Brackets are live!

We reached a total number of 7 brackets of 16 teams each, totalling 112 teams as a whole. This means, this cup has the highest participation of all one night cups ever hosted at ETF2L! For a complete overview about the rules and setup of this cup, please visit the cup page. If your question is still unanswered, you can contact an admin on IRC.

Those who follow our IRC channel #etf2l on Quakenet will already know – The brackets have been seeded. Please start contacting your Round 1 opponent now. There is also no rule against playing earlier than the declared times.

-[ Lowest | Lower | Low | Middle | High | Higher | Highest ]-

Cup format and schedule

The cup will be single elimination with all matches played tonight.

• 20:30 CEST – Rounds of 16 Starts
• 21:15 CEST – Rounds of 8 Starts
• 22:00 CEST – Rounds of 4 Starts
• 22:45 CEST – Finals Start

Make sure to let admins know if your match is running more than 5 minutes late. If you are 10 minutes late then set mp_timelimit to 20 minutes, and so on. This is to keep the next round on time.
If a team you are playing cannot be reached until 5 minutes after the scheduled time, or your opponent has notified you that they have dropped, please notify an ETF2L admin.
Teams on the waiting list for this event may replace teams that have dropped/no shows, which is why it is important that we know of any teams that are unable to play.

Some Reminders

• Have at least one representative of your team idling in our IRC channel #etf2l on Quakenet. This makes it way easier to contact your opponents and admins, in case any problems occur.
• Please make sure that all players download the map in advance. We will be using the official Season 13 version of the map which is cp_process_b10fix.
• 2 mercs of about the same skill are allowed by default. A third merc can be allowed by your opponent. If you are unsure if your “default merc” is of the same skill level as your team, please ask your opponent for approval. If he rejects the merc but you still believe that your merc is of the same skill level, please contact an admin. All mercs need to be registered at ETF2L.
• Because of the restrictions regarding mercs above, unverified players count as mercs too.

We are very sorry for the long delays, this cup was more popular than we were expecting so we have been struggling with the load.

Season 13 signups reminder

The turnout for Season 13 has been great so far, with over 300 teams signed up already! If you haven’t joined our 6v6 season yet, you still have two days to get a team together and apply for Season 13 – signups close on Friday, 23:59 CEST.

Process Cup reminder

Signups for the cp_process One Night Cup being played this Thursday are CLOSED , so if your team wants to get some practice on the new map before Season 13 starts, this is a great opportunity to do so. You can find more info on the cp_process cup page.

***UPDATE*** Please note that due to complaints about teams in the lower brackets using high skilled mercs we restricted the skill level of the mercs who are allowed by default for this cup. As a result, unverified players will have to count as mercs because the clever teams among yourselves would simply add their higher skilled merc to the roster right before the match, if there was no restriction. If you are not sure if you can use a merc, you should get in touch with your opponent first. If he does not allow the merc, you can contact an admin to get approval to use him anyway, if the admin staff believes that your merc is of about the same skill level as your team.

A Message to Russian Teams

When seeding lower divisions, we usually make a priority to group teams by region. If any division 4-6 Russian teams would rather not be grouped with their countrymen, they should contact an admin to let us know.

Config tweaks

A few minor adjustments have been made to the ETF2L configs networking section after some feedback from AnAkIn. You can find the latest configs right here, 100% approved by the almighty Chris.

***UPDATE*** The config pack has been updated and is now safe to use for all Season 13 matches.

6v6 Nations Cup Semi-Final: Denmark vs. England

After 2 days of waiting, welcome to the first semi finals match of the Nations Cup! After England won 6-0 to Germany in the quarter finals, they now have to prove themselves against Denmark, who had similar results against Portugal. A lot of top players are playing for both sides, including TCM medic Byte, who will have to counter the popular F2. The heat should be high, as whoever wins this game will go on to represent their country in the finals against either the i46 winning Americans, or the not so i46 winning Swedes.

The match is casted by VanillaTV with the unstoppable casting duo of  Skully and  Pledge on the microphones and  Comedian on the stream.

• STV: relay.vanillatv.org:27100

Lineup Team  Denmark

• Scout: Quad
• Scout: Helberg
• Soldier: Crizzl
• Soldier: Natural
• Demoman: Dr.Phil
• Medic: F2

Lineup Team  England

• Scout: Stark
• Scout: Greg
• Soldier: Hat
• Soldier: Boomeh
• Demoman: Numlocked
• Medic: Byte

 

Highlander Map Feedback at the Idea Box!

We noticed that there weren’t individual sections for 6v6 maps and Highlander maps, so we created them. As the Highlander maps section has only just been created, we’re looking for as much feedback as possible to help us decide the map pool for Season 3. You can give your feedback here.

CP_Process – One Night Cup

With cp_process having been added to the S13 map pool, we are going to host a one night cup focused on the map on Thursday the 6th of September so that teams have a chance to play on the new map in a more serious enviroment before the season starts! Both fun teams and 6v6 teams can enter the tournament so sign up your team here. Signups will close at 18.00 CEST on Thursday the 6th.

We will be using the official Season 13 version of the map which is cp_process_b10fix.

As usual, the cup will be split into higher and lower brackets. The top 4 teams from each bracket will recieve a shiny pixel trophy on their team page respective of their place and bragging rights.

The schedule is as follows –

• 20:00 CEST – Ro16 Starts
• 20:45 CEST – Ro8 Starts
• 21:30 CEST – Ro4 Starts
• 22:15 CEST – Finals Start

Each round will be a bo1 on cp_process_b10fix. Please make sure you have downloaded the map before the Ro16 to ensure that matches are played on time!

The rules will be the same as the ETF2L Season 13 rules with the exception of a change in the merc rule – A team may use 2 mercs by default and 3, if the opponents agree.

(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.