning is removable only if the component warnings are.
• Second major warning now deducts 2 points.

NA Rules Cup Wrap-up

After three weeks, the experimental cup where you could try out the american rulesets for maps and unlocks is over! Please let us know if you enjoyed it and give your feedback on map rules and unlock rules in the Idea Box. Your feedback will determine whether we should run more similar cups, and whether we should consider borrowing from the NA ruleset in future seasons. Also a huge shoutout to  Punchline for participating in an experimental cup. We need more premiership teams like them!

Highest Bracket

• Winner:  Punchline
• Runner-Up:  Inadequacy

High Bracket

• Winner:  Decadence
• Runner-Up:  2Strong4Everything

Highish Bracket

• Winner:  causeWEcan
• Runner-Up:  Infernal Gamerz eSports

Lowish Bracket

• Winner:  Team Colonslash: Reditio
• Runner-Up:  Azilum Gaming

Low Bracket

• Winner:  Trolling Bunnies BLUE
• Runner-Up:  The Manissons

Lowest Bracket

• Winner:  ReLoaded
• Runner-Up:  Optimistic Pessimists

Congratulations to all winners and runner ups!

As for ETF2L Season 13, keep an eye out for the big announcement coming later today!

Highlander Ladder Cast Tonight

Tonight,  NigelWantsKFC will be casting the Highlander Ladder match between Team-Awesome! and OverCharge.

A stream can be found here.

After a spectacular run through i46, the world’s best 6v6 teams Classic Mixup and Leviathan Gaming are about to face off in the i46 Grand Finals, which may be one of the best Team Fortress 2 matches you will ever see!

Tune into Multiplay’s official stream for the crown TF2 event, due to start any moment now!

[There was a stream embedded here, it is gone now]

Post-final update: If you’ve enjoyed the Grand Finals, consider helping to pay back Salamancer, who footed the rest of the bill needed to get both NA teams to i46 – without him, this would not have been possible.

The biggest TF2 offline event of the year involving both American and European teams is in full swing, and if you couldn’t go there personally, VanillaTV will provide you with coverage of the best matches!

What they won’t tell you though is that our head admin at the scene, CanFo, made PYYYOUR drop uber. What a boss!

For all match fixtures and up-to-date information, head over to VanillaTV.

[There were streams embedded here, they are gone now]

Season 13 Signups

Season 13 signups are now open! You can now sign up your team on the competitions page.

>>>Signup<<<

Do not forget to choose your desired division when signing up. If you created a new team or feel you can jump a division, feel free to apply for the desired division anyway. To prove you are capable of the division you applied for, we require you to submit screenshots of recent practice wars or tournaments where you scored decent results against teams that play on the level you aim for. There is no magical number of screenshots you have to submit, just submit what you have.

Please note that the success of your request mainly depends on the free slots in the division you aim for. Established teams will be favoured over new teams, or teams that request to jump a division. The screenshots have to be uploaded to online image storage (for example you can use imgur or Dropbox), zipped archives with tons of pictures attached to an email will be ignored. Please send your application to staff@etf2l.org.

The division application has to include the following information in order to be considered. Incomplete applications will be ignored!

• Team name
• Team link on ETF2L.org
• Division you apply for
• Link to the online photo album
• Reasons why your team deserves to be placed in the division you applied for (optional)

Season 13 Prizes

As with the last two seasons, Tt eSPORTS is sponsoring our league once again!

More information on the cash prize we hinted at, as well as unlocks and rule changes, will be revealed in the coming week. Stay tuned!

Ban

For insulting nationality, taunting terrorism victims via offensive team names and ignoring admin warnings, on top of his previous offenses, Taimou has been banned for a year.

Update: ban extended due to alt accounts.