The Fresh Meat Challenge – Announcement & Signups!

Date March 18, 2017

FreshMeatCup
Tell me if this sounds familiar, you are new to competitive TF2 and:

  • You want to play competitive TF2 but you are afraid you’re not good enough.
  • You want to play competitive TF2 but you find it hard to find a team.
  • You want to play competitive TF2 but you have no idea what you’re doing.

Back in 2015, we helped run a little thing called Archimedes Cup, where we encouraged new to competitive TF2 players and gave them the opportunity to play some organised games for prizes (Thank you Scrap.tf) with the help of a Buddy to coach them along, if required. It is long overdue, but now the opportunity has arisen for ETF2L to host a second Cup designed mainly for those NEW TO COMPETITIVE TF2. However those who are long-standing members of ETF2L, we need your help as well, there will be hundreds of new players in need of guidance and we’re calling on you to be the ones to offer them insight on how to play the 6v6 format.

Prizes

There will be $600 worth of giftcards generously provided by Scrap.tf and Marketplace.tf. This will be split as follows:

  • 1st Place: $300 (6 x $50)
  • 2nd Place: $180 (6 x $30)
  • 3rd Place: $90 (6 x $15)

There will also be a frag movie competition based around this competition with the competition winner being awarded with the remaining $30. The frag movie contest winner shall be decided by a public vote at the end of the tournament. Each movie must contain the following:

Rules

As with the previous tournament there will be a limit on the experience of players in this competition:

All participants (excluding Buddies) are limited to a maximum skill experience (applicable only at the date signups are closed):

  • Maximum 10 matches in ETF2L Open played
  • Cannot participate if you played in ETF2L Open playoffs or above, or above ETF2L Division 5.
  • Cannot participate if you played in UGC Silver or above (the number of UGC Iron or Steel matches will not be counted with ETF2L Open games).

The above restrictions apply to both Highlander and 6v6 seasons, cups do not count towards this limit.

You can still play if you have more experience but only as a buddy. The rules for Buddies are as follows:

  • Are restricted to playing matches only as the Medic class.
  • Restricted to a maximum of 2 Buddies per team.
  • Buddies need to be tagged with the appropriate role on the team profile

There will be a zero tolerance policy towards those who try to bypass the eligibility rules through means such as using alternative accounts or attempted fraud and those who do attempt this will be punished with lengthy bans and see their teams disqualified from the tournament.

The whitelist will be the same as the Season 26 whitelist.

All other General rules will apply (with exception of 1.9* and 3.6). For new players please read these rules carefully and if you are unsure of their meaning, please ask your buddy or request an Admin HERE.

*A similar rule will be used in place that is said below.

Players will be limited to a maximum of 1 roster change per competition, with all rosters locking at the beginning of week 5 (00:00 CEST, May 3rd).

Schedule & Map pool

We changed the group stage weeks and playoff schedules, sorry for potential inconveniences!

The tournament will be divided into a group stage and a playoff bracket, with the Group Stage seeing teams randomly split into groups of 6 to 14 teams (pending on signup numbers) and played over a 4 week period using the Swiss System (see explanation). The top 2-4 teams (pending group sizes) will qualify for the Playoff Bracket, which will be a single elimination event with each fixture being contested as a best of three map event. The maps will be decided using a Map Elimination method, which you can read more about HERE (Referring to Case 2).

Signups: 18.03. – 09.04.

Group Stage

Week 1: 12.04. – 16.04.  cp_snakewater_final1 & cp_badlands 
Week 2: 19.04. – 23.04. cp_badlands & koth_product_rc8
Week 3: 26.04. – 30.04. koth_product_rc8 & cp_process_final
Week 4: 03.05. – 07.05. cp_process_final & cp_gullywash_final1

Playoffs

Round 1: 10.05 – 14.05
Round 2: 15.05 – 17.05
Quarter Finals: 18.05 – 20.05
Semi Finals: 21.05 – 24.05
3rd Place / Grand Final: 25.05 – 27.05

Please remember to check the league rules on scheduling, default dates and mercs before playing refer to our guidance notes or contact an admin if you need help.

HOW TO SIGNUP

You must be part of a 6on6 [6v6] team with a minimum of 6 players registered on the roster in order to signup. For those new to the website, go to “Team Admin” page and select “My Teams” on the sidebar on the left. Then select “Create Team” and select 6on6 or Fun Team. If you are using a buddy who is already rostered on a 6on6 [6v6] team, you will need to create a Fun team. If you need any help with this, refer to our FAQ page or please contact an admin HERE.

If you do not have a team and wish to find one, or you are part of a team looking for players, please post a recruitment post in the fresh meat category, click here to make a recruitment thread.

Signups are open NOW until the end of April 9th 2017.

>>>CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP<<<<
you must be a team leader signed into the website to do so.

Coverage

TeamFortress.TV have told us they intend to cover some of the tournament, if you are lucky enough to make it to the latter stages of the tournament you could be shoutcasted by experienced TF2 personnel and watched by hundreds!

Any More Questions

If you have any questions related to the cup or anything to do with ETF2L please contact us on our support channel, or make a post on our forums.

ETF2L on social media:

Twitter Follow us on Twitter!
facebook-icon--basic-round-social-iconset--s-icons-7 Like us on Facebook!
steam-logo-icon-7 Join our Steamgroup and invite your friends!
discord_metro_icon Use our Discord!

61 Comments

  1. TheMackey5: FM said:

    ARCHIMEDES CUP RAFFLE NOW!!!!!!!

  2. nasko7 said:

    HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE

  3. DuMmTm: TFTV - COGU said:

    does “10 matches in open” refer to only 6s matches or hl as well (or does it only mean season matches for that matter and pre season cups are ignored) cause that can be a massive difference for some people

  4. onfroi: -sL- said:

    is this opened to NA players?
    Also, I subbed for HL Steel and played this season of 6s Steel, but I have some friends that don’t have any comp experience outside of matchmaking, would I have to become a “buddy”?

    p.s. when I click on the signup link it says I don’t have permission

  5. Bloodis: (Legend) - (๑╹ω╹๑ ) said:

    @onfroi, players from all continents are welcome to participate.

    You also need to create a team on ETF2L first for yourself before you will be able to sign up for this competition.

  6. kKaltUu: UbeR | - -chess- said:

    POGCHAMP, great work admins!

  7. milkyeu: MILKY said:

    nice

  8. woolen: BoyBrigade said:

    gl

  9. Taka said:

    Aww, I wanted to use this chance to get into 6s but I have too much HL experience. Is the UGC Steel rule really necessary? It’s the bottom div of a different format after all

  10. MoistPenguin: TC said:

    @Taka that was an error on our end. You can now play if you have steel experience. Silver experience however will mean you have to play as a buddy

  11. Taka said:

    Ok, one more question though, some of my team members will reach their 11th played open HL game during this cup, does the 10 game rule apply to the time of sign-up, the beginning of the cup or any given game?

  12. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @Taka: Matches played at the date signups are closed will be taken into effect.

  13. Steve!: S-O said:

    H Y P E

  14. NexusCat said:

    How many plats have signed up?

  15. Wiper: idd. said:

    Would be happy to coach a demo playing in this, and probably the rest of the team too. Add me if you’re interested!

  16. Nightmare: wL. said:

    “You want to play competitive TF2 but you have no idea what you’re doing.”

    Basically me when I run DR

  17. Steve!: S-O said:

    ^That quote sounds like a really good title for a hartzfartz frag video

  18. Hannes: yerbaby said:

    Mmmm……. this will be N U T T Y

  19. kel: SMOM said:

    will it be casted ?

  20. Taka said:

    “TeamFortress.TV have told us they intend to cover some of the tournament, if you are lucky enough to make it to the latter stages of the tournament you could be shoutcasted by experienced TF2 personnel and watched by hundreds!”

  21. Astro said:

    Add me if u want a buddy :)

  22. kKaltUu: UbeR | - -chess- said:

    so why hasn’t TFTV done a news post about this? don’t they want 6s to grow?

  23. sp said:

    Can buddy, add me on Steam.

  24. warraha: Pawel - GRkg said:

    NO BADGE???

  25. Nhaaj: WAP said:

    What if I don’t have a team?

  26. kKaltUu: UbeR | - -chess- said:

    “If you do not have a team and wish to find one, or you are part of a team looking for players, please post a recruitment post in the fresh meat category, click here to make a recruitment thread.”

    it says right there in the news post

  27. Domaytoe: (Certified Puntomime) - A51 - Nein said:

    Considering all the memes I heard, you cannot convince me someone actually thought that “Fresh Meat” would be a good name for cup

  28. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @Domaytoe: Let’s hear your ideas. Mostly we just wanted to stay as far away from Archimedes as possible.

  29. bakedbeans said:

    Will you have to use a mic?

  30. PAT The Whale said:

    When I press the “Click here to sign up” button, it says I don’t have enough permission to acces the page.
    Halp plz

  31. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @bakedbeans: yes, using mic is the fastest way of communicating with team mates.
    @PAT: you need to be the leader of the team to be able to sign up. you can’t signup as an individual player.

  32. Maksi said:

    I am confused, is it necessary to use a mic or is it just recommended to use one.

  33. Aoshi: (Legend) - :think: - GRAHAM said:

    @Maksi, it isnt necessary but without a mic you wont be able to communicate with your team at a fast level. This will make coordination and team play a lot harder as the gamemode is heavily reliant on it.

  34. That Guy said:

    i would join in, if i had a team lol

  35. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @That Guy: check out our recruitment section. There’s a lot of teams looking for players as well as even more players looking for teams. Put 6 of these players together and there you have a team. :)

  36. Bloodis: (Legend) - (๑╹ω╹๑ ) said:

    Due to feedback that we had received for this tournament, we have decided to change the scheduling days of Fresh Meat Challenge from the regular Sunday-Thursday schedule that we have always had in use for every 6v6 season, to a different one. This time we will be using Wednesday-Sunday schedule! For everyone who has played in ETF2L before, you heard it, you can even play on Fridays and Saturdays as well in this tournament!

    Because of this, the whole schedule will be pushed back by only 3 days, but the schedule is still not completely finalized yet however as we are taking more feedback even currently!

  37. aReS: Punct said:

    I’m excited for this cup. Just picked up TF2 after almost a year of taking a break, but I am now ready to step it up! Such a cool opportunity

  38. Vinegar Strokes said:

    That frag video thing. Is it supposed to be a team fragmovie or can it be from individual players aswell?

  39. MoistPenguin: TC said:

    @Vinegar Strokes The frag movie can be anything you want as long it follows the rules. All the frags must be from the fresh meat challenge either scrims or officials, however if you want to limit it to a player or team that is fine. Just try make the best movie you can.

    Must have the ETF2L Introduction (Download Link).
    Must have sponsor logos (Download Link).
    Must be submitted in this forum thread by the 27th of May.
    Your movie must be based around the Fresh Meat Challenge.

  40. aReS: Punct said:

    Btw, will the anti cheat be optimized? I don’t want to play against cheaters yknow, and secondly, how do you check if someone’s playing on an alt account just so they can attend?

  41. kel: SMOM said:

    hey do we get medals? and if we reach 1st place do we get a special medal or something ?

  42. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @aReS: What you mean optimized? ETF2L doesn’t have their own anti cheat software. And I’m pretty sure no one will be stupid enough to go full mode ragehacking like you see people in Valve matchmaking. We have our ways of detecting alt accounts and will severly punish anyone trying to bypass the rules.

  43. DARK-NESS said:

    I am looking to join a team for this! I play Demo and Sollie, with Spy and Sniper as off-classes. I have over 2,000 hrs in game, but have never played in the competitive community. Please contact me!!!!

  44. Meem said:

    Does playing Valve comp still count?

  45. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    No, of course it doesn’t. Only the requirements stated in the post. Max 10 ETF2L matches in open (no playoffs), max UGC Steel.

  46. Math967r said:

    So what time of day will it be most likely for a match to take place

  47. Hydro said:

    Hmm, I come back from school at 1:30 PM here in Serbia commonly, so, I’m kinda worried I might not actually succeed in getting to the rounds in time, either that, or there’s just something I misunderstood or I don’t know ._.

  48. Private Claw said:

    I would join but I don’t have 5 friends ;-;

  49. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @Hydro: If you come home at 1:30pm that’s around 8 before matches usually start. Most matches are played between 7pm and 9pm.
    @Private claw: You can check for teams looking for players in our recruitment section here: http://etf2l.org/recruitment/teams/ Or make your own recruitment post here: http://etf2l.org/wp/wp-admin/index.php?page=recruit

  50. onfroi: -sL- said:

    Can you have subs in the competition?

  51. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @onfroi: Of course you can. You have 13 player slots available in 6on6 team so you could have a full lineup of subs.

  52. frootloops: ᴹsᴳ | said:

    What time are the matches going to take place? I want to play from NA, but I’m not sure if I will be able to make it to the matches.

  53. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    Most matches are usually played between 19 and 21 CET (or CEST at the moment). Which is 1-3pm eastern. However, if there will be enough NA teams we’ll make a separate group for them so they can play at NA times and on NA servers.

  54. Kiwi said:

    Do you need a competitive matchmaking pass to enter??

  55. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    No, this will be played on non-Valve servers that are configured with​ appropriate configs (winlimit, timelimit, whitelist, etc).

  56. freshmeatt: ‹Con› said:

    i didn’t ask for this.

  57. Fluff said:

    Can we use SFM as an additional “spice” in the frag movie?

  58. Jan: (League Admin) - |FV| said:

    @Fluff: I don’t see a reason why not.

  59. Fluff said:

    So frag movie needs to have just from your team or can be from every team that was in it? And where could we get the demos of the matches

  60. Fluff said:

    And do we need to have sponsor logos during whole frag on the screen or at the beggining and at the end?

  61. Radziecki Opiekacz D: SoE - AoWD said:

    Hello i want to ask on what time are the maps going to be played (Polish time zone)