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The TF2Beta project recently received 2 updates with some great changes and some interesting additions. You can find the full changelog here or check out the ETF2L forum section.  Naturally, we’d love to see some competitive feedback, and therefore we are happy to be able to host The Experimental Ordnance Cup #4 on Monday the 21st, to give these changes a good try. For this cup, we plan on using ETF2L beta servers from Multiplay, so a huge shout-out to them for making this possible.

Unlock Rules

This cup will use the ETF2L rules with a few small changes.  All available unlocks are allowed, except the GRU and Fists of Steel, which will be banned to make sure the testing focus is on the Quick-fix and usual 6v6 gameplay. To encourage creativity, we will require all participants to run at least one of the following: the Loch-n-Load, the Quick-fix or a Pyro.

Map List and Seedings

Depending on the skill levels of the signups, we will either run one cup with 16 slots or have two 8 slots high and low cups running together. When signing up, you will be placed on the waiting list at first and seeded into the correct group afterwards.

• First Round – cp_granary (skipped if there are two groups of 8)
• Second Round – cp_badlands
• Semis – cp_granary
• Final – cp_badlands

Special Merc Rule

Up to a maximum of three mercs may be used without permission from your opponent, providing they are from the same division or lower as the main team. This is because we recognize that not all teams will have a full roster willing to participate in this competition, but we still want to get as much feedback as possible, particularly from the higher divisions.

Signups and Cup Schedule

Signups will open on Sunday evening at 18:00 CET. The bracket draw will be held at Monday 18:30 CET in #etf2l and the cup will start at 20:00 CET on Monday evening.

The second round of ETF2L’s Highlander Cup Challenge quarter finals takes place tonight with four teams battling it out for a place in the semifinals.

Already through to the semifinals are:

colony :E
SNSD

Semi-final
map elimination, using: badwater, upward, steel, gravelpit, goldrush, viaduct, dustbowl
Schedule deadline: 20/02/2011
Match deadline: 27/02/2011

Final
map elimination, using: badwater, upward, steel, gravelpit, goldrush, viaduct, dustbowl
Schedule deadline: 06/03/2011
Match deadline: 13/03/2011

Match #1

20:00 CET Badmen Enterprise (feat. Shintaz) vs. May Contain Nuts (feat. ZyZo)

Badmen Enterprise took the American team SUPER SAIYAN SWAGGER out in the 5th round alongside recently picking up ‘sponsorship’ from MONSTERFRAGGEN.de. Whereas, May Contain Nuts took out the solid looking Comunidade Portuguesa TF2 led by (ex)TCMs strat man Haunter.

This match will be casted by the guys over at TF2TV

STV for this game is: fakkelbrigade.eu:27100

Match #2

21:00 TPlay.CircleJerk (feat. nVc) vs. Lokalen Alpha. (feat. tramsig)

TPlay, full of ‘well-known’ players from the community, took what looked like an easy win over  American team Stoic Defenders of the Igloo in the 5th round. They’ll face off against the all-Swedish team Lokalen Alpha who narrowly took victory over the Germans fancy! und .stefan with that game going to a deciding map.

STV for this game is: fakkelbrigade.eu:27101

Note: Teams still participating should be aware of an addition to the rules.

To prevent exploiting disguises having no particle effects the following rule will be added: “No players are to have an unusual hat equipped. The opposing team has a right to pause and request that the unusual is unequipped. If the player does not comply, an admin can be consulted.”

TF2 FINAL: Dignitas vs. Epsilon – LIVE!  Stream STV: relay.toaster.fi:27020

The Finns’ favourite LAN tournament kicks off tonight in Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki featuring:

• ETF2L Season 8 winners, Epsilon e-Sports
• The LAN legends, Dignitas
• Finnish heroes, Power Gaming
• Everyone’s favourite Russians RAGE.esports

The schedule for tonight’s games looks like,

16.30 CET – Epsilon eSports vs Power Gaming
16.30 CET – Team Dignitas vs Refuse
19.30 CET – Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
19.30 CET – Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2

You can catch casts for the majority of these games brought to you live from the event with TF2TV, and onsite coverage will be brought to you by  James “Admirable” McDonnell for cadred.org.

After thousands of votes we are ready to announce the winners of the ETF2L Season 8 Awards. Thanks to all voters and congratulations to the winners.

Player Awards:

• Most Valuable Player: Shintaz (Epsilon eSports)
• Medic of the Season: F2 (Epsilon eSports)
• Demoman of the Season: Extremer (Epsilon eSports)
• Soldier of the Season: Gear (Button Bashers)
• Scout of the Season: Shintaz (Epsilon eSports)
• Sniper of the Season: Jh (Epsilon eSports)
• Upcoming Talent of the Season: Skeej (DW.twitch)

Team Awards:

• Fairplay Award: Team Refuse
• Most Surprisingly Good team: Button Bashers
• Division 2 Team of the Season: Only Rockets Love You
• Division 3 Team of the Season: Trick17
• Division 4 Team of the Season: Team Effort
• Division 5 Team of the Season: Vier // blu
• Division 6 Team of the Season: Sektor gaming

Frag clip of The Season:

Taimou (Gamerzone)

You can have a look at the full Award History and medal count of all seasons here. Also be sure to have a look at the full season 8 history and winners over here.

After having counted all your nominations the past few days, it is now time for you to vote for your favourites in the following polls:

• Most surprisingly good team
• Div2-6 team of the season
• Most valuable player
• Upcoming talent
• Best medic
• Best demoman
• Best soldier
• Best scout
• Best sniper

Each poll contains the top 3 nominated players or teams. In addition, there are votes for the best division 2-6 teams. In 2 categories, one player and a team got so many nominations that they left no room for any competitors. Congratulations to Team Refuse for winning the Fairplay Award  by showing that playing TF2 is not just about results. Also, congratulations to Taimou for winning the Frag Clip Award with his nice medic clip. The polls will close on Sunday, 6th of February 2011, at 18:00 CET.

Good luck to all candidates and congratulations for making it into the poll phase!

>>> Cast your votes <<<

Custom Map Showmatch

We all love custom maps and their creators. To show this, FakkelBrigade and Button Bashers will play a showmatch on a new custom map called cp_aspiration, tomorrow at 21:00 CET. Head over to vanillatf2 for more details about this match-up.